When Stars Intertwine

Chapter 9

The following morning James nudged Harry awake and drew the curtains open.

"Good morning sir," he greeted. Harry frowned, shielding his eyes from the light with his hand. He dragged himself off the bed and stretched.

"What time is it?" he asked walking to the table next to the window and poured himself a glass of water.

James looked at his pocket watch and said, "Its noon sir."

Harry glanced through the window and saw Christine sitting on the fountain with a woman he couldn't recognize.

"Who's that sitting next to Christine?" Harry asked.

James looked through the window and said, "that's Mary."

"Mary....my patient?"

"Yes sir."

"How did she get there?"

"Christine helped her, she thought Mary needed some fresh air," James replied.

"Of course, she does," Harry said excitedly, "I can't believe she's out of her bed, ....how long has she been outside?"

"An hour or more.... I'm not sure."

Harry moved closer to the window and stared at her for a long time. She looked strong and well. She picked a few flowers and put them in a vase smiling at something Christine was saying to her.

"She was dying James, do you know what this means?" he asked still looking through the window.
James opened his mouth.

"I'm a great doctor," Harry interrupted, "I didn't think she was going to make it. This is amazing. Get me a change of clothes," he said.

Within minutes, Harry was ready for the day and most importantly excited to see how well his patient was doing.

                                         ***

"Good morning," he greeted as he approached Christine and Anna at the fountain.

"Good morning sir," Christine answered quickly with a smile.

Anna tried to answer but her voice couldn't come out. She was nervous, especially now that Harry was staring at her. It was a long uncomfortable stare that made Christine think it was a bad idea to bring Anna outside.

"I'm sorry sir, I thought she needed air after a long time in the house, I'll take her back right now...."

"No!" he said like he just woke from a dream, "no..., it's okay....It's okay, I just...I wasn't expecting to see her outside...only yesterday I thought she couldn't even talk."

"Oh, we've been talking for a while now, right Anna?"

Anna nodded.

"Anna?" Harry asked.

"Annabel, that's the name her mother gave her....she prefers it."

Anna looked at Christine feeling betrayed. She knew Annabel could get a good number of lashes for preferring her real name, and yet she told the master like it was nothing.

"Well, it's wonderful to know that my experi.... my medication worked remarkably on you," Harry smiled inanely avoiding the word experiment. He had used experimental medicine to save her life but felt it was inappropriate to let her know. He stared at her a little longer before unexpected words slipped out of his mouth.

"You look beautiful," he bit his tongue and corrected, "I mean you look nice." That still sounded wrong, inappropriate even.

"You look well.... You look better .... I always saw you in the dark, I obviously didn't notice that your skin was.... was....healing....?"