Dallas, Texas

Watching JR as he stood in place for a time, potentially considering his actions though also possibly just being dramatic, he wasn't sure, Doctor Williams said nothing and sat in silence too, waiting for his patient to make a decision on his own. If he walked out, it shouldn't be because he was pushed, it should be because he had made that decision on his own; they could tackle his regression at some point, but when doing so they would be looking into his behaviour based on his own emotions, not just him following orders.

"I'll stay, but only because I can just imagine how the conversation will go if I leave. I'll be blamed even more than I already am, despite this not being my problem at all", muttering something defensive and unintentionally vulnerable, JR continued to stand where he had been, making no effort to reintegrate himself back into their meeting. "Why do you say that?" responding calmly, he had to feel a little sorry for JR, even if he was being a jerk, the man clearly had a few issues if he was that concerned about what was going to be said if he left.

"Why are you questioning me and not Sue Ellen?" answering his question with a question, JR appeared frustrated by the direction of their conversation, and responding, he tried to be firm but fair in what he said. "I did question her, and she answered me, then you threatened to walk out. I'm not taking sides or blaming you for anything, I don't even really understand the details of what's going on here, that's what I'm trying to figure out. Now, if you're staying, please take a seat again", urging JR to come back to sitting and talking, rather than standing defensively, ready to leave at any minute, he hoped that he could get to the bottom of what was going on. JR either had something to hide and was deflecting, blaming Sue Ellen for everything he felt, or he was genuinely upset about something and they weren't understanding is emotional pain very well.

"May I say something?" standing as she spoke, Sue Ellen appeared cautious about touching her husband's hand, though when she did he seemed to calm a little and follow her lead, actually sitting back down as instructed, though not once letting the frown on his face turn upward, indicating that he may be complying, but he wasn't happy. "Of course", replying himself, although it probably wasn't necessary to, he watched how she handled JR and listened carefully as she spoke to him, softly and gently, despite his snappy attitude toward her just moments ago.

"JR, I'm sorry if my need for clarification makes you feel like you're being blamed for something, that's not my intention. However, in saying that, you cannot deny that you've done things in the past which give me reason to be cautious about the intended outcome of a situation. If you say you're not plotting anything though, then I believe you and we can drop this subject if you'd like to. I don't want problems in our marriage and I feel like all this conversation has done is remind me of how awful it feels to argue with you". Finding her voice again after a period of silent observation, Sue Ellen's attitude change didn't surprise him, submissiveness wasn't a foreign concept to her and the minute she saw an argument brewing she made a decision to either stand her ground, or do the easy thing and make nice. She had reiterated her opinion regarding JR's known behaviours, however, she had also suggested dropping the subject and moving on, which was what he wanted, so ultimately whatever she had said to challenge him didn't matter because by the end of her speech she was ready to trust him again.

Listening to his wife's words, JR appeared to sit quietly before speaking, slowly dropping his sulky attitude and replacing it with a slightly more charming one, though not before reminding Sue Ellen of her past conversations and conclusions of those conversations with him, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Doctor Williams. "I'm only trying to help, you know that, we've discussed that, so if you can accept that, then yes we can drop the subject completely for now if you want, it's not as if I want to spend my time with you sitting around discussing my little brother's love life, not when we could be doing anything but that". Saying very little to actually defend himself from her concerns, or accusations as he saw them, Doctor Williams waited in anticipation of Sue Ellen's response to his lack of acknowledgement and was pleased when she at least mentioned it, though he would have preferred if she'd have pushed the topic a little more before once again agreeing with him. "You're right. I don't want to find out later that I was wrong to trust that you didn't have bad intentions, but if you say you don't now, then I believe you".

"Thank you darlin'", responding with a satisfied smile, though a toned-down one as to not appear too obvious, JR was quick to take her hand again, possessively grasping it as if to remind her whose side she was on again now that they were back to 'agreeing' with each other. Watching his patients together, Doctor Williams noted to himself that while situations could change, personalities generally stayed the same, and Sue Ellen backing down because she disliked confrontation and distress only inflated JR's sense of power in the relationship. Had they really fixed their problem? Not in his eyes, but both Mr and Mrs Ewing seemed to be content to shelve the discussion for now.

Sitting quietly himself as he observed the situation, he was torn on what to do, though only for the sake of peace between the couple, not because he didn't know what the right or wrong thing to do was. They paid him to listen to them and offer his professional guidance on how to achieve long-term rather than short-term solutions to their problems, and that's what he would do, he was well aware that he could only lead them so far though and if they didn't want to talk properly now, then they wouldn't. If Sue Ellen wanted to slide back into her passive personality, not pushing her husband for any proper answers on his motivations, and if JR was going to stay only if they moved on, then he couldn't force honesty, but he could at least try, and try he would.

To be continued…