His nerves were shot. The police were growing more suspicious and dogged his every step. Though Herbert could hardly begrudge them doing their job, it was becoming more bothersome to have them poking around his business.
If only they knew the terrors he performed. They would think him a madman. Prison? Ha. If he were lucky. He was more likely to end up in an asylum somewhere, stashed away in a padded cell and forgotten like so many before him.
Herbert wondered to himself if Gruber ever had the same problem as he walked through his bedroom door, closing it behind him. Gruber had been a genius like himself, after all, and all genius was thought to be madness to the less informed.
He sighed as he removed his coat and threw it across a nearby chair. Herbert looked to the mounds of paperwork littering his desk, case studies from the hospital needing his input as well as his own personal experiments which begged for completion.
"Let them wait," he muttered.
There was no sense in starting any of it now. With his mind wandering everywhere else, he couldn't imagine trying to focus on these things now. They required a keen eye, one of which Herbert, in his current state of being, did not feel he possessed.
There was only one thing that truely soothed his rattled mind. Something like a comfort blanket, though in reality it was no blanket at all. Herbert hummed a tune quietly as he crossed to his television set and switched it on, the shadow of a smile crossing his face as the screen flickered into life.
- - - - - - - - - -
Dan arrived home a short time later, heaving the breath of relief he always did to be away from the hospital. He loved medicine, loved even more being the one to save another human's life, but the hours were long and strenuous, leaving both his body and mind exhausted at the end of the day.
He hung up his coat and made for the kitchen, his stomache growling for something tasty, when a peculiar sound filled his ears. It sounded almost like singing, and Dan felt he could recognize the song.
Ignoring the protests of his stomache, Dan turned away and slowly walked down the hallway, following the noise to Herbert's bedroom. He pressed his ear to the door and, sure enough, there came the sound of women singing.
He turned the knob and let himself in.
"Herbert..?" Dan said cautiously.
Herbert jerked around, his face going somewhat pale.
"Now Dan," he stated. "This isn't what it looks like."
Dan crossed his arms, one brow raised.
"Meg has been looking everywhere for that movie. Think I could borrow it for her when you're done? She loves Mamma Mia."