Date: Fri, 12 Jan 1996 17:00:52 -0500 Reply-To: shannara@TWAVE.NET Sender: Highlander TV show stories From: Kim Sefcik Subject: "'Til Death Do Us Part" (Part 02/13) CHAPTER 2 Emergency Room 9:13pm "Uhhh..." groaned Richie, throwing up an arm to shield his eyes. A searing, yellow-white light was glaring down from somewhere above him, increasing his already pounding headache to an unprecedented magnitude. He slowly inched his way into a sitting position, and looked around at the curtained off room he was in. "Oh, no." he groaned again, and flopped back down on the bed. He knew where he was -- the ER. /Great, the perfect end to a perfect day. I gotta get outta here,/ He reached up and felt some bloody bandages on his head, which he ripped off. He yanked some IV's out of his arm and jumped off the bed, an action which promptly increased the pounding in his head. Richie pulled aside the curtain, and was about to make a break for it, when he realized what he was wearing. /Damn, I wonder if they actually have a *reason* for gowns that show off your ass? Must be a conspiracy of bored nurses or something.../ He needed to figure out a way outa here -- and *fast*! Just then, a figure behind Richie cleared her throat. "I see that you're finally up, Richie," came a familiar female voice. Richie whirled around, "Anne? Anne wh -- what are you doing here?" The dark haired lover of MacLeod's smiled, "I'm a doctor, I work here, remember?" she teased. Richie couldn't help but grin, "Yea -- but I thought that you were still in Paris with Mac." "Well apparently I'm not, am I." Anne stated flatly. Richie grimaced, it looked like things hadn't worked out after Duncan had told her about himself, "No, I'm sorry Anne, I didn't know." "It's okay...here, Richie," she said, tossing a brown paper bag at him. "I think you might want those." Inside the bag Richie found some clothes and a wallet. "Anne, these clothes aren't mine... where'd you get them?" he asked as he pulled on the blue jeans and black t-shirt. "Do you really want to know?" she asked, with faint lines of amusement playing about her face. "No -- no, I suppose not." Richie said, looking over the clothes. "So, Richie, what brings you back to the States?" Anne said, sitting down on a nearby stool. Richie shrugged as he pulled the t-shirt on, "Nothin' much. After I left Paris I stopped by the dojo to get some stuff, and then I went on a little 'tour' of the country." Richie grinned, "It got boring. So, I figured I might as well come back here and reopen the dojo until Mac got back." Richie looked as the wallet Anne had given him, "Hey, this is mine," he noticed as he flipped through some of the pictures. Anne grinned, "Yea, after they brought you in, I managed to sneak it off of you and record you as a John Doe... and that was no easy feat, let me tell you. I don't know how the police missed it, though, it was right there in your jacket pocket..." she mused, "Oh, and your bike got smashed up but it still runs. It's down at the police impound yard." Richie tucked the wallet away in his back pocket and looked up at Anne, "And my sword?" "I was wondering when you'd get to that. The police found it and took it into custody until you woke up or a relative claims it. Oh, they also have your jacket, I remember someone saying something about trying to figure out how you hid 'three feet of steel in that short leather jacket'." Richie snorted, "Wonderful... well, thanks Anne, I owe you *big time*, but I'd better get out of here before someone sees me." Richie pulled aside the curtain and was about to walk out when he thought of something. "Anne?" "Yea?" "The driver of the other car... he's okay, right?" "Yea, *she's* fine... she didn't even need any medical attention. Her car must have had airbags or something." Richie nodded, his brow knitted in thought, "Good, thanks Anne. I'll see you later." "Bye Rich." Richie strode down the white and green hallways at a fast clip. The driver of the car was probably the Immortal that he had sensed, but then, no one had come after him, so he couldn't really be sure... she could have simply been a mortal who got lucky. But for some reason Richie didn't believe that. An orderly passed by and Richie increased his speed. He doubted that anyone would recognize him, but he wasn't taking any chances. As the automatic door swished open in front of him, a thought occurred to Richie. /I wish I could be around when someone finds out that I'm missing. I can just imagine the dialogue now... {Doctor, doctor! The John Doe is missing!} {What? That's not possible! What'd he do? Get up and walk away?} ...immortality can have its advantages./ Richie chuckled as the walked out into the parking lot, /Poor Anne, but then it's not like it's the first time someone's walked out of her ER./ He was about halfway out into the parking lot before he remembered that his bike had been totaled. Kim Sefcik Watcher-in-training Internet: shannara@twave.net shannara@ravenwood.com | "I am Richie Ryan of the clan . . . wait, /~\ can we try that again?" @xxxxx| (|===============================- \____/\_/ "Being blind, you would wish all others blind | as well." -- Cleante, "Tartuffe" =========================================================================