The level of trust that was evident between Nick and Nat in 
Dark Knight has always fascinated me. I found myself wondering
how it was they managed to get to that point from their somewhat
rocky beginnings in OtL. Since no one could answer that question
for me, I decided to answer it for myself. <G> This story is the result.

I'd like to thank Mei Kwong for all her encouragement while I
wrote this--N&N weren't being particularly cooperative, and 
without her I doubt it would've been written. A big thanks also
to Nancy Kaminski for all her editorial help as well as her support.

Nick and Co. belong to JP and Co., I am only borrowing them for
a short time. No copyright infringement is intended.



A Crack in the Wall  
part 01/04
by Kathy Whelton
(c) 1997



Natalie Lambert shifted uneasily in her seat and pretended
to stare down once again at the papers spread in front of her;
anything to avoid the cold blue eyes that waited for her across
the table.  Unseasonably warm air drifted into the diner along 
with the occasional patron. With the nights becoming shorter it 
was more and more difficult to find places for them to meet. 
This diner met their need for privacy, while at the same time 
being totally public. It was also carefully neutral...at least for her. 
Natalie finished off her coffee in one smooth gulp.

"I'm sorry about having to meet here." Natalie rested her empty
cup back on the table top. It wasn't as if no one would notice
if someone who looked like him suddenly started paying her
regular visits at work. It would be all over the department within 
a week's time and she would certainly never hear the end of it 
from Grace. If he had managed to impress one thing upon her, 
it was the fact that their need for privacy was paramount.

"You said that already." The tone was flat. "I told you, it's
not a problem."

"I finally got your DNA profile back from the lab. It shows some
interesting differences between...normal...human ...DNA. I'm sure
there is something here that we can work with." Natalie edged
forward in her seat, excited by her findings. "Don't you see? 
It demonstrates exactly what I told you when we first spoke, 
your condition *is* a physical one. I'm sure this is something 
that can be treated."

"You're *sure*. All your vast experience tells you this to be true." 
Nick leaned forward across the table. "How old are you Doctor?"

"What difference does that make?"  She stiffened at his 
question.  She certainly wasn't going to let this thing eat up 
every free minute she had, only to be insulted by him. "You know, 
maybe this thing isn't going to work out after all, if you're not 
interested in my help, then I'll just be on my way." Natalie 
began to collect her papers and rose to go.

"No.  Sit down." Nick reached across the table and
 touched her hand lightly. "I  mean ...please ...sit down. I 
am interested in what you have to say. The question wasn't 
intended to offend you. Please...continue."

Natalie slowly resumed her seat. "I have a friend who works over
at the Institute. He has access to all sorts of high tech equipment.
Once I gather a little more data, I plan to call in a few favors
and ask him to let me get some time in over there."

Nick sat listening to her words in stony silence. He could hear
her heart racing within her chest. Was it excitement over her
discovery that caused it to beat so rapidly, or was it fear?  Did it 
really matter which?  It was obvious from her words that she 
had no idea of what she was getting into. He refused to let her 
promise of a high tech miracle begin to rekindle the flame of 
hope within him. 'Modern' medicine had failed him miserably in 
the past. Nothing that she had said so far made him think that it 
would be any different this time, that she would be any different. 
They all loved to poke and prod. To strip away his dignity like he 
was some bug under a glass. In the end it had always been the 
same. They all wanted somethin--his money, the seductive 
promise of eternal life, the scientific glory. The worst of it was, 
he was no closer to regaining his humanity than he was a 
century ago and he knew it.

"Nick...," Natalie called his name with slightly greater 
emphasis. "Nick...hello."It had taken two weeks for him to 
even give her that much. Maybe it wasn't really his name at all. 
Maybe this was all just some elaborate charade, but to what end? 
There could be no doubt in her mind about what he was; she had 
witnessed it with her own eyes. Could she as readily accept this 
desire for a return to humanity?

"I asked if you managed to eat anything this week."

"No."

"No," she paused. "That's it? No further explanations. 
Nick, I'm really not getting the sense that you're willing to 
work with me here.  To be honest, I'm not really sure what 
to think. You don't seem to have heard a word I've said."

The eyes faltered for just a second. "It's the texture. I ...I can't
tolerate it, or the taste. I did try."

"Okay, taste and texture." What else was there to food? He
certainly was not going to make this easy. "That's something 
we can work with a bit." Natalie rested her thumb and forefinger 
against her lips. "Liquids are better than solids I trust."

"Taste is a problem there as well, but yes, it is easier.  I can drink
water, small amounts of alcohol on occasion."

"Let me see what I can come up with, maybe something 
high in protein, but in a liquid form." She paused. "Now 
you've gone an done it." Natalie smiled for the first time that 
evening. "I may have to break out that old blender that my 
grandmother gave me when I graduated from medical school.  
She said all 'girls' needed to know how to cook, no matter what 
they did for a living, otherwise they'd never catch a husband."

Her attempt at humor totally missed its mark. The face across
from her remained impassive. Nothing. She had been at this for
four weeks now and she had yet to evoke any kind of reaction from
him at all. She was beginning to think that maybe he had been
right; maybe on some level, the level that mattered the most, he
was dead. 

"Is that all for tonight?" Nick began shifting towards the 
end of the bench.

"Not quite. I wanted to let you know that I've changed my
schedule at work around a bit--I'll be working a lot more 
overnight shifts. There's less traffic around the morgue then, 
an occasional visitor won't be noticed quite as much. It'll also 
give me a little more time to do some research." Research 
on what little data she had, she added silently to herself.  
Her fingers literally ached to do a full head-to-toe physical 
on him, but he had quite adamantly refused to let her even 
touch him. Surprisingly, the one thing that had concerned 
her the most, drawing his blood, was the one thing that 
he had allowed her to do. 

"I guess that's it." Natalie began to slowly gather up her notes.
"I'll see you here next week, same time."

"We better make it a little later, the sun won't be setting until
almost nine next week."

"Okay, ten o'clock. I'll see you then." It wasn't until he had left
that she noticed the neatly folded ten dollar bill next to the check.. 
She glanced out the window just in time to see the edge of his
duster disappear around the corner. 

---------
                                                                           
           
   
Nick slumped into the overstuffed chair and drank deeply from
the bottle that he held in his hand. What had possessed him to go
through with their meeting tonight? Each time they met Nick 
swore to himself that it would be the last. That the only reason he had
for seeing her at all was to assure himself that the knowledge of
his existence would pose no problem for either of them. It had
taken all of one conversation with her for him to realize that she
was unlikely to reveal him to anyone. She prided herself on her
professionalism--it wasn't likely that she would set herself
up for ridicule, publicly or privately.

So what was it then? Did she really offer some hope for a
cure?  He certainly  had no business dragging an innocent 
like her into this quest of his. Nick smiled at the thought of 
her calmly and rationally talking to him about DNA molecules. 
He took another long swallow from the bottle. If she had 
any concept of what he really was, the things that he had  
done, she would have run screaming from that diner in 
horror. Then again--maybe she wouldn't. He thought back 
to the night they first met in the morgue, the look on her 
face. There had been fear there--no doubt of that, but there 
had been other things as well--fascination, compassion. 

Nick stood and walked over to the window. The first 
fingers of dawn were beginning to creep across the 
sky. How many more days could he bear to pass like this?  
Maybe if he just didn't get his hopes up this time, if he 
could somehow maintain this distance between them, 
it would be all right. It wouldn't be easy.  He could see the 
insatiable curiosity in her eyes each time they met, the 
unasked questions that mortals inevitably seemed to 
wonder about. He had to admit that she had done well in 
suppressing  that curiosity so far. She had respected the 
boundaries he set up between them without question. 
There had been some remarkable advances in science 
and medicine in the last decade, perhaps he would be 
foolish to dismiss her ideas quite so casually.  She was 
so sure that this curse of his had a physical basis, let her 
deal in the physical then. Let her study his DNA to her heart's 
content. There was no need for her to know about 
the rest of it.


   
end part 1
comments welcome
Kathy  
KWhelton@compuserve.com
My FK fiction page: http://patriot.net/~piercelh/kathy.html



A Crack in the Wall
part (02/04)
by Kathy Whelton
(c) 1997


"You're late. I was beginning to think that you weren't 
going to show." Natalie glanced up at the tall figure that 
seemed to suddenly appear next to the table.

Nick slid into the bench seat directly opposite from 
Natalie. "I got hung up." 

"I can't stay tonight. I just wanted to give you this." 
Natalie slid a thermos across the table at him.

"What is it?"

"A protein shake. A little something I managed to 
whip up this week. I wasn't quite sure what to put 
into it, but give it a try. Let me know if drinking this is 
any easier than eating solid food. We can always play 
around with the ingredients later."

Nick shifted the container lightly in his hands. "I'll try. 
Is that it?"
 
"I also wanted to let you know that I'll be at the morgue 
Thursday night. I'd like you to drop by so I can draw 
some more blood. Anytime after midnight should be 
fine. The fewer people that see you, the better."

"That won't be a problem." Was that the slightest trace of a 
smile on his lips?

"Great." Natalie began to slide towards the end 
of the bench. She really wasn't in the mood to get 
drawn into this tonight. She felt absolutely wretched 
and she had no energy to spare trying to engage him 
in conversation.

Nick glanced at the plate of untouched food on the 
table. "Is everything all right?" The words slipped from him 
before he had a thought to hold them back..

"Actually, no. I'm not feeling very well. Probably just 
a virus or something. I'm going to head home, take 
a hot bath and get into bed." Natalie crumpled inwardly 
as she came to her feet.  The dull ache that had been 
nagging at her abdomen all day suddenly flared
dramatically.

"You don't look like you're in much shape to drive." 
Nick paused, considering his options. "Why don't you 
let me take you home?"

"Don't be ridiculous. I'll be fine." Another spasm of 
pain gripped Natalie and she sat down abruptly on 
the bench. "On the other hand, you may have a point 
there." She glanced over at him. "You do know how to drive?"

"I may be a bit rusty," Nick acknowledged, "but we'll get there.
Where are you parked?" He casually accepted the keys from 
her.

"Next block, other side of the street. It's a brown..."

Nick cut her off. "I know what your car looks like, Doctor. 
You wait here. I'll pull it around."

"Don't worry." Natalie pursed her lips to prevent a 
groan from escaping. "I'm not going anywhere."

-------


"This is it." Natalie swung open the door to her 
apartment. He had insisted on accompanying her to 
the door and she had agreed rather than make an 
issue of it. If he had planned to hurt her, he certainly 
could have done it before now.  It sounded good anyway, 
now if she could just get herself to believe it. The only 
way he could know what her car looked like was if he'd 
been following her. She had always been careful to park 
it out of sight whenever they met. He had been watching 
her all along and she had been totally unaware of it. 

Nick took a single step over the threshold and into 
the apartment. "It's so...orange."

Natalie glanced at his face. He was staring at the
walls with a look of total disbelief. "What are you, a 
vampire or an interior decorator?" Natalie managed 
a small grin. "It just so happens that it was this color 
when I moved in--I just haven't had a chance to paint 
over it." She felt in no way compelled to mention the 
fact that she'd lived there almost three years. "Did you 
want to come in?"

"No." The mask was back. He withdrew ever so 
slightly towards the door. "I only wanted to make 
sure you got home all right."

The urge came upon her so suddenly that Natalie 
had no time to respond. In fact she barely had time 
to make it to the bathroom before losing what little 
had remained in her stomach. The pain tore into her 
abdomen like a knife and she sank to her knees onto
the bathroom floor. She could feel cool rivulets of 
sweat running down the sides of her face. Could 
she pick a moment or what? 

She could only hope that her rather unusual visitor 
would have the good taste to quietly slip out the 
door and save her the embarrassment of facing him. 
Natalie waited until the pain had retreated to a dull roar 
before rising and venturing back out into the living room. 

Out of the corner of her eye she could see him, still 
standing in roughly the same spot as he was  
prior to her rather abrupt departure. It figures. After 
all their other meetings he couldn't wait to get away,  
now she manages to make a total ass out of herself 
and he decides to stick around.

"I'm sorry about that."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Nick replied 
evenly. Her color was gray and for the first time that 
evening it occurred to him that something might  be 
seriously wrong with her. "You don't look very well."

"What a coincidence, I don't feel very well. It must 
have been something I ate."

"Except that you didn't eat anything. " Nick took a few 
cautious steps into the room. "Why don't you come 
and lie down before you fall down?"

"I think that's the best offer I've had all night." Natalie 
eased her way slowly over to the couch and slid 
down onto it. "You don't need to stay, really, I'll be fine. 
Just please let yourself out, if you don't mind."

Nick moved to the couch and abruptly sat down 
next to her. "May I?" he asked quietly.
  
"May you what?" Natalie felt a thread of fear run 
through her. Maybe this whole thing had not been 
a very good idea to begin with. Maybe she was just 
about to find out how bad an idea it really was.

"Touch you," he answered simply. "I have to confess 
that I've never been an interior decorator, but I have 
been known to practice medicine on occasion."

"Practice ...medicine? How...?" First she was 
expected to believe that vampires really exist, now 
he was asking her to accept that one could function 
as a doctor without being detected. She was beginning 
to come to the conclusion that she would never be 
able to look at the world in quite the same way ever 
again. 

"It was a simpler time. You'd be surprised at what you can 
learn by reading and observing."  Nick pressed a cool hand 
briefly against her forehead. "You're hot." He looked at her 
carefully. "You couldn't be pregnant, could you?"

"Um, no," she responded. "No chance at all." Wonderful. 
Now even the undead knew she had no love life. This 
was really shaping up into quite a night.

Nick laid his hands carefully onto her tense abdomen. 
He could feel the warmth of her skin even through the 
thin layer of cloth between them. Natalie gasped as he 
pressed gently into her lower right side. "It hurts there?" 
He moved his hands confidently across her abdomen. 
"What about if I press on the left?"

"It hurts on the right." Natalie managed through 
clenched teeth.

Nick withdrew his hands from her and rested them 
on his lap. "I don't need to tell you this. You're exhibiting 
all the classic signs of appendicitis. I think we need to 
talk about taking you to the hospital."

"I can't have appendicitis." Natalie answered sharply.

"Oh, you've had your appendix removed ?" A look of 
surprise crossed Nick's handsome features.

"No," she reluctantly admitted, "I haven't. What I do 
have is four cases backlogged at the morgue already. 
I don't have time to be sick." Natalie began to rise to a 
sitting position. "I'm feeling better already, really."

"Sure you are. Lie back," Nick instructed firmly. 
"Let me try one more thing." Nick took her right leg 
into his hands, bent her knee up to her abdomen 
then let it drop quickly out to the side.

The pain in her right side returned with a vengeance. Natalie
brought her hand to her mouth in a vain attempt to keep from
crying out.

"I'm sorry." Nick's eyes clouded swiftly with concern. 
"I didn't mean to hurt you."

"I know you didn't." Natalie winced. "It's okay, it's getting
better. I do have to admit, your arguments are becoming 
more convincing as well."

"So I trust there's no need for me to continue?" he asked with
the slightest trace of a smile on his lips.

Natalie felt her cheeks flush. "Ah, no. Thanks. I'll go to 
the hospital. I suppose the worst thing that can happen 
is that they tell me I have the flu and send me home again." 
Natalie attempted unsuccessfully to rise from the couch. 
"I do hate to keep imposing...I don't think I'm going to be 
able to drive myself."

"It's no imposition." Nick stood abruptly and offered 
his hand to her in assistance. "I wasn't doing anything 
tonight anyway."


end part 2
comments welcome
Kathy
KWhelton@compuserve.com
My FK fiction page:  http://patriot.net/~piercelh/kathy.html



A Crack in the Wall
part (03/04)
by Kathy Whelton
(c) 1997

    
Nick  poked his head around the curtain and looked carefully
at the still form lying on the stretcher. Natalie lay there, her eyes
closed against the bright florescent lights of the holding area. Her 
breathing and heart rate seemed too rapid for her to be asleep but
he had no wish to intrude if he wasn't welcome. Her eyes fluttered
and opened as he stood there.  He found it difficult to read her e
xpression; she was surprised to see him, but was there 
something else as well?

"You're still here? I thought you had left hours ago." 
She was surprised at how happy she was to see a familiar 
face, any familiar face. It had been a rough couple of hours. 
The joys of winding up in a big city ER in the middle of the 
night. Blood tests, ultrasounds, along with a totally confusing 
parade of hospital personnel. Why should one doctor 
examine you when three medical students could benefit 
from the experience?

"I wasn't quite sure what to do with your car." Nick answered
carefully.

"My car?" At the moment her car was the least of her concerns.
"You can just leave it in the hospital lot. It'll cost me an arm and
a leg to get it back, but at least it'll be safe."

"So I guess I'll just leave the keys out at the nurse's 
station." He motioned towards the desk. Nick glanced 
back at her. She looked so thin and pale lying there all 
alone. "Are you okay?"

"I guess you could say that. You were right." Natalie 
informed  him. "They think that it is my appendix. I guess 
I should thank you for persuading me to come here."

"No need to thank me." The answer was cool. "You wouldn't
have waited too much longer to come in." Nick began slowly 
moving away from the curtain. "Look, is there anyone I can call
to come be with you?"

 She had already been through this with the nurses. 
"I'm afraid my brother Richard is up at  Echo Lake opening 
his cottage for the season. His phone isn't connected yet. 
The only work colleague that I would call at," Natalie glanced 
at the clock on the wall, "two a.m., is away at a forensics 
convention. I guess I'll have a great story to tell them when 
they get back." Natalie smiled thinly. "They'll be *so* sorry 
they missed all the excitement."

"I guess they'll be taking you to the OR soon anyway," 
Nick ventured.

"Looks like a couple of hours--there was some big 
accident tonight on the Gardiner Expressway. It seems 
I have to wait my turn just like everyone else." Natalie shifted 
slightly on the stretcher. She bit into her lip as the pain 
once again flared with her movements. "The Lambert 
luck strikes once again. Only I could get appendicitis on 
one of the busiest nights the hospital has seen in months."

"I hope they at least gave you something for the 
pain." Nick found himself taking slow steps closer 
to the stretcher. Thin beads of sweat stood out on her 
forehead. He could see the effort that her calm was 
costing her.

"Naw. They didn't want to mask any increase in the 
symptoms." An ironic smile stole across her face. 
"Somehow I'm not all that reassured by that plan. You go 
though, there's no sense in your hanging around here 
any longer. I certainly won't be needing
anymore rides tonight."

"I guess I'll be going then." Nick briefly considered 
offering to ease her pain, but decided against it. Even 
if he could get around her resistance, he suspected this 
was one lady that would not appreciate having her mind 
messed with.

Natalie watched his slow progress towards her 
with interest. "I thought you said you were going?"

Nick found himself standing right next to her. "Well, I 
could stay for a bit, keep you company. The night's pretty 
much blown anyway."

"I don't think they allow visitors in the holding area."

 "I don't think that'll be too much of a problem." His face fell
abruptly. "Unless you don't want me here."

"No, it's not that," Natalie answered more quickly 
than she intended. "I just don't want to put you to 
any trouble. I'm fine here by myself. Really, I am." 

Standing up against the stretcher, Nick could 
detect a subtle vibration.  He glanced down at her, 
he could see her fists clenched tightly at her sides. 
The information took him by surprise. "You're trembling."
 
"I'm not trembling," Natalie snapped. "I'm just ...cold."

"It's not cold in here," he argued logically.

"All right, you caught me. I admit it; I'm scared. 
Are you happy now?" The irritation was evident 
in Natalie's voice. She had already revealed far more 
of herself to him tonight than she felt comfortable with. 
He was supposed to be her patient, not the other way 
around.

"Why would that make me happy?" his face softened. 
"I think it's a pretty natural reaction for you to be 
frightened. Having surgery is a scary thing."

"I'm a physician for goodness sake. It's a minor 
operation. There's nothing to be frightened of."  Natalie's 
voice faltered. "I...I've just never liked the idea of being 
put to sleep."

By the tone in her voice Nick couldn't quite decide 
which of them she was trying so hard to convince. He 
pulled up a nearby chair and sat down next to her. "It's 
hard to trust anyone that much, to give up that control. It 
makes you feel vulnerable. I guess no one likes to feel 
that way."

Nick glanced around the hospital cubicle where they 
waited. The stainless steel fixtures gleamed in 
reflection of the bright overhead lights. Assorted medical 
packages were all lined into neat rows. It was all so...sterile. 
It was a scene totally different from the ones in which he had 
sought to bring aid to the living and some small comfort to 
the dying in times past. Still, it was an environment almost 
totally lacking in even the smallest degree of warmth. 
Medicine had progressed so much in some ways but 
had lagged far behind in others.

Maybe he couldn't ease her pain as he would like 
to, but perhaps there was something he could do to 
distract her a bit. " 'Oliver Twist'  or  'A Tale of Two Cities'?" 
he asked with grin.

"What are you talking about?"

"They may be the only two books in English that I remember
well enough to give you a reasonable recitation of. Unless of
course you want me to start spouting Shakespearean sonnets, 
but I'm not at all sure we want to go there tonight."

Natalie laughed softly. The idea of an eight hundred 
year old vampire quoting Shakespeare to her right now 
was a bit more than she could handle. The movement of 
her abdomen ignited the pain in her side once again and 
she let out a low moan. She turned to her side and curled 
up, splinting her abdomen as best she could, as if she 
could somehow make it all better. As much as she dreaded 
what was to come, the fear lurked within her that she would 
be kept waiting too long, that her appendix would rupture as 
she lay here unattended.  She felt a cool hand  slowly creep
beneath her own .
 
"You can squeeze it as hard as you need to, you won't hurt
me," he whispered softly. "You just let me know if it gets 
too bad."

Natalie intertwined her fingers with his and held 
them tightly. "It's a deal.  Just whatever you do,  please 
don't make me laugh again."

Nick put on his most serious face. "Okay, no laughing. 
I guess a decision has been made then,  'A Tale of Two Cities'  
it is." Nick took a deep breath and began.  Chapter one: The Period
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of 
wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..."

The words ceased to have any meaning after the first
 few paragraphs.  Natalie felt the muscles of her  body 
relax and her eyes began to close involuntarily as his 
deep resonant tones flowed over her.  He really had an 
amazing voice, the character of it seemed to change 
almost constantly. She could feel his hand, still firmly
holding onto her own, the coolness of it becoming somehow
less noticeable as time passed. 

-----------


"Well good morning! It's nice to see you're finally 
awake." The nurse snapped back the window curtains 
and allowed the sun to stream in."

"Nick?" Natalie glanced quickly about the room.

"Are you looking for that fellow that you came in with?" she
asked. "I'm afraid he left a while ago."

Natalie sank back into the bed. She could feel the stitches
pulling against her side, but the excruciating pain from the night
before was gone.

"Course he about wore a hole in the waiting 
room carpet while you were in the operating room.  
I had to ask him several times to sit down. And I still haven't 
figured out how he got them to let him into the recovery 
room to see you. We have rules around here for a..."

"He came to see me in the recovery room?" 
Natalie interrupted.

"He did. Said he couldn't leave without seeing for 
himself that you were all right. After that he just about 
flew out of here. It was like the Devil himself was after 
him. I still can't see what the big rush was all about." She 
turned and looked out the window. "Looks like another 
beautiful spring day. I love this time of year, somehow 
it makes you forget all about winter."

"Maybe the Devil is after him," Natalie mumbled softly under
her breath.

"What did you say?" The nurse turned and faced 
Natalie once again.

"Oh, nothing." Natalie dismissed the question. "Did 
he say anything else?"

"As a matter of fact he did. He asked me to give you 
a message, said he managed to get a hold of your brother. 
Sent the local police around to his cottage or something. 
Your brother should be in around midday." She paused as 
if in thought. "I'm trying to think if there's anything else, your 
friend left in such a hurry, and I didn't write anything down."

"Actually, you've told me quite a bit, thank you." Natalie 
remembered the calm, steady sound of Nick's voice 
from the night before. The effect on her had been amazing, 
so much so that she had actually been sleeping when they 
finally came to take her to the OR. As she drifted slowly back 
to consciousness after the surgery she had wondered if 
it had all been a dream or some bizarre side effect of the 
anesthesia. Apparently his concern  had not been a 
figment of her imagination after all.

"You're welcome, sorry to hear you had such a rough 
night. Terrible business, that accident. I hear the ER 
was a real madhouse."

Natalie smiled. "Was it? I didn't really notice."

"Well, why don't I go get you something for pain, then we'll
see about getting you up and out of that bed. You'll be out of
here before you know it and this whole thing will be nothing but
an unpleasant memory."


comments welcome
Kathy 
KWhelton@compuserve.com
My FK fiction page:  http://patriot.net/~piercelh/kathy.html




A Crack in the Wall
part (04/04)
by Kathy Whelton
(c) 1997


Nick slid the door open as the elevator ground to a halt. "I see
you found it all right."

Natalie stepped out into the darkened interior. Shutters were 
closed tight against the late afternoon sun. Her eyes scanned
the broad expanse of the single large room before her.  The entire
way over she had tried to imagine what it would be like,  somehow
this wasn't quite what she had expected. "Barely," she answered
him. "You weren't kidding when you said it was a bit off the 
beaten path. Is this whole building empty except for this 
apartment?"

"It is," he responded, his voice totally devoid of emotion. 
 "I like it that way, plenty of privacy."

Natalie set her medical bag down on the dining table 
and wandered into the main living area, silently taking 
in the myriad of objects with her eyes. "I would think it 
would get a bit lonely though."

What could she possibly know about loneliness? 
"Doctor Lambert, I really don't think you invited yourself 
over here in order to discuss my living arrangements." 
Nick turned and looked her in the eye. "Or did you? Did 
your curiosity finally get the better of you, Doctor? Maybe
 you just couldn't resist the urge to come and take a peek. " 
Nick gestured broadly with his arm towards the stairs. "Do 
you want to see where I keep my coffin?"

Natalie slammed the small statue she was holding down with
some force. "What I came for," she started through gritted teeth,
"was to say thank you for all your help the night I was ill."

Nick turned away from her. "You don't need to thank me. 
I only did what..." He stopped just short of letting the 
words come out.

"You only did what anyone else would do in the same situation."
She finished it for him. "You know, that's funny. I've had a lot of
time on my hands the last three weeks while I've been home
recovering, and I keep coming to the same conclusion myself."
Natalie brought herself face-to-face with him once again. Wherever
his attitude was coming from, it was really starting to get on her
nerves. "No, that's not quite right. I know plenty of *people* who 
would have called me a cab and wished me luck. It's this," she 
gestured at the space between them, "this coldness, this 
hostility that I don't understand. I thought we had gotten 
past this little game in the hospital."

"It's not a game," Nick  replied firmly. His cool stare 
bore into her. "You think that because I behaved towards 
you in a *civilized* manner in the hospital you know me. You 
don't know me, Doctor. You don't know anything about me."

"I know that your words and your actions don't seem to quite
add up." She returned his intense gaze with one of her own. If
she stopped long enough to let herself consider what she was
doing, going head-to-head with a vampire, she would never be
able to continue. The answer seemed simple enough, don't let
yourself think about it. "Your actions that night in the hospital 
went far beyond being polite." Natalie allowed herself a small grin.
"You're not going to be able to convince me that you weren't 
genuinely concerned about me." 

Nick broke off his gaze and answered her with a dismissive
shrug. "So I was worried, that hardly qualifies me for a 'Humanitarian 
of the Year' award." 

Natalie pursued him across the floor of the loft, unwilling
to let the point drop. "But this wasn't an isolated case. You wound
up on my examining table because you were trying to help people.
You've worked as a doctor, for God's sake, that must mean 
something."

"It means that I've been a fool." His eyes met hers once again
in an icy stare.

The tone of his voice sent a chill through her. Whatever 
his reasons, he was certainly doing his best to discourage 
her in this. Fine, she could play hard ball too. "It seems to 
me that  those were very *human* actions.  If you consider 
them the actions of a  fool, then maybe you're not as serious 
about regaining your mortality as I thought you were."

"I am telling you the truth. I do want to regain my mortality, 
more than you can possibly realize." He stated it simply, 
without emotion.  He could see it in her eyes, the beginnings 
of trust. How easy it would be to destroy those fragile beginnings. 
The beast was lurking, as it always did, just beneath the 
surface. He knew that he would probably be doing her the biggest 
favor of her life if he sent her screaming out of here right now. 
The problem was, he just could not bring himself to do it. There 
was something about her-- her openness, her lack of fear that 
he found totally disarming. 

"What good will it do you to regain your mortality if you've
shut yourself off from everyone and everything  in the process?
Being human is more than just a physical state, Nick," 
she scrambled for the words, "it's...it's a state of being. I believe 
that I can cure you, that we can beat this, but you have to be 
ready for it when does happen." Natalie continued strongly, 
encouraged that for the first time, he actually seemed to be 
listening to her. "I also need to know that we are working on 
this together.  I need honesty from you, no more playing games. 
Either I'm your doctor and you're my patient or not. It's up 
to you to decide."

"Do you really think that you can help me?" he asked 
quietly.

It was his eyes that gave him away. She had never 
seen such despair in her life and she hoped never to again.  
Natalie hesitated for just a moment before reaching out and 
grabbing his hand. "I know I can," she said confidently, "but I 
also know that this isn't going to be easy on either one of 
us. It's going to take a lot of hard work."

Nick covered her hand with his own. "Where do we 
start, Doctor?"

Natalie rolled her eyes. "We start by losing the 'doctor' 
bit. Hardly any of *my* patients call me doctor." She looked 
into his totally vacant expression. "That was supposed to 
be funny-- a little coroner humor." She felt more than a 
little foolish as she continued to explain this. "My patients 
are dead," she paused, perplexed. "Don't you get this?"

Nick could stand it no longer and grinned broadly. His 
smile lit up his face in a way she would never have thought 
possible.  "I get it,  I get it. And just for the record, I got the 
blender thing too." He looked at her evenly. "All right then--Natalie. 
Where do we start?"

Natalie took his hand and led him to the dining table where
her bag still sat. "We start by drawing some more blood on you.
I have three more weeks before they'll let me go back to work,
and I want to make the most of it." Natalie took a deep breath.
"It would also be helpful to get a little more information on you;
blood pressure, heart rate, that sort of thing." Actually getting a lot
more information would be helpful, but she didn't want to push
her luck.  She pressed a hand against his cheek. "I've been 
dying to know what your body temperature is."

Nick slid into the straight backed chair and began unbuttoning
his shirt. "I'm all yours. I'll cooperate in any way that you need
me to."
   
-----------

Natalie wrapped up the blood pressure cuff and slid it 
back into her bag. That was rather enlightening, she thought to 
herself. Now all she had to do was figure out how he could walk 
and talk with essentially no heart rate and no blood pressure. 
She removed the thermometer from his mouth and glared at 
the reading; 84.6 F. Natalie quickly slid the thermometer back 
under his tongue.

"Idonthk," Nick mumbled.

"What did you say?"

"I said," replied Nick, removing the thermometer from 
his mouth, "that's the third time you stuck it back in. I don't 
think that it's going to go any higher."

"I suppose you're right." Natalie retrieved the thermometer
and  placed it back in her bag. "Oh, before I forget, I need some
samples from you," Natalie said as she handed Nick two small
containers.

He looked at the jars in confusion. "Samples?"

"Yes. That one is for urine and that is for semen," she stated
matter-of-factly.

"You mean...now?" he asked incredulously.

"It would be a lot more convenient if  I could take everything 
to the lab at once. Why, is there a problem?" 

"Well...it's just that...this could...um...take awhile," he 
stammered. Nick felt the heat growing in his face and 
was for once profoundly grateful for his inability to blush.

Natalie sat down in one of the chairs. "I'm not in a rush, 
if you need to go look at a magazine or something. I 
can wait."

"I meant the urine," he said evenly. Nick forced himself 
to meet her eyes. He supposed that if she was really going 
to be his doctor, modesty  was something he'd better get 
past in a hurry. "Vampires don't...um...'go' very often."

"Oh," she paused. "Okay then." Natalie rose from 
her seat. "I guess I'll be heading home."

Nick set the two bottles down on the counter and took her
by the hands. "I'll get them back to you as soon as I can, Scout's
honor." He smiled openly. "Look, the sun has set, why don't we
get out of here. We could go for a ride or something."

"Actually, I took a cab. I'm not supposed to be driving just yet."

"What a coincidence," Nick commented as he led her to the 
elevator. "I picked up this *great* old car last week and I've been
dying to show it off to someone."


   *Finis*

KWhelton@compuserve.com

   



    
    

    

    
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