Author's notes:

Thank you to the great writer Sue Shay for her beta-reading, insight, and encouragement on this and other projects! In the mood for a short, sharp suspenser? I recommend Sue's 1,800-word story, "Danger on Donner Pass." It includes a riveting car crash that puts you right there.

I do not own the TV show The Mentalist and get no compensation from it. This story is written purely for entertainment purposes only.

Notes on the chapter title follow the end of the chapter.

Chapter 6: The Very Thought Of You

Patrick Jane's shoulders slumped at the news from Dr. Suchman.

"A fugue state may last a few minutes, or hours, or days, or months, or in some cases years, Mr. Jane. I can't give you a set time. Sometimes the victim never fully recovers their old memories."

The day had worn him out. In the space of a few hours he had gone from seeing his dearest friend lifeless on the cold, damp ground to witnessing the miracle of her return to meeting the blank slate of her former self. Now it was like the fugue had hidden his friend and left behind an empty shell in her place.

No, that wasn't entirely true. Something was there, something that also stripped away the comfortable distance that he and Lisbon had maintained all these years.

The new Lisbon could see through him just as the old Lisbon could. That was bad enough; the only other person he had ever let get close enough to do that was Angela. The new Lisbon took things further. Freed of whatever history moored her to a certain restraint, now she challenged him. The wall that Patrick Jane had erected to keep the world at bay crumbled with every word, every touch, every smile from Teresa Lisbon. And when she challenged him, he lost the self-control he had honed his entire life.

And yet. And yet…

Deep down part of him didn't mind that. For a fleeting moment in the hospital room, sitting beside her with his body brushing against hers while they looked at each other, he felt…giddy. Like a teenager with…

This had to stop! He would redouble his efforts at control, somehow, some way.

When Teresa opened her eyes from her nap, a surprise greeted her. Three people sat in chairs around her bed. On her left was a giant of a man eating a candy bar. On her right was another man with a blank expression on his face and a book in his hand. In between was a young woman with bright red hair staring at her with a hopeful look.

"Guys, the Boss is awake!" the young woman shouted.

The two men focused on Teresa as well. The big man smiled; the other man looked at her too but never changed his expression. The redhead rose from her chair to move beside the bed. She patted Teresa on the wrist and smiled.

"You had us all worried, Boss," said the large man.

"Yeah," said the other man. His expression had never changed from when Teresa woke up. She decided this other man personified the word "stoic."

"Do you recognize any of us?" the redhead asked.

If anyone had the power to "will" the return of her memory, Teresa decided that this young woman would be the one to do it. Sadly, not even her enthusiasm could work that miracle.

"I'm sorry. I mean no offense by my ignorance."

The redhead's face drooped, but her voice still carried a lilt of hope in her next words.

"We'll work with you, Boss. I know you'll remember sooner or later."

For the next hour Teresa got a crash course on Grace Van Pelt, the hopeful young redhead, Wayne Rigsby, the hungry giant, and Kimball Cho, the stoic reader. They seemed like a latter day Three Musketeers. To think that she led these three in their police work! To Teresa that seemed like a daunting challenge, but they carried their loyalty to her like a badge. When they addressed her they never used "Teresa," rarely used "Lisbon," and mostly used "Boss."

"…and then you circled back around to tackle the guy."

"We weren't getting anywhere until you decided that we should look over the wife's bank records again."

"You and Jane came up with a plan to get the nephew to reveal the location of the body."

The three of them also filled Teresa in on the work they did. While she was sure each day brought its share of brain-numbing reports to file and butt-numbing procedures to endure, the stories they told her thrilled her. The cases they handled sparked her imagination, and the trio impressed her as worthy colleagues.

"You got Jane to…"

"…until you proved Jane's theory that…"

"…after you and Jane drove to Fresno to interview the widow, the two of you figured out that…"

Teresa could sense the bond she shared with the team. It warmed her spirit to be connected to people like that; however, their words all conveyed another unstated message: the person she was closest to was Patrick Jane.

"Ah, there you are!"

Teresa looked up from her thoughts to see a young man with a way-too-serious expression on his face walk into the room. At the same time he entered the Three Musketeers all glanced at the man then looked away as if they had planned to synchronize their moves.

This guy has to be a boss of some sort, and they don't much care for him.

"Hello."

"Yeah, hi, Agent Lisbon. I understand you've suffered a memory loss. I'd shake your hand except we've already met. Already worked together. I'm Agent-in-charge Luther Wainwright. I'm your boss."

"Oh. OK."

Wainwright bent over to look in her eyes.

"No, no light of recognition on your part. You don't know me at all, do you?" Wainwright asked as he raised himself back up to normal height. Someone could have thought him a doctor examining a patient except for his snap judgment.

"Please don't be offended, sir. There's a lot I've forgotten."

"Yeah. Well I hope it clears up. We're doing everything we can to catch the person who did this to you. Aren't we, agents?"

Wainwright raised his voice as he scanned the faces of the Three Musketeers. It made Teresa wince.

That was uncalled for! These three people are professionals, and they took the time to visit me and most of all cheer me up.

"Agent Wainwright, these people were trying to help me with my memory. I didn't know them either, but they've filled me in on a lot about myself. I appreciate what they've done."

"Good. I'm glad the three of them could help. Now I need two of them to help me. They can decide amongst themselves who stays and who comes with me," Wainwright said as he looked around at the Three Musketeers again. "I'll see two of you in the hallway in a moment."

With that Agent Wainwright pivoted and marched out of the room. Through the glass window between her room and the hallway, she saw him assume a position facing the doorway, awaiting the outcome of the Three Musketeers' decision.

Teresa watched the trio glance around among themselves. They nodded to each other, and Cho spoke for them all.

"Rigsby and I will go. Van Pelt will stay here with you, Lisbon," he said as he and Rigsby rose to leave.

"It was good to, uh, re-meet you, Agent Cho. I look forward to seeing the two of you again soon."

"Same here, Boss," replied Rigsby for the two of them.

Through the window Teresa saw Wainwright latch onto the two men as soon as they entered the hallway. His animated gestures at Cho and Rigsby reminded her of a college professor who, in front of a class, got into a debate with himself about the pros and cons of some idea. It was as if the other two men weren't there; Wainwright had ventured off into his own world. The three men turned down the hallway, Wainwright in the lead still debating himself while Cho and Rigsby trailed him in silence.

Teresa had feared that her plight bored the Three Musketeers but Wainwright's visit proved that there were worse things. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Van Pelt heave a sigh of relief. Obviously she preferred to stay with Teresa over listening to that windbag.

"Agent Wainwright's a confident guy," Van Pelt said as she turned back to Teresa.

"I agree that he projects an air of confidence," replied Teresa. Something told Teresa that more lurked behind the mask that Wainwright presented to the world. "Rigsby and Cho looked resigned to the fate of listening to him spell out whatever idea is in his head right now."

"He's pretty smart," Van Pelt reported with the same cold tone that one of Teresa's nurses had used to inform her of her normal temperature, normal blood pressure, and normal pulse a couple of hours before. She could tell that Wainwright was something for the Three Musketeers to endure, to neither relish nor resist.

"Do you deal with him a lot?"

Teresa saw Van Pelt's shoulders relax, and her return to informality cheered Teresa's spirit.

"No. You handle most of the contact with him. That's something we all appreciate about you. Pardon me for saying it this way, but you deal with a lot of crap so we don't have to."

Teresa's laugh prompted Van Pelt to join in.

"Thank you for being open with me."

In response, Van Pelt's face glowed.

"That's why we like working for you, Boss."

Teresa and Van Pelt talked for another hour about work - people, cases, events. As they talked Teresa could see that Van Pelt felt greater and greater comfort as the minutes passed. She felt confident about moving from work to more personal matters.

"Tell me about myself," Teresa said.

"Isn't that what we've been doing for the last hour?" Van Pelt asked.

"Yes, but I mean me as a person. Who am I outside work?"

"Boss, please don't take this the wrong way, but I'm not sure how much of you there is that's not connected to work. You're pretty dedicated to what you do."

Van Pelt's answer disappointed but didn't surprise her.

"Surely I have some social life, Van Pelt."

Van Pelt looked everywhere but at Teresa, and her hands rubbed together in nervous energy.

"I don't think you date very much, at least that I've heard about."

"What have you heard?"

"Like I say, not much. The most recent thing I heard was that you'd gone out some with Jeff, uh, I can't think of his last name, anyway he's over in Narcotics."

"At CBI?"

"Yeah, but I don't think you were serious about him. I mean, that didn't stop you and Jane from…"

Van Pelt trailed off her words. That riveted Teresa's attention.

"From what?"

"Well…I'm not sure what to call it other than just hanging out together. The two of you - you and Jane - spend a lot of time together."

"So you would you say that Jane and I get along?"

Van Pelt chortled.

"Yeah, most of the time. He gets on your nerves some, but he does that with all of us. After a while you just shrug your shoulders and accept that that's Jane being Jane. And he does bring success with him - because of you."

"How do you mean?" asked Teresa.

"You help him channel his ability more than anyone else. Not that anyone can completely control Jane, but he listens to you."

Teresa welcomed the chance to open a new topic.

"So, tell me about Patrick Jane..."

To be continued.

Author's notes:

Patrick Jane mentioned Jeff "from Narcotics" at the end of episode 4x22, "So Long, and Thanks for All the Red Snapper."

Sid Ascher wrote "The Very Thought Of You" in 1934, and artists including Frank Sinatra, Nat King Cole, and Brent Spiner (Star Trek!) have recorded it. My favorite however is Ella Fitzgerald's version on her album Ella Swings Gently With Nelson - her great voice matched with a Nelson Riddle arrangement.