Close Proximity
As the next couple of weeks went on, Jessie continued her sessions at the prison with Dr. Anderson. They’d established a somewhat regular schedule of having her visit 2-3 days a week, but it wasn’t strict on which days she could come by. This week, she found herself at the corrections facility on Tuesday, Wednesday, and now today, Friday.
While working at the prison had become part of her routine, she couldn’t stop thinking about how shaken James had seemed during one of their previous creativity sessions. She never got the impression that any of the six patients she’d been seeing would ever do anything to intentionally hurt her, especially not James, but his behavior was unusual.
She found herself lost in thought as she checked in to the facility, dropping off her belongings at the designated site. The buzz of the heavy door unlocking brought her back to reality. She muttered a quiet ‘thank you’ to the guards that were posted at the desk and made her way back. A previous text message from Dr. Anderson mentioned just to meet in the art room instead of having her head back to his office, so that’s where she found herself mentally preparing for today’s session.
She heard the doctor’s voice coming up to the door, followed by the footsteps of approximately seven pairs of feet. She let out a slow breath and smoothed out her shirt, not that there was anything actually wrong with it, and turned around. Dr. Anderson greeted her with a nod and instructed the inmates to come in. She watched as they entered the room and took their usual spots.
John, Dominic, Nicholas, Abraham, Santiago, and… wait, what?
An unfamiliar face was at the end of the short line. He was a rather generic looking man - average height and build, though his arms were more muscular than most, and short, mousy brown hair.
“Dr. Alexander, this is Clint. He’ll be joining our session today. Gentlemen, please take a seat and we’ll get started shortly.”
Where’s James? She wondered to herself.
“Hi, Clint, uh,” she started, taken aback by the new addition to the group. “I’m Dr. Jessie Alexander, but you’re welcome to call me Jessie or Jess.”
She hoped her slight confusion wasn’t noticeable by the others, but Charlie definitely picked up on it. He was a psychiatrist after all.
“Pleasure to meet you, doc. Say, if all the doctors I’ve see in my lifetime looked like you-”
“Shut it, Barton.” John snapped.
Her usual crew of inmates had become slightly protective of her, given their location. She wasn’t particularly bothered by the man’s crude attempt at flirting, but she appreciated John’s gesture. The new inmate huffed out a sigh and sat down at one of the tables where the others were gathered. James’ usual table remained empty.
After giving a brief introduction to color theory and laying out paint palettes and brushes, Jessie made her way over to Charlie, who was combing through a stack of papers. She made herself look busy, in an attempt to not draw attention to herself.
“Has something changed?” She asked, trying to ask about the elephant in the room.
Dr. Anderson acted oblivious for some reason.
“I’m not sure if I know what you’re referring to, Dr. Alexander.” He muttered, not looking up from his files.
“I’m talking about James.”
Her voice was just above a whisper. The group of inmates was somewhat close, even though the man in question wasn’t the chattiest of the bunch. Charlie hummed in acknowledgement of the woman’s question.
“It’s nothing to worry about.” He looked up from his files, meeting her eyes for a moment. He then looked at the group in the room with them. “May I suggest returning to your class?”
She turned around to see the group of men mixing various colors of paints. She sighed, knowing she wouldn’t get an answer out of him today.
—
Since Jessie had become a familiar face within the prison, she no longer needed an escort when walking around the premises. She’d been given a permanent badge to wear around her neck every time she set foot on the facility property, just in case staff or residents didn’t recognize her. There were, however, some parts of the building that were off-limits and she understood that. It was still a prison, regardless of how comfortable she’d gotten with her regular attendees of art therapy and even some that weren’t. She’d encouraged the group to go for walks outside when it was nice out and meet some of the other inmates that frequented the yard.
As she was cleaning up the creativity session for today and disposing of the paper plates the men had been using, Dr. Anderson let her know that he would be escorting them to the yard and thanked her for coming in. She found his less-than-friendly behavior to be odd, as it was very unlike him. Her curiosity got the better of her and she let her mind wander to all sorts of possibilities about where the missing inmate could be and why he hadn’t joined them today.
With these thoughts, she found herself wandering down the familiar halls to the commons area. None of the residents in the wide room paid her any mind as she stayed along the wall, looking for a specific room - the barren one with only a bookshelf.
The room was almost at the opposite end of the commons area, giving her plenty of time to change her mind and turn around, but she didn’t. She stopped right at the doorway, not even knowing what she would say if she saw him in there. Would he even want to see her? Maybe James had asked Dr. Anderson to take him out of the art therapy sessions. She swallowed any fear of rejection she had and peaked around the corner, only to find the room empty.
She was no longer creeping through the doorway, but cautiously stepping around the room, as if it was rigged with any number of boobytraps. Her eyes again went to the sole trait of the room that would even indicate anyone living here: the bookshelf. This time, she had an up close look at the books that resided on the shelf and noticed that these ones were in similar condition to the very loved ones she’d seen in the library. One, however, was in obviously worse condition than the others.
Every thought in her head was telling her that she needed to get out of here and quit snooping around the man’s room when he wasn’t even here, but something kept her feet in place. Jessie found herself reaching for the book in poor condition, needing to know what it was. It had been handled so much that the title on the spine had been rubbed off. She gingerly picked up the tattered book and flipped open the cover to discover its identity.
The Hobbit.
She turned over the well-loved hardcover in her hands, examining every inch of the novel, as if it held the answers about the quiet man she’d become so intrigued by. Maybe she was too lost in her own world to hear footsteps coming up to the doorway behind her, or maybe whoever it was, was just that stealthy. Either way, a sullen voice came from the entry of the room.
“Can I help you, doctor?”
Jessie spun around, startled by the voice and still clutching the cover-clad memento. In the act of being surprised, she brought the book to her chest, as if it would somehow protect her from whoever stumbled upon her nosiness. A little bit of anxiety that had been building up about the situation settled after seeing the man’s strong build and cool, blue eyes.
“James,” she breathed.
She was still new to the “prison world”, as her friends called it, so she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t slightly worried about him. Still, she’d been caught red-handed snooping around in his room.
He stepped into the small room, slowly approaching her. The space between them closed quickly, as there wasn’t much to begin with anyways. He looked down at the artifact in her hands, gently placing his fingers around it and plucking it from her grasp. As he stood this close to her, she took a moment to notice the height difference. She was a solid 5’4 on a good day, and he nearly towered over her, standing at an even 6'0.
Her breath quickened as he stepped closer, gazing at the book in his hands and delicately flipping through the pages. Again, she’d never gotten the feeling that any of the men she’d come to know would hurt her, but this was still unfamiliar territory. She hadn’t uttered a single word other than the man’s name, mostly out of shock and a little bit of fear. Finally, the silence was broken when he murmured something to her.
“Bucky.”
They were mere inches apart as he continued his thorough examination of the book. Little did she know, the printed work was multiple times older than she was. She leaned back a bit to try and catch his gaze.
“W-what?” She stuttered out.
The man finally looked up from the novel, eliciting a small ‘tap’ as he allowed it to close. He met her gaze with an expression that , to the untrained eye, held almost no emotion. But to her, she could see the gears churning in his mind.
“My name… is Bucky.” He repeated.
His hands were now at his sides, and they were still very close to each other.
“Bucky,” she repeated, trying the name out.
His lip twitched upward as a small smile graced his features for a moment and gave her a nod. She returned the smile and found herself dangerously close to getting lost in his eyes. She wondered what kind of things he’d experienced in his life, including but not limited to how he ended up here.
A loud commotion from the commons area broke up their moment and his demeanor instantly changed. Shouting could be heard from outside the room. Bucky braced himself against the doorframe, peeking out into the larger room.
“What’s going on?” Jessie asked, her voice laced with fear.
She hadn’t moved an inch from where she was when Bucky was standing over her just moments ago. His room only contained one bed and wasn’t exactly spacious, so she wasn’t quite sure if she could hide or run. The bed was out of eyesight from the doorway and was as tucked into the corner as it could be, given the size of the room. He looked back at her and it suddenly hit him that if there was a prison riot going on, she was now involved. He held up one finger and brought it to his lips, and mouthed something to her.
“Don’t move.”
She did as she was told and nodded, sitting down on the bed. The petite woman brought her hands up to her face, covering her mouth as she waited. She couldn’t see anything from where she was seated.
Bucky’s eyes shifted back and forth, watching intently. Finally, two men came barreling out of a room, in the middle of a fight. One man was much taller than the other, but he was also much skinnier. The bulkier prisoner swung at his opponent, missing as the tall man dodged the attack. He steadied himself and pushed the other man into a table, causing a loud crashing sound that made Jessie flinch. The sound of the fight caught the attention of other inmates and a few more joined in. Soon enough, the commons area of the prison looked like a stereotypical bar fight where everyone was wailing on each other and chairs were being thrown.
She could see a small portion of the doorway from where she sat on the bed, and she saw a chair come crashing into the wall outside the metal frame. The doctor jumped and let out a yelp at the sound of the commotion, watching as Bucky blocked his face with his arm as protection. The collision of the furniture and the wall led to a few pieces of cement chipping away, flying in every direction. She leapt to her feet and rushed to his side, where he was still covering his face. She placed a caring hand on his arm.
“Bucky, are you okay?”
The contact startled him and he let out a surprised gasp. He impulsively reached for the cause of it and gripped her wrist in a tight grasp. This was the second time they’d been this close to each other in a matter of minutes and it was almost too much for him. His eyes were as wide as saucers.
Their position near the door frame left them more vulnerable than when Bucky had positioned himself out of sight. Jessie could now see more of the commons area and just how hectic it was out there. Unfortunately, this also meant others could see them and they’d caught the attention of an intimidating man who was quickly making his way over to his room. He was about the same height as Bucky and had neat, but spiky hair. The man carried himself in such a way that almost oozed negative energy. A nasty smirk spread across his lips as he approached the small living quarters.
“Well, who do we have here?” He sneered, his voice sending chills up Jessie’s spine.
She didn’t know the man that was speaking to her- or at her, rather, but the fear in her eyes was very clear. She looked to Bucky, who had assumed a protective position in front of her, separating her from the man looming in the doorway. The fight was still going on outside, but a handful of guards had filed into the commons area in an attempt to stifle it.
“What’s the problem, Barnes? Don’t you want to share your little girlfriend with the class?”
Bucky hadn’t responded to anything the man had said, but there was a look on his face that Jessie had never seen before.
“Get lost, Rumlow,” Bucky growled.
The man, Rumlow, chuckled. He closed the distance between himself and Bucky, getting in the brunette’s face.
“Are you going to make me? I’d love to get to know this lovely lady you’re keeping in your cell, away from the rest of us. Sharing is caring, after all.” He sneered, shooting a wink at the doctor.
This was enough to send Bucky into a fit of rage. He placed a hand on the inmate’s shoulder and reeled his arm back, and swinging his fist towards the man’s face. When the two connected, there was an audible crack coming from Rumlow’s jaw. Jessie gasped and took multiple steps back, returning to the safety of the bed. The two inmates were throwing punches and shoving each other into walls, with Bucky having the upperhand. He was dodging most of the attacks that were aimed at him, and returning them with full force. The other inmate was bleeding from the mouth and nose at this point.
He grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt and slammed him into the wall that the bed was up against. Jessie screamed due to the proximity of the men fighting near her. This caught Bucky’s attention for a moment, and he stopped mid-punch, catching her gaze. Their eyes met for a moment, hers fearful and his… she wasn’t quite sure. The pause was long enough for the assailant to throw another punch at Bucky, connecting with his face. He was stunned for a moment, and spat out a bit of blood onto the floor. As he lunged for another attack, two prison guards rushed into the room.
“That’s enough! Break it up, inmates!” One of them shouted.
The guard that was commanding them to stop grabbed Bucky and restrained him, while the other reached for Rumlow. The second guard cuffed the attacker, but not before he could get one more blow in, kicking Bucky in the stomach. The blue eyed man let out a pained groan and dropped to his knees, nearly taking the guard with him. He attempted to get up and return the last-minute assault, but the guard restraining him used enough force to pin Bucky to the ground. His face was against the floor of the prison room and his breath was ragged.
“Bucky! Get off of him, he was protecting me!” Jessie pleaded.
The second guard was practically dragging a bloody Rumlow out of the room, who smiled a red-stained grin at her. Bucky’s eyes met hers as she screamed that the officers to let him go. He hated that she saw him like this. Angry, beaten, bloody. The guard pulled him to his feet and muttered something about rule-breaking and solitary confinement, escorting him towards the door. Jessie’s eyes widened. She threw herself in front of the door, blocking the officer and Bucky from leaving.
“I said he was protecting me, let go of him,” she demanded.
The tired prisoner looked at her with a hint of endearment in his eyes. He hadn’t quite figured out why she was so fascinated with him, but he could barely form a coherent thought right now.
“Ma’am, there’s no exception for physical fights here. He knows the rules,” the officer started. “Now, please, get out of the way.”
He moved Bucky to the side and stepped closer to the door. She wouldn’t put it past the guard to bulldoze right through her. She stepped aside but insisted on following them out the door. As she exited the room, she spotted the resident psychiatrist staring right at her.
“Dr. Alexander, please come with me.”