Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

"What were you saying about medical ethics, Dr. Crane?" Troy was snarling as he handed Samuel the keys to the Bronco. "That it's okay for you to flaunt your disregard of them, but not for me?"

"Troy, if things go badly with John, he has more effective ways to hurt me than lodging an ethics complaint. While I doubt that Amanda would ever be that vindictive, it would give her power over you. John and I may have come to terms with it, but that's hardly what I wish for you." Tell me about it.

"Samuel, I know you're trying to help me, but you're becoming quite the hypocrite. Would you like for someone with a little professional distance to look in on John?" Troy didn't wait for an answer, just pushed through the door to Samuel's bedroom and began talking quietly with the man napping in the bed. Later, he left without speaking to either Samuel or Amanda.

Samuel was sitting alone in the kitchen when John came out to find him. The lights came on with a snap, stinging his eyes for a moment before his pupils could respond. "You're up. How's your head?"

"My head is fine, Samuel. What's wrong with Troy?"

"I warned him about starting a relationship with Amanda."

"And he didn't recognize that the rules should apply to him when they clearly don't apply to you. Rather irrational of him." John rested a hand gently on Samuel's shoulder, which softened the blow.

"This is different. If you ever wanted me to lose my license, you'd hardly need to allege misconduct. A halfway decent inquest..."

"Samuel, let's not borrow trouble. I'm not saying you're wrong about Troy and Amanda, but perhaps we shouldn't put him in the middle of our questionable activities either... He doesn't know about the infusions, does he?"

"What kind of idiot do you think I am, John?" Samuel waited a moment before quietly adding, "Jack told me that Troy applied to medical school." The silence told Samuel that John understood how devastating it was for him to hear that second hand. "I gave up everything for that brat, and he can't even tell me about this himself."

"You might not want to phrase it that way when you speak to him. He knows what you did for him, Samuel. The boy's trying to find his own way in life. That alone speaks to how far he's come since Hogwarts." The wolf paused as though deciding whether or not to go in for the kill. "Just because we couldn't make it work for you..." John let the rest hang in the air between them, but he added his other hand to Samuel's shoulder and stood behind him, offering silent comfort.

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As Samuel reduced the dosage of Amanda's drugs, she became increasingly hesitant and fearful, spending every free moment furiously scratching marks onto her chart. What she might be charting was anyone's guess.

The few times that Troy came to visit ended in verbal blows. The boy wanted Amanda to feel safe, Samuel understood, but allowing her to 'forget' the trauma was not the answer. Still, each time that Troy stormed out, Samuel feared he would not return.

Potter's visits had also become less frequent. A blessing and a curse because he soothed Amanda at least as much as he irritated Samuel. The budding politician was needed back home as trial dates were fast approaching for Yaxley and Macnair, and Samuel refused to consider the possibility that either would find a way to avoid justice.

John was again becoming his anchor, spending most mornings coaxing Amanda down the hall to sit in the den and silently supporting Samuel whenever he was within reach. He wrote his lesson plans in the den so that Amanda wouldn't be left alone.

On Wednesday, they filled the South wall of the den with bookshelves and loaded them with John's library. His desk was tucked into the corner, but the man spent most of his time sitting on the floor, near the girl. Thursday night, he coaxed her onto the couch where she read something by George Eliot for an hour before she returned to her charts on the floor.

Over the weekend, Samuel squelched his anger and asked Troy to stay with Amanda.

"You aren't afraid that I'll make unwanted advances while you're away tonight?"

He wanted to throttle the boy for his cheek, but settled for a growl. "That was never my concern, or were you not paying attention?"

John caught his elbow, thanked Troy and guided Samuel to the Bronco before he could resort to physical violence. "No drama at the department mixer please, Samuel."

The gathering was as academic and boring as Samuel had feared. As the only excitement resulted from the inebriated German professor loudly propositioning him, Samuel was relieved when John finally thanked the Dean and said goodnight to his colleagues. He sank into the passenger seat and John didn't argue about driving.

"That was easily the best steak I've eaten in years," John told him as he started the engine.

"No steak is worth that drivel. Those people wouldn't know a joke if it bit them – " The wolf was staring at him. "Come on, John, a 'shake-spear'? That's ridiculous. And 'Frauline Betz', that cow, had her hand on my thigh through dessert. If I'm not allowed to make a scene..."

John was laughing so hard that tears trailed down his face. "I can't believe you didn't hex her."

"If I weren't 'wanted' internationally, I might have. Why do you want to work with those fools?"

"I like them, even the socially inept ones. I don't need to hold a Ph.D. in anything to recognize that Brenda Betz is lonely."

"Are you volunteering to warm her bed?"

"Absolutely not, you arse. With your boundless empathy, I'm amazed you don't have patients falling in love with you every day." Why did the man sound disappointed? He'd known Samuel longer than any living soul.

"Do we have a problem, John? You knew the man you were endorsing. Pushing me into Psychiatry hasn't changed who I am."

"You actually believe that, don't you?" John stared resolutely at the highway; Samuel couldn't read the man's profile.

Samuel watched the power lines dip and rise along the highway for the rest of the drive.