Doctor On Call (Sean)

[Amos Freeman]

Amos Freeman sat cross-legged on his bed. It was unusually quiet in the dorms; even though Christmas had already passed, a lot of his peers were still spending the week with their families. Amos, however, didn't leave until tomorrow. His mom and brother had gone to see his grandmother in Phoenix, and wouldn't be flying back to New Hampshire until that evening.

He was waiting for it to be one o'clock.

Calling Dr. Neville during his time off had made him feel extremely guilty. The older man worked hard all year, and although he always gave an emergency contact number, Amos had never thought he would actually be distressed enough to use it.

In fact, he was still arguing with himself about that.

He'd reasoned, though, that he couldn't tell anyone else with confidence. Not even Juney... or, perhaps, especially not Juney. He wasn't sure anymore, and that thought confused and unnerved him. He usually went to Alto in situations where he couldn't speak to Juney, but even his sweet, caring boyfriend was out of the question this time.

He didn't know how to bring it up, first of all.

Second of all, his boyfriend tossing a boulder into someone's face would probably make things several degrees worse instead of better.

He pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. He had a headache, and for once, he wasn't certain that it was because of his temperamental sinuses.

When he opened his eyes again, the digital clock on his desk read 12:50. If he wanted to get there in plenty of time, he would need to start walking now.

It was the first day that he had worn his new black slacks. At first, he had been uneasy about how much he looked like his father in them, but Juney had said they made him look adult in the good way. They had kind of grown on him. And it was pointless to fight, really.

Everyone looked like their parents eventually.

He exited the dorms, walked briskly through the crosswalk, and entered the main building. It was warm and deserted. Amos thought it felt a little lonely somehow.

He stared at the door for a few moments, gathering his thoughts. He ran idle fingers through his messy brown curls.

If he didn't tell Dr. Neville today, he wouldn't be able to enjoy his holiday. He did, at least, know that much.

If he didn't tell him today, he would have to tell him later. Even if he never said it out loud, it would still come out.

If it never came out, he wasn't sure he'd be able to live in his own head anymore.

He knocked cautiously on the door and, as he usually did when he had a scheduled appointment, opened the door for himself.

[Dr. Sean Neville]

Sean had an unlisted address and telephone number, primarily because he wanted a sense of privacy at his home. That did little to counteract the fact that his telepathy made it impossible to truly maintain separation for others – despite the perfection of his mental shields – and it did little in the fact of the fact that he was always on call, even when he was on break. However, as a telepath, he was used to living a life somewhat couched in illusion. At the very least, being unlisted provided him with a sense of control over who contacted him when he wasn’t at Hammel.

For his students and patients who needed him, he provided them with a method of contact when he wasn’t at Hammel (and which didn’t involve his telepathy). The psychiatrist had given Amos his contact information, but the boy had never tried to reach him off campus before.

Until the telephone call he received during the holidays. The boy had sounded distressed, and Sean had immediately reassured him that a meeting was possible, and that it wouldn’t disturb him in the slightest.

Fortunately, their meeting hadn’t been scheduled for Boxing Day, but rather the day after. While Sean was willing to meet any day that would help, he’d had a bit of a hangover from the Campbell Christmas party, and sleeping that off with a full day of rest put him in top form.

Thus, Thursday afternoon, he had dressed himself professionally, told Josh that he had work and would return as soon as he could, and then driven over to Hammel to meet with Amos. He had only been at the school long enough to brew a pot of tea for the two of them before he heard a knock at the door and felt the boy’s presence.

“Come in, Amos,” he called from the back of his office where they could settle in to talk.