Tom couldn't help it. He knew he should have backed off as soon as Sam noticed him staring but he was transfixed. He refused to look at the real reason behind the staring, instead coming up with a whole plethora of excuses such as 'I'm just worried about her after that head injury', or 'I just don't want her to be afraid or on her own'.
Naturally that little voice in his head that only spoke logic refuted these ideas in an instant, but still he refused to believe anything else. There was no way that he was falling for her again. Absolutely no way.
"Tom? Hey, driver! Eyes on the road!" Sam shouted in alarm, snapping him out of his daze.
"Sorry!" Tom replied as they almost swerved onto the curb not five minutes into their journey.
He knew he really shouldn't be driving with one arm, so he had taken the other rout of its sling temporarily. The bone, he reasoned, was pretty much healed by now anyway.
Today was Sam's first appointment with the psychiatrist, and judging by the relaxed look on Sam's faced he was more nervous than she was. Sam had insisted on sitting in the back of the car, and Tom had a funny idea that was because she knew what was going though his mind, but she didn't say why.
"You ok? We haven't really spoken since last night…" Sam asked as she stared at him in the rear view mirror.
"Yeah I'm fine." Tom replied flatly.
"How far away are we now?" Sam asked impatiently as she stared out of the window looking for street names even though they were both fully aware there was no chance of her recognising any.
"About ten minutes I'd say." Tom said as he glanced at the Sat Nav.
"Good." Sam quipped.
"You're awfully eager to get your head examined." Tom stated in a confused tone.
"No not really. But I am eager to get in and out of here as fast as humanly possible," Sam replied in a moody tone before adding, "I hate these places"
"Yeah? How come?" Tom asked, glad for the conversation.
"I went to one when I was a kid. He was a large guy with a huge moustache that twitched every time he spoke, and when he did it was always in a monotone with no feeling," Sam replied, "Freaked the hell out of me."
"How old were you?"
"About 13 I think," Sam said with a frown as she tried to remember, "Or 12."
"Well that was what… about 18 years ago now? You'll be happy to know things have changed a lot in 18 years." Tom said with a small smile.
"Yeah? How do you know so much?" Sam asked as she stared at him once again in the rearview mirror.
"I've had psyche training." Tom replied.
"Any chance you'll know what he's going to ask me in there?"
"Not a clue. It's been a while since I came across a memory loss case."
"So I'm a case now?" Sam said angrily, crossing her arms in disgust.
"Not to me, no. But to the psychiatrist, yes." Tom said evenly, "And here we are."
Once again Sam and Tom entered the all too familiar ST James' hospital. Tom led the way, following the signs which led through the maze if corridors, dodging trolleys visitors as they went. When they finally reached the psyche department there was not anyone else nearby, and so the doctor, a 6ft body builder by the looks of it, simply opened the door, shook hands with both Tom and Sam and invited Sam inside while asking Tom to wait outside.
Tom did as he asked, pacing around the empty waiting room for what felt like hours, but in reality as he checked his watch had only been around half an hour. He was worried.
He didn't want Sam to go through any more pain. She had already discovered some of the most harrowing details of her life, such as killing a man who wasn't even a threat and her mother dying, and also uncovered several mysteries like what happened to her brother. Tom couldn't even imagine what it must have been like for her to have awoken with no recent memories.
Around an hour later the door finally swung open to reveal a disgruntled Sam who was curse words under her breath. She slammed the door shut behind her before heading out of the waiting area without so much as a glance at Tom.
"Sam stop! You're going the wrong way!" Tom shouted as she power walked away from him.
"I don't care!" Sam hollered back.
After taking a winding route out of the hospital which cost them an extra ten minutes inside it, they finally exited the hospital and Sam stormed over to Tom's car before opening the door and slamming it shut after she had got.
Tom sighed and got into the drover's seat once again. It was going to be a long journey.