Title:  Pots 'n' Pans
Author:  Michelle W.  (crosscribe@yahoo.ca)
Disclaimers:  All the usual.  This is a twist on "Eye
of the Storm."
***************

Christy Huddleston rapped impatiently on the door to
the doctor's cabin.  The rain was really starting to
come down, and this was the second time she had
knocked on the door.

"Teacher, mebbe he ain't home,"  Becky said, cringing
as another thunderclap sounded overhead.

"I'm sure he's here,"  replied Christy.  "See the
light coming through the window?  Maybe he can't hear
us over the storm."  The young teacher wasn't sure if
she was trying to reassure herself or her young
student.

Just as Christy was about to open the door for
herself, she heard a crashing noise coming from the
other side.  
"Blast it!" she heard a familiar voice exclaim before
the door opened, revealing a rather disheveled looking
doctor.

"Neil!" Christy exclaimed as she quickly ushered Becky
inside.  "What took you so. . ."  Her voice trailed
off  as she looked around the room.  Forming a
haphazard maze over most of the floor was a collection
of pots and pans, each one catching water as it
dripped from the cabin's ceiling.

"Golly, Doc,"  said Becky.  "Ya got more leaks then my
cabin!"

"Yes, Dr. MacNeill," echoed Christy.  "Your roof is in
a very poor state of repair.  Haven't you had time to
fix it?"  

Neil sheepishly looked away as Christy guided Becky to
a nearby chair.

"Um, I've been busy lately is all,"  he replied.

"But I know you haven't been called out for the past
week at least," said Christy.  "And there have been no
medical emergencies in the Cove."  She looked up as a
drop of water landed on her head.  Neil quickly pulled
out another pan and laid it at Christy's feet.

"I've been busy with other things,"  he replied
tersely, casting a sharp glance in Becky's direction
when he heard her giggle.  

"Becky?  What's so amusing?"  asked Christy.

"The doc weren't too busy,"  whispered Becky, having
felt the doctor's reproving look but feeling somewhat
emboldened by her teacher's presence (and the doctor's
absence as he looked for another pan in his
laboratory.).

"Then what is it?"  Christy probed, the noise in
Neil's lab indicating this was to be a private
conversation.

"Doc's scared of heights."

"Dr. MacNeill?  Scared?"  Becky nodded her head
vigorously.  

"Don't ya ever wonder why he got rid of 'em stairs he
used t' have in here?"  Becky said.  Christy looked at
where the staircase had been when she first visited
Neil's cabin.  Come to think of it, his laboratory
used to be in a different spot too.

Just then Neil tripped over a pail as he exited his
laboratory.

"Neil!" Christy exclaimed in frustration.  "Why don't
you just go on the roof and fix these leaks!  A person
could break their leg trying to move around in here!"

Neil, who was feeling a bit on edge himself because he
had already tripped over every pot and pan at least
once, blurted out "Because I don't own a ladder!  And
if I did, there is no way you or anyone else could
make me go up it!"

Christy's eyes widened in surprise.  What Becky told
her was true!

"But why?" she asked as she carefully made her way
over to him.

"Because," Neil said tersely, "I just am!"  With that,
he turned to go back into his laboratory.  

However, the doctor's dramatic exit was thwarted by
the same pail he had just tripped over moments
earlier.  Trying to keep his balance, Neil
over-compensated.  As he fell to the floor, he hit his
head on the ledge of the fireplace.  He heard Christy
scream as everything faded to black.

Chapter 2

"Neil?  Neil!"  Christy leaned back on her heels,
whispering a quick prayer of thanks as the doctor
began to stir.

"Don't try to sit up," she instructed the doctor.  "I
don't want you to get soaked on top of everything
else."  Neil grimaced as he rubbed the nasty pump knot
on the right side of his head.

"How long have I been out?"  he asked.

"Hmmm, about an hour or so,"  Christy replied as she
straightened out the comforter she had thrown over him
earlier.  "Becky is asleep on the cot - I set it up on
the other side of the fireplace.  There weren't too
many leaks over there,"  she added with a grin.

"Very funny," said Neil as he sat up.  He soon laid
back down, as the room was at a curious angle.  There
was no protest on his part as Christy pulled the quilt
up under his chin.  Neil smiled slightly when he saw
her wearing his jacket.

"I was cold," Christy said shyly.  "It kept me warm,
and didn't get in the way. . ."  Her voice trailed off
as she gingerly moved a stray lock of hair off of
Neil's forehead, marveling at the way it glinted in
the firelight.  She did not pull back when Neil
grabbed her hand, holding it gently in his work-worn
one.

"Thank you," he mumbled as his eyelids drooped shut.

"For what?"  Christy asked.  Neil forced his eyes open
so he could look at the woman who was quickly
capturing his heart.

"For not laughing at me for being scared."  Christy
squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"I know what it is like to be scared of something,"
she replied.  "But I know you are a very brave man,
Neil MacNeill.  You won't let a wee thing like a fear
of heights stop you."  Christy saw the doubt in his
eyes.  Squeezing his hand again, she continued.  "I
wish you believed in yourself as much as I do!"

"Aye, lass,"  Neil mumbled, unable to fight sleep any
longer.  "Perhaps one day. . ."


About Two Months Later. . .

"Dr. MacNeill?  Dr. MacNeill?"  Christy looked around
the doctor's property.  

"Mebbe he's not here, Teacher,"  said Becky.  Christy
had accompanied the girl to her weekly appointment
with Dr. MacNeill, who was monitoring her progress
after the trachoma operation.  (Author's Note:  See
"Eye of the Storm".)

Christy was about to remark how familiar this scene
was when she heard a loud noise.  Having become well
acquainted with such a noise from all of David's work
around the mission, she quickly deduced someone was
hammering away on the roof of Neil's cabin.  Grasping
Becky's hand, she quickly rushed over to the cabin,
searching for a ladder propped against a wall.  A
large smile spread across Christy's face when she was
met with success.

"Wait here," she said to Becky.  Christy was up the
ladder before the girl had any chance to protest.

"Christy!  What in the blazes are you doing up here?" 
Neil exclaimed upon seeing her.

"I could ask you the same question," she teasingly
replied.  Neil put down his hammer and quickly scooted
over beside her.

"Why, I'm just fixing the roof," he said nonchalantly.
 He nimbly made his way down the ladder so he could
make sure Christy reached the ground safely.

"May I ask you what your secret is?"  she asked once
they were inside his cabin.

"Confront your fears," Neil responded as he lifted
Becky onto a high stool.  "And take courage from
knowing someone believes in you," he whispered into
Christy's ear as he went to get the solution for
Becky's eyes.  Christy felt the colour rise in her
cheeks.  "Besides, I don't want to merely hold your
hand when I'm injured," he added with a wink.

Christy nearly swooned, but not merely from what the
doctor had said.  She was thinking of how nice it
would feel to hold Neil's hand in her own as she
confronted her fear of the dark.

The End! V, VBG!!

Another Author's Note:  Please excuse any and all
lameness, as it is midnight here & I should *really*
be in bed instead of writing fanfics and then sending
them off without reading them over first.  I may very
well groan in embarrassment when I read this in the
morning!!