Chapter 39
As the door opened Duncan moved silently forward he used the opening door to shield him from the other Immortal. As the Immortal walked into the room Duncan hit him on the back of the head sending him crashing to the ground knocking over the wheeled table that was by the spare bed "What the Devil?" the fallen man exclaimed as he sprawled across the floor. Methos caught Duncan's arm before he could strike the man again "Mac stop!" it was then that Duncan noticed that the man on the floor was his friend Fitzcairn "Fitz?" Duncan said as he stepped forward helping him to his feet "What are you doing here?" he asked as he brushed some of the crushed flowers from Fitz's coat "I went looking for you and when you weren't at the barge I went to Joe's he told me what happened…I thought it would be nice to bring the lovely lady a gift in her hour of need" Fitz said as he looked at the battered bouquet of flowers he had brought with him "I guess she'll need to use her imagination on how beautiful these flowers used to be, not to mention these" Fitz tossed the crushed box of chocolates onto the spare bed.
"Duncan?" Alex said as the noise of Fitz's entrance had woken her, she tried to sit up to see what was happening but Duncan got to her before she could "Hey, relax it's only Fitz"
"Fitz?" Alex replied, Fitz crossed the room handing the battered flowers to Duncan as he moved him aside "In the flesh dear lady" Fitz said as he took hold of Alex's hand and lightly kissed the back of it, Alex smiled up at him "I did come bearing gifts but they are a little past their best now" Fitz said turning to Duncan, Alex lifted her head to see the flowers "They're lovely, that was kind of you" Alex said before putting her head back on the pillow "Duncan do you think you could find something to put them in" Alex asked wearily. Duncan nodded "Sure" he then picked up the table before going to the nurse's station to find a vase. Methos watched Fitz and Alex started to talk "Do you mind staying with Alex while I grab a coffee?" he asked. Fitz straightened himself up "My dear boy no harm shall come to such a beautiful lady while Hugh Fitzcairn has a breath in his body" Methos rolled his eyes "a simple yes would've done" he said as he went out of the room. Alex squeezed Fitz's hand to get his attention "Fitz, could you do me a favour?" she asked as he looked down at her "but of course…are you sure your well enough" Fitz replied as he sat in the chair next to the bed, Alex laughed "you never give up do you" she said smiling but then the smile faded as her face became serious "I want you to get Duncan to go and get some sleep, I don't care how you do it but he needs to rest" Fitz smiled even with all that had happened to her in the last few days, here she was worried about Duncan. "He has looked better I must admit, I'll see what I can do but he can be a little stubborn…but I'm sure together we will win" he replied.
They both looked towards the door as it opened and Duncan came in with the best of the flowers arranged in a vase "There don't look to bad now do they?" Duncan said as he placed them on the cabinet by her bed. "I wish I could say the same for you MacLeod" Fitz said as looked Duncan up and down "I'm fine" Duncan replied.
"No, your not" Alex said as she managed to catch hold of his arm "please Duncan go and get some rest" Fitz moved to stop Duncan turning away from them both "I have to agree with Alex on this one Mac, you look terrible dear boy and your not doing Alex any good if she's worrying about you"
"I'm not leaving Alex alone" Duncan replied glaring at Fitz "Dear boy" Fitz said as he patted Duncan on the chest "She won't be alone she'll be under the care of Hugh Fitzcairn" he said with a flourish of his hand "Please Duncan" Alex pleaded, Duncan rolled his eyes he knew that they both weren't going to let him have is own way on this "Alright, but only for a few hours and then I'll be back" he said smiling down at her, he then kissed her nose which make her smile, he then turned to Fitz "you call me if anything happens…got that?"
"Got it MacLeod…now go and take Adam with you, he didn't look much better than you" Fitz said as he pushed Duncan towards the door but before either of them could open it Methos opened it with his elbow as he had three plastic cups of coffee in his hands "Going somewhere?" he asked, Duncan took the cups from him and handed them to Fitz "We've been ordered to get some rest" Duncan said as he watched Fitz put the cups on the wheeled table next to the spare bed, Methos nodded "I could do with a shower" Methos replied as he held the door as Duncan started to walk through but he stopped and turned back to Fitz "You have my number haven't you?"
"Oh MacLeod, I have your number now go" Fitz said as he pushed Duncan the rest of the way out the door, he then turned to Alex who had been watching from her bed "I thought they would never leave us alone" he joked as he walked over to her "now what shall we do to pass the time?" he said sitting down in the chair. "You've known Duncan a long time haven't you, so you must have some stories you could tell me" Alex asked, Fitz could see from her eyes that she was fighting sleep "Have I got stories about MacLeod…I remember one time when we were both employed to protect a Duke from some of his most unsavoury acquaintances, but Mac was just a little taken with the Duke's daughter, he left me alone one night when 6 men broke into the castle…" Fitz didn't get to tell much of the story before Alex drifted away into sleep. Normally, Fitz would have been offended at the lack of attention but he just smiled and straightened the bedclothes around her "Sleep pretty lady" he said as he walked towards the window.
Duncan hadn't wanted to admit how tired he was even to himself but after dropping Methos off at his apartment, his eyelids had become very heavy and he was glad to reach the barge. As he went inside he was greeted by the mess created by Lazarski's men when they searched the barge for the disc. He didn't have the energy to tackle it now he decided to sleep first and sort out the barge in a few hours.
It was over 5 hours later when Duncan turned over and pulled the clock closer to check the time, the alarm clock had gone off but he must have either turned it off or just slept through it. Wearily, he pulled himself out of bed and headed for the shower; the coolness of the water brought his weary body back to life. Afterwards he started to straighten up the mess, in between bites of the sandwich he had just prepared. He picked up a book that was lying on the floor, from it's position he knew Alex must have been reading it when Lazarski's men arrived, he brushed the cover as he sat down on the couch, and his fingers traced the gold lettering of the title that had been so carefully inlayed into the brown leather of the cover, the story ran through his mind, a man's sacrifice for the happiness of the woman he loved and his friend. He crossed the room to the bookcase pushing the copy of Charles Dickens's 'A tale of two cities' back amongst his first edition collection. He stood looking at the books for a few moments before he walked quickly over to the coat rack grabbing his brown coat before leaping up the steps and out of the barge.
Without an audience for his tales Fitz had to find other things to keep him occupied. He had spent some time watching out of the window in between visits from the nurses, who despite all of Fitzcairn's charm would not talk to him, he might as well have been invisible. He wandered around the room there wasn't much to look at, he found a copy of Gideon's bible tucked inside the locker beside the spare bed, it looked like it had never been opened. Fitz checked his watch "What's keeping you MacLeod?" he said out loud Alex stirred at the sound of his voice but she didn't wake, he had to resist the urge to shake her awake just to have someone to talk to but she looked so peaceful he decided against it. He was just about to go back to the chair when the door opened and instead of the nurse that had been attending to Alex over the past few hours, a young brunette came in, Fitz ran his eyes over her body approvingly, her uniform seemed to hug her ever contour Fitz brightened up "Well, hello my dear lady…you are like a breath of fresh air to a dying man" he said as he moved between her and Alex, before she could do anything he had taken hold of her hand and kissed the back, which made the young nurse giggle "Monsieur, I have to check on your friend"
"Oh I do beg your pardon but I was so captivated by your loveliness that I almost forgot where I was," Fitz said as he moved to one side with a flourish of his arm. The nurse checked the machines and the drip that was attached to Alex. Fitz revelled in his chance to impress a young lady and after spending so much time on his own he didn't want it to end, he just knew she was succumbing to his charm and without thought he followed her to the nurses station, leaving Alex alone. A figure in a white coat watched from the cover of the shadows as Fitz follow the nurse and when he was sure that Fitz's attention was fully focused on the nurse he moved towards the room, quietly slipping inside.
The man walked over to where Alex was sleeping his hand went to his pocket, his fingers wrapping around the small cylindrical object that was laid inside, he checked over his shoulder that the door was still closed before bring the syringe out and taking the cap off, he didn't know why or what she had done all he knew was he was getting paid handsomely for this. He picked up the clear tube of the drip and pushed the needle in, he then injected the clear liquid from the syringe into the tube before returning the empty syringe to his pocket. He slowly, opened the door checking that Fitz was still talking with the nurse, who had played her part unwittingly but perfectly, she had save him a lot of trouble getting the girl alone.
With the young nurse's telephone number successfully in his pocket, and a date for the next evening Fitz had returned to Alex's bedside with a triumphant smile on his face. He had been sat in the chair congratulating himself on how charming he had been, he was too busy considering his triumphant to noticed that Alex's blood pressure had started to drop, his attention was only brought back when the machines alarms started to sound, the room quickly filled with doctors and nurses and he was pushed out of the room. When he was in the corridor he ran his hand through his hair, he knew that he had to contact Duncan and he knew he wouldn't like what he had to tell him. The nurse's station was deserted as they attended to Alex so he took the opportunity to call Duncan's cell phone.
"MacLeod"
"Duncan dear boy I think you need to get here…Alex has had a set back" Fitz said as he looked back at Alex's room he watched the crash trolley was wheel in at speed. "What are you talking about she was recovering…what the hell happened?" Duncan asked as he picked up his coat and walked out of the bar without saying anything to Joe who had just poured him a drink, but Joe didn't need to ask he could tell from Duncan's face that something bad had happened. Duncan threw open the car door "I'll be there as soon as I can" he then closed the phone and threw it onto the passenger seat as he started the car and headed towards the hospital.
Duncan raced through the hospital corridors, the distance from the entrance to the intensive care unit had never seemed so great, and he slowed when he saw the look on Fitz's face as he leant against the wall outside Alex's room. He took a deep breath and licked his dry lips as he walked towards his friend "MacLeod!" Fitz said as pushed himself away from the wall turning towards his friend, he put his arm out stopping Duncan from going straight into the room "You can't Mac the doctors are still with her…they told me to wait outside" Duncan leant against the wall opposite Fitz resting his head back against the wall as they both waited.
As the door opened Duncan moved silently forward he used the opening door to shield him from the other Immortal. As the Immortal walked into the room Duncan hit him on the back of the head sending him crashing to the ground knocking over the wheeled table that was by the spare bed "What the Devil?" the fallen man exclaimed as he sprawled across the floor. Methos caught Duncan's arm before he could strike the man again "Mac stop!" it was then that Duncan noticed that the man on the floor was his friend Fitzcairn "Fitz?" Duncan said as he stepped forward helping him to his feet "What are you doing here?" he asked as he brushed some of the crushed flowers from Fitz's coat "I went looking for you and when you weren't at the barge I went to Joe's he told me what happened…I thought it would be nice to bring the lovely lady a gift in her hour of need" Fitz said as he looked at the battered bouquet of flowers he had brought with him "I guess she'll need to use her imagination on how beautiful these flowers used to be, not to mention these" Fitz tossed the crushed box of chocolates onto the spare bed.
"Duncan?" Alex said as the noise of Fitz's entrance had woken her, she tried to sit up to see what was happening but Duncan got to her before she could "Hey, relax it's only Fitz"
"Fitz?" Alex replied, Fitz crossed the room handing the battered flowers to Duncan as he moved him aside "In the flesh dear lady" Fitz said as he took hold of Alex's hand and lightly kissed the back of it, Alex smiled up at him "I did come bearing gifts but they are a little past their best now" Fitz said turning to Duncan, Alex lifted her head to see the flowers "They're lovely, that was kind of you" Alex said before putting her head back on the pillow "Duncan do you think you could find something to put them in" Alex asked wearily. Duncan nodded "Sure" he then picked up the table before going to the nurse's station to find a vase. Methos watched Fitz and Alex started to talk "Do you mind staying with Alex while I grab a coffee?" he asked. Fitz straightened himself up "My dear boy no harm shall come to such a beautiful lady while Hugh Fitzcairn has a breath in his body" Methos rolled his eyes "a simple yes would've done" he said as he went out of the room. Alex squeezed Fitz's hand to get his attention "Fitz, could you do me a favour?" she asked as he looked down at her "but of course…are you sure your well enough" Fitz replied as he sat in the chair next to the bed, Alex laughed "you never give up do you" she said smiling but then the smile faded as her face became serious "I want you to get Duncan to go and get some sleep, I don't care how you do it but he needs to rest" Fitz smiled even with all that had happened to her in the last few days, here she was worried about Duncan. "He has looked better I must admit, I'll see what I can do but he can be a little stubborn…but I'm sure together we will win" he replied.
They both looked towards the door as it opened and Duncan came in with the best of the flowers arranged in a vase "There don't look to bad now do they?" Duncan said as he placed them on the cabinet by her bed. "I wish I could say the same for you MacLeod" Fitz said as looked Duncan up and down "I'm fine" Duncan replied.
"No, your not" Alex said as she managed to catch hold of his arm "please Duncan go and get some rest" Fitz moved to stop Duncan turning away from them both "I have to agree with Alex on this one Mac, you look terrible dear boy and your not doing Alex any good if she's worrying about you"
"I'm not leaving Alex alone" Duncan replied glaring at Fitz "Dear boy" Fitz said as he patted Duncan on the chest "She won't be alone she'll be under the care of Hugh Fitzcairn" he said with a flourish of his hand "Please Duncan" Alex pleaded, Duncan rolled his eyes he knew that they both weren't going to let him have is own way on this "Alright, but only for a few hours and then I'll be back" he said smiling down at her, he then kissed her nose which make her smile, he then turned to Fitz "you call me if anything happens…got that?"
"Got it MacLeod…now go and take Adam with you, he didn't look much better than you" Fitz said as he pushed Duncan towards the door but before either of them could open it Methos opened it with his elbow as he had three plastic cups of coffee in his hands "Going somewhere?" he asked, Duncan took the cups from him and handed them to Fitz "We've been ordered to get some rest" Duncan said as he watched Fitz put the cups on the wheeled table next to the spare bed, Methos nodded "I could do with a shower" Methos replied as he held the door as Duncan started to walk through but he stopped and turned back to Fitz "You have my number haven't you?"
"Oh MacLeod, I have your number now go" Fitz said as he pushed Duncan the rest of the way out the door, he then turned to Alex who had been watching from her bed "I thought they would never leave us alone" he joked as he walked over to her "now what shall we do to pass the time?" he said sitting down in the chair. "You've known Duncan a long time haven't you, so you must have some stories you could tell me" Alex asked, Fitz could see from her eyes that she was fighting sleep "Have I got stories about MacLeod…I remember one time when we were both employed to protect a Duke from some of his most unsavoury acquaintances, but Mac was just a little taken with the Duke's daughter, he left me alone one night when 6 men broke into the castle…" Fitz didn't get to tell much of the story before Alex drifted away into sleep. Normally, Fitz would have been offended at the lack of attention but he just smiled and straightened the bedclothes around her "Sleep pretty lady" he said as he walked towards the window.
Duncan hadn't wanted to admit how tired he was even to himself but after dropping Methos off at his apartment, his eyelids had become very heavy and he was glad to reach the barge. As he went inside he was greeted by the mess created by Lazarski's men when they searched the barge for the disc. He didn't have the energy to tackle it now he decided to sleep first and sort out the barge in a few hours.
It was over 5 hours later when Duncan turned over and pulled the clock closer to check the time, the alarm clock had gone off but he must have either turned it off or just slept through it. Wearily, he pulled himself out of bed and headed for the shower; the coolness of the water brought his weary body back to life. Afterwards he started to straighten up the mess, in between bites of the sandwich he had just prepared. He picked up a book that was lying on the floor, from it's position he knew Alex must have been reading it when Lazarski's men arrived, he brushed the cover as he sat down on the couch, and his fingers traced the gold lettering of the title that had been so carefully inlayed into the brown leather of the cover, the story ran through his mind, a man's sacrifice for the happiness of the woman he loved and his friend. He crossed the room to the bookcase pushing the copy of Charles Dickens's 'A tale of two cities' back amongst his first edition collection. He stood looking at the books for a few moments before he walked quickly over to the coat rack grabbing his brown coat before leaping up the steps and out of the barge.
Without an audience for his tales Fitz had to find other things to keep him occupied. He had spent some time watching out of the window in between visits from the nurses, who despite all of Fitzcairn's charm would not talk to him, he might as well have been invisible. He wandered around the room there wasn't much to look at, he found a copy of Gideon's bible tucked inside the locker beside the spare bed, it looked like it had never been opened. Fitz checked his watch "What's keeping you MacLeod?" he said out loud Alex stirred at the sound of his voice but she didn't wake, he had to resist the urge to shake her awake just to have someone to talk to but she looked so peaceful he decided against it. He was just about to go back to the chair when the door opened and instead of the nurse that had been attending to Alex over the past few hours, a young brunette came in, Fitz ran his eyes over her body approvingly, her uniform seemed to hug her ever contour Fitz brightened up "Well, hello my dear lady…you are like a breath of fresh air to a dying man" he said as he moved between her and Alex, before she could do anything he had taken hold of her hand and kissed the back, which made the young nurse giggle "Monsieur, I have to check on your friend"
"Oh I do beg your pardon but I was so captivated by your loveliness that I almost forgot where I was," Fitz said as he moved to one side with a flourish of his arm. The nurse checked the machines and the drip that was attached to Alex. Fitz revelled in his chance to impress a young lady and after spending so much time on his own he didn't want it to end, he just knew she was succumbing to his charm and without thought he followed her to the nurses station, leaving Alex alone. A figure in a white coat watched from the cover of the shadows as Fitz follow the nurse and when he was sure that Fitz's attention was fully focused on the nurse he moved towards the room, quietly slipping inside.
The man walked over to where Alex was sleeping his hand went to his pocket, his fingers wrapping around the small cylindrical object that was laid inside, he checked over his shoulder that the door was still closed before bring the syringe out and taking the cap off, he didn't know why or what she had done all he knew was he was getting paid handsomely for this. He picked up the clear tube of the drip and pushed the needle in, he then injected the clear liquid from the syringe into the tube before returning the empty syringe to his pocket. He slowly, opened the door checking that Fitz was still talking with the nurse, who had played her part unwittingly but perfectly, she had save him a lot of trouble getting the girl alone.
With the young nurse's telephone number successfully in his pocket, and a date for the next evening Fitz had returned to Alex's bedside with a triumphant smile on his face. He had been sat in the chair congratulating himself on how charming he had been, he was too busy considering his triumphant to noticed that Alex's blood pressure had started to drop, his attention was only brought back when the machines alarms started to sound, the room quickly filled with doctors and nurses and he was pushed out of the room. When he was in the corridor he ran his hand through his hair, he knew that he had to contact Duncan and he knew he wouldn't like what he had to tell him. The nurse's station was deserted as they attended to Alex so he took the opportunity to call Duncan's cell phone.
"MacLeod"
"Duncan dear boy I think you need to get here…Alex has had a set back" Fitz said as he looked back at Alex's room he watched the crash trolley was wheel in at speed. "What are you talking about she was recovering…what the hell happened?" Duncan asked as he picked up his coat and walked out of the bar without saying anything to Joe who had just poured him a drink, but Joe didn't need to ask he could tell from Duncan's face that something bad had happened. Duncan threw open the car door "I'll be there as soon as I can" he then closed the phone and threw it onto the passenger seat as he started the car and headed towards the hospital.
Duncan raced through the hospital corridors, the distance from the entrance to the intensive care unit had never seemed so great, and he slowed when he saw the look on Fitz's face as he leant against the wall outside Alex's room. He took a deep breath and licked his dry lips as he walked towards his friend "MacLeod!" Fitz said as pushed himself away from the wall turning towards his friend, he put his arm out stopping Duncan from going straight into the room "You can't Mac the doctors are still with her…they told me to wait outside" Duncan leant against the wall opposite Fitz resting his head back against the wall as they both waited.