Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Numb3rs, or the characters therein. All characters are fictional and should not be associated with any other person- real or imagined.
Author's note: I made a couple modifications in the exam part of this chapter- gave them lead vests, had Olivia feed Don during the exam, and mentioned an E test, amongst other things. (thank you Alice) I spend a lot of time on research, but it is all written, so it is possible to acquire info that is not as accurate as it should be. Sometimes people who actually perform the actions have more info and point out mistakes, so I gladly modify. If, however, you have read this chapter, you will not have to reread it. The gist of the exam is the same. The speech and occupational therapy that is coming up is right from the horse's mouth, so I should not have any problems there.
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"Kenneth- it's Melinda. I know it has been a while, but I need to talk to you."
"Melinda…It's, uh, good to hear from you, too. I heard about Randy- let me offer my condolences. How have things been for you?"
"I can't say that it hasn't been lonely. But I recently started a relationship with someone who has become a very important part of my life."
"That's nice to hear. It's hard to find someone new, especially when you had a relationship that spanned over three decades like yours and Randy's did. If I ever lost Susan…I just don't know what I'd do."
"You two have been through a lot."
"Yes… yes we have. In the end, love conquers all and every other euphemism you can think of that applies to our situation. But enough about me already- I'm sorry, but I have to get back by one o'clock. May I ask why you've called? Is there something I can do for you?"
"Well, I think so; it isn't too much really. I just need some speed applied to a set of papers I'm filing. I know that normally these things take a little time, but then again, I also know that timelines can be altered- you just need to know the right people."
"And I am one of these right people, huh?"
"Well, of course, Kenneth. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother to ask."
"I don't know Melinda. I've been in the legal system for over twenty-five years and it has taken me a lot of hard work to build an image of character and ethics. I am not sure if I want to do something that might sully that image in the views of my colleagues."
"It is perfectly legal, Kenneth. I'm just asking for placements on the court calendar- the sooner the better."
"Hmmmm… Look Melinda, I'll have to think it over. I'm nearing retirement and don't want to leave on an uneven note- whether it's legal or not. How 'bout I give you a call next week?"
"That's much too late, Kenneth."
"Then I guess I can't help you."
"Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that, Kenneth- so terribly sorry. Well, give my regards to Susan."
"I will Melinda. Now, if there is nothing else?"
"Not that I can think of for myself."
"Then I must say goodbye."
"Oh, okay…
Silence.
"By the way, my dear, dear Kenneth, did Susan ever find out about that little tryst you had with your secretary last summer…?"
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Megan, David, and Colby were meeting briefly at the bureau office Monday morning. Once the Eppes had left to take Don to his therapy appointments at the institute, Megan had snuck into their house and grabbed the belt that Charlie had left for her in the upstairs bathroom. She had then taken it back to the Bureau and dropped the item off at their forensics department.
The three members of Don's former team sat around a conference room table, discussing the belt and the implications of its use, shuffling through pictures of their friend's back that had been acquired from Dr. Wang through the previous court order.
"Well, obviously he hadn't been hit with it for a while," Colby noted, staring intently at a close-up of Don's lower back. "I really can't say I see any marks. Maybe we need to take some better pictures- I don't know if a jury will see anything either."
"Well, hopefully forensics will find Don's DNA in the seams of the belt- that might be enough to make circumstantial evidence." David pointed out. "The question we need to answer now is - why not? Why hadn't Don been hit for so long?" David directed his question to Megan as he leaned back in a chair, not wanting to look at any of the photos of Don again. He had known Don the longest, and had been friends with him for some time before his fellow team members had come together. Surprised at himself, he was beginning to realize that this case was starting to affect his objective judgment; seeing the abuse that had been afflicted upon his friend, and knowing the pain he was currently going through along with his family, David was losing the little control he had over his personal desire to pummel Dr. Thompson, his thoughts often straying to a mental image of himself committing the act. With this realization of his heightened emotional entanglement in the case, the young agent decided it was best to stick to written facts and allow his partners to peruse any photos he thought might push him over the edge; he did not think it would help Don's case if he went after Thompson without the necessary evidence to support him, especially if he became physical with her. What he did not know was that his hidden desires were also surfacing in Colby, who had seen enough abuse inflicted on fellow soldiers when at war- but who believed that what he had previously experienced was less personal. For the two male team members, this case was developing a goal of revenge instead of justice, and they were both privately struggling against that demon.
"I think that it is easy enough to explain," Megan answered, "Don learned to obey, and no longer needed to be punished for oppositional behavior. Everything we have read in his reports from Dr. Wang indicate that he believes he is the son of Dr. Thompson and that he has been following her strict routine without resistance. These stringent behaviors clearly show that he was being so completely obedient to her that she no longer had to physically abuse him for some period of time before we found him."
"Okay, I'll buy that," Colby said, picking up another photo. "But what about these rat bites? If he was so obedient, why did she decide to do this to him? I mean, the belt was bad enough- but this seems like it was a one-shot deal. And quite frankly, I think it's also a little over-the-top."
David suddenly sat up, snapping his fingers. "Thompson used the rats because Don did something she had told him he absolutely could not do- something that was so detrimental to her keeping him that she had to really punish him"-
"Because it was the one thing that would take him away from her," Megan continued excitedly, grabbing the picture Colby was holding and putting it on a stack of similar photos." Like letting a stranger see him and telling him"-
"His name," Colby finished for her.
"Bob." They all three said together.
"This is good- real good," Colby said. "We have an assumed date for when he got these bites- probably the day he talked to Bob, or maybe the one right after."
The agents began gathering all the pictures of the rat bites on Don's legs, sliding them and the physical notes about them into a separate yellow envelope.
"Dr. Thompson said Don got them by accident," David commented. "If forensics can backtrack them, tell us how old these scars are"-
"And if they can prove they were obtained on or about the day that Don talked to Bob, we can conjecture that Thompson purposely released them on him for his interactions with the old man- a premeditated assault to teach him he better never talk to another stranger," Megan noted.
"What a hell of way to teach a lesson!" David stated angrily, shoving the last of the pictures into the envelope and then handing it over to Megan.
"I'll take these to forensics and we'll just have to wait to see what they can tell us. Before we break up for the day, have we made any progress into Dr. Thompson's personal life?"
Colby updated Megan on his investigation. "So far, it doesn't seem like she has seen many people since her husband died, but we are slowly tracking down her former colleagues and talking to them. Nothing they have said so far gives us any clue as to why she would kidnap and torture Don- she has spent over fifty years being a respectable and well-behaved citizen. They just emphasize that she seemed to become very depressed when her husband became sick and eventually died."
"However, we do have two lines of inquiry we are following that might remotely connect Thompson to Don," David said. "One is her husband; he died at about the same time Margaret Eppes died- both of them from cancer. We're looking to see if maybe they shared the same doctor or attended the same support groups, anything that might tie them together. The other lead we're following is the statement Bob gave us that Thompson was pregnant when she first moved next door to him- it would have been about the same time that Margaret Eppes was pregnant with Don. We're trying to track down people who knew her at that time- she and her husband were staying at a commune the summer after moving to Alta Sierra and we think we found the woman who used to run it. Or rather, still runs it. Seems she turned it into an organic farm. There's a chance she may remember Thompson. I have a gut feeling that we need to find out what happened to her baby."
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Charlie and Alan were listening to the radiologist, Alyce Rochelle, explain the exam that Don was about to take. They had arrived at the institute over fifty minutes earlier, and had signed in to outpatient services before being directed to the radiology department. The forty-something woman had greeted them with a pleasant smile, leading them to a small room where Charlie took Don to change into a hospital gown while Alan and Alyce waited outside, quietly talking about the weather. It had taken Charlie almost half an hour to talk Don into putting on the gown; he finally realized the problem was that Don would not have anywhere to hold the chalk he had given him. Improvising, Charlie had grabbed some adhesive tape he found in a cabinet and had taped the chalk to Don's skin, under the left side of his boxers.
Now, they were all in the examination room, Don sitting in a chair as Charlie and Alan stood near Alyce, listening to her simple explanations.
"It is called a modified barium swallow. I know Dr. Wang already described the exam to you, but I like to go over it one last time before I start the procedure. Barium is a material that shows up on x-rays- along with a person's skeleton, it looks white while the rest of the 'picture' appears black. We are going to feed Don several liquids and solids of different consistencies, all laced with the barium. As he takes the food into his oral cavity and then swallows it down his esophagus, we will be able to see the progress of the food. This will allow us to determine if he has any difficulties with orally preparing his food- that is chewing it and putting it into position to be swallowed; or if he has any difficulty propelling his food down his esophagus into his stomach."
"So," Alan asked, "You are going to be taking x-ray pictures every few seconds to capture the progress of the food?"
"I'll be taking still pictures at every stage of swallowing, but this machine allows us to produce a video picture that shows the actions as they occur." Alyce led them to the examination table. It was a long, white, solid examination table, with a square projection connected to and shooting up from one end. Immediately next to the table sat a thick white arm on wheels. It ran perpendicular to the floor, curving at its top to proceed to a flat panel almost a foot thick, several feet in length and a couple in width, a large bulbous piece of machinery projecting from its top. The panel hung above about a third of the exam table, with six lead flaps hanging down on the side opposite the arm; the patient would be enclosed between the thick arm on his left and the flaps on his right, the panel above him.
Placing her hands on the large panel and the large cylinder connected on top, Alyce told the Eppes, "This is a fluoro tower- we're actually performing a fluoroscopy. We'll be projecting a continuous stream of radiation at Don so that we can see a moving picture of him swallowing."
At the head of the exam table, against the wall, was a television monitor. Alyce pointed to it.
"We will view Don's swallowing up on that monitor. The whole procedure takes no more than ten minutes. We will begin when his speech therapist arrives; I will control the machine, she will guide the examination and conduct the evaluation. If she detects any problems, she'll either teach him how to improve his swallowing or she'll recommend further testing, maybe sending the exam results to be reviewed by a neurologist. Do you have any questions?"
"Can we stay in the room with Don?" Charlie asked, concern apparent on his face.
"Yes. It is actually preferable to have familiar faces present when the patient is anxious, but you will have to wear full lead vests to protect yourselves." Alyce, Alan, and Charlie all looked over at Don, who fidgeted in his chair.
Alan returned his attention to the radiologist and asked, "Won't he choke if he lies down and tries to eat?"
"We'll probably raise his head at a slight angle. But he needs to be lying down for the second part of the exam- we don't want gravity to help him. We want to see how effective his swallowing ability is all by itself. Don't worry- we'll keep an eye on him. Anything else?"
Charlie and Alan shook their heads.
"Well," the radiologist finished, "I'm going to see if Olivia is here."
Sitting down on either side of Don, Charlie and Alan began to explain the examination to him. After five minutes, Alyce reentered the room with Don's speech therapist, Olivia Matteson. She was in her early thirties with short blond hair and a thin athletic body. Both women stood quietly while they watched the two men talk to the patient who now sat between them.
The patient himself was pouting, ignoring everything that was being said. He was hungry, and more importantly, upset in the break in his morning routine. He was also chilly, as the hospital gown Charlie had talked him into wearing allowed the coolness of the air to filter up his semi-exposed spine while he sat on the plastic chair. Clutching Buddy, Don kept his thumb in his mouth as he obstinately shook his head 'no' to everything his father and brother told him he would have to do. Sighing, Alan looked at the other people waiting in the room.
Olivia and Alyce patiently waited another twenty minutes while Charlie and Alan talked to Don. Olivia had carefully read her patient's records and had decided it would be good to allow his family to try to explain the test to him. However, as time was passing quickly with no cooperation from Don, she was beginning to think that she and Alyce would have to take control of the situation. On the other hand, Alyce had decided the moment she had seen Don that someone needed to make him lie down and take the test- explanations were obviously pointless, she felt, as she observed his thumb sucking and the stuffed toy he held. Children, she thought, need to be told what to do- not asked. She looked at Olivia, holding up a wrist and tapping it lightly. Olivia nodded in confirmation, and walked to the other end of the room, preparing the materials she would need for Don's exam.
Charlie and Alan looked to their right as Alyce approached them. "I'm sorry, but we really need to get started."
"We can't seem to get him to budge," Charlie apologized.
"That's okay- just go stand at the examination table, over near the end in front of the television monitor. We'll be right there."
Alyce stood directly in front of Don, who tried to look around her at the retreating figures of Charlie and Alan. Trembling, he stared up at the radiologist, who put her hands on her hips and directed an authoritative but compassionate stare towards him. "Now, young man, we are going over to where your father and brother are waiting for you. Let's go." She put out her hand and gently took Don's arm, pulling him to his feet and carefully guiding him to where his family and speech therapist waited for him.
"Alright, honey, I need you to lie down on this bed," Alyce told Don in a neutral but firm tone. She patted the examination table behind Don, and then bent over to lift his feet, maneuvering them up and over. In response, Don instinctively lay back on the table, starting to cry as he confusedly tried to look for his father and brother.
Charlie and Alan quickly began to offer consolation and calm him down, standing on either side of Don. Both men regretted the necessity of the examination. Alyce and Olivia slipped on lead vests, and then helped the Eppes men into two of their own, pulling lead gloves over one of each of their hands. This would allow them to each hold one of Don's hands during the test.
Once Don had quieted, Alyce stood next to him and began to position his limbs. She put his legs together flat on the table and lowered his arms next to his sides. Don lay quietly, keeping his eyes on Charlie's, whose gaze did not waver from his brother's. Alan stroked Don's hair. While Alyce tried to maneuver Buddy down from his arm to his hip, the toy became caught in a seam on the exam table. She twisted the rabbit until he was released, but a miniscule tear appeared in the rabbit's bottom in the process. Don's face scrunched up when he saw the damage to the rabbit, but Alan soothingly told him Buddy had only received a scratch and he would patch him up as soon as they went home. Reluctantly, Don allowed Alyce to squish the rabbit between his upper thigh and left hand, Don affectionately petting the toy to offer condolences of his own.
After positioning Buddy next to Don, the radiologist placed the exam table and Don in an upright position for the first part of the exam, placing the flat panel of the machine in front of his face, and then she turned on the television monitor. While Olivia pulled a cart up with various liquids and foods, Alyce noticed Don had snuck his thumb up to his mouth. She lightly grasped his hand, pulling it away from his mouth and laying it flat on his side again, covering his lower body in a lead blanket.
"Now, there will be none of that, do you understand?" Alyce told Don gently, who teared up again but sat still. After maneuvering Don again, she looked at Olivia and asked the speech therapist, "Is this the position you want him in?"
""That's fine." She turned to Alan and Charlie. "Before we start, I'd like to ask if you have seen any problems when Don tries to swallow."
Alan answered, "I suppose you know the only thing he has been eating- really, drinking, is liquid supplement?"
"Yes. The staff notes state he did not appear to have any difficulty swallowing the thick liquid. However, they noted that he almost choked when trying to give him pain pills. I believe they began crushing them after that. Have you continued to do the same?"
"Yes," Alan said. "I didn't notice him choking on the pieces of the pills…though he does seem to cough after I give them to him."
"Coughing while eating can be an indication of swallowing difficulties. Dr. Wang told me that Don did not want to chew any food he was offered during his stay here- he ended up spitting it out. That, along with his choking on the pain pills, made him think Don might not be able to swallow solid foods. That is why he has to take this test- we want to see exactly if and where he needs help."
Olivia pulled a tray to the exam table. "We're going to have Don eat foods of different textures, from thin liquid to solid food. All of them are laced with barium and will show up on the monitor behind you." Alan and Charlie stood on either side of Don, offering soothing words and stroking his hands with their own gloved ones.
Olivia began by having Don sip a thin liquid through a straw. As Don sipped different thicknesses of the liquid, Olivia maneuvered him and the lead covering to different positions during the test, at one point have him say the letter "E" loudly after swallowing a thick liquid.
Alyce was standing in front of the fluoro tower, moving about to manipulate its controls and to change the film cassettes that were taking the still pictures. Olivia's eyes moved back and forth between the monitor and Don as she continued the examination. At one point, she lowered the exam table flat, and again moved her patient about as more pictures and video were taken of him swallowing. Charlie and Alan watched in fascination as the liquid and food appeared on the video as a white mass, moving between the x-ray of Don's white teeth and then following a path down his esophagus, his spine a white rod in the background.
They continued with the examination, moving from giving Don the thin liquid to one thick like a milkshake, then food of various textures, starting with one that was like paste. All the while, Alyce moved the fluoroscopy machine to accommodate whichever view Olivia requested. In between each new food, Don would slip his thumb in his mouth and Charlie would chastise him, telling his brother not to do it again, but knowing he was fighting a losing battle; he was aware that habit and anxiety were Don's reasons for sucking his thumb, and Charlie was not there to solve either of those problems right then.
It did not take long to arrive at food that had to be chewed. Olivia offered a tiny spoonful of ground food to Don, who nervously took it in his mouth and moved it ineffectually between his teeth before swallowing it. Unfortunately, the food stuck in his throat and his body reflexively tried to thrust it out, but it could not do so efficiently. Alyce moved the panel down the exam table to Don's feet as Alan and Charlie helped him to a sitting position. Olivia quickly stepped in and began to massage Don's neck with her index finger and thumb, pulling down on his throat, which helped to clear it. Wrapping his arm around Charlie and laying his head on his shoulder, Don began crying.
"No good. No good," he hoarsely whispered.
"It's okay, Don." Charlie soothed. "You're doing a great job. But we have to finish?" Charlie looked questioningly at Olivia.
"Yes," she replied. "We do have to finish. Why don't you take a bite of the solid food along with Don and show him how to chew it. Then, we'll see how well it travels down his throat."
It took several more minutes for Charlie and Alan to get Don to lie back down. Alan guided Don's hand to Buddy and pressed it against him to increase his feeling of security. Charlie then took a small bite of the solid food, holding it in his mouth before Olivia gave a small bite to Don.
"Now watch your brother, Don," Alan told him.
Charlie opened and shut his mouth in large, expressive movements, making sure Don could see the food being ground in his mouth. Don tried to imitate him, slowly moving his jaws open and shut, but not fully extended. Charlie swallowed, then Olivia opened Don's mouth with her fingers and checked to make sure the food had been chewed to her satisfaction.
"Okay, Don- you can swallow."
Don shut his eyes and swallowed; again, the food stuck in his throat, but Olivia was ready. She immediately began pulling on his throat again and the food passed through after a couple small coughs came from Don, who anxiously put his thumb in his mouth and shook his head 'no' while he looked to Charlie- making it clear he was finished with the exam whether they said he was or not.
Olivia smiled. "You're all done. You did a very good job, Don. We are very proud of you."
Don looked at Charlie and Alan for their approval as he was helped from the table, and they removed their gear. They reiterated what a good job Don had done, and that they were also proud of him. Charlie added that he could never have done as well as Don, and that he was very brave to have finished the exam. Don smiled, rubbing the chalk under his hospital gown, making sure it was still taped to his side.
"Let Don get dressed and I'll meet you at my office," Olivia told them, writing notes on a clipboard.
Alan held the door as Charlie led Don by the hand from the exam room. As they were about to exit, Don stopped in the doorway. He turned Buddy over and looked at the tiny tear in his bottom. His last act before leaving the examination room was to look at Alyce and give her his meanest-looking scowl.