Nature or Nurture Ch. 21

Before they sit down to a good meal, Vincent walks around a little and does some stretches. Adison takes a comfortable chair and is bored. She cannot read, and moving around hurts her head, so she watches Victor bustle in the kitchen, and Vincent doing his stretching exercises.

'After breakfast and the bath, you're back to bed,' Victor tells her, and she knows he is right. Better take few days rest and get bored, than neglect the concussion and suffer dizziness and headaches for months.

'And I've sent a boy to Bruce already, to come and get you for the play, Vincent. I'm afraid you're on your own, I have patients tonight. If we neglect them any longer, they'll move to another practice. They can make do without Adison for a week or so,' Victor says.

'Thanks Victor, I will be perfectly fine with Bruce and my friends in the theatre. I hope Mina will not mind staying with Adison.'

'She won't,' a voice sounds from the entrance. Mina is standing in the doorway, looking stunning in the new blue dress. Victor is speechless and frozen to the ground. He looks so much like a love-struck boy, the change with the bossy doctor a few moments ago so profound, that she feels the compliment to her beauty more than words could ever express, even if they were written by the greatest poet.

He is irresistible, and Mina wants to greet her lover after a night of separation, but she can't go into the kitchen: the sun's still up and the kitchen is too light. They stand there, staring at each other with longing, until Adison realizes it isn't dark yet, and asks Vincent, 'Would you close the curtains, love? Mina seems to have awoken a bit early.'

He quickly does, and the new lovers approach each other as if drawn by a magnet. Finally, Victor seems to have found his voice back.

'I knew you were beautiful, and I knew you'd look great in that dress, but this...'

The rest of what he is planning to say is cut off by a passionate kiss. For a moment, the rest of the world disappears.

Vincent and Adison concentrate on the food to give the young lovers a bit of privacy, but the smell of food distracts Victor immensely, and Mina soon breaks off the kiss.

'Your body craves the food, my love. Better listen to it, I'll watch, I like seeing people eat, I used to love solid food.'

Victor is already eating away, choosing the rich stuff they never used to have at their table. Between bites he asks, 'Do you want to feed when I'm done?'

'I can wait until you return tonight, you'll need your energy for your patients and it is easier to replenish blood when you're resting. I still feel your blood in me very clearly, I'm constantly aware of you. Tonight will be soon enough.'

Victor is fine with that, it'd be indecent anyway to do it in the kitchen, even once Adison and Vincent have retired to their bath.

When dark finally arrives, they have all had a nice hot bath, and Vincent is feeling invigorated once again. The hot water has brought great relief to his physical inconvenience, he feels quite ready for the theatre. But it has made Adison very sleepy once again, so she retires to her bed immediately after. Sleep will be her best cure.

As Vincent dresses to go out, not forgetting some weaponry, Victor also dresses as befits a successful doctor and checks his supplies. He doesn't forget his gun and his hidden blade either. He will do his rounds when his patients most likely have finished dinner.

But soon after dark, and before dinner, there is a knock at the door. Thinking Bruce is come early to return or pick up some books, Vincent opens the door without checking who is behind it first. He is startled and a bit alarmed to see Miss Yves standing there, carefully groomed and dressed.

Needless to say the difference in her looks as compared to yesterday is acute. Seeing Sembene behind her, he realizes their intervention yesterday must have been successful.

Vincent is still silently berating himself for his carelessness, when she takes his hand.

'Dear Mr Smith, I cannot thank Miss Adison and yourself enough for what you have done for me and for Mina. I want to thank you personally and see Mina if at all possible. I hope this isn't an inconvenient time?'

Looking at her hand on his, she quickly withdraws it, looking guilty. Vincent feels no different for her touch, maybe it was the entity possessing her that caused the flashes of memory. He observes, 'Don't worry Miss Yves, apparently your touch no longer has power over me, it's safe to touch me again. Follow me, and see if Mina is willing to meet you.'

He lets the two wait in the hall, and enters the kitchen, where she and Victor are sterilising medical equipment. Vincent announces Miss Yves.

'Mina, Miss Yves is here to see you, will you receive her?'

Apparently it is well that he has left them in the hall for a while, for Mina's reaction is unexpected. With her concern over her friend yesterday, one would say Mina would be happy to see her now, but instead she starts to cry silently, gladly holding on to Victor when he offers support.

'I'll show them to the front room, so you can compose yourself and then decide if you want to see her.' And Vincent leaves the kitchen, taking their visitors to the front room, and inviting them to wait there for a few minutes.

Miss Yves shows some distress.

'Doesn't she want to see me? I was so nasty to her yesterday, but that wasn't me, I hope she understands that.'

There does not seem to be much left of the saucy Miss Yves, her acute observations, her comments bordering the uncivil, they seem to have been lost in last night's episode. Were they 'the devil in her'?

Vincent tries to put her at ease, 'This need not be personal Miss Yves. Mina has been through a lot the last few days, she nearly died of a bullet wound her own father gave her. And though being freed from an evil master may seem a happy occasion, she has only now started to realize what she has done, and what she has lost. She will never be human again like you and even me.'

Miss Yves perks up a little at this hint of his past, finally showing some sign of her usual zest.

'Has she told you how I drove her to the dark side, how my actions caused this tragedy?'

'No, she did not. We have been busy with practical matters mostly, how to free you of the enemy's dominion mainly. Her help was invaluable.'

This last remark has apparently taken her thoughts back to yesterday, for suddenly she seems to realize Adison is nowhere in sight. She exclaims, 'And where is Miss Adison? I was so hoping to tell her in person that after yesterday I am totally free of what was riding me, and I wanted to thank her for freeing me and apologize for any hurts I caused her. I hurt her badly, didn't I?'

Somehow, Vincent still doesn't like Miss Yves very much, and he does love Adison to distraction, so he says bluntly, 'Yes, Adison is hurt quite badly. She is concussed and her face is black and blue. She was only up to eating something, then went straight back to bed. She'll be fine, but it will take a few weeks for her to totally recover.'

Any further reproaches Miss Yves might make herself are cut short by Mina's entrance in the room. She goes straight to Miss Yves, and hugs her closely.

'I'm so glad to be back, and to have you back, Vanessa,' she says, 'how are you?'

'I'm totally fine, except I feel so guilty about what I put you through,' Miss Yves says.

Mina, now totally composed, replies, 'You cost me a good many things, Vanessa, but it was not all your fault that the enemy wanted you so badly that I became valuable as bait.

And his way to control is seduction, I let myself be seduced as well as you did. I paid a steep price, and many innocents suffered because of me, but for me at least there is some compensation.'

She doesn't mention what the compensation is, but right at that moment the doctor enters the room, and the look of infatuation the two exchange wordlessly speaks volumes.

Victor kisses her and says, 'I'm off on my rounds, I'll be an hour or two. See you tonight!'

Then he leaves again, carrying his doctor's bag and a walking cane. Weird, for such a young man.

Vincent, after a questioning look at Mina and an affirmative look for an answer, leaves the little group to renew their friendship, and heads to his bedroom to check on his beloved. She is sleeping quietly, her chest rising and falling all the movement he can see in her.

His feelings surge as he recalls their year together, from the wordless love he felt for her when he was totally dependent on her just after his birth, via their easy comradeship when he was sort of in his teens, to the moment he became a man and fell helplessly in love with her.

He has always trusted her totally, never doubting any of her decisions or actions. It is totally clear that no matter how high the price to herself, she did save Miss Yves from damnation as much as she saved himself, Victor and Mina and who knows how many others yet to come. He may be leading a strange life, again, but this utterly normal looking girl will make it worth his while.

Risking waking her up, his need to kiss her just once more before he leaves her for a few hours is too strong to resist. He takes one of her hands, and kisses her tenderly on her forehead, resting his cheek to hers for a short while. She wakes up for a moment, smiles at him, then goes back to sleep without saying anything.

Vincent quietly leaves the room, and readies himself to go to work once more, Bruce and Maud will be here any moment now. He steps into the front room for a moment to take his leave, and when he hears the familiar knock he meets with his colleagues and they are off to the theatre.

In the front room, Vanessa has told Mina how their falling out affected her, driving her into near insanity. It confirms Mina's opinion, that Vanessa is just not put on this world to do nothing. It led her into mischief with Mina's intended, and caused her to totally let go of her life afterwards. She clearly needs something to occupy her mind and body.

They talk for an hour, after which Mina tells Vanessa again that she is forgiven, that she acknowledges her own share of blame in what happened. The painful part of their reunion over, Vanessa is very curious about, well, everything.

'Are you really in love with that arrogant young doctor?' she asks Mina.

'Arrogant?' Mina cannot believe the term, 'arrogant?'

'Yes, arrogant. He clearly thinks he's the best scientist ever.'

Mina laughs.

'Oh, but he probably is. He's conquered death, you know.'

Vanessa is not impressed.

'Yes, I've heard about Mrs Gould. But that is what doctors do, and anyway, her family says that was mostly Miss Adison's work anyway.'

Mina decides not to explain, instead telling her friend, 'Victor is the shyest man I've ever met, I had the hardest time getting him to even look at me directly. But once he got over that, best lover ever! Even thinking of him tugs my heart. I miss him. That reminds me, please wait for a moment while I check on Adison.'

Mina heads down the hall and quietly enters her bedroom. Adison is restless, and Mina sits down next to her and gently strokes her hair. Her poor face looks battered and very painful. Adison has given so much, and now she is suffering for it.

Well, Mina is going to do everything in her power to help her recover. She feels uncomfortable leaving her unattended, so she returns to the front room and tells her friends she needs to sit with her patient. They'll see each other regularly now that the first awkwardness is over. Vanessa and Sembene take their leave, and soon Mina is sitting on Adison's bed with a candle and a good book. It will not be long before Victor and Vincent return, and when Vincent watches over his own girl again, the night will get interesting for Mina.