Date: Sat, 25 Feb 1995 20:13:00 CST Reply-To: "Die-Hard, with Knightly leanings" Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: "Die-Hard, with Knightly leanings" Subject: Physican Heal Thyself Nancy told me I should post this. I may regret it but here goes. Note: This is definitely NOT for Dr. Anne fans. This is my first try at fanfic, so be kind. Please note that I've made some assumptions, as a matter of fact I'm trying to write a prequel (you'll see what I'm talking about). Any comments can be directed to feden@mcs.com. Physician, Heal Thyself By Lillian Feden Duncan walked softly into the bedroom carrying a tray with a cup of tea, a plain croissant and a single red rose in a bud vase. He carefully set the tray down on the nightstand and sat down gently on the bed. "Sweetheart," he whispered. "I brought you something to eat." He bent over her sleeping form and nuzzled her neck. "Aaaannnne" he sang softly, "wake up." Suddenly Anne snorted and sneezed, spraying Duncan. "Damn" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet. Anne sat up in bed, her eyes watery, nose red and runny. She looked sullenly at Duncan as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Oh, I'm sorry" she mumbled. "Could you hand me a tissue?" Duncan reached for the box of Kleenex on the nightstand and, finding it empty, went to the bathroom and came back with some toilet paper. "We're all out. You've already gone through three boxes. What are you? Niagara Falls?" "Oh, thanks alot, Mr. Go Ahead Shoot Me...I Can't Die." she snarled. "You know, it's good thing you didn't go into medicine. You have the bedside manner of a...a....an antique dealer!" "Oh yeah? Maybe I should just drink this tea myself then." He reached for the cup and picked up the rose instead. Turning to Anne, he held out the flower and smiled his most charming "Awww, c'mon" grin. "For my beautiful flower." he said. "Oh Duncan!" she exclaimed, taking the rose from him. "It's so perfect!" "It pales beside your radiance." he said, his smile becoming frozen as she blew her nose loudly. Her hair was wet and stuck to her head, her eyes were bloodshot and puffy. "Umm, did you get any sleep?" "Not much." she said, as she crawled out of bed. She was wearing sweatshirt and sweatpants, her feet clad in wool socks. Duncan sat on the bed, leaning against the headboard and watched her stumble towards the bathroom. He winced at the sounds of gargling, spitting and nose blowing that emanated from behind the closed door. The phone rang. Duncan picked it up, "Hello." "Mac!" Richie Ryan's voice was excited. "Guess what buddy. I got us tickets to the Sonics game. We're sitting on the bench Mac!" "That's great, Richie." Duncan said, "When?" "Tonight. It's okay, isn't it? I mean, you guys didn't have any plans did you? Anne's still sick?" "Uh, yeah, she is, but I don't think I should leave her alone. She's sort of, cranky." Duncan heard Richie's snort over the phone. "Oh right, and you want to stay home while she sneezes and coughs all night. Come on Mac. It's just one evening. Give her some hot chocolate and sit her in front of the fire. She'll be okay." "Richie, you've got alot to learn about women. Good thing you've got plenty of time. That is, unless some irate lover lops your head off, or some other body part." Duncan chuckled softly. "Ask her Mac. I mean, these are primo seats! It'll be you, Joe and me. They're playing the Suns! We'll be so close we'll get sprayed with Barkley's sweat!" "Oh, that's appealing!" laughed Duncan. "Okay, I'll call you back." He hung up as Anne came from the bathroom. She had brushed her hair and washed her face, getting the flaky white stuff off of the corners of her mouth. She smiled seductively at him, but somehow the red hue of her nose dampened the effect. "Who was that" "Richie. He has tickets to the basketball game tonight." Duncan got up from the bed and walked to Anne. "You look wiped out. You should try to get some more sleep." Anne pushed him aside, "Why? So you can go out carousing all night?" She stalked out of the bedroom. "Anne" Duncan followed her to the kitchen. "I'm not just saying that so I can go out. You look really tired and you sound, well...terrible" He turned his head as Anne went into a sneezing fit. "Oh sure, look at you!" she muttered, wiping her nose with her sleeve. "You've never been sick a day in your death!" "My death?" asked Duncan. "Yes, your death. You had to die to become immortal right? Technically, you're dead, well, no you're immortal, but you wouldn't be immortal if you hadn't died, so it wouldn't make sense for me to say you've never been sick a day in your life since you probably _had_ gotten sick when you were alive...before you died." She stopped ranting to blow her nose. "Uh, honey. How much cold medicine did you take?" "Oh yeah, take advantage of my condition." she snarled. "You don't know what it's like to feel like your head is three times its normal size, when your nose feels so raw you can't bear to touch it but you _have_ to touch it because you have to blow all that disgusting stuff out of it before it keeps leaking down the back of your throat making it feel like it's made of sandpaper." "Hmmm," Duncan muttered under his breath, "you certainly paint a pretty picture." "I heard that!" "Anne, I won't go tonight. We can stay home and drink some wine and sit in front of a blazing fire." She snorted and then coughed. When she recovered her breath she said "Right, cold medicine and alcohol. Don't do me any favors." Duncan walked towards her, reaching for her shoulders. "Come on, I'll be the doctor tonight. You just be the good little patient and do what I say. We won't have wine, we'll have....hot chocolate." Anne pushed him away, "Get out Duncan. Go _play_ with Richie. She went into the bedroom and slammed the door. Duncan gazed at the door, still vibrating from the force of her blow and shrugged. "I guess it's true what they say about doctors being the worst patients." **************************************************** Richie met Duncan at the entrance of the stadium. "Where's Joe?" "He couldn't make it." replied Richie. "Figured you wouldn't mind his _replacement_." "Hello darling". Duncan turned with a big grin to face Amanda. "Amanda!" he whooped, picking her up and swinging her around. "What are you doing here?" Amanda laughed delightedly. "I left Michele at the abbey. Don't worry, she'll be okay. She's _occupied_." "Occupied?" Duncan replied suspiciously. "Now Duncan," chided Amanda, taking his arm as the three of them entered the stadium. "Don't you worry your pretty little...." she patted his behind "off. Michele's gotten pretty good at taking care of herself. Let's just enjoy the game." Duncan looked down into the luminous eyes, the sultry smile, the perky nose that was bereft of body fluids and smiled. This was going to be a good night after all. =========================================================================