If there is one thing that Patrick Jane does not do well, it's following directions. Teresa Lisbon has had to dig the team out of trouble many times cause Jane does whatever he wants. Not that he doesn't respect others. He does, he just doesn't seem to come off that way. But none the less he gets the job done, well and fast.
That being said when the team got the Amy Parks case, following directions was something Jane was forced to do, and the whole team suffered from it.
Jane, who never seems to ever get sick, well got sick. His fever spiked to 103 and Lisbon made him go to the doctor who checked him into the hospital. Jane hated hospitals and doctors and would do anything he could to get out of them.
But at first he didn't complain too much cause he felt like complete crap, and a hospital bed, or just a bed in general was sounding pretty good to him.
A few hours after Jane had been checked into the hospital the team got the Amy Parks case. A twenty year old girl found outside of Bakersfield. Lisbon told Grace Van Pelt to find a hotel for the team and then rounded up Wayne Rigsby and Kimball Cho.
"What about Jane?" Cho asked.
"He'll have to stay in the hospital. We'll just have to do this one on our own. We closed cases without him before. It's nothing new guys." Lisbon said.
Cho, Rigsby and Van Pelt just gave glances at each other.
"Come on, it's a long drive down to Bakersfield. Let's hit the road." Lisbon turned to leave.
Once she was out of sight she gave Jane's hospital room a call.
"Hello?" Jane said groggily like he just woke up.
"I wake you?"
"A little. What's up Lisbon?"
"Hey, we got a case, but it's in Bakersfield. We're on our way now. I just wanted to let you know. But if you need anything at all, just call alright?"
"Alright. Sorry I'm going to miss all the fun."
"You just get better."
"Yes, ma'am."
Then they hung up. Lisbon wasn't thrilled about the long drive, as she hated road trips. But this time she really hated to go cause she didn't like leaving Jane in the hospital with no one to check up on him. Almost on cue Van Pelt showed up and offered to stay in Sacramento and keep an eye on Jane.
Lisbon knew that Van Pelt didn't like always staying in the office and was much happier out in the field. But she was also grateful that Van Pelt would volunteer. Not that Jane needed a baby sitter, while there had been a few times a babysitter for Jane would have been nice. Lisbon was proud that the unit was like a family, not just to her but to everyone on the team.
"Thanks Grace." Lisbon said. "But it's also not necessary. He's a grown man and it's just the flu."
A slight look of relief came over Van Pelt. Yes, she meant it when she said she'd stay, she knew Lisbon would worry about Jane and so would she. But Van Pelt loved to be in the field more than anything and would do anything to get the chance.
The team shortly thereafter left to go down to Bakersfield, it was a long drive and none of them really spoke. But they all knew that Jane was on their mind. For more reasons other than he was just in the hospital. Jane knew how to get the job done in a flash. He could pick out the guilty party in a heartbeat, none of them could do that and when they got to the scene they knew that they would need Jane on the case, and that Jane was unable to do that.
Amy Parks had been strangled and then stabbed for what looked like just the fun of it. Lisbon knew that they would need Jane. She tried to talk to the doctor but he said that Jane's fever was too high for Jane to be released or have anything to do with work. As it was the doctor also didn't want Lisbon to talk to Jane about the case cause Jane was already after the doctor about letting him get back to
As mentioned Jane did not like to follow orders. So staying in the hospital while the team worked a case was really hard for him.
With the Amy Parks case there were no real leads or suspects or anything. Lisbon was frustrated and wished that she hadn't of taken the case. Who was Amy Parks and why would anyone do this to her.
Jane was glad for the rest, seeing how it seemed he rarely got any, and it helped him feel better. But he too was frustrated for he couldn't seem to shake not feeling completely well and the team had a case that he would have gladly been there for. The team at times seemed like they couldn't manage without him.
Thankfully Van Pelt was able to do a little research on Amy and get a little bit of history on her. She was a teenage runaway from Tulsa Oklahoma. She had met a guy out there named Jamie Hull who had promised a life of bliss if Amy came to California with him.
After getting to California things didn't go as Amy had hoped. She was a high school dropout and runaway with nowhere to go, and no one to turn to when Jamie moved in with a much older woman Tracey Stack.
According to Van Pelt's research there wasn't much else on Jamie or Tracey. But Lisbon was now determined to find them and see what they could tell us about Amy. What had Amy been doing all these years since she left home at seventeen?
Jane's fever was still too high for the doctor to okay him leaving the hospital. Now Jane was beginning to get annoyed. He never got sick, why did he have to now. And why wasn't his body getting rid of the stupid flu or whatever that was making him, and those around him miserable?
The doctor had told Lisbon and the rest that if they talk to Jane there was to be nothing to do with work. Jane was a pain enough as it was, they didn't wanted him to get worked up too much and an even bigger pain than he was starting to be.
Lisbon so wanted to seek Jane's advice, he always seemed to have the answers. She even thought sometimes that Jane might have a point to thinking that they couldn't manage without him. She hated that and would never admit it to anyone, especially not to Jane. She hated that they were so dependent on him. He even had to get himself out of jail to help them when they were trying to help him.
Van Pelt found out that Amy had lied about her age and got a fake id and papers and landed a job at an ad agency called Ryman's Writers. She was very good at what she did and everyone liked her.
When Lisbon and the team couldn't find one person they thought would do this to her, she wanted to throw in the towel more than anything. She knew the team probably felt the same way.
"Too bad Jane isn't here. By now we'd have someone in custody if he was." Rigsby said.
"Well he isn't. We don't need Jane to solve this people. Come on, we've done this without him before, we can do it now." Lisbon said.
Two days later the team was no closer to closing the case and Jane was finally released from the hospital but under strict orders by the doctor to bed rest. The doctor told him no work, but this time Jane had no mind to listen. He intended to take his bed rest on the couch in the bullpen.
Jane's fever was down the only thing that seemed to be left of his illness was a lingering cough that interrupted his talking from time to time.
Lisbon walked into the bullpen the day after returning to Sacramento shocked to find Jane resting on his couch.
"Jane, what are you doing here?"
"Bed rest."
"Correct me if I'm wrong. But the couch isn't a bed, and you aren't resting."
"You're wrong. How many times have you seen me resting here on this couch?" Jane said with a small smirk.
"Well I'm glad to see you on a couch instead of the hospital bed."
"Thank you. You close the case?"
"Nope."
"Sorry, I'm still not allowed to help, doctor's orders." Jane said smiling.
"Well I'm not going to ask for your help. So we'll both be happy." Lisbon said as she turned to leave. Then she turned around. "Have any ideas?"
"I need an update on the case and then we're close this in no time."