Chapter 26

Basil was awakened by Olivia, who was removing herself from their embrace. "Wait," Basil pleads, but Olivia looks at him in surprise.

"Elliott!" she exclaims and touches his forehead. "Your fever's gone, that's a relief," she said, but hits Basil in the shoulder.

"Ow!" he cries out, "Why did you do that?"

"For being an idiot! You risked your health just to attend a stupid party! What were you thinking?" she replies, while looking through the closet for any spare clothes. She finds a woman's robe and puts it on.

Basil lets her words sink in, he was an idiot, but as Hiriam said to him in his dream, he was a fool in love. Olivia notices the look on Basil's face and says, "I'm sorry for hitting you, I thought I was going to lose you last night."

"No, you have every right to be mad at me. I just didn't want to back out on a promise," Basil replies and has Olivia sit next to him. "Olivia, what you said about deceased loved ones visiting our dreams?" he asks and she looks at him, "Your father visited me, three times in fact. He came last night to take away my illness."

"He came to you!" she exclaims and he nods. She hugs him tight, "He saved you?" she asks.

"I think it was more than once," Basil said and explains the second dream he had with Hiriam, where he showed a vital piece that would help get out of the tomb. "I owe him a lot. Without his help, I wouldn't be here," he finishes.

"It's because he loves you," Olivia replies.

"He did say he wanted someone for you to rely on," Basil said and then, the door opens and Dawson steps in.

"Basil, are you all right?" the doctor asks, checking his vitals.

"I'm all right old chap, but a bit sore," the detective said, rubbing the arm where Olivia hit.

"Oh I gave you some antitoxin, sorry, needles do cause soreness," Dawson replies and checks Basil's arm. "Some tenderness, but it should go away soon," he adds and Mrs. Silverman comes in with a tray of food.

"Here's something for you, Mr. Basil," the teacher said, lifting a cap off of a bowl. Basil could smell the sweetness of honey and some oats. He looks at the bowl and takes his spoon to fill it. He blows on it to cool and eats a few spoonfuls.

"Honey in porridge? That is genius Mrs. Silverman," Basil said to the teacher.

"It ain't good by itself, so Mr. Silverman said it's best to sweeten it," Mrs. Silverman replies.

"Is honey hard to come by?" Olivia asks and her teacher nods.

"My late husband and I bought a nice jar of it in Constantinople before his passing. I only use it for emergencies, such as when I have a bad cough. It soothes your throat better than anything else really," Mrs. Silverman replies.

"Constantinople, the cradle of the Ottoman Empire," Olivia said in a dreamy voice.

"And the finest places to stop on the Silk Road," Basil adds and Olivia nods. Basil eats a few more spoonfuls and Mrs. Silverman takes the dishes away.

"You never went to Constantinople, right?" Olivia asks Basil and he shakes his head, but turns to Dawson, who gives a nod.

"Her Majesty's 66th Regiment stopped in Constantinople for a few days, but we did send the severely injured there," Dawson said and they listen to his story of his time in Afghanistan.

"The Orient sounds lovely," Olivia said, she used the term to describe the East. Basil takes her hand and looks at her with a smile.

"Once we finish all of Europe, I'll take you to the Orient if you like," he said, but Olivia chuckles.

"Elliott, now you're being silly," she replies and they laugh together, but Basil does stop.

"Who knows, the king or any of our future monarchs will probably send us to a land very far from here," he said and then adds, "Although, we might want to skip the Nordic region until the summertime."

"Yes, that's true," Dawson replies. The three spent time together talking about the case in Norway and Olivia listens to Basil describe his encounter with the skeleton of the Lady of Whispers.

Then, Olivia jumps to her feet and rushes to the window. She was looking at the campus, but no one was up and about. She looks at the clock, it was a little after 9 and she felt like panicking.

It was Wednesday the 6th of November, but it still meant it was a school day. Before she could leave the room, Mrs. Silverman comes in with a smile. "I just got off the telephone, the head of school decided to close the campus because the ball lasted until midnight," the teacher said, "But you must get yourself ready, Miss Flaversham. Very soon the finals will be upon us," she adds.

Olivia gives a serious nod and notices Mrs. Silverman handing her a dress. "Went over to your dorm room, hope you don't mind, but I figured you need some clothes to wear besides that robe," she whispers to her student.

Olivia looks at the dress, it was her lovely soft blue dress she liked to wear and she looks around for her undergarments. She looks at Dawson, "Um, Dr. Dawson, can you give us a minute?" she asks.

"Oh yes, I should be heading back to Baker Street anyway," Dawson replies and leaves the two in the room. Basil watches as Olivia removes the robe, revealing her naked body and he felt the urge to make love with her.

Olivia looks back at him, but ignores him as she puts her undergarments on. "The only thing you can do now is rest," she urges, but he shakes his head and stretches his hand to her.

She takes it and Basil tries to pull her in for a kiss, but his body was weak from the illness. Olivia decides to kiss him, fulfilling his desire at the moment, she did want to make love with him, but she felt it wasn't the right time. She did, however, felt that it was time to...No, she had to deeply consider the risk if no protection was used.

"Olivia, what's wrong?" Basil asks.

"Nothing, just thinking," she replies and gets into her dress. She folds up her costume and wraps it in string. She was hoping to wear it again soon, if there will ever a masque ball in the future.

She then begins to think, what if this was a good time to have a child with Basil? He almost died from a viral infection and he would probably not survive another horrific case or maybe the next illness.

Olivia looks back at Basil and sits next to him in bed. She then kisses him again and encloses him in her arms. She briefly breaks away to say, "I love you Elliott, just don't do anything stupid like that again."

"I'll try," he replies and they kiss, again. She rests her head on his chest and they sleep for the rest of the morning and early afternoon.

Basil felt a lot better in the afternoon, but he made a vow to not take anymore cases that would take him outside of the United Kingdom. He wanted to stay in London as long as possible, mostly because he didn't want to miss out on his wedding.

Olivia stays at Mrs. Silverman's to help clean from the street party last night. Basil wanted to help, but both women insisted he stay in bed. He watches from the window instead and notices that the trees were losing their leaves.

He looks at the calendar, very soon it'll be winter and he circles the 18th of December. It would be the start of a new life for him and Olivia.

Olivia was thinking of what she thought earlier; Basil did recover from his illness, but what if a different kind of illness would either make him incapacitated and not fulfill the simplest of tasks. She had read that many illnesses could strip a healthy being of their strength and rely on others. She would hate to see him suffer and eventually die.

Another thing she thought of was that many of the cases he took almost killed him. He was able to outsmart death, but there was no telling if he would survive from someone like Ratigan or Rosenberg.

She had the desire of carrying Basil's legacy, but she had to get him to agree. Now was not the day to fulfill that desire, but she kept it at the top of her mind.

That evening, she bid farewell to Basil and promised to see him that Friday. "Don't go out on a case until you are better, you understand?" Olivia asks and he makes an x mark over his heart.

They share a kiss and Olivia leaves Mrs. Silverman's home. The evening drew in a very cold wind and she was shivering. She was making the trek back to her dorm, when she spotted a shadow by the gate of the campus.

She looks at it and the shadow began to move. It was going in the opposite direction and Olivia notices a rat's tail swaying on the ground. "You there!" she calls out and rushes after the shadow, but it did not stop and keeps on moving, walking around a corner.

Olivia increases her speed, but by the time she reached the corner the shadow turned on, it was gone. "How is that possible?" she asks. She was wondering if it was the rat woman she spotted the other day.

Olivia turns back and rushes into her dormitory, shutting the door behind her. She wasn't taking any chances of letting an intruder in. She then settles in her room and opens her notebook, she was wanted to be ready for her final exams.


From the author: There's a lot on Olivia's mind, but it seems that there's a stranger following her.

I have a plan for the next chapter and I think it will be good. See you soon!