Hook cringed inwardly as a pair of burly orderlies, definitely not
some of theirs, entered the room followed by a shorter, skinnier man with
a clipboard, obviously some sort of administrator. Good thing they had
gotten Elmer out of there when they did. If he had woke up to that, Hook
didn't even want to think about how he would have reacted.
"Excuse me, we're here to pick up an Elmer Traff for a 72 hour hold." The smaller man, obviously in charge, stepped forward.
Hook shook his head as he looked at them. Honestly, where in the world had Jesse found these people? They looked and acted a bit like something out of an old mobster movie. "Want to bet that his cable is out again? He's probably going to come through passing out scripts next."
Hook whispered under his breath to Chris. They had to stall these guys long enough for Lona to get Elmer safely far away from the hospital and then they could deal with getting this entire situation straightened out.
"Well, I'm afraid you've made a mistake!" Louis glared at the three men barely able to suppress his anger enough to speak. After the shock that Stegman had given him, all he had wanted to do was to be with his son, to check and make sure that he was really alright and now because of them he had had to send Elmer away without even being able to talk to him, to let him know... "Nothing is wrong with my son and the last place he needs to be is in some sort of mental institution!"
The smaller man looked at Louis in pity. Honestly, why was it that the families were always in such deep denial even when their relation was obviously bonkers. "Well, according to the paperwork that I have there was an attempt at suicide last night, from a jump from the roof, I believe?"
the man said slowly as if Louis was an idiot who couldn't comprehend a few simple facts. "That does call for a 72 hour hold for observation. You wouldn't want him to try anything again, now would you? They often do, you know."
"Chris, go and get Jesse, let him know what really happened here and tell him to do whatever to get these goons called off." Hook whispered to her before heading to join Louis. The man was pushing all of the wrong buttons with Louis and he could tell that the older doctor was about to explode. Honestly, even if he did think Elmer had tried to hurt himself,
there was no way that he would entrust his friend to people like this.
"Calm down." Hook hissed into Louis's ear as he saw Chris scurry around the two larger men and out the door. "Hippocratic Oath, remember?"
"I'm not a doctor right now, I'm a father and he isn't getting away with talking about my son like that!" Louis hissed right back, glaring at the man as he stepped forward. What the man was saying, implying that he was clueless about the facts concerning suicide.... And implying that he wouldn't do what was best for Elmer if he actually had tried.... He had lost one son to it already. How could.... And this man obviously had no sympathy for the mentally ill and had already marked Elmer off as totally insane without even seeing him. There was nothing wrong with his son and he wasn't about to let anyone treat him like there was! He started to reach out, to grab the man's collar and force him out of the room. The emotions from what he had gone through that morning were practically overwhelming him now. To think that he might have missed something with Elmer, that he was such a bad father that he couldn't see that his only remaining child was in trouble as well....
"Listen, let's all calm down here, okay?" Hook said as he stepped in between the two men before Louis could do anything that he might regret later. He shook his head slightly at the older man's reaction. 'And here you think your dad doesn't care about you, Elmer.' he thought before speaking again. "I know what the paperwork that you have there says but I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding. Elmer certainly didn't try to commit suicide last night. I'm afraid he had a sleepwalking spell. One of our doctors apparently saw him and misunderstood the situation. So, we thank you for your concern but you really aren't needed here. Sorry for any inconvenience."
Sleepwalking? Of all of the nutty excuses to cover up a suicide attempt and it did seem that families and friends tried to cover it up many times, that was one of the nuttiest. "You expect me to believe that he was sleepwalking and just happened to wander onto the roof, the roof where his brother committed suicide, I believe it was in...."
"Believe what you want." Hook motioned frantically for Louis to try to calm down although he was feeling less and less inclined to save this idiot from getting a few teeth knocked out. Bringing up Edgar like that.... "but we have the facts on our side. Elmer was helping in an experiment in the sleep lab when the sleepwalking occurred. Our expert on this, Dr. Massingale, isn't here right now but she's checked the EEG readout and it clearly indicates sleepwalking so you clearly are NOT needed here. I'm fairly sure that sleepwalking isn't something that requires a trip to the mental institution."
Just then the phone rang and Hook automatically picked it up.
"Hook?" Chris said. "Listen, Jesse and I are on our way down. I explained what happened and needless to say, he's very sorry for jumping to conclusions. We have a little problem, though. Someone, and I'm betting Steg or Brenda, saw Elmer leaving with Lona. They called the cops to report an escaped mental patient. A couple of patrol cars just pulled up outside."
Hook shook his head, barely able to keep from laughing although he knew that the situation wasn't really one that called for levity. This was just so, so Elmer's luck. He just hoped his friend was having a nice time with Lona and would never find out about any of this.
"Excuse me, we're here to pick up an Elmer Traff for a 72 hour hold." The smaller man, obviously in charge, stepped forward.
Hook shook his head as he looked at them. Honestly, where in the world had Jesse found these people? They looked and acted a bit like something out of an old mobster movie. "Want to bet that his cable is out again? He's probably going to come through passing out scripts next."
Hook whispered under his breath to Chris. They had to stall these guys long enough for Lona to get Elmer safely far away from the hospital and then they could deal with getting this entire situation straightened out.
"Well, I'm afraid you've made a mistake!" Louis glared at the three men barely able to suppress his anger enough to speak. After the shock that Stegman had given him, all he had wanted to do was to be with his son, to check and make sure that he was really alright and now because of them he had had to send Elmer away without even being able to talk to him, to let him know... "Nothing is wrong with my son and the last place he needs to be is in some sort of mental institution!"
The smaller man looked at Louis in pity. Honestly, why was it that the families were always in such deep denial even when their relation was obviously bonkers. "Well, according to the paperwork that I have there was an attempt at suicide last night, from a jump from the roof, I believe?"
the man said slowly as if Louis was an idiot who couldn't comprehend a few simple facts. "That does call for a 72 hour hold for observation. You wouldn't want him to try anything again, now would you? They often do, you know."
"Chris, go and get Jesse, let him know what really happened here and tell him to do whatever to get these goons called off." Hook whispered to her before heading to join Louis. The man was pushing all of the wrong buttons with Louis and he could tell that the older doctor was about to explode. Honestly, even if he did think Elmer had tried to hurt himself,
there was no way that he would entrust his friend to people like this.
"Calm down." Hook hissed into Louis's ear as he saw Chris scurry around the two larger men and out the door. "Hippocratic Oath, remember?"
"I'm not a doctor right now, I'm a father and he isn't getting away with talking about my son like that!" Louis hissed right back, glaring at the man as he stepped forward. What the man was saying, implying that he was clueless about the facts concerning suicide.... And implying that he wouldn't do what was best for Elmer if he actually had tried.... He had lost one son to it already. How could.... And this man obviously had no sympathy for the mentally ill and had already marked Elmer off as totally insane without even seeing him. There was nothing wrong with his son and he wasn't about to let anyone treat him like there was! He started to reach out, to grab the man's collar and force him out of the room. The emotions from what he had gone through that morning were practically overwhelming him now. To think that he might have missed something with Elmer, that he was such a bad father that he couldn't see that his only remaining child was in trouble as well....
"Listen, let's all calm down here, okay?" Hook said as he stepped in between the two men before Louis could do anything that he might regret later. He shook his head slightly at the older man's reaction. 'And here you think your dad doesn't care about you, Elmer.' he thought before speaking again. "I know what the paperwork that you have there says but I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding. Elmer certainly didn't try to commit suicide last night. I'm afraid he had a sleepwalking spell. One of our doctors apparently saw him and misunderstood the situation. So, we thank you for your concern but you really aren't needed here. Sorry for any inconvenience."
Sleepwalking? Of all of the nutty excuses to cover up a suicide attempt and it did seem that families and friends tried to cover it up many times, that was one of the nuttiest. "You expect me to believe that he was sleepwalking and just happened to wander onto the roof, the roof where his brother committed suicide, I believe it was in...."
"Believe what you want." Hook motioned frantically for Louis to try to calm down although he was feeling less and less inclined to save this idiot from getting a few teeth knocked out. Bringing up Edgar like that.... "but we have the facts on our side. Elmer was helping in an experiment in the sleep lab when the sleepwalking occurred. Our expert on this, Dr. Massingale, isn't here right now but she's checked the EEG readout and it clearly indicates sleepwalking so you clearly are NOT needed here. I'm fairly sure that sleepwalking isn't something that requires a trip to the mental institution."
Just then the phone rang and Hook automatically picked it up.
"Hook?" Chris said. "Listen, Jesse and I are on our way down. I explained what happened and needless to say, he's very sorry for jumping to conclusions. We have a little problem, though. Someone, and I'm betting Steg or Brenda, saw Elmer leaving with Lona. They called the cops to report an escaped mental patient. A couple of patrol cars just pulled up outside."
Hook shook his head, barely able to keep from laughing although he knew that the situation wasn't really one that called for levity. This was just so, so Elmer's luck. He just hoped his friend was having a nice time with Lona and would never find out about any of this.