Page 10 of Bishop

Tears prick the back of my eyelids, my emotions boiling up out of nowhere at this small victory with a woman I don't even know.

"Willa, even in this fucked up situation, I'm happy to meet you."

"Yeah, you too." She grumbles and hisses out in pain again. This time, I can't force myself to look the other way.

"What's wrong?" I take a step in her direction, but this time she doesn't jerk away.

"What do you care?" she asks, narrowing her eyes.

"Willa, I'm not here to hurt you. I hope you can believe at least just that. I only want to help. I went to medical school, I know a few things, and from the looks of it, you're pregnant. You shouldn't be in any pain."

"You're a doctor?" Her eyebrows hitch up as if she doesn't believe me.

"I am. Psychiatrist, but I did complete a full ten years of education, medical school included." I nod and take another step in her direction. Slowly it seems like she's trusting me more and more.

"Lot of good that fancy degree is doing you in here." She shrugs and I give her a soft smile. She's not wrong.

"What's going on? Did something happen with the baby?" I gesture to her stomach.

She rubs her hand along the small soccer ball sizes mound, "No, nothing I don't think is normal. I couldn't hold my bladder and wound up peeing on myself. That's the only reason they let me come in here today."

"So no pain when you pee?"

"No, nothing like that. Baby is still moving around happy as a clam inside there. I'm uncomfortable but that's normal right?" Willa looks up at me with hopeful eyes.

"Yeah, very normal." My eyes scan her body and even though she says nothing hurts I know that can't be the truth. She's got more places on her body with bruises then clear skin.

"Besides, I can't complain when some of the other girls have it so much worse. I'm not the one who needs the doctor, they do." Willa looks into my eyes and I feel something snap inside of me.

Yesterday if someone were to ask me what I had left to fight for I'd have told them not much but now that I know there are other people in this complex. People who need medical attention, it's almost as if someone has lit a fire under my ass. I have to fight for them. Now it's not just Bishop and me that need to get out, we all do.

"Tell me about the other prisoners."

Seven

Bishop

I'll do anything for Gabrielle, but when she comes back in after her shower telling me there are other women here that she wants to help get free as well, I can't help but second-guess what I know I should do.

I know the right thing to do is to help these other women out too, but if I'm honest, I barely have enough energy to keep Gabi and myself above water. I don't know how I'm going to be able to keep three other women safe as well.

"Gabrielle, you don't know what these women are doing here. For all we know, this could just be another ploy from Liam to get under our skin. What if he's putting these women here just to mess with us?"

"Bishop, you didn't see what I saw. You didn't see the fear in that girl's eyes. There's no way that she's here because she wants to be here. Not to mention, she can't fake the pregnancy. I saw that with my own eyes." Gabrielle grabs my forearm to keep me from moving away. "Please, Bishop, we can't leave them in there. Not like this. Not when we can help them. Please." Her eyes water and I groan as her tears suck the very life out of me. My knees almost go weak as I listen to her voice cracking as she begs.

"Help them? How can we help them, Gabrielle? We're just as fucked up in here as they are. It's not like by joining up with them we're going to be able to get out any easier. In fact, it'll make things harder if there ever is an opportunity for us to escape. I can't think about them right now, not when I need to focus on the two of us." I clench my jaw and look away from her.

I can feel the disappointment radiating from her. I hate that I'm making her feel like this.

She slides her hands up until she is cradling my face, and I've got no choice but to look into those deep brown eyes. "Bishop, you don't mean that. There's not much I know about your world and the surrounding craziness, but I know you. You're not going to be able to live with yourself if we manage to get out of here and leave those women behind."

Just those simple words are enough for me to feel my resolve crumbling. It's not even as if she's forcing me to do anything that I don't want to do. It's the fact that I just can't say no to her, not when it really matters.

"Bishop...please..." She sobs and I pull her against my chest. I run my fingers into her hair and scratch her scalp softly.

"They're not going to listen to me," I whisper, and she tightens her hold on my waist, realizing that she's about to get what she wants from me.

"All we have to do is try. That's all I want to do right now." She shakes her head, pulling back slightly but making sure to keep her eyes locked on mine.