If Thoughts Could Kill - tagalogue

Written by Brad Buckner, Eugenie Ross-Leming & Tom Sawyer (excerpts from the episode belong to them)

"...and the lab is being dismantled, Glazer and his partner were picked up an hour ago, case closed!" Lee punctuated his statement with wave of his hand.

Amanda turned towards him as they continued to walk down the corridor. "Now, see, Glazer never would have been caught if you hadn't gone to the hospital," she said, wagging her finger at him. "Aren't you glad you went?"

"Glad?" he replied with a derisive sigh. "No, no, I am not glad. I still think those places are the weirdest, creepiest..." He was interrupted as he hit the button for the elevator.

"Scarecrow," Billy called as he joined them. "Mrs. King."

"Hello." She nodded.

"Alec just phoned," Billy began a little hesitantly, "and now that Glazer's been arrested and his license pulled, the results of those tests he gave you are invalidated."

Amanda knew what this meant and took in a sharp breath, knowing the argument that would come from their "patient."

Scarecrow gave him a dubious glance, then turned away with a waving gesture of his hand. "Billy, come on, don't even kid around about something like that..."

"They expect you at the hospital in the morning."

"Billy!" Lee exclaimed, looking helplessly from him to Amanda as if hoping someone would get him out of going back to that nightmare of a place.

Amanda noticed that Billy's gaze also sought her out, so she began backing up, coming in contact with the wall behind her. She spread her arms a little, then pointed to the "Bedside Bluebell" outfit she was wearing, her coat folded across her left arm. "I'll just get this uniform pressed," she said with a nervous smile.

"Billy, come on! There's gotta be something you can do!" He voice was pleading and half-desperate. After what he had just endured, Amanda was sure that going back to that hospital was far beyond the last thing he wanted to do.

"I'm sorry, Scarecrow. You've been dodging this thing for far too long. My hands are tied," he stated, gesturing as if he was surrendering. He turned to face Amanda again and continued, "Amanda, thank you for your help with Lee for the past few days. I trust we can count on you to be of assistance for this as well?"

"Yes, sir," she replied, overly cheerful. "You can count on me. You know I always love being helpful, so anywhere you need me, anytime you need me, you can just ask. I'll be glad to help! In fact, if you like, I can..." She stopped when she saw the look in Lee's eyes. It was almost a look of betrayal, like she was working for the enemy by not helping him get out of going back to the hospital.

"Good. Scarecrow!" He turned towards Lee with a stern face. "Bright and early tomorrow morning. No excuses." He started to turn away, then added, "And that's an order!"

Lee sighed as soon as Billy walked away. "Traitor!" he mumbled, partially under his breath.

"What?"

"You heard me." He looked Amanda square in the face. "How could you just agree to go along with them like that. You know they're just looking to get back at me."

"Get back at you for what?"

"I don't know!" He ran his hand through his hair as he began to pace. Suddenly, he turned back to face her and snapped his fingers. "Ah, ha! I've got it!"

"What have you got?" When he turned around so suddenly in the middle of his pacing, Amanda had to keep herself from jumping back. It was like being with a jack-in-a-box, never knowing when it's going to spring out.

"Why they're doing this."

"Well, would you like to share your theory?" She shifted her coat to her other arm and clasped her hands in front of her as she waited for his reply.

"I'm a rule-breaker, Amanda. They want to put me somewhere where I can't break the rules. It's some sick form of a joke on their part, and I'm not gonna do it." He started to walk away, but Amanda grabbed the back of his suit jacket along with the collar of his shirt.

"Oh, yes, you are," she retorted, when he turned back around. "Mr. Melrose is not trying to do anything to you. You need to have your physical, and he just wants to make sure you get it." She reached up and straightened his tie before she realized what she was doing, and at the odd look in his eyes, she dropped her hand to her side. Masking the slight awkwardness of the moment, she forced herself to sound stern. "Now, I'm going to be at that hospital bright and early tomorrow morning, and if you're not there, I'll come and get you myself."

"Oh yeah?" Lee teased, watching as the elevator doors opened and Amanda stepped backwards into it. "And just how are you gonna find me?"

"I have my ways," she retorted with a grin just as the elevator doors closed in front of her.

* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

"All right, Mr. Stetson," the nurse began. "Remove your outer clothing and put on this gown, then make yourself comfortable." She laid the neatly pressed gown on the bed and turned towards the door. "I'll be back in a few minutes," she added, eyeing Amanda with a raised brow.

Amanda watched the nurse leave, wondering about that strange look, then heard Lee calling her name.

"Amanda," he said again and her eyes shifted to focus on him. "Do you mind?" He held up the gown with one hand and gestured with his other for her to turn around.

"Oh. Ohhh! I'm so sorry!" she exclaimed in embarassment. "Maybe I should just go..."

"No, it'll only take a moment."

Not saying anything, she immediately turned to look out the window. She tried not to think about Lee and what he was doing behind her, so she forced her mind to think about Dean. It was strange, though. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't conjure up a clear image of him. His face would blur and be replaced by the visage of the man to whom she now had her back turned. That realization alone was enough to to cause concern.

"All right, I'm done. You can turn around now."

She shrugged her shoulders and made her way back to where Lee was now sitting on the bed, his legs extended and his back propped up against the headboard. "Lean up."

"What?"

"Lean up," she repeated, placing a hand on his back and giving him a little push. She reached for his pillow, shook it out, gave it a good fluffing, then returned it behind him and gently pushed him back against it. "Now, isn't that better?" He sighed, then shifted a little until he obviously found a comfortable spot, but she could tell he wasn't about to admit it. She clasped her hands together and gave him a bright smile. "So, is there anything else I can get you?"

"Amanda, I already told you what you could get me the last time I was in this place. My mood wasn't good then, and it certainly hasn't improved now, so could you do me a favor and loose the "bedside bluebell" routine, huh?"

Undaunted, Amanda began pulling the covers up over his legs, more to cover them from her own view than anything else. She just couldn't focus very well otherwise. "Well, your mood is your choice, but at least you're back to your usual self and not stressed out over sticking to those lists," she said as she began smoothing one side of the covers, "tense and worried because everything isn't going according to plan. I knew there was something wrong. It just wasn't like you. As for getting you what you requested, you can forget it." She reached across him to fold back the covers on the other side of the bed. "There's no way I'm going to sneak any alcohol into this hospital, and the only woman you're going to get is me, other than the nurses, so you'd better just take what you can get and live with it."

Finished with her task, she stood up straight again and realized he had become very quiet...too quiet. Wondering why, she turned to face him and saw a very unusual look in his eyes. As her words came back to her, she realized why he was looking at her so strangely, and she could feel a blush steal into her cheeks. In an attempt to cover her embarassment, she cleared her throat and began backing away from the bed. "The...uh...nurse will be back any moment, so I should probably be going...now," she stammered, her hands swinging at her sides, gesturing as she talked. When she reached the door, she stopped and turned. "Oh, I did manage to get you something."

"What's that?" Lee asked with an amused grin.

"Catch," she replied and tossed him the item from her pocket.

Lee caught what she threw and looked down to find a Chewy Chubby Bar. He smiled and shook his head as she left the room, then he tapped the candy bar against his hand as he pondered what had just happened. Her bedside manner was certainly nothing he'd ever encountered before. Perhaps having her around for the next three days wouldn't be so bad after all.

(THE END)

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