something of an upset [Peter]

[Dr. Josephine Hudson]

Jo knocked gently and entered Peter's room when called in, glad to see that he wasn't with a patient. She had the urge to turn around and run out again, and could only resist by thinking of Peter's face if she did so. It was just so embarrassing to be in here. She couldn't help but remember the last time she was; drunk. That was a hideous mistake - she hadn't known it was alcohol, it just looked pretty - but she could vaguely remember calling Gabe stupid, and asking Peter if she could have his light-bulb. As she crossed the room, she snuck a look up at the ceiling. No, it wasn't as beautiful as she remembered. It must have just been the cherry-infused vodka talking, but it was so pretty at the time... She blushed. She should never, ever drink again, which led her to what she had come to Peter about.

Taking a seat when indicated, she drew her knees up to her chest and rested her head on them, staring into space. How did she phrase this so it was a hypothetical situation? " Peter - " not Dr; that was too formal for a colleague, but he scared her so - " I was wondering about...something. " Nice one, Jo. Make it sound cryptic. She hesitated before continuing. " You know what happened with Riordan and Morph? " He would know, she was sure; Gabe had probably told every member of staff to keep an eye on her to make sure that she didn't come within five hundred yards of him without security around. " Well... I was wondering what would have happened if... "

She couldn't bring herself to finish the sentence. ' If I'd actually slept with one of them and got pregnant. ' He'd know. If someone presented the same situation to her, she wouldn't work it out - a hypothetical situation, to Jo, was always hypothetical. But neurotypicals tended to guess these things, and then he might tell Gabe, and then Gabe would quite possibly murder her. Or Riordan. She decided to backtrack, and turned her head away from him completely so he wouldn't see her face and know that she'd changed the subject. " Um, do you think... Um, that I have AS? " Random question, but it had been preying on her mind since Rio had mentioned it in their last session. She didn't know how he'd know. " Not Ankylosing Spondylitis, the inflammatory arthropathy. Aspergers Syndrome. "

((OOC: Mothers that know medical stuff {and how to spell it!} FTW! ))

[Dr. Peter Ivrie]

Peter had been writing up notes when he heard the knock at his door. Covering the notes with a newspaper he stood up. “Come in.” He smiled as she entered. “Jo, this is a pleasant surprise. Do sit down.” He sat himself and smiled over the desk at her. He’d known Jo for some years now, and she still seemed a little nervous of him. He was saddened by this, but hoped his continued support of her would help. “What can I do for you?” He asked, not trying to make eye contact too much. She found that discomforting.

Peter nodded. “I did hear about the incident in question. How do you feel you are recovering from it?” He sighed at himself inside. Not your patient, Ivrie. For the last time… Instead he kept smiling at her, listening as her question trailed off into another. Interesting. This wasn’t what she wanted the advice on, but he’d go with it anyway. “Well, I’m sure we can find out.” She seemed upset at the prospect. Getting up, he went to fetch one of many heavy books he kept in a locked cupboard. In his opinion she did, and the question came as something of a surprise. He would have thought she’d been diagnosed years ago; however it could be a simple case of denial.

Taking the book out, he brought it back to his desk and used the index to look up the correct page. “Shall we go through the diagnostic criteria together? I’m sure we can manage a result between us. We are both psychiatrists after all,” He smiled at her, “We do tend to diagnose.” Opening the huge book, he put on his reading glasses. “Let’s see…” He ran his finger down the page, waiting for Josephine’s consent before he carried on. She may decide to revert back to the real reason she was here, but he wouldn’t push it. She’d tell him when she was good and ready.

[Dr. Josephine Hudson]

Jo blinked. That was the sort of question she'd ask, if it had been one of her patients that had been attacked. (And she had asked it of Francesca, who didn't really answer. Obviously.) " Um... " Was she meant to be recovering? She hadn't been aware that there was much to recover from, aside from a panic attack, but that was over quickly. " I'm fine, thank you. " That was the answer you were supposed to give. Her social skills tutor had gone over it with her; people don't actually want to know that you feel depressed or you have flu or you want to hit people. You're supposed to smile and nod and say 'fine, thanks, yourself', or some variation of that.

As Peter stood up, she bit her lip, slightly confused. Was he leaving... Oh, no. She looked at the cover of the book; it was one that she'd read previously. He was supposed to just say no, though. As he opened the book, she smiled at him. " It's okay. I know the criteria. " Taking a deep breath, she reeled it off. " Qualitative impairment in social interaction, as manifested by at least two of the following: One, a marked impairment in the use of multiple nonverbal behaviours such as eye-to-eye gaze, facial expression, body postures, and gestures to regulate social interaction, two, a failure to develop peer relationships appropriate to developmental level, three, a lack of spontaneous seeking to share enjoyment, interests, or achievements with other people for example by a lack of showing, bringing, or pointing out objects of interest to other people, or four lack of social or emotional reciprocity. " Jo reminded herself to breathe. " This is the DSM-IV criteria, not Gillberg's. "

Deciding that she should give Peter's ears a break, she bit her lip, thinking. Did she have two or more of those things? Hmmm... A marked impairment in eye-contact, facial expressions, etc. Well, just because she never made eye-contact didn't mean she was impaired, did it? So the first one didn't apply. A failure to develop peer relationships to an appropriate level; well, she would have, if she had been at a school for neurotypicals rather than one for autistic children. They tended to not be very chatty. That one didn't count. A lack of spontaneous seeking to share pleasurable activities? She did that. She made Gabe a cake, and she shared hot chocolate with Francesca and Laura, and talked to Susannah a lot. Wait. Did you have to share every pleasurable activity? Because she hadn't told anyone yet about the...activity with Rio. Hopefully, you didn't have to tell people about that. Jo decided that didn't count, and dismissed the last one as well. She reciprocated to...stuff well!

" No, I don't think any of them are me... What would have happened if I had, um, been raped by...say Morph, and...yes? " She didn't want to mention pregnancy. Yet. She could go into that one slowly.

[Dr. Peter Ivrie]

Peter listened to Josephine recite the DSM-IV criteria and didn’t look even the slightest bit surprised. After all, she’d always been incredible at the theory, which was one of the reasons she had managed to become a psychiatrist much younger than was usually the case. Even if her social skills left something to be desired, she was a brilliant psychiatrist. He smiled at her. “That’s excellent, Jo. I only wish I had your memory skills. Now, let’s see.” He peered at the first of the criteria. “As for the first of the criteria, do you feel… there have been times you misunderstand social norms? And how about eye contact? I have perhaps noticed myself you do not always meet people’s eyes.” Best give her an escape route, he decided. And take it slowly. While Josephine was a brilliant psychiatrist, he did not wish her to be backed into a corner. When that happened to people, they generally tended to lash out. “I could of course be quite wrong. Have you noticed this?”

He watched Josephine and nodded slowly. Now they were coming to the heart of the matter. “If one of your patients had raped you, Jo, we would have to take appropriate action. By that, I mean we would have to ascertain whether you were suffering any after effects, such as psychological trauma, sexually transmitted infections or diseases or if you were pregnant for example. We would also need to ensure the patient in question explains their actions to us, and is punished accordingly. That type of conduct is highly inappropriate, I’m sure you will agree. We would make sure you were comfortable with whatever we did.” He wondered what exactly had happened. not wanting to jump to conclusions – this was Josephine, after all, and she did sometimes ask questions others may not – but he had a significant feeling there was something in her behaviour. He wondered if he should ask or tell Gabriel. Eventually he leaned forwards. “Is there anything you wish to tell me, Jo? I will keep anything in confidence, if you like. I am merely curious.” Sometimes giving things too much weight made people uncomfortable, and therefore he appeared unapproachable.

[Dr. Josephine Hudson]

Jo smiled back, wondering what he meant. What was excellent? Oh, her telling him the criteria. " It's okay. Anyone with a modicum of intelligence could memorise it. " She'd meant it as a compliment, and it took her a second before she frowned. It sounded...a bit mean, somehow. Seeing as Peter hadn't memorized it, obviously, or he wouldn't have got out the book. " I mean...someone with lots of intelligence. " There. That was better; Peter was intelligent, but not incredibly so. She was just stating a fact, which sometimes got you into trouble, but it was so much easier than coming up with complex lies based around trying to compliment someone.

" I don't misunderstand social norms! " She paused. " What exactly is a social norm? " Something like smiling at appropriate times? She had that down. He had her at eye-contact, though. Her eyes flickered between the wall, to the left of Peter's head, and his face, trying to make herself look at his eyes. She just didn't like it; she thought it was plain rude to stare at someone's eye, when it obviously made them uncomfortable. Leaning closer to the other psychiatrist, she forced herself to meet his eyes for a brief second before looking away, trying not to openly shudder. " I can make eye contact. I just don't. " Her social skills tutor had been trying to work on that with her, but they hadn't gotten very far.

Appropriate action didn't sound good to her. It sounded quite scary. She tried her best not to burst into tears when he mentioned pregnancy, something she'd been trying not to think about. It was just so...there was a whole, frickin' person, inside her? Aside from it being her students baby - which she was definitely not thinking about - it was just plain weird. Hopefully, she didn't have an STD or anything... If so, she would have to murder Rio. Preferably, by castration. If that murdered people. She stayed quiet for a minute, wondering if she should tell Peter. He'd promised that it would be confidential. Suddenly, she felt like a teenager, going to see her school councillor or going to Planned Parenthood or something. " Well... " She hesitated. " Say that that had happened, and I had become...pregnant, what would happen then? " He hadn't answered her question in as much detail as she'd wanted originally.

[Dr. Peter Ivrie]

Peter suppressed smile. Josephine may not be aware she had just insulted him, but he found it vaguely amusing. Although she could not follow a cake recipe, she could memorise the criteria for who only knew how many disorders. There was enough evidence to prove a theory of different intelligences correct in this woman alone. He decided to leave the comment. After all, he didn’t wish to put her under any undue stress.

He nodded along with her. If Josephine did not want to accept the truth, that was fine with him. He was not her psychiatrist, as much as he may act like it, more like a friend. He smiled and nodded as she made momentary eye contact. “I see, I meant a social norm such as understanding why people say hello or goodbye, and remembering to do so. Things such as that.” Although he was sure she’d say she did, he was sure it was none of his business. Jo was an agreeable person at least. She was likable and well liked, as far as he could see among the staff and students. Although he had to admit, that some wished to take advantage of her had unsettled him. She was vulnerable, but why anyone would try that was beyond him.

Peter was acutely aware this could easily be more than hypothetical and made a mental not to mention it to Gabriel. Or maybe not. Jo had a right to privacy, and he was sure she wouldn’t want him to mention it to Gabriel without her consent, eve if it did appear for her own good. She looked tearful. “In that case we would have to discuss if you wished to keep the baby. If you did not we would arrange for an appropriate type of abortion, and if you did not we would take you to a doctor to ascertain how far along you were and how best to care for you in the meantime. We would decide whether to inform the student, I would advise against it personally, and at which point you should take maternity leave. We would discuss whether certain students who may become violent should be transferred to Gabriel or my rosters for the time being in order to protect you and the child and what to do with the child when he or she is born.” Hopefully that would be a full enough answer for her.

[Dr. Josephine Hudson]

Why did people say hello and goodbye? To let people know that they had arrived and departed, obviously. And she remembered how to because...she wasn't an idiot? "Yes, I understand that." After pausing for a second, she added the question that had been hovering in her mind for a while. "Do you think I have AS? From the criteria? I don't by Gillberg's, because I don't obsess over a narrow interest." Or did she? Jo knew that mutism was a narrow interest, and she liked finding out everything that she could about it. And she did love hot chocolate; was that obsessive? Hopefully not, because she might match the rest of the criteria then.

Discuss if she wished to keep the baby? She blinked. What was to be discussed about that? As Peter said 'abortion' she twigged, looking up to glare at him. He honestly thought she would have an abortion? Murder her baby? She couldn't do that. Not to baby Torey...or Sigmund, if it was a boy, but she doubted that. Jo knew she had a girl. Mainly because she didn't want a boy, as nice as they could be. After all, it might turn out like Rio, or Morph. No. Better to have a Francesca than a Rio. There were some nice boys - Gabe, Peter, Chris and Maddox were...mostly agreeable - but generally, her female patients were nicer than the male ones. Of course, she was biased; one hundred percent of her male patients had tried to rape her.

"Oh, I know how far along I- um, would be if I was hypothetically pregnant." Not even one month. "And I wouldn't need care. I can care for myself!" She could dress herself, and wash herself, and feed herself. Why would she need caring for? Peter advised against informing Rio, apparently. Jo fluttered her hands at her side gently. Wouldn't it be obvious enough to him? You have sex with your psychiatrist, she gives birth nine months later... Even Rio could work it out. She listened to the rest of his points carefully, frowning slightly. "I wouldn't go on maternity leave, that would ruin my schedule. Besides, what would you do all day?" Which students would become violent? She thought about it. Rio and Morph, really. As for what to do with little Torey... "Well, I'll give birth to her, and then care for her." She resisted the 'anyone with a modicum of intelligence' comment, despite how obvious it seemed.