Chapter 3: Plans and Schemes
Disclaimer: BtVS characters belong to Joss Whedon / Mutant Enemy. CSI: Miami characters belong to Anthony E. Zuiker, Carol Mendelsohn, Ann Donahue and CBS. Diagnosis Murder characters belong to Joyce Burditt and CBS. I claim no rights to any copyrighted material. Please do not copy or take this story without my permission.
A/N: Thanks to AshDawnSoulmates, nightshadowlife and zigpal for betaing this for me. This chapter is in honor of all the pain and suffering one woman went through many years ago to bring AshDawnSoulmates into the world. If not for her, I wouldn't have a fabulous beta and cheerleader.
----------------------------------------
Dr. Matthews' office
After a few minutes more of observing the group, the doctor decided that Buffy had enough and shooed everyone out. Then she called her friend, Dr. Nicole Hobbes, a psychiatrist who just happened to have done her thesis on the different types of memory loss. Dr. Matthews thought it might prove useful in this case. The other doctor said she'd be there as soon as she could.
Once Nicki got there a couple hours later with a few of her interns, she asked, "Now, what's so special about this girl that you dragged me down here from LA?"
Karen showed her the brain scans from Buffy's recovery, starting with the first ones up until the latest ones. "All the physical reasons for her memory loss have gone away already – after only a few days. However, it's her reactions to her mother and friends that bothers me." She went on to explain how Giles and Oz brought Buffy in, claiming she had been mugged; how the whole group hovered by her bedside for days until she woke up; how Buffy reacted to the attention they all gave her.
Leaning back in her chair, Nicki summarized, "Okay. So you're saying she was scared of her mother and three of her friends, but the two that brought her in, she felt comfortable with?"
"Yeah. And all seven of them looked like they had been in a fight," Karen added.
Nicki narrowed her eyes at her friend and demanded, "Why didn't you notify the police about the suspected abuse?"
Karen snorted derisively, "I did! But the detective that came to 'investigate' – someone named Stein – took one look at Buffy and said she probably had it coming, then left. Oh, but not before he said to be sure to tell the others if they wanted to press charges against her, to give him a call."
Shaking her head at the sheer idiocy of the detective, Nicki managed to ask, "You've got to be kidding! What did his supervisor say?"
"That the detective had his full support, and if he thought there was no case, then they wouldn't waste taxpayer dollars on it. I got the same line of crap all the way up to the Mayor," Karen replied, her anger evident.
"Wow. Makes you wonder if they're just lazy or corrupt." Nicki sighed, "So, that option is out."
Karen gave her a plaintive look. "That's why I called you. I hoped that if there was something strange going on, you could file a report to the state agencies to back mine up."
Thinking over the situation from all possible angles, Nicki suggested, "Have you tried to talk to the ones that brought her in?"
The doctor shook her head sadly, "I haven't been able to get them alone since she woke up. And the way the mother is acting, I can't risk having her pull me off Buffy's case."
"You're the best neurologist here. You really think she would do that to her own child?" Nicki inquired doubtfully. Was the woman really that spiteful or stupid?
"I don't know. Maybe my radar is all screwy on this one," Karen admitted. "Could you do your 'specialist' routine and check them out?" she pleaded.
"Sure. Just let me call my partner, Jack, and have him come down. We'll need to have another psychiatrist to help with our ruse – somebody the mother can discuss treatment options with. He can also interview everyone in a formal setting." Nicki paused for a breath before continuing with her plan, "You and I will watch them interact one-on-one with her, and these guys will listen to the conversations in the waiting room. See what everyone is saying when they don't think anyone is paying attention. It wouldn't be admissible, but it should give us a clue if we're on the right track or not," she admitted.
Karen let out the breath she had been holding, relieved to have help in this. "Right now, all I want to do is help her. We would still have our observations and Jack's to share with the authorities."
"Okay. Let's go get this started, then," Nicki said, then turned to her interns to give them instructions on what to do.
----------------------------------------
Waiting room
Dr. Matthews gathered all of Buffy's visitors together to explain, "Having so many people in the room is too stressful on Buffy. What Dr. Hobbes and I would like to try is for you to visit her one person at a time."
Sensing this was the best time for her to put her plan into motion, Joyce pulled the doctors to the side to tell them privately, "I'm sorry, doctors, but I'm not comfortable with Mr. Giles being alone with Buffy."
Dr. Hobbes gave her an unreadable look. "Really. Do you think there's something going on between them?" she inquired clinically. She was starting to get a handle on this woman. Call it instincts, but it wasn't good for the patient's mother.
Joyce decided to hedge, "I can't say for certain; it's just a feeling I have."
"I see. Well, there's no reason to worry. One or both of us will be present for all the talks so we can monitor Buffy's response," Dr. Matthews assured her. "Nothing will happen to her."
Upset that her visit would be watched as well, Joyce faked her response, "Oh. That's great. Now who is Dr. Hobbes again?"
The neurologist gave her the line they had used in the past, "She's a specialist who's had experience with memory loss patients. She'll be able to help come up with a treatment plan. Now, why don't you go first?"
After Joyce walked away, Karen whispered to Nicki, "Are the others ready to start listening in out here?"
"Yep. They'll filter in and sit where they can hear the others the easiest," Nicki answered quietly.
They both missed the strange look they got from one of the people in the room.
----------------------------------------
Buffy's room
Over the course of the next hour or so, the doctors watched as each person made their way into Buffy's room. The first four sent almost guilty glances at the observers before turning their attention to the young woman laying on the bed.
Hobbes found it very telling that Joyce, Willow, Xander and Cordelia used commanding language with Buffy. Things like she had to get better, or she had to remember. They would tell her about events from the past. Happy times they wanted her to recall.
In sharp contrast, when Oz came in, he simply asked if there was anything he could do for her. And though he was startled by the request – as indicated by his raised eyebrow – he held her hand and simply talked to her when that was her answer. Not about their shared past, but about music, books, movies…anything that made her happy and comfortable.
However, it was Buffy's reaction to Giles that the doctors most wanted to analyze – especially given Joyce's vague allegations against him. Buffy's earlier response didn't indicate anything coercive. But the fact she was a minor wouldn't help him if it was consensual.
Joyce's dislike of the man was certainly real enough. The question the doctors had to figure out was why? Was it something he did or something she was hiding?
Giles came to the bedside, looking like he was fighting with himself to keep from touching Buffy. An action that caught the doctors' attention. "How are you coping, dear girl?" he inquired politely.
She gave him the saddest look he had seen on her since she had to confess to sleeping with Angel. "I could use a hug, Daddy," she whimpered softly. Then she grabbed him before he could say anything, burying herself into his arms.
Which was a good thing, since he just stood there, blinking. "What?" he asked in a daze.
Buffy missed the question, though, and returned with her own, "Could you fight for custody of me? I don't think Mom really likes me."
Giles stroked her hair to comfort her. "Oh, your mother loves you; she's just upset right now. But, Buffy, I'm not your father," he told her gently.
But she still burst into sobs at the revelation. She was so certain he loved her. "You're not?" she managed to gasp out in between her cries.
"No, sweet girl. I'm just a friend from the high school. You and your friends hang out in the library, and that's where I work. You aren't very close to your father, so I think you have just substituted me for him in some ways," he explained, still trying to calm her down.
"So you don't really care about me?" Buffy asked, sniffling.
Giles grabbed her chin tightly and forced her to look at him. "Of course I do. You are very special to me! Never doubt that, do you understand?" he insisted vehemently, his own eyes bright with unshed tears.
She cheered up marginally. "Alright. As long as I can still have the hugs," she countered.
Now that she quieted down, he let go of her to take his glasses off to wipe them. "Whatever you need," he vowed.
Buffy gave him one of her trademark pouts – designed to get him to acquiesce to her demands. "Cool. Can you sneak me in some ice cream then?" she requested slyly.
Giles chuckled, heartened by her return to normalcy – even if she didn't know it. "Just tell me what kind."
"Thanks…what do I call you?" she suddenly asked, realizing that she hadn't considered it. She had been so sure he was her father, she didn't think about it before.
He smiled at her. "Giles."
"Your last name?" she replied, looking doubtful.
"You didn't like my first name: Rupert," he clarified.
Buffy wrinkled her nose and commented, "I can see why."
----------------------------------------
A/N: Next…What the interns overheard.
