Disclaimer: If I owned Mort, I'd be living with him in his cabin and doing very naughty things with (and to) him…but since I don't, I'm stuck here writing stories about him (sighs).

AN: Okay, before we get started, please forgive the late update. I've been horribly sick (like can't get out of bed sick) and the site wouldn't let me post, so I'm sorry for the lateness. Also, don't get the wrong idea by the chapter's title. If I could rate it, it'd be PG-13; Mort just gets to touch her in this chapter…that's all, okay? Now sit back and enjoy another chapter with our handsome Mort Rainey!

Chapter 7: Feelings and Touching:

That Night, Kayla's POV:

Staring at the two roses in front of her on the table, Kayla felt as though her brain would burst from all of the thoughts flying through her head. The red rose from Alex, though dry and crumbly, was still in her possession and currently lying next to the fresh white rose given to her by Mort Rainey that morning. She couldn't seem to wrap her mind around the fact that two men wanted her attention; it was such an unbelievable thing to her. Okay, now she had to think this stuff through in a calm and logical manner before her head exploded.

First off: Alex. He was a sweet guy, very gentlemanly, and not to mention very good looking. He was also strong and had a good job. Any girl in her right mind would be flattered and want to go out with him. So why didn't Kayla want to?

'Probably because he flirts with a ton of other girls and tries to charm them over,' she thought.

True, Alex was only doing what single guys do (i.e.: flirt with pretty girls), but he was very much a "ladies man." Holly had told her that Alex tended to go through girlfriends like a wildfire through a dry forest. It was definitely not what Kayla (or, very likely, any girl) wanted to hear about a guy who might be interested in her. Also, Kayla knew that she was not the type of girl who wanted to 'change' the guy she was interested in. She wanted to be with a guy because of who he genuinely was and not what she could change him into. From stories she'd been told by her numerous friends in high school, she knew that changing a person could happen, it just wasn't very likely to actually happen.

Sighing, Kayla took a sip of her hot chocolate and stared at the flowers again, this time focusing on the white flower and its beautifully colored petal tips.

Mort Rainey was another puzzle all together. Not only was he a mental patient, but some members of the staff believed him to be a murderer! From what she had seen, he didn't seem like the type to kill anyone, but you really couldn't tell a book by its cover…or an author from his present actions. Mr. Rainey seemed like such a sweet man, and he'd tried so hard to be nice to her, but she didn't really know anything about him, so how could he expect her to fall in love with him?

'The same thing could be said about Alex, and he's not in a mental institution for having split personalities or schizophrenia!' exclaimed her common sense.

Okay, so she didn't know either man very well. Other than the fact that both had been sweet to her and given her nice roses as tokens of their affection, there was basically nothing in their background or personalities that Kayla knew about. She could try and get to know them, but Alex seemed like the type of guy who thinks that an evening of conversation meant going back to his apartment and sleeping together…and the last thing Kayla wanted was a one night stand.

On the other hand, Mort Rainey was mentally ill and might not be capable of holding a conversation without something happening…after all, according to his nurses, he was violent and had tried to kill himself. But he'd also been nice to her, and had never approached her while she was outside the plastic shielding of the desk. Mr. Rainey had also appeared friendly sweet; Alex was flirty and suave. Still, Mr. Rainey thought that she was the woman from some hallucinations, so he pretty much had that against him.

'And I really didn't do myself any favors by accepting the rose in the first place,' Kayla thought, mentally slapping herself.

Then why did she do it? Why did she accept a gift from a man who, if he were in the free world, would probably be stalking her or another woman who looked just like her? Was it pity? Well, she was a person who frequently felt sorry for people and tried to make them feel better. Being the softhearted person that she was, Kayla just couldn't imagine herself not accepting a flower from someone who looked like he needed a friend. But Mort Rainey didn't want to be friends…he wanted to be something much more intimate than that.

"Arg, my head hurts from all this thinking," she growled, burying her face in her hands. "Why do these things have to be so damn complicated?"

Sighing, Kayla picked up Mort's rose and placed it back in its small vase before heading off to bed.


That Same Evening, Mort's POV:

Sleep was definitely not coming to him that night. Every time he closed his eyes, Mort could see the gentle smile on Kayla's face as she smelled the rose he'd given her. It made him feel good knowing that he had made her smile…it gave him a sense of purpose, a reason to get better so that he could get out of here and get back to the outside world. Once he was out, he'd write until he fingers could no longer type just to make enough money to win her over…then, once she was his…

"I'll marry her," he whispered to the ceiling. "I'll marry her if it's the last thing I do."

Smiling into the darkness, Mort felt his eyes drift shut and pleasant dreams follow for the first time in a month.

The Next Afternoon: Kayla's POV:

Sitting in a chair by the front windows, Kayla took a deep breath and sighed, thankful that the patients were all in activity rooms for the afternoon for some exercise or artistic lessons. This gave her a chance to relax, and she instantly began rubbing her eyes to try and drive away the pain in her head. She hated when she got these headaches, especially ones that shot up through her head and into her eyes. In the past, they had always been soothed away by her father massaging her neck or popping her back into place. However, her father was several thousand miles away and could no longer help her with the tension building in her stressed out body.

Sighing, she began to softly rub her tired and over-used muscles with her fingertips to try and get the blood flowing. She was scared out of her wits when strange fingers began a soothing motion along her neck and shoulders. Whirling around, she saw Mort Rainey standing behind her, his hands frozen in midair and a puzzled, but kind, expression on his face.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," he said, his voice eerily soothing and soft. "I just thought you looked stressed, so I wanted to help you out."

Kayla was a bit taken back by his words, her mouth hanging open. His hands on her shoulder and around her neck were not something she wanted to happen, especially from a mentally ill man obsessed with her! She tried to think of something to say, something that was polite but firm in getting him away from her in this vulnerable position, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was anything but polite.

"How did you get out of your class today?" she blurted out before she could think.

Mort looked somewhat hurt and confused, but he answered. "I sort of snuck away when they weren't looking," he said nonchalantly. "I wanted to see if you were okay; you seemed like you were in pain."

"I'm fine," Kayla said, giving him a small smile even though her neck felt like a million needles were stabbing her all along her neck and into her head. "Really, I'm fine."

"No, you're not," he said, reaching out and twirling her around to face forward, his hands resting firmly on her shoulders. "I could tell you've been in pain since lunch."

"Oh, no, Mort, really, I'm fine," she said, trying to stand up, but his hands refused to let her go, and it was beginning to scare her. That was when his last sentence truly hit her. 'How the hell would he know if I've been in pain since lunchtime!' Now she was really getting scared.

A gentle touch from Mort on her neck somehow managed to calm the emotional turmoil inside her.

"Let me take care of you, Kayla," Mort whispered, his hands never stopping their task on her neck. "Please." Slowly, his hands began massaging her neck and shoulders, his hands soft and gentle.

She tried to protest, but the motions of his hands were soothing the pain right out of her, so she closed her eyes and let him continue his work. It was still frightening that she was letting him do this, but it felt extremely relaxing to have him giving her a massage like this. Letting her mind drift into bliss, Kayla realized that, for a writer, he had pretty good skills and hands for this sort of thing…and for some reason (in an odd sort of way), this gesture of thoughtfulness touched her heart.

Sighing again, Kayla felt the tension drain out of her, the skillful hands of the writer behind her smoothing away every bit of pain she currently felt in her head and body. It made her wish that she could stay this way all day, set adrift in a cloud of bliss. She let out a grunt of pain, then another sigh of happiness as a particularly tight knot in her neck was loosened up, the blood once again beginning to flow correctly throughout her body.

'This man has some truly amazing hands to be able to loosen up my muscles like that," she thought, her mind drifting through the cloud of bliss Mort was weaving. 'He should be a professional massage therapist of something, not an author…or he could be both…either way, this guy has some sort of talent.'

"Does that feel better?" Mort's soft voice muttered into her ear, his hot breath caressing her skin.

"Mm, hmm," was all she could get out.

"Good," he whispered, his hands now moving to her shoulders; Kayla automatically leaned back, her upper body coming in contact with Mort's.

"Kayla!" snapped a nearby voice.

Both of them turned around to find Alex standing ten feet away, an outraged look on his face. He marched over and pulled Mort away, his hands then going to pull Kayla up from the chair and behind him, seeming to protect her from whatever stunt Mort might 'pull' on her.

"What do you think you're doing, Mr. Rainey?" Alex snapped, his hands clenching into fists. "Get back to whatever room you are supposed to be in, now!"

"Alex, stop," Kayla said from behind him, grasping his arms with her hands. "He didn't do anything, just leave him alone."

The tall orderly whirled around to look at her in surprise and outrage. "Didn't do anything? He had his hands all over you!" he growled.

"He didn't 'have his hands all over me,' Alex," she snapped, letting his arms go so she could put her hands on her hips. "I was having neck pains and the start of a migraine, and he helped me. That's it, so let him go."

Alex looked like he was going to protest, but Kayla continued to glare at him until he shrugged and (reluctantly) relaxed. Turning back towards Mort, Kayla saw him give him a challenging glare as his fists unclenched themselves and his shoulders went semi-slack. Even though Alex still looked like he wanted to beat the tar out of Mort, he managed to appear alert, but not fully hostile.

"If that's the way you want it, Kayla," he said, looking down at her with brown eyes. He leaned closer to whisper into her ear. "But if you need me for anything, let me know, and I'll be there."

With that said, Alex took one last hostile glare at Mort and slowly walked away, leaving Kayla to deal with the rest of the situation.

Mort's POV:

Receiving Kayla's trust for something like massaging her body was absolutely wonderful. However actually feeling Kayla's body under his palms and leaning back against him was (in Mort's opinion) the beginning of a beautiful connection between the two of them. He felt her relax under his touch, completely trusting him to help her with her situation, her soft skin gently filling the space under his hands. He could see her reflection in the glass window and could tell that he was giving her immense pleasure by doing this…if only he could be allowed to give her pleasure in another way…

His perfect moment with Kayla had been shattered when that oaf of an orderly had stepped in, breaking them apart from one another. Mort saw the man put himself between Mort and his angelic Kayla, and could feel anger swell up inside him. No, he couldn't let his anger control him like it had before, when it had formed into Shooter. He had to keep his cool, no matter what. After all, from the view of an onlooker, it might have appeared that Mort was strangling Kayla, though the expression on her face would have told of bliss and not fear or death.

As the two men faced each other, Alex had looked Mort right in the eye and had openly challenged him to take Kayla from him. Mort so wanted to answer the other man's challenge, but Kayla had interfered before he could do so. He could feel his heart swell with love when she defended him and told Alex to leave him alone, and could sense Alex's anger at being told to leave by the beautiful woman they both wanted. He could feel a smug grin coming on, but wouldn't let it show, though…Mort knew better than to anger an orderly. After all, they were staff members…

"I'm sorry about that, Mort."

His attention snapped back to the present situation, and saw Kayla smiling a bit at him. Mort instantly smiled back. "That's okay, I understand where he's coming from," he said, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. This was by far the longest conversation they'd had together.

Kayla sighed. "Well, I'd better get back to work," she said, looking back towards the front desk.

"Are you okay?" For some reason, Mort blushed as he said that. "I mean, is your neck still bothering you?"

She blinked at him. "Actually, it feels better," she said, looking both surprised and pleased. "I guess I owe you a 'thank you'."

Then she smiled at him, a real genuine smile, and his knees went weak. Mort felt like the sun had suddenly found a home in his chest, and his body felt hot…too hot…no, it felt good…so good…

"Uh, it was no problem," he said, smiling back at her.

"Well I really should get back to work," she said again, looking at her hands. "I'll see you again later, Mort."

She then turned and left a happy Mort Rainey to find his way back towards his room, hoping to record the day's events accurately on paper.

That Night, Kayla's POV:

"I can't believe I trusted him enough to rub my back," she grumbled into her pillow.

Pulling the soft object off of her face, Kayla stared up at the ceiling, torn between being angry at herself and in shock at the situation that'd happened that day. She'd actually let Mort Rainey, the man who was obsessed with an hallucination that was (supposedly) about her, touch her body. Would that action encourage him? Would he now become more focused on her and try to pursue her even more after what had happened today?

"Oh, my God, what have I done?" she groaned, covering her face with her hands.

Had she just led on a mentally disturbed patient? What would happen if he tried to ask her out, or worse, got better and decided that he wanted to date her? What would happen if she turned him down in every situation imaginable? Would he try and hurt her? Would he (dare she think it) kill her?

"Okay, no crazy ideas about axe murderers before bed," she scolded herself as she closed her eyes. "We'll deal with Mr. Rainey and his actions when they happen." She took a deep breath. "Just don't worry about it."

Kayla fell asleep, dreaming of familiar male hands softly stroking her neck and body.

Same Night, Mort's POV:

'I actually had her under my hands,' he thought, a huge smile plastered on his face.

It had been the best feeling in the world, Kayla's skin against his. It was so soft, so smooth that he wanted to run his hands over it again just to be sure he hadn't imagined the feel of it in his mind. He wanted to hold her bare body against his and…

He mentally slapped himself. It was too soon for that sort of thing. She'd never let him touch her like he wanted to touch her…not this soon, anyway. Mort so badly wanted to feel her body pressed against him in his bed, to wake up and see her lovely face in the morning sunshine, her red hair sparkling in the light falling through the windows. Oh, what he wouldn't give for that!

'It's too soon, though,' he thought, rubbing his face with his hands. 'Much too soon for that. I have to win her over, first…or get better first…either way, I have to get better and get out of here, either before I win her or after. I must find a way to get out of here, or I'll never be with Kayla!'

Determination flowed through him. He knew that in order to appear 'normal' to his Kayla, he had to take those damn psychiatric sessions with Dr. Vincent. Then, after either months or (Heaven forbid) years, he'd finally be able to make Kayla see him as a good man who loved her and wanted to take care of her for the rest of his life.

'Although,' he thought, chewing on his lip as he interrupted his own thought process. 'Although, I might want to try and win her over either before or during my mental health sessions.'

That was true enough. Mort knew that if he didn't work quickly, that bastard Alex might try and take Kayla away from him, right from under his very nose! No, he had to work fast and win her over before Alex could make a move on her. If Alex were to try and win Kayla (or even worse, succeed in doing so), Mort would definitely have to resort to some drastic measures.

'I'll never let another man lay a finger on Kayla,' he thought possessively, angrily clutching the sheets in his fists.

There was no way he was going to lose the woman of his dreams to a womanizing man like Alex. Oh, yes, he knew the man's reputation with woman…even seen it on numerous occasions when he and a nurse or a visitor to the hospital would leave together or sit and flirt with each other. Yes, Mort Rainey knew what a man like Alex could offer a woman like Kayla, and it wasn't much besides a dinner and a single night together.

'But what if he actually cares about her?' whispered a small voice in the back of his head.

Mort shook his head. Even if Alex cared about Kayla, there was no way he'd let the other man have her. Not a chance in the world would he ever allow that to happen. Kayla was his, she belonged with him, they belonged together, and that was that. There was no doubt about it in Mort's mind and heart; his fate was bound to Kayla's and he'd do anything to bring the two of them together.

'Try not to get too possessive and obsessive, Mort,' he thought to himself. 'That would frighten the hell out of her, then where will you be?' True enough. Still, she was his, and he was going to get her, no matter what.

Sighing tiredly, Mort relaxed and allowed himself to drift off to sleep, dreaming of soft smooth skin underneath his hands.

AN: Whoa, Alex is starting to get a bit possessive, isn't he? Then again, so is Mort. Well, Mort did have his hands on Kayla, but if I were her, I wouldn't mind! But, anyway, what did everyone think of the chapter? Review and let me know! Please?