“Hey, Dwight,” Pam whispered, pushing aside a fake palm frond to reveal Dwight hiding behind it. “You can see him now.”
“Good, I have some questions for him. And for you. Let’s get going. When d--”
“Here?” Pam asked. “You’re going to question me from behind a fake palm tree?”
Dwight looked up and down the hospital corridor shiftily. “Good point. I’ll meet you in the ladies’ bathroom. Count to twenty before you follow me in.”
Pam looked like she was about to protest, but instead she said, “Make it sixty.”
“Done.” Dwight glanced around before jumping into the hallway and sprinting into the bathroom. Pam rushed over to Jim’s room.
“I’ve got sixty seconds,” Pam said, poking her head into the room.
“For what?”
“Until I meet Dwight in the girls’ bathroom. Fifty seconds.”
“This is getting better and better. Why?” Jim said, laughing.
“So he can question me about your powers. What should I tell him?”
“You’re in charge of this one, Beesly. Forty seconds.”
“But what if he asks me something about when you were little? He’ll know if I’m lying. He Googled you, you know.”
Jim took a deep breath in. “I’m sure you’ll do fine. You know me better than anyone.” Pam got quiet and stepped inside the room completely.
“I guess I do, huh?”
“Yeah. Uh-- Pam? I’ve got to tell you something.”
Pam surveyed Jim’s face; he didn’t look too good. “Are you alright? Should I get a nurse?” Her voice was full of concern.
“No!” he said, a bit too hastily. “I’m fine,” he added. “I just wanted to let you know that… there was a reason I called you first…”
Pam gave a small smile; she understood just from the look on his face. “I know.” She had to bit the inside of her cheek to keep tears from springing to her eyes. “Oh God!” she said, looking at her watch. “Dwight!” Both of them burst into laughter, everything at ease. It seemed right that Dwight would somehow interrupt their private moment.
“Wish me luck!” Pam’s eyes lingered on him a bit longer, then she rushed towards the bathroom with a huge smile on her face, but at the same time hoping Dwight hadn’t run into any old women.
Shaking his head with a smile, Jim said, “I’m really glad she came.” He looked over at the medical equipment around his bed. “This place, kind of depressing. Well, I guess that’s what you expect in hospitals but, yeah, I’m glad she came.” His eyes avoided the camera. “Karen was right.”
After waiting for two minutes, Jim’s door opened a crack. He craned his neck to see Dwight shutting the door roughly behind him and striding over to Jim. Dwight flicked the bright light switch on, making Jim squint.
“Hey, could you turn that off and not do this full-blown interview thing that you see on CSI?”
“Sorry, Jim. Standard procedures,” Dwight said, taking the blue chair and scooting it as close to the bed as he could. Jim raised his eyes with an amused expression on his face.
Suddenly the bright light turned off.
“Hey!” Dwight shouted indignantly.
“Sorry,” Pam said. “The nurse in the hallway just told me to turn it off.” Instead of returning to the hallway, Pam closed the door behind her as she went into Jim’s room.
“What did Dwight ask me in the bathroom? He shoved a stopwatch in my face, berated me for being sixteen point two seconds late, but I can’t tell you anything else. Sorry, it’s confidential, but I just have to see this.”
Dwight humph-ed. “She cannot be in here.”
“She will be here if you want me to answer any questions,” Jim said.
“So you’ll answer them?” Dwight asked.
“Of course.”
Dwight moved his chair even closer to Jim, bumping into the device holding his leg up on the way.
“Be careful,” Pam said protectively.
“Please. This is pathetic. Harry Potter re-grew all of the bones in his arm in one night, and you’ve been stuck up in here for two weeks.”
“But Harry Potter is fictional,” Jim reasoned. “And he has Skelo-Grow.”
“I have Skelo-Grow.”
“No. You don’t.” Jim looked bemused.
Dwight pulled a bottle out of his pocket. “Oh yeah? Then what’s this?”
“Bleach.”
Dwight gave a slightly disturbing smile. “That’s to fool the Muggles.”
“I wonder if Dwight ever breaks a bone, if he’ll drink bleach…” Pam started to smile then looked guilty. “If it was only a little bit.”
“If you keep insulting my ability to heal bones, you can leave now,” Jim challenged. Pam had to cover her mouth.
“Sorry,” Dwight said quietly, placing the bleach back into his pocket. “So, what happened?”
“Well, there were these kids playing next to a fire hydrant…”
Pam looked from Dwight’s to Jim’s face; Dwight was wearing a look so intense and serious and Jim’s look matched Dwight’s intensity, if not more so. Pam couldn’t help but wonder how Jim could keep a straight face while making up a story involving hopscotch, innocent children, the backfiring of telekinesis, a water pipe explosion, and hot female firemen.
“Wow,” Dwight breathed. He gazed at Jim in awe. “Is there any way I can acquire these powers?”
Jim sighed. “Only if you’re exposed to radioactivity as a child. Why? Are you planning on blowing up any fire hydrants?”
“No,” Dwight said, his eyes flicking over to Pam. He leaned in closer and whispered, “She said they come in real handy in bed.”
Jim’s eyebrows flew up and Pam winked at him.
“I think my telekinetic powers should backfire more often.”
