Free The Trouble With Bodyguards: Part 3 by Kristina Blake

packages in here. The boxes were opened behind closed doors, their contents sorted and reviewed, and once deemed safe to the stability of the mental health of the patient, as well as not being dangerous to their little society as a whole, the recipient was allowed to accept his gift from the outside world.
    Jake crossed to the window, where each morning and night the lunatics would line up and obediently swallow their small cups full of pills before being sent back out into the group. This time, instead of pills, he was handed a small cardboard box, the tape having been cut open, its insides rifled through by the orderly. It felt like a violation, as if he could have no surprises and no privacy, his life examined for his own safety.
    “ That little girlfriend of yours sure sends you some strange presents , ” said the orderly, peeking over the edge of the box.
    Jacob covered the top of the box with his arm, as if attempting to shield its contents. It did n’ t matter to him that this guy had just been examining everything in there, making his own judgements. He did n’ t want to discuss the things in there with anyone. Politely thanking the guard for the box, he scurried away, down the hall to his room, and rushed inside, pulling the door firmly shut behind him.
    With his back against the door, he let himself slide to the floor, the box cradled gently in his arms. His breath was tight in his chest with excitement. Had she done it, sent him the things that he had asked her for?
                  She had seemed confused when he finally felt that the time was right to ask her for what he really wanted, what he treasured more than anything in the world.
    “ Jake , ” she giggled through the phone ,“ if you need something to jack off to, why do n’ t I send you some real porn instead of stupid old fashion magazines. Or, if we want to really have some fun, I can take some naked selfies and mailthose to you. Really give those filthy old orderly perverts a thrill . ”
    “ No , ” he stammered, frustrated. It was always about sex with her. Every conversation that they had, whether it be on the telephone or on one of her visits, eventually turned to what type of underwear she was wearing, or which corner they could sneak off into and not be noticed for a few minutes .“ I t’ s no t…. ” He paused, trying to think of the right words to say without raising her suspicions .“ I like the photography , ” he said, keeping it simple, close to the truth but not entirely truthful. He had asked her to send him a stack of the new fashion magazines. He knew that the Fall lines had come out, and that each designer had done a full spread in one magazine or another. He hoped, in searching the glossy pages, that someone had taken the time to turn the lens on his angel, perhaps a story on her pregnancy, and her image would fill the pages in front of him, her words, her voice. It was the only way that he could be with her from inside this place, and it had been too long.
    Folding back the sides of the box, Jake reached gingerly into the dim space inside, trailing his fingertips along foreign textures, attempting to identify the items inside before extricating them from the shipping container. Confused, he furrowed his brow as he ran across something silky, almost wet feeling on the top of the pile. Pinching it between his fingers, he lifted it from the box and held it out to the light. Black satin panties, small black bows made of lace holding the edges together, dangled from the end of his finger. She had worn the m— he could tel l— and sent them to him to freshen the memory of the scent of her body.
                  He set them on the floor near his knee, ignoring them for now. He would need to hide them later, along with everything else, to keep the nurses or the orderlies from stealing his treasures from his room again. Reaching back into the box, he withdrew a stack of Polaroid photographs, held together