CHRISTMAS 1986
“There you go, Doctor Richter, Mr. Murdock. Enjoy your meal.”
Picking up his napkin, Richter gave an amused shake of
his head as the waitress flashed Murdock a flirty smile as she served their
lunch. Murdock in turn gave her one of
his special smiles, and her eyes lingered on him a little longer than was
necessary before she finally moved away. It seemed that Murdock was a favourite
with many of the staff and the patrons at the Beverly Hills Country Club. There was just something about the pilot. Richter had seen it himself during sessions
at the VA. It was one of the reasons why,
despite his initial reservations, he had invited Murdock to join him at the
Club. When needed, Murdock could be
anyone he wanted; from a successful businessman, to a, well, mental asylum patient. And so far, much to Richter’s relief, Murdock
was certainly coming across as a very successful professional. Even more ‘successful’ since it had become
clear that the pilot wasn’t married.
“Seems like you’ve got another fan
there, Murdock.”
Picking up his fork, Murdock grinned as he turned to
his meal. “Must be my
stunning good looks and winning personality.”
“Undoubtedly,” Richter agreed straight faced. “You’ll have to tell me what your secret is.”
“Oh, that’s easy.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah.” Murdock’s eyes were twinkling. “Insanity and fifteen years
of hospital food.”
Richter just shook his head. “I think that’s the first question you’ve
ever answered.”
Murdock grinned.
“Well, guess there’s a first for everything, Doc.”
Richter nodded.
“Well, maybe we can have another first today.”
“Oh?”
“What do you usually do for Christmas, and who are you
going to be spending it with this year?”
Chewing on his lightly grilled chicken, Murdock sat
back in his seat not taking has gaze off Richter, a thoughtful expression on
his face. “That’s another two questions,
Doc,” he finally said.
Richter suppressed the urge to roll his eyes. It was the same thing every year, to the extent
that it was beginning to become a bit of a running joke. He knew that Murdock spent Christmas with the
A-Team. He even knew that Murdock knew
he knew that Murdock spent Christmas with the A-Team. It was just a game they played. He pushed Murdock for information about his
relationship with his friends, and where he went when he disappeared from the
hospital. Murdock pushed back, denying
all knowledge of the A-Team, B-Team, Z-Team or whatever other team he could
come up with.
Or, that had been the case. Then the point had come when Murdock could no
longer deny his connection with the A-Team, and that point had come in a jungle
in the middle
Then, although he hadn’t thought it possible, the counselling
sessions with Murdock had only gotten more interesting once they got back. At first, he hadn’t understood Murdock’s
reluctance to talk about his friends, until Richter realised that it wasn’t the
talking that Murdock was wary of, it was actually the hospital itself. That’s when he had first decided to bring
Murdock here, to the Country Club, where they could talk as freely as they
liked, without having to run the risk of being overhead. And since the Country Club had nothing to do
with the government, unlike the hospital, then even if they were overheard to a
degree, no one there would probably care.
“True,” Richter acknowledged, “but both linked.”
Murdock smiled, his eyes twinkling. “They’re both linked,” he repeated
slowly. “That your
professional guess, Doc?”
“Not at all,” Richter smiled. “A guess tends to suggest that it’s nothing
more than speculation, an assumption, a theory. However, I know for a fact that you’ve spent
Christmas with the same people every year since I’ve been at the hospital, and possibly some years before that as well.”
Murdock raised an eyebrow. “Really, Doc?”
“Yes. Not only
does Peck turn up the same time every year, in one disguise or another, claiming
to be one of your relatives, but I know that your closing living relatives are
a few cousins who you haven’t been in contact with in years.”
“Is that right?”
Richter nodded.
“I checked,” he added with a slight smile. “You don’t have an Uncle Deke,
the cleaning fluids salesman. Or an Uncle Carl, the milkman. Or a cousin Bertie,
the… what was it Bertie was supposed to do?”
“Long haul truck driver,” Murdock replied, his eyes twinkling as he suppressed a grin.
“It’s good to see you can keep track of your
imaginary relatives,” Richter replied wryly.
“Well, they are my relatives,” Murdock pointed
out. “If I don’t keep track of them they
may try to take over the world or something, which I imagine wouldn’t be a
particularly pretty sight.”
Richter allowed himself a smile. “So, who you spending
Christmas with this year?”
Pausing, Murdock thoughtfully picked up his
napkin. “If I tell you, you promise not
to tell anyone else, Doc?”
“Patient/Doctor confidentiality,” Richter told him.
Murdock nodded slightly. “Alright. I’m spending this year with my brothers.”
Richter blinked.
“Your brothers?
Murdock, you’re an only child.”
“I still have three brothers,” Murdock replied. “One older, two younger. We’re gonna be
spending Christmas together.”
Biting back a smile, Richter nodded. “Alright. And what are you going to be doing?”
Murdock shrugged.
“No idea.”
“You have no idea?”
Murdock nodded.
“That’s what I said, Doc. I have
no idea. That’s the best part of
spending Christmas with them. Anything
can happen. You know, one year we almost
ended up spending Christmas camped in a field.
Another year we were in
Richter nodded.
“You always spend Christmas with them?”
“Always,” Murdock affirmed. “We made a deal years ago that none of us
would ever be alone on Christmas day, no matter what. And we haven’t broken it yet.”
“Even when you were first
hospitalized?”
Murdock grinned but didn’t reply.
“You know what, I don’t even want to know,” Richter
admitted with a rueful shake of his head.
“And truthfully, it doesn’t really matter anyway. How you spend Christmas is completely up to
you.”
Murdock looked thoughtful and dropped his napkin onto
his empty plate. “Is that why you’ve
been signing those long holiday passes for me the past few years, Doc?”
Richter didn’t answer.
Instead, he used Murdock’s own trick of neither affirming nor
denying. “Merry Christmas, Murdock,” he
said with a smile.
Recognising the method, Murdock smiled back broadly,
his eyes twinkling. “Merry Christmas,
Doc.”
*-*-*
