Disclaimers: The show and the characters don't belong to me. My only responsibility is the storyline and the plot twists.
Summary: Mike talks to Paul and Lt. Ryker about the possibility of moving Jill out to the country while plans are made to move her rehabilitation forward.
Chapter 8: A New Environment
Mike left Jill's room to once again to and talk to Paul to run the idea of moving Jill out to Lt. Ryker's house by him to see what he thought about it. This time he found Paul in the exercise room working with another patient. He excused himself when he saw Mike standing in the doorway. "Didn't we just talk?" Paul joked when he walked over.
"I want to run an idea by you. One of my superior officers has a house out in the countryside. Would it be possible for Jill to move out there and continue her therapy rather than going to the hospital?" Mike asked hopefully.
"Why are the two of you so resistant about her going to the hospital? I can't be going back and forth between three different places," Paul complained.
"Then come with her and be her full-time therapist. At least until you can get her to the point where I can take over."
"I'd have to talk to my boss here and at the other hospital. Let me do that and I'll get back to you. One more thing," he said as Mike looked at him. "I need to see the house."
"I'll see about arranging a tour."
"You talk to your boss and I'll talk to mine. We'll see what we can work out, but I'm not making any promises."
***MJMJMJ***
Lt. Ryker was in his office when Mike knocked on his door. "Enter!" He called out as Mike walked in. "Is there something that I can help you with, Danko?"
"Yes sir, maybe there is. As I'm sure you know by now, Jill doesn't remember a lot of things. However, one of the things that she does remember is your cottage. Would it be possible to move her out there to continue her therapy rather than moving her out to Rancho Mirage?"
"Danko, I don't know—" Ryker hedged as he sat back in his chair.
The house in the country had been built by Lt. Ryker for his late wife, Mary Kate. After her death, he'd virtually closed up the house for years and took an apartment in town. He only occasionally visited the house when he felt the need to get away from the city. As much as he adored Jill, he wasn't sure he was comfortable allowing her and a stranger to live there.
"I promise that she won't invade your privacy, sir," Mike read his lieutenant's mind.
"I realize that, Danko. Gillis and Webster were telling me that she doesn't remember Andrews being dead. How will she feel when she learns that someone from her past lives on my property?"
Trap. Mike hadn't thought about Trap. "I don't know, sir. I have to admit that I haven't given that a lot of thought. I was just thinking that since it seems to be familiar to her, she might start recuperating out there faster than she would in a strange place."
"Let me think about it and I'll get back to you."
"Yes, sir. Thank you."
***MJMJMJ***
Later that afternoon, Terry stepped off of the elevator and spotted Jill holding onto the railing along the wall as she slowly walked. "Should you be doing this?" He fell into step beside her.
"No . . . one . . . said . . . that . . . I . . . couldn't."
"What if you fall? Tell me what to do and I'll help you."
"I've . . . already . . . fallen. I . . . don't . . . want . . . to . . . get . . . you . . . in . . . trouble."
"I can take care of myself. Jill, please tell me what to do."
"Left . . . hand," she said as she held her hand out to him as he took it. "We'll . . . go . . . to . . . my . . . room . . . and . . . you . . . can . . . tell . . . me . . . about . . . Mike."
"What do you want to know?" He asked as he held her left hand as they slowly made the trip back to her room.
"Everything."
"I'm not sure that I know everything, but I'll try to answer any questions that you have," he said as they entered her room and he helped her back into bed.
"We . . . have . . . kids?" She asked, forgetting that she'd already asked her friend Jackie that same question.
"No, you don't have any children," he said, trying not to sound too sad with his answer.
"He's . . . very . . . nice," she admitted shyly as she bit her lower lip.
"Yeah, he's a real nice guy. He's one of my best friends."
"You . . . know . . . Cleve?"
"I only met him once," he said, not wanting her to know that the one time he'd met her former boyfriend had been the night Cleve had tried to kill her, him, and Willie. "Can I ask you something?"
"What?"
"Was he mean to you?"
"Was? He . . . still . . . is. I . . . don't . . . want . . . to . . . go . . . home . . . with . . . him," her voice trembled with fear.
"Maybe you won't have to. If he's in jail, maybe he'll be there for a long time and you can go home with Mike."
"He . . . won't . . . stay . . . in . . . jail. His . . . father . . . will . . . get . . . him . . . out. My . . . wrists?" She held her wrists out toward him as Terry began to feel uncomfortable. "When . . . did . . . I . . . do . . . this?"
"A long time ago. Maybe that's something that you should be talking about with Mike. Are you getting tired?"
"A . . . little."
"Then I'm going to let you get some rest. Can I come and visit you again?"
"You . . . have . . . pictures?" She asked as he nodded. "Bring . . . them . . . next . . . time."
She was asleep when Mike arrived back at the hospital later that afternoon. He quietly pulled up a chair and sat beside her, watching her sleep, as usual. He looked up when he heard a light tap on the door. "Mike, can we talk for a minute?" Paul stuck his head in the door.
"Sure," Mike got up and left the room. "Lt. Ryker said that he'd think about my proposal and get back to me."
"Well, if you get the green light from him, my bosses have given me two months. After that, hopefully she'll be at a point where she can go home with you to your apartment."
"I should know something from him soon," Mike said.
"Then I'll let you get back in there with her. If you hear from him, find me and let me know what he says. Like I said, I need to check out the house if the gives the okay."
"Okay, I'll find you."
When he re-entered the room, Jill was just waking up. She looked toward the door and smiled sleepily when she saw him. "Hi," she smiled.
"Hi, yourself," he smiled back.
"Your . . . friend . . . Terry . . . was . . . here."
"He was? Did you have a nice visit?"
"He . . . told . . . me . . . that . . . I . . . should . . . ask . . . you . . . about . . . these," she extended her wrists toward him. "When . . . did . . . I . . . do . . . this?"
"You know what? We'll talk about all of that when you're stronger," he said as he tried to evade her questions.
"No. I . . . feel . . . strong . . . now. Tell . . . me."
"Jill, trust me. I'll tell you everything. I just think that we should wait a little while. I promise that I'll answer all of your questions in time."
"Can . . . we . . . walk?"
"Yeah, we can walk," he lowered the bed railing and helped her with her robe and slippers. "Has Paul said when he's going to give you a walker?"
"Don't . . . want . . . one."
"Why?"
"For . . . old . . . people."
"Jill, they're not only for old people. It'll help you get around better."
"Don't . . . like . . . it."
"Then take it up with Paul."
They were walking the length of the hall when the elevator doors opened and Lt. Ryker stepped off and walked toward them. "Danko, you're just the person that I was looking for."
"Do . . . I . . . know . . . you?" Jill sized up the lieutenant as she felt a sense of déjà vu.
"I'm Lt. Ryker," he introduced himself as Jill appeared noncommittal. "Can we talk for a few minutes?"
"You . . . and . . . me?"
"Yes. Is that all right with you?"
"I . . . guess," she looked at Mike, who gave her a nod letting her know that this strange man meant her no harm.
"Come on, I'll help you back to your room," he said as they turned around.
After he got her settled, he left her alone with Lt. Ryker. For a few minutes, they just stared at each other. "I understand that you remember my house," he finally broke the silence.
"I . . . thought . . . that . . . it . . . was . . . a dream."
"Would you like to stay there while you continue to get better?"
"I . . . just . . . don't . . . want . . . to . . . go . . . to . . . the . . . other . . . hospital. Any . . . place . . . is . . . better . . . than . . . that."
"Then young lady, I'll see what I can do," he said as he left the room, indicating that their meeting was over. Mike looked up when the lieutenant came out. "Danko, do you remember how to get to the cottage?"
"Yes sir, I think so."
"I'll write down the directions and you can take her therapist out there. Instruct Trap to make whatever modifications that she needs," Ryker instructed.
"Yes sir. Thank you," Mike smiled as he went back into her room. "You must've been a hit with Ryker. He's okayed the move to his house." Jill didn't say anything as she looked at him and took a deep breath. "What's wrong?"
"I . . . hate . . . being . . . confused!" She said angrily.
"I know," he sympathized as he lowered the rail and sat on the edge of her bed. He'd discovered that she liked it when he sat on her bed.
"No . . . you . . . don't!" She argued with him.
"You're right, I don't."
"I . . . want . . . to . . . remember . . . you," she said as tears began trickling down her cheeks. "I . . . mean . . . at . . . least . . . you're . . . nice . . . to me! Cleve . . . is . . . never . . . nice . . . to me!"
"Why isn't he ever nice to you?" He asked. This was a subject that he and Jill had never completely explored and now seemed like a perfect opportunity to get some questions answered.
"I . . . don't . . . know. He . . . hurts . . . me!" She wailed as tears continued running down her face.
"He's not going to hurt you anymore. I wish that I could make you believe that," he reached over and gently rubbed her back.
"How . . . did . . . we . . . meet?" She asked, wiping at her hands as Mike handed her a tissue. "Thank . . . you."
"You were working at your uncle's bar in Alabama."
"No," she shook her head. "I . . . haven't . . . been . . . in . . . Alabama . . . since . . . I . . . was . . . 14."
"Do you remember your uncle's bar in the bowling alley in Anniston?"
"Ray's? Yes . . . but . . . I . . . never . . . worked . . . there," she insisted.
"Then how do I know about it?"
"I . . . don't . . . know. I . . . really . . . worked . . . there?"
"Yes."
"Why . . . can't . . . I . . . remember?"
"You will. You're trying too hard. Right now just relax and work on walking again. Everything else will fall into place."
"You're . . . sure?"
"I'm positive," he smiled at her.
***MJMJMJ***
The next morning, Mike drove Paul out to Lt. Ryker's house on the lake so that the therapist could take a look at the house and the property. Trap and Mike stayed in the living room while Paul walked through the house. After several minutes, he returned to the living room. "Trap, you said that you have horses?"
"Yes."
"Can Jill ride?"
"She's been riding since she was a kid."
"Riding's great therapy for people with mobility problems," Paul explained. "I think this might work."
"Great!" Mike clapped his hands together.
"I'm going to take a look around outside."
"Mike, is she as bad as he's making it sound?" Trap asked.
"It was bad, at first, but she's getting better every day," Mike assured his wife's oldest friend.
"Is it all right if I go and visit her?"
"I don't know, Trap, She's so confused right now. She doesn't remember that Cleve's dead and for right now, we're playing along with her. I don't know what her reaction's going to be if she sees you," Mike said with a worried expression on his face.
"I won't upset her, Mike. I just want to see her."
"Don't say a word about Cleve, Trap. I mean it," Mike warned him.
***MJMJMJ***
Later that afternoon, Jill was lying in bed absently switching channels on the TV. She was bored out of her mind and she still had more than an hour to kill before Mike was due for his afternoon visit. She looked up when she heard a rap on her door. Her heart jumped into her throat when the door opened and part of her past entered. His hair was much shorter, but there was no mistaking that it was him. And if he was here, then she knew that Cleve couldn't be too far behind him.
"What . . . are . . . you . . . doing . . . here? Did . . . you . . . bring . . . Cleve . . . with . . . you?"
"Did I what? No, of course not. I mean, you're not the only person who's afraid of him."
"I . . . didn't . . . know . . . that."
"Jill, we talk about it all of the time. Never mind," he quickly stated as he saw the look of utter confusion crossing her face. "How're you feeling?"
"Confused. If . . . you're . . . here . . . where's . . . Cleve?"
"I haven't seen him in a while. Did Mike talk to you about the house?"
"How . . . do . . . you . . . know . . . about . . . the . . . house?"
He stopped to think. If he said the wrong thing, Mike had warned him that she was liable to freak out. He didn't want to be responsible if he freaked her out. Calming her down was something that he'd never been good at. He'd been more than happy to hand that chore over to Mike, who was wonderful at it. She was staring at him, patiently waiting for an answer to her question. "Mike told me that you were getting ready to be moved and he told me about the house."
"You . . . know . . . Mike?"
"Yeah, we've known each other for a long time. You introduced me to him."
"Mike . . . knows . . . Cleve?"
"He's met him, but they don't really know each other."
"Go . . . away!" She shouted in sudden fury as Trap wondered just what he'd said. She waved her hand toward the door.
"Excuse me?"
"Leave!"
He was going to say something further, but he thought better of it as he turned and left the room. She lay back in her bed, now totally confused. If Trap knew Mike and Mike knew Trap, then wouldn't that mean that Mike also knew Cleve? Her mind was beginning to feel like a jigsaw puzzle where none of the pieces fit together. She wanted answers, no more of this evasive game that she felt Mike had been playing lately.
An hour later, Mike got off of the elevator and walked toward Jill's room. His mood was the lightest it had been since before the accident. Paul had given the okay for her to move out to Lt. Ryker's house and had agreed to come with her, which was a huge load off of Mike's mind. He walked into her room to find her glaring at him, which was never a good sign, but lately was especially ominous. "What's going on?" He asked as he walked over and pulled his chair over. "Did Paul talk to you about the house?"
"Trap . . . was . . . here."
"He asked me if he could visit. He's been worried about you."
"Question."
"What's on your mind?"
"If . . . you . . . know . . . Trap . . . shouldn't . . . you . . . also . . . know . . . Cleve?"
"I only met Cleve twice and I don't think that we exchanged more than five words between us."
"Quit . . . playing . . . games," she accused him.
"Jill, I don't know what you're talking about. I'm not playing games with you."
"My . . . wrists! I . . . want . . . to . . . know! Tell . . . me . . . Mike!"
"I don't know all of the details," he lied, because nothing was further from the truth. But, he knew she wasn't ready for why she'd slashed her wrists. "You did it to get away from Cleve. Trap took you to the hospital and then he took you back to Alabama. That's when we met."
"You . . . know . . . more. I . . . must've . . . told . . . you . . . something."
"Baby, listen to me. Right now, you don't need to know all of the gory details. Please believe me when I tell you that I'm not playing games with you. I just don't think that you're strong enough emotionally to bear everything just yet."
"You'll . . . tell . . . me?"
"I think that when you're strong enough, you'll remember everything on your own."
A/N: Okay, so I lied. This chapter wasn't quite as long as the previous one. The next one's going to be a new chapter which will tie things in to the next chapter, which is where the long chapters will start once again.