Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Numb3rs, or any character therein. All characters are fictional, and should not be associated with any other person- real or imagined.

Author's note: Yes, I know people like Jim. And Alan's attitude toward him is mine own. But I have to give them credit- with little children, that syrupy stuff works.

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By the time Alan returned to the therapy room, Don had earned another five stars. Watching from the doorway, Alan observed the overexcited gestures of Jim and listened to his words of over-exuberant praise. He is too much for me to take, Alan thought, but he does make Donny happy. Finally joining the group in the room, Alan boomed a good job at Don, receiving his own reward of a proud smile that was directed toward him- and nobody else. Already ecstatic about the early hearing date, Alan was more receptive to Jim; he decided right there and then that if the therapist could continue to get his son to smile at him the way he just had, then anything Jim did was perfectly fine with him.

Don was working with a shallow pan filled with rice. Charlie slid over to his father and explained the activity to him. "Jim hid three different items under the rice. Don has to move his fingers through the rice and find the hidden objects. He'll get another star when he finds all three and lifts them out of the rice."

Alan tossed out a couple more words of encouragement to Don. He told Charlie, "It's amazing how simple these activities are. I hate to admit it, but I thought I'd just be a wet noodle when it came to helping Don with all this therapy." He raised his hand to scratch the back of his head. "But you know, this guy makes it seem like we're playing games- and you know how great I am at playing games."

After clapping his father lightly on the back in agreement, Charlie went to sit next to Don at the table, goading him to find the second item under the rice. Jim was behind Don, dancing back and forth across the room. He seemed to notice Alan's return for the first time, and stopped sudddenly. Whispering a few words to Charlie, Jim saluted Don and skipped to Alan, grasping the elder Eppes' hand firmly in his own. "I am glad to see your safe return."

Joining in, Alan replied, "One of our generals called to give new orders. Our troops will be moving out earlier than anticipated."

"Good to hear." Jim tugged at Alan's arm, pulling him from the therapy room. "We need to talk." Jim's frenzied movement was unexpectedly gone. Alan followed the therapist back to his office and sat down, surprised to see the man's arms, legs and head at a standstill for the first time since meeting him.

Jim sat down in his chair and pulled out a clipboard containing several pages of typewritten paper. "You know, the show is for the kiddies, not the adults."

Alan raised an inquisitive eyebrow at him."We don't like to refer to Don as a child."

"What I mean is, all the energy and talk about soldiers- that's for Don's benefit, to get him motivated to do the therapy. And like it or not, right now he is a child. But notice I use complete, complex sentences with higher-level vocabulary when discussing things with him. And the military ranks I gave him were real, not made up. You have to walk a fine line between challenging him to progressively think and behave like an adult, and meeting his child-like needs at the moment. There will be times when you'll feel like you're walking a tightrope."

"Considering you act so much like a circus performer, I think the tightrope analogy is an appropriate one."

"Oh, don't think I'm blind to the effect my routine has on adults when they first meet me. When Don gets his cognitive facilities back, I'm sure he will have the same desire to punch me as you did."

"Well, I wouldn't say I wanted to punch you… not exactly."

Both men laughed, a congenial relationship forming between them.

Alan relaxed into his seat. "Now that I have an adult to talk to, can I ask you what his prognosis is?"

"Sure. I think Don has a good chance of regaining the full use of his hands. I've seen his x-rays and have felt the structure of his hands." Alan looked surprised. Jim smiled, joking again. "What? You didn't notice how I kept holding his hand? You know we're not dating, so I had to have another reason for doing it." Switching back to a sterner tone, he said, "So, there is no serious damage to the muscles or joints- the neurologist pinpoints the underlying problem to nerve reception, which may improve over time. We'll have to see what happens after Don takes those diuretics. But don't expect that to be a miracle cure; even though the damage is not serious, he'll still need months of therapy to build up the muscle strength in order to grip. Most likely, the problem would not have gotten so bad if he had started therapy immediately after his injury had occurred."

While Alan thought his words over, Jim set the clipboard at an angle in front of him and flipped through the attached pages. "I think we've covered the fine motor skills quite thoroughly. I'm positive Professor Eppes understands the purpose of the stars. When Don earns ten of them, give him a small reward. When he earns fifty, give him a big reward. You should set it up so that he can earn two stars an hour, which is ten a day and then fifty a week."

"What about weekends?"

"Give your son a break. Do something fun with him that involves gripping, but not set times. You can make the activity his big reward; I read he used to play baseball, so maybe you can go to the park and play. I can provide the proper equipment- we definitely don't want him to use a hard bat or ball. Gotta watch that head."

Seeing a look of uncertainty masking Alan's face, he assured, "I know it sounds like Don is back in school, but that's an advantage. Somewhere in his mind will be the memory of that routine- from high school, college, and even his job. It'll help him be more receptive to a schedule if it's one that he is familiar with."

Finally understanding the purpose of the five-day schedule, Alan laughed. "You don't know the F.B.I. very well if you think he ever worked a five-day week."

"Okay, I'll give you that. But he did attend a regular public school, didn't he?"

"And I'll give you that. A five day schedule is just fine with me. It'll give me and his brother a break."

It was Jim's turn to give Alan an uncertain look. "You and Professor Eppes will have no breaks. Even if you don't do the scheduled occupational therapy, you'll still have to bathe, feed, and care for Don. He'll still need to keep to a specific sleeping schedule. And you'll still need to do his speech therapy. I'm sorry Alan- but the word break is going to mean five minutes to rest your eyes… if you're lucky. Are you positive that home care is the route you want to go? This institute has an excellent staff"-

"No!" Alan's loud outburst made Jim jump a little in his seat. "We can and will take care of Don ourselves."

The determined and stubborn look on Alan's face was enough to make Jim drop the subject like it was a boiling hot pan.

"All right. As part of Don's life skills, social skills, and cognitive functioning therapy, the staff filled out the FIM and FAM. Those are short names for the Functional Independence Measure and Functional Assessment Measure. I am going to quickly go over the forms with you; if you disagree with any of their opinions, please let me know. Staff based their answers on their observations of Don while he was here at the institute. We usually have the patient and family answer these questions, but Don was and is unresponsive, and he was incapable of giving us permission to talk to you while he was staying here, so we had to resort to staff opinion."

"Do you want me to answer yes or no?"

"No. If you agree, don't say anything, But stop me when I say something you disagree with. Then you can tell me why the staff was wrong in their assessment. Okay?"

Alan nodded. Jim began to read from the FIM and FAM, listing the things Don could not do on his own: feed self, groom self, bathe self, dress upper body, dress lower body.

"He can pull up his boxers," Jim noted, Alan still nodding in agreement. "And he can use the bathroom by himself. His bladder control is good, but that may change once he starts taking the diuretic. We are also unsure about his bowel control because he has been on a liquid diet and has not had regular or full bowel movements."

"I really never paid attention. I know he urinates on his own, but it didn't cross my mind to, uh, check that other aspect."

"That's okay, because we did. You'll discuss that later with Dr. Wang."

Jim stated that Don could transfer to a bed, chair, toilet, and car on his own- if someone opened the door- and he had no apparent problems walking. However, he could not transfer to a tub on his own.

Jim continued. "In cognitive functioning, Don needs help with problem-solving, his memory, orientation, safety, and judgment."

"I don't know what you mean by those last three."

"Orientation refers to how he adjusts to a new environment. Does he continue to cry and hide when he is confronted with new people, situations, and environment?"

"He didn't with you, but I don't think you gave him the time to be scared. But, yes, he does seem to cry every time we do something or go somewhere new. Charlie has been trying to keep him from hiding, but I think the desire is still there."

"Okay, we need to work on those things. Now, safety refers to his ability to recognize and react to real danger; judgment is his ability to assess problems and make a decision."

Alan thought about how he and Charlie had to protect Don during the thunderstorm. "No, I don't think he understands real danger. And though he says no sometimes, if you press, he always gives in and does what he's told to do, leaving the decision-making to someone else; you just have to make sure that you don't relent. Before the accident, Don would never have given in; he has always been extremely independent." Alan sighed loudly. "He has a lot to work on, doesn't he?"

Trying to lighten the mood, Jim teased, "Is my support personnel deciding to go AWOL?"

Smiling, Alan sat up straight and responded, "No, sir. Please proceed, sir."

"It appears that Don can read words written at college level, but he does not comprehend what is read; his oral reading is not fluid, due to his speech fluency disorder. Since Olivia already went over that with you, we'll skip it. He needs help with understanding and following directions, both oral and written. And he needs to learn to hold a pen again, so he can write. Are you in agreement so far?"

"Yes, I am. Is there much more?"

"No, just his psychosocial and independence assessments. Don has a poor psychosocial assessment. Obviously, Don needs social interaction therapy. Not only does he need to stop sucking his thumb and eventually give up carrying Buddy everywhere he goes, but he needs to learn to stop shaking, crying and hiding in new situations and environments. He also needs to learn to interact with others orally, at an adult level of communication. As for independence, the staff stated that he needs maximal assistance when performing tasks- that is, he can only perform 25 to 49 per cent of any given task independently."

"Any questions about percentages you should ask Charlie. But I'd say fine, that's sounds right."

"We won't discuss Don's specific psychological problems. Those will be addressed during his psychotherapy. Our therapy will'-

"Don doesn't have a psychologist." Alan interrupted. "Dr. Wang said he wanted to wait until after Don was given the diuretic therapy."

Jim opened his mouth to say something, but then shut it again as he thought better of it. "Uh, I guess he has a reason for that…So, let's look at what we can do about Don's other issues."

Alan wasn't fooled. He knew that Jim had wanted to say something else, and he was sure that it was something negative about Don not being assigned a psychologist. Alan had wondered about the decision himself; though it was obvious Don needed a lot of physical therapy, many of his problems appeared to stem from his psychological and emotional attachment to Dr. Thompson. Determined to ask Dr. Wang about the decision when he saw him later that day, Alan refocused on the suggestions Jim was making.

"Life skills are those that address everyday self-care- like grooming and feeding oneself. We can't expect to teach Don all of these skills at the same time. Because hand grip and manipulation is a major part of these activities, we are indirectly working on each one through his regular occupational therapy. Directly, I think we should work on Don's ability to feed himself, because it coincides with his swallowing therapy, and personal grooming. I have an assistive device that will allow Don to take care of these needs. You'll learn how to use them when we meet with Olivia. Any questions so far?"

Alan shook his head. Jim began to twirl his pen, leaning back in his chair while staring at the ceiling. "Social skills involve all of Don's interactions in his environment. We not only want to stop his crying and hiding in new situations; we need to know Don can recognize signs of danger- like, not walking into the street when a car is coming. And he needs to know who to trust, and who not to." Alan thought about Dr. Thompson. He prayed he could teach his son that she could not be trusted. "We will make a trip into the community once a week. I'll show you how to test Don's knowledge of community social skills. See if he can pay for an item in the store and wait for his change, recognize the different colors on a stoplight, identify people like policemen and construction workers… You can use flash cards and computer games to test these skills, too. Try it once or twice a day, whatever he can tolerate."

Jim sat up in his chair, putting the pen aside. He clasped his hands in front of him and put on his most serious face. "Alan, everything we have Don do may frustrate him. He may start telling you that the activities are too simple. He may complain he already knows this or that. I'm sure Olivia has already explained this, but all of these lower-skilled activities will increase his higher lever cognitive functioning; the therapies go hand in hand. Don't let him give up. And they will help his memory come back. Do you want to know why?"

The therapist leaned across his desk, beckoning Alan forward. When Alan had his ear within an inch of the therapist's mouth, Jim whispered,

"We.

Don't.

Know.

Why."

Both men sat back in their chairs, Jim smirking while Alan frowned in frustration. "Now you know how Don will feel. As his cognitive reasoning returns, he'll want to know why this and why that. And when you answer I don't know he will become increasingly frustrated and want to give up. This is where trust in you and your other son becomes important. It is obvious that Don loves you two," Alan grinned, thinking affectionately about his sons, "so that is a plus. But so is keeping track of his progress; it will not only show you how successful the therapy is, it can also be used to convince Don of its effectiveness."

"How long do you think it will take for his memory to come back?"

"Again, we don't know. One day he might not remember anything about his family, the next day he might remember every single member. It can come like a bolt of lightning- he can be sitting watching television or be in the middle of eating, and boom, he remembers the name of his first girlfriend and everything about her. There is no telling how long it will take- it may be instantaneous, it may pop up piece by piece- or it may not fully return at all. Every case is different. The only thing I can guarantee is that our therapies help the memory process, but, despite the theories that are circulating out there, we really don't know why."

Standing up, Jim led Alan to the door. They checked in on Charlie and Don, who both seemed to be enjoying themselves as Don looked for the last object in the rice. Leaving the brothers behind, Jim directed Alan toward the hallway next to his office.

"There are two more things I want to talk to you about. The first one concerns Don's friends. It is good to have them visit. This will allow him to practice interacting with others, and may stimulate his memory. The second one is his aqua therapy. I'd like to show you our therapeutic pool."

As they walked down the hall to the pool, Alan explained to Jim, "Don has a strong attachment to the woman who kidnapped him."

"Yes, I read that in Wang's notes."

"Well, Don's friends are the ones who rescued him. But in his eyes, he probably thinks they stole him from her. Do you still think it would be a good idea to have them come over?"

"No, not now at least; when he starts to remember them, maybe one at a time. Doesn't he know anyone outside of work?"

"There's Larry. He's actually Charlie's friend, but he was becoming pretty close to Don, too."

"Invite him over and see how Don reacts, see if he settles down and accepts the guy's presence. But make sure this Larry understands Don's limited abilities and can accept his eccentric behaviors."

"Oh, don't worry. That won't be a problem at all. Larry's an expert when it comes to eccentric behaviors."

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"Gordon, it's Melinda. Are you set for the hearing?"

"Of course, Melinda. I am more than adequately qualified to prepare for a probate hearing."

"Prove it to me, Gordon."

Grumble. "All right. Of course, you know Reeves placed your son in one of the institutes you recommended."

"Yes. I knew she'd never look at the list of institute names I handed her when she arrested me. She had no idea Wang was on my list, did she?"

"From what my investigators tell me, no, she didn't. But we could assume that without paying for their confirming information. I don't think she would have had him commit himself to Wang if she had seen his name on your list. You seem to be a lucky person, Melinda. There are so many institutes available…"

"Not luck, just good at my job. I knew Reeves was in charge of the case and would be one of the arresting officers; thirty years of experience told me Donny's so-called friends weren't about to let someone else do their dirty work. I only had to wait for the right moment to give that list to her"

"There was no way to know she would recommend your son be put in a private institution in the first place."

"Don't ever assume I do a job halfway, Gordon. I had all of Donny's associates investigated a long time ago. I knew Reeves had training in psychology and knowledge of the current conditions of our state hospitals. After prompting her with my suggestion of a private institute, the odds were in favor of her talking Donny's dad into putting him into one."

"But for her to pick one on your list...?"

"That was just common sense. I included all the decent ones within a reasonable distance from his home. I never imagined he'd be placed that night. I actually thought it would take a few days."

"That immediate placement was not in your favor. If Reeves hadn't called the father while your son was signing in, we would have no way of showing she had an opportunity tell the father you recommended Wang."

"But she did call him. Besides, you know I originally set it up as a defense against the kidnapping charges. I thought I'd need it to show my concern for Donny's well-being."

"Thanks to me, you did not need that defense, now did you?"

Sigh. "No, Gordon. I didn't. And without you, I would never have known it would be an advantage in probate court."

"Why, Melinda. Are you complimenting me?"

"No, Gordon. I am just pointing out that I do have a reason for paying you."

Silence. Gordan began again.

"You wanted further proof of my adequate abilities?"

"Why, Gordon. You have more for me?"

"Of course, Melinda. Thus far, I haven't said anything you didn't already know. Let me explain why I am going to continue to ask for my full fee- even though it is only probate court."

"I am waiting with abated breath, Gordon."

"My chief investigator took one of the admitting nurses to a nice dinner. They talked about the night Tommy Larson tried to get a room at Wang's institute. And about other patients who were actually admitted that night- including your son."

Pause.

"Don't play games with me, Gordan. Out with it."

"It seems our Agent Reeves was a very naughty girl…"