Chuck vs. the Highway Chapter 10
Author's Note
This is going to be a short chapter, but don't worry I am already working on Chapter 11 and will post it soon. I do hope you enjoy this one.
Also, I am sorry I haven't been responding personally to the reviews y'all have been leaving for some reason I get the notice but I am unable to respond to the review. Please know, I am grateful for your support and words of encouragement. If you have any idea what is going on with the site, please PM me. Thanks!
I don't own the rights to Chuck or the rights to Star Wars… I know it is a travesty.
Incident +5 Months – The Trial
For two months Sarah and Chuck had continued their regular appointments. But the meetings were different – Sarah had become distant – and Chuck upon feeling the wall being built kept straining his brain as to why she was doing it. Chuck had tried to make her laugh, to hold his hand in her comforting way, to hear kindness from her. But each attempt was met with further pulling away. After this had happened a couple of times, Chuck stopped trying.
So he began to show up at the exact time of the appointment, answer questions with as little information as possible, and when the time for the appointment ended he would say, "Thank you Dr. Walker", stand and leave. He knew it was childishness on his part, but he couldn't understand what had happened the night he had called her and she had come over to help him through the darkness he had been in.
At night he obediently took the sleeping pills and slept through each night, but began to dread the mornings. One more day closer to the trial, one more day stuck behind a desk at the evidence locker, one more day without Sarah in his life, because Dr. Walker was not the Sarah he had come to know.
Then as time often does, it moves forward and it was the morning of the trial.
Chuck dressed in his dress uniform, and made his way downtown to the courthouse. He wasn't allowed in the courtroom because he was a witness, but Big Mike had requested that he be onsite in case they got around to calling for him. So he sat in an annex room, trying to shake the feeling of loneliness that had started to plague him, even though there were other witnesses for the prosecution in the room with him. He had been polite and introduced himself to the others, but he didn't want to talk about what was occurring in the courtroom not a few feet from him.
Of course the media was there with cameras and reporters stationed in the halls begging for interviews from anyone involved in the trial. Jill, Bryce's parents, and even Heather's parents were the prime targets, but so was Big Mike and the defense attorney Lester Patel, a slightly built man who came across as one suffering from Napoleonic Syndrome.
So Chuck sat… and sat. He thought of texting Morgan, but didn't know if that was a good idea. He pulled his chair over to the window and began to watch the people walking by and the clouds. He didn't know when he had fallen asleep, but when his shoulder was shaken by Big Mike telling him that Court was in recess for an hour so people could get lunch, Chuck was disappointed because for a brief moment he remembered his dream about a gorgeous blonde therapist.
Chuck stood and began to leave the courthouse, silently grateful for Lester Patel's attempts to be Johny Cochrane. Getting to the sidewalk, he turned right to walk down to a local burger diner. Grabbing a burger and some French fries, Chuck walked down to the city park and sat on a bench enjoying a moment of watching kids playing on the swings. He didn't notice that someone had taken the seat on the bench next to him.
"Hi Chuck, mind if I join you?"
Even now I love when she says my name.
"Oh, Sarah! Um… sure… have a seat. I have to get back to the trial here in a few minutes though."
"I know, but I wanted to talk and since we aren't scheduled for an appointment until after the trial I had hoped to catch you when it was lunch."
"Oh. All right, what did you want to talk about?"
"Us."
"HUH? What about us?"
"I think it's… um… time for you to get a new therapist Chuck."
"WHAT?! Is it because I haven't been doing better? Or because I called you that night? What did I do Sarah?!"
"I just think I can't help you anymore, and even though you are doing better I feel like you have plateaued out with me. I have already talked to my mentor, Dr. Graham, about your case, and he agrees with me that at this stage a new therapist may help now. Don't worry though, I have talked with Sheriff Casey and there is a therapist who is going to take over your sessions, she knows her stuff and will be able to help you keep moving forward."
"But Sarah… I don't want another therapist." Chuck was trying not to cry at this news, but he wasn't being successful in his attempts.
"Why are you doing this Sarah?" he whispered.
"I am trying to help you Chuck, you have to believe me. I can't help you as your therapist anymore, I want you to get better and I really think that someone else will be able to do that."
"Sarah… please don't do this." Chuck realized he was starting to sound pathetic, but he couldn't let the woman who had helped him walk through the hell he had found himself in just turn away from him without trying.
"Chuck, please look at me."
Chuck looked up at her, his breath catching once again as he looked into her beautiful blue eyes that seemed to catch the brilliancy of the sky and reflect it back at him. His heart shattered as he thought that he would not be able to see them again.
"Chuck I really care for you, and I think that you need this to move forward." She handed him a business card, and said, "This is the name of the therapist you will be seeing as soon as the trial ends, her name is Zondra Rizzo, and she will be expecting your call."
"Good-bye Chuck." And with those words Sarah turned and left.
He was in a daze as he made his way slowly back to the courthouse. He couldn't believe it. Sarah was gone. And he couldn't figure out what the hell had happened. He looked down at the business card, and was tempted to throw it away, but put it in his pocket.
I think I am done with therapists for now, maybe the rest of my life.
He arrived back in the annex room and took up his vigil next to the window and thought again of Sarah.
What do I do now?
Without thinking he pulled out his cell phone and sent a text hoping to hear a response.
*hey buddy! hows the trial?*
He smiled at Morgan's response, and knew he could count on Morgan to respond immediately. So they texted one another about what the trial was like – Morgan had never been involved in one so most of the time was spent clarifying what was different between a TV courtroom and a real one. Then Morgan strayed into the problem:
*how is Sarah?*
Another storm of text messages occurred as he explained what had happened at lunch.
*buddy that doesnt make sense*
*y?*
*i think theres something else*
*like a boyfriend?*
*no*
*then what?*
*not sure - did you ask her?*
*i tried*
*do or do not there is no try*
Despite himself, he grinned. Leave it to Morgan to whip out a Yoda-quote.
*ok what should i do?*
*go after her and ask*
*?seriously?*
*yes*
*thanks for the advice*
*no problem thats what im here for - gotta go, good luck with Sarah*
He put his phone away and again drifted daydreams.
I will talk to her about this – I want to at least tell her I think it's a mistake.
The rest of the afternoon he thought of what to say. Finally, the court to an evening recess, and Big Mike told him he would have to come back tomorrow and that his testimony would probably happen tomorrow afternoon. He walked out of the courthouse and without thinking about where he was going he ended at Sarah's office.
Taking a deep breathe, he walked into the reception area ready to say hi to Lou. But she wasn't there, so he walked over to Sarah's office door and politely knocked.
"Come in."
Opening the door he saw her look up from her desk, and everything that he had thought to say floated away on a breeze of blonde hair and blue eyes. Sarah smiled and stood up from her desk and walked around to stand in front of him.
"Sarah… I… I… um… why are you doing this?"
She quietly stated, "I couldn't be your therapist anymore."
"But why Sarah, please tell me."
Sarah looked him in the eyes and said quietly, "Because a therapist can't do this to her patient, Chuck."
And with that she strode forward, grabbed his face, pulled it down, and kissed him.
Author's Post Note
OK, I hope that I solved the doctor-patient dilemma to everyone's satisfaction. I was always planning on this, but moved the chain up a little because I don't want Chuck to be on the stand for the trial without Sarah. If you think it was a weak way to get around the problem, I apologize – but sometimes the simplest ways to solve a problem is to make it disappear. Either way, I really do hope you liked it.