Cathy starts to appreciate what happened and how much she is indebted to Tom Agnew, Professor of Zoology extraordinaire. She agrees to pay back some of the debt.

Easy As Falling Off A Bike.
by: Angharad
part: 147.

The details of my attack were hazy to me, and it was only what the professor was able to tell me later that brought home to me how close I'd been to serious injury or even death. Had she found my genitals and hacked them off, I could have died from blood loss or infection.

Had Professor Agnew not responded so promptly, she could have slashed or stabbed my drugged body or face. His calling me, because he was bogged down with paperwork, saved my life. Sadly, his paperwork had to wait.

I woke up in hospital, sleeping off the effects of the drug, which is one of the benzodiazepines and designed for treating insomnia on a short term basis. I slept for a full twenty four hours, awaking to find Simon snoring in the chair alongside me.

"Where am I?" I asked completely confused by my surroundings.

"Um, what, where, erm?" said Simon, looking completely stunned.

"What am I doing in hospital?" I plucked at the hospital gown I wore.

"You don't remember?" said Simon.

"Don't remember what?"

"See I knew you wouldn't."

"Wouldn't what?"

"Remember." He grinned at me, but my mood was not influenced by it at all.

"For God's sake Simon, stop messing about and tell me what happened."

"I can't, I wasn't there. All I know is Mary apparently tried to kill you and the Professor tried to stop her and got stabbed."

"Oh no!" I shrieked, he isn't dead is he?" I felt tears running down my face.

"No, it was in the shoulder, he's in hospital, but he should be okay."

"Mary, why would she want to harm me?"

"I dunno babe, maybe she was jealous you were marrying me, I do have this affect upon women," he grinned.

"I thought your last three girlfriends took holy orders and went into a monastery."

"Monastery, don't you mean nunnery or convent?"

"No a monastery, they'd have more fun fulfilling the orders from the monks there."

"I'll bet!" He laughed, "Have I told you you're crazy?"

"Yes but agreeing to marry you has confirmed the diagnosis, it's in the DSM IV."

"What is?"

"It goes something like, 'All young women agreeing to marry a member of the peerage, want their head examined and should be sectioned immediately, as they are likely to be barking mad'."

"Absolutely, but I love you, crazy as you are." He stood up and kissed me.

"How's the knee?" I asked seeing him walking more or less normally.

"Oh it's painful," he said limping.

"You big baby," I accused.

"Ha, hark who's talking. I actually get shot and you call me names. You only nearly get stabbed and you're in bloody hospital."

"I got poisoned."

"Drugged." He corrected me.

"Poisoned, you should have seen the colour of the coffee she gave me, it was like something they dredge from the dockyard."

"So you do remember it?" he asked.

"Oh God, Spike! She didn't harm my dormice did she?"

"I don't know, I wasn't called until after it was all over."

"Where is she now?" I asked feeling a little apprehensive even though Simon was with me.

"In the mortuary."

"What?" I felt the colour drain from me, as I fell back on the bed in a faint.

I came around with a nurse patting my hand and calling my name. "What happened?"

"You fainted because I told you Mary Miller was dead."

"I didn't kill her did I?" I felt my heart rate rocket.

"As far as I know she was shot by a police marksman as she tried to kill old Agnew."

"Oh my God, how awful." I felt sick and only just managed to get the receiver in place in time. Simon turned a pale green and abruptly decamped.

I was eventually checked over by a doctor who discharged me. Once I had my clothes on, I asked Simon if we could go and see Professor Agnew. He made some enquiries and, the sister on our ward called his ward. They said I could go and see him.

Simon forgot about his limp until he saw me watching his gait, then he began to limp badly. I slapped him on the arm and he laughed and walked normally again, claiming that the pain in his arm overrode that in his leg, enabling him to walk normally. I shook my head, I was sure the whole family were mad as hatters.

Once we got to the ward, we were shown to his bed. He was asleep and looked awful, there was a blood drip attached to his arm. I pointed at the drip, "It should be Cabernet Sauvignon," I said.

"A good choice, please ask them to order it immediately," said a voice from the bed.

"Sorry Prof, did I wake you up?"

"Oh what a thought that would be?"

"What?" I asked blythely.

"Waking up to you each morning. I feel better already." He looked over at me and smiled, I blushed like a tomato.

" 'Oy watch it," growled Simon, "She's mine."

"Children please," I said, "no fighting. I am nobody's. I am a human being not some sort of possession. I am, full stop, there is no owner's name after it."

"Just ignore the feminist diatribe, I'll beat her later," said Simon.

"Good thinking, since we stopped that they've outgrown their station," agreed the professor.

"I refuse to be involved in this puerile conversation," I said pouting. Simon sniggered and the professor smirked.

"Right, how are you boss?" I asked.

"I've felt better."

"Would a kiss help?"

"Oh I'm sure it would do immeasurable good," he winked at me.

"Thank you for saving my life," I said before pecking him on the cheek.

"That's okay."

"I'm sorry you got hurt because of me, and I'm sorry that Mary was killed."

"Yes so am I. If she'd really wanted to kill me, she could have you know. This was just to pay me back for all the pain I caused her."

"Rest now," I instructed, "You can tell me about it another day, when you feel better." I squeezed his right hand, the wound being to his left shoulder.

I kissed him again, Simon shook his hand gently and muttered, "Thanks". When I looked at him oddly he said, once we were outside the ward, "I thanked him for saving the life of my future wife," he put his arm around me.

"That was nice of you."

"Well I'll send him a case of his favourite tipple when he gets home, should help kill the pain."

I had the next day off and cooked Simon and Stella the roast dinner they'd missed the day before. It went down very well. We were just basking in a post prandial glow, when the phone rang.

Stella answered it and called me, "It's your university."

I shuddered hoping nothing had happened to Prof Agnew. "Hello, Cathy Watts speaking."

"Hello Cathy, it's Dr Andrews."

"The prof is okay, isn't he?"

"As far as I know, oh I see. Yes he's okay, however the department isn't. Both the stalwarts who run it are missing, if you take my drift."

"Yes, I understand, how I can I help?"

"Well, until Tom returns, can you take over managing the survey project? You know as much as anyone else does, except the Prof. The other admin stuff, we are sorting. I've got a temp coming in tomorrow to help you with the typing, letters and so on."

"I don't know?" I felt somewhat overwhelmed at the prospect.

"Can you have a look tomorrow morning and let me know as soon as you do know? This is a priority for the Faculty, we can't lose the funding now, it's critical we keep it running until Tom comes back."

"Okay, I'll do it, I'll do it for Prof Agnew."

"Good lass, I knew you would, give me a report on it sometime mid week okay?"

"Erm, yes okay, I'll do my best."

"Thanks Cathy, oh by the way, we'll come to some sort of agreement on remuneration."

"That'll be alright, I owe him big time anyway."

"If I understand, one of the reasons this happened was lack of recognition of the lady who perished. I won't allow that to happen again, so we pay you, I'm sure it'll pay for some cycling gear, not that you're going to have much time for riding a bike for the forseeable future."

"No I suppose not," I agreed whistfully.

"What did they want?" asked Simon.

"They want me to run the project until Prof Agnew comes back."

"Whose bright idea was that?"

"The Dean."

"Want me to ring him up and say you can't?" said Simon looking cross.

"No! Sorry, no thanks, I need to do this for the prof."

"It's too much."

"I'll have some clerical help, I'm only going to do the minimum to hold it together."

"Yeah, famous last words, I said something like that in a previous job and cut my hours from fifty a week to sixty five."

"Simon, I know maths is not my strong point, but that was an increase not a cut."

"I know, but that is what I said, and what happened after it."

"Well it isn't going to happen to me."

"Bloody right it isn't!"

I gave him a Paddington hard stare, but he ignored it.

"You are staying here."

"Simon, I make my own decisions, I'm a big girl now."

"Are you? Well I'm a bigger than you and I say you stay. Please?"

"Okay, I will for a few nights, but if I need to go back to my room, I decide not you, agreed?"

"Hmm dunno."

"Okay, I shall go back tonight."

"No, agreed."

"You are my fiance Simon, not my owner, I thought we'd sorted this already. This ring," I waved my hand, "means I am not available for marriage to someone else. It doesn't make me a chattel, and if you say 'pity' or something similar, you get the jewellery back too."

"I wasn't going to say anything. I'm a great believer in the libido, I mean liberation of women."

"One of these days Simon Cameron...."

"One of these days, what, Catherine Watts?"

"You'll live longer not knowing," I said trying to sound mysterious except I didn't think it had worked.

"Oh, like that is it?" He grabbed me and pulled to his knee and holding me with his bad arm, tickled me with the other. I hate him!

Angharad.Angharad.Angharad.Angharad.Angharad.Angharad.Angharad.

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