Subject: In Another Life---Part 1/?
Date: Tue, 5 Dec 2000 14:44:04 EST
From: SFryar@AOL.COM
To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU

This is a "Sara Louise" story which takes place during the present and came
about thanks to reading Christine Hunt's RickNick/GerNick story, "A Common
Need", Raven's "Knight School" posts concerning the "Dead Air" ep and
watching one "Outer Limits" episode too many, so naturally, there will be a
twist to the tale... <weg> The Usual Disclaimer Stuff applies, of course.

Permission freely granted to Mel to archive this at FKFanfic.com... and to
Stephanie K. at the ftp site. All others, please ask me first. Many thanks!

In Another Life by StephiLyn Fryar---Part 1/?
----

Sara Louise rubbed the back of her neck as she sat behind the huge desk that
Monday afternoon in late September. It was a quarter to four and her very
busy workday at the Sherbourne Library was about to come to an end.

*Oh, wow... What a day! Seemed like I was doing a million things at once,
but
it was great.* she thought as she stretched her arms and massaged the back
of
her neck once more to relax her muscles. *I loved every minute of it!*

It had been a full and hectic four hours in the children's section of the
library and she was looking forward to tomorrow evening when she started
working as a part-time volunteer worker at New Horizons, a youth counseling
center.

She had felt comfortable working with children and young people for the past
two years and she wanted to continue to reach out to others and help them as
much as she could. Isolation was the deadliest enemy that one could have,
and
she was keenly aware that it was too easy to fall into it.  As she recalled
her last visit to her doctor, she knew that he'd have a lot to say about
what
she wanted to do, but she hoped that he'd see the wisdom of allowing her to
lead as normal a life as possible.
---

When she had visited the Shoreland Clinic two weeks earlier for her regular
check-up, she informed her doctor, Gregory Spencer, that she was going to
take on the responsibility of a second part-time job. If she was hoping that
he'd be delighted that she was going about making a normal life for herself,
she was mistaken. He wasn't too pleased that she was taking on what he
believed to be a heavy workload, and his reaction to her news wasn't exactly
what she had expected.

"Sara... you know that I didn't want you taking on this much work so soon."
he told her as she sat across the desk from him. "Remember that your spinal
nerve regenerator is powered by a bio-electric battery. Any stress that you
may undergo might overload it, and it may not function the way it should."

"The regenerator's been inside me for a while, and so far, I've had no
problems with walking or doing anything else." she replied as calmly as she
could. "It's just that... I hate sitting on the sidelines watching other
people enjoy their lives. Working as a part-time volunteer gets me out of
the
house and around other people. I know my limits, and I think that I'm a
pretty good judge of whether I'm doing too much or not."

"I understand your desire to do more with your life, but you've got to
understand that if you stress yourself out, you could do yourself more harm
than good." His tone was bordering on the patronizing, but Sara chose to
ignore it. "It's not that I doubt your judgement about how much you think
you
can handle, but there's a small risk of seizure connected with the device,
and judging by your medical history, you could be a good candidate for a
problem if you take on too much all at once."

"Look... just because I have psychic abilities doesn't mean that it should
be
a problem." Her voice was irritable, and her mood wasn't getting any better.
"In fact, my abilities shouldn't be able to affect the device at all."

"My concern is for your well-being as well as for the device. Your psychic
abilities can be unpredictable, and they really shouldn't be a factor here,
but I don't want to rule anything out. So far, everything looks good and I
just want to make sure that it stays that way. Your spinal column nerves
have
been completely regenerated and the device can be switched to a lower level
so your nerves will be able to stay healthy. I'll also check on the
bio-electric batteries to make sure that they're in working order."

"That'll be good." she said, giving him a slight smile. "Will I need to
undergo surgery for that? I'd hate to be stuck in the hospital again for
months on end. I feel like I'd be missing out on life again."

"You'd be in the hospital for overnight observation after the procedure's
done. It's a simple incision and you'd be out of the hospital the next day."

"That sounds reasonable. When did you want me to come in and have the
procedure done?"

"Well, I think that it can wait a while longer." he said pleasantly. "There
are three other patients who will have their devices checked on, and I'll be
busy with them. Perhaps we can schedule it for the end of next month?"

"That will be fine."  Her voice may have sounded calm, but she was still
upset with what he had told her. She didn't want to jeopardize her health,
but she was determined not to remain an isolated invalid.

As he checked his desktop appointment calendar for an open date, he asked
her
idly, "So... how's your personal life these days?"

"It's okay... I've got no complaints." she replied, the irritation fading
from her voice. "I try to meet people and make friends."  *Which is why I
want to take on this second job.* she thought as she looked at him.

"I'm pleased to hear that." After a couple of moments, he found what he had
been looking for. "All right... I can schedule you for October 27th at 1:30
pm. Is that fine with you?"

"Yes, it's fine. Should I bring anything with me, like pajamas and
tolietries?" she asked.

"Well, you can bring a pair of pajamas with you. I know that you don't like
those hospital gowns. Neither do I. They give you so little privacy." She
noted a twinkle in his eye as he spoke, and she smiled warmly. "So, we're
all
set, then. October 27th at 1:30 pm, and you'll be going to Harbourside
Memorial Hospital for the procedure." He wrote everything down on a piece of
paper and handed it to Sara. "I look forward to seeing you there."

"Thanks." She took the piece of paper, folded it and placed it in her purse.
"So, I'll see you on the 27th."

"Excellent.  I look forward to seeing you then. Goodbye, Sara. Take good
care
of yourself." They got up from their seats and he walked her to his office
door.

"I will.  Bye, Doctor." She left the clinic and went home, still upset about
what he had told her about her workload. She believed that she could handle
the job of being a youth counselor, and she was determined to do well.

*I can handle it... I know that I can.* she thought as she got ready for
bed.
*I just hope that Nick won't get too upset when I tell him about working at
New Horizons in a couple of weeks. He might not be too thrilled that I'll be
working a couple of evenings a week.* A wry smile crossed her lips as she
climbed into bed and snuggled underneath the covers. *I love it when he
worries about me. He's so sweet...*

As she drifted off to sleep that night, a vague thought about leading a
different kind of life flickered across her mind, but she paid little
attention to it. She believed that the life that she was now living was the
best life that she could possibly have.

*I love my life, and it couldn't be any better...* she thought as sleep
wrapped itself around her. *What other life could give me what I want? I
have
a job I enjoy, in spite of my doctor's complaints... good friends who care
about me... and a man that I love with all my heart. I have a pretty good
life... and there's nothing else that could compare...*
----

As Sara got up from her desk to get ready to go home, she felt a wave of
dizziness come crashing down upon her. The room spun around, and she felt
overwhelmed and helpless as time seemed to slow down and stretch. She
clutched her purse and tried to walk, but something was pulling at her,
dragging her down into a shimmering whirlpool of brilliant light.

"Ohhhhhhhhhh..." she moaned as she placed her hand on the back of her neck,
and managed to take a few steps away from the desk before she stumbled
forward and plunged through the whirlpool into darkness.

One of the other librarians, a dark-haired young woman, rushed to her side,
knelt beside her, gently cradled her in her arms and touching her cheek in
an
attempt to awaken her as she lay on the floor.

"Sara... Sara... are you all right? Sara? Can you hear me?" she asked her.
When she got no response, she called out, "Miss Clark! Miss Clark!
Something's wrong with Sara!"

Miss Clark came over to the desk where Sara was lying, while the other
librarian stayed beside her. After she checked Sara's pulse, she looked at
the young woman and said, "Gail... call an ambulance! Hurry!" She remained
at
Sara's side, holding her hand and making sure that she was still breathing.

Gail came back to Miss Clark's side, and a worried look was on her face.
"The
paramedics will be here in a few minutes." she told her. "Will Sara be all
right?"

"I hope so." she replied as she held Sara's hand, hoping that she would
regain conciousness soon. "I think that one of us should go with her to the
hospital, and when we find out what's going on, I can get in touch with
Doctor Lambert."

"I'll get my car and follow the ambulance, if I can." Gail said, as the
ambulance siren grew louder as it neared the library. "She's been such a
good
friend and a hard worker, and I'd hate to have anything happen to her."

"You go with her, then. I'll make sure that I credit your time." Miss Clark
told her as the paramedics entered the library and headed over toward the
children's section. "Be sure to call me as soon as you get to the hospital."

"I will..." Gail got her purse from the desk drawer and they moved out of
the
way so the paramedics could work on Sara.

"We'll have her stabilized soon, and she'll be taken to a nearby hospital."
one of the paramedics told her. "What happened?"

"She was getting ready to go home, when she stumbled forward and blacked
out.
I also remember that she was rubbing the back of her neck just before it
happened. I thought that she was tired and I didn't think much of it." Gail
said, a worried look on her face. "I hope that she'll be all right."

"Me, too." Miss Clark added, looking just as worried and nervous as Gail
was.

The paramedic team got Sara stabilized enough to carry her to the waiting
ambulance. She was put on a strecher and wheeled out of the library and put
her inside the ambulance.

As soon as the ambulance left the library, Gail got into her car and
followed
the ambulance's route as best as she could. When she arrived at Harbourside
Memorial Hosptial, she went over to the pay phone near the waiting room and
called Miss Clark, telling her what sketchy information she could get from
the attending physician on duty in the emergency room.

"Thanks, Gail. I appreciate it." Miss Clark told her. "I want you to stay
there until I get in touch with Doctor Lambert."

"Sure. I'll stay here until she arrives." Gail said, as she glanced back at
the nurse's station and noted a flurry of activity. "I'll be sure to call
you
if anything happens."

"Thanks. Talk to you later. Bye." Miss Clark hung up the phone, waited a
couple of seconds and then, she dialed Natalie Lambert's number.
---

Natalie had just finished feeding Sydney, and was in the process of getting
ready to go to work when the phone rang. She had been fielding several
annoying sales calls from home improvement companies for most of the
morning,
and if this was another sales call, she was all set to give the salesman a
piece of her mind.

"Hello..." she said.

"Is this Doctor Natalie Lambert?" the woman's voice said hesitantly.

"Yes, it is. Who's this?" Natalie was wary, but she wanted to know who
wanted
to talk to her.

"I'm Jane Clark, and I'm the head librarian at the Sherbourne Library. Your
friend, Sara McClendon, collapsed this afternoon and she had to be taken to
the hospital." she said, a note of worry in her voice. "We're not sure what
happened, but I wanted you to know about it, since she listed you as one of
her emergency contacts."

Natalie's heart plunged to her feet when she heard the news. "Do you know
what hospital she's at?" she asked her.

"She's at Harbourside Memorial. Gail Johnson's already there, and she's
waiting for you."

"Thanks, Ms. Clark. I'm on my way."

"You're welcome, Doctor. Let me know if she'll be all right. She's been such
a good worker during the last three years, and the kids love her." Jane
said,
close to tears. "I'd hate to lose her."

"I'd hate to lose her, too. I'll be sure to let you know if anything
happens.
Talk to you soon.  Bye."

"Goodbye, Doctor."

Natalie hung up the phone, grabbed her purse and car keys, and mumbled a
quick 'goodbye' to Sydney. She hurried out of her apartment and got into her
car as the late afternoon shadows began to lengthen. As she drove north on
Don Valley Parkway, her mind was a storm of emotions. During the last couple
of years, she had come to know and like Sara, and the news of her
hospitalization was frightening. However, the one thing that she dreaded
most
was that she'd have to tell Nick that Sara was in the hospital.

She knew that he had been seeing her for the past three years, and she had
to
admit that she was a stabilizing influence in his life. Nick seemed happier
and more positive than he had been in a long time, and she was pleased when
he ate a small piece of candy a week ago, and was able to keep it down.

*Sara has helped Nick in a lot of ways that I couldn't have. She's been
there
to help him through those times when he seemed to give up hope... and he's
been much more cooperative when it comes to medical testing because of her
influence.* Natalie thought as she made the turnoff onto Sheppard Avenue
East. *I don't know what I'd do if it hadn't been for her help in dealing
with Nick. What will I do if something happened to her... and what will Nick
do if something happened to her?*

The drive to the hospital seemed to go on forever, and as Natalie got closer
to the hospital, the fear that something truly terrible had happened to Sara
gnawed at her mind. She didn't want to lose someone who had become important
to her, and who had shown her an amazing world outside the Medical
Examiner's
office.

Natalie felt more comfortable with herself and no longer felt as isolated as
she once did. She remembered the times when they would go to lunch and have
a
great time laughing and talking, as well as those Saturday nights when
they'd
get together at Sara's apartment, watching movies, eating popcorn and
getting
away from the world. The bond between them still had its' moments of
fragility, but, in an odd twist, that fragility only served to strengthen
their friendship. The irony of it wasn't lost on either of them, and Natalie
was grateful for Sara's friendship.

*Dear God... if You're out there... please don't let Sara die.* Natalie
thought as her trip toward the hospital was about to come to an end. *She
means a lot to me... and to Nick. Please, don't let her die. I hate to think
what will happen to Nick if she were to die. He might backslide or try to
take his own life, and we'd be right back where we started from. I don't
want
to go through this again.*

---
End of "In Another Life''---Part 1/?
SFryar@aol.com
Copyright, September/October, 2000

Subject: In Another Life---Part 2/?
Date: Wed, 6 Dec 2000 15:45:03 EST
From: SFryar@AOL.COM
To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU

A reference to my stories, "Shadows From The Past" and "Dancing In The
Shadows'' is here.

In Another Life by StephiLyn Fryar---Part 2/?
----

Natalie saw the looming gray and white edifice of  the hospital as she
approached the corner of Sheppard Avenue East and Markham Road. The memory
of
the time that she had spent at Harbourside Memorial five years ago suddenly
came to her mind, and she did her best to dismiss it. The memories were
vague, yet disturbing enough to make her nervous, and she knew that she'd
have to keep her cool. Her concern was for Sara's well-being and she wasn't
about to let her own memories of what happened to her five years earlier
deter her from finding out what was going on with the woman that she had
come
to know as her friend.

She parked her car in the parking lot of the hospital, and hurried inside
just as the late afternoon shadows were beginning to lengthen. She went to
the admissions desk to ask about Sara Louise. The receptionist told her that
Sara's doctor was already there, and that she could speak to him.
---

"Gregory Spencer is Sara's doctor?" Natalie asked the receptionist, her
voice
holding a note of disbelief. "Is he here?"

"Yes, he's here, and he wants to speak with you." the receptionist said.
"He's on the fifth floor."

"Thanks. I appreciate it." Natalie said to her. As she turned to walk toward
the elevator, a dark-haired young woman left her seat in the waiting room
and
approached her nervously.

"Are you Doctor Lambert?" she asked, a look of worry on her face.

"Yes, I am." she replied, giving her a comforting smile as they stood in
front of the bank of elevators. "Are you one of Sara's co-workers?"

"Yes. I'm Gail. We work in the children's library." She looked a bit
nervous,
but Natalie noted that she was a little more relaxed than she had been when
she first approached her. "She's the best volunteer we've had in a long
time.
Do you know what's wrong with her? The doctors won't tell me anything, and
I'm getting scared." Her voice cracked as she spoke and she was close to
tears as she clutched her purse nervously.

"Well, I'm going to find out what's going on, and I'll be sure to let you
know." Natalie said, in an attempt to reassure her.

"Thank you. She's a good friend, and I'd hate to see anything happen to
her."

"So do I..."

There was a soft chime, and the elevator door opened. She got ready to step
inside when Gail said, "I'll wait for you to come back and tell me about
Sara, then I can tell Miss Clark and the others about what happened."

"I'll be sure to do that...." Natalie said as the door slowly closed and
whisked her up to the fifth floor.
---

As the elevator took her to the fifth floor, Natalie remembered reading
about
Gregory Spencer in the North American Medical Journal, and she was impressed
with the work that he had done in regenerating damaged nerves, especially
spinal nerves, giving people who might not have been able to walk normally,
the ability to walk again.

*He's well-known for his work in micro-miniature medical devices, but I
didn't think that he'd be treating Sara with one of those devices.* she
thought. *I'm wondering what he might have done to her that would have put
her in the hospital?*

She got off at the fifth floor and headed toward the nurse's station. As she
approached it, a tall man, with dark brown hair and wearing a pair of gold
wire-rimmed glasses came toward her. The look on his face was friendly, but
concern could be seen in his eyes.

"You must be Doctor Natalie Lambert." he said as he came toward her, his
hand
extended in greeting. "I'm Gregory Spencer."

"I'm pleased to meet you." she said as she shook his hand. "I've been
reading
a lot about you in some of the medical journals. You've developed quite a
reputation with micro-miniature medical devices." After a brief pause, she
said, "I've been told that you're Sara McClendon's doctor, and I'm curious
about what's happened to her. I was told that she collapsed at the library
earlier this afternoon. What's going on?"

He sighed and looked at Natalie. He knew that she was a friend of Sara's,
and
he hesitated to tell her about what had happened, but he knew that she had
to
be told about what was going on.

"I had a spinal nerve regenerator implanted in her seven years ago when she
was in an automobile accident.'' he said as they stood in the corridor near
Sara's hospital room. "I told her that if she stressed herself out, that the
bio-electric battery might malfunction and that she could have a seizure."

"'Bio-electric battery'?  What's that?" she wondered.

"It's a battery that's powered by the body's own electrical system." he
replied as they walked toward room 501 where Sara was resting. "It's much
easier for the body to power a device rather than to risk introducing a
chemically-based power source into the human body. It lowers the risk of
potential chemical reactions in case something goes wrong."

"Oh, yes... I remember reading about that in the 'North American Medical
Journal' five years ago. Do you think that's what happened to her?" she
asked
him. "What's her condition now?"

"Yes, I do. I believe that she had a seizure which may have been caused by a
glitch in the bio-electric power system. She's stable, but..." He hesitated,
and Natalie was immediately suspicious that he wasn't telling her the truth.

"But what?" Natalie demanded. "Will she be all right?"

"She's in a coma. I checked the bio-electric power system an hour ago, and
so
far, it shows no sign of malfunction. I can't explain what happened to her
or
how it happened. I'll check the system again later on to see if there might
be something that I might have missed." There was a puzzled look on his face
as he spoke.

This wasn't what she wanted to hear, and she knew that Gail would be
heartbroken if she were to be told about it. Worse of all, if Nick were to
be
told about Sara's condition, she was worried about what he might do.

Natalie had to grasp at anything that would offer a shred of hope, so she
asked him a few more questions.

"Is the coma irreversible? Do you think that she'll be able to come out of
it? Do you think that she'll suffer any brain damage?"

"I don't believe that the coma is irreversable, Doctor Lambert, and I share
your concern about any potential brain damage." he told her. "I want her to
come out of it, too. I'm sorry that this happened. She was one of my star
patients, along with several others. Her device was functioning perfectly,
and she was able to walk normally just three weeks after the device was
implanted in her middle back. The device regenerates damaged nerves, and it
can give those patients with serious spinal nerve damage the ability to walk
again. If my test group was successful, I had hoped to introduce it within
the next six months. Sara's coma has set that timetable back a bit, but I'm
still hoping that she'll pull through."

He opened the door and they walked into the pale pastel-blue hospital room.
Sara was lying in bed, pale and quiet, an IV drip attached to her left arm,
while several electrodes were attached to her forehead in order to record
her
brain wave patterns. Natalie approached the bed and glanced up at the
monitor.

*So far, everything appears to be normal.* she thought.  As she continued
her
observation of Sara, she noticed that the silver bracelet that she always
wore wasn't on her left wrist.

"She was wearing a silver and gemstone bracelet on her left arm when she was
admitted." Natalie told him. "Where is it?"

"It had to be removed whe the IV drip was attached to her. Oddly enough, the
paramedics had trouble getting it off of her arm..." he replied as he
gingerly pulled it out of his shirt pocket, taking care to hold it by the
clasp. "One of the nurses said that it felt funny, so she gave it to me when
I got here."

'' 'Funny'? In what way?" she asked, curious about this new development.

"She said that it seemed to be electrically charged in order to repel anyone
who touched it." He chuckled softly. "Apparently, it didn't want to be
removed from her arm, and it gave a minor shock to anyone who tried to touch
it. The paramedics were able to remove it, but a couple of them got some
minor burns on their fingers; nothing serious, though. However, when the
bracelet was taken to the nurse's station for safekeeping, someone tried to
steal it, thinking that it was valuable. This happens sometimes, and I wish
that security was a little better around here.  Anyway, the man got a nasty
shock from the bracelet as he tried to leave the hospital with it, along
with
a serious burn on his right hand."

"That's amazing." she said as she took the bracelet from him and held it
between her thumb and forefinger. It looked harmless enough, but for it to
have shocked anyone who came in contact with it was certainly unusual. "It
shocked or burned anyone else who tried to remove it from Sara's arm or when
it was stolen, but it hasn't shocked you or me."

"I noticed that. Perhaps it's able to tell the difference between someone
that Sara knows and doesn't know. This sounds so weird, doesn't it? Like it
had a personality of its' own... " There was a faint note of humor in his
voice. "It's certainly unusual, and it could be a side-effect of the
bio-electric power system."

"Yes... I'd call it 'unusual', to say the least." As Natalie looked at the
back of the bracelet, she noticed an inscription written in an elegant
script. The inscription read, 'Sara - Forever Dearest - Nick. 4/16/'97'. For
a moment, the painful emotions of her breakup with Nick rushed back into her
mind, and there was a part of her that wanted to destroy the bracelet, but
she knew that destroying it wouldn't help her, Nick or Sara. She slipped the
bracelet into her jacket pocket and sighed softly. Nick would have to be
told
about Sara, and she didn't relish being the bearer of potentially bad news.

"Is something wrong, Doctor Lambert?" he asked her.

"No, there's nothing wrong.'' she replied, her tone of voice calm and
business-like. "I'm going to stay here for a while. There are some people
who
need to know about what happened. They won't be too happy to hear it,
though,
and it might be a good idea if I were here when they arrive."

"I understand. I hope that she'll be able to snap out of it. It's only a
matter of time." They left the room and went back to the elevators. As they
descended to the first floor, Natalie glanced at her watch. It was 6:30 p.m.
Nick would be awake by now and she dreaded having to make the call.

"I'm going to be here for as long as I can," Gregory told her as they exited
the elevator, "just in case there's any change in her condition. We've come
too far in such a short time for me to lose her."

Gail had gotten up from her chair and saw Natalie talking to another doctor
as they left the elevator, and she came toward them, a look of concern on
her
face.

"Is Sara okay?  What's wrong? What happened?" she asked them nervously, as
she tried not to cry.

"Let's sit down and talk about this, shall we?" Natalie said as she led Gail
to a nearby chair in the waiting room, with Gregory following behind them.

---
End of "In Another Life''---Part 2/?
SFryar@aol.com
Copyright, September/October, 2000

Subject: In Another Life---Part 3/?
Date: Mon, 11 Dec 2000 13:03:30 EST
From: SFryar@AOL.COM
To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU

In Another Life by StephiLyn Fryar---Part 3/?
----

Natalie, Gregory and Gail walked back to the waiting room, and after they
sat
down, she peppered them with questions, in the hope that she'd have some
good
news to tell Miss Clark and the other librarians tomorrow afternoon.
---

"Will Sara regain conciousness soon? Do you think that she'll be okay? What
happened to her?"

"She had a device implanted near her spinal column that has helped her to
walk normally. I'm not sure what happened to cause her to collapse. She's
being monitored, and if there's any change in her condition, we'll know
about
it." Gregory told her quietly. "All we can do right now is wait and see what
happens. I'm hopeful that she'll come out of this, and that there won't be
any damage to her neurological system."

"I'm sorry that there are no easy answers to this, Gail." Natalie said, her
thoughts turning toward Nick and the phone call she dreaded making. "All we
can do is hope that she'll wake up soon. Would you excuse me, please? I've
got to make a phone call..." She got up from the chair and walked toward the
pay phone.

As she approached the phone, the walk seemed to get longer and the phone
seemed further away. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, in an
attempt to keep calm. After a few moments, she opened her eyes and took the
last steps toward the phone.

*Okay, Nat... you can do this.* she thought as she reached into her purse
and
took out some coins. *I just hope that Nick won't panic when I tell him
about
her.* She lifted the reciever, put the coins in the slot and dialed Nick's
number.
---

Nick had just finished his nightly meal of cow's blood when his phone rang.
He had already gotten dressed in a blue long sleeved shirt and blue denim
jeans, prepared to enjoy a well deserved night off from Metro Homicide.
Although he didn't have anything special planned for the evening, he had
hoped to drop by Sara's apartment to spend some time with her.

"Hello?" he said, after he picked up the phone and tossed his bottle in the
trash.

"Nick...  it's me." the voice at the other end said nervously.

He knew by Natalie's tone of voice that something wasn't right, and he felt
the chill of fear run through him. "Nat? What's the matter?"

"Sara...  Sara's in the hospital."

"What? What happened to her?" The news hit Nick with all of the force of a
hammerblow to the stomach and it took him a couple of minutes to recover
from
the shock. "When did it happen? Where is she?"

Natalie heard the fear in Nick's voice as he spoke, and she did her best to
answer his questions.

"She collapsed while she was at the library this afternoon." she told him.
"The doctors aren't sure what happened to her or how it happened. I'm at
Harbourside Memorial; that's where she was taken."

Nick clutched the phone tightly, listening carefully to what Natalie was
telling him. "Will she be all right?" he asked, hoping that he'd hear some
good news.

"They don't know yet." came the answer. "Right now, she's in stable
condition, but... they're not sure whether she'll regain conciousness. She's
in a coma."

When Nick heard that, it seemed as though the floor had dropped out from
under him, and he was plunged into darkness. This was the worst news that he
had heard in a long time, and the fear that swept through him threatened to
overwhelm him, but he had to keep calm. If he went into a vamped-out frenzy
now, it wouldn't do anyone much good, and he had to keep his wits about him.

After a moment's pause, Nick said, "I'll be right there."

"Are you sure about that? That may not be a good idea. Her doctor's not sure
whether she might regain conciousness any time soon..."

"Yes, I'm sure about that, Nat. I want to see her. I want to be with her."
Nick knew that he had to be at Sara's side, if only in the hope that her
condition would change and she might regain conciousness.  He also wanted to
know what had happened to her and to get some badly-needed answers about her
condition.

"All right." she said quietly. "I've been here for an half-hour or so. Are
you on duty tonight? I had been hearing about the roster changes that were
going on at the precinct, and I wasn't sure about your new schedule."

"I have a couple of nights off, so I can stay there for a while. It's
important that I'm there with her."

"I understand. She means a lot to so many people. I don't want anything to
happen to her... or to you."

Nick understood the concern in her voice and he sought to reassure her that
he'd be all right. "I'll be fine. Please don't worry. I just want to find
out
what's going on."

"Of course." Natalie felt a sense of relief when she heard him say that, but
she knew that Nick would be on edge because of his emotional state, and that
he would bear watching through the night.

"How long will you be able to stay there?" he wondered. "Will you be there
for most of the evening?"

"I can get Doctor Williams to cover for me tonight. I've been told that I've
been working too hard, and that I could use a break." she replied, a faint
note of amusement in her voice, as she remembered what Sara had told her
about her work schedule just a week earlier while they were having lunch at
Eaton Centre. The sudden appearance of that memory helped to lift her
spirits
a bit, and she was grateful for it.

"Thanks." he said quietly. "I'll be there shortly. Who else knows about
this?"

"Just you and Gail, one of Sara's co-workers. She was with her when she
collapsed this afternoon. She's worried about her, and so am I."

Nick sighed softly. "I'll tell Captain Reese about it only if Sara's
condition changes. I'll also let Tracy know, too." He paused before he spoke
again. "This isn't what I expected to hear."

"This was totally unexpected, Nick... and I'm sorry." Natalie's voice was
filled with genuine concern for his well-being, and she believed that if
they
were at the hospital, they might be able to talk and keep each other's
spirits up.

"I'll see you soon, Nat."

"I'll be in the waiting room, and I'll see you then.  Bye, Nick."

"Bye, Nat."

Nick hung up the phone, got his black duster from off of the coat rack,
slipped it on and left the loft. He got into the Caddy and made the long
drive to Harbourside Memorial Hospital.  As he drew near the hospital, the
feeling of fear that settled on him was like nothing that he had ever felt
in
over seven hundred years of life as a vampire. He had seen people die
before,
and he knew that he had been the cause of many of those deaths, but this was
different. Sara had been there for him when he had been at the lowest point
of his life, and he hoped that somehow, she would be able to recover...

---
End of "In Another Life''---Part 3/?
SFryar@aol.com
Copyright, September/October, 2000

Subject: In Another Life---Part 4/?
Date: Tue, 12 Dec 2000 14:05:27 EST
From: SFryar@AOL.COM
To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU

In Another Life by StephiLyn Fryar---Part 4/?
---

After Nick arrived at Harbourside Memorial Hospital and parked the Caddy in
the parking lot, he rushed into the waiting room, where Natalie and two
other
people were sitting and talking quietly.
---

"Nick!" Natalie said as she got up from her chair and approached him as he
entered the waiting room. "I'm so glad to see you!  Are you all right?"

"I'll be all right after I find out what happened to Sara." he replied after
he gave her a hug. "I need to know if she'll make a full recovery."

"I think that I can give you some answers to your questions, sir. I'm
Gregory
Spencer, Sara's doctor." he said, getting up from his seat and coming toward
them. "And you are?"

"Nick Knight, Metro Homicide." he replied as he clasped the doctor's hand
firmly. "I'm a friend of Sara's and I'd like to know what happened to her
this afternoon."

"I'll do my best to explain it to you, and I'll try not to use a lot of
medical 'jargon', Detective Knight." he said as he led him over to the
waiting area where Gail was patiently sitting.  When she saw them coming,
she
smiled.

"Hello... You must be Nick Knight. I'm Gail Johnson. I work with Sara in the
children's section of the Sherbourne Library." she said as she got up from
her seat and offered her hand to him in greeting.

"Yes, I am.  It's a pleasure to meet you." he said, taking her hand and
clasping it gently. "How did you know about me?"

"Sara's told me quite a bit about you, Detective Knight. She said that
you're
a very charming man... and handsome, too." She smiled, delighted to meet the
man that she had heard so much about. "I'm so glad to finally meet you."

"I'm glad to meet you as well. She often told me about her work as a
volunteer at the library and how she enjoyed working there." he said quietly
as they sat down in the waiting room. "She said that working with the kids
gave her a feeling of being alive and connected with other people." After a
moment of silence, he looked at Gregory and asked, "What's wrong with Sara
and will she be all right?"

Gregory told him about the device, and what he thought might have happened
to
Sara.  After he had finished his explanation, Nick wondered aloud, "When she
recovers, do you believe that she'll suffer any permanent brain damage?"

"I'm hopeful that she won't suffer any permanent brain damage, but it's hard
to say. All we can do is wait and see what happens. The next twelve hours
will be crucial. If she remains stable or she improves, there's a good
chance
that she'll make a full recovery. However... there's also a chance that her
condition may deteriorate and she may remain in a coma for quite a while."

As Nick listened carefully to what Gregory was telling him, his emotions
were
on a rollercoaster. There were no solid answers that could be given to his
questions, and he knew that he couldn't risk losing his temper and 'vamping
out' in front of Natalie and Gail.

"Then you don't know whether she'll be all right or not? I was hoping that
I'd be able to see her." Nick said as he struggled to hold the vampire in
check. "Even though you say that you haven't found anything wrong with the
device that would cause her to have a seizure and lapse into a coma."

"The spinal nerve regenerator was experimental, and it had been tested in
animals for five years before I made the decision to implant it in a human."
Gregory's tone was defensive, and he wasn't about to let someone discredit a
project that he had spent almost twenty years working on. "If the
regenerator
hadn't been implanted in her spine after her accident, Sara would be in a
wheelchair. It's because of the regenerator that she's able to walk."

He looked at Nick and saw the pain and worry in his eyes. "I know that you
want to see her, Detective, but it's not possible right now. She needs
constant monitoring, and having someone else present... might be a
disruption.  I hope that you'll understand. When her condition stabilizes,
she may be able to have visitors, but not right now."

"I simply want to see her, Doctor Spencer. " Nick gazed into his eyes as he
spoke, and even though he could have used his hypnotic power on him, he
chose
not to. There was too much of a risk in doing so, and he didn't want to
upset
Natalie any more than she already was. "She means a lot to me, and I don't
want to lose her."

"It's obvious that you care about her, Detective. I care about her, too. She
was doing well before this happened, and I want her to come out of this
alive
and unharmed." Gregory's voice was calm, but the emotion could be clearly
seen on his face. "We have to wait and see if there's any change in her
condition, and that could take a while. I'm going to go up to Sara's room
and
check on her. I'll be back in a few minutes." He got up and left the waiting
room.

Natalie held onto Nick's arm in an attempt to restrain him from doing
something that might have given away his true nature. She knew that his
emotions were fluctuating wildly right now, and she had to make sure that he
didn't do something foolish at the wrong moment which would have put all of
them in jeopardy.

"Nick.... take it easy." she said, attempting to calm him. "He knows what
he's doing. Try not to get upset."

Nick looked at Natalie and replied, "I know that I shouldn't get upset, but
I
don't want to lose someone who's important to me." The look in his eyes was
one of pain and anguish, and she could clearly see it.

"Sara's important to all of us, Nick. I don't want to lose her, either.
She's
a good friend, and she's been a big help to both of us when we've really
needed it."

"I know that. She's someone special, and our lives would be poorer if she
were to die." he replied quietly. The vampire was calmed for now, but Nick
wasn't sure just how long he would remain that way.

Gail yawned a little and said, "I'm starting to get a little sleepy. Maybe I
should go home now. I already told Miss Clark about Sara's condition, and
she
may visit her tomorrow if her condition improves."

"If you're sleepy, it may not be a good idea for you to go home right away."
Natalie told her. "I'd hate to see you get into an accident because you fell
asleep behind the wheel. Have you had anything to eat yet? There's a
cafeteria here, and the food's pretty good."

"I could use a bite to eat right now. I haven't had anything since lunch."
she said. "Where's the cafeteria?"

"It's on the third floor. Would you like to join us, Nick?"

Nick was lost in thought and he didn't answer Natalie's question right away.

"What did you say, Nat?" He looked at her and tried to keep calm, but his
emotions were in termoil.

"I said, would you like to join us in the cafeteria?"

"That would be an excellent idea." He wanted to be in the company of others
at that moment, and being in the cafeteria might help him take his mind off
of Sara and her condition. "Let's go."

As the three of them made their way to the cafeteria, Gregory was in room
501, carefully checking Sara's vital signs and making sure that the spinal
nerve regenerator was still operational.
---

"Your brain waves appear to be normal; heart rate's stable, and the
regenerator seems to be working perfectly." he murmered as he checked the
EEG
machine and the EKG monitor. "I've double-checked everything, and I haven't
found a problem with the regenerator yet, so why are you in a coma?"

After he had finished checking on her, he looked at her and wondered, "Where
are you, Sara?  Where did you go... and when will you come back? If I lose
you... that would be disasterous for me... and everyone else connected with
this project. The regenerator can't fail. It can't fail! I've spent too many
years getting funding for it to fail now!"

He knew that if the spinal nerve regenerator failed, he'd have a lot to
answer for, and that his team would be paying the price along with him. He
was also painfully aware of the fact that failure wasn't an option when it
came to the lives that he held in his hands.

"I just hope that you and Jamie will recover...." he said, his voice barely
above a whisper. "If you don't... I'm going to make sure that everyone knows
the truth about this..."  He left the room, and went back downstairs,
knowing
that he'd be facing several people who'd want to have some answers about
what
was happening with their loved ones. He hoped that he'd be able to give them
the answers they sought.

---
End of "In Another Life''---Part 4/?
SFryar@aol.com
Copyright, September/October, 2000

Subject: In Another Life---Part 5/?
Date: Mon, 18 Dec 2000 01:11:21 EST
From: SFryar@AOL.COM
To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU

In Another Life by StephiLyn Fryar---Part 5/?
----

Meanwhile...
in a hospital room...
on a different day and in a different place...
---

Sara emerged from the whirlpool of brilliant light into darkness, surrounded
by a babble of voices and strange sounds. As she opened her eyes to focus on
what was happening around her, the images and sounds were fuzzy and unclear,
and she struggled to sit up.

"Uhmmmmmmm...  What?  What's going on here? Where am I?" she mumbled as the
images and sounds slowly resolved themselves into something more coherent.

"Doctor Cross...  She's coming around." a woman's voice said. "Looks like
she's come back to us."

"That's good news, Nurse Lambert." Doctor Cross said as he looked down at
Sara and gave her a pleasant smile. "Welcome back to the land of the living,
Ms. McClendon."

"Where am I?" she murmered as the fuzziness faded away and she was able to
get a better look at her surroundings. "What happened to me?"

"You gave us all quite a scare, young lady." came the smooth reply as Sara
noted that there was something familiar about Doctor Cross and the nurse who
stood next to him. "You collapsed in Mr. Knight's hotel suite early Sunday
morning and you were brought here."

"I did?" There was a puzzled look on her face, and she wondered what had
happened to her. She took a quick glance at her left arm and noticed that
the
silver and gemstone bracelet that she had always worn was gone.

"Yes. You had a nasty bump on your head, and you were unconscious for two
and
a half days. Mr. Knight and Mr. Brittington were very worried about you. In
fact, Mr. Knight wanted to cancel this week's concerts in order to be at
your
bedside, but his road manager was able to persuade him to perform. He said
something about 'the show must go on and you would have wanted it that
way'..."

"Oh..." She knew that something wasn't quite right about the situation, and
she wanted to know what was going on. "Uh... I know that this may sound like
a dumb question, Doctor Cross, but... where am I?"

"You're in Montreal and you're at Notre Dame de Merci Hospital." he replied
briskly as he took a look at her chart. "You suffered a mild concussion, and
your x-rays were negative, so we can rule out a fractured skull, but I'd
like
to run some tests on you just to be sure. All in all, though, you seem to be
just fine now."

As she looked at Doctor Cross, Sara couldn't get over the fact that he bore
a
striking resemblance to LaCroix. *LaCroix's a doctor?  This is too weird.*
she thought as she sat up in the bed. *And Natalie's a nurse? How in the
world did I get here?*

She knew that she had to ask a few more questions, but she wondered if she
could do it without feeling stupid. "You said that I was unconcious for two
and a half days. So, if I collapsed on Sunday, what's today?" she asked him.

"Today is Wednesday afternoon, Ms. McClendon." He tucked her chart into the
slot at the foot of her bed. "The hospital was in chaos when Mr. Knight
dropped by to see you last night after the concert. The nurses and orderlies
on duty were asking him for his autograph. He was gracious enough to sign
their albums and magazine covers, among other things... and I was able to
get
an autograph for my daughter, Diane. She's crazy about him. She's got all of
his albums, and his pictures are plastered all over her bedroom. Her
favorite
album is that new one... 'Revelation'."

"Really? That's very nice, Doctor. I'm glad that she likes it." She
deliberately kept her tone of voice as neutral as possible.

"Yes.  She says that he's so 'hot'. Now, she'll have something to show her
girlfriends." he chuckled softly. "Teenage girls and their idols..."

"I got his autograph, too." Nurse Lambert said, a smile on her face. "My
niece, Amy, will be so thrilled to have it. She wanted to see his concert
last night at the Molson Centre, but she had to participate in the Freshman
Science Fair at her school, so she couldn't go."

"I'm so sorry to hear that your niece couldn't attend Nick's concert last
night." Sara replied, still feeling a bit woozy. "I hope that she'll be
pleased with the autograph, though."

"I think that she will." Nurse Lambert gave her a broad smile.

Doctor Cross checked his watch and said, "I've got a couple of other
patients
to check on, so I'll see you a little later, Ms. McClendon."  He left the
room, while Nurse Lambert finished checking on Sara's IV.

"Well, looks like you'll be all right, Ms. McClendon." she told her. "If all
goes well, you'll be released from the hospital sometime tomorrow, after
Doctor Cross runs some tests on you. He'll be back to take you to the
examining room in a few minutes. If you need anything, don't hesitate to
call
me."

"Thank you.  Wait... Was I wearing a bracelet when I came in here?" she
asked
the nurse. "It was silver with gemstones on it."

"I was here when you were admitted on Sunday morning, and I don't recall
seeing you wearing a silver and gemstone bracelet. I'm sorry."

"Okay, I just wondered. Thanks..." Sara said quietly as Nurse Lambert left
the room. Her thoughts were jumbled as she tried to sort out what was going
on. She knew that things didn't seem to be making sense, and she needed to
figure out how she got here and if there was a way for her to get back to
where she belonged.

*Let's see...* she thought as she tried to relax and take stock of her
surroundings. *I'm in Montreal, without a clue as to how I got here.
LaCroix's a doctor, and he's got a teenage daughter named Diane. Natalie's a
nurse and Nick's a rock-and-roll star. I know that he can play the piano,
but
I've never known him to play rock music before...* A knock on the door
interrupted her thoughts. "Who is it?"

"It's Jack..." came the reply as a man with short dark curly hair and a
pleasant smile opened the door and peered inside her room. "Can I talk to
you? I promise that it won't take long."

"Uhm...  sure.  Come on in."

Jack entered the room, and eased his slender frame down in the chair beside
her. He gave the appearance of having had one cup of hospital coffee too
many, and because of that, he was a bundle of nervous energy. He took off
his
silver wire-rimmed glasses and slipped them into his jacket pocket.

"So... how are you doing, kiddo?" he said, grinning at her with all of the
charm and slickness of a hungry shark. "You feeling all right?"

"I'm okay, Jack. I feel a little woozy and tired, though." she said,
wondering why her first impression of him was less than pleasant.

"I'm glad to hear that. Nick's been worried sick about you ever since you
fainted Sunday. I had to get him to go on with the concerts, even though he
wanted to be with you at the hospital. We couldn't afford to lose those
dates
at the Molson Centre. They'd been sold out for over three months."

"Well...  how did it go?" Sara had to put together the pieces of the life
that she found herself in, and she knew that if she asked the right
questions, she would get some answers about what was going on.

"It was standing room only for all three concerts!" he crowed. "Nick knows
how to pull in the crowd. Each concert lasted almost three hours, with two
encores. The only bad part was that you weren't there to see them. Nick was
hoping that you'd recover in time to catch his last show last night; it was
the best one he's done since the tour started."

"Tour?" she said, a puzzled look on her face. "How long have we been on
tour?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"It seems like we've been on the road forever." she said hastily. "When
you're constantly on the move, going from one city to another, you can lose
track of time too easily."

"I understand, hon. We've been on the "Revelation" world tour for eight
months. After we finish the North American leg in Toronto this weekend,
we'll
finish up in Europe."

"Really?  It seems like we've been on the road a lot longer than that." She
shifted uncomfortably in the bed. "Eight months, huh."

"Yes... and it's been a rousing success so far. Nick's never sounded better,
and his face is plastered on the cover of every magazine that teenage girls
buy, from YM to Teen People. His music videos are being shown on all of the
video music channels, especially MTV... and all of his albums are selling
well. In fact, I've heard that "Revelation" will go double platinum on
Friday
and the label may have something special planned to commemorate it.."
Although Jack sounded enthusiastic, there was a note of concern in his
voice,
and Sara picked up on it immediately. ''We've got something good going, and
I
want to keep it going for as long as possible.''

"I'm glad to hear that, but... there's something that you're not telling me.
Is there something else going on that I need to know about?" She looked at
Jack, searching for a clue as to his concern.

"Yes, there is... but I'm not sure that you'd want to hear about it now.
I'll
wait for another time to talk to you about it."

"I do want to hear about what's going on, and now is as good a time as any
to
bring it up." she demanded. "Tell me."

"It's about Nick... and his feeding habits." Jack said, sighing softly.
"He's
had two close calls in Sydney and Tokyo, and I can't afford to have him
feeding on his female fans backstage after the concert. He'd been trying to
eat small amounts of solid food, which is good, but lately, he's gone back
to
his old habits. It's not going to make us look good if he gets caught."

*He's got to be kidding!* Sara thought as she listened to Jack. *Nick's a
rock star and he's feeding on his fans?  This is unbelievable!*

"Oh... I see." She knew that if she were to react wildly to the news, it
might mess things up, so keeping calm was her best option. "So, what do you
want me to do about it?"

"Tell him that we've got a good supply of the bottled stuff, and if he's
hungry after the concert, he can drink that, or... he can try eating small
amounts of food instead of feeding on his fans. We've got to throw off any
suspicions." The tension in Jack's voice was clearly evident as he talked.
"The last thing we need is to have some nosy reporter catching him while
he's
feeding on some teenage girl backstage. If anyone else were to discover what
Nick really is, we'd be in deep trouble."

"What makes you think that he'll listen to me?" she replied, folding her
hands demurely in her lap.

"He'd better listen to you, because it's obvious that he's not listening to
me!"  His voice was sharp with anger. "I can't afford to have everything
that
he's worked so hard for get thrown away, just because he's having problems
keeping the vampire under control. If the record company ever found out
about
his true nature, his career would come to a very quick end..."

"And so would yours, obviously..." Sara noted that Jack enjoyed the benefits
of working for Nick, as she looked at the gray designer suit that he was
wearing and his equally expensive gold watch.

"I've been his tour manager for the past four years, and I like the job. I'm
not about to let him mess things up for me." Jack's tone was defensive, and
he knew that he had to convince Sara to help him before things got out of
hand. "Nick's the hottest act to come along in a long time, and I want his
career to have some staying power. I don't want to see him wind up as the
subject of a 'Where Are They Now?' show on VH-1 six months from now. He's
got
the talent to keep his musical career going, but I don't want him to screw
it
up!"

"Naturally," she said coolly, "and you think that I can keep him from
feeding
on his adoring female fans and get him to stick to either the bottled stuff
or solid food."

"Yes, I know that you can. After all, you're the one who inspired him to get
into the business, and you should be able to use your influence to get him
to
leave those girls alone." he told her. "We can't afford another close call.
I
don't think that the record company's going to be prepared for the lawsuits
and wild gossip that would come if a reporter from Rolling Stone were to
wander backstage and find out something that he shouldn't know about."

Before Sara could answer, Doctor Cross entered the room. "Mr. Brittington, I
hate to cut your visit short, but I need to run some tests on Ms. McClendon
before she can be released." he said pleasantly.

"Okay. It's time for me to get back to the hotel. I'll see you tomorrow,
Sara. Goodbye, Doctor Cross."

"Bye... Jack." she said as she watched him leave her room. After he had
gone,
she turned her attention to Doctor Cross. "What kind of tests will you be
running on me?"

"I want to run a CAT scan on you, take some blood samples, and give you a
general check-up." He looked at her forehead and smiled. "The bump on your
head is going down rather nicely. In a day or so, you won't notice that it's
there."

"That's good news. I wondered if the swelling would start to go down." She
touched her forehead gingerly and felt the bump just above her left eye. "So
what do you think happened to me? I don't remember too much about what
happened before I collapsed."

"Well, so far, everything seems to point to exhaustion and dehydration. You
were on the road for quite a few months, and with all of that traveling that
you've done; the odd hours and long flights, exhaustion can catch up with
you
rather quickly. You've also had a less-than-regular meal schedule while on
the road, which didn't help you, either. Let's get you to the examination
room.  Nurse Lambert's waiting for us."

"Okay. Do you think that I still need the IV needle?"  Sara asked him as she
got out of the bed slowly, taking care to make sure the needle didn't come
popping out of her left arm.

"I don't think that it will be necessary." He removed the IV needle from her
arm and took care to dispose of it in the biohazard trash bin. "Are you
ready?"

"Yes, I'm ready now, Doctor.." She put on a pair of paper slippers that were
on the floor near her bed. "Let's get this done and over with."

"You sound like you're about to face a firing squad." There was a note of
amusement in his voice. "It's not that bad."

"I'm sorry if it sounds like that." she said apologetically as they left her
room and walked down the hall toward the examination room. "I'll just be
glad
to go home."

"Well, your tests shouldn't take too long. You'll be back in your room in no
time."

"That's good."  As they walked, she noticed that she was wearing a hospital
gown that didn't show off too much of her, and she felt relieved. "How come
I'm not in a wheelchair?"

"For someone in your condition, you should start moving around a bit." he
told her. "Complete bed rest can often do more harm than good, and you
should
begin to slowly ease yourself back into being more active. That way, your
recovery time will be much faster, and you should be feeling better sooner."

"Makes sense." she replied with a smile. "I was about to go a little stir
crazy if I had to stay in bed another minute longer." They entered the
examination room where Nurse Lambert had gotten everything prepared. Sara
still felt nervous, but as she got used to her surroundings, she would be
able to figure out what was going on.

"Now...  please sit on the examination table, and we can begin..."
---

The examination didn't take as long as Sara had thought it would, and after
some blood was drawn and the CAT scan was completed, she was able to go back
to her room.

"I want to talk to you tomorrow about the test results before you leave."
Doctor Cross said as he stood in the doorway. "You've brought a lot of
excitement here."

Sara gave him a wan smile as she sat on the edge of the bed. "I hope that I
wasn't too much trouble."

"No, you weren't too much trouble at all. In fact, it was rather nice to
have
a celebrity here. Good afternoon, Ms. McClendon."

"Good afternoon, Doctor Cross." After he left, Sara checked her room to see
if there was a bathroom.

*There's got to be a bathroom in here.* she thought as she looked around.
*If
I'm connected to a celebrity, then I'd have to be in a private room. After
all, if I shared a room with someone else, all hell would break loose if
Nick
were to show up.*

She eventually found the bathroom, and the first thing she did was to look
into the mirror above the sink. As she gazed at the reflection, she thought
that she'd see someone else's face looking back at her, but the only face
that she saw belonged to her, which gave her a small measure of comfort.

*Well... at least I know that I'm still me.* she thought as she washed her
face, took a deep breath and tried to relax. *But that still doesn't explain
why I'm here and what's going on...* She dried her face with a towel and
climbed back into bed, nervously waiting for something else to happen. She
knew that she'd have to move carefully through this uncharted territory, and
she hoped that she'd be able to find her way home soon.

---
End of "In Another Life''---Part 5/?
SFryar@aol.com
Copyright, September/October, 2000

Subject: In Another Life---Part 6/?
Date: Tue, 19 Dec 2000 15:15:06 EST
From: SFryar@AOL.COM
To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU

A reference to a previous story, "Waiting In The Shadows", is here... along
with some mild profanity.

In Another Life by StephiLyn Fryar---Part 6/?
----

Monday evening in the real world...
---

Nick, Natalie and Gail were sitting at a table in the hospital cafeteria,
doing their best to keep their spirits up as they waited patiently for news
about Sara.
---

"I never knew that Sara had such good friends." Gail said after she took
another sip of her coffee and finished up the last fragment of her sandwich.
"I'm so glad that you're here with me. I don't think that I would have
wanted
to be here by myself. I like her a lot, and I hope that she'll be okay."

"It's a funny thing... but she's been there for each of us when we've had
some tough times." Natalie said thoughtfully. "I never thought that I'd ever
have a girlfriend that I could be with, but I enjoy being around her.  She's
so easy to talk to, and she's a good listener."

"I know." Nick agreed. "There's something about her that seems to bring out
the best in anyone who meets her."

"That's obvious, Nick." Natalie chuckled softly. "She's certainly done a lot
for you. You don't brood as much as you used to."  Just as Nick was about to
make a reply, Gregory entered the cafeteria and went over to their table.

"How's Sara doing, Doctor?" Gail asked him. "Has there been any change in
her
condition?"

"She's still stable, which is a good sign." he replied as he pulled up a
chair and sat down at the table with them. "If she continues to remain in
stable condition, then there's a good chance that she'll make a full
recovery, but it will take time."

This bit of news was hopeful, and Nick gave Gregory a genuine smile.

"When will you be able to tell us what really happened to her?" he asked the
doctor. "From what you've told me about the device, the bio-electric power
system should have been foolproof. Sara shouldn't have had a seizure."

"I know that you want some answers, Detective Knight, but I'm at a loss to
explain to you exactly what happened." Gregory replied. "The bio-electric
power system was designed to work with the body's own electrical system. It
was designed to adjust itself to the unique electrical properties of the
human body. Nothing should have been able to interfere with its' proper
functioning..." Before he could continue, his beeper went off. "Would you
folks excuse me? There's something that I need to check on."

"Of course..." Natalie told him. He nodded to all of them and left the
cafeteria.

"Wonder what that was about?" Gail wondered. "I hope nothing bad has
happened."

"I hope not, either." Nick replied, a concerned look on his face. "If her
condition deteriorates, someone will have to notify her family about what's
happened."

"That's not a job that I want to face, believe me." Natalie's tone was
sober,
and there was a sad look in her eyes. "I hate to be the one to tell them
what's happened to her."

"If you need any help with that, I'm available." Nick said, as he touched
her
hand gently.

"Thanks." Natalie was grateful for Nick's offer of assistance, and she
decided to ask him an obvious question. "Did Sara ever talk to you about her
family?"

"Of course. She enjoyed talking about her family quite often." Nick said,
trying to make sure that his reply didn't sound too hasty. Natalie knew that
he had left Toronto for a weekend getaway two months earlier, but he hadn't
told her that he had gone to Chicago to see Sara while she was there
visiting
her family. The last thing he wanted was to make an already emotional
situation even more intense, so he chose not to elaborate any further.

"I just wondered..." came Nat's mild reply. "She often told me about her
nieces and nephews. How many of them does she have now? I thought that she
had twelve. Has that number gone up?"

"Yes, it has... It's fourteen now." he said. "She told me that her older
brother and his wife had twin girls in July, her older sister and her
husband
are expecting their fourth child soon, and her eldest sister and her husband
had a baby girl last week."

"Oh, yes!" Gail said with a big grin. "She told me about that last Friday.
She had gone to Chicago to see her family a couple of months ago, and she
was
swamped by all of those kids!  She loved every minute of it, though. Now, I
understand why she wanted to take on that other job."

"What other job?" Nick wondered. "What will Sara be doing now?"

"Didn't she tell you?  She was going to work a couple of nights a week as a
part-time volunteer counselor at the New Horizons youth shelter over on
Yonge
near Bloor." Gail said to them. "She was going to work there on Tuesday and
Thursday nights. She was looking forward to working with the street kids and
helping them with their problems."

This piece of news disturbed Nick, but he tried not to let his displeasure
show. He understood Sara's desire to work as a children's library volunteer,
but that was during the day, when she'd have some measure of safety. For her
to work nights in a potentially dangerous situation was more than he wanted
to think about, and he hoped that after she recovered, he'd be able to talk
to her and get her to change her mind about taking the job.

"I always knew that she was the kind of person who wanted to help people,
but
I never thought she'd want to tackle something like that." Natalie's brow
was
furrowed in thought as she spoke.

"Sara always wanted a challenge." Gail replied. "She said that she hated
sitting on the sidelines while everyone else was out there living life to
the
full."

"That sounds like her." Nick said as he made sure that the vampire stayed
quiet. "I think that's one of the things that drew each of us to her. Her
vibrant spirit and delight in living had been a big help to me when I was at
my lowest point. I didn't think that I'd ever be able to be happy again
until
I met her. I don't want to lose someone who's become such a special part of
my life..."

"I understand." Natalie held his hand gently in a gesture of support. "Right
now, we have to wait and see what happens. Will you be all right?"

"I think so." Nick replied slowly. "The bad part about all of this is the
uncertainty. It can be very difficult."

"Of course. The waiting is always the hardest part." Natalie decided to
change the subject before Nick became depressed, and the vampire might have
an opportunity to take hold of him once more. "When the paramedics were
placing the IV on her arm, they had to remove her bracelet." She reached
into
her jacket pocket and carefully pulled out the silver and gemstone bracelet
and placed it in his hand. "Doctor Spencer told me that some rather unusual
things happened when they tried to take the bracelet off her wrist."

"Like what?" he asked as he looked at the bracelet.

"When someone tried to steal it, he got a nasty shock and a serious burn on
his right hand, and the paramedics got minor shocks when they tried to
remove
it from her arm. The electrical shocks weren't life threatening in either
case, but that bracelet didn't want to be removed from Sara's arm."

"Who gave you the bracelet?"

"Doctor Spencer did." she replied. "When the nurse on duty gave it to him,
neither one of them got shocked. It's definitely something curious, though.
So, what do you think about it, Nick?"

"I'm not exactly sure what I could tell you about it, Natalie. I've seen a
lot of weird things in my time, and this is definitely the weirdest thing
that I've ever seen." He slipped the bracelet into his jacket pocket and
concentrated on the matter at hand.

"Doctor Spencer thinks that the shock may be a side-effect of the
bio-electric power system." Natalie said, smiling slightly. "If that's the
case, then Sara's got a built-in personal security system."

"Well..." Gail giggled, "I'd hate to shock the wrong person at the wrong
time. That wouldn't be so good."

"No, it wouldn't be. He's got a lot riding on the regenerator. If Sara's
recovery is successful, he'll be able to announce his new medical
breakthrough in six months." Natalie replied. She was pleased that the
tension had eased a little between them, and she hoped that Gregory would
return soon with some good news.

"He seemed to be rather nervous while he was talking to us." Nick observed.

"Well, from what I've been reading lately, there are quite a few bio-tech
companies who've been heavy investors in the research and development of the
regenerator." Natalie continued. "It would be a shame if all the work that
he's done over the years were to go up in smoke. The exclusive patents alone
would be worth billions..."

"Yes, it would..." Nick said as some thoughts came to his mind.
---

In Room 501... that same night...
---

Gregory checked Sara's EEG monitor carefully, and what he was seeing on the
screen before him wasn't good.

"Your brain wave pattern has altered a bit, but your heart rate and
breathing
are still unchanged." he murmered as he lowered the power level of the
regenerator with a small remote-control device that resembled a hand-held
PDA. "What's going on with you, Sara? You and Jamie shouldn't be like this.
Both of you shouldn't be in comas."

Another one of his patients, Jamie Roberts, had been brought in the day
before, and he was in the same condition that Sara was in. Jamie's condition
had deteriorated during the past three hours, and he was worried that he
might not pull through. Gregory bit his lower lip nervously as he checked
Sara's vital signs to make sure that he didn't make any mistakes. Too much
was riding on the spinal nerve regenerator for it to fail now.

Jamie's spinal nerve regenerator had been working perfectly until Sunday
afternoon, when he collapsed at his home, and had to be rushed to the
hospital. Gregory was painfully aware that after he had to notify the family
about what had happened, he'd have to give them an explanation, and he
feared
that he wouldn't be able to come up with the right answers.

It wasn't a job that he wanted to take on, and dealing with the families
would be difficult enough. He was also aware that a Metro Homicide detective
had a close relationship with Sara, and if something were to go horribly
wrong, he'd be looking at serious charges against him; not to mention
intense
investigation by the medical boards of Canada and the U.S., the Patent
Offices of both countries, and several bio-technology companies which had
heavily invested in his project during the past eight years.

The fact that two people who had the regenerator implanted in them were in
comas was highly unusual, to say the least, and he hoped that both of them
would make a speedy recovery. He hoped that he'd be able to buy some time
and
get to the bottom of what was going on.

The thought that someone might want to sabotage the project had crossed his
mind, but he was reluctant to completely dismiss it. The other doctors and
medical technicians who had worked on the project with him were trustworthy,
and above suspicion; after all, he had worked with them for several years,
and he refused to believe that any of them would want to sabotage a project
that they had spent too many years developing.

Still, there were some questions that nagged at him, and he had to contact
the one person who might be able to give him some answers.

*I hope that he'll be willing to tell me what I need to know.* Gregory
thought as he finished his work. *And, he'd better tell me the truth. I
don't
want to be looking at lawsuits that could wipe me out.*

He also knew that Natalie would be asking more questions about the device
when he returned to the cafeteria, and whether it posed a danger to anyone
else. All he had to do was keep his cool until he could get in touch with
the
one who could answer his questions about what had gone wrong with his life's
work. After he had checked Sara's EEG monitor one last time, he left the
room, made the call to Jamie's family, then he headed to the cafeteria,
feeling like he could dive into a cup of strong black coffee.
----

When he entered the cafeteria, he saw the looks of concern on the faces of
Nick, Natalie and Gail. He sat at the table with them, and sighed deeply.

"So, is there any change in her condition?" Nick asked him.

"Well....  there's been an alteration in her brain wave pattern, but I'm
hopeful that it's nothing too serious." He wanted to give no sign that
anything was wrong. He couldn't allow his self-control to slip now.

"What kind of alteration?" Natalie asked him. "Is her brain still
functioning?"

"Yes, she's still able to breathe on her own and her heart's beating, but I
can't say for sure when she'll awaken from her coma. As for that brain wave
pattern alteration, I've checked on it before I came here and there's a
slight discrepancy, but I don't believe that it's anything too serious. I
think that it may be from the device." He knew that he was skirting around
the truth, but he felt that he didn't have much choice.

"Were you able to reset the regenerator to mask any interference that might
be coming from it?" Natalie wanted to find out as much as she could about
Sara's condition, not only to reassure herself, but to also calm Nick and
Gail's own fears and concerns.

"Yes, I was able to lower the intensity of the device by using a special
transmitter, and that should help. We won't know anything until tomorrow
morning." The look in his eyes was one of deep concern, and he decided not
to
tell them about the man who was admitted yesterday. He didn't want to create
panic or arouse the suspicions of Detective Knight or Doctor Lambert, and he
also wanted to make sure that Sara and Jamie's problems didn't cause any
problems as the time drew near for him to announce the development of the
spinal nerve regenerator.

"I have to make a couple of calls. I'll only be a minute." He quickly
excused
himself and headed toward the nurse's station. Nick noticed Gregory's abrupt
departure from the cafeteria, and his suspicions were immediately aroused.

"Something's not quite right about all of this, Nat." Nick said quietly.
"Doctor Spencer isn't giving us any real answers to our questions, and I'm
wondering if he's hiding something from us."

"Come on, Nick." Natalie said, her voice holding a note of disbelief.
"Gregory Spencer is a respected surgeon and expert in micro-miniature
medical
devices. Why would he want to put Sara's life in danger?"

"I can't quite put my finger on it yet, but there's something wrong, and I
want to find out what it is before something else happens." he replied
tersely.

"What you're saying doesn't make any sense, Detective." Gail said worriedly.
"Sara had been doing fine until she collapsed. Do you think that Doctor
Spencer wanted to hurt her?"

"No, but if he's got plans to announce the development of the device, then
Sara's coma would be a setback for him." Nick replied, the detective in him
coming to the forefront. "He doesn't appear to be a man who likes to lose."

"You may be right about that, but where's the evidence?" Natalie asked him.
"As long as he's calling the shots, all you've got are suspicions; nothing
more. If you've got something substantial, then I'd be willing to accept
your
suspicions, but if that's all you have, without any proof to back them up,
then I can't give you the benefit of the doubt."

"I know... which is why I need to find out more about what Doctor Spencer's
up to with his spinal nerve regenerator, but I don't want to arouse his
suspicions. The last thing that I want is for him to get away before I have
proof that he's done anything wrong." Nick's voice was calm, but Natalie and
Gail could see the intensity in his eyes. "I want to make sure that what
happened to Sara was either an accident or a glitch, and not something
else."

"And what would that 'something else' be, Nick?" Natalie asked him,
wondering
what he'd tell her.

"Attempted murder..." he replied.
---

Gregory was standing in the hallway, between the cafeteria and the nurse's
station, clutching his cell-phone, speaking in hushed tones and glancing
around nervously to make sure that his conversation wasn't overheard.

"You told me that the power cell wouldn't cause any problems... but that's
not what's happening!" he said, his voice filled with quiet fury. "I've got
two patients who aren't supposed to be in comas, but they are! What the hell
did you do to the bio-electric power cell formula?"

"You made a deal with me, Doctor Spencer...." the male voice on the other
end
replied calmly. "I provided you with the bio-electric power cells, and you
promised me the exclusive rights to manufacture the power cells and the
regenerator. I didn't do anything to the powwer cells. They were made to
your
specifications."

"I know, but I didn't expect two people to lapse into a coma without any
apparent cause! I can't afford to lose them. If I do, then the regenerator
will be a total failure, and I'll lose my reputation."

"You'll also lose a cool half-billion dollars in patents and exclusive
rights, you know..." the voice replied smoothly.

"If I go down, you'll go down, too, Kincaid! I won't go quietly. I'll make
sure that they know about you and your cost-cutting with the manufacture of
the bio-electric power cells."

"Is that a threat? I hope that it isn't, because you're not man enough to
follow through on it." Kincaid paused for a moment, then said, "You were all
too happy to accept my offer because the money tap was about to run dry on
your pet project, and you were about to be dismissed as a lunatic because
you
were promising a 'miracle cure' that was anything but."

"I didn't have much choice, did I?  My back was to the wall, and I had to
produce results as soon as possible." Gregory paused briefly. "No, what I
told you wasn't a threat. It's a promise. I've worked too long and too hard
to see my dream fail. I'm not going to let you stop me from saving Sara and
Jamie."

"Very well... You still have four other patients who are still healthy... so
far. If you don't make that announcement, I could stand to lose a lot, too."

"I want to show off six healthy people who are able to walk! Not four!"

"Four out of six isn't so bad, is it?" the man replied with cool amusement.
"Besides, 'collateral losses' are to be expected in medical research.  At
least you can say that Sara McClendon and Jamie Roberts gave their lives for
the advancement of medical science..."

"Damn you, you bastard!" Gregory hissed. "What about their families? They'll
sue me for everything that I've got. I could have criminal charges filed
against me, and I could lose my medical license!"

"The families will be easy to deal with... They'll be paid off quite
handsomely and we'll add the cost of the settlements to the price of the
regenerator, and you'll be absolved of any responsibility for their untimely
demise, so your license will be safe."

"I never should have gotten involved with you, Kincaid." Gregory's voice
sounded tired as he leaned against the hallway wall. "I knew that this was a
mistake."

"Hindsight is always 20/20, Doctor." Kincaid replied smoothly.  "When you
deal with the devil, you've got to pay the price... and I will make sure
that
you pay handsomely. I look forward to that announcement. Good night,
Doctor."

"Good night... and I'm not going to make any promises..."  He closed the
cell-phone and slipped it back into his pocket. He made his way down to the
first floor where a group of people were in the waiting room, looking
nervous
and anxious.

A plump, middle-aged woman with salt-and-pepper hair approached him, and
said, "Are you Doctor Spencer?  I'm Gloria Roberts, Jamie's mother."

"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Roberts." he replied as he put on his
professional demeanor.

"I'm sorry that I wasn't able to come here sooner. His landlady came to see
how he was doing yesterday and she found him on the living room floor." she
said. "Do you know what happened to him?"

"Well, Mrs. Roberts... I'll do my best to tell you as much as I can." he
said
as he led her back to the waiting room where the rest of the family were
waiting for them.

---
End of "In Another Life''---Part 6/?
SFryar@aol.com
Copyright, September/October, 2000

Subject: In Another Life---Part 7/?
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 01:28:06 EST
From: SFryar@AOL.COM
To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU

In Another Life by StephiLyn Fryar---Part 7/?
----

"You've got to be kidding, Nick..." Natalie said, still unwilling to accept
what she had just heard as they huddled around the cafeteria table. "What
makes you think that Doctor Spencer would want Sara murdered?"

"You told me that he wants to announce the development of the spinal nerve
regenerator within the next six months, right?" Nick said quietly. "If
anything goes wrong before he makes the announcement, then a lot of people
who've invested in it would be out of a lot of money. Therefore, if he's
able
to cover up any mistakes that come up before he makes the announcement, then
nobody would be the wiser. It would be chalked up as an 'accident', and he'd
still be able to make his announcement."

"I never thought about it that way." she said slowly, as she thought about
the articles that she had read about the regenerator in recent months. "I
had
been hearing rumors about glitches with the bio-electric power system, but I
thought that they were just rumors, without much substance. I had dismissed
them as smear tactics by some of his detractors... until he told me about
Sara's bracelet."

"Exactly. If her bracelet was able to injure the paramedics and a would-be
thief as he said it did, then we've got a serious problem. Who knows how
many
others have had that same device implanted in them and if they've had any
complications?"

"That's definitely something to consider. When I read the article about the
regenerator in the 'North American Medical Journal' six years ago, it
mentioned that six patients with various spinal injuries had had the device
implanted in them. We know now that Sara was one of them, but who else had
the regenerator implanted in them... and where are they?"

"That's what I want to find out, Nat." Nick replied. "If anyone else had the
device implanted in them at or after the same time that Sara did, who knows
what might happen to them if something were to go wrong..."
----

Early Wednesday evening...
in Sara's hospital room in Montreal...
---

Sara tried to relax and take in what Jack had told her, but the longer she
thought about it, the stranger things seemed to become.

*I still don't get it.* she thought. *Nick's feeding on people, even after
he
told me that he had sworn off of feeding on mortals. He told me that he
hadn't fed on a mortal in over a hundred years. So... why would he suddenly
go back on his word after all this time? This isn't making sense. What kind
of Nick Knight am I dealing with here?*  She glanced out the window and
noticed that the day had passed by quickly. The sun had just set, and she
wondered if there would be any more visitors coming to her room.

*Well... I need some answers as to what's going on, and it might be a good
idea for me to go along with things until I can find a way out of here.
Everything's happened so fast that it's difficult for me to remember
anything...* As she relaxed in the bed, there was a soft knock on the door.

"Yes.  Who is it?"

A dark-haired man with a pale complexion, who appeared to be in his
mid-to-late-thirties, poked his head into her room and said with a smile,
"Dinner's here, Sara. Do you mind having some company?"

"No, not at all. Come on in..." she replied nervously as he entered the
room,
with the orderly following behind him, carrying a large tray on a cart. He
took the tray from the cart and placed it on her bedside table. The orderly
left the room, leaving Sara alone with the stranger. She noted that he was
dressed in a black long-sleeved shirt with a banded collar, black denim
jeans
and black athletic shoes. His gray wool jacket was draped over his left arm,
and a silver watch was on his wrist.

"I was hoping that you'd be a little more enthusiastic about having me over
for dinner tonight, baby." he said, giving her a hug and a kiss on the
cheek.
"After all, it's not every night that a teen idol has dinner with you in
your
hospital room."

"I'm sorry." she said while she struggled to figure out who he was. "I'm
still recovering from all of those tests that were done on me earlier today.
So, what's for dinner?"

"Let's see..." He lifted up the tray cover and looked at her meal. "We've
got
steak, creamed spinach... a tossed green salad and a brownie for dessert.
Add
to that a glass of ice-cold root beer, and you've got it made. I've heard
that hospital food isn't always great, but this looks pretty good." He took
his place in the chair near her bed and leaned back in it comfortably,
draping the jacket over the arm of the chair.

Sara looked at him and said, "Uh... Who are you?"

He smiled and replied, "Sara, it's me... Nick. Doctor Cross mentioned that
you had a bump on your head after you collapsed, but he didn't tell me about
your amnesia."

"Nick? You're Nick Knight? No way!" As she looked at him, her mind reeled in
disbelief. This man who was sitting before her couldn't possibly be Nick
Knight. The Nick Knight that she knew was tall, with blond hair,
grayish-green eyes, a slight dimple in his chin, a warm, boyish smile, and a
gentle soothing voice.

The Nick Knight that she was looking at now was tall, with a slender build,
and on the lanky side, with longish black hair and hazel eyes. He was
soft-spoken and handsome enough to make any woman's heart flutter with
delight, and he appeared to be much more at ease with himself.

"Yes, I am..." he replied, giving her a dazzling smile. "Live and in
person..."

"I'm just surprised to see you here so soon after I woke up." she said,
attempting to smooth things over. "I'm sorry that I didn't recognize you
right away. So much has been going on, and I'm a bit tired from the tests
that have been run on me today."

"I understand. I visited your room last night after the concert, and you
were
still unconcious. I sat by your bedside for a while and I was hoping that
you'd wake up before we left for Toronto." His smile remained, but that did
little to calm her nerves. "I didn't think that you'd recover."

"Well, I did wake up, which should ease your mind. Jack came by to see me
this afternoon, and he told me about the concerts." she said after she
finished a forkful of salad. "He said that they were sell-outs, and that you
performed two encores at each show."

"It was great! You really should have been there!" He grinned broadly as he
relived the previous night's events for her. "I never felt so alive, and the
music never sounded better. I even tried out a couple of new songs that I
had
written while we were on the road, and the crowd really enjoyed them. If
they
go over well when we get to Toronto, I may record them for my next album."

"Okay. That sounds good." She had eaten most of her meal, put the cover back
on her tray, and now, she was ready to have a conversation with Nick Knight,
the rock and roll vampire, and to find out more about her new life. "Doctor
Cross told me that you caused quite a stir when you showed up at the
hospital
last night. You were signing autographs for the nurses and orderlies. How
did
you manage to see me after visiting hours were over?"

"Come on, Sara..." he said, as a grin crept across his lips. "You should
know
by now that 'visiting hours' don't mean much to a vampire."

"Especially a vampire who's also a rock star." she replied, looking at him
warily. "So, what brings you here?"

"You mean a lot to me, and I'm not going to finish my tour without you." He
held her hand tenderly. "You've been there for me when I didn't think that
my
music made much difference, or when I felt that I couldn't go on living.
You've been with me every step of the way, and I'm not about to lose you
now.
I want to make sure that you're going to be okay."

"I'll be okay, Nick. I'm sorry that I got sick and wound up in the
hospital."

"Perhaps all of this touring finally got to you." he said with a small sigh.
"We've been on the road for nearly eight months, going from Sydney and
Melbourne to Tokyo, with a brief stop in London, and then back to the U.S,
and through Canada. I know that our schedule's been really crazy, but at
least we've been able to see quite a bit of the world together, and that was
a big thrill for me. So, when do you think that you'll be able to leave?"

"Doctor Cross says that I may be released tomorrow. He ran some tests on me
earlier, and he wants to make sure that I'm okay before he releases me."
Sara sighed and closed her eyes. "The last thing that he wants is for me to
get sick again while I'm on the road."

"Naturally. You gave everyone a scare on Sunday, and I'm not in the mood to
go through another one, but, things are going to change..."

"In what way?" she asked him as she opened her eyes and looked at him.
Something was going on, and Sara wanted to be ready for anything that came
up.

"Well...  I've been thinking..." he said, looking at her face with an
intense
gaze. "We've been on the road for a while, and the fact that you got sick
makes me more than a little nervous. I want to make sure that you'll be in
good shape when we finish up the North American leg of the tour in Toronto.
Jack was able to keep the news of your hospitalization out of the papers,
and
he also made sure that the night shift hospital staff didn't talk about my
visit here last night."

Sara wasn't too sure what he meant by that, but apparently Jack had been a
busy man after last night's show. *Did he pay off the staff?* she wondered.
*Or did something else happen that I wasn't told about.* Her musings about
what really happened last night would have to wait until she could find out
more.

"And that means what?" Sara had a feeling that Nick had something on his
mind, and she wanted to know about it.

"It means that when I talk to Doctor Cross tonight, I want to know if you're
going to be all right. I don't like being lied to about anything, especially
when it comes to your well-being. If I find out that you need to get some
rest, then the tour will be adjusted to fit your needs."

"You're very thoughtful... Nick." She looked at him and tried to smile, but
the smile that she gave him was weak. He didn't seem to mind, though. He was
glad to see her awake and alive, which was all that mattered to him.

"You're the most important person in my life, Sara... and you always will
be."  His touch was cool, gentle and tender, and his voice was warm, but he
wasn't as comforting as the other Nick. "We've known each other for seven
years, and been together for five years, and I don't want to lose you after
everything that we've been through. Do you know that you're the kind of
woman
that inspires love songs?"

"Oh, come on. That's not true." Sara replied, more out of modesty than
anything else. "I hardly see myself as being an inspiration to you."

"It's true. You've been a big inspiration to me, especially those times when
I was ready to give up on everything and walk into the sunlight. I don't
want
to lose the one person who was able to do what I didn't think was possible."

"And what did I do for you?"

"You found my soul. I thought that I had lost it when I became a vampire,
until you found it." He got up from the chair, sat on the edge of the bed
and
took her in his arms. As he cradled her close to him, Sara noted that his
embrace felt familiar, yet there was something about it that made her feel
uncomfortable. She wanted to say something about how she felt, but she held
her peace.

"You saw the human being within the vampire, and that meant so much to me."
He stroked her hair tenderly as he held her close, and she wrapped her arms
around him gently. "You heard the music that was locked away inside my mind
and heart, and if it hadn't been for your belief in me and my music, we
wouldn't be here now."

"But, I'm in a hospital bed, so how can you say that?"

He smiled and gave her a gentle hug. "Well, you wouldn't be in a hospital
bed
in Montreal if you hadn't believed that I could give something back to the
world... after all the centuries that I had spent taking from it. I don't
know where I'd be if it hadn't been for you..." His slender hand clapsed
hers
as he lifted it up to his lips and kissed it gently. "I can't wait for you
to
get out of here, Sara."

"Why, Nick?"

"I want to lie beside you, hold you in my arms and sing to you, just like I
used to do."

"If all goes well, you'll be able to do that tomorrow." she replied, as he
reluctantly released her from his embrace. "When were you going to leave for
Toronto?"

"I hope that we'll be able to leave tomorrow night. The buses are ready to
go, and the set-up crew and equipment's been sent on ahead to the SkyDome."
he told her as he eased himself back into the chair. "We're just waiting for
you. If you're able to be discharged early, we can get a head start on rush
hour traffic, and possibly get there by Friday morning. The concerts are
scheduled for Saturday, Sunday and Monday nights."

"You'll be really busy then, won't you? I mean.... you've got sound checks
to
do with the band and the technical guys will be working on the lighting and
sound systems. You'll barely have a chance to rest..." Sara couldn't believe
what she was saying at that moment, and she wondered how she knew what she
knew.

"Yes, I'll be busy, but I plan on spending as much time with you as I
possibly can. I'm not going to neglect you, Sara. That's a promise..."  Just
as he was about to kiss her, there was a knock on the door.

"Who's there?" she asked as Nick moved away from her.

"I just wanted to see you before I checked out for the night." Doctor Cross
said genially as he opened the door, and entered the room. An orderly came
in
behind him to get Sara's food tray. "It's good to see you, Mr. Knight. You
know that visiting hours are almost over."

"I know, Doctor, but I wanted to see Sara before I went back to the hotel."
Nick replied as the orderly took the tray, gave him a smile and left the
room. "I also wanted to find out if she'll be released tomorrow. We've got a
busy schedule, and I've tried to keep it as flexible as possible to
accommodate her hospital stay, but I've got three concerts in Toronto coming
up, and I was hoping that she'd be well enough to be able to travel with
me."

Doctor Cross nodded and said, "Yes, of course. I wanted to speak with you
about that before you left, Mr. Knight."

A chill ran down through Sara's spine as she heard what he said. If she had
to stay in Montreal another day, it would throw Nick's tour schedule off,
and
she wasn't sure what would happen next.

"Perhaps we can talk about it now, Doctor Cross." he replied. "I hope that
it's nothing too serious."

"No, it's nothing serious, but there are some things that I'd like to
discuss
with you, if you didn't mind."

"Of course." Nick said. "Will you excuse us, Sara? I'd like to talk to
Doctor
Cross for a few moments."

"Sure...." she said as she watched them leave the room.  While they were
gone, Sara had a chance to think about what Nick had told her.

*Somehow, I've managed to inspire a vampire to become a rock star.* she
thought wryly. *Wonder how I did that, because I'm having trouble
remembering
if I've ever met him before. This life that I'm in is getting weirder by the
minute... and I'm able to fit into it a little too well. Maybe I'll be able
to get a few more answers on the way to Toronto. If I ever get out of here,
that is. All I can do now is to wait and see what happens next...* She took
a
deep breath and exhaled slowly, as she tried to relax and to keep calm.

---
End of "In Another Life''---Part 7/?
SFryar@aol.com
Copyright, October/November, 2000

Subject: In Another Life---Part 8/?
Date: Wed, 20 Dec 2000 01:28:18 EST
From: SFryar@AOL.COM
To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU

In Another Life by StephiLyn Fryar---Part 8/?
----

Sara drew a shaky breath as she wondered what Nick and Doctor Cross were
discussing. They had been out of the room for quite a while, and all sorts
of
thoughts were going through her mind. She knew that if she stayed here any
longer, she'd go crazy.

*I hope that I'll be able to leave here tomorrow.* she thought as she
glanced
nervously at the door. *If I don't get to Toronto, I might miss the clues
that may help me to get back home. I want my old life back...*  The image of
the handsome blond-haired man with the sweet, boyish smile came to her mind
and she knew that she had to find him somehow, some way.

The other Nick and Doctor Cross re-entered her room, but her relief was
tinged with worry. Both men looked pleasant at that moment, but there was
something else that she couldn't figure out. Something that she had to find
out about right now.

"Well..." she said, turning on the charm, "when do I get to leave, Doctor
Cross?"

"I'm pleased to say that you'll be discharged tomorrow afternoon, Ms.
McClendon." Doctor Cross said pleasantly. "You've got a clean bill of health
and you've passed all of the tests. So, I can't see why you shouldn't be
able
to continue the tour with Mr. Knight."

"That's good news, because I'm ready to hit the road, Doctor." Sara sounded
enthusiastic, and she hoped that she was able to convince Nick that she was
ready to continue the tour. "I can't wait to go to Toronto and do some
sightseeing with you, Nick."

"That's my girl!" Nick said, beaming. "So, what time will she be released,
Doctor?"

"The paperwork's already gone through, so she can be released early tomorrow
afternoon. I'd suggest that she should be picked up some time between noon
and one o'clock.."

Sara was relieved when she heard the news about her impending release, and
she was looking forward to discovering her new life as the girlfriend of
Nick
Knight, rock star and teen idol.

"Great!" Nick said. "Jack will come by and pick her up, and take her to the
hotel.  We'll be leaving early tomorrow evening, and we should make it to
Toronto by Friday morning."

"Very well.  It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Knight; Ms. McClendon..."
Doctor Cross extended his hand and Nick clasped it firmly. "Good night,
then..."

"Good night, Doctor..." Sara said as he left the room. Nick turned toward
her
and smiled. "So, what did he tell you, Nick? Is there anything that you have
to worry about?"

"He told me that you were suffering from exhaustion and a mild case of
dehydration, and that you're to take it easy. You were also a bit
disoriented
when you woke up, but he said that it was natural after you had been
unconscious for a while." he replied, picking up his jacket from the arm of
the chair and slipping it on. "I'm going to make sure that you get plenty of
rest and relaxation."

"How do you plan to do that?" she wondered. "You've still got those concert
dates in Europe..."

"Just leave that to me, okay?" He gave her a kiss on the forehead. "I've got
to go. Got some things to do before sunrise. See you tomorrow night. Bye,
Sara."

"Bye, Nick...." she said as he seemed to vanish from her sight. She closed
her eyes and tried to get some sleep. A long day was about to face her, and
she wanted to be ready for anything.
----

Monday night...
in the real world...
---

As Nick, Natalie and Gail continued talking in the cafeteria, a small group
of people had come in. Nick looked up and noticed that they were huddled at
a
table, looking confused and unsure about what was going on.  He also caught
a
glimpse of Doctor Spencer as he left the cafeteria once more.

"What's up?" Natalie whispered to him. "Anything going on that I need to
know
about?"

"Doctor Spencer was just in here, and he spoke to those people over at the
table near the front door." he replied as Natalie quickly glanced over at
the
table. "I think that we may have found another patient who's got the same
problem with the regenerator that Sara's having."

"Are you going to talk to them?"

"Yes, but I don't want to make them any more nervous and upset than they
already are. I need to know if my hunch about Doctor Spencer and the device
are right."

"Good luck." she whispered as Nick got up from the table and made his way
toward the other table where the people were sitting.

"Hello.." Nick said, smiling at them pleasantly. "I'm Nick Knight. Have you
been here very long?"

"Hello, Mr. Knight. I'm Gloria Roberts." the plump, middle-aged woman said,
returning his smile. "The family and I got here about a half-hour ago. My
son
collapsed yesterday afternoon. He's in a coma and we're wondering what
happened to him."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Nick pulled up a chair and sat at the table with
them. "What did the doctor tell you about his condition?"

"Not much. He'd been doing all right until he collapsed yesterday afternoon
at his apartment. Doctor Spencer tried to tell us what he thought might have
happened to him, but I didn't understand much of what he said."

"I see..." Nick said, choosing his words carefully. "What happened to your
son, Mrs. Roberts?  Had he been sick?"

"He had been in a car accident a few years ago.  His spinal cord was
injured,
and we were so afraid that he might never walk again." She wiped away a tear
as she spoke, while a young blonde-haired woman held her hand gently. "Just
when we were about to give up hope, Doctor Spencer said that he'd be able to
help Jamie walk again."

Nick listened carefully to what Gloria was saying and he wanted to make sure
that he missed nothing. "Jamie's your son?"

"Yes, he's my youngest boy. He was taking night classes at the university
eight years ago..  He was on his way home when he was struck by a car.
Someone was speeding and they didn't even see him when he was crossing the
street..." She choked back a sob before she continued. "It was awful! I
thought that Jamie had died when I saw him in the emergency room. The
doctors
were telling me so many things... I didn't want him to die..."

"That's all right, Mrs. Roberts." Nick said gently, looking at her and doing
his best to comfort her. "Can you tell me what else happened?"

"What scared me was that if he recovered from the accident, he'd never be
able to walk again." she said, wiping her tears away with a tissue.  "Doctor
Spencer said that he had a device that might be able to help him walk again,
and he wanted to implant it in Jamie. He called it a 'spinal nerve
regenerator'."

"You gave him your permission to perform the surgery, Mrs. Roberts?"

"Yes. His spine didn't suffer that much damage from the accident, even
though
it looked much worse than it actually was, so he would be a good candidate
for the surgery. I had hoped that the regenerator would help him to walk,
and
it did. Three weeks after surgery, he was able to take his first steps. I
was
so happy..."

"And he hadn't had any problems until Sunday?" Nick asked her.

"Absolutely not! He was back to his old self in less than three months, and
he hadn't had any problems for almost eight years until he collapsed
yesterday afternoon.  He just had to go back to Doctor Spencer for regular
check-ups every three months."

"I see..." Nick said as an idea formed in his mind.

"Are you here to see someone?" she asked him.

"Yes, a friend of mine collapsed earlier this afternoon, and my friends and
I
are hoping that she'll be all right."

"What happened to her?"

"I don't know.  So far, Doctor Spencer hasn't been able to give us any
answers yet."

"He's your friend's doctor, too?" she said, her eyebrows raised in mild
surprise. "That's interesting."

"What's interesting, Mrs. Roberts?"

"After Jamie had his surgery, Doctor Spencer told me that he had implanted
that nerve regenerator in five other people. He hoped that if it worked well
in the patients that had had the surgery, others would be able to benefit
from it, too.. Maybe your friend may have had the same kind of surgery that
Jamie had.  Was she in a car accident, too?"

"Yes, she was..." Nick said, "and she also had the same kind of surgery that
your son had."

"I hope that she'll be all right, Mr. Knight." She gave him a warm smile as
he got up to leave. "Will you be staying here long?"

"I'll be here for a while if you need to talk to me. There's something that
I
want to talk to my friends about. I hope that I'll be able to talk to you
later, Mrs. Roberts."

"Thanks for letting me talk about this. It's helping me to feel a little
better. I hope that we'll be hearing some good news soon."

"You're welcome, and so do I."

Gloria smiled at Nick as he left, then she turned her attention back to her
family and tried to comfort them.

Nick went back to the table where Natalie and Gail waited patiently for him.

"So, what did you find out?" Natalie asked him after he was seated at the
table.

"Turns out that there's someone who also had the regenerator implanted in
him
at about the same time that Sara may have had her surgery done." Nick told
her. "His name is Jamie Roberts, and Gregory Spencer is his doctor. He was
brought here yesterday afternoon... and he's in a coma, just like Sara."

"This is unbelievable!" Natalie's face was ashen when she heard the news.
"How can two regenerators malfunction in two different people and just a day
apart?"

"I'm not sure, Nat, but I believe that something funny's going on here."
Nick's reply was terse. "If we don't find out what's happening to Sara and
Jamie, this could spell trouble for anyone else who's had that regenerator
implanted in them."

"What do you intend to do?"

"I'm going to see if I can gather a few more clues about the regenerator and
if there's anyone who might be connected with it's manufacture. I'll call
Tracy in for her help on this one."

"What about me?" Gail asked. "Is there any way that I can help? Sara's my
friend, and I don't want her to die."

"Is it possible for you to access the database for the "North American
Medical Journal' at the library?" he asked her.

"Yes, it is, but I can't get access to the computer system until tomorrow
morning when the library's open. I can use the mainframe computer to access
the Journal's database."

"Good. You check the 'North American Medical Journal's' database for any
articles on the spinal nerve regenerator... and for anything else connected
with it. Any articles on who's manufacturing it, who's bankrolling the
project... that sort of thing."

"Okay." Gail replied, nodding.  "I'll do my best to help out, Detective."

"Thanks." Nick said, giving her a smile.

"Nick... are you sure that you want to do this?" Natalie asked him. "I
understand your suspicions about the regenerator, but are you sure that you
want to drag Doctor Spencer into this?"

"He's already involved, Nat." Nick replied, his voice quiet yet firm. "He's
about to unveil a medical device that has already put two people in the
hospital with comas, and who knows what will happen to those other people
who
have had the regenerator implanted in them. If Jamie and Sara die before the
announcement's made, Doctor Spencer and the people who are funding his
research will lose a lot of money. These people can't afford to lose what
they've already invested in the regenerator, even if both of them make a
full
recovery."

"So, even if Jamie and Sara do make a full recovery from their comas, they'd
still pose a risk to whoever wants to sabotage the project?"

"Yes. The fact that they were hospitalized because of an experimental device
that was supposed to be 'safe' is enough cause for concern, so they may
decide to take more extreme measures to make sure that Jamie and Sara don't
recover... and then, they'd cover it up."

The silence that fell after Nick had spoken was powerful. Natalie and Gail
understood the impact of what would happen if something wasn't done to save
the lives of Sara and Jamie.

"I just hope that both of them will be able to hang on... and that we won't
be too late to save them." Natalie said quietly.

"We won't be too late." Nick replied firmly. "I'm going to make sure of
that." He pulled out his cell-phone and dialed a number.  After a couple of
moments, he said, "Tracy... it's Nick.  I want you to come to Harbourside
Memorial Hospital as soon as you can.  It's about Sara."

"Is something wrong, Nick?" she asked him.

"Yes, there is..." he replied. "Her life may in danger."

---
End of "In Another Life''---Part 8/?
SFryar@aol.com
Copyright, October, 2000

Subject: In Another Life---Part 9/?
Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 14:29:30 EST
From: SFryar@AOL.COM
To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU

A bit of mild profanity here...

In Another Life by StephiLyn Fryar---Part 9/?
----

When Tracy got the call from Nick about Sara's condition, she was stunned by
the news, but after he had told her about the circumstances that he believed
had put her in the hospital, it was an even bigger shock.
---

"Do you realize what you're saying, Nick?" she asked him. "You really think
that Sara might be set up to be murdered by her own doctor? Somehow that
doesn't appear to make sense."

"I'm still not sure about it yet," came his terse reply, "but there are too
many things that aren't adding up. Even if Doctor Spencer isn't directly
involved, there may be someone else who's got a lot riding on the success or
failure of his project, and that person may not want to have a lot of loose
ends lying around in case anything went wrong."

"Of course. That would be something to consider." she said thoughtfully.
"So,
what do you want me to do?"

"I want you to come to Harbourside Memorial, and meet me in the cafeteria on
the third floor. Nat's with me.  We need to find out what's going on, and if
there are enough grounds to conduct a criminal investigation."

"Should I call Captain Reese and let him know what's going on?"

"Yes. He needs to be told about this. I don't want to make any mistakes, but
I don't want to make an even bigger mistake by ignoring my hunch about this,
either."

"All right. I'll be at the hospital soon, and I'll call Captain Reese before
I leave."

"Thanks, Trace. I appreciate it. Bye."

"Bye, Nick." Tracy hung up the phone and changed clothes. As she got
dressed,
she knew that Nick rarely did things on impulse, and when it came to
following a hunch, his hunches were rarely, if ever, wrong.

*I know that Nick wouldn't say anything unless he thought that there was
something going on, and if a murder's about to take place, he'd want to stop
it before it happened.* she thought as she placed her shield in her jacket
pocket, and her gun in her shoulder holster. *He's not the kind of man who'd
go off on a wild-goose chase over nothing. There's got to be something going
on that's got him suspicious.*

Before she left her apartment, Tracy called Captain Reese at the precinct
and
notified him of the situation.
---

"Are you certain about what he told you, Vetter?" he asked her. "Nick
wouldn't say something like that unless he's got good cause for believing
that someone wants to kill Ms. McClendon. I know that he's fond of her, but
for him to suspect her doctor or one of his colleagues of attempted murder
is
very serious."

"He thinks that there's something funny going on, Cap." she replied. "He
says
that there are too many suspicious circumstances surrounding Sara's
hospitalization for this to be just a coincidence, and he believes that
either Doctor Spencer or someone connected with him may have a motive for
undermining his project."

"Damn..." Reese muttered. "Knight's a good detective, and he wouldn't make
those charges unless he's found something that's not adding up. All right...
go to the hospital and find out what you can. You and Knight keep me
informed. If both of you find something important, the Crown Prosecutor will
be very interested in what you've uncovered..."

"Okay, Cap.  I'll let you know when we've got something. Bye."  She hung up
the phone, left her apartment and drove off to the hospital.  When she
arrived at the cafeteria, she saw Nick, Natalie and a dark-haired young
woman
seated at a table. She walked toward them, a look of concern on her face.

"Hey, Nick... Natalie. How are you holding up?"

"We're doing okay." Natalie replied. "Waiting to see what's going to happen
next is the toughest part."

"Gail... this is my partner, Tracy Vetter...." Nick said, by way of
introduction. "Tracy, this is Gail Johnson, one of Sara's co-workers at the
library."

"It's nice to meet you." Gail said as she clapsed Tracy's hand.

"Likewise..." Tracy took a chair from a nearby table and sat down with them.
"So, bring me up to speed on what you've got so far, Nick."

Nick and Natalie explained to Tracy about what was going on and she listened
carefully to what was being said.

"Wow...  you think that you may have found something, Nick?" she asked him.

"I'm not sure yet, Trace, but Doctor Spencer's been acting very strangely,
and I've got my suspicions." he replied. "I want to see if he's going to
make
a move that might give him away, but I don't want to tip my hand too soon."
---

Gregory was in room 503, where he was observing Jamie Roberts' vital signs.
The spikes that were appearing on the EEG monitor worried him.

"Your EEG's off the scale!" he muttered. "They're not supposed to be like
this. Your heart rate and breathing are unchanged, but your brain activity's
all over the place. Let's see if I can compensate for that..."  He took out
the hand-held transmitter and switched it on. He pressed a few buttons and
made adjustments to the regenerator. He held his breath and watched the
little screen carefully.

"All right... The power's been lowered as far as it can go without shutting
off the device. Now, let's check your brain waves."  As Gregory looked at
the
EEG monitor, Jamie's brain waves were still not normal, and he was worried.
"If your brain waves are off the scale, I wonder what's going on with Sara.
I'll be sure to check her vitals and see if she's okay. Damn those cheap
power cells!" He left the room and went to check on Sara, in the hope that
her vital signs were within the range of normality.
---

As he stood in front of Sara's monitor, the same bizarre brain wave pattern
that he had seen on Jamie's EEG was appearing on Sara's EEG, which worried
him greatly.

"What the hell's going on?  The bio-electric power system isn't supposed to
affect your brain wave pattern, but you've got the same brain wave patterns
that Jamie's got." he muttered. "This isn't supposed to happen. I've got no
choice. I need replacement power cells. Maybe I can get the right ones this
time... I never should have gotten into business with you, Kincaid!"
---

Thursday morning... in Montreal...
---

Sara awoke to brilliant sunlight pouring through the blinds in her room, and
a cheery female voice speaking to her.

"Good morning, Ms. McClendon. How are we feeling today?" Nurse Lambert asked
her as the breakfast tray was placed before her.

"Uh...  I'm just fine, thanks." she replied as the lid was lifted from the
tray, revealing a breakfast of sausage links, pancakes and a glass of orange
juice. "This looks good." She picked up a piece of sausage and nibbled on
it,
while Nurse Lambert checked her chart.

"I'm glad that you're enjoying your breakfast. Doctor Cross wants to make
sure that you're well-fed before you leave." She slipped the chart back into
the slot at the foot of Sara's bed. "I'm glad that you're feeling better. We
didn't think that you'd regain conciousness."

"I'm just glad to be alive." she said as she finished her breakfast. "When
will I get to see him before I'm discharged?"

"At about ten, I think." came the reply as Sara tried to look at the name
tag
on Nurse Lambert's uniform to find out what her first name was. "All of your
vital signs are excellent, so you're free to go."

"I'm glad to hear that." Sara replied as she finished her glass of orange
juice and placed it on the tray. "I didn't expect to find myself here,
believe me."

"Nobody does, but thank goodness you were brought here before something
serious happened to you." the nurse replied as she checked the chart one
more
time, and Sara ate the last piece of sausage. As she placed her fork on the
plate, she glanced at the name tag on the nurse's uniform and she noticed
that Nurse Lambert's first name was "Catherine".

* "Catherine Lambert"...* Sara thought as the nurse busied herself with
gathering up the tray. *That's interesting... I thought that her first name
might have been 'Nancy' for some odd reason.*

"So, where are my things?" she asked her casually. "I'd hate to leave here
wearing nothing but my hospital gown.  That would be rather embarassing,
wouldn't it?"

"Yes, it would, wouldn't it? Your clothes are on the chair near the window,"
Nurse Lambert said cheerily, "along with your purse and shoes. You'll
probably want to get yourself cleaned up before you leave."

"I certainly do. I can't wait to see what's going to happen next." Sara
replied as the orderly came into her room, removed her tray and left the
room.

"It was nice to have you here." Catherine said as she gave Sara a big hug.
"Take care of yourself, okay? Bye, Ms. McClendon!"

"I will, and you be sure and do the same." Sara said as she returned the hug
and gave her a smile. "Goodbye, Nurse Lambert."

After Catherine left, Sara slowly got out of bed and went to the bathroom.
She took a shower, and got dressed.  She noticed that she had worn a light
blue long sleeved satin big shirt, and a pair of black pants when she came
to
the hospital, and that someone had brought her some clean underwear, along
with a heavy-knit sapphire blue wool duster.

*I certainly don't remember wearing this when I went to work at the library.
I was wearing a blue plaid skirt and a blue denim shirt, and a black jacket.
This isn't exactly what I'd be wearing to work...* she wondered as she put
the shirt on and buttoned it carefully.  After she slipped into the pants,
she looked for her shoes. When she found them underneath the chair, she was
delighted, but as she looked at them carefully, they weren't the same shoes
that she had worn to work.

*These shoes have a bit of a heel and they've got a silver buckle on each
side. I wore a pair of black oxford walking shoes to work. Also... these
shoes have a designer label inside. My oxfords don't have a designer label
in
them. Apparently, being a rock star's girlfriend does have it's
privileges...*

Her purse was hanging on the back of the chair, so she picked it up, opened
it and rummaged though it, looking for a comb and brush.  As she dumped the
contents of the purse onto the bed, Sara noticed a large black wallet that
she didn't remember having. She opened it and discovered that the wallet was
full of credit cards, some cash and traveler's checks.

*Wow!  Look at these credit cards...  Seems that I skipped platinum and went
straight to titanium.* As she looked at each card carefully, she noted that
all of the cards bore the name "Nick Knight" on the front, but her signature
was on the back of each card.  *I'm certainly not broke, and Nick must have
made sure that I had plenty of money to spend while we're on tour.* She
counted the traveler's checks, and when she had finished, she had five
thousand dollars. When she counted out the cash, she had twelve hundred
dollars.

*Let's see... I've got five thousand dollars in traveler's checks... twelve
hundred in cash... * she thought as she put everything back in her purse,
*plus five titanium credit cards. Nick must be making a lot of money as a
rock star, not to mention whatever he's had put away over the centuries.
It's
also unusual that nobody tried to steal my purse, unless Nick brought it
with
him, and he was able to hang it on the back of the chair while I wasn't
looking. Wonder how he did that?*

After she finished getting dressed and putting some items inside a plastic
bag, Doctor Cross entered her room and brought in a wheelchair, while Jack
followed him into the room. Jack wasn't as nervous as he had been yesterday
afternoon, but he didn't seem to be too happy.

"Good morning, Ms. McClendon!" Doctor Cross said with a broad smile. "Are
you
ready to go?"

"Yes, I am, Doctor. I can't wait!  I'm wondering why I need to be in a
wheelchair, though. I feel just fine."

"Excellent." Doctor Cross chuckled softly. "I understand your desire not to
leave in a wheelchair, but hospital rules say that all discharged patients
must be escorted off the premises in a wheelchair."

"Well... if that's what I have to do, then..." she said as she gathered up
her purse and the plastic bag, got into the wheelchair, and looked up at
Jack, who was standing behind it.  He was clearly in an unpleasant mood, and
she wondered what had happened last night after Nick left the hospital and
went back to the hotel. "Why are you looking so miserable, Jack? Something
go
wrong last night?"

"I'll tell you about it on the way back to the hotel." he replied glumly as
he wheeled her out of the room and down the hall toward the elevator.

"It was a pleasure to have you with us, Ms. McClendon." Doctor Cross said on
the elevator ride down to the main floor. "We haven't had this much
excitement around here in a long time.  It was quite pleasant, actually..."

"Well, I'm glad that you think so, Doctor." Sara said with a small smile.
"I'm just sorry that it had to be under such less than pleasant
circumstances."

They exited the elevator and went to the front desk, where the paperwork for
Sara's release had just been completed. Jack stood at the desk and signed
the
papers, then he reached into his wallet and handed the secretary a small
plastic card.  After a few moments, the card was returned to Jack while
Doctor Cross spoke to Sara.

"I hope that you'll be all right, Ms. McClendon." he said to her. "Nobody
expected you to recover, especially after you had that nasty little bump on
your head. Mr. Knight was worried that you'd never regain conciousness."

"Well, I'm glad that I was able to recover from that fall I took... and I
promise to take it easy, Doctor. I don't want to wind up in the hospital
again, believe me."

"I'm delighted to hear that. Please give Mr. Knight my regards."

"I certainly will, Doctor Cross." Sara gave him a smile as they left the
front desk and went outside. "It was a pleasure meeting you."

"It was a pleasure to meet you as well, Ms. McClendon." he replied as a
black
late model Lincoln Town Car pulled up at the entrance of the hospital.
"Goodbye, Ms. McClendon, Mr. Brittington. Have a safe trip."

"Thank you, Doctor Cross. Goodbye..." Jack said as he opened the car door,
and helped Sara inside.  After she got inside the car and Jack was ready to
close the door, she turned toward Doctor Cross, and noted the embroidered
name on the front pocket of his lab coat. The name was 'Lucas Cross, M.D.'

* 'Lucas Cross'...* Sara thought as she gave the doctor a smile and a
friendly wave goodbye as Jack closed the door, and got inside the car. *That
makes sense. Perfect sense...*
---

The Town Car left the hospital and Jack told the driver to take them to the
Hotel L'Meridien.  As they embarked on the long drive toward the hotel, Sara
noticed that Jack wasn't his usual talkative self; in fact, he briefly spoke
to her while they were in her room,  and he didn't talk to her while they
were on the elevator.
---

"What's with you, Jack? You've been awfully quiet. Did something happen
after
Nick came back from visiting me last night?"

"Yes, something happened last night..." Jack said, a weary sigh escaping his
lips. "Nick said something about wanting to 'adjust' the tour to make sure
that you didn't get sick again."

"Really? So what did he decide to do? Did he tell you anything?"

"That's just it...  He wouldn't tell me anything about how he wants to
'adjust' the tour. When I asked him about it last night, he told me that he
wants to meet with us in the Presidental Suite before we leave for Toronto
tonight. I asked him for details about what he's got planned, but he
wouldn't
tell me anything."

"Why are you upset about it? Nick's got his reasons for not saying anything
about what he wants to do until he's ready to tell us. Maybe he doesn't want
anything to be leaked to the press, so that's probably why he didn't tell
you
about it last night."

"We're already a couple of days behind schedule as it is, and now he's ready
to start changing things." Jack was irritable, and he made no bones about
it.
"I don't like it when he hides things from me or goes behind my back. He
seems to forget that it's my ass on the line when I have to deal with
stadium
owners and concert promoters. As for any leaks to the press... it's not
always easy to keep secrets in the age of the World Wide Web."

"That may be true, but it's still Nick's tour. I was under the impression
that he could do whatever he pleased."

"It may be his tour, but I'm the one who's got to run interference for him
with the concert promoters, stadium owners, the record company, his agent,
the guys in PR and the press." Jack gruffly replied. "We can't afford to
make
too many more 'adjustments' to the tour. If Nick decides to change something
at this late date, we could lose a lot of money, not to mention valuable
promotion for the album."

"I see..." came her cool reply, "and you expect me to be a miracle worker
and
save the tour. You're giving me a lot more credit than I deserve."

"Look, I know that you mean a lot to him, and maybe you can help me change
his mind about whatever he's planning to do. The European leg of the tour is
important to the record company. Those four gigs that we did in London two
months ago was just a sneak preview of what's to come. The real test are the
shows that we've got in Paris, Madrid and Rome, along with a return trip to
London to end the tour."

Sara noted the urgency in Jack's voice, and she deeply resented him putting
her in an uncomfortable position. "I don't want to tell Nick what to do
about
his tour and how he handles it." she said. "After all, he's the one who's
running the show, not me."

"Damn it, Sara... you've got to help me!" Jack said harshly. "I'm not about
to let this tour crash and burn after the successful gigs that we've already
got under our belts. Nick's not going to ruin this for me."

"But if it weren't for Nick, where would you be?" Sara asked him, wanting to
find out more about this man and his ambitions.

---
End of "In Another Life''---Part 9/?
SFryar@aol.com
Copyright, October, 2000

Subject: In Another Life---Part 10/?
Date: Thu, 21 Dec 2000 14:29:44 EST
From: SFryar@AOL.COM
To: FKFIC-L@LISTS.PSU.EDU

The Usual Disclaimers are in Part 1.

In Another Life by StephiLyn Fryar---Part 10/?
----

"What did you say?" Jack asked her as the ride to the hotel continued.

"I said, if it weren't for Nick, where would you be? What would you be doing
right now?" Sara replied as she gazed at his face carefully, looking for a
clue as to the kind of man he was. "I find it interesting that you'd even
want to be part of the rock-and-roll life. Somehow, you don't seem to be the
kind of man who'd want to be a part of it. So, tell me... what's a nice guy
like you doing in a life like this?"

"Oh, come on, Sara. Why do you want to hear about it? You know the story;
after all, you were there." Jack was peevish and in no mood to talk, but she
knew that she had to find out about him in order to get more clues about the
life that she found herself in, and she wasn't about to let him dismiss her
question.

"Humor me a little, okay? I want to hear your version of the story and see
if
it matches up with the version I think I remember."

"Oh, all right... since you insist." Jack grumbled. "Eight years ago, I was
a
junior at UCLA. I wanted to study medicine, and I was well on my way to
becoming a doctor... but my folks always told me to have something to 'fall
back on' just in case things didn't work out, so I went for a double
major..."

"A double major?  Wow!  That's very impressive."

"I'm glad you think that it was 'impressive'. As far as I was concerned, it
was strictly a practical move. I decided to go for a double major in law and
medicine. I figured that if I had knowledge in both fields, I'd be able to
go
a little farther than I would have if I just stuck to one field."

"That's interesting, but it doesn't really answer my question. How did you
get involved with Nick?"

"Some friends of mine in my dorm were going out for a night out on the town
that Friday night in October, and they invited me to tag along. It seemed
like a good idea at the time. I was getting tired of the grind of constant
studying, and I wasn't looking forward to dissection class on Monday."

"Yuck!" Sara grimaced. "You had to cut up bodies for class?"

"Sure.  It was all a part of what the job required, and I had already
managed
to distinguish myself in Forensic Pathology, so naturally, everyone expected
me to become a Medical Examiner.  In fact, I had been approached by one of
my
professors to fill out an application to become one of L.A. County's newest
and youngest M.E.'s after I graduated."

"Did you fill out the application and hand it back in?"

"Yes, I did, but I had a lot of reservations about going through with it,
and
I asked him to hold off submitting it to the personnel office until I had
more time to think about what I wanted to do with my life." Jack said, his
tone mellowing as the ride continued. "I didn't want to put myself in a
position where I couldn't advance, and with my knowledge of law, I thought
that it would help me with the job. Maybe I could have gone a little further
by becoming an M.E., but at that time, I was at the crossroads, and I wanted
something more out of my life..."

"All right. That makes sense. So where did you and your friends hear Nick
play?"

"At the 'The Sunset Grill'. It's a dance club. They had their monthly Friday
Night Talent Search on the last Friday of the month, and Nick was the
next-to-last act on the program. The moment that he came out on the stage,
it
was like everyone had been struck by lightning. They were expecting
something
to happen... and it did. He blew everyone away with his energetic
performance. He owned the stage... and you knew it. Suddenly, I realized
that
this guy had something special. I also knew that I had to be a part of
whatever he wanted to do. I gave up my ambition to become a Medical Examiner
after I heard him play."

"Nick's music obviously made a big impression on you." she replied, her
voice
calm and quiet.

"Yes, it did. When I heard it, I could feel the power and passion in his
music; it got down deep in my soul, and it wouldn't let go. You also made a
big impression on me, too."

"Me?  How did I make an impression on you? You probably didn't even see me."

"From the back of the club where I was sitting, I saw you at a front table,
near the left side of the stage. While he was singing a couple of love
songs,
he kept looking in your direction and smiling at you. I figured that he was
singing them to you, and that you must have been very special. You were
smiling and cheering him on while he performed; the crowd caught your
enthusiasm, and