S1:Ep3 If Thoughts Could Kill

AN: Some episode interactions/observations will obviously be longer than others. For this episode, it only has the one scene with Dotty but still weaving in what I can, obviously took a great deal of creative license with the issue of Amanda being late coming home and apparently not having not called to let anyone know. Since it's one scene only out of the episode will forego the plot pacing here beyond adding the setting. As always I hope you enjoy and reviews are always welcome.

Setting: Family interaction during the episode where Amanda is helping take care of difficult patient Lee as a Bedside Bluebell while a doctor is brainwashing him to kill Billy.

Morning

Amanda was cheerful as she entered the kitchen, looking forward to another day of volunteer work at the hospital keeping up with her IFF assignment to help Lee be more manageable for the hospital staff. He was certainly a grumpy patient, but she especially liked the challenge of trying to cheer up difficult patients. She was also enjoying learning that Lee was just as human as everyone else despite his hotshot spy exterior.

"Isn't it a fantastic morning, Everything is just perfect" Amanda smiled brightly at her family gathered around the breakfast table, noticing no one was smiling and they were much quieter than usual. "Well. Maybe perfect is overstating it." She acknowledged.

Dotty, Jamie and Phillip all seemed unphased by her attempts to be cheerful. She didn't have to wait long to learn what the problem was as her mother launched into her complaint. "Perhaps you're wondering why Fred didn't take me square dancing last night?" Dotty said trying not to sound bitter. Dotty felt justified in her anger as in Amanda's past year of volunteer work at the hospital she had never stayed at the hospital that late before, and even when she was going to be just an hour late would let her family know. Then all of a sudden she was hours late without even a phone call.

Dotty used to be proud of their ability to coordinate their schedules seamlessly to make sure Phillip and Jamie were cared for, but the one-night Amanda broke that rule was the same night Dotty had a date with a very dashing podiatrist she had recently met. She adored her grandsons and wanted to be there for her family, but she was also a widow who still enjoyed having her own social life. Dotty supposed she was partly to blame for not mentioning her date, there was no reason to assume Amanda would be late, and it had been a little last minute when he asked her out and she hadn't wanted to make a fuss of it with Amanda in case he didn't show up.

"Uh, no, well, I didn't know you were supposed to go square dancing with Dr. Bain." Amanda said, fighting the urge to squirm under her mother's stare.

"Cowboy boots do not fit over a cast." Dotty elaborated, not apologizing for having not mentioned the date, especially considering what she knew. If Dotty truly believed that the hospital had simply needed Amanda to stay late, she might have been more understanding. But when Dean had arrived, and it was well past time for Amanda to be home she had called the hospital to see if Amanda was still there or if something had perhaps happened to her on the way home. When Amanda didn't answer the hospitals page, and the nurse heard the worry in her mothers' voice, Dotty was directed to the volunteer supervisor who assured her that Amanda was just fine, but that even though her shift had technically ended, she had been specifically recruited by someone outside the hospital to take care of a difficult patient and had agreed to stay late to do so, which made the matter technically out of the hands of the hospital supervisor, The woman Dotty had spoken to was rather forthcoming, likely out of her own curiosity as she suggested that this particular patient was certainly one a woman wouldn't mind staying late for. Also adding the hospital wasn't going to complain as he had been particularly difficult. Dotty could feel it in her bones that something else was going on as she hung up the phone, but with Dean, Fred and the two boys she didn't have time to reflect on it further then.

"Cast?" Amanda repeated, trying to figure out where a cast fit into the story.

Cast, on his left toes. Dotty specified, still studying her daughter, wondering if she would get a straight answer if she asked why Amanda had come in 3 hours later than her usual end of shift time even if she already knew at least part of the answer.

"My goodness, when did Dr. Bain hurt his toes?" Amanda asked, now even more curious.

"When he broke my favorite skateboard. "Jamie contributed, as Amanda finally understood that her mother was upset over the broken date, and her boys were upset over the skateboard but was still unsure as to how that had all happened.

"Dr. Bain was skateboarding?" Amanda asked, still piecing it together.

"No, falling." Phillip supplied poking glumly at his breakfast.

"Your skateboard had a broken wheel." Amanda was still feeling confused.

"No, Dean fixed it. Then Dr. Bain broke it again." Jamie grumbled.

"Dean was here last night?" Amanda was surprised, he didn't usually show up spontaneously. She had some definite mixed feelings about that she would have to work through later, including a twinge of guilt that she had been with Lee during the time her boyfriend had showed up at the house, even if it had been agency business and she hadn't known about the visit. She knew deep down it still wouldn't have made a difference what time she got home.

"He didn't know you were going to work late. He came by as a surprise." Dotty said and Amanda knew that trying to plead her case that she didn't realize he was going to stop by would go nowhere, her mother seemed firmly convinced Dean could do no wrong. Amanda pursuing the topic and how she didn't know to expect him would likely only lead to more blame about how she should be a better girlfriend.

"The house looked so peaceful when I got here." Amanda said, trying to shift the focus away from Dean. She wondered if he was upset as she had glanced at the message board in the kitchen, seeing no messages there beyond the Wizard of Oz title as a reminder of the movie the boys wanted to watch on the next family movie night.

"We were asleep. Before that, we were a zoo." Dotty said, her frustration with her daughter evident even though Amanda failed to see how any of this was her fault. She was working, whether it was as a hospital volunteer, or helping the agency, she hadn't known about her mother's date, or that Dean would come by. They had all just assumed what her schedule would be like without asking her. Though she had to admit she had stayed much later than usual with her focus on Lee. In retrospect she winced as she realized she hadn't thought to call to let them know she was going to be late.

"Now, look. This is no way for a family to relate. If we have troubles, we've got to talk them through.

Hmm?" Amanda suggested, wanting to get it resolved, as the phone started ringing.

"I'll just get that." She said, not quite sure how she knew that it was probably Lee. She might expect Dean, but he would be on the air at this time.

As she talked to Lee about his comb, she didn't notice her family in the background, heads together obviously conspiring as they talked amongst themselves.

"Now, where were we?" Amanda sighed, ready to continue the conversation after what had been a rather strange conversation with Lee.

"You suggested that we deal with this head-on. And we have." Dotty announced, her tone leaving no room for argument before continuing her vent. "Fred never would have tripped over the skateboard if it hadn't been left out. It never would've been left out if it hadn't been fixed. It wouldn't have been fixed if Dean hadn't been sitting here with time. Dean wouldn't have been here with time on his hands if you hadn't worked so late." Dotty laid out her case and Phillip and Jamie were no help showing their agreement with their grandmother as she talked.

"But, bu Mother Mo…" Amanda chuckled as she tried to defend herself, disbelieving that this was all being laid at her feet when she hadn't even been home. Yes, she should have called to let them know she was running late, but Dean fixing the skateboard and Dr Bain tripping over it had nothing to do with her, but Dotty was having none of it.

"I am so glad we've talked this out. The problem wasn't with us at all." Dotty persisted, clearly still upset about the events of the night before. Her plans for a nice romantic evening with Dr Bain had been thwarted first by Amanda not being home to take care of the boys, and then their adjusted plans to stay in and cuddle on the sofa watching a movie had been spoiled by Jamie's skateboard. To add to Dotty's frustration, she had felt bad for Dean, he had seemed so unhappy to show up and find Amanda not there and no one able to tell him why.

Dotty was concerned about the future of her daughter's relationship, her hope for a new son-in-law was starting to wane. She had tried to tell Amanda more than once that Dean was a man who liked dependability and routine and Amanda was getting more and more unpredictable. But whether she didn't believe her mother or didn't care Dotty couldn't be sure.

Dotty also decided it would be pointless to say anything, but she knew Amanda had been around whoever the mystery man wearing that citrusy cologne was. If what the hospital had told her hadn't been enough, she had noticed the now familiar scent when she checked the uniform now hanging in the laundry room - it would have to be more than incidental contact to spread like that. If it was the first time she smelled it she might suspect it was just a regular patient encounter, but she knew it now and instinct told her it was the same man every time. Dotty was tempted to go to the hospital herself and see just who this special patient was. But she resigned herself to waiting, hoping that eventually Amanda would tell her what had happened to their quiet lives and established routines.

"Oh, now wait just a minute." Amanda protested, feeling ganged up on by her family, her mother had clearly already pulled Jamie and Philip onto her side.

I think enough has been said, missy." Dotty said, closing the discussion and leaving Amanda to stew for a moment before Amanda gave up with a sigh and gathered her belongings to announce she was going back to the hospital and this time would call if she was going to be late. She was already trying to figure out how to get to Lee's apartment from the little scrap of paper with his address in her purse when she pulled out of the driveway, not even noticing her mother staring disapprovingly out the window.