Page 2 of Redemption's Inferno

Therese waved an impatient hand. “I wasn’t medicated then—but now I am, so we can be friends again!”

Emilie raised her eyebrows. “I don’t think so, Therese. Too much has happened. You killed people, threatened me, tried to ruin my life. That’s hard to forget.”

“I didn’t know what I was doing,” Therese protested, her lips forming a small pout. “Please, Em, can’t we be friends again? I don’t have anyone else here in the U.S.”

“Have your parents been to see you?” Emilie delicately changed the subject.

“Not since the trial.” Therese sighed. “They say it’s too far to come to visit once a week for 30 minutes.”

“You must write?”

Therese shrugged. “I haven’t the patience. Mama deposits a little money in my account each month so I can get a few things, but it’s not enough. It’s rough in here—I could use a little help, Em. You’re the reason I’m here, after all.”

Emilie rolled her eyes. “I didn’t kill anyone, Therese.”

“You’re the reason I came to the U.S.!” Therese grunted. “You told me I had a chance with Karl!”

“That was the first time you came,” Emilie said patiently. “The second time he was already married to Kate and you knew better.”

“They say I’m a paranoid schizophrenic,” Therese said after a moment. “I used to suffer from delusional thinking and hallucinations, and that’s why I believed Karl abandoned me while I was pregnant and all those other things. Now that I’m medicated I don’t get those symptoms. You don’t have to be afraid—I’m okay and don’t want to hurt anyone else.”

“That’s good to hear,” Emilie nodded.

“I heard you and Viggo got married.” Therese suddenly looked like a teenager again, her smile sweet and her face almost angelic. “Are you totally in love?”

Emilie sighed, trying not to show much emotion. “We divorced last month. We only got married because of the baby—our daughter.”

“You had a baby!” Therese’s eyes widened. “Can I see a picture?”

“I wasn’t allowed to bring anything in with me,” Emilie held up her empty hands. “But I’ll send you one in the mail.” She would do no such thing, but Therese seemed to accept it at face value.

“I’d love that!” Therese suddenly frowned. “Why did you get divorced? You’ve always loved him. Wasn’t he faithful?”

“It was a mistake,” Emilie said softly, trying to keep Therese engaged without giving her too many details. “What I felt as a teenager wasn’t the same now that we’re adults.”

“He couldn’t stay away from men, hm?” Therese asked knowingly.

“No.” Emilie figured there was a good chance Therese would read about the trial online and hear about Jamie and Viggo anyway.

“Well, you’re better off,” Therese shrugged. “You were too good for him.”

“Then why did you get me involved with him? It was your idea that I hook up with him at the club that night…”

“That was when I was having the hallucinations and such,” Therese hedged. “I thought I needed those compromising photos and by involving Viggo it was easy to get you to play along since you’d always wanted him.”

“I still don’t understand why you did that. Even if you occasionally had those delusions, you had to know that I couldn’t make Karl love you… Back then we were close—why would you do that to me?”

“I thought I was in love and holding on to you was the only way I felt I could hold on to him.”

“But you involved Viggo and Otto.”

“Viggo meant nothing to me and Otto is a stupid pig.” She shrugged.

“So you ruined my life, and almost Viggo’s as well, for no reason?” Emilie felt herself getting angry all over again. “Why? There had to have been a reason!”

“I don’t know!” Therese shot back. “Jesus, haven’t you been listening? I’m schizophrenic! I barely know what that means—but they give me these damn meds that make me twitch sometimes and feel dizzy all the time... I just do the laundry a few hours a day, go outside an hour a day, and I get an hour a day in the library. That’s it—I have nothing thanks to this stupid disease, so asking me the same questions over and over is a waste of time!”

“Then why am I here?”

---