For The Love of Daphne by Patrick Councilor
Frasier pushed Niles in his wheelchair up to his office with Martin trailing behind. Frasier unlocked the door and they entered the waiting room.
"Frasier, this is ridiculous." Niles said.
"Now Niles, Donny is coming over this evening. He's a divorce attorney and has agreed to take your criminal case. So we've agreed to give this one more try." He wheeled him up to the coffee table in the waiting room. He then took the gym bag that was strapped across his chest and over one shoulder.
"Frasier?" Martin questioned, "You have a gym bag?"
He shot his father a defensive look. "Yes, I have gym-ed before." Turning back to Niles, "Now you wait here while I recreate your office the way it was of the night in question." He took Niles' double-breasted jacket from the gym bag and headed for the office, tucking Niles' cell phone in its pocket as he went.
Niles shot his father a look.
"Just appease him, it works for me." Martin shrugged.
Back to the gym bag, Frasier took some cans out and started stacking them on the coffee table in front of Niles. "Now Niles, in our therapy sessions, you mentioned a can of cat food. So I thought this might jog your memory. I have Friskies, Fancy Feast and 9 Lives."
Niles held his hands up. "Let's just stop with the cat food, shall we?"
"Alright Niles, alright. Let's continue with the simulation shall we? Now you were in this room when your cell phone rang."
"That's correct," Niles stated.
"This is ridiculous," Martin commented.
"Now now Dad," Frasier said. "It's a proven fact that sights, sounds and smell can allow the mind to recall things that it wouldn't otherwise." He pulled out his cell and speed-dialed Niles' cell.
It began ringing and Frasier gestured for Niles to go answer it. Martin started to say something, but Frasier aggressively put his finger up to his own mouth to insist that his father remain completely quiet during the recreation.
Niles hesitated from doing this silly recreation before wheeling himself into his office. There was his jacket on the coat rack, just as it was before. He reached for the jacket pocket, but just couldn't reach it from his chair. Frasier and Martin scooted past him and into the office almost as if they were ghosts that Niles couldn't see.
Niles continued to struggle. Frasier tilted the coat rack closer to Niles. Helping him too much could take away from the recreation.
Niles still couldn't reach it. Frasier tilted it more.
Niles stretched, but still couldn't reach it. "Oh for heaven's sake Frasier, I wasn't in this wheelchair on that night."
Frasier got that "don't rain on my party" look on his face as he leaned it all the way down for Niles to reach his phone.
When Niles touched his cell phone, he stared at it for a moment in the palm of his hand and said nothing. "Oh my God Frasier, I just remembered something!"
Frasier ended the call and put his phone way. "YES! YES! YES NILES" He turned to Martin, "AND YOU THOUGHT THIS WAS STUPID!"
Martin rolled his eyes.
Frasier took Niles wallet out of the gym bad and threw it to the rug where Martin found it, but he did it like a victory piking of a football. "GO WITH IT NILES! GO WITH IT! WHAT DO YOU RECALL! SING IT FROM THE GALLOS!"
Niles looked at him with eagerness. "I remember that I left the coffee pot on!" He wheeled his chair out of the office and swung it around and went over to see if his precious coffee maker had been damaged.
Martin laughed, but tried to hold back.
"Oh sure, mock me," he told Martin. "The Doctor is not done yet," he announced, "I have more tricks in this gym bag."
Niles wheeled himself back into the office. "I'm sorry Frasier. I appreciate what you are trying to do here, but perhaps we should just terminate this and go home."
"Come now Niles, we're already here and we're here to help you." Frasier walked over to Niles' desk. Now what about this book that is open on your desk or your yellow legal pad?"
"Don't Frasier," his voice was stern. "Don't touch my legal pad."
"Alright Niles. Let's go to 'The Gym Bag' again. Now through our sessions you also mentioned that you remember in the accident that you smelt something sweet."
Niles thought. "Yes, I believe I did, but I can't recall the smell."
Frasier set the gym bag on the desk and pulled out… "Could it have been a box… chocolates!" He pulled it out and had it open for Niles to smell."
Niles looked up at him with just the movement of his eyes. "No, it couldn't be chocolate. I never have sweets in my BMW, you know that."
"Alright, what about car air fresheners!" He held out three different types for him to smell.
Niles shot his father a look. Martin nodded to him – the non-verbal, "go ahead son, this is almost over and you know how your brother will get if you don't let him finish with this".
He smelt them one at a time. "No, sorry. Nothing."
Frasier put them back in his gym bag. "Alright, then what about roses!" Frasier pulled out a handful of rose pedals and tossed them at Niles.
Niles stared at him with irritation as he took them off of his shoulders and lap one by one. "I think we're done now."
"Wait Niles, we have one more." He took out a jug of blue liquid. "Anti-Frozen"
"What's that?"
"Antifreeze," Martin said. "This one is my idea. It's a coolant that goes into the radiator of your car."
"Oh," Niles nodded as if he understood exactly where the radiator was in his car.
"Let's go to the sink by your coffee maker," Frasier said excitedly as he handed Niles the container and he wheeled his brother out of the office.
Martin looked up towards the heavens. "Hey Hester, they're your kids too." He could hear his kids from the waiting room.
"This is it! Hey Dad, this is it! This is what I was smelling at the scene of the accident!" Then there was a thud followed by a thick splash and Niles' cry, "Ahhhhhhhhhh!"
"What's wrong? What happened?" Martin hurried into the other room.
"Frasier dropped the Anti-Frost and it splashed all over my hands! It's going to eat my hands off!"
Martin smiled. "Calm down Niles. It's only Anti-Freeze. It's not acid. It's only harmful if swallowed. Just wash your hands off." Martin looked back up to the heavens. "Do you see what I mean?" He went back into the office to wait for the boys.
Niles wheeled himself back into the office with Frasier right behind.
"Did you remember anything?" Martin asked.
"I did," Niles said. "I remembered not to trust my brother to hold any type of liquid container close to me for any given time."
Frasier shot him a quick look with a silent sigh.
"I'm done here Frasier. I appreciate what you're trying to do. I really do, but I am completely done."
Frasier took a few steps toward his desk. "Niles what about this legal pad and this book? Are these session notes from Becky?"
"Frasier, you don't understand. I'm done with it all. I'm not going to be a psychologist anymore. I don't want it."
Frasier and Martin stood there for several moments with their mouths open. "Son, what are you thinking?"
"This job has caused a lot of stress on Daphne as well as myself and a short week ago almost cost me my life. I just don't want it anymore."
"Niles," Frasier pleaded. "Psychology is your life. I beg you, think this through."
"I've made up my mind. I'm going home to Daphne and will put my fate in the hands of Donny."
With that, he wheeled himself out of the room, leaving Frasier and Martin looking at each other with blank looks on their faces.