Battle Lines

Early morning.  PJ Granger sips a hot drink at the Doll County bus depot.  

PJ: I hope my receptionist is dealing with the canceled appointments okay.  Good thing most of my patients like to sleep in.  

Belle:  Who are you talking to, Mom?  

PJ: Myself.  It's a bad habit, I know.

Belle: It's quite common, actually.  Just frowned upon, so most people don't admit to it.

PJ: How was your trip?  Are you hungry?  

Belle: I'm starving.  I hope James is cooking up a huge country breakfast for us! (They both laugh, knowing James can barely boil water.)  Dad said to apologize for the last-minute notice. 

PJ: He doesn't need to apologize. It's not like they gave him decent notice that he was being deployed into a war zone.  

********

Back in Barbieville, at the Mayor's office.

Rose-Grace: How long has this been going on?  Why wasn't I, as the mayor, notified of it?!  His very presence in this town is a threat to my citizens...  (takes a moment to calm down)  I guess I need to yell at the Feds for that part, don't I?  Your hands were tied.

Lynch: I wasn't even aware of most of the details, myself.  I just knew he was allowed to relocate here under certain conditions.  But now that he's messed up so royally, they've just dropped him in our laps.What do we do? 

Hank: I swear, none of this is my fault!

Rose-Grace: Don't hand me that crap!  I've got an eight year old at home with a better understanding of personal responsibility!  You made the choices that put you here!  (Turns to Lynch) Well, I guess we should get this over with.  (Buzzes Kyra to let in Pern.)

Pern takes one look at Hank and lunges across the room, clearly intending bodily harm.  

Hank: Pern, calm down so I can explain.

Pern: Oh, hell, no.  You don't talk to me.  You don't come anywhere near me, or my boy, or even the cat he got for Christmas!  I'll kill you!

Lynch: The mayor and I will handle this, Hank.  You stand there with your mouth shut.  (To Pern) I'll let go if you can control yourself.  

Pern: HANK?!  (starts laughing bitterly) OK, Chief, I'll behave.  I wouldn't want to hurt Hank.

Rose-Grace: Mr. Higgins came here as part of the Witness Protection Program.  Although he'd been strongly advised that a return to a previous home was a bad idea, it was the only way they could get him to cooperate.  

Lynch: He was confident that he wouldn't be recognized by anyone here and agreed to avoid all members of the Nedakh family, but we still had a few incidents of people thinking he looked familiar.  Albus even confronted him once, but...   

Pern: He had his face rebuilt after a car wreck.  (to Hank) That and a couple decades of aging was enough, wasn't it?  None of them knew you.

Rose-Grace: Don't talk to him, Pern.  Talk to us. 

Pern: I guess y'all want me to keep my mouth shut.  If he's involved in something that bad, I'll do it, but not for him.  For this town, because it's been so welcoming.  For my boy and his sisters.  But not for Hank.  Never for Hank.  

Lynch: Pretend he's a guy you just met.  If you can't hide the anger, write it off as bad vibes.  Hell, make up a lie that he called you ethnic slurs at work if you want.  (Hank mutters something.)  Didn't we tell you to keep your trap shut? 

Pern (slyly): He bolted from Sunburst when he found out I was cooking because I'm a junkie.  He didn't want me putting AIDS or Hepatitis into his taco plate.  (If looks could kill, Hank would be dead.)  Way to undermine my sobriety, jackass.

*******

And at the Medical Center: 

Marcus: First of all, I want to tell you that you've done nothing wrong.  Your work is superlative.  But we have to remove you from the team caring for Billy Jackson.

Boudica: It's his wife, isn't it?  Because of my mother locking horns with her? 

Marcus:  The reason she gave was tensions between your families. She claims not to believe he is aware of us, but every time you work, there's a clear improvement in his vital signs.  Simply put, you're good for his morale, but I can't convince her of that. 

Boudica: Isn't there anything we can do?  She's undermining his care.

Marcus: There's no obvious abuse or neglect, so I'm not sure.  I've got a call in to the legal department.  We'll do what we can.