"You're doing very well, Gemma," Ducky told her, as he studied her test results.
"So the cancer is being eradicated?" Gemma asked, a little anxiously.
While she had been rather reluctant to let Dave pay for the treatment she had also badly wanted to live, especially since she had fallen deeply in love with the man that had taken her in with no question at all. Giving her temporary shelter, because of a bad storm was one thing, but he had offered to let her stay as long as she liked with no strings attached other than that he enjoyed her company. To her that was a miracle and she was very grateful for Dave's kind and generous nature. She also knew that Dave was lonely, as he didn't have many real friends, so that probably had something to with his original offer to let her stay. Dave knew plenty of people business associates and others that wanted some of his time, but not many people he would consider friends. He did have a few real friends like Ducky, but still, there weren't very many.
He had slowly courted her over the last several months and while Gemma had resisted at first she had finally given in unable to resist Dave's charm, his gentleness, his compassion and his generosity.
She really wanted to live and perhaps marry Dave and have a good career as a well-known artist. She doubted she'd ever be as famous as some of the artists in the past, but so long as she should make a decent amount of money so she could pay her own way and pay Dave back for his generosity she would be very happy indeed. Also, if she could actually make money off something that was her passion and not just enough to pay the bills it would be a dream come true. She had known from the beginning that she was choosing a hard road, but she'd had to try.
"Yes, it shouldn't be long before it's completely in remission. How are you feeling my dear? I mean healthwise?" Ducky asked.
"I've actually felt really good over the last few weeks, but I've never felt as bad, as I have heard some people with cancer do," Gemma said seriously considering the question.
"We're using a relatively new treatment," Ducky explained calmly. Ducky didn't bother to explain that he been using some of Dave's blood to make sure that the cancer was completely eradicated and wouldn't ever come back. It was a small white lie, but well worth it to get Gemma cured. An immortals blood was ancient and powerful and once it ran through Gemma system the cancer would be gone. They weren't using very much of Dave's blood, just enough that it would do it's job without turning Gemma immortal. Of course, if Dave wanted to turn Gemma immortal at some point that was up to him and Gemma both. "That's one reason that it's so expensive."
Gemma nodded, as new treatments tended to be more expensive then older treatments not that older treatments were cheap.
"So I'm going to live then, doc?" Gemma asked.
"I have no doubt you will," Ducky said smiling, even as the two men looked at each other once Gemma was looking elsewhere. It had been Ducky's idea to try some immortal blood, really not more than a few drops per treatment and it was working marvelously. It was something of an experiment. Ducky had seen how much Dave cared about Gemma and so had wanted to cure her completely just in case the regular treatment didn't work. Gemma had had a very aggressive kind of cancer and it had been farther along then either man had told her. It was one reason that Ducky had made his suggestion once he and Dave had been alone for a few brief minutes while Gemma had gone to the lady's room. There had still been a good chance that the regular treatment would've cured Gemma's cancer, but an immortal's blood had added certainty to the matter.
"Now that the cancer is nearly gone you'll have a nice long life ahead of you, which I hope will include us being friends at least if you don't want to take our relationship farther," Dave said.
"We'll always be friends," Gemma promised smiling kissing Dave's cheek. "And I hope seriously something more in time."
"Definitely," Dave said now smiling very happy at Gemma's words.
Ducky watched the scene and knew that his old friend was definitely in love like he never had been before in all his centuries. Sure, he had loved other women in past, but not in the same way that he loved Gemma. The love for the other women had been brief, but Ducky suspected that Dave would love Gemma for the rest of his very long life and would always want her by his side.
After all, Ducky didn't see Dave going to such great lengths to save Gemma's life if he didn't at least care for her very much, as he was much to cautious to donate his blood to just anyone. That wasn't to say he wouldn't have still paid for the cancer treatments, but wouldn't have added his blood to make sure the cancer cells were completely eradicated.
"See, I told you to have faith," Dave told her, as he and Gemma bid Ducky goodbye. "To not be such a pessimist."
"So you did," Gemma laughed all her worry about dying dissolving. "I'll try not to doubt you again."
If not for Dave's insistence she knew very well that she would have died a few months from now, as the cancer ran its course. She had given in to Dave's gentle insistence on paying for the treatments because she knew that he genuinely cared for her and not just because he wanted to see her talents realized, though he probably considered that a nice bonus. She was going to owe him for the rest of her life for his kindness and his generosity. She knew however, that Dave did not see it that way.
"So an early dinner before we head home?" Dave suggested.
It was after 4 o'clock already and by the time they ate it would be after five.
"Sounds good," Gemma agreed without arguing. "My appetite has certainly returned with a vengeance."
"I know you weren't really eating much, which wasn't really healthy for you," Dave agreed. "Your body has filled back out now as before while you weren't severely underweight that would've changed without the treatments. I think you're even more gorgeous than you were before, as even your face has filled out a little," Dave said.
"Yeah, that's true," Gemma said. "I had lost a good 10 pounds, maybe 15, as I was still eating well before the last month. I'm certainly eating better as your guest then I did by myself. I'm only glad I didn't lose my hair."
"Yeah, luckily, you didn't have to go through chemotherapy, which is what causes you to lose your hair," Dave said, even as he ran a gentle hand through her long brown hair that had a streak of silver coloring on one side. People put color in their hair all the time and Gemma had wanted to try it. She had never gone through such a stage as a teenager as her parents never would have allowed it. Her parents hadn't allowed so many things that was just part of any child growing up, testing their boundaries. While he could understand Gemma's parents attitudes it still made him sad and also angry.
Gemma said nothing and simply snuggled into Dave's shoulder, as Dave drove one of his very nice cars that'd he'd had in a private garage near where the ferry docked.
"It's going to take me forever to get used to the fact that you don't mind spending money. While my parents had plenty of money you know they had certain ideas of what they should spend it on."
"They certainly didn't spend it on their daughter," Dave said the disgust in his voice quite clear.
"I was fed, clothed, educated and had regular health checkups. In some ways my childhood was fine in others it definitely wasn't. They never physically abused me for instance. They wouldn't want to damage their product after all. I was never starved and I had nice clothes to wear, even if those clothes were not what I wanted for myself. You know I always wondered why they never had another child. I can tell you they never had a particular love of children so maybe that's the reason they only had me."
"If your mother was capable of bearing other children I also don't understand why they didn't try for a son," Dave said. "There's no point of speculating now as there could be all sort of reasons or medical causes."
"I suppose not," Gemma said. "I haven't actually thought much about them in years, except to hope that they're even more miserable then they were when I was growing up and that they regret what they did, even though it's too late to be close to their only child."
"You don't hate them," Dave said seeming to already know the answer.
"No, I can't say I hate them just that I don't want to ever see them again, not unless they majorly change their attitude, which I don't see happening," Gemma shrugged. "I'm actually happy for the first time in my life. While I wasn't exactly miserable as a child or teenager that doesn't mean that I was happy. When I came here, found myself an apartment it actually made me giddy, giddy with happiness and joy. I felt free for the first time in my life without my parents expectations hanging over me like a dark cloud ready to smother me.
"I understand," Dave said simply and said nothing else, as he pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant that he knew was good. "Let's just forget about the people that don't appreciate what they have and go enjoy a nice dinner."
Gemma took Dave's hand after closing her door and the two of them trotted off across the parking lot to the restaurant Dave had chosen
~~~Dave and Gemma~~~
"Gemma will you marry me?" Dave proposed.
It was months later and Ducky had given Gemma the good news that her cancer was completely eradicated. Gemma was ecstatic that she would now live a nice long life and wasn't going to die only a few months from now. She and Dave had gotten much closer over the last few months and she'd been living at his estate for around a year now.
Her first showing was next week and she was really looking forward to it. Considering she had believed that she would never be a well-known artist not only because of her sickness, but because she hadn't had a patron. Dave had really come through for her. She was so happy that she had been caught in that storm and capsized on the shore of Devil's Island.
"Yes! Yes! Yes!" Gemma yelled in excitement. Gemma went directly into Dave's arms and kissed his bearded cheek and then directly on the lips passionately. "Now that I'm no longer dying I'll happily marry you. Thank you for everything you've done for me Dave I'm very grateful."
"There's no need for thanks or gratitude," Dave said. "I just didn't want your talent to be snuffed out before it even had a chance to bloom. I'm looking forward to your first showing in a few days."
"This wouldn't be happening if you hadn't set it up for me," Gemma said.
"Unfortunately, as you know you need the right contacts to make it in the art world or at least to become famous that people pay a lot of money for your paintings. You're well on your way to becoming very famous Gemma as I plan on promoting you and your paintings," Dave said. "You deserve to have your paintings shown everywhere where people can admire them as you're a very good artist. They should be in museums, in office buildings, in lawyers offices, in the homes of the rich, the famous, in anywhere that there are paintings on the walls. Your paintings deserve to be seen, to be admired."
"That would be a dream come true," Gemma said, even as she kissed Dave again the two of them were standing on the beach with the waves lapping gently on the shore.
"There is something else I need to tell you before you start planning our wedding," Dave said not letting his nervousness show.
"Why are you suddenly so nervous?" Gemma asked.
"I guess I'm not hiding it very well," Dave said a little ruefully not upset or angry that Gemma knew him a little too well.
"Most people wouldn't notice, but I've come to know you over the last year," Gemma said. "You literally saved my life when you said you would pay for my cancer treatment and I'll always be grateful to you. You have been nothing but kind generous and considerate. So go ahead and tell me what you want to tell me it won't change my feelings for you."
"I hope not," Dave said, as he and Gemma sat in the sand Dave in swimming trunks and Gemma in a bathing suit. Dave begin to tell Gemma his big secret, even as they sat on the sand Dave with his arm around her.
Gemma wanted to deny that immortality could possibly exist but on the other hand, they had space travel now and they hadn't until about 150 years ago. So many things that hadn't existed in years past were a reality so why not immortals?
"Say something," Dave told Gemma nearly begging and Dave never begged.
"It's just unbelievable," Gemma said coming out of her shock. "I know we have many wonderful inventions in this century but this smacks of the unreal. I know things like space travel weren't reality until a few decades ago, but that's just an advancement of technology. On the other hand, I don't see you lying to me considering you just proposed. You have to know I could break it off if I thought you were delusional so I don't see you going there. You'll have to prove it to me though, as it's a really impossible concept for me to believe."
"I don't blame you there," Dave said having felt terror when Gemma's had said that she could break it off if she thought he was delusional and he wouldn't have been able to blame her if she had, even if it would have devastated him. She would've broken his heart though, as he had no doubt it was now fully engaged and on the line. "As for proving it I'll be happy to back in my office."
"Why not now?" Gemma asked.
"Because I need something sharp to cut my skin," Dave explained calmly "and I didn't bring anything with me. I have a dagger in my office that will do the trick. I use it as a letter opener."
Gemma had seen that dagger multiple times over the last year Dave used it to open his mail. It was a nice dagger with a leather wrapped hilt and wire gold wrapped around the pommel. The blade was steel. It looked ancient and probably valuable. It would certainly do the job of cutting Dave skin.
The two walked silently back to the house and soon they were in Dave's study. Dave took the dagger out of the middle drawer of the desk and slashed his hand without a word.
The cut was deep Gemma thought but watched as it healed right before her eyes.
"Wow! I really thought you were pulling my leg," Gemma said, "though I didn't know what your reason was for doing so."
"I know you didn't believe," Dave said simply, as he put the dagger back in his desk drawer after making sure to clean blood off with his handkerchief. "I can't really blame you for not believing me at first, though you reacted better than I thought you would."
"So how long have you been around, Dave?" Gemma asked curiously.
"A long time," Dave said simply. "I stopped counting the years a long time ago."
"So you never married and all that time?" Gemma asked.
"I won't say I haven't been close to some women, even loved a few of them, but I never would've offered them immortality."
"Why not?" Gemma asked still inwardly reeling from the revelation Dave had dropped in her lap.
"Various reasons," Dave said calmly. "While I loved them, I didn't love them as much as I love you and I knew that those relationships would end eventually so if I turned them immortal and they would have been like albatrosses hanging around my neck when we 's all different kinds of love in this world Gemma and some aren't meant to last forever. I cared for those women at one point in time, I won't deny it, but any affection I had would've disappeared eventually. You however, are different."
"Well, I guess that makes me special," Gemma said.
"You are special," Dave said. "You are the first one that I know I love with my whole heart. I will never stop, which means I want you to be my wife and my mate forever, not just temporarily like those other women. I want to have children by you something I would never have considered with those others, which ought to tell you something."
"So how do you turn someone immortal?" Gemma asked Dave.
"It's simple really," Dave explained his tone of voice calm. "I'll have Ducky give you some of my blood, enough that it will start to overtake your regular cells and change you into an immortal. You'll have more energy until you get used to the change in your body and then you'll be back to normal, except you'll never be able to get sick again and definitely not with something as serious as cancer. If you get injured it will heal immediately if it's just cut. Broken bones will take longer, but will heal much faster than they would if you were still mortal."
"So is Ducky...?" Gemma asked trailing off.
"Yes, he is also immortal," Dave said knowing exactly what Gemma was asking. "He's always been a doctor. That's his gift and his passion."
"Well, I suppose, your immortality can't be an isolated case," Gemma mused. "There had to be other immortals out there."
"We're still a small community though," Dave said "compared to mortals anyway. So to get back to the previous subject do you accept my offer to become my wife? I don't want to force you into a decision Gemma, but when you were washed up on my shore I felt something deep inside that told me you could be the one."
"Yes, I do," Gemma said, even as she kissed him passionately. "I'm not saying I'm not still feeling overwhelmed, but I love you. You've been so good to me, so considerate, kind and generous. I certainly love you more than I would have someone my parents expected me to marry. They would have expected me to marry someone in the same class they were and certainly didn't give a damn about my feelings."
"Good," Dave said his relief obvious. They shared a tender a kiss. "As for your parents if they happen to discover that you're married to me and try to have a relationship with us well, I'll send them on their way I promise you. I think how they treated you is deplorable. I mean they disowned you just because you wanted to be something other than that what they made the decision for you to be, which is just stupid, especially in this very advanced time. I mean this is hardly the 16th century where girls had to obey what their fathers wanted or be disowned."
"So you're afraid they're going to come back into our lives when they discover that I married someone with your kind of money," Gemma said and Dave nodded.
"It's certainly a possibility, as you told me that they wanted you to marry someone that was very wealthy and I am certainly that. I might not be English or in that elite social circle, but that's only because I never wanted to be.
"I can't blame you really as some of my parents ideas are ridiculous and I'm sure that the others in that set have some of the same ideas," Gemma said shaking her head in disgust. "Really America is no different than my home country, not in that respect anyway. Just because I didn't want to be some society wife gave them enough reason to disown me, which proves they never really loved me in the first place. I never wanted just to be an ornament on some man's arm not allowed to do anything except accompany him to social functions and raise the kids. I know that if I had married one of them I wouldn't have been allowed to pursue my passion as a career. In that respect you are totally different from some idiot I would've been forced to marry if my parents and had their way. Let's concentrate on our engagement and forget about my parents. If I never see them again I'll be happy."
"Absolutely," Dave agreed, even as he kissed Gemma again.
"So do the staff know that you're immortal?" Gemma asked Dave.
"They work here, so of course they know. All of them have been with me for years and I trust them," Dave said simply.
"So are they?" Gemma began and Dave shook his head.
"No their mortal and will eventually retire and then die," Dave answered. "I have people that will take over when that happens. All my staff have protégés who learn the ropes. They're not in on the secret, but they will be once they have proved their trustworthiness."
"Well, you have quite an operation going on here," Gemma said her lips quirking up an amusement.
"I rarely have to worry about staff changes, because everybody else is so efficient and that's a good thing, as I'm certainly busy enough. I'll be even busier with you now in my life and I certainly don't mind it I promise you. You have a showing next week and I'm genuinely looking forward to it. After this, we'll see where your new career will take you."
"We should probably make that appointment with Ducky," Gemma said and Dave nodded enthusiastically. He was very happy with the way things had gone.
"Thank you for agreeing to this," Dave told her as he sobered. "You've certainly changed my life. I've been lonely for a long time now. I had plenty business associates, acquaintances and even a few real friends, but they're only a few that actually know what I am."
"You're very rarely able to be yourself fully," Gemma said in an understanding tone. "You have to hide parts of yourself from most of the populace."
"So does any immortal," Dave agreed. "It can be hard not being able to be fully yourself, but now I have you and that'll make things easier. It's one reason I stay here on Devil's Island most of the time though, because here I can basically relax since the staff knows what I am. So shall we go announce our engagement to the staff?"
"Why not?" Gemma said, even as she took Dave's hand, which was dry, nice and warm.
The two of them walked out of the study hand-in-hand and immediately were seen by Mina the housekeeper who had helped Gemma so much.
"Mrs. Crawford just the woman I was looking for," Dave said.
"What can I do for you Mr. Rossi," Mina asked after a curtsey.
"Well, Mrs. Mina, you can spread the word that Miss Gemma has agreed to become my wife," Dave announced.
"This is great news!" Mina exclaimed giving Gemma a hug, which was accepted. "We were all hoping that would happen."
"Everyone was hoping this would happen?" Gemma asked confused. "Why?"
"Because we know Dave was lonely," Mina explained truthfully. "Being who he is he can't just marry anyone, but having a wife and eventually children..."
"Will certainly help banish the loneliness," Dave put in with a grin. "Spread the word Mrs. Mina to the rest of the staff."
"Can do," Mina said cheerfully. "If you need help planning the wedding you just let me know."
"Dave and I haven't talked about that yet, but when we do I'll let you know," Gemma said cordially smiling brightly.
~~~Dave and Gemma~~~