Dr. Henry rubbed his temples. Captain Murdock lay on the couch in front of him. In this session alone, he had talked about everything from why it is cruel to take eggs away from hens without their permission, to whether or not there are more invisible dogs in the world, to the proper method of flying a helicopter upside down.
The doctor pinched the bridge of his nose. If Decker thought this guy was sane, then the colonel was nuts!
Dr. Henry reached into his pocket and felt the vial. After a week of listening to whatever random thoughts were going through Murdock's head, he had decided that it was time to use the drug. There had been no mention of the A-team, or any of it's members. And to be perfectly honest, he was excited to be using the drug again. It had worked very well last time, before the government decided that it was dangerous. Henry looked at the chart in front of him, deep in thought.
"What do you think, Doc?"
"I beg your pardon, I wasn't listening."
"Obviously. Do you think it would funner to do a loop de loop or a barrel roll in a helicopter?"
Henry stared at the pilot. He was certainly glad he was never going to have to fly with this nut at the controls! "Probably the loop de loop."
"Really? I was leaning more towards the barrel roll. Someday I'll take you up in a chopper and do a loop de loop for ya! I promise!"
Henry smiled weakly. "Thanks, but no thanks. I'm afraid of heights."
"Oh, that's okay, just close your eyes!" Murdock began rambling again. Henry stood up and walked around his desk. He sat in the chair in front of Murdock. Murdock reached down to pet Billy, who had started growling.
"Is that your dog?" Henry motioned to where Murdock was petting.
"Course. Can't you see him? He's right there."
"Oh. Now I see him." Billy snarled as Henry reached down to pet him. Murdock watched Henry carefully.
"You're petting his face, Doc."
Henry laughed. "How silly of me!" He leaned forward more and lost his balance. Murdock grabbed the doctor by his shoulders so he wouldn't fall on top of Billy.
Murdock gave a cry of surprise when he felt a prick on the back of his neck. "Hey! What was that?"
"I'm starting you on a new medication. It will help you tremendously."
Murdock tried to grab the syringe out of Henry's hand. As he reached out, his right hand began trembling. "Uh, doc? Is it supposed to do that?"
"A possible side effect, nothing to be worried about."
"But, doc!" Murdock's left hand, as well as his left leg began trembling. Henry sat back and watched. Within five minutes, the pilot's entire body was twitching and trembling.
Henry leaned forward. "Now, Captain Murdock, tell me about Colonel John Smith."
Murdock's mind screamed. 'No!' But his voice refused to obey. "J-J-John, S-Smith."
"That's right. Tell me about him."
Murdock concentrated on keeping his tongue still, but it kept going. "J-John." Suddenly Murdock had an idea. "J-J-John."
"That's right, come on!"
"J-John, J-J-Jacob, J-Jingleheimer, S-Schmidt."
Henry barely kept calm. "Nice try, Captain. Tell me about John Smith."
"H-his n-n-name is m-my n-name, t-t-too."
Henry listened to Murdock stutter through the song. When the song was over, Murdock began it again. Henry slapped the pilot hard, hoping it would break his concentration. Instead it made him louder.
"We have to find Smith. Peck was injured, only Smith can help him. Baracus is dead. Peck needs Smith. You don't want Peck to die, do you?"
There was slight catch in Murdock's voice, but he kept reciting the song. Henry grabbed Murdock's arm, placing one hand just above his wrist and the other just below his elbow, and slowly twisted it. Murdock moaned, but continued the song.
"You're going to talk. You won't be able to fight forever. Might as well give in. You will talk."
Tears began to form in Murdock's eyes from the pain in his arm, and it was getting harder to keep his mind off of Hannibal. "N-no!"
"Yes. You will talk. You can't resist this forever. Just talk and everything will be better."
"N-no! N-n-not t-talk!"
Henry was amazed. Obviously this wasn't a strong enough dose. The pilot must have had drugs like this used on him before. But, he couldn't do anymore today. He patted Murdock's now bruised arm. "That's enough for today, we'll continue this tomorrow." Murdock's eyes filled with fear.
Henry called an orderly into the office. The orderly looked at the trembling pilot with concern. "Don't worry, it's just an adverse reaction to a new medication. We're working on getting it straightened out." The orderly nodded in understanding.
After getting Murdock back to his room and restrained to his bed, the orderly wished him well and left the captain alone. Murdock gave a prayer of thanks that Henry had stopped the session when he did. As soon as Henry had left Murdock and the orderly alone, Murdock lost control of his voice. He began talking about Hannibal Smith. Fortunatly the orderly didn't pay any attention to the stuttered rambling.
Now alone in his room, Murdock tried to focus on keeping himself still and quiet. He had no control over his body as it twitched and jerked around. He was, however, starting to figure out how to gain control of his voice. He stopped talking about Hannibal and began quoting operas. He regretted not calling the team about Dr. Henry.
What if they needed him on a mission?!
What is Face came to spring him out and found him like this?
What if, God forbid, what Henry had said was true?!
Murdock wanted desperately to call, just to make sure they were alright. He could see the phone out of the corner of his eye, but his body refused to obey any of his commands.
Murdock sighed, thinking back to the session. Henry wanted to find Hannibal. Murdock had noticed a few MP's hanging around outside earlier. It's possible that Henry was planted here by Decker.
Well, Decker wasn't going to get a thing from H.M. Murdock! He would make sure of that.
