"Mr. Jackson Smith here to see one Captain James Murdock," said a blond man with a dazzling smile that was doing wonders for the redheaded nurse. She was blushing a bit (after all it wasn't like dashing men came to the VA everyday, especially to see such a patient as Murdock). Her smile was sweet if shy. She had seen this man at the hospital before but she had always been busy with other duties, but she did notice he always came to visit one of the craziest patients in the hospital.
To her, Murdock had an enduring insanity. To be honest, she thought that it took someone pretty sane to be as insane as Murdock seemed to be. But she wasn't getting paid to make her own opinions on long-term patients; so with another shy smile, she handed Mr. Smith some papers he needed to sign. It was sweet that someone was finally here to visit with Murdock who was seeming lonely without much contact from the outside world.
She pushed her thoughts aside as she handed Mr. Smith a pen. "If you could just sign these. Mr. Murdock should be out of his treatments any minute now," she said, trying to sound upbeat and cheery. Her cheeriness faltered when she saw Mr. Smith grimace and flinch at 'treatments'. Something might have happened in the past, but the nurse didn't dwell too long on it since Mr. Smith quickly signed the papers. He forced a smile and polite nod to her as he handed the papers over before heading to Murdock's room.
Face's smile had turned into a concerned frown as he wandered down the halls. He hoped and prayed (and he wasn't much of a praying man) that Murdock would be alright.
In all honesty, none of the team had heard from their boisterous friend in awhile. A few days here and there with no contact was normal, but almost three weeks and not a word made the team very concerned and worried for their 'crazy' friend. And each person felt differently about it.
Hannibal was worried because Murdock was the best damn pilot he had ever known, and he considered the lad to be under his care and protection. Hannibal did not like the fact that someone he felt responsible for was in trouble of some sort (and knowing Murdock, it could be any sort of trouble). It was worrying him so much that he went through cigars like the chain smoker he wasn't.
B.A. didn't show his concern until the second week. He was glad for once that there were no random ramblings from the 'crazy fool' nor were there different personalities and accents to drive him to insanity. But by the second week (though he would never admit this out loud to anyone) he was actually beginning to miss the input that Murdock often made about whatever happened to pop into his bizarre mind. As much as B.A. complained about it, he didn't really mind Murdock's idiosyncrasies all that much.
Face was just a mess. He was torn about Murdock. In a sense, he saw Murdock as someone he felt the need to look after (especially since the whole Lynch incident). Murdock was a bit out there, but Face couldn't have asked for a better friend. The thought of something going wrong with him in the VA made the faceman nauseous. At the same time, it was nice to have some quiet time.
After the second week, Face and Hannibal were at wits end and decided that one of them should go to the VA to make sure Murdock was alright. They decided that Face should go. He and Murdock were the closest, making Face the preferred choice. Besides, Hannibal thought Murdock could use a friendlier face.
Face moved quickly down the final hall to Murdock's room. "Ah…excuse me, sir," he began to the orderly standing near Murdock's door. "Do you mind letting me into Captain Murdock's room? I'd like to give him a pleasant surprise. Especially seeing that I'm an old friend of his," he said with a smirk.
The orderly gave the blond man an almost disgusted look. Face just overlooked that little fact. If the idiot wanted to think that Face and Murdock had a thing, then let him. It would serve the orderly right. A total assumption on the bastard's part. And for a man who took some delight in assaulting psych ward patients, he was being awfully judgmental about Face and Murdock's apparent relationship. Face was sickened to think that such a man was allowed to work there. His anger, however, would get him nowhere at this time.
"Well, I'm not sure I'm allowed to let you in," the orderly commented hesitantly.
"Come on. It's just this once. I swear," begged the face-man with a charming smile. He was getting antsy. He needed to see Murdock and soon.
When it was clear that the orderly wasn't budging, Face's smile turned sickly sweet. "Open the damn door or else I will leak footage that will destroy your entire future." The orderly's eyes widened. How could that man have footage? In any case, he gulped and acquiesced to Murdock's extortionist friend.
"Thank you," Face said, clapping the man on the shoulder before entering the room that made Templeton Peck give a genuine smile. It was definitely Murdock's room. There was such a child like quality to the small space, and yet it had all the dignity of a grown man's room. That's Murdock for you, thought Face with a chuckle as he took a seat in the worn Lazy-boy to wait for the Captain's inevitable return, which was only a few minutes as Peck soon heard shuffling of feet and jingling of keys outside Murdock's door.
Murdock entered the room after the orderly opened it. His eyes were downcast, remaining on the tips of his worn Converse and not noticing his friend in the chair (who was noting some key things about Murdock's unmasked face). His eyes were a bit muted, lacking their normal sparkle of life and he had this hurt, pained, and lonely expression that just sent a knife through Face's heart.
"Hey, Murdock," Face said with a genuine smile.
The Captain's head snapped up, and a mask of being alright slid into place (much to Face's dismay). "Hey, Facey. Whatcha doin' here?" Murdock asked as he shuffled to his bed. He hurt to much to much more than sit on his bed. In Murdock's opinion, this was the worst timing Peck had ever had. And the lieutenant had some pretty poorly timed visits.
Note: work in progress and I'm not sure if I'm coming back to it or not.