The ringing phone was muffled by her closed door and after opening her eyes for only a few seconds, she went back to sleep. A few moments later, there was a soft knock on her door.

"Daphne?"

Surprised to hear Frasier's voice, she rose from her bed opening her door just a crack.

"Dr. Crane..."

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but Niles is on the phone for-." He stopped and stared at her curiously. No doubt he was appalled by her choice of clothing.

But she hardly noticed, for she could hardly believe that his borther was calling her. Her heart beat madly at the thought of hearing his voice, but she faught the trembling in her own. "D-Dr. Crane? For me?"

Frasier smiled. "Dad and I will leave you to your privacy, should you want to take it in the living room. And Daphne? I'm sorry about speaking to you so harshly before."

The apology made her smile and she kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Dr Crane."

"Well, Niles is waiting." Frasier said, quickly closing the door.

She stared at the phone and then clutched it to her heart, feeling a strange sense of nervousness and she moved the receiver to her ear.

"H-hello, Niles."

"Daphne my angel."

Her heart filled with such love for him that she couldn't possibly be angry at him any longer. And the sweet sound of his voice brought tears to her eyes.

"I miss you." She said softly, feeling somewhat silly.

He sighed deeply. "Daphne, I'm sorry. I know I promised to come over, but I had a patient who took much longer than I expected. And I had a lot of paperwork to catch up on. When I was finished it had gotten so late, that it didn't feel right, making a visit so late at night. I didn't want to wake anyone, especially you."

"I'm sorry for getting so emotional." Daphne said. "I guess I'm just tired."

She could almost hear him smiling through the phone. "Well, of course you are. You work so hard, making sure that Dad does his exercises. You need your rest. I promise I'll come over first thing. I'll even reschedule a few of my patients."

The selfless gesture touched her deeply. "Dr. Crane, that's really not necessary."

"Well, if you don't mind my saying, I disagree. I did promise that I would come over and I wasn't true to my word."

"But your patients..."

"I insist. My patients will be fine and right now all I care about is you. I miss you so much."

Daphne sniffled as the tears streamed down her cheeks.

"Dr. Crane..."

"I promise I'll be over in the morning. And Daphne, I meant what I said. I do love you."

She smiled through her tears wishing that she could be in his arms. "I...lo... I care about you too, Dr. Crane."

Silently she cursed at the words she couldn't say.

"Thank you, Daphne. Goodnight sweet angel."

"Goodnight, Dr. Crane. I'll see you tomorrow."

She was just about to hang up when she heard his voice once more.

"Daphne?"

"Yes, Dr. Crane?"

"Would you do me a favor? It's just a small one but it would mean so much to me."

She smiled, wishing she could kiss him.

"Of course." At that moment, she would have done anything for the man she loved.

"Daphne, would you mind calling me 'Niles'?"

It was such a simple favor but it meant more to her than she could ever express and she softly kissed the receiver.

"Goodnight... Niles."