How many people didn't see this coming? Heh.

Chapter Eleven: Secrets Revealed and Unexpected Happenings

Keeping Gary's fever down and monitoring his other symptoms was turning into a constant, up-and-down battle. There was no pattern to the spikes in temperature or what effect it might cause. While bringing down the fever would ease the symptoms and sometimes make them vanish completely, a few times, it did not. He developed a muscular weakness so severe, he wasn't able to stand for more than a minute.

Gary was lying in the bed, staring at the ceiling, very depressed and still at a loss as to why the paper didn't come. Lisa hadn't mentioned to him that she had told the cat that heads would roll if the paper bothered them. However, keeping that and other things from him were slowly eating away at her conscious, so she decided that, maybe, she better let the proverbial cat out of the bag while he was still in the frame of mind to comprehend it all.

She'd just finished taking his temperature, and, while it was high, there was no cause for alarm or medicine yet. So, she sat on the edge of the bed and said softly, "Hey, Gar?"

"Yeah?"

"I want to explain a little bit about where you are and…some other stuff. So you don't get a shock when something unexplainable happens."

He sat up a little so he could look at her better. "Okay."

Lisa bit her lip. "Okay, first off…I don't know if you're aware of this or not, but you're not on Earth anymore." She went to one of the windows, still limping slightly from her injury, and pulled back the curtain.

The sun was behind a cloud at the moment, so Gary could clearly see that Lisa's house was situated in the middle of a meadow of multicolored grass, ahead was a forest of multicolored trees, and above was a lavender sky full of puffy white clouds. In the distance, a white horse was grazing.

"It's called Alnilam…named after its sun." Lisa said, letting the curtain fall. "We're located orbiting around the middle star in Orion's belt. And the population consists of myself and…" She broke off and sighed. "Gary, do you believe in unicorns?"

"Well," he said after a beat, "after what I experienced today…I found that anything's possible. So, I suppose, but, without proof…"

"Oh, I can get you that." She pulled the curtain back again. "Take a closer look at that 'horse' over there."

Gary squinted and the horse looked up and took four steps forward, staring right at him. Right there, in the middle of its forehead, was a horn at least a foot long, iridescent and spiraled in red. Then, it turned on its hooves and galloped into the forest.

"Oh…" he said in a quiet whisper. "Wow…"

"That's basically everyone's reaction, yeah." She returned to Gary's side. "That was Mystic, by the way. I'll introduce you before you leave. Now, as for the paper…"

He leaned forward, anxious to hear this.

"I…told the cat that heads would roll if the thing came…"

"You did what?"

"Gary, you can't do anything about it, anyway. You're not on Earth, you're sick, and if your friend, Marissa, didn't get it, well, then, I'm sure the world will be able to manage without you."

He was unable to summon the strength to argue with her, so he just sighed and settled back on the bed.

"And I can't believe I listened to her."

To Gary, that was, "Meow!"

They both looked to the doorway to find the orange tabby cat sitting on the threshold. Behind him was a black and white shorthair, who spoke in a string of meows, looking directly at Lisa.

"The stud slipped past me while I was on the porch."

"Your cat, that one?" Gary asked.

"Yeah, that's Fluffy. She says your cat…got in how?"

"I went through the kitty door."

"The kitty door…okay, that's on my front door, but how did you get here?"

The tabby trotted inside and leapt up onto the bed, the shorthair following closely. He said, "I figured I'd come for moral support for my human, here." His head tilted in Gary's direction.

"What is going on?" asked Gary.

"Something about moral support for you…okay, but that doesn't answer the question of how you got here on Alnilam."

"Well," Fluffy said, "you know that the Gates are easy for animals to find. And it's a kind if ingrained thing to know they lead to you…"

"Since I don't like rolling heads…as you see, the paper's not here."

"Well?" Gary prodded.

Lisa sighed. She hated unanswered questions. "There are Gates between here and Earth…and they're easier for animals to find than people. And animals have this sort of…ability to see me as I am. They're pure of heart and see only the truth, you see. They kind of know the Gates lead to me…your cat must've found one. And he didn't bring the paper because of what I said to him."

"Guy deserved a day off, anyway, after doing this for eight years."

"Eight years?" Lisa turned to Gary. "Really? You've been getting that paper for eight years?"

He nodded. "He, uh…told you about that, huh?"

"At your loft. He says you deserve a break."

"Really shouldn't give him one," Gary's cat muttered, "after some of the ways he treated me…"

Gary heard the low growl in that "sentence", so he asked, "What did he say?"

Lisa cleared her throat. "Uh…you ever badmouth that cat or…yell at him?"

He didn't answer, but the look in his eyes told Lisa loads. Instead he said, "Do you…do you think you could ask him…where the paper comes from?"

Lisa glanced at the cat. "Well?"

"That's for me to know and him to find out." He turned to Fluffy. "So, beautiful, you got any eats around here?" He hopped off the bed and walked out.

"Hey, wait!" Gary said, sitting up quickly, then falling back with an expression of pain on his face.

"Easy, Gar," said Lisa. "You can't make sudden movements like that." She lightly combed her fingers through his hair.

"Mmm," he mumbled, taking a few deep breaths. He looked up and locked eyes with her. Just for a moment, there was a flicker of something that passed between them. Fluffy saw it, as she was very perceptive of such things.

"Um, Fluff?" said Lisa in a far-off kind of voice, "Why don't you go…see what our furry guest is up to."

She smiled a cat smile. "Yeah, sure." She jumped off the bed and paused in the threshold to glance at Lisa and Gary, then ran off.

"Um," Lisa said, "are you okay?" She barely realized that she was still stroking his hair ever so gently.

Gary reached up and caught her hand. "I…uh…yeah, I think so…" He was silent for a beat, then said softly, "Did anyone ever tell you…you have the most…amazing eyes?"

She chuckled softly and smiled. Gary continued, "And your smile…"

"Gary…" A blush was forming in her cheeks.

"You're very cute when you blush." He smiled. "You're nearly as red as your jacket." Suddenly, the smile faded. "Lisa, I think I'm falling in love with you."

She knew. She could sense it from the start, and, truthfully, she was starting to fall for him as well. However, a small worry was niggling at the back of her mind.

"Gary, are you sure that's really how you feel?" she asked, trying to keep her face void of emotion. "Are you sure it's not…a kind of Reverse Florence Nightingale Effect? Instead of a nurse falling in love with her patient…vice versa?"

"I'm sure…I know it…"

Lisa shut her eyes and opened them slowly. "There's one way to find out."

She leaned in close and lightly brushed his lips with her own in a sweet kiss. She pulled away after a few seconds, but Gary pulled her closer and they shared another kiss, this one longer, and shared by both of them.

POP!

End chapter eleven.