10
Matt didn't really sleep that night. Right after Walon left they brought him her personal effects from the hospital, meaning her wedding rings. Apparently they thought she might try to harm herself in some way with them so they gave them to him. He rolled them over and over again in his hand, thinking back to that morning he first woke up to her next to him, lying on his bare chest. He remembered the look on her face when he gave it to her and asked her to marry him. The first time they made love the night before and every time in between, all played in his mind all night long.
Matt had been with many women and fallen in love before, but his relationship with C.J. was far beyond all of his other experiences combined. She was truly a part of him. The last two weeks in the Caribbean, he thought, would plant enough happy memories for her in her mind that whatever she had to face now would pale in comparison.
In the light of day now, he knew he had to contact his uncle and tell him what had happened. He really didn't want to though. This whole experience was bad enough for him, but C.J...just the fact that she was facing all this on top of being admitted had to be overwhelming. She was the most independent woman he had ever met and all of this would mortify her, he knew.
Her safety was more important though. He had work to do and he needed to make sure she would be out of the reach of whoever was doing all this. Brad and Greg would be here non stop to be Matt's eyes and ears until he solved the case.
He got out of bed and got dressed. As he made his way back to her room, he could hear arguing again. Matt stepped into the room as she sat on the bed with her arms folded, shaking her head.
A nurse was telling her, "Look, Mrs. Parsons'-Houston, we have regulations. You have to eat what we bring you. If you don't we can get a feeding tube..."
Matt stopped her right there, "A what? No, you can't. No one is getting any feeding tube." The nurse started to object and C.J. didn't really acknowledge him so he told her, "I understand procedures and policies...look...could you give us a minute, huh?"
The nurse then said, "I'm not really supposed to, but...Dr. Walon has it noted that you can be alone with her from time to time." The nurse headed to the door and said before leaving, "You can only have about an hour alone. She needs monitoring by a professional, Mr. Houston."
Matt turned back around to C.J. who just stared straight in front of her. He swallowed and sat slowly on the edge of her bed. He knew better than to try to put an arm around her or even take her hand. He looked down for a second, trying to think of the words to say and then looked back at her. "How did you sleep?" He asked softly.
C.J. just closed her eyes, swallowed and then said softly, "Fine for a mental patient I guess."
Matt blinked and then told her, "You aren't a mental patient..."
She turned to face him and interrupted, "Funny, I would swear the sign outside this building says its a mental hospital."
Matt took a deep breath, "C.J..."
She interrupted again, "C.J. what? What, Matt? Do you know I had to have someone follow me into the bathroom this morning. Apparently I can't be trusted to even do that alone. Why would you do this to me?"
Matt swallowed again and told her, "I'm not doing anything to you." He softly took her hand and ran his fingers over her bandaged wrist. "Do you remember what happened to your wrist?"
C.J. looked at it and her other one. The look in her eyes as it hit her that both were bandaged just dug into Matt a little more. Very softly she replied, "No I don't."
Matt took her wrist up to his lips and kissed it, holding there for a second. Then he told her, "You cut them..." She shook her head but he continued, "Yes you did...I found you. Listen, I told you someone is controlling you. They've gotten inside your head and they're trying to kill you and I can't take the chance of you getting hurt again. I won't lose you."
She looked back down and cried again. This time he brought her into his arms and held her, rocking her until she had a good cry. He was crying too. After several minutes he pulled her back and told her, "I swear to you, I'm gonna find out who this is that's doing this. But I need your help. I need you to stay here and work with these doctors to find out how it is they're controlling you. I know you remember the Magician and what he did to me. You remember Andrea telling us that he used something painful from my past, my kidnapping to tap into that fear and manipulate me. I think the exact same thing has been done to you. These doctors here are better than Andrea."
C.J. had such a resigned look on her face. She softly told him, "What do you and they want me to do?"
Matt rubbed her arms and told her, "I don't know yet. I'll be meeting with them in a few minutes to discuss your treat...I mean to talk about all this." She just closed her eyes again. He continued, "I'll be back as soon as I talk to them and tell you everything, alright. In the meantime, I think you need to eat what they brought you. I don't know how difficult today could be and you need your strength. I don't know how long this is going to take, but I promise you C.J...I know I've said it before, but...I love you and I'm never leaving you."
She nodded and he got up to go. A nurse came to the door as he was exiting. She told him C.J. would need a shower soon and asked if he wanted her to handle that or if he would be back. He told her, in no uncertain terms, that he would be helping her, no one else.
Matt got back to his room and called Uncle Roy. He told him what he knew and Roy was clearly very worried about C.J. He told Matt, "Listen, why don't I handle the investigation of Ralls. Baby gave me an address and I can handle going over there myself..."
Matt answered, "If he is the one Uncle Roy, I don't want you going alone."
Roy thought for a second and Matt heard someone whisper something in the background before he said, "Well, how about I get Jaco...I mean Det. Warren to go with me. Would that make you feel better?" In that last question Matt could hear Roy's irritation.
Matt answered, "Fine, I guess. Just let me know how it goes. I really want to be the one to do it, but..."
Roy then told him, "You need to be with C.J. and...Matlock, try to keep in mind that I worked in the Company. I'm not that old and I know what I'm doing, ok?"
Matt then said, "Fine, Uncle Roy, fine. I know. And tell Chris I said thank you."
Roy hit the button on the intercom and then said, "Well, you heard the man."
Chris then said, "I can have Jacob over here in five minutes." She got up to make the call.
Dr. Walon came to the room and knocked as he opened the door, "Mr. Houston? We're ready."
Matt nodded and the two men walked down the hall to a conference room. Inside he found two nurses, two doctors and two therapists. Walon motioned for Matt to sit down and then started, "Mr. Houston, we like to sit down with the family of a patient early to discuss various treatment options. Attempts to commit suicide indicate a larger psychological problem and..."
Matt cut him off and said, "I understand all that. See, the problem is, I don't think she really was trying to commit suicide." The room looked confused so Matt continued. He told them briefly about their lives as private detectives and how at times people would come after them, indicating that, that was what was going on now. "Now I know its hard to believe, but...well...I think everything that is going on right now is all connected to her parents' death." Matt really didn't want to divulge any serious details yet as he really didn't know the people in the room that well, just the mysterious illness, headaches, blackouts and attempts to hurt herself.
One of the doctors, with graying curly hair sat up and said, "Mr. Houston, I'm Dr. Sydney Freedman. You say you think someone is after her to keep her from talking about what they think she remembers about her parent's murders?"
Matt nodded, "Yes I do. I'm sorry, but I can't really say anything more than that. The main reason I have her here is to keep her safe and I need your help...I know C.J...I've known her almost all my life. I know she would never hurt herself like this. Someone is controlling her and I don't know how to fight this. Please, I need your help."
As Matt swallowed Dr. Freedman then said, "Mr. Houston I think I speak for all of us when I say we want to help her. Could you give me a minute with the team here and we'll call you back in, in a minute. In fact, why don't you go spend some time with C.J. and we'll have a nurse come get you." Matt nodded and left.
Back in the room Matt helped C.J. as she got in to shower. She didn't say much to him, still so shocked by everything going on around her. Never in her life would she have seen anything like this coming. It was even hard for her to figure out how she felt about it. She knew Matt loved her, but still...how could he do this? She went to the mat for him more times than she could count.
He told her from outside the shower, as she had gotten undressed in the shower itself with the curtain closed, "You know this isn't going to be forever here, C.J. I'm going to wrap up this case and get you out of here. We both know you don't belong here."
She answered, "And exactly how is that going to happen, Matt. Even if you do find out who killed my father, I now have to jump through all kinds of hoops to get out of here. And it all depends on how these doctors think I'm feeling. You don't get it. I'm the lawyer, Matt. I know how this works. Even you, as my husband won't have the last word...I just wished you trusted me, at least enough to have had a say in this."
Matt swallowed and told her, "I won't let that happen, C.J. No one is keeping you in here after this case is over. You have my word on that. Even if that means I have to bust you out of here. I promise..."
C.J. cut the water off and said, "And how exactly am I supposed to practice law as an escaped mental patient?" She took the towel and wrapped it around her, stepping out. Matt clearly didn't have an answer for her so she said, "That's what I thought. All those years at Harvard..." she just shook her head.
Matt put his hands on her shoulders, "Then work with the doctors..." She rolled her eyes but he continued, "Figure out how they got to you, how they got you to slit your wrists. I promise you, I'll make whoever put all this in place pay, but you have to be the one to extricate them from your mind. You know, C.J., you know that I know exactly what it is you're going through. I don't want you to have to go through what I did. If these doctors can help you get through this in a fraction of the time it took me...I'd give up my entire fortune. I want you back with me and I want our life back. I won't stop til we have it, C.J."
They heard a knock at the door, "Mr. Houston...your time is up."
Matt closed his eyes as C.J. put her head down and nodded. "We'll be right out." He told them.
C.J. turned around and got dressed in sweats quickly as Matt put the towel up and then took her back to the bed.
She had sat down when Dr. Freedman came in the room. He told the nurse, "Nurse Mason, why don't you go get a cup of coffee, huh?"
She said, "Dr. Freedman, I supposed to stay..."
He nodded and told her, "I know you are, but listen, I need a minute here, alright? I saw your schedule, you can't tell me you don't need a coffee break about now."
She took one last look in the room, before leaving she told him, "You know this is against procedures, you're taking full responsibility."
He nodded and she left. Matt then said, "I thought you wanted me to come back to that conference room."
Dr. Freedman put his hands in his pockets and slowly walked over to C.J.'s bed, shrugged and said, "I've always had a hard time following rules. Besides, after reviewing everything and talking to you this morning I thought it would be best to discuss everything in here, with C.J."
C.J. looked up, a bit surprised and said, "Thank you. I appreciate that. I didn't think any one in here thought I should be consulted on anything."
Dr. Freedman smiled a little and then sat down on her bed at her side. Matt was standing closer to her head. He told her, "Well now, sometimes that is the case, but I don't think this is one of those cases. Your husband told us about your job and what it is the two of you do." She smiled a little for a second. He continued, "He also told us about you losing your parents and it sounds like someone has manipulated your mind. I've seen cases like this before, and if that is what's happened, its going to take a lot of work, mostly on your part, to end that."
C.J.'s smile had faded. She told him, "I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I don't remember their deaths, I don't. I don't remember anyone trying to hypnotize me or anything."
She seemed to be frustrated so Freedman tried to calm her down by saying, "Hey now, that's my job to figure that out. What I need from you is to let me talk to you and for you to be honest with me." He took a deep breath and then said, "I'd also like to put you under hypnosis."
Matt then asked, "Won't that be risky? I mean I've had some experience in being on the receiving end of something like this. Couldn't whoever did this have planted little bombs inside her brain that..."
Dr. Freedman interrupted, "Perhaps, but I do have some experience in this myself...on this end of it. I know what to watch for and we won't start out trying to relive anything traumatic. The brain, Mr. Houston, is a marvelous thing. It remembers better than any computer. If its the worst case scenario, if C.J. did witness the deaths of her parents..." C.J. put her head down again and both Matt and Freedman noticed. He continued, "she wouldn't have forgotten it right away. Tapping into memories later in her life, when she still recalled what happened would be safer and that's where I would start. In fact, you told us the two of you grew up in Texas in the forms you filled out last night. I'd like to begin with some of those more pleasant memories." He turned to C.J., "They would also help you just feel better in general, I think."
She nodded and then asked, "When would we do this?"
Freedman smiled and said, "Now that's the attitude I was hoping for. Why don't we do this after we get you something decent to eat. The food here stinks." He looked at Matt, "Since the only thing she touched on that tray is the coffee I'm guessing she likes coffee as much as I do. I'll get some started in my office. Why don't you go grab her a bagel, we have a nice shop just next door to the hospital."
Matt left to go get that bagel for her. He only hoped they could finally get to the bottom of all this.