Orchestra Maneuvers in the Dark

So far, her knight had managed to make it through the night without too much complication. There was a brief moment of worry earlier when he had stopped breathing, but thankfully, it was only for a few seconds. He would constantly groan and moan in obvious pain from his injuries.

He continued to drift in and out of consciousness. Even while he was awake, he was never coherent enough to carry on any sort of conversation with her. She was starting to allow him to sleep for very brief intervals of time, about 15-20 minutes, but no longer. She would then gently awaken him and make sure he was awake for about 30 minutes.

He had just gone back to sleep and she decided to get up and make herself a cup of tea when she remembered that she still had no power.

She wrapped her robe more tightly around her and decided to step outside on her porch for a breath of fresh air. She left the patio door open just enough so she could still hear him if he fell into any signs of distress, and enough so that the chilly night air wouldn't get him sick.

The clouds from earlier in the evening had given way to the stars, which dotted the sky like a gigantic dot-to-dot activity page. There was also a full moon.

She slowly took a deep breath and slowly let it out.

She combed her hand through her long, auburn hair.

What was she going to do? She had barely any money herself. She prayed that her knight would be able to be left alone come Monday because the job agency had scheduled a couple more interviews for her. One in the morning, and the other was late in the afternoon around 5:30.

She slightly shuddered when she thought about the later appointment.

It would be dark when the interview was over, and that was how she got into trouble last night. She was walking home from another interview, and not knowing the streets of Seattle very well, she ended up in the wrong alley, at the wrong time. But lucky for her, her knight was also passing through. Next time, she might not be so lucky.

Perhaps by Monday, her knight could give her better directions, and some idea how the bus routes worked. It was hard enough to get around in a strange city, only made that much more difficult without a working phone or electricity.

She glanced up at all the stars and caught a glimpse of a shooting star in the corner of her eye.

She closed her eyes and made a wish. "Please let me find a job with some really nice people. And please, let me knight get better too."

She then recalled what her Dad reminded her right before she decided to come to America.

"Since you're me only daughter, you'll always be my little girl. And remember love, the only man worthy of you, will scoop the stars from the sky and lay them down at your feet."

A blood-curdling cry made all her hairs stand up and sent her dashing back into the apartment.

Ethical is his day job

"I know it's late, but thanks anyway Mike." Martin carefully placed the receiver down in it's home.

"Dad?"

Martin turned around. "Hey Frase. Sorry if I woke you."

Frasier stuffed his hands into the pockets of his dressing gown and went to sit on the couch.

"Did you really think I could sleep?" he snapped. "My little brother is missing in case you have forgotten, and…"

Frasier looked down, ashamed.

"I'm sorry Dad, I didn't mean to snap at you."

"It's okay son, we're both worried sick."

"So, what did Mike have to say?

"Not much. Since it hasn't been 24 hours yet, Mike's hands are pretty tied."

"Yes, but, Dad, you devoted more than a quarter of your life to the Seattle Police Department, don't they owe you something?"

Martin looked at him with surprise.

"What? Why are you looking at me that way?"

"Well, don't get me wrong, you're usually so ethical, do the right thing, no matter what the cost. Frankly, I'm just surprised to hear you suggest any bending of the rules. It's refreshing."

"Well, if it helps us to find Niles…"

Knight Blindness

She rushed over to his side. He was breathing extremely hard and was half sitting up on the couch. He was also aimlessly and wildly groping the space in front of him.

He looked as if he were a crazed conductor, leading his orchestra in some brilliant and captivating performance of Beethoven's Fifth.

He nervously gulped to get some air in. She carefully tried to capture his flailing hands into hers.

"It's alright now. Just calm down." She tried to calm her knight, all while dodging his hands. "Everything is going to be okay."

"I-I…." he stammered as tears fell down his very bruised cheeks. He winced as the tears cascaded down, for they stung like hell. She involuntary flinched at his wince.

"What is it?" she carefully asked and took his hands into hers.

He had such long fingers. He must be a piano player. His cries brought her back.

"I-I…" he started and gulped again. "I-I can't s-see."

She gasped very quietly and reasoned it must have been caused by that blow to the back of his head with the tire iron.

She carefully took his tear stained face into her hands and turned it to face the direction of her voice. She opened her mouth to say something but no words came out.

Finally, she reassured him. "Don't you worry, Daphne Moon won't let anything happen to you."

His breathing was slowly returning back to normal, though his tears continued to flow.

"Y-you have a English accent. Manchester, isn't it?" he sniffed.

"Why yes it is." She smiled, very impressed. "And who might you be?"

She could see his shoulders and back tense up as he opened his mouth and formulated his lips to form the name, but only nothing came out. She detected rising fear in his eyes and that his breathing was becoming irregular again.

She stroked his hair. "It's okay." Then more softly, she asked, "You can't remember, can you?"

She brought her knight in close to her and held him, careful not to hold him too hard because of his very bruised ribs. She stroked his hair and tried to comfort him.

All he could do was cry.

And so could she.

To be continued…