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Date Posted: 11:28:32 01/23/08 Wed
Author: Mary
Author Host/IP: 66.162.52.3.gen.fullservice.net / 66.162.52.3
Subject: Characters & Shadows - Chapters 33
In reply to: Mary 's message, "Characters & Shadows - Cont." on 11:26:45 01/23/08 Wed

Chapter 33

After Madeline left the house Paul sat in his office and thought about what he had done. Right or wrong didn’t really matter anymore in his world and he knew that. He wasn’t going to tolerate ever again having to ask anyone for money for any production he wanted to do. After the last play and the disaster that followed he had been ruined from a financial perspective. He had to put his pride aside and actually go an ask financier’s for funding. He had sworn that he would never have to do that again and he never would.

Some would say he made a deal with the devil. Maybe they were right. But the devil was the only one in town that was open for business. So Paul had went to Suba to make the deal. It had eaten at him what he had to do, at first his distaste at having to deal with such a person was overwhelming. He agonized over what had to be done, but as time passed he began to see the real problem was not with what he had to do, no the real problem was with the people that had put him in such a horrible position.

Once that thought struck Paul, he held onto it and let it begin to truly fester through his subconscious. Yes, see if Michael had been good enough to truly pull off the last production then there wouldn’t have been a problem. And if Madeline had really done her job the way she was supposed to then the whole Michael and Simone problem never would have happened. Yes, that was the real problem. It had nothing to do with Paul and what he had to do. It was about the people that forced him into the situation.

And of course Corrine and her instability which he was incapable of tolerating anymore. He couldn’t take it anymore that she was so incapacitated that at times she had no idea who she was. But he also knew that she had teams of carefully placed people watching every penny of that damn fortune that she controlled. Millions just sitting being wasted by a woman that couldn’t even dress herself most days. It was absurd. It had to stop.

So Paul had a new plan that he was forming. He owed money to Suba’s boss. A lot of money. It appeared that Suba’s boss wanted Nikita, fine let him have her. But that would not be enough to pay off what he owed. No he was going to have to change the deal in order to get out of this. The only solution that made any sense to him was to finally, once and for all, get rid of Corrine. If Suba or whomever, could kill her, then Paul would have almost instant access to millions of dollars. He could pay back what he owed and make payment for the ‘hit’ without ever putting a dent in all that money.

It was of paramount importance to keep Madeline away from all of this for a while. She was sometimes too smart for his own good and having her figure things out just would complicate this even more. And he didn’t want to kill Madeline; she was still good in bed. Yes, Paul smiled to himself, it was all coming together nicely now.

*****

Hours later Michael sat in the waiting room with Walter while Brian and his team ran another battery of tests on Nikita. After the first seizure they continued, each one shook Michael to his core. At least Nikita never regained consciousness, she was unaware of what was happening to her right now, Michael tried to take some comfort in that thought.

Walter had arrived and Michael updated him on what he knew. But the news got worse and worse as Nikita’s condition continued to rapidly deteriorate no matter what the doctor’s seemed to do. Brian had tried different treatments and Dr. Branscom was consulting with other experts in the area but nothing was working yet.

Walter tried to get Michael to eat something but the only thing he wanted was coffee. There was no way he was leaving at all. Even being in the waiting room away from Nikita was killing him. He didn’t really know what they were doing, he trusted them, but still it was Nikita in there and she had become his whole world, to lose her now was unimaginable.

Michael continued to pace as Walter watched from the doorway of the waiting area. He was concerned for many reasons. Michael was much more attached to Nikita than Walter had thought. He was obviously deeply in love with her and this was tearing him apart. He was also worried about how she could have gotten so sick so quickly. According to Michael it was barely twenty four hours and now they were discussing possibly having to put her in ICU. They didn’t seem too concerned that what she had was contagious, as Michael showed no signs whatsoever of being ill and they hadn’t quarantined anyone.

Walter was pulled from his musing by a familiar voice coming from behind him, “Hey Walter!”

Walter smiled the sight of Birkoff, typical all rumpled and looking like a fairly young kid that just rolled out of bed, “Birkoff, I see you got my message.” He told him as he slapped his shoulder and continued, “I might need your help here.”

“You mentioned that a friend is sick. What’s going on?”

While Birkoff looked like a teenager in appearance, he was actually one of the most creative and brilliant people that Walter knew. The young man had written several plays, including Section One. He was also one of the best researchers that there was. If there was information to be found – Birkoff was the guy to find it.

“See that guy over there?” Walter pointed over to Michael who continued his lone stance by the window. “That’s Michael Samuelle.”

“He’s playing my Phillip in One, isn’t he?”

“Yeah. But your leading lady is pretty sick right now. That’s what I need your help with.”

“What can I do?”

“As far as I can tell the docs here are stumped. She’s got all the signs of bacterial meningitis. But I heard ‘em talking and there’s symptoms that she has that don’t fit, and something isn’t right with her blood.”

“So you’re looking for a little side help from me?” he couldn’t help but grin as he said it. He loved this sort of thing – not that he wanted anyone to be sick – but if he could ‘hack’ he was a happy man.

“You read my mind.” Walter confirmed.

“Careful there, I don’t really want to go into that mind. Glad I brought this beauty.” He said tapping the backpack as he settled in one of the chairs in the waiting room and broke out the laptop.

Walter watched as Michael finally turned from the window and came over, “What’s going on Walter?”

“This is Seymour Birkoff, a friend of mine, your playwright, and one hell of a finder-of-information. If you know what I mean.” Walter said with a sly grin.

Birkoff briefly looked up and nodded at Michael and then went right back to work. Michael told Walter, “Good. She needs all the help we can possibly give her right now. Let me know if you find something. I’m going back to her whether they are done or not.”

*****

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