The Last knight and Beyond 

by Olivia Jean Ecklund 
Chapter 9 


Reese arrived about fifteen minutes later, busting into the loft, with a loud, 
"What happened?" He stopped short, seeing Nick on the floor and the dark blood 
all over. Nick was half covered by it. 

"Pop, please! I'll explain, but first help me get him cleaned up and into bed," 
she urged the startled man. 

"Sure, Natalie...but is he hurt? Did LaCroix come back?" He was so confused. 
Blood was everywhere and Natalie looked so happy. Had she lost it. 

They got Nick up the stairs and laid him beside the bed. Natalie got some warm 
wet cloths, and as they cleaned him, Reese realized that the blood was not from 
injuries. 

"Tell me what's going on," he urged her. "What happened...?" 

"Nick accepted the Lord tonight. Oh, Pop! You should have seen it. The light was 
so amazing! So pure! I couldn't even keep looking..." 

Reese looked at her closely. There was a small steak of white in her hair. His 
mouth hung open. "Nat, some of your hair is white." 

"Really?" She raised a hand and fingered the spot, somehow knowing. She told Joe 
about what had happened while they washed and redressed Nick in clean pajamas. 
Natalie checked all of Nick's vital signs. All were normal for a human male. 
Finally they picked him up and put him in the bed. 

Joe signaled Natalie to follow him downstairs. There he wrapped her in his huge 
arms and held her against his big chest. She was shaking from the emotional 
shock of the ordeal and with hope for their future. 

She cried for a long time, letting all the tension drain from her body. Joe 
caressed her hair, comforting her. 

Natalie wondered if his daughters would someday realize how much they were 
missing. She couldn't remember her father much. This big man, with his beautiful 
smile and kind face was so precious to her. In a very short time, Joe had become 
a father to both of them. She knew the department's tongues wagged about it 
being strange, but those who really knew and loved the three of them, knew how 
much they all needed each other. 

Reese soothed her, "There now, what are all these tears? You should be happy." 

Natalie pulled her head away from his chest and looked into his eyes, "Oh, Pop, 
I am happy! It's such an overwhelming relief. This means a normal life for Nick 
and I. A life in the sun... maybe even babies. We'll be able to go to church 
together. It's almost too much to take in." She leaned heavily on him. He was 
going to guide her to the couch when he remembered the mess. 

He took her to the kitchen instead, and made her drink a can of Boost, then 
said, "Go up to bed and sleep with your human husband, Natalie. I'll clean up 
the mess in the other room." He smiled, "Now I can think of grandbabies!" 

Natalie stretched up on her toes and kissed his cheek. "Thanks for coming, Pop." 
She turned to go, then turned back, "Oh, the stuff to get blood out is under the 
kitchen sink. Maybe I won't have to use it ever again." 

Natalie found that Nick was still sleeping. She took a quick shower and crawled 
into bed. Nick instinctively moved closer, wrapping his arms around him. She 
drifted off to sleep. 

After she was gone, Joe grabbed rags and the cleaning solution. First he sprayed 
the rug really well and took it into his shower to rinse most of the blood away, 
then he doused it good with wine to put a wine stain on it. After that, he 
rolled up the rug and would take it to the cleansers. Just as he finished 
cleaning up the floor where the rug had been, he heard a pitiful meow. He looked 
around for Sidney. "Here kitty..." he called. There was another pitiful meow. It 
came from overhead. He looked up and saw Sidney peeking over a high ledge that 
ran around the upper part of the room. 

"How'd you get up there, you rascal?" he said. "More to the point, how am I 
going to get you down?" His eyes surveyed the room. Sidney must have been 
frightened by what happened and had run up the furniture, nearly flying to the 
ledge above. "Boy, I would have loved to have seen you scatter," he laughed at 
the cat. 

"I bet you're pretty hungry." He set out bowls of milk and cat food. Pretty 
soon, Sidney started along the ledge, jumped from the ledge to the stereo 
speaker mounted near it, then to the TV, and on down to the floor. 

The cat started to chow down. Joe reached down to scratch his head. "I envy you, 
Sid. I wish I could have been watching on that ledge." He turned off the lights 
and went back to work, trying to figure out what he was going to tell everyone. 

Natalie woke with a start. The windows were open, and for a moment, the bright 
sunshine frightened her. Then she remembered, and turned to see Nick holding his 
fingers up into the rays of light. He had a childish grin on his face as he 
watched the light dance through them. The golden rays of the sun flickered over 
his features and turned his hair into a golden halo. Natalie realized Nick had 
graying hair on his temples, and reached up to touch the white streak in her 
hair, remembering the perfect light. 

Nick turned and noticed that she was watching him. "Nat, it's been so long since 
I've seen the sun... felt its warmth on my fingers without it burning them. I 
have such a feeling of peace inside. With the Lidobuterin B, I felt crazy, 
anxious...not in control. Now I'm filled with peace and a feeling of 
fulfillment. I can't even express it properly." 

He reached over and touched her auburn hair, watching the highlights of gold and 
red shimmer as he ran his fingers through it. "Natalie, you are so beautiful." 
He leaned to kiss her. "I always wondered what I might do on my first morning as 
a mortal." 

She smiled, "Yeah!" accepting a more passionate kiss. 

Nick suddenly bounced out of the bed and said, "Let's go for a walk." 

"You are recently married. You have a gorgeous woman in your bed. You're human, 
and you want to go for a walk?" she teased. 

For a moment Nick took her seriously. "Oh, Nat... I didn't mean...you know I 
want you..." he let his voice trail off lamely, looking stricken. 

She bounded out of the bed, laughing, "Nick, I'm teasing! I'd love nothing more 
than to take a walk on this beautiful morning with you." She kissed him. 

He laughed against her lips, "I love you," he held her close a moment. 

They then went into the bathroom, took fast showers, then dressed in sweat 
suits. The mornings were always cool. They fed Sidney, who found it curious that 
they were going out during the day. 

Nick drove the Caddie to a nearby park. They stepped onto the grass and started 
toward the little manmade lake in the center. Natalie made sure he had his 
sunglasses on. He wanted to jog like some of the other people in the park. 

Nat smiled indulgently at him and off they went. Pretty soon Nick stopped 
gasping for breath. She laughed at him, "Well, I guess we'll have to take it 
easy on you, old man." 

Nick smiled, but didn't comment. It was the truth. He was old, but he felt as 
new as when the world was new... a little out of breath, but new. "Hey, why 
don't we use today as my birthday...it would seem fitting." 

Natalie threw her arms around his neck and kissed him sensuously, "That's a 
wonderful idea, Nick! Happy Birthday! I have a present for you when we get 
home," she teased. 

He nipped playfully at her lower lip. ''I'll be sure to collect it, my love." 

They walked around the park, and Nick looked at, and touched, everything. "The 
colors... Nat... I'd forgotten how beautiful nature is. At night it's all darks 
and grays. Only at a crime scene could I see any colors, and the lights were 
almost painful, but I still took some pleasure in seeing color as it was. The 
grass... the trees...you have no idea how colorless the world of the un-dead can 
be!" 

Natalie drew him close, pressing her cheek against his. "Why didn't you tell me 
about this, Nick?" 

He held her close and said, "I didn't want to make you sad or put more on you 
than you already had to bear at those scenes." Then he asked a totally 
unexpected question. "Do you still love your work?" They continued their walk. 
Natalie thought about it as they walked, and Nick waited patiently for her 
answer. 

She finally said, "Honestly, Nick, I'm tired of looking at death... smelling 
it... touching it...I stayed this long because I was able to help you there. I 
was able to help the community. Would you mind if I did something else?" 

'What do you think you'd like to do?" he asked, lacing his finger with hers. He 
brought her hand up and kissed the back of it. 

"Maybe a free lance researcher... or a pediatrician. It depends on where life 
leads us and how soon we start our family. I only know I have no need to look on 
death anymore. I don't need to love death." 

Nick had real salt tears running down his face. He kissed her with a smile, 
shining through the wetness. 

Natalie took one tear on her finger and showed it to him. 

He touched it, amazed. "It's pure and clean, Nat." He leaned to kiss her, "It's 
so wonderful to be alive, Natalie!" He threw his arms up into the air and turned 
in a circle taking in the trees and the sky in a whirl. 

"Just this day, to stand here and see the sun on your face, is worth all we've 
been through." They started to walk again. 

Nick made an observation, "Grace will miss you." 

"She deserves a promotion, and I will try to see she gets it. She's very good, 
Nick, and she enjoys the challenge like I did when I came there." 

"Mmmm...smell that?" they quickened their pace. Rounding a bend in the path, 
they caught sight of a coffee stand. "Come on, Nick. Let's get something for 
breakfast. You're probably hungry." They chose two cream and sugar coffee's, and 
poppy seed muffins. The happy couple sat on the grass cross legged, and Natalie 
watched as Nick took a sip of the coffee. Rapture spread over his face. "Oh, 
Nat.. it's sooo good. I understand how you feel about it now." He drank some 
more, letting it warm him inside. He took a bite of the muffin, and found he 
couldn't chew it. 

"Nat!" he said, "What's wrong with this thing? I can't chew it. He spat out what 
he had in his mouth. 

Natalie, laughing at him, took the muffin. "You have to peel this paper off." 
She showed him how, and then fed him a piece. Bliss spread across his face. 

"I sure hope you don't like everything, Nick. I'll have to put you on a diet 
before long. I remember Schanke said you ate your way across town the last time 
you were in the sun." 

Nick's face took on the memory. He smiled sadly, "I sure miss Schank." 

Natalie nodded. "I do too, Nick. He was a good partner and a good friend. I 
thought you were going to quit when you first found out you were going to work 
with him though." She laughed, "He was so obnoxious back then, but you brought 
out the best in each other." 

"Yes, we did." Nick said, warmed by the memory of his last partner and friend. 

Natalie asked, "How will we tell Tracy? Vachon will know the minute we see 
him..." 

"We'll take it one step at a time." He looked around at the kids playing with 
kites. "Hey, I've always wanted to get a big red kite and fly it in the sun." 

Natalie jumped to her feet, "Come on! That sounds like fun! Let's go get one 
from the shopping center across the street." She thought about the last time she 
had been in the park, flying a kite. That horrible Roger Jameson. "I could use a 
new kite flying memory." She dusted crumbs off her hands and they tossed their 
trash in the can close by and headed for the mall. 

They purchased the biggest, reddest kite they could find. It had a huge yellow 
sun on it. It was perfect. They picked up some picnic supplies. Natalie got the 
strongest sun screen and lavished it all over Nick's, already too pink, skin. 
Nick mumbled and groaned. Never before having the need for skin protection, it 
felt a lot like the paint he'd used when he'd been an actor. He'd always hated 
it. 

Nick spent some time trying to put the kite together. He fumbled with it so much 
that Natalie was in tears from laughing at him. Finally, an eight year old boy 
had pity on them and had it fixed in no time. With his parents permission, they 
treated him to ice cream. 

They ran back and fourth, finally getting it into the air. Natalie watched 
Nick's face more than the kite, enjoying the childish wonder emanating from it. 
She also loved watching the sunlight dance across his face as they ran through 
the trees. 

Nick watched the kite play tag with the sun, bobbing here and there through the 
sky like a tiny ship in a storm. They finally collapsed under the shade of a 
tree where they had laid out the blanket. Natalie sat and let Nick lay his head 
in her lap. They talked and fed each other fruit and cheese, and drank Gatorade 
from the bottle. Nick tasted everything, marveling at the differences in 
texture, color, and smell. Some things such as the grapes and cheese brought 
back memories of his childhood. In the late afternoon, Natalie spied an ice 
cream cart across the way. She ran and bought two chocolate Sundae cups. She sat 
on the blanket with Nick cross-legged before her, and scooped out a glop of 
fudge and vanilla ice cream on the little wooden spoon. "Close your eyes," she 
bid him. 

Nick closed his eyes and opened his mouth. This was something he had longed to 
experience. 

Natalie spooned it in to his waiting mouth. 

The coldness felt heavenly on his warm, overheated tongue. The rich, exquisite 
taste of chocolate and the smooth, creamy ice cream, melted and ran down his 
throat. He moaned with pleasure. It was all Natalie had told him it was. 

"Oh, that's wonderful, Nat!" He took a glob and fed it to her, leaving some of 
it on her lips. He learned forward to reclaim it, tasting it and her. "This it 
what I taste when I taste you, My Love!" he said, a bit surprised. "Chocolate, 
cream and something else." He thought a moment. "The scent of yellow roses," he 
added, pleased that he'd figured out what it was. 

Natalie was touched. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him 
tightly, claiming his lips for a longer kiss. 

End Chapter 9 

By Jeannie Ecklund Gersknightlady@cs.com