Author's Note:This work is dedicated to my mother Edna Fern Roberts, who
died Nov. 29/02, of a heartattack, while I was in the process of writing
this story. She always encouraged me to be creative and also was an
enthusiastic fan of "Frasier". - VJM
Heartbeats (Part 1) Discoveries
by Valma
"Daphne?"
The darkness of their bedroom seemed to make the clarity of his voice all the more resonant.
"Daphne - are - are you awake?"
As she rubbed her eyes open and focused her mind, she detected a definite edge to Niles' voice. She felt his arm slip around her waist as he drew his body up close to hers.
"He's worried about something," she thought. "But knowing Niles it could be about anything, from a scratch in his new Brahms CD to Frasier finding out that he can't go with him to the wine exhibition next week."
Her hand reached around and clasped his fingers in reassurance.
"I am now," she chided gently.
She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was late but Niles had told her he didn't feel sleepy, so he was going to stay up for awhile and work on some patient files in his study. It had taken her awhile to drift off alone in the bed. She missed him being there beside her, in his favourite sleeping position, curled up along side of her, molding his body perfectly with hers, so that his warm, moist breath tickled the hair on the back of her neck. But despite feeling his absence tonight, she finally had succumbed to the enticement of a good night's rest.
Now, through the haze of somnolence, Daphne let her thoughts meander through her "Niles Anxiety File", searching for the origin of his current annoyance. She finally settled on the most likely suspect - a toothache. He had complained on and off throughout the week of a feeling of pain in his jaw. She had told him to make an appointment with Dr. Clarkson, but he obviously had not done this. She sighed. Sometimes she thought he acted this way just to get the maximum amount of attention from her.
"I bet it started right back in his childhood days," she judged. "He probably got used to having someone pay him heaps of notice whenever he whimpered about one of his many ailments or allergies when he was younger. But then he is inordinately adorable when he is fussing about something."
A smile came to her lips and she patted his hand.
"What is it sweetie? Is your tooth still bothering you?" she asked in a compassionate tone. "Do you want me to make an appointment with your dentist in the morning, Niles?"
She knew she was indulging him, but what was so wrong with pampering him? He lavished attention on her constantly - it was only fair that she cater to his little behaviour quirks now and then.
"I think I have to see someone else other than the dentist," he answered. His voice was clipped and somber. He seemed to be struggling to get the words out.
"I think I should see a - a specialist."
Daphne shook her head. He really did fret about the smallest of things sometimes.
"Niles, if you hadn't delayed seeing the dentist in the first place it wouldn't have got this bad. Now it is probably abscessed and you may have to have root canal or lose the tooth all togeth-"
"It's not just my tooth," Niles interrupted. "I - I think it may be - my heart."
Daphne sat up in bed and turned towards his voice.
"Niles, don't exaggerate! You're scaring me! What do you mean it may be your heart? What has a pain in your mouth got to do with your heart? Is this some kind of a joke?"
In the darkness she could see the pale outline of his body. His face was taut and drawn. There wasn't a hint of his usually dry, witty sense of humour in his demeanor. Nor was this just a pouty bid for attention. Daphne suddenly felt shaky.
She reached over and flicked on the lamp.
"Niles - what's this about? Talk to me."
And so the words began to tumble out of his mouth. At first she wanted to argue with him - tell him that he was imagining it and to stop being so paranoid and whiny. It was just a toothache - millions of people all over the world got toothaches and no one ever suggested that they had faulty tickers. But then as she listened to him, his voice trembling as he spoke, she realised that there was some substance to his apparent irrational fears.
Of course she was fully aware of the congenital heart disorder that had only been discovered in his late twenties when he was about to marry Maris. He didn't really talk about it often, which was strange when he seemed to dwell on all sorts of other minor infirmities so much. But they did have a brief, yet serious sit-down about it one day when she noticed that he looked particularly pallid. Moderate Aortic Stenosis he called it. She knew that it meant that he had to take antibiotics whenever he visited the dentist and that he would be prone to serious infections if he didn't. It was a prudent precaution and mandatory for people with heart valve problems like his. But what did this to do with the pain he had been experiencing in his teeth? He hadn't even been to the dentist yet?
Her mind raced through a dozen questions while he was explaining that because of his childhood coronary troubles he suspected that there might be some related concerns when the pain in his jaw wouldn't go away. It seemed to only appear whenever he exerted himself, like when he got a large file box down from a shelf earlier this evening as he was working on patient's case, and he felt nauseated after encountering the pain. Tonight, after having another episode, he decided to investigate on the internet and found some information that seemed to confirm his suspicions.
"So you think the toothache is really something else?" she finally asked.
"Yes," he said succinctly.
"But what?" she countered.
"I think I have been having a series of angina attacks," he answered.
"Angina?" Daphne said in a tone of disbelief. "Are you sure? I thought angina was a pain in the chest area?"
"Well, it can manifest itself as a toothache on occasion," Niles confirmed. His eyes trailed downward as he began to fidget with his fingers as he spoke.
"And course it could be just a toothache," he added quickly. "It is rather rare that a congenital heart problem would worsen over the years. Usually they become less severe when a person passes into adulthood."
He looked at Daphne, his eyes pleading with her to just accept his shallow diagnosis and not to ask for too many details, until further expert examination had been done. But it was the unspoken particulars that fed her fearfulness.
"Niles, how serious is this?"
Even to Daphne the sound of her voice seemed almost melodramatic - like one of the soap operas on the telly, that she found mindless entertainment in on a cold wet rainy Seattle day. She half expected a soothing man to break into their conversation with the words "We'll be right back, after a word from Tide detergent."
"Well," he started and then paused thoughtfully, measuring his words carefully "Aortic Stenosis has been known to degenerate - in mid-life. The angina could be an indication that less oxygen is getting to the heart. It could be the prelude to heart - fail - failure."
With that her hands flew up to her mouth as she gasped a sharp intake of breath.
"I sorry, Daphne, I, I didn't mean to alarm you," he said catching her hands and holding them tightly in his. "I'll make an appointment tomorrow with Dr. Harris and he can refer me to a cardiologist if it is warranted. An EKG should settle the question."
Daphne suddenly realised why he hadn't talked a lot about this problem before. It frightened him just as much as it was frightening her now.
"Make it first thing tomorrow, all right?" Daphne frowned.
She reached out and hugged him tightly.
"First thing tomorrow, O.K.?" she repeated. She could feel his hands on her back, patting her reassuringly.
Niles pushed back a bit, brushing her hair away from her face and then leaned in and kissed her lightly.
"Yes, boss," he joked. "Permission to go to sleep now?"
"Permission granted," she retorted with a small, nervous laugh. But Daphne held onto him for a few moments longer, gazing deep into his dark blue eyes.
She kissed him once and then pressed her face up to his cheek and whispered "I love you Niles. It took me so long to find you - I, I don't know what I would do if - "
Niles stopped her in mid-sentence.
"Don't worry darling. It probably is just my overactive imagination. That's all. But the doctors will be able to tell us for sure. Now let's turn off the lights and get some sleep."
His noble attempt to allay her uneasiness just reinforced her misgivings that this was a very serious situation.
"No," Daphne declared. "I want the light left on. And, and I want to hold you just like this."
She cuddled in his arms and leaned against the padded headboard of their bed. Niles didn't offer any argument to the contrary. He seemed fully content with the position she had selected, as he pulled the duvet up around their reclining forms.
Daphne closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest. She could hear his heart thumping.
"Good," she reasoned. "I want that to be the first sound I hear when I wake in the morning."
And they remained that way, in each other's arms until sleep overtook them and the morning light flooded the room the next day.
To be continued (Part 2 to follow)
Heartbeats (Part 1) Discoveries
by Valma
"Daphne?"
The darkness of their bedroom seemed to make the clarity of his voice all the more resonant.
"Daphne - are - are you awake?"
As she rubbed her eyes open and focused her mind, she detected a definite edge to Niles' voice. She felt his arm slip around her waist as he drew his body up close to hers.
"He's worried about something," she thought. "But knowing Niles it could be about anything, from a scratch in his new Brahms CD to Frasier finding out that he can't go with him to the wine exhibition next week."
Her hand reached around and clasped his fingers in reassurance.
"I am now," she chided gently.
She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. It was late but Niles had told her he didn't feel sleepy, so he was going to stay up for awhile and work on some patient files in his study. It had taken her awhile to drift off alone in the bed. She missed him being there beside her, in his favourite sleeping position, curled up along side of her, molding his body perfectly with hers, so that his warm, moist breath tickled the hair on the back of her neck. But despite feeling his absence tonight, she finally had succumbed to the enticement of a good night's rest.
Now, through the haze of somnolence, Daphne let her thoughts meander through her "Niles Anxiety File", searching for the origin of his current annoyance. She finally settled on the most likely suspect - a toothache. He had complained on and off throughout the week of a feeling of pain in his jaw. She had told him to make an appointment with Dr. Clarkson, but he obviously had not done this. She sighed. Sometimes she thought he acted this way just to get the maximum amount of attention from her.
"I bet it started right back in his childhood days," she judged. "He probably got used to having someone pay him heaps of notice whenever he whimpered about one of his many ailments or allergies when he was younger. But then he is inordinately adorable when he is fussing about something."
A smile came to her lips and she patted his hand.
"What is it sweetie? Is your tooth still bothering you?" she asked in a compassionate tone. "Do you want me to make an appointment with your dentist in the morning, Niles?"
She knew she was indulging him, but what was so wrong with pampering him? He lavished attention on her constantly - it was only fair that she cater to his little behaviour quirks now and then.
"I think I have to see someone else other than the dentist," he answered. His voice was clipped and somber. He seemed to be struggling to get the words out.
"I think I should see a - a specialist."
Daphne shook her head. He really did fret about the smallest of things sometimes.
"Niles, if you hadn't delayed seeing the dentist in the first place it wouldn't have got this bad. Now it is probably abscessed and you may have to have root canal or lose the tooth all togeth-"
"It's not just my tooth," Niles interrupted. "I - I think it may be - my heart."
Daphne sat up in bed and turned towards his voice.
"Niles, don't exaggerate! You're scaring me! What do you mean it may be your heart? What has a pain in your mouth got to do with your heart? Is this some kind of a joke?"
In the darkness she could see the pale outline of his body. His face was taut and drawn. There wasn't a hint of his usually dry, witty sense of humour in his demeanor. Nor was this just a pouty bid for attention. Daphne suddenly felt shaky.
She reached over and flicked on the lamp.
"Niles - what's this about? Talk to me."
And so the words began to tumble out of his mouth. At first she wanted to argue with him - tell him that he was imagining it and to stop being so paranoid and whiny. It was just a toothache - millions of people all over the world got toothaches and no one ever suggested that they had faulty tickers. But then as she listened to him, his voice trembling as he spoke, she realised that there was some substance to his apparent irrational fears.
Of course she was fully aware of the congenital heart disorder that had only been discovered in his late twenties when he was about to marry Maris. He didn't really talk about it often, which was strange when he seemed to dwell on all sorts of other minor infirmities so much. But they did have a brief, yet serious sit-down about it one day when she noticed that he looked particularly pallid. Moderate Aortic Stenosis he called it. She knew that it meant that he had to take antibiotics whenever he visited the dentist and that he would be prone to serious infections if he didn't. It was a prudent precaution and mandatory for people with heart valve problems like his. But what did this to do with the pain he had been experiencing in his teeth? He hadn't even been to the dentist yet?
Her mind raced through a dozen questions while he was explaining that because of his childhood coronary troubles he suspected that there might be some related concerns when the pain in his jaw wouldn't go away. It seemed to only appear whenever he exerted himself, like when he got a large file box down from a shelf earlier this evening as he was working on patient's case, and he felt nauseated after encountering the pain. Tonight, after having another episode, he decided to investigate on the internet and found some information that seemed to confirm his suspicions.
"So you think the toothache is really something else?" she finally asked.
"Yes," he said succinctly.
"But what?" she countered.
"I think I have been having a series of angina attacks," he answered.
"Angina?" Daphne said in a tone of disbelief. "Are you sure? I thought angina was a pain in the chest area?"
"Well, it can manifest itself as a toothache on occasion," Niles confirmed. His eyes trailed downward as he began to fidget with his fingers as he spoke.
"And course it could be just a toothache," he added quickly. "It is rather rare that a congenital heart problem would worsen over the years. Usually they become less severe when a person passes into adulthood."
He looked at Daphne, his eyes pleading with her to just accept his shallow diagnosis and not to ask for too many details, until further expert examination had been done. But it was the unspoken particulars that fed her fearfulness.
"Niles, how serious is this?"
Even to Daphne the sound of her voice seemed almost melodramatic - like one of the soap operas on the telly, that she found mindless entertainment in on a cold wet rainy Seattle day. She half expected a soothing man to break into their conversation with the words "We'll be right back, after a word from Tide detergent."
"Well," he started and then paused thoughtfully, measuring his words carefully "Aortic Stenosis has been known to degenerate - in mid-life. The angina could be an indication that less oxygen is getting to the heart. It could be the prelude to heart - fail - failure."
With that her hands flew up to her mouth as she gasped a sharp intake of breath.
"I sorry, Daphne, I, I didn't mean to alarm you," he said catching her hands and holding them tightly in his. "I'll make an appointment tomorrow with Dr. Harris and he can refer me to a cardiologist if it is warranted. An EKG should settle the question."
Daphne suddenly realised why he hadn't talked a lot about this problem before. It frightened him just as much as it was frightening her now.
"Make it first thing tomorrow, all right?" Daphne frowned.
She reached out and hugged him tightly.
"First thing tomorrow, O.K.?" she repeated. She could feel his hands on her back, patting her reassuringly.
Niles pushed back a bit, brushing her hair away from her face and then leaned in and kissed her lightly.
"Yes, boss," he joked. "Permission to go to sleep now?"
"Permission granted," she retorted with a small, nervous laugh. But Daphne held onto him for a few moments longer, gazing deep into his dark blue eyes.
She kissed him once and then pressed her face up to his cheek and whispered "I love you Niles. It took me so long to find you - I, I don't know what I would do if - "
Niles stopped her in mid-sentence.
"Don't worry darling. It probably is just my overactive imagination. That's all. But the doctors will be able to tell us for sure. Now let's turn off the lights and get some sleep."
His noble attempt to allay her uneasiness just reinforced her misgivings that this was a very serious situation.
"No," Daphne declared. "I want the light left on. And, and I want to hold you just like this."
She cuddled in his arms and leaned against the padded headboard of their bed. Niles didn't offer any argument to the contrary. He seemed fully content with the position she had selected, as he pulled the duvet up around their reclining forms.
Daphne closed her eyes and buried her face in his chest. She could hear his heart thumping.
"Good," she reasoned. "I want that to be the first sound I hear when I wake in the morning."
And they remained that way, in each other's arms until sleep overtook them and the morning light flooded the room the next day.
To be continued (Part 2 to follow)