Working On the Weekend

Chapter 16 - The Good Doctor

The crew recognizes the tall man standing in the doorway. His hair is disheveled, and his clothes are torn quite unlike his usual neat suited up appearance during school hours. It's the school's psychologist. "Dr. Tate?"

Dr. Tate's blue eyes scan the room taking in the amount of people around him.

"Professor... professor." Dr. Tate greets them and points to the other students hoping they would clarify if they were staff or student.

"Doctor." Joseph points to himself, his hand still caught half-way into the glove and lab coat resting on his shoulder. The motion he took to point to himself caused him to push a drip tray off a lab desk. The breaking of glass sounds as the beaker that was sat on the drip tray fell to its demise.

"Student." Alex clarifies, pointing to Joseph who is now inspecting the damage.

"Oh... Good." Dr. Tate mutters under his breath as Joseph pads off to the back of the room to get a broom and scoop.

"What happened to you?" Keith questions the good doctor, observing his demeanor.

"I was taking a nap in Ms. Grier's office... she lets me nap on the couch sometimes, and somewhere around 5 hours ago I woke up just in time to collect a lamp to the head." The doctor tells them, his words come out a bit choppy, "I think I was sleeping off a concussion."

"Your clothes are torn."

Dr. Tate looks down at his attire, surprised to see the rips and tears in his shirt.

"I must have fought her off. I don't remember getting these at all." He confesses.

"Her?" Alex inquires. "How are you so sure it's a woman?"

"Because women are notoriously violent." Joseph interjects, sweeping up the broken glass.

"What I mean is... usually when you're referring to someone and you don't know what they look like – the default pronoun that people use is him. Because MEN are notoriously violent. And someone like Dr. Tate, if he didn't see the person – he'd naturally assume that it was a man that beat the living hell out of him."

"It was not the living hell..." Dr. Tate tries to clear up, "Just a lucky blow to a certain part of the head would do it." He caresses the back of his neck, "However, the little lady is right. I believe it was a woman because of the scent of her perfume and the sound of her high heels clicking on the floor."

Alex's lips pull into her cheeks, casting a smugly proud look at Joseph.

"That just proves women are violent, honey." Joseph mimics her proud look which quickly turns into a scowl. Proud of himself, he drops the broken pieces of glass into the trash.

"Any idea who?" Curtis asks.

"Is it?" Keith blocks his pointed finger at Vai as he makes eye contact with the doctor.

"Keith." Vai furrows her brows at him. "I would never -."

"I did not get a good look at whoever it was but at the same time, it could be an accident. The way I was sleeping, the lamp must have fell on me as she was exiting the room." Dr. Tate recalls that his head was quite near the object.

"Or she could have hit you with it cause women are notoriously crazy." Joseph voices.

"That is also a theory." Dr. Tate acknowledges the idea with an amused smile. "If you all are walking to the gate, let me gather my things and I shall accompany you. It's quite creepy when the University is barren especially at night."

Before Keith could tell him anything, Dr. Tate disappears from the doorway. They stand in silence for a moment. Joseph peers into the lab coat pocket and finds a sweetie.