Summary: What if the 'Therapist' episode had ended differently? Hal had remembered to put his break on, the boys couldn't prove that they were innocent, and the Physiatrist spoke to Lois and Hal about Malcolm being sent away.
Disclaimer: Whoever owns Malcolm in the Middle owns Malcolm in the Middle; I own nothing. There will be no other disclaimers in this story, simply because I'm lazy. This counts for all.
AN: Literally just watched 'Clip Show' and this idea came to me almost immediately and I just had to write it down, so here goes... Hope you enjoy!
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"Mr and Mrs Wilkerson... may I call you Hal and Lois?" The Physiatrist was a man with greying blonde hair, retro glasses and a tie that almost covered his entire front from the neck down. Lois thought that he was very ordinary for a therapist, and that gave her the slightest grain of hope that his normalness had rubbed off on her children in the space of half an hour.
"Yes, yes. Now, Doctor, could you tell us if-"Hal was rubbing his hands together, leaning forwards towards the man on the other side of the desk longingly, almost willing the man to produce and solution with a click of his fingers.
"-if I have found the solution to your problems? Yes I think I have. It's a fairly common case actually, and one in eight families in this state have it, especially with boys, where there is a-"
"Yes, we get it. In English." Lois snapped, banging her hands down on the table, and fixing the Doctor with a glare that she often fixed to her sons. He didn't hold up as long as Malcolm, Reese and nowhere near as long as Francis, but he beat Dewey by about a millisecond.
"Your- Um- Your middle son, Malcolm, is um- I think the ringleader. He's obviously cl- clever and p-picture this: he's sitting at home with his brothers, watching TV, and his brain is whirring because it's not satisfied with the boring level of things. So why not take the car out for a joyride, bring his brothers along?" Lois' lips where parted and she was slowly nodding her head, and Hal had collapsed back into his seat with his head in his hands, muttering 'no' under his breath.
"Malcolm? I was thinking that it would be Reese I mean-" Lois was the first to recover, was giving the Therapist a glare and he was desperately ignoring her eyes. But as his words sunk in, her forehead cleared of lines in understanding.
"But he's just Malcolm... Malcolm in the Middle..." the Therapist stiffened, as he heard Hal's soft and moaning voice, saying the same words the boy in question had said not twenty minutes before. There was something about that phrase, Malcolm in the Middle. He shook his head slightly. He was being silly. But still, he stored it away on his infamous clipboard anyway.
"I'm sorry to suggest this, Hal, Lois, but I think that you may have to take the same path of action you took with your oldest. I think that it is in the best interests of Malcolm and your other sons to send him away." Hal froze, limbs locking up, while Lois nodded her head quickly.
"Good idea, I've done it once before, I can do it again..." the woman straightened up and pursed her lips, before sticking her hand out. Hesitantly, the normal shook it. "It's good to have a professional's confirmation this time..."
Abruptly she stood, and stalked over to the door, crossed her arms over her chest and began to tap her foot rhythmically and angrily.
Hal took his head out of his hands.
"Are you sure...?" The man sounded broken, and lost, and for a moment, the Doctor wanted to tell him that he hadn't failed as a father. But then, he would almost certainly be lying, looking at the fact that one child was already in Military School, another was headed there by his instruction, one was a bully, and the last seemed to be a little bit... odd.
The Doctor nodded.
Lois opened the door.
Three pairs of eyes focused on her.