Chapter 3
''No; absolutely not!'' Oscar said as he stepped back into the room - and the argument.
''Not talking to...you...either!'' Jaime said with a bristle. ''Out - and get...Mark!''
''I can't do that,'' Oscar reminded her. ''He's in formal custody and -''
''Don't care! I...need him. You want me to...talk? Well, I'll talk...to him. NOT...to either of you! Get. Out!''
''Jaime,'' Dr. Cohen interjected, ''that's not a healthy attitude.''
''Get. Out. Get...out! GET OUT!''
- - -
Steve didn't care of he ever saw Mark Conrad again - except maybe to tell him off for what he'd done! Oscar had the right idea about him, Steve thought. I certainly don't need him - and I have to keep him away from Jaime! In his mind, Mark was the one who was solely responsible for what had happened - for ALL of it. I might be able to 'interrogate' him, Steve thought to himself. ''And when I do, I'm going to let him have it with both barrels!''
- - -
Oscar left Jaime's cubicle quietly, shaking his head at her behavior; her choice of whom to trust was totally bewildering to him. It was time for Oscar to talk to him, now that Mark had a good 12 hours to think the situation over (and to 'stew in his own juices'). He couldn't in good conscience send the therapist back to see Jaime...could he? Besides, she has Irene Cohen now - and she'll learn to adjust to the change...won't she?
Mark had indeed been thinking through. He'd been up the entire night without even the slightest doze, and he'd come to some firm conclusions. When Oscar finally came to see him, he made what he thought were reasonable - and URGENT - requests.
''I'd like to speak with Jaime,'' he told the OSI Director. ''She's comfortable with me because she knows me, and -''
Oscar's response was to raise his eyebrows in silent (and accusatory) disbelief. ''I should talk to Steve too, although I doubt he wants to see me,'' Mark continued.
''You know I can't allow you to have patient access now,'' Oscar said (wondering in his own mind if he actually should).
''And - hear me out on this before you say no. I think you should send me in to see Anja.''
''Absolutely not!'' Oscar said firmly.
''Just listen to me. Please. If anyone can resist her verbal machinations, it would be me. I'm willing to take the risk -''
''Well, I'm not.'' Although Oscar was letting the idea sink in, he wasn't ready to allow it...but he filed it away for future use. Anna could have already gotten to the therapist (even without his knowledge) and that was the premise he was in custody for. The light (or rather, the darkness) of suspicion was shining straight at him and would be thoroughly investigated for any and all possible charges.
The other therapist, the one from Mark's own facility, had now arrived at Clayton and was familiarizing himself with Jaime's case...but Irene didn't think it was a good idea to bring in yet another new person - and it might be the best therapy of all for Jaime to learn to adjust to her, someone she clearly didn't mesh with. Oscar had said the same thing, right before he left; he wanted Irene to stay on, at least for now. And Oscar's word was the one that carried weight. The other therapist could remain there for the day but would be slotted to see Jaime only much later, if Irene still couldn't reach her.
Irene had been at it for several hours...and was getting nowhere. After her pronouncement that she wouldn't talk to her, Jaime had turned her face to the wall. Huge, silent tears were streaming down her face but she stubbornly kept to her word.
''I'm not giving up on you,'' 'Elmira' insisted. (Jaime couldn't see anyone else but Elmira Gultch when Irene spoke to her. She not only had Elmira's look going on with her hair and her scowl; Irene's words were as harsh and abrupt as her Oz counterpart.) ''You need to work on socialization now, on dealing with people you might not want to deal with. Yes, I am well aware by now that you don't like me. That's the precise reason I need to stay.''
There was absolutely no response from her recalcitrant patient...
''Maybe a visit to Anna could be arranged,'' Oscar acknowledged after an hour of back-and-forth, ''but Jaime and Steve...they're out of question for you.'' (Were they...really? Oscar wondered. But outwardly he remained very firm.) ''You can have no contact with the patients while you're under suspicion of harming them.''
''I harmed no one!''
''Maybe you only think that; the others that Anna used didn't know it until well after the fact, when we caught it and told them about it. We still need to figure out what happened with you. Why don't you start by telling me what you did to Jaime.''
''I don't appreciate your phrasing,'' Mark shot back. ''It's not what I did to her; it's what I did for her!''
''I'll have to be the judge of that - until we take you to see the real judge, that is.'' But maybe - just maybe, Oscar was thinking, Mark could be the the only one who could break through Anna's scheming and end this, once and for all...
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