Chapter Three - Revelations
Danny stayed with Sara and Annie as late as he could. He left the hospital near the dinner hour to see his own children before they were off to bed. While Danny only had thoughts of extra hugs and kisses from his children and his wife tonight, Sara had no one waiting for her. Yet, a smile crossed her face when she was reminded Nottingham was lurking somewhere nearby. She used the term 'lurking' with affection these days. With the aid of the blade, she could feel him if he was close at hand. Was this a benefit or a curse? She could not answer. They had not spoken since their conversation in the chapel. She was anxious to apologize to him. Visiting hours had been over an hour ago. The nurses were kind enough to set up a cot for Sara to sleep.
"Visiting hours are over, sir. You have to leave." Sara heard a nurse reprimanding someone. She looked out the door without showing surprise to see Nottingham taking the older nurse's abuse, head bowed with respect. He held a paper bag that she assumed contained sustenance. Even after the abuse she had heaped on him generously, he still thought of her needs.
"If that's food, he can stay." Sara stated assertively.
"It is, Sara." He replied simply.
It did not go unnoticed that Nottingham could not look Sara in the eye after their encounter in the chapel. He should not be the one in shame, she thought. She admired his protectiveness for Annie that more than outweighed his personal embarrassment with her.
"We won't be able to get an extra cot in the room." The nurse replied.
"We will not be needing one." Nottingham offered rather quickly.
"Oh…" The older woman winked in Sara's direction and abruptly walked away before a smiling Sara or a stunned Ian could reply.
"I…I did not mean it that…I guess I better keep my mouth shut. Here." Blushing in embarrassment, Nottingham presented her with a gourmet sandwich selection from her favorite deli. She had long since given up being concerned how he knew her favorite everything.
"Have you eaten?" She asked.
"Not hungry. How is she doing?" He walked past her. It was obvious Annie's well being was on his mind.
"No change. She seems a little more restless somehow. Not sure how I know that, but it just feels like it."
Nottingham pulled up a chair to Annie's bedside and gently stoked the little girl's tiny fingers. He had taken off his gloves. Sara had not seen him without them off. This was yet another amazing first. With his left hand, he tenderly stroked her hair and forehead. It was as if no one else were in the room.
Sara watched the strange transformation taking place in front of her eyes. Nottingham had slowed down his breathing, focusing on Annie's face to keep him centered. A slow shudder started at his very core. His breathing was becoming shallow and erratic. He was connecting to Annie.
"I am here, Annie…No more monsters. I will protect you."
In the darkness of the closet, he could not find her at first. He started to panic. Where was she? Had she gone further into the murkiness?
"I know…" The little, frail voice came from somewhere in the void. He felt relief to hear her. She was still with him. Perhaps he was the only one keeping her there.
"I know what it is like to want to hide away. The world and grown ups can be scary. Sometimes it is scary to be alone…but Annie…you are not alone. Lady Sara and I want to protect you."
"I'm scared, Ian. Momma is…gone. I am alone." He had followed her voice and was near her now.
"We are with you, Annie. I am your knight to command. Lady Sara and I are with you. No more monsters, Annie. No more. Do you trust me?"
The little girl hesitated for a brief instance. "Yes, I do trust you. I can feel Lady Sara also. Is she beautiful, Sir Ian?"
"Most beautiful, my lady. You should come out of the closet to see for yourself. Will you tell me when you are ready to come with me, Annie?"
"Yes…just not now, Sir Ian. Not now."
He kneeled by Annie in the dark, knowing she could feel him near her. He wanted to hold her, but she resisted, still keeping her distance. He had a feeling she could feel him holding her catatonic body close to his just outside the closet. It would have to do for now.
Sara was growing concerned. Nottingham had been under a long time. He had connected to Annie. This she knew. Nottingham and Annie were no longer with her in the room. They were together somewhere else. Annie's body began to pull back and release from Ian. His breathing was very erratic. His eyes were glazed over. Beads of sweat slowly trickled down his temples. Was he coming back? Could he come back? Jerking his head, he gasped as he released Annie's limp body, shaking uncontrollably. He laid his head down on the bed, closing his eyes for a moment, reaching out to the little girl. Annie had grown calmer. Sara thought she could sleep now…at least for a while. Standing by Ian's side, she wanted to comfort him with a touch but was a bit apprehensive about initiating such intimacy. A relationship with Nottingham would be complicated at best. She was unsure she was ready for the intensity of it.
Sara had eaten her sandwich as she had watched Ian and Annie connect. She pondered how her opinion of Nottingham had changed greatly since their first meeting. At first, she had thought him to be more like his obsessed employer and master Kenneth Irons, but he was actually a sharp contrast to him. She could see that now. Irons would not have even given a second thought to helping Annie yet Nottingham would not leave her side. Ian has stood ready to help without Sara even asking.
Nottingham's genuine innocence was elusive but ever present to some degree. With Sara, he seemed almost shy and unsure of himself when they were alone. Irons' enslaved lethal weapon was a real enigma. His mind more akin to that of an innocent child encased in the body of a full-grown man. He could kill without remorse as commanded by his master yet she had no doubts he would give his life for Annie. The Witchblade has brought many new people into her life, some good and many not so good. Until now, she thought she had Nottingham pegged in the middle, straddling the fence of good and evil. She may have been wrong.
Nottingham had begun his return to the living. He raised his head sluggishly, pulling back from Annie as she slept. Sara waited for the fog to clear from his eyes, fidgeting as she sat on the edge of the cot.
"I'm sorry if I was a little insensitive…in the chapel." Sara began her apology, hoping to quickly mend the bad stretch of fence between them.
Shifting nervously in his chair, he could not look her in the eyes. No response.
"It's just that I usually resort to humor…sometimes not at the best, most appropriate times. Sorry." She continued.
"I did not know…I did not want you to know…" He slowly began. He struggled to look her in the eyes but failed at almost every attempt.
"You see…I knew you did not know what was going on." She smiled, trying to make him feel comfortable again. Another awkward moment passed between them.
"Sara…This is all so embarrassing. I am so sorry."
"Don't apologize to me, Nottingham. I should be the one apologizing to you." She meant every word. She contemplated her next remark. It was not like her to hold back so she plunged forward.
"Besides, I liked it." She offered a little timidly. She laid everything out for him as honestly as she knew how. He had bared himself to her by accident. She just returned the favor on purpose.
"You what?" The look of innocent surprise on his face was beautiful, she thought. Her response scared the hell out of him. What did all this mean?
"We just may have to try that again…at least on the same continent…preferably in the same room." She grinned.
He stared at her in disbelief, making eye contact briefly. Did she just say what he thought she said? His eyes softened as he tried to suppress a smile.
"There…You thought that was funny, didn't you? Admit it, Nottingham?" She pointed a finger at him, her face luminous with a bright smile. He finally broke down, joining her in a good chuckle, careful not to wake Annie. After a moment, however, he became more somber. He had fought many opponents as a warrior but nothing was more difficult than the struggle he faced finding his next words. He would have preferred taking a bullet to the stomach than to volunteer the information he felt compelled to share with her right now.
"Sara…My life has been devoted to my training as a warrior. I have been preparing for the coming of the next wielder…you. I have trained to serve you, Sara." She let him find the words. It was obvious he was struggling.
"Women…they were never part of my…instruction."
Ian knew that he was different from most men in this regard. He had been considered a freak by others his whole life for many reasons. His lack of experience with women was just one more way he felt he had earned the name. A part of him wanted to be cavalier about his disclosure, but he knew this could never be. It pained him to give Sara another reason to keep him at a distance for he so desperately wanted her to accept him as a man.
Sara watched as he agonized over the proper phrasing. Apparently, bullets whizzing by his head would have been easier for him to confront than giving voice to his next thought. Not being a patient woman by nature, it troubled her to witness his effort. She raised herself slowly from the cot, trying to close the gap between them in more ways than one. What was he trying to tell her?
"What happened the other night…I have never…It had never happened before…nor can it ever happen again…not if I am to serve you, Sara." Ian was struggling with this admission, his voice quivering with shame. He could not look her in the eye.
Suddenly, it clicked. She had sensed his hesitancy the other night, compliments of the Witchblade. Now, she knew why. Nottingham was a virgin? Not only had he been unaware of his telepathic images reaching Sara, but this also may have been his first attempt fantasizing about a woman. She could not comprehend this. Sara reached across the hospital bed, grasping his bare hand. She wanted to save him the embarrassment of having to admit he had never been with a woman. This was just another bit of cruelty imposed by Irons to keep his minion focused on his training and devoid of emotion. The show of intimacy from Sara startled him. He flinched, not being used to the touch of another human being. Nottingham seemed afraid to give voice to this flaw for fear Sara might think him even stranger. Instead, her heart and soul wanted to reach out to him.
"There are many ways to serve me…maybe we can define them ourselves…just you and I. What do you say?" Her smile warmed his heart as she squeezed his hand again.
"Apology accepted?" She asked.
He slowly nodded his head, his mocha brown eyes telling her all she needed to know. No real need for telepathy when you have eyes like his, she thought.
They settled in for a long evening with Annie. The minutes and hours seemed interminable. The sounds of the hospital and the routines of the day were drawing to a close. Not being a particularly patient woman, Sara paced the halls to relieve the boredom while Nottingham withdrew into himself. He was content to be alone in his own thoughts. Admittedly, he required little sleep so Sara gave the first watch to Nottingham as she stretched out on the cot. After several hours, he began to doze, laying his head near Annie's shoulder. Just as he had drifted off to sleep, both he and Sara were abruptly awakened by a bone-chilling scream.
Annie was reliving the night of her mother's brutal death. She shrieked in terror, desperately and vainly trying to help her doomed mother. Thrashing wildly, she flailed her thin arms at the one raised bed rail to her left and the nightstand to her right, ripping the IV from her arm. With white knuckles, she desperately clutched the thin hospital blanket to her chest. Her tiny face was so pale. In her feverish state, her screams were pitiable and gut wrenching to hear. The gauntlet flashed rapid images of Annie's precarious condition, suspended in the pitch-black abyss of her withdrawn mind. Sara had leaped to Nottingham's side.
"You have to stop her from slipping, Ian. She may never come out of this if you don't." She pleaded as nursing staff rushed to the room.
Nottingham struggled with his connection to the frightened child. He kept missing her. Slow down, he thought. She needs you. Slow down, he repeated to himself. Despite the chaos in the room, he had to focus. Focus on Annie.
Sara marveled at his discipline, his ability to block out the noise and his trepidation for Annie. His breathing had become deep and regular. She knew he could not see anyone in the room. The connection had begun. He started to shudder, his breaths changing again.
"Annie…Where are you? It is Sir Ian. I have not left your side. You are safe."
"The monster is killing my Momma…He's here." Her voice was weaker.
"There is no monster here, Annie. It is only you…and I. Remember I told you about Lady Sara? She is just outside the closet. She has great powers and wants to help you. The Fair Lady Sara and I will protect you."
Nottingham rushed blindly in the void, feeling for Annie. He had to find her quickly this time. She was near…so close now.
"Hold me…Please. Just hold me." He reached for her instinctively. He could feel her this time. Was that a good sign? He did not know. He knelt beside her, pressing her fragile body next to his, rocking her in his embrace.
He was still holding Annie when he was pulled back into the hospital room. It had been bad. He had to fight for control, to keep her from going deeper into the darkness. Her will was so strong. Exhausted with the effort, he brushed the damp hair from Annie's forehead as he caught his breath.
The child's complete meltdown had subsided. Thanks to Nottingham. Sara did not know what would have happened if he had not been there. The stunned nursing staff looked upon the scene incredulously. They had never seen anything like it. The senior nurse who had accosted Nottingham in the hallway previously was first to speak up.
"You can stay, my friend. Not sure what just happened, but we're glad you're here."
The elder nurse secured the IV into Annie's arm, then grabbed her chart to make a note of the incident, not knowing what to write. The nurse smiled and gave a maternal pat to Nottingham's right shoulder as he lay near the child weak from fatigue, winking again to Sara as she left the room.
Ian clung to the small, fragile child in his exhaustion. His breathing mirrored that of Annie's, who was now drifting off to sleep. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead as he rested his head on the bed. He could not stop from shaking. It had been close. The child was dangling on a precipice he just narrowly avoided himself. Could she drag him in too far? Despite the personal danger, he knew he had to try and save her. He drifted into a deep sleep; unaware Sara was still near him.
She gently pulled back a strand of Ian's long, dark wavy hair that had fallen across his cheek, resting her hand on his broad shoulder. Nottingham did not stir. The Witchblade had sent images to her brain how dangerously close she had come to loosing them both.
Was Ian strong enough to bring Annie back? All Sara knew was that status quo was not acceptable.
