1990, The Maitlands, 30 Maitland St, Apt 208, Toronto, ON, Canada

Nick slowed his descent and landed on the flat roof of the apartment complex. Glancing down, he made sure the area was clear before alighting onto the concrete walkway, then walked up the steps to the front door. Entering the complex, Nick turned to the right and started up the stairs. He reached the second floor and walked down the corridor, stopping under the light next to apartment 208. He could hear through the door the high pitch hum from a television, then a cough. Nick shifted the bag he was holding, waited a few moments, brought his knuckles up to the door, then stopped. He closed his eyes, then he knocked. The hum stopped, then he heard the sound of someone approaching and backed slightly away as the door barely cracked opened. "Hi, Nat," he said with a smile.

Natalie stared at Nick in surprise. She had not expected to see him here and was in shock he had even been able to find her. She had never invited Nick over, always going to his place if they met outside the Coroners Building. She brought the tissue up to her nose while he waited in the hallway. "What are you doing here?" she managed to croak.

Nick shifted the brown paper bag he was holding so she could see it. "You are sick. I brought some things that could help."

Natalie knew she just couldn't leave him in the corridor - someone might see. She opened the door and gestured for him to come in, then quickly closed the door. Behind him, she coughed again while making sure her fuzzy robe was knotted and closed. "You shouldn't be here, Nick."

"Why not?" he inquired while placing the bag on the dining room table. "I am in no danger of getting sick from what you have," Nick stated as he turned to face her. Nat looked tired, and he could see she had a slight fever.

"I don't know if this is very professional, Nick," Natalie began. "We barely …." She trailed off after seeing the hurt look in his slate-blue eyes.

"I can go," Nick softly said.

"No," Natalie insisted, "stay. You're already here." She paused, narrowing her eyes as she studied him. "How did you know where I live and that I'm sick?"

"I happened to call your work, and Grace said you were out sick. She also gave me your address." He had been surprised the woman had voluntarily provided that and also encouraged him to visit.

Natalie nodded, then abruptly stopped as the motion was making her already stuffy head hurt more. Nick pulled out a seat for her, and she gratefully sat down.

"Now, it has been a while since I treated patients, but I think I can manage."

"You were a doctor?" Natalie asked. Nick rarely voluntarily opened up about his past activities, and she jumped on that one.

"Well, the first time I was a practicing physician was about 130 years ago. But I reckon I still know what to do." He began rummaged into the bag. "Leeches will take care of the symptoms, and a large dose of calomel will cure whatever ails you." He pulled out a can and handed it to her. Nat stumbled out of the seat and backed away from him with a look of shock, and he could hear her heart racing.

"I just have a cold, Nick. I don't need leeches and mercury poisoning," she rasped before feeling the tickling urge to cough.

Nick glanced at the can label. "It's chicken noodle soup. I was joking about the other things." She didn't look relieved. "I'm sorry," he apologized while putting the can back into the paper bag. "I thought I could help since you are trying to help me. I'm probably making everything worse. I'll … I'll just go."

"Don't go," Natalie implored, touching his arm as he walked past her.

Nick halted at her touch. This was the first time she had touched him while not performing some medical procedure on him. She took her hand back, and Nick found he immediately missed the contact.

"I … I could use some soup. I didn't go grocery shopping before, and I'm in no condition to go out now." Natalie rubbed her nose, sniffling.

Nick observed her, listening to her heart rate return back down. She actually wasn't frightened of him, though he was worried about that. Nick knew he could accidentally hurt her and warned her often about being careful and keeping on guard around him. "Are you sure?"

Natalie hobbled over to the table and reached for the can of soup in the bag. "Do you know how to microwave soup?"

He nodded as he took the can from her. "You put the metal can in the microwave-"

"I'll do it."

Natalie was sitting at the dining room table, blowing on a spoonful of hot chicken noodle soup. Nick did apparently know how to correctly microwave soup and had selected a reasonably good product. She sipped the liquid and watched as he tried to bribe Syndey with some very high-quality wet cat food. Natalie was touched he remembered her mentioning having a cat and bringing food for him as well. Natalie wiped her nose again with a tissue, then drank some orange juice Nick got. She continued to watch him. Usually, their time together was short and could be weeks between appointments. Nick's time here was probably equal to all their previous meetings combined. And no matter what he said, and despite seeing the vampire for herself, she didn't consider him evil or a monster. He was caring, like what he was doing tonight. That's what he is, she concluded; that was the core of him. The vampire was just something applied on top of that core, not part of the core itself. And if it was placed on, then it was separate and could be removed with nothing left over. Natalie took another spoonful of the broth and noodles and ate it, pondering how to encourage Nick's human part, then temporarily gave up as her headache got worse.

Nick shook his head as he pulled out a chair to sit at the table. "I don't think Sydney wants me here."

"He just isn't used to you yet. He'll eventually come out and eat."

Nick had his doubts. Some animals just knew what he was, could sense he was an aberration, a violation of the natural order. They would remain defensive as long as they felt that and not approach him or anything he had handled.

"The soup is good; thank you for bringing it over."

"You're welcome." Nick observed her carefully. He could see she was getting tired and needed to rest. "I should get going." But he knew he also didn't want to leave her and return to the empty, silent loft. "Unless you need me to stay? I know my patients didn't want to be alone. Sometimes just someone sitting nearby would help them rest easier." He pressed his lips together to stop talking, sure Nat would decide to kick him out and never see him again. After all, they barely knew each other, and here he was, asking to stay in her place while she was in a weakened state.

Natalie was relieved Nick had made the offer. She wanted him to stay and couldn't come up with a plausible excuse. "I think that would be good."

"Should we go to your bedroom now?" Nick scrunched up his face in embarrassment. "That's, umm, that came out wrong, that's not what I meant-"

"It's okay, Nick," Natalie interrupted and touched his arm. "I know what you mean." Nick eventually opened his eyes, and though his body was tensed as if preparing to flee, she could see part of him wanted to remain – to not be alone. "I was watching a movie when you came; we could finish that."

Nick sat at the end of the cream-colored sofa in the living room. Nat had been sitting at the other end and was closest to the television. He had been surprised that the movie she had been watching was Bela Lugosi's The Return of the Vampire. He said nothing as she watched and continued to say nothing as she started to doze off halfway through the film. Three quarters the way through the movie, Nick turned off the television with the remote. Nat had fallen asleep, her head on the pillow Nick had put on his lap for her. As he considered the best way to eventually move her to the bed, he heard Sydney finally eating the cat food.