A Weekend with Dr. Ramsey

The Cure

The car was silent.

It was strange how the absence of something so simple as sound or conversation could drive a person mad.

At first, Charlie tried to cut the silence by skimming local radio stations, but somehow, the overexcitement of the DJs just made the pair seem even more uncomfortable. Then, Charlie briefly tried to set up the aux cable and queue up a playlist, but that was even worse because it reminded Charlie of the "Road Trip JAMZ" playlist she'd made with her roommates for their weekend trips.

So, it was silence.

It's not like Charlie wanted to talk to Landry Olsen.

In fact, there was nothing she wanted to do less.

So, she just thought. She pondered the precarious diagnosis still forming in her brain, planning potential treatment and accounting for errors she may have made in her rush to an answer in the library. She considered calling Ethan, but she talked herself out of it. It would be cruel to give him hope and then take it back when she realized she hadn't actually solved a medical mystery. It was better to wait... even if she had to wait with Landry.

Charlie peered at him with unease before finally blurting out, "Thank you. For getting the equipment, I mean."

Averting her eyes back to the road, she didn't have to meet his returning stare. It felt wrong to be nice to him, but how could she be a bitch when he was helping her save a man's life?

Landry awkwardly cleared his throat, "No problem."

"Any trouble stealing it?" Charlie didn't know why she asked the question. Truthfully, she didn't care if he had to dodge explosions and choreographed action sequences to get the equipment. She might have even been happier to hear that he'd faced trouble.

"Not at all," Landry admitted, "Apparently, I have an honest face."

Landry realized his mistake immediately, and Charlie awkwardly looked back at him as she murmured, "Yeah..."

The honest face of a rat.

Somehow, the silence that followed felt even more awkward, but at least it wasn't deafening this time. Landry's uncomfortable faux pas made it easy for Charlie to focus her attention on the road. Going off the directions she'd unnecessarily dictated to Ethan on her last drive into the river, Charlie had no difficultly finding the remote cabin, but with each unfamiliar turn, Landry grew uneasy.

"Where are we?"

"We're near the river," Charlie murmured, eyes peeled for the next turn, "Naveen's house should be close."

"He lives here?" Landry surveyed the lush tranquility around him, noting that it was a far cry from Edenbrook's city hustle, "He drove this far daily?"

Charlie shook her head, remembering the man she'd spent yesterday with as he tried to live out decades worth of hobbies and dreams, "He bought his dream home, but he was so busy with Edenbrook that he forgot to live there... I guess this is him trying to make up for lost time."

Landry nodded, silently squirming as he considered the life lesson Dr. Banerji had learned in his old age. Perhaps, in his old age, he too would see beyond his career ambitions, but he secretly hoped he didn't. If he ever experienced the epiphany of Dr. Banerji, Charlie would be the first ghost to haunt him.

"How do you know where it is?" Landry inquired, suddenly struck with how intimate Charlie seemed to be with Dr. Banerji's inner workings.

Charlie hesitated, suddenly aware of a responsibility to remain delicate and a strange urge to hide and protect the precious beginning she had with Dr. Ramsey. Unlike her closest friends, Landry was not worthy of her trust. Like a young boy stargazing, Landry would have done anything for his heroes, and he idolized Dr. Ramsey and Dr. Banerji as mythical heroes. He would have done anything to punish Charlie for the simple crime of living out his fantasy.