Thanks so much for the kind reviews & pm's regarding Ch 28. Glad you lovelies liked it. I enjoyed writing it! ;-)
...
THE DATE
CHAPTER 29
Peter Quinn opened a bottle of whisky after his fractious telephone call with Rudy McCoy. He drank two glasses before his shower, then four more afterwards. Once in bed he couldn't sleep. He was too hot in more ways than one and tossed and turned in his sleeping bag, before sitting bolt upright in the dark.
He grabbed his iPhone and checked the time. It was three o' clock in the morning. He removed his purple Talk Nerd to Me T-shirt and discarded it carelessly, along with his inhibitions. He pressed McCoy's number. This was ridiculous. They needed to talk.
Perhaps there's no harm in a little dirty talk when he's almost six thousand miles away? Quinn chuckled, slightly nervous, but mostly drunk and becoming increasingly aroused with anticipation. Let's see how Rudy McCoy likes being ordered to strip!
He frowned as the call didn't connect and through his shaky vision managed to see that McCoy was showing as offline on Skype.
He sighed as he fumbled with the touchscreen to try FaceTime. Nothing.
Fucking typical, he grumbled to himself.
He decided to attempt a text message and was semi-thankful for auto-correct. I'll giv it's a go if u show me what todo xxx
After sending the text, Quinn closed his eyes. As the sensation of his bed spinning began, he wasn't sure if he was falling asleep, or passing out.
...
When Quinn woke in the morning he was still clutching his iPhone to his bare chest. He groaned when he remembered sending McCoy a saucy text and was unsure whether to be relieved that there was still no reply.
He climbed out of bed and popped a couple of Advil painkillers. He needed to forget about last night and get into work. It would be business as usual and soon be time to sit down with Iris and watch Brody being shredded by the Psychologist all over again.
...
Haim Cohen's scrutiny of Brody was unwavering and despite his lingering headache, Quinn noticed that the Psychologist had started to change tack today. It appeared that Haim was now satisfied that Brody was telling the truth about his captivity and all the horrific events that had subsequently occurred. It was almost time for Saul to make the final call as to whether Brody was still a suspect, or a threat in any shape or form. Would he be locked up indefinitely, or free to leave?
The Psychologist moved on to evaluate Brody's Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. Peter Quinn was bored and idly read through the notes where Haim had already recorded that Brody was constantly reliving his experiences with vivid dreams and flashbacks. He was hyper-vigilant, nervy, jumpy and prone to paranoid reactions and aggression.
Quinn flicked on a few pages and saw it confirmed that Brody also suffered from insomnia. It seemed that Haim had quickly prescribed something for that on the first day. I wonder if he gave Brody a few shots of the amobarbital sodium? Quinn pondered, recalling that it was sometimes used as a truth serum.
...
In the small meeting room, after lunch, Quinn listened as Haim explained in great detail to Saul about why prisoners of war were at a much greater risk of developing PTSD than combat veterans. Haim made it clear that he'd written many academic papers on the subject.
Haim was unwavering in his staunch ideas for Brody's rehabilitation. "It is very important that Nicholas's family become involved in his treatment plan to provide support and encouragement for his condition."
"Do you mean Carrie, or Jessica and the kids?" Saul frowned. "Obviously you know that Brody's marriage has already broken down..."
"Everybody needs to help Nicholas," Haim smiled, steadfastly. "Perhaps Jessica will be willing to try some belated counselling, so she can learn to listen, empathise, be patient and loving with her husband. PTSD may not be curable but it can be controlled with the right support."
"But Jessica has a new partner," Quinn interjected. "Her and Mike Faber live together!"
Haim shrugged, "When Nicholas came back from Iraq, he was emotionally numb and feeling completely detached due to the frightening influence of Nazir and his PTSD. He found it difficult to have loving feelings towards his wife. Perhaps if Mrs Brody understands how afraid and ill her husband really was... and still is, then she will be willing to help him? I'm sure this Faber man will understand and have the decency to make himself scarce."
Saul rubbed his beard thoughtfully, "What about Carrie and Brody though?"
Haim smirked, then sneered coldly. "Nicholas must not become dependant on Carrie in any way. In an ideal world they should stay away from each other. She simply makes him feel high and numbs his pain, like drugs or alcohol. When I have cured Carrie of her Saviour Complex, then there will be no more Carrie Mathison and Nicholas Brody anyway. She will easily move onto somebody else when she no longer feels the need to save him!"
Being near Carrie often makes me feel high, Quinn puzzled to himself, Is that so wrong?
Haim continued more softly, "Before Nicholas was taken prisoner, he had a great marriage and a secure attachment style with his wife, Jessica, which would normally indicate a high resistance to PTSD."
Saul nodded and fiddled with his wedding ring.
"However, because of the severity of what Nicholas endured... Can you imagine eight long years in captivity, the traumatic terror events afterwards and the subsequent breakdown of his marriage?" Haim's eyes flitted from Saul to Quinn. "This has all intensified the development and persistence of his symptoms."
Even though Quinn detested Brody on the whole, he still felt a small pang of sympathy. "Poor guy..."
"This new relationship that Nicholas is in, with Carrie..." Haim air-quoted the word relationship with a look of disgust on his face. "It bears all the hallmarks of a dangerously insecure attachment which is in fact prolonging and intensifying Nicholas's condition."
Saul looked concerned, "So what's your expert prognosis, Doctor Cohen?"
Haim was resolute, "The best thing that Nicholas can do is spend more time with his wife and avoid Carrie altogether."
"Will you tell Brody that?" Saul frowned and didn't look convinced. "Will you tell Carrie that?"
Haim nodded without hesitation, "Of course I will!"
Saul removed his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "What if they refuse?"
"Then they are fools and they will gradually and inadvertently worsen Brody's PTSD." Haim wagged his finger at Saul indignantly, for even suggesting that they might not take his expert advice on board.
"But what of love?!" Saul smiled and clasped his hands to his chest dramatically, as if he was playing the lead role in a Musical. "The heart wants what it wants!"
Quinn gulped as he heard the familiar phrase. He'd quoted it firstly to Rudy McCoy in Philadelphia, then directly to Carrie only a few days ago. The phrase had seemed to upset Carrie and prompted her to speak in riddles about Love is like War.
"Love?!" Haim spat, "A bipolar Agent with Saviour Complex and a former POW with PTSD?! They may believe that they are in love. It will feel real to them at first, intense and intoxicating, but it is a noxious attachment. Typically, relationships like theirs degenerate into morbid jealousy, alcoholism, domestic abuse and usually end in the suicide or murder of one of the parties involved!"
"That sounds like a gross exaggeration!" Saul snorted, unconvinced. "Worse case scenario, maybe?"
Quinn glanced sideways at Iris who had just entered the room and sat next to him. Her dark eyes were wide at Haim's ghastly prediction and she was obviously considering her own ongoing secret relationship with Uri. She shook her head, almost imperceptibly, but didn't contradict the Psychologist.
"What if you're wrong?" Quinn spoke up for her reluctantly, "What if a Spy and a former POW can find true love together?"
Haim stared at Quinn coldly, "But what if I'm right? Is it worth the risk? Suicide? Murder? Is that what you want for Carrie... and Iris?"
"Of course not..." Quinn squeezed Iris's shaking hand under the table and held onto it to comfort her.
"Are you married Haim?" Saul scrutinised him doubtfully, "Or have you ever been?"
Haim shook his head, "No, never. Nobody has ever passed the stringent tests that I apply to potential candidates."
Quinn supressed a snort of laughter and subsequently had a coughing fit when his mouthful of water went down the wrong way.
Saul rubbed his beard as he grinned, "I'm married. My relationship with my wife is intense and intoxicating. She has left me on numerous occasions, but always comes back eventually. She can't live with me, but can't live without me either." He chuckled, "There's not a dating website on the planet that would have ever matched us pair! Our relationship causes us pain for about eighty percent of the time, but would I have it any other way? Of course not! I love her! I love my Mira! I worship her... "
"You think you love her, but..." Haim began expertly and condescendingly.
"Don't even think about analysing me, or telling me to leave Mira!" Saul's growl rumbled as he bared his teeth. "Or you can pack your bags right now and fuck off back to your state-of-the-art facility in Israel!"
