This story originally appeared in "A Taste of Forever". That I'm posting it at this late date is due to the extraordinary inconvenience of real life . In case you don't receive a story part, all parts can be found on my website at: http://www.loftworks.com/wftk/fiction.html As always, I must give thanks to my sister Jeanne, who has been my tireless editor (and slave-driver) over the years as well as to Liza who helped me get this right. Thanks also to Nancy Kaminski, Cindy Ingram and Kathy Whelton for asking me to write a story for their zine. At the time, I didn't think I could find words, as life had dealt me some severe blows. But it turns out there were more words and then the words turned into a story that I cherish, and I'm deeply appreciative for the impetus that made them flow again. The Gift By Dorothy Elggren Copyright April 1999 Natalie sang quietly under her breath as she finished the autopsy. Whenever she was alone, she liked to sing. She couldn't say why, exactly, or even when she had started this bizarre little tradition of singing to the corpses, but she enjoyed it. It made her work easier, and as Natalie like to believe, if any stray spirits were hanging around checking on her handling of their mortal remains, it would appease them. "Moon river, wider than a mile..." Natalie finished closing the Y incision and began suturing it. "I'm crossing you in style, someday... Oh, dream-maker. You... heart-breaker..." "Wow, an operatic performance," Schanke exclaimed behind her. "Awwwk!" Natalie croaked, dropping everything as her heart went through the ceiling. She turned and glared at a smirking Schanke and openly grinning Nick. "You two--out! NOW!" "But, Natalie," Schanke protested dramatically, "we're just two drifters, off to..." Natalie put her hands on his chest and shoved. "Out, out, out!!!" Laughing they disappeared back through the door. "Drat," Natalie muttered her hands on her hips. "Drat, drat, double-drat!" There was a knock on the door. Natalie grimaced and stared at the door willing them to go away. She wanted to sink through the floor. Embarrassment didn't begin to cover it. Nick stuck his head through the door. "If he says he's sorry will you at least give us the autopsy report on Mitchell?" She looked at Nick's angelic face with narrowed eyes. Damn that man for being able to charm the birds out of trees, and irate medical examiners out of total embarrassment. The dark look on her face faded. "Oh, all right. You can come back in--but I don't want to hear anything about my singing, or there will be no report." "Okay," Nick whispered conspiratorially. The door shut for a moment and Natalie composed herself by heading for her desk and the autopsy report in question. "Hey, Nat," Schanke said as he came back through the door. Natalie met his glance and stared him down. He swallowed hard and looked fixedly at Nick's back. One thing about Schanke, Myra had him well trained, and he knew when to shut up. "Here's the report," Natalie said as she shoved it into Nick's hands. "Mitchell died of a single stab wound to the chest, as if you hadn't already noticed. The wound is approximately 20mm by 2mm, with a ragged edge." "Serrated blade?" Nick edged in to Natalie's staccato delivery. Natalie took a breath. "Yes." Anyway, it's pretty straightforward. It was a knife fight that went bad. If I were to guess, there's another guy out there with some serious wounds judging from the blood we found on the victim's knife." "Why do you say that?" Schanke asked, edging closer and trying to look inconspicuous at the same time. He didn't want to set Natalie off again, and you just never knew with women. Natalie nodded at the report Nick held. "Mitchell had a lot of scars. Knife scars. He'd been fighting for a long time. He just finally ran into somebody better than him." "Uh, well, thanks," Schanke said. He looked at Natalie earnestly. "Sorry about, uh, well...you know...." Natalie smiled. "It's okay, Schank, I shouldn't get that...involved." Schanke thought of some great comebacks to being involved with a corpse and decided tonight was not the night. "Yeah, well, we'll be going now." Nick grinned at Natalie, and then looked at Schanke. "If it's okay with you, I'll catch up to you at the precinct." Schanke laughed. "Hey, if it gets her in a better mood, it's great with me," he agreed and disappeared quickly out the door before Natalie could say anything. Natalie frowned at the door and blew her breath out angrily. "Oh great, just great. Now everybody is going to know that I sing to my guests, Nick. Schanke is the largest blabbermouth in the world...no, universe. I'll never live it down." "Yes, you will," Nick said hugging her swiftly. "I'll take care of it." "And just how are you going to do that?" Natalie asked suspiciously. Nick shrugged, "Well, I'll whammy him. He'll never know what hit him." "Nick," Natalie said. "Schank already has enough holes in his memory. He's going to think his brain is moth-eaten." "I'll give him some new memories. Don't worry, Nat." "It's not worth it, Nick. Just leave him alone. At least don't whammy him. Just threaten him within an inch of his life. That should do it," Natalie muttered. She kicked at the floor with her toe. "On second thought, he deserves to have one big giant hole where his brain was. Maybe whammying him would be good." Nick smiled at the devious look that flitted across Natalie's face. "What?" Natalie said staring at Nick. "The look on your face, Nat...," Nick said with a laugh. Natalie looked at him then started to laugh. "I'm sorry, Nick. I guess I over-reacted a bit, huh? Nick shrugged. "I don't know. Schanke's... well, Schanke. Don't worry, though, Nat, I'll take care of it. And Schanke's brain won't be any worse for the wear." "So, what can I do for you, Nick?" Natalie asked, moving on. She ran a practiced eye over him. "You have a bullet in you or something?" "No," Nick said with a sideways glance at her. "So, what can I do for you then? Want to try my latest protein shake?" Nick made a face. "Not really," he said, then his face brightened. "Actually, I was hoping you'd go to the Symphony with me on Friday night. They're having a guest pianist, and he's going to play Paganini and Rachmaninoff." "You want to go to the symphony?" Natalie asked in surprise. Nick had been hibernating more than usual the last few months since LaCroix had returned. The only place he'd gone had been the Raven, her apartment and once, she'd dragged him to a movie. "Yeah, will you go?" Several thoughts flickered through Natalie's mind at Nick's question, from 'Why?' to, 'Nick is asking me out?' But not being one to look a gift-horse in the mouth, Natalie said simply "I'd love to, Nick." She'd find out the whys later. "Great," Nick said with happiness suddenly lighting up his face. Natalie stared at him suspiciously. "There's something more to this than just a symphony, isn't there?" Nick looked at her startled. "How'd you know?" "Nick, you haven't been out of the loft in a couple of months. It doesn't exactly take a detective." Natalie said with a laugh. Nick had the grace to look a little sheepish. "Besides, there's something in your eyes," Natalie said slowly looking closer at Nick. "What's so important about this?" Nick looked away and then, after a moment, walked slowly around the half-stitched corpse lying on her examination table. He seemed oblivious to everything. Natalie waited patiently until he stood in front of her again. "It's important," he said finally, "because of the pianist. His name is Mark O'Donnell, and once upon a time...I knew him." Natalie stared up in wonder at Nick. "You knew him...when?" Nick took Natalie's hands, and smiled at her. "A long time ago, when he was oh, about so high." His hand drew a line in the air about chest high. "I'll tell you about it after shift. Come to the loft, and I'll tell you all about Mark." "You're going to make me wait?" Natalie asked. "The suspense is killing me, already." Nick grinned and rubbed his thumb along her hand slowly. "Sorry, but it's a long story, and one that's best not interrupted by work." "Oh, you mean that there's some vampire stuff involved," Natalie guessed. Nick laughed. "Actually, no--this is one time there isn't." He kissed her on the forehead. "I'll see you later." "Okay, if I have to wait, I wait," Natalie said resigned. "This is going to be a long night." Nick stopped as he opened the door. "Then just sing, Nat. You've got a beautiful voice, and even if your guests don't appreciate it, I...do." "Nick," Natalie said suspiciously, "this isn't the first time you've heard me singing, is it?" Nick smiled. "No. Sometimes, I just stay outside and listen. You really do have a pretty voice, and ... you've got a great repertoire." "I should have known," Natalie said with a smile. "Go on, get out of here. You've got some whammying to do." She made shooing motions at him. Nick grinned and left, and Natalie got back to her half-sutured guest, but not before looking at the clock and calculating how many hours it would be before she heard the full story. ****** Natalie pulled into Gateway Lane just as the horizon took on a slightly golden hue. The sun would be up soon. The gravel crunched beneath her feet as she got out of her car. Suddenly, the sky brightened and the clouds took on pink and golden tones. Natalie stopped and stared up at the clouds in awe as color glowed in them and seemed to flit from place to place. Somehow, knowing that Nick couldn't watch, but wanted to experience sunlight--any daylight--more than anything made her stop and treasure the moment. She glanced up at the loft and saw that the windows were already securely shuttered against the day and wistfully wished Nick could be here standing beside her. "Yeah, and if wishes were fishes," Natalie muttered. They still had a long way to go in their quest to bring him back to mortality--if it was possible. If... She headed for the elevator, and paced impatiently as it groaned its way up to the loft. Natalie pushed back the door to find the room glowing with candlelight. Not just one or two, but about fifteen or twenty, and Natalie stopped and took it in. She smiled slowly and stepped into the room. Whenever Nick took to lighting more than his usual couple of candles, she had discovered it meant he was happy--a rather rare occurrence--and more importantly, talkative. Something about candlelight made Nick feel as if he were in a long ago time and place. A place and time where, Natalie suspected, he could pretend he wasn't who he was or had done what he had done. She had never asked because she was afraid to spoil his mood. Greed, she supposed. Greed for every little morsel and kernal of information she could glean. Not only that, if she were to admit it to herself, it *was* romantic, and she could dream, too, couldn't she? Natalie shook her head and pointed her thoughts back into reality at that. She looked around for Nick and didn't see him. "Nick?" "Natalie!" Nick said from above her, appearing from his bedroom, buttoning his shirt. For a moment his chest gleamed pearly white before disappearing behind a neat row of buttons. "I'm glad you made it," Nick said coming down the stairs quickly. Natalie smiled. "With an invitation like the one you gave, did you think I wouldn't be here?" Nick grinned. "No." "I thought so," Natalie said. "And I need coffee. You'd better have some." "The bag you brought is still here," Nick said. "Under the sink." Natalie made a face. She'd tried to break him of that habit, but so far had been unsuccessful. She dropped her jacket on the back of a chair and headed into the kitchen. "The saddest part of all, Nick, is...it's gourmet." "Well, I guess you'll have to enjoy it for me," Nick said as he joined her and pulled out the coffeepot. They made coffee in companionable silence, a ritual they had fallen into over the last year. When they had started, Nick hadn't known one end of the pot from the other, now he made some of the best coffee Natalie ever had. She'd asked him once how he did it. He'd merely grinned and touched his nose. "Great sense of smell," he'd whispered into her ear. Whatever if was, Natalie relished the coffee he made. "Mmmm," Natalie said when he finally handed her the oversized mug. "Heaven!" Nick wrinkled his nose slightly, but said nothing. "Okay, I can function now," Natalie commanded sitting down at the table. "Start talking." Nick sat across from her and grinned, "Your wish is my command, Natalie." Natalie snorted, "Right." Nick was silent, and Natalie could literally feel his mood change. The quality of the room seemed to change, as if a cool, brisk breeze had suddenly flowed through it. Even the candles seemed to flicker. End Part 1 ---------- Do you have a comment? I'd be eager to hear it. Send 'em to delggren@es.com.