2-Paper Cut

It was becoming harder and harder to concentrate, even in the privacy of his office. The soft classical music floating from his radio made it even worse. In frustration, Niles slumped further into his chair. Why oh why must everything remind him of Daphne Moon? She was beautiful, a goddess, an angel…

And yet he could never have her.

When he'd sought to divorce his estranged wife Maris, he'd secured the most coveted divorce lawyer in all of Washington State. But fate had dealt him a cruel hand when Daphne and Donny Douglas began dating. And how they were engaged. He had no idea how it had happened (and so quickly at that), but it was enough to make him cry.

But he'd already done that; cried more than he'd ever cried in his life. And for a man who prided himself on the fact that he rarely cried; that alone spoke volumes.

And so now he was forced to endure Daphne's happiness whenever he saw her; be it at Café Nervosa, his brother's home at the Elliott Bay Towers, or anywhere in-between. It wasn't that he didn't want Daphne to be happy, for nothing could be further from the truth. But he was the one who wanted to be the underlying cause of her happiness; not some stuffy divorce lawyer with constantly disheveled hair whose schooling came from Las Vegas of all places. The mere thought of going to such a non-prestigious school made him shudder.

Depressed even more, he slumped in his chair even further and sighed. Damn… when would this pain and suffering end?

He tried yet again to concentrate. If he looked through his client files, there was bound to be at least one person in worse shape than he. Luckily he had arranged his patient files by their level of problems; Schizophrenia, OCD, Emotional, Marital… the lists went on and on, until the came to his most severe cases. He settled on these, for surely they would make him feel a little better about himself. But as though it was taunting him, they only served to make him feel worse… much worse. He was physically and emotionally drained, and he had yet to see a single patient.

He should have gone home; just canceled his appointments and returned to his home where he could have spent the day in bed, enjoying the quiet while he sipped his sherry and read his book. For all intents and purposes he could have sent Mrs. Woodson home with pay, telling her that he wasn't feeling well. And it would have been the truth. But he felt fine; physically anyway. And even if he'd felt worse, his ethics wouldn't allow him this one tiny, even slightly truthful lie.

And so he sat in his office, more miserable than ever. He was on the third or fourth paragraph of Mr. Robertson's case involving the man's obsession with owls when he heard a knock on the door. "Mrs. Woodson, you can go home if you'd like. I'm not feeling well. Have a good day, all right?"

The door opened and he turned his head, gasping at the sight.

"What's wrong, Dr. Crane?"

He rose to his feet in one fluid motion. "Daphne…"

"Yes, it's me. May I come in?"

"O-of course. But… what are you doing here?"

"This is all right, isn't it? My being here?"

"Of course it's…. um… all right. I just… what are you doing here?"

She took a deep breath, indicating that she was as nervous as he. Or perhaps it was his imagination.

"I'm sorry for stopping by unannounced, but I was hoping that you'd be here."

"Well I was actually on my way out, but-."

"Oh… I'm sorry. I can come back another time."

"No!" he said, louder than he meant to. "I-I mean… please stay. Would you like something to drink?"

"No thank you. I don't think I could drink or eat anything at the moment."

He tilted his head in surprise. "Is something wrong?"

"I'm afraid there is. And that's why I wanted to talk to you."

"Well, it's not really appropriate for me to act as your therapist, but I'd be happy to talk to you as a friend."

She smiled. "You're always here for me. Thank you, Dr. Crane."

"Um… You're welcome, Daphne. So what's on your mind?"

"Well, this is kind of hard for me to say and I'm not sure how to say it. I wouldn't want you to think differently of me or laugh at me."

"I would never laugh at you and as for thinking differently about you-."

"I don't think I should marry Donny."

Her blurted words stunned him so badly that all he could do was stand there and stare at her. "W-what?"

"I don't think I can marry Donny." She repeated; the confirmed words like a knife through his heart.

The manila folder he held in his hands fell to the floor, but in the process he cried out in pain. "Daphne, what are you-Ouch!"

As expected she rushed to him immediately. "Oh. Dr. Crane what's happened? Are you all right?"

But all he could do was stare at his finger and the steady stream of blood that was slowly making its way onto his skin. His stomach churned and he began to feel light headed.

"Yes, I'm…. f-I….ne. I-."

"Dr. Crane!"

She reached for him, miraculously catching him just before he fainted and guided him to the leather sofa that sat adjacent to the chair. "Dr. Crane, what is it?"

He stared at the trickle of red blood that was coming out of his finger and groaned. "Oh no… I think I'm going to be-."

"Come on, Dr. Crane, just move slowly and look straight head." Daphne said, taking his clean hand and leading him to the bathroom. There, she turned on the faucet, making sure that the water was cool and then gently put his finger underneath it. The tiny trickle of blood mixed with the water and swirled down the drain. "There, it's just a small paper cut. I know those hurt. You have a first aid kit around here, don't you?"

He nodded absently, having no idea what she'd just asked him.

"Do you know where it is? No, you don't, do you? Well, don't worry, I'll find it." She began opening the small door underneath the sink and then smiled. "Here we are. Now come with me."

Dutifully he followed her back into his office and sat in his chair. He watched as she opened the first aid kit and removed a Band-Aid and a tiny foil packet, tearing both of them open.

"Now, it's just a small cut, but we don't want it to get infected so we'll just put a bit of this first aid cream on your finger."

He flinched when she touched him, prompting her to move more slowly. "I'm sorry, Dr. Crane. It hurts, doesn't it? Funny how something so small could hurt so much. Why when I was a girl, I cut me hand with a kitchen knife and blood went all over. Oh, you should have seen me mum! She was in hysterics, but I didn't feel a-."

He could feel his stomach churning and he was sure that his skin had transformed into a pale shade of green.

"I'm sorry, Dr. Crane. That's not a very pleasant topic, is it? Well anyway, I can't believe that it didn't leave a scar, but the point is that I've had small paper cuts like this that hurt worse than anything I could imagine and they were barely notifiable. But don't worry, you'll be fine. Just keep this Band-Aid on for a few days and be sure to put some cream on it when you change it. Within a week or so you'll be as good as new."

"Th-thank you, Daphne. I can't tell you how much this means to me."

She laughed and that's when he noticed that her hand was still in his. "Don't be silly, Dr. Crane. It's just a Band-Aid."

"It's more than that, Daphne." He said, smiling at her surprised expression. "Now, what was it you wanted to talk about?"

"Oh, right… Well, I've been doing a lot of thinking and I don't think I should marry Donny. I don't know why… I just have this feeling. What do you think?"

He wanted to tell her the truth; his truth anyway. That Donny was all wrong for her and that she should wait until the right man comes along and assure her that she has plenty of friends to keep her company in the meantime. But he couldn't do it. Frasier would be livid were he to find out and Niles should have known that his conscious simply wouldn't let him. And so he took a deep breath.

"Do you love Donny?"

"Yes." She answered, stinging him with how quickly she spoke. There was absolutely no hesitation.

"Then…I think you should just follow your heart. Don't let anything st-stand in your way." The words hurt deeper than anything he'd ever melt.

She rose from the sofa and took his hand. "Is your finger hurting?"

"Actually, no. It's not my finger." It's my heart. He added silently.

"Well, I'm glad. Don't worry, Dr. Crane. You'll be fine in a few days."

"Are you going to be all right, Daphne? Have I answered your question?"

She smiled and kissed his cheek. "Yes, thank you, Dr. Crane. Thank you so much."

He fought the tears that threatened to well in his eyes and accepted her warm hug. "You're welcome Daphne. Anytime you need anything, feel free to stop by."

"I will." She said hugging him one last time before letting go. And when she left, he bade her goodbye and closed the door, content to cry in peace once again.

~TBC~