Hopefully by now no one's decided to sue me or steal my characters so you all know the copyright deal (if you don't, see the stuff I typed in Chapter 1), now on with the story!

Written in the Stars: A Destined Romance

Chapter 2: Examining Hearts

That afternoon Elle strode down to the medical lab to see if her partner had become mobilized again. She walked in and heard X's voice, "Ow! Watch where ya stick that thing!"

"Agent X if you wish to receive a clean bill of health then I must insist that you sit still!" Zeeltor replied, trying to retain his calm and cheery tone of voice. Elle pushed the flimsy curtain aside and glanced in at X and Zeeltor. X was wearing a typical light blue hospital gown and sitting on the metal examination table. He had an annoyed look on his face as the exasperated doctor jotted a few notes down on his clipboard.

"Hey Cowboy, feeling a little stiff?" Elle chuckled as she walked over and stood in front of him.

"Oh VERY funny!" he snapped, "If you had just blasted the darn thing I wouldn't have been paralyzed and our perp wouldn't have gotten away!"

"Hold it X! You were there too, so why didn't you just blast the thing yourself?"

"Don't try to shift the blame!" X retorted, "This is all YOUR fault and YOU know it!"

Instead of bothering to reply Elle reached over to one of the medical trays full of shining equipment and picked up a tool that resembled a small hammer. She bonked X on the knee with it, using all the force she could muster, and his leg shot up (involuntarily) and rammed into the edge of a metal cart.

"Youch!" he screamed then glared down at Elle who was smiling back at him triumphantly.

"Alrighty then," Zeeltor intervened, "all that's left is to check your blood pressure and heart rate!" He glanced at X for a moment, the alien didn't exactly look like he was going to be very cooperative. Zeeltor picked up the blood pressure kit and took off his stethoscope, he handed everything to Elle and said, "Here, I think I'll let you do the honors. I'll just jot your readings down."

Elle looked skeptically at the equipment and then at X. He didn't even flinch as she placed the arm strap on him and began to squeeze the pump. Finally she had it tight enough and told Zeeltor, "He's normal." She slowly let the pump go and felt X's arm relax.

Once the strap was off, Elle put on the stethoscope and stared at X for a moment.

"What?" he asked when she didn't move for over two minutes.

"You need to take off your---shirt," she replied a little uneasily. X just stared back down at her. If he took off his 'shirt' he'd be completely….

"Oh, no problem," Zeeltor spoke up cheerfully as he took a sheet off the cart and threw it over X's lap. "Now just remove that gown and Elle can listen to your heartbeat!"

X slowly removed the gown, careful not to let the sheet slip off his lap. Elle stared at the floor and waited for him to finish before she took the end of the stethoscope and placed it on his chest.

X shook a little, it was cold. She removed it and rubbed it rigorously against her jacket. Once it was warm she placed it back on his chest, this time, he didn't shake.

Elle searched for a heart beat for a few seconds, after only a couple of tries she could hear the clear, rhythmic sound of X's heart beating.

She paused and listened for a moment, then told him to take a few deep breaths. He did. She watched as his chest rose and fell.

Zeeltor looked up from his clipboard when Elle didn't tell him if X's heart rate was normal. He saw X quietly gazing at Elle as she listened to his heartbeat. Elle was staring at X's chest with a dazed look on her face, Zeeltor thought that her cheeks had a slight reddish tinge to them. Was Elle blushing? Why wasn't X getting angry? He had been ready to deck Zeeltor only five minutes ago!

Elle slowly tilted her head upward toward X. Their eyes met. They stared at each other for a moment then began to lean towards each other.

Zeeltor's jaw dropped, he was astounded. It actually looked as if Elle and X were about to kiss! What had gotten into those two?!

Their lips were less than an inch apart when they both opened their eyes and, after a brief pause, jerked back! Neither of them spoke for a long time and then….

"His-his heart rate's normal," Elle managed to say to Zeeltor without taking her eyes off X. She couldn't believe that she had almost KISSED him!

"Uh--that's good Agent," Zeeltor stammered as he wrote the information down. "Um, you're both free to go now."

Elle handed X his hospital gown back, she didn't see his purple outfit anywhere, and hesitantly turned and left the room.

X stared after her for a while and then looked over at Zeeltor and asked where his clothes were.

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