(no subject)

Herman softly closes the door to Adam's room and heads down the hallway, looking for the nurse whose care he is under. He sees her pushing a cart laden with medical supplies into another room.

"Excuse me, nurse," he calls out.

She stops halfway into the room and turns to him. "Yes?"

"I'd like to speak with you about Adam Grant, if you have a moment."

Her agreeable face instantly turns sour. "What did he do this time?"

Herman shakes his head. "Nothing," he replies.

"Well, that's a surprise. He's hardly had a moment awake where he didn't need to be restrained."

He clears his throat. "Yes, well, he's under quite a bit of stress, as you can imagine. And when he's under stress, he tends to put others under stress. In addition, I don't think he's healing as rapidly as he should -- because of this stress. Now, wouldn't you agree that if he were treated more pleasantly, he'd recover faster? And that the faster he recovers, the quicker he'd be out of here? And then you wouldn't have to deal with him anymore. It's all quite logical, don't you think?" He ends this with a warm smile.

When she still expresses doubt, he presses on. "I'm not saying that you yourself or any of the nurses or doctors have to enjoy yourselves completely in his presence. I'm only suggesting that the less you aggravate him -- no matter how much he aggravates you -- the faster he heals. And that, my dear woman, is the main point of my whole argument. Because he wants out of this hospital just as much as you want him out."

She appears to mull this over. And she can't help but fall under the influence over his nearly hypnotic tone of voice and those glacier-blue eyes. After a few moments, she says in a low, thoughtful, yet wary tone, "I'll consider this." And she pushes her cart into the room.

Herman sighs, and proceeds down the hallway.