Chapter 1-Introductions

"I can't wait to see dad's museum again!" Bingo smiled as she swung from her parent's arms. "I love the velociraptor!"

"We were just there last month, why are we going again?" Bluey asked, looking up at her father as they walked into the front entrance up the steep stone steps.

Bandit rolled his eyes, "Because we have a new exhibit that a friend of mine made and I want to show him that I support him by showing up to look at it." He paused, ruffling his daughter's hair, "And besides, I know you like the big whale skeleton I helped find."

"It is a really big skeleton…" Bluey remarked, thinking of the ancient whale skeleton hanging from the roof of the fossil exhibit atrium that her father cared for.

"I haven't seen Sam in forever, how's he doing?" Chilli asked as they entered the front doors and Bandit showed his badge to the security guard, who let the family pass.

"He's doing pretty well as far as I know. We haven't had a chance to catch up, between my work and his, but hopefully we can talk while he gives us the tour." Bandit replied.

"Who's Sam?" Bingo asked, now walking between her parents.

"He's an old friend of mine. We went to uni together. We got our doctorates at the same time, and before that we were friends in our undergrad years. We were actually roommates my first year. I was in anthropology and he was in pre-psych."

"Sounds like you were real party animals…" Chilli joked, knowing how stressed Bandit had been during his doctorate work.

"Yeah, definitely." Bandit snarked. He led the family up a set of stairs and through a hall lined with images of skeletons and the canine body before stopping at the entrance to a separate wing. "He said he'd be waiting here for us…" Bandit checked his phone.

Suddenly an English sheepdog leapt out from behind a map kiosk and grabbed Bandit's shoulders. "Gotcha!" He yelled.

Bandit yipped as he turned around, immediately blushing at the outburst. "Loomis!"

The sheepdog grinned, "Bandit! If it's been a day it's been an eternity, how've ya been mate?"

Bandit sighed, knowing his friend had a tendency for the dramatic. "I've been well Sam. Let me introduce the family." He gestured to Chilli, "This is Chilli, you remember her from our wedding."

"Of course! My you haven't aged a day!"

Chilli smiled. "Thank you Sam."

"And these are our girls, Bluey and Bingo."

Dr. Loomis smiled as he stooped down, "It's nice to meet you two! I used to know your dad years ago, back when he was cool." He stage whispered.

"Hey!" Bandit crossed his arms as the girls laughed.

"Come on, let me show you all around." He beckoned them into the exhibit.

"As you know this museum is a natural history museum, so there's science and history-this exhibit is on mental health." He began.

"What's mental health?" Bingo asked, trotting along with the adults.

Loomis smiled, "That is an excellent question!" He turned to the wall behind him and gestured to a painting of the canine brain. "Your brain is just as important as any other part of your body. What do you do to help your body stay healthy?"

"I eat vegetables. Even the gross ones that mum and dad like." Bluey said.

"We take walks and play to exercise." Bingo added.

"And just like you do things to take care of your body you can also do things to take care of your brain…" Loomis began.

It became apparent over the next half hour that Dr. Loomis had a passion for studying the canine mind. As he walked through the exhibit explaining the different sections it was clear why he was a psychologist at the Brisbane Mental Health Hospital, primarily working with children and adolescents. He loved the brain. He shared about the exhibit and the important evolution of mental health treatment, and how in even the last 40 years immense progress has been made.

"Even a few years ago many major mental illnesses went undiagnosed or misdiagnosed due to our limited understanding and tools. Now we have more effective ways to help people. One of which is the MRI machine!" Loomis paused by a row of MRI images of brains showing various mental health issues. Each was labeled with a different mental illness. There was one of depression, another with anxiety, and another with schizophrenia. Each showed how the different connections of the brain were altered in non-neurotypical individuals. At the end there was an unmarked MRI.

Bluey walked to the last one and looked at it. "What's wrong with this one? There isn't a label." She pointed through the glass at the final image. It looked different from the others; there were fewer and smaller connections and a poor blood-flow between hemispheres. It was clear there was much not right with the brain.

"That… that is from his one failure as a doctor." He sighed. "I have a patient that I realized was incapable of making progress-after tirelessly working to try and help him for eight years he only got worse. No matter what I did, he only regressed further into violence and malice. There is no name for his disease, but I fear the possibility of another having something so vile."

Chilli frowned, "Isn't that awfully contrary to the whole point of this exhibit, demonstrating that the mind is a complicated thing and that mental health isn't something evil or to be feared?"

"I agree with you. I have many patients who have violent outbursts or tendencies, and I feel that each of them is ultimately capable of functioning in the real world, and many have made impressive strides towards personal regulation and recovery." He paused, "But sometimes… God doesn't have a hand in these things; sometimes it's just evil in there… And he, he is nothing but evil." Loomis stared at the MRi image and frowned, not breaking his glare at the image.

Bandit cleared his throat, slightly unnerved by his friend's sudden shift in tone, "Well, in any case, thank you Sam for showing us around." He turned to his daughters, "Girls, why don't you thank Dr. Loomis for showing us everything?"

"Thank you Dr. Loomis." Bluey and Bingo replied.

Loomis shook his head, coming out of the trance he'd been in. "You're welcome. Sorry, I apologize for my outburst there… I have some things on my mind." He glanced down at his wrist, "Oh, I must be going. I have a patient transfer to oversee this evening. You can see yourselves out, right?"

"Of course." Chilli replied. "Maybe you can come over and visit sometime, we'd love to have you over."

"Oh, really?" The sheepdog's tail twitched slightly. "You mean it?"

"Course Sam, it was nice to talk a bit. We've gotta get you out of that hospital and give you some company." Bandit clasped his friend on the back.

"Thank you… I'll definitely consider it." He nodded slightly as he started toward the exit, "Have a good evening."

A few minutes later the Heelers were walking to their car, Bandit and Chilli lagging slightly behind.

"It was nice to catch up with him." Bandit said, "But do you think he's gotten stranger?"

"If I recall he was always a little strange, and after all I only met him a few times." Chilli shrugged, "I'm sure it's just stress, he's a good dog." She waved her hand.

"Yeah, of course, it's probably just the patient transfer or whatever." Bandit noted, unlocking the car as they got ready to return home.