Chapter 4

The afternoon took a turn for the unexpected. Nikola had half thought he'd have to spend the entire day playing cricket with the boys outside, or reading by himself, but no, he was with Helen.

Ok, not as he would like, but close enough to fuel his fantasies with new material.

Helen had helped peel off his wet shirt and sticky trousers, leaving him almost shivering in his undershirt and shorts. With something pertaining to a magical gift she found the fluffiest towel in the linen closet and draped it over his head before rubbing it wildly to let the towel absorb all the water from his hair. Then, she peeled off his undershirt and wrapped the towel around his waist, pressing her hands against his chest and sides. Nikola closed his eyes and just enjoyed the special treatment she was affording him, blast how inappropriate it was.

Helen finally wrapped the towel around his waist and led him to his bed. His heart quickened ever so slightly.

"Sit down," she ordered and he did so without question.

Helen went over to his suitcase and grabbed his grooming kit, pulling out his hair oil and comb.

She crawled behind him on the bed, situating him between her knees so that she could kneel above him and comb his hair back into its proper place. She was the only person who could do this the right way besides him.

The comb scraped against his scalp gently as Helen rested a hand on his bare shoulder to counter balance.

They continued like this in silence, she too concentrated on her work to talk, and he too scared to break the wonderful moment by saying the wrong thing.

Instead he just closed his eyes and imagined it was her nails scraping against his scalp after just having made love. Lying in his bed, arms still around him, their bodies creating a warm bubble of heat in the mid-afternoon haze. It was a simple fantasy, just to open his eyes and see her lying there beside him, sleeping peacefully...or smiling wickedly before ducking under the covers and...

He yelped slightly as Helen caught a knot in his hair with the comb.

"Sorry," Helen muttered.

"It's alright," he shrugged.

Helen smoothed down the last of his hair before wrapping her arms around him in a tender hug and kissing the back of his head softly.

"There," she sighed. "All better."

He wanted to laugh, she said the same thing after patching any one of them up whenever they managed to hurt themselves, especially when they require stitches which he did most of the time. Some of his best scars were left with the best memories. He looked down at his arm. There were two he could see already that brought a smile to his lips.

"Get changed, I'm going to put these out to dry," Helen picked up his pile of wet clothes. "I'll also put some tea on."

Nikola nodded, still not confident to say anything.

"Come out when you're ready," she smiled and then left.

Nikola let out a long, ragged breath and flopped back on to the bed. She was torturing him, he didn't know if she knew she was, but she was. After this, how was he going to be able to hide his desire? He was sure that everyone would be able to tell just by looking at him that he loved her with every fiber of his being.

He heard the boys enter the cabin, laughing and singing like drunken louts. He heard Helen laugh as well and he felt a twinge of envy in his gut.

He stepped out of his bedroom fully clothed and went to the living room.

"Nikola!" James greeted with a big smile. "My hero!"

"It was nothing," Nikola said curtly.

"Nothing but my life, I could've drowned chasing after that fish and you could've let me, but you dove in after me," James took Nikola's hand. "Thank you, friend, I should've said as much on the bank."

Nikola nodded and extricated his hand from James' grip.

"Come on James, lets get you dried off," sighed John.

Nikola instinctually pulled out a handkerchief and wiped his hand with it.

"Seems like its soup again tonight," sighed Nigel.

"Yes," Nikola nodded. "Could be worse though...James could've caught that fish...we would've never heard the end of it."

Nigel laughed.

~~~~Later~~~~

The experiment was going well so far. James had volunteered first to be the next one to take the injection, Nigel after him, and John after him.

They all had similar reactions to Helen, with similar results.

All three of them sat on the couch holding their arms bent to put pressure on the puncture wound.

Helen was checking the vitals on all of them. They were all stable and functioning, if a bit disappointed.

She looked over to Nikola.

"I guess it's your turn," Helen sighed. He could see it in her eyes that she was suspecting what they all refused to say. They had failed. But they had one more test subject to go.

Nikola removed his jacket and rolled up his shirtsleeve then sat on the chair.

All three men tried to stand up to help but immediately found themselves getting rather light-headed.

Helen ignored them and their groans as she prepped the serum.

Nikola felt unexpectedly nervous. He hoped, no, prayed that it would work on him; that whatever Helen hoped the serum would do would happen with him. He wanted it so badly he was scared...scared to see that look of disappointment on Helen's face when he was just his plain normal self.

Helen turned to him with that same worry on her face. She wanted it to work too; he could feel it.

Helen knelt beside him and took his arm.

"I'm giving you a little extra," she whispered to him.

Nikola nodded wordlessly.

His eyes trailed down from her eyes to her hands, watching as the cool tip of the needle just touched his skin. Helen's hands weren't quite as steady as his but they were close. He felt the needle push in and a sudden rush of pain and fire, it coursed through him rapidly and then washed over him like a wave of cold water. His eyes rolled back in his skull and he could just hear Helen calling out to him before he faded into black.

"Nikola!" Helen cried.

All three of the guys jumped to their feet and were at her side momentarily. Nikola was convulsing and shaking uncontrollably.

"What's happening to him?" asked Nigel.

"Get him on to the floor, stretch him out," ordered James.

John hooked his hands under the Serbian's arms and hoisted him off the chair, James and Nigel took one of his legs and with a bit of effort they got him stretched out on the floor.

"John, hold him down," ordered James.

John pressed his hands into Nikola's shoulders.

"Nigel, you take his legs," Nigel nodded and pinned down the legs as best he could.

James tried to hold down Nikola's middle as best he could, but the best they could do was ride it out. A minute later the convulsions died down and Nikola came to rest.

James quickly checked his pulse and vitals.

"He's okay, " James sighed in relief. "He's breathing."

All of them let out a deep breath.

"We should get him to a bed, someplace comfortable, so he can sleep it off," James suggested, pulling the sodden fabric out of Nikola's mouth and tossing it away.

John and Nigel nodded, wordlessly picking him up and carrying him to the bedroom.

"Nigel, you'll take my room tonight," Helen finally spoke up.

"Uh, I will?" Nigel looked at her quizzically.

"Yes, I'll stay up with Nikola, make sure he doesn't go into another fit," Helen said, her previous trance completely gone.

"Helen, I..."

"No, James! This is my experiment! He is my responsibility! End of discussion."

James threw his hands up in defeat. He knew Helen well enough to know she was adamant and arguing with her would be futile at this point.

Helen picked up a cloth and wetted it in the basin in Nikola's room as the boys carefully situated Nikola on the bed.

"Thank you, gentlemen, I can take it from here," she pushed through l them to kneel at Nikola's side, placing the cloth on Nikola's forehead.

"Helen..." John started but the words died as Helen turned her head sharply to face him. "I-I'll get you a chair...so you're comfortable."

John quickly darted out of the room, avoiding her penetrating look.

Helen continued to tend to Nikola.

"I'm sorry Nikki," she whispered to him. "Please, be okay."