Chapter 3
I'm a Doctor Not a Psychic
"She's blonde and a few inches taller than me and she loves Star Trek. She was really, really nice. And she bought me this Compendium for my birthday! It cost $80!"
Uncle Jimmy looked at Dad skeptically, "You let a complete stranger buy him an $80 gift?"
My Dad ignored Uncle Jimmy's obvious distrust of Auri's gift. I was frustrated. I couldn't tell them that we had carried on a conversation in our minds or my father would go nuts. He doesn't like people getting in his head; he likes control and subterfuge. If I told him that Auri could read his mind, he'd go nuts and would stay a hundred miles away from her.
Uncle Jimmy looked at my Dad, "The Urologist is on the panel in the next seminar at 11:00. I'll take Furey to the Klingon Language School and then we can meet up around 12:30 for lunch. Should I come back over here to get you?"
"No, Dad!" I jumped in, staring at my father, "Uh, there's a cafeteria over by the Trek Convention. Why don't you come over there?"
He scowled, "I don't want crappy Convention Hall hot dogs for lunch."
I was desperate, "Well then just come over and look at the menu. If you don't like it, we can go somewhere else."
He knew something was up, but he wanted to find a good seat to stare at the Urologist, so he nodded. Uncle Jimmy and I took off for the Klingon Language School.
I caught a glimpse of Auri going into the Star Trek fanfic session in another room. I pointed in her direction, "There Uncle Jimmy, that's her!"
He caught a quick glimpse before she disappeared into the room. "She looks nice. I was expecting a Vulcan with blonde hair."
We found seats. "Don't you think she would be great for Dad?"
Uncle Jimmy sputtered and coughed. "You mean, as a friend?"
"Yeah, instead of those friends he pays to come and spend the night."
There was a lot more coughing as Uncle Jimmy turned bright red. "How do you know about that?"
I was confused, "About what? Dad's friends? The ones that I don't get to meet?"
He nodded.
"I asked him why they never stayed over for me to meet them and he told me that they only stayed an hour and then had other places to go. Why?"
"Have you ever met any of the women your Dad dates?"
I nodded, "I met Jody, but then she got transferred back to England."
"I remember Quincy, you were about four when he dated her. Too bad her Visa ran out, I think your Dad really liked her."
I thought about it. I was pretty young, but I do remember him liking Quincy a lot and being disappointed when she left. But, at the time, my Dad was still uncertain about life with a child and life without my Mom. It had just been bad timing and he seemed to recover fairly quickly when she left. "I met Cory too, but I didn't like her. She was pretty, but I was smarter than her and I was only six at the time."
Uncle Jimmy winced, "Yeah, well your Dad was impressed by her other assets."
"Yeah, he sure thought a lot about her breasts. I remember that."
Uncle Jimmy threw a hand up to his forehead and blushed again. I wasn't sure why, but it didn't matter. Cory didn't last too long before Dad grew bored of her.
I liked Auri a lot and she understood my gift. I thought about telling Uncle Jimmy that she's an Intuitive, but I knew he couldn't keep his mouth shut and he'd tell my Dad.
The class got out around 12:30. I opened my mind as far as I could to search through the thousands of voices and find her. I was frustrated. She either had the gate shut or I wasn't as familiar with her thought voice as I thought I was.
Hey Dude, learn any Klingon?
Auri! Where are you?
Out having a cup of coffee. I'm out on the veranda next to the coffee cart.
We'll be right there.
We?
Uncle Jimmy and me...over and out.
I grabbed Uncle Jimmy's hand and dragged him towards the coffee cart. "Come on Uncle Jimmy, I want a coke."
"Wait for lunch."
"Come on."
He followed me as I ran towards the cart. I looked around and outside I saw her sitting at the metal table with an umbrella, waving at me. I ran out the door. Uncle Jimmy, on the cell phone to my Dad, followed me outside. We walked up. She smiled up at us, looking really pretty in her sunglasses, blouse and skirt. I knew Uncle Jimmy would see what I saw.
"Uncle Jimmy this is Auri." I grabbed one of the metal chairs and sat down.
Uncle Jimmy reached out and shook her hand, turning on the Wilson charm. "We don't mean to bother you; it's just that he wanted me to meet you. That was a wonderful gift you gave him."
"Please sit down, I've been waiting for you."
Uncle Jimmy gave me a look of surprise. I smiled wide, "I asked her to lunch."
"Does your father know?"
I shook my head.
She raised a hand in protest, "Oh, don't worry, it's not a problem. I can eat here. But I am glad I got to meet you, Greg kept talking about his Uncle Jimmy."
"Are you from San Diego?" Uncle Jimmy asked.
"Yes, more or less. I've lived a lot of places, but this is where I grew up."
I looked up and saw my Dad making his way towards the table. He was scowling as usual. He came up to me and looked down, eyes narrowed. I could hear him yelling in his head. The only way he knew how to send me a message was to yell it in his head.
What are you doing? Why is she here?
My Dad was loud enough that any intuitive within a hundred miles could have heard him. Auri was blushing so I knew she heard. She shook her head and stood up, winking at me.
Smiling at my Dad, she gave us a little wave, "Good to see you again Doctor, Greg. It was nice meeting you Uncle Jimmy. I think I'll catch that seminar on Trek Uniforms."
I didn't want her to get away. I knew that if I let her go now, my Dad and her would never get a chance to talk to each other. But, she was embarrassed, rushing away as fast as she could. I was so frustrated. This was the first woman I had even remotely felt would understand us. I watched the distance between her and my Dad get further apart and I couldn't take it. I burst out crying. Not just quiet tears, but sobbing. Something I don't remember ever doing before. My Dad and Uncle Jimmy pulled back away from me at first, their mouths open and eyebrows raised. I saw her turn and look at me. She waited for a moment and then rushed back to the table, sat on a chair and then pulled me up into her lap. I hung my arms around her neck and cried into her blouse. She held me close and rocked me back and forth.
Come on pumpkin, don't cry. What's going on? You can tell me. What's going on?
I don't want my Dad to be lonely anymore. He loves me and he cares about me, but I can feel that he's sad. He looks at women and I can tell he'd like to invite them home and sleep with them.
I heard her stifle a laugh and I wondered why. Honey, your Dad just needs the occasional companionship of a woman, because he has physical needs too.
No, I know he likes sex. I see it in his mind. This is something else, I see him holding my Mom in his arms and missing that. He misses just holding a woman in his arms, talking, going to movies, walking. I see it; I hear it; I feel it.
But honey, he obviously doesn't like me.
He doesn't like anyone...not at first.
She started giggling.
My Dad looked down, surprising me by speaking in a soft voice, "Furey, you okay dude?"
I was quiet now, I just nodded. She felt soft and kind. I wanted to just stay there in her arms and let her comfort me, but we didn't have much time. I looked up at my Dad, but I didn't lift my head off her chest. He was worried; I could feel his concern and frustration with me. He knew I had him over a barrel.
He frowned, "Look, uh, would you like to join us for lunch? My son seems to have a crush on you. Although I don't know why, I thought he was gay."
We all laughed.
"How can I resist such a wonderful invitation?" Auri stood up and shook her head, "Dr. House, I've done nothing wrong. For whatever reason, your son wants me to have lunch with you. You obviously don't trust me or want me to eat with you. That's okay. I'm going to go to the restroom. If you're here and want me to go to lunch with you, fine. If you're gone when I come out, that's okay too, you won't hurt my feelings."
We all watched her walk away. I listened and heard Dad think about her butt and legs as she walked away. I thought that was a good sign, because as long as he watched her body, he wasn't thinking or feeling negative thoughts. As soon as she was out of sight he turned back to me.
He growled, "What are you doing? What is this about? Why are you so enamored with this woman?" He was angry and puzzled, his hands shaking at me.
I tried to think... besides the fact that she was an Intuitive, what was it that I liked? I realized I was comfortable with her, felt safe. "Because she reminds me of Mom."
My father snapped his mouth shut, staring at me as if I were an alien. After what felt like forever, he swallowed hard, "What do you know about your mother? She died when you were a baby."
I snapped. I knew my Mom. I still had something inside of me that was her. "I know that she was good. She loved me. She was kind. I know that she loved me even though I'm different."
When I reminded him that I was different, I felt him crumble. My Dad always worried that I would be different like him. But I was different in a different way. I could tell what people were thinking, what they were upset over, what made them afraid. Sometimes it was hard to see, hear or feel. It made you want to run and hide sometimes, get away from their impressions. People can be ugly to themselves, to others. In the last year, I'd tried to learn how to shut them out. Most of the time I can keep their thoughts from entering my head unless I'm tired or sad or sick or drop my guard.
He looked away from me. I could feel that he wanted to both swat me and hug me--I guess that's pretty common in parents. "Okay, we'll take the parasite to lunch. But that's it."
I nodded, I was so excited. I knew we had our chance.
Dear Readers, I'm hoping that you're enjoying this so far. Please remember that an author's only pay are your reviews! Thanks, Gorby!