Harper And Bastien update

ROUGH


Eventually the early morning light roused Harper to life, and for a few moments after he couldn’t piece together last night's events. He shifted his weight and winced as he felt the pain in his numb legs. His shoulder ached from being propped up on the sofa all night and uncurling his back was a herculean effort. He started to remember the strange night he had, he looked onto the sofa and saw the young woman from the night before. He had almost thought it was dream, but there she was. still asleep. still a little damp. He found his hand still wrapped around her wrist, at one point in the night checking her pulse, but now just holding it. He could see the gentle rise and fall of her body, and he knew she was still alive. That much was a relief. Harper began to withdraw his hand, but he stop when the woman opened her eyes. Her fingers curled around his hand and stopped his retreat.

“A little longer...” her voice was soft and hoarse. “May we stay like this a little longer?”

Harper didn’t see how he could refuse, and returned the woman's grip, their finger interlacing comfortably. He readjusted himself again the couch, allowed their time to continue in silence. He watched the sunbeams turn yellow and grow into daylight, until finally he couldn’t ignore them anymore.

“My name is Doctor William Harper, I’ve been looking after you since last night. I’m afraid I have to apologize for the accommodations, I don’t usually treat patients in my home...”

Above him on the sofa he could hear her laugh, “Well, accomodations aside, I’m sure I’m in excellent hands, Dr. Harper.”

“Do you remember what happened last night?”

This time she hesitated, eventually she said, “No, I’m afraid I don’t recall anything from last night...”

“What is the last thing you do remember?”

There was no response this time.

“Miss?” Harper tried again, “What is the last memory you can recall?”

The woman simply shook her head, and slowly realization dawned on Harper.

“Miss, what’s your name?”

“I- I don’t know.”

______________________________________________________________

Harper and Bastien stood in the adjoining study, the connecting door to the parlor closed. Harper had unceremoniously roused Bastien and none to gently dragged him into the office. Outside the woman continued to doze on the sofa undisturbed.

“Bastien, It's about time you explained exactly what is going on. What have you gotten yourself into?”

“Before I explain exactly what I did, you have to understand, I saved her life.”

Harped slammed his hand down on the desk in frustration, “The woman out there has no memories, Bastien! Is that how you save people these days?”

“It was a side effect! She understood the risks, we all takes risks- God, you're a surgeon, William, you’ve lost patients before!”

“Yes, and at the rate you’re going, we’ll have that much in common soon enough.” Harper took a step forwards, closing the distance between himself and Bastien. “Now tell me what you did, so I can help fix this.”

Bastien swallowed uncomfortably, “It was the shock therapy. She started to have seizures during the treatment, we should have stopped- but I kept going. The voltage was already- well higher than it should have been, let's just say that. But I could feel it, we were so close. And if we had stopped she would have died on that table anyway... So we just kept going.” Bastien turned away from Harper.

Harper’s voice softened, “Bastien... She needs to be in a hospital- I’m not equipped to take care of her here. What if she starts to have seizures again?”

“She won’t! I told you, I cured her! I just-” Bastien faltered, trying to come back from his outburst. “I need some time- a few weeks at the most, to type up my results and send them to the journal. I can’t risk anyone finding out until it's published- don’t you see, Harper, this therapy is revolutionary!”

Harper shook his head, “Two weeks- you have two weeks. I’ll do what I can for her in the meantime, though it's not like I can bring her memories back with scalpels.”