Surprise, surprise. I actually updated this story.
I should be working on an art project, but I felt compelled to write instead. Yay for procrastination?
In any case... enjoy!
[Insert "I don't own..." disclaimer here.]
With some help from the vicar, Alucard was able to get set up to live a relatively normal human life. When Alucard had asked why and how the vicar was helping him, his only replies were "It is the will of God," and "The church has its ways," respectively. These statements left Alucard mystified, but he made no comment.
Alucard was the owner of a small apartment on the outskirts of London and paid his rent by working at a history museum. On his days off, he would visit one of the larger hospitals in London.
After a bit of research and reading week- and month-old newspapers, he managed to find out that Integra had been in an accident and was in a coma. With a bit more digging, he was able to find out the name of the hospital. All it took from there was a bit of hanging around at the nurse's stations to find out her room number. He wanted to visit, but not alert anyone to his presence; besides, he didn't think that the nurses would let any unauthorized personnel into Integra's room, and as he was he was most definitely unauthorized and unknown. He memorized the timing of the nurse's visits to her room, to know when to come and when to go without being seen. Sera's visits, too, were predictable, and he knew exactly when to avoid those as well.
On his visits, he would mostly talk to her unresponsive form. Sometimes he would argue with her, though he knew she would not respond. Other times, he would just watch her. Rarely would he reach out and touch her, a sad look in his eyes. During one such visit, he was alerted to someone approaching by the sound of bootsteps nearing.
Not wanting to be discovered and knowing exactly which of Integra's routine visitors would wear boots, Alucard scrambled for the door, flinging himself out of it and down the hall.
"Hey! Stop!" called Seras, setting off after the intruder at a run.
Knowing he would be unable to outrun Seras, Alucard skidded around a corner and threw himself into the nearest janitor's closet just before Seras rounded the same corner. He held his breath as he sat among dirty brooms and mops, listening to Seras move around just outside of the closet.
"Master?" she inquired to the air tentatively, before sighing and heading back to Integra's room. She thought herself delusional; that man couldn't have been Alucard – he had disappeared over six years ago and left no signs of coming back. Though, she admitted to herself, the man did bear a striking resemblance to her master, at least from the back.
When he was sure she was gone, Alucard stood and brushed himself off before exiting the closet and leaving the hospital. On his next visits, he was sure to be much more careful.
A few months later, Integra began to show signs of finally awakening. The first sign presented itself when Alucard was there on one of his visits. This one, unlike the others, was not carefully planned in advance. It could be considered a miracle that the nurses were occupied on another hallway and Seras was not present.
He was in one of those rare moods where he would actually reach out and touch his comatose former master. He touched her hand, tracing her fingers with his own. Alucard nearly jumped out of his skin when her fingers began to slowly close around his. He immediately recoiled from her touch and fled the room, afraid that she would awaken and see him or hospital staff would come running.
From that day on, Alucard no longer visited the hospital. If she had awakened, she would no longer be there. For almost a year, he lived a normal human life, pushing stray thoughts of his old life away. He was a different person now. He was no longer the nosferatu Alucard – he was Vlad D. Harker, human tour guide at the history museum. He aspired to live a normal life. With the end of his visits to Integra, he severed all ties with Hellsing… or so he thought.