"You're sure that Stegman wasn't here after you found Elmer?"
Louis demanded as he looked at Hook and Lona, feeling his rage starting to build now against the idiot doctor. If he had been there, had seen his son in need of help and hadn't lifted a finger.... Charges, he would have Stegman up on charges so fast that....
"Louis, don't do anything rash, okay?" Hook said as he watched the older doctor with concern. Oh, Stegman had made a serious mistake this time. Everyone knew how badly Louis had taken his older son's death and for Stegman to cook up a lie like that, to bring all of the old hurts back.... Hook could kill Steg himself for doing something so deliberately cruel. He knew Steg was bad but this was beyond bad.
"He won't have to because I'm going to kill him when I get my hands on him!" Lona's voice was quiet but deadly serious. She walked over to the monitors a bit unsteadily and looked through the glass at the still sleeping Elmer. How could Stegman have.... She felt tears starting to sting her eyes as she thought of how frightened Elmer had been when they found him, how he kept trying so desperately to convince them that he hadn't tried to hurt himself. Now for Stegman to be spreading rumors that he had actually tried suicide. Poor Elmer would be haunted by something like that for his entire medical career if he stayed at Kingdom Hospital.
"Stegman probably took him up to the roof." Lona hissed as she wiped at her eyes, trying to force the tears back. "He probably took him up there and left him just to see how freaked he would be when he woke up."
"If I find out that he did that to my son...." Louis laid a hand on Lona's shoulder now turning from the one who needed more than a bit of calming to the calmer. "Lona...."
"He was just so scared. Scared and cold." Lona whispered. "How could Stegman just.... He was so scared."
"What's going on?" Chris called as she came in, hopping slightly as she pulled her shoes on. She stopped when she saw the upset expressions on everyone's face and noticed that Louis was there. "What happened?" Had Louis found out about last night and jumped to the wrong conclusion or something?
"Stegman." Hook said in a clipped tone. "Somehow he found out that Elmer was on the roof last night and he decided to amuse himself telling Louis that Elmer had tried to kill himself this morning. And you know that he won't stop with just one person. He's probably got this spread all over the hospital by now." And, although Hook wouldn't say it and make Louis feel any worse, his making arrangements for Elmer to be admitted to the psychiatric ward definitely wouldn't help the matter. The nurses up there were some of the biggest gossips in the hospital.
"How could Stegman have found out, though?" Chris said slowly.
"No one saw us when we brought Elmer down here and..... Oh, no! He didn't!"
"Only way he could have found out, isn't it?" Lona said with a shake of her head as she suddenly made a decision. Elmer didn't need to be here, didn't need to hear people gossiping and whispering about him right now. "I'm going to get Elmer out of here until you can get this straightened out." And with how she was feeling at the moment, recalling how frightened Elmer had been and how scared she had been as well the night before, she didn't think it was a good idea for her to be here either. She would probably kill Stegman if she saw him.
"That's probably a good plan." Hook said slowly just as his pager started to beep. He pulled it out and frowned when he saw the number. Dr.
James. Had they slept through a meeting or something? He reached out and picked up the phone, punching the number in.
"Ahhhh, Dr. Hook. Lovely morning, isn't it?" Dr. James said as he picked up the phone.
"Ummmm, yeah." He hadn't seen outside but he supposed it might be a nice morning. "What did you need?" Had they missed a meeting? He could have sworn that there wasn't one scheduled for today but with the excitement of the night before, he definitely could have had one slip his mind.
"I'm calling about the unfortunately incident with Dr. Traff's son.
Such a sad thing to have happen, and to both of his sons too." Dr. James said as he shook his head. "Although I do appreciate your discretion in trying to keep the matter quiet. We can't have people thinking that the doctors at Kingdom Hospital aren't mentally competent after all. I do think it's in the best interests of everyone if we arrange to move him to a more secure place where there will be no more little incidents. Someone will be right down to collect him. Oh, and do give Louis my sympathies when you see him. Such a tragedy for him."
Hook dropped the phone back into place, shock clearly on his face.
"Steg told Dr. James his version of what happened last night. James has someone on the way down here to get Elmer now."
"What? Does he think that I'm just going to let him lock my son up when...." Okay, Louis had been considering doing the same thing just a short time before but that was totally different. He had been overcome with fear for his son and.... When he got his hands on Stegman for doing this to Elmer....
"Lona, get him up and get him out of here now," Hook ordered.
"We'll let Dr. James know what really happened but Elmer doesn't need to be here and hear all of it now."
"Fine. Just when you see Stegman, hit him for me," Lona muttered as she hurried into the sleep lab and sat down on the bed beside Elmer,
reaching out and shaking his shoulder gently. "Elmer? Sweetie, it's time to wake up now." His clothes. Would they have time to get him dressed or.... No, they would have to handle that later.
"Lona?" Elmer blinked, slowly waking at the sound of her voice, a bit puzzled by her tone. Something was different about it, not how Lona usually sounded when waking him after a night session with her sleep experiments, not like she wanted to rush him right out the door.
"Come on, Elmer. Let's get you up now. We're going out for breakfast." Lona told him as she motioned for him to sit up quickly. She reached out, tugging one of the blankets free and wrapping it around his shoulders. That would have to do for now.
"Going out for breakfast?" Elmer said slowly, still a bit confused. "Don't we have to work today?"
"You're taking the day off." Louis said as he came in and hauled Elmer to his feet, making sure the blanket was wrapped securely around him.
"Go on now, have fun."
"Wait. Don't I need to get dressed or..." Something very odd was going on here. Elmer could definitely tell that. His father and Lona were practically dragging him out the door of the sleep lab.
"You can do that later." Lona said firmly as she gripped his arm and hurried Elmer down the hall, away from the elevators.
"Lona, aren't we going the wrong way? The way to the parking lot is back there." Elmer said in a puzzled tone, still trying to figure out what in the world was going on.
"We're taking the scenic route today." Lona hoped her voice sounded calm but deep inside she was panicking. She could hear the elevator doors opening somewhere behind them and she pulled Elmer into a side corridor just as she heard heavy footsteps heading for the sleep lab. Now how in the world was she going to get them out of here now?
"This way! Come this way!" Suddenly she heard a voice calling to her from further down the older, dusty, disused corridor. A child? It sounded like a child but what would a child be doing down here? Still,
Lona found herself following the voice, leading Elmer along beside her.
This might be their best chance to get out of here without getting caught.
Louis demanded as he looked at Hook and Lona, feeling his rage starting to build now against the idiot doctor. If he had been there, had seen his son in need of help and hadn't lifted a finger.... Charges, he would have Stegman up on charges so fast that....
"Louis, don't do anything rash, okay?" Hook said as he watched the older doctor with concern. Oh, Stegman had made a serious mistake this time. Everyone knew how badly Louis had taken his older son's death and for Stegman to cook up a lie like that, to bring all of the old hurts back.... Hook could kill Steg himself for doing something so deliberately cruel. He knew Steg was bad but this was beyond bad.
"He won't have to because I'm going to kill him when I get my hands on him!" Lona's voice was quiet but deadly serious. She walked over to the monitors a bit unsteadily and looked through the glass at the still sleeping Elmer. How could Stegman have.... She felt tears starting to sting her eyes as she thought of how frightened Elmer had been when they found him, how he kept trying so desperately to convince them that he hadn't tried to hurt himself. Now for Stegman to be spreading rumors that he had actually tried suicide. Poor Elmer would be haunted by something like that for his entire medical career if he stayed at Kingdom Hospital.
"Stegman probably took him up to the roof." Lona hissed as she wiped at her eyes, trying to force the tears back. "He probably took him up there and left him just to see how freaked he would be when he woke up."
"If I find out that he did that to my son...." Louis laid a hand on Lona's shoulder now turning from the one who needed more than a bit of calming to the calmer. "Lona...."
"He was just so scared. Scared and cold." Lona whispered. "How could Stegman just.... He was so scared."
"What's going on?" Chris called as she came in, hopping slightly as she pulled her shoes on. She stopped when she saw the upset expressions on everyone's face and noticed that Louis was there. "What happened?" Had Louis found out about last night and jumped to the wrong conclusion or something?
"Stegman." Hook said in a clipped tone. "Somehow he found out that Elmer was on the roof last night and he decided to amuse himself telling Louis that Elmer had tried to kill himself this morning. And you know that he won't stop with just one person. He's probably got this spread all over the hospital by now." And, although Hook wouldn't say it and make Louis feel any worse, his making arrangements for Elmer to be admitted to the psychiatric ward definitely wouldn't help the matter. The nurses up there were some of the biggest gossips in the hospital.
"How could Stegman have found out, though?" Chris said slowly.
"No one saw us when we brought Elmer down here and..... Oh, no! He didn't!"
"Only way he could have found out, isn't it?" Lona said with a shake of her head as she suddenly made a decision. Elmer didn't need to be here, didn't need to hear people gossiping and whispering about him right now. "I'm going to get Elmer out of here until you can get this straightened out." And with how she was feeling at the moment, recalling how frightened Elmer had been and how scared she had been as well the night before, she didn't think it was a good idea for her to be here either. She would probably kill Stegman if she saw him.
"That's probably a good plan." Hook said slowly just as his pager started to beep. He pulled it out and frowned when he saw the number. Dr.
James. Had they slept through a meeting or something? He reached out and picked up the phone, punching the number in.
"Ahhhh, Dr. Hook. Lovely morning, isn't it?" Dr. James said as he picked up the phone.
"Ummmm, yeah." He hadn't seen outside but he supposed it might be a nice morning. "What did you need?" Had they missed a meeting? He could have sworn that there wasn't one scheduled for today but with the excitement of the night before, he definitely could have had one slip his mind.
"I'm calling about the unfortunately incident with Dr. Traff's son.
Such a sad thing to have happen, and to both of his sons too." Dr. James said as he shook his head. "Although I do appreciate your discretion in trying to keep the matter quiet. We can't have people thinking that the doctors at Kingdom Hospital aren't mentally competent after all. I do think it's in the best interests of everyone if we arrange to move him to a more secure place where there will be no more little incidents. Someone will be right down to collect him. Oh, and do give Louis my sympathies when you see him. Such a tragedy for him."
Hook dropped the phone back into place, shock clearly on his face.
"Steg told Dr. James his version of what happened last night. James has someone on the way down here to get Elmer now."
"What? Does he think that I'm just going to let him lock my son up when...." Okay, Louis had been considering doing the same thing just a short time before but that was totally different. He had been overcome with fear for his son and.... When he got his hands on Stegman for doing this to Elmer....
"Lona, get him up and get him out of here now," Hook ordered.
"We'll let Dr. James know what really happened but Elmer doesn't need to be here and hear all of it now."
"Fine. Just when you see Stegman, hit him for me," Lona muttered as she hurried into the sleep lab and sat down on the bed beside Elmer,
reaching out and shaking his shoulder gently. "Elmer? Sweetie, it's time to wake up now." His clothes. Would they have time to get him dressed or.... No, they would have to handle that later.
"Lona?" Elmer blinked, slowly waking at the sound of her voice, a bit puzzled by her tone. Something was different about it, not how Lona usually sounded when waking him after a night session with her sleep experiments, not like she wanted to rush him right out the door.
"Come on, Elmer. Let's get you up now. We're going out for breakfast." Lona told him as she motioned for him to sit up quickly. She reached out, tugging one of the blankets free and wrapping it around his shoulders. That would have to do for now.
"Going out for breakfast?" Elmer said slowly, still a bit confused. "Don't we have to work today?"
"You're taking the day off." Louis said as he came in and hauled Elmer to his feet, making sure the blanket was wrapped securely around him.
"Go on now, have fun."
"Wait. Don't I need to get dressed or..." Something very odd was going on here. Elmer could definitely tell that. His father and Lona were practically dragging him out the door of the sleep lab.
"You can do that later." Lona said firmly as she gripped his arm and hurried Elmer down the hall, away from the elevators.
"Lona, aren't we going the wrong way? The way to the parking lot is back there." Elmer said in a puzzled tone, still trying to figure out what in the world was going on.
"We're taking the scenic route today." Lona hoped her voice sounded calm but deep inside she was panicking. She could hear the elevator doors opening somewhere behind them and she pulled Elmer into a side corridor just as she heard heavy footsteps heading for the sleep lab. Now how in the world was she going to get them out of here now?
"This way! Come this way!" Suddenly she heard a voice calling to her from further down the older, dusty, disused corridor. A child? It sounded like a child but what would a child be doing down here? Still,
Lona found herself following the voice, leading Elmer along beside her.
This might be their best chance to get out of here without getting caught.