Things began to move quite smoothly for Emily. It icky took two weeks for her to find a home she was pleased with, and renovations would take about a month to be completed. Chloe and Jen both found apartments in Seattle, and finished their training at the European massage institute. Construction of the spa was going swimmingly, and they were on schedule to open in only two months. 

On a particularly rainy evening, Emily wandered into Alucard's study, her small med bag in hand. 

"Alright, no more putting it off. Time to let me get a good look at you."

Things had been quieter since Chloe and Jen found and settled into their own places, he wasn't quite used to the quiet yet, he got used to the noise of a full house rather quickly.  A sigh escaped his lips as he peeled over the finance book for his organization, there was always something that required the money his organization was bringing in. 

 "It's never-ending." Alucard quietly spoke to himself. 

It was Emily's voice that shook him out of his singular financial focus.  The medical bag in her hand a clear reminder to him that she wasn't going to give up on making sure he got the check up he knew damn well he needed.  He'd been able to put it off for the time she was there by putting the focus on her and the importance of her time and him not wanting to put her out. But she had her home, and her business was already underway.  He knew he could not put it off any longer.

His amber eyes locked on Emily, and nodded, quietly speaking, "Of course."  He pushed himself away from his desk. "What do you need me to do?  Also, where do you want me?"

Only barely stifling a chuckle at the last question, Emily took a few more steps into the study and sat her bag on the edge of his desk. 

"No need to move, if you don't want to. There's no need to lie down for a quick physical, but I will need your shirt off." 

Reaching into her bag, she took out her stethoscope and hung it around her neck. As Alucard began to unbutton his shirt, Emily held the pad between her palms to warm it up.

"So no blurry vision, double vision, or unusual headaches?" 

Alucard feigned a taken back expression. "Doc, I do believe you are trying to get us naked!"

He held a straight face for only a few seconds before he softly laughed as he unbuttoned his shirt.  He stood to take the shirt off, tossing it over the side of the desk.  He took very good care of himself, often told he had the body that was chiseled by the gods themselves.  However, the scarring that decorated his back, chest, and arms made it look like a man had tried to re-chisel him, with a very unskilled hand.  The branding over his heart, the signature of the artist. 

Alucard took a deep breath, "Headaches, I always have headaches. This job..." He motioned to his desk, "Is one big headache.  I typically have blurry vision in the mornings, and I have gotten double vision on particularly intense orgasms."

He knew what he spoke was something some people would be embarrassed about, but he never understood why people were embarrassed about it.  For him, it's just the way things were. He quietly sat at the edge of his chair, and let Emily do her job. 

Emily worked quietly as she went about the routine parts of the examination. She listened to his heart and lungs, not at all oblivious to the scars that mapped his skin. They were similar to those that Gavin bore- but not the brands. What a horrible thing to do to another human. Still, she kept those thoughts aside and continued working.

"It's not uncommon for...ahem...vigorous activity to cause such things after the sort of trauma you took."

Taking an otoscope from her bag, Emily tested the light and then held it up to his right eye.

"Look straight ahead, past me, and try not to blink."

She looked at both eyes carefully, then put the scope away, stepping back.

"It looks like everything is just as you were told. There's still swelling that can be seen from behind the ocular nerves. I just...I don't understand what could keep the inflammation from going down. You're healthy as a horse in every other aspect."

Emily reached down toward her bag, and her watch slipped right off her hand and clattered to the floor. 

He felt a little sadness and concern in hearing that there is still swelling that could be seen.  He had been hoping those concerns were something of the past. The uncertainty in her voice about why the swelling wasn't going down didn't help in his concerns either.  So he did the only thing he could think of to do in the moment and that was to crack a joke pointed at how she worded his condition.

"You know, my health isn't the only thing like a horse."  He said with a cocky smirk across his face. 

His jovial spirit faltered, when he noticed her watch had slipped right off her wrist. He stood, and in a quick and swift motion changed places with her.  He knelt to the ground and picked up her watch handing it back to her.  

"Emily, are you eating as you should?  You're looking thinner than normal."  Slight concern ringing in the gentle tone of his voice. 

With a sheepish shrug, Emily took the watch and looked at it briefly, then to Alucard.

"Oh, I'm sure it's just nerves. I've been busy getting the spa ready, dealing with the house remodeling; you know how things are going."

She dropped the watch into her bag and then put the stethoscope in behind it. She perched on the edge of Alucard's desk and folded her hands in her lap.

"My appetite has been less than usual, sure, but it'll pass. Soon as I know Gavin is home safe, anyway."

Smiling, she changed the subject as quickly as she could.

"Well, until I can learn more, you need to continue being cautious with your activity. I wouldn't worry too much about the non-violent stuff...the, uh, bedroom things. You should be fine there. But, I'd like to do a few tests. Draw some blood, if you don't mind."

He noticed how quickly she changed the subject and knew better than to push things too much.  Instead, he gently looked at her, his amber eyes glowing through squinted eyes.   

"Just make sure you're taking care of yourself, alright. If you're not liking the food, I can make whatever you want. I am quite skilled in the kitchen, and you know I don't mind requests."

He returned the smile she gave him, "Well I'm glad I'm not doing myself any harm by making love to my wife. She'd not forgive herself either."  

His smile turned to more of a Cheshire cat-like grin, "You're talking about my bedroom activities followed immediately saying you want to do more tests... I mean I can drop 'em,"  He placed his hands over the buttons on the fly of his pants, "If it's the doctor's orders."

Laughing, Emily blushed, but not out of embarrassment. She and Alucard were far beyond that point in their friendship. She felt like she could tell him anything. Anything, that is, except that she was sick and didn't know why. It wasn't that she wasn't eating- it was that she couldn't keep anything down. Nothing, barely even water. For a moment, she considered telling him- but that would serve to do nothing but worry him unnecessarily. Instead, she gave him a little smirk.

"As tempting as it is, no. Blood test...and a lumbar puncture."

The last bit hung a bit heavily in the air. 

"Have you ever had that done? Or heard it called a spinal tap?"

"No?" He asked in a playfully disappointed tone, as he rebuttoned up his pants. "As you wish..."

He gave a heavier sigh.  "Yeah, we can do the blood work, and lumbar thing you want to do. Whatever it takes to figure this out, and... you know, so I don't risk dying because I accidentally get conked on the head by something.  Just tell me what we have to do for it. Is it something we can do here?" 

He let out a soft but sincere laugh as he thought about how fitting dying by a sheer utter accent of something as getting conked on the head, an injury that anyone should live though.   It humored him thinking on all the times he's escaped death's cold grasp by sheer dumb luck of circumstance, that he could now die by something that should be absolutely benign. 

He studied Emily for a bit.  He knew there was something more to what was going on with her than what she was letting on.  He fully respected her, and knew that she would talk when she was ready to.   He also took comfort in knowing that she would come to him, if there was anything he could do to help her out.   That's just how they were, there for one another, through thick or thin.  Never once did they ever keep score of who had done more for the other, it was just two people there for one another. The closest they might ever get is jokingly saying "you owe me" to one another, but always knowing it was just a joke. 

"It can be done at home, under specific conditions. I'm having an infirmary built in my home, so until then, anything I do will have to be house calls. Anyway, we can do it here. I'll warn you, it's not the most comfortable procedure, but I can give you anesthesia if you want."

Quietly, Emily started to put everything back into her bag, then yawned.

"I think I'm going to go up for a nap. The contractor is coming by later this afternoon to go over some of the final details of the house, but if I don't get some rest, I may sleep through the whole thing."

When the bag was snapped shut, Emily smiled and looked back to her friend with a sincere, gentle smile.

"I'll make a deal with you. Once the lumbar puncture is done, I'll fill you in on everything with me. I promise."

Alucard looked at Emily, and gave a knowing sigh.  

"I've heard of the procedure before, and the rumors about the pain involved with it.   As you can see though... " he motioned to his chest and arms, "I am very well acquainted with pain and discomfort.  Though my gut tells me this will hurt a lot more than anything here, even this brand." 

He watched her close up her bag then slipped his shirt back on, but didn't bother to really button it. 

"And I'll make a deal with you, I'll happily listen to everything that is going on with you as long as let me help you in whatever way I'm able to." 

He let his hand cup her cheek.  "Promise me, you'll let me help."

"Deal. But really, don't worry. This is something silly that I'm thinking too hard about."

She grinned and glanced up at the clock on his wall.

"We can do it in the morning. The kitchen would be the best place for something like this- it's easier to sterilize. I need to go into town for a few supplies. Do you need anything?"

"It might be you thinking too hard, but I'm not about to let you deal with anything on your own. "  He paused for a moment, the words hung in the air as he realized the severity of what he'd said, "Well... damn, you know what I mean."

He smiled at her, wondering just what it was. 

"The kitchen will do fine. We'll let Basker out to roam before bed then, last thing we want him wandering in during the middle of things."  Alucard softly laughed at the thought of the growing wolf interrupting the procedure.  "So what will the procedure tell us?  Oh and nah, I don't need anything, thank you for asking though. Buuuuuut, do you want to drive the Mercedes?"

He grinned at her as he dangled the keys to his sports car on his finger

Emily's eyes widened a little, and a little grin cracked on her face.

"Hmmm....maybe just a little of the way. I don't think I'm ready for the city yet."

She reached up and snatched the keys from him, winking.

"I'll explain the whole thing to you on the way. It doesn't take long, it just has to be done very precisely. And you have to be awake for it because I need you to be able to communicate with me. The gist of it is that I can extract a little bit of spinal fluid and study it. If there's something wrong that's affecting your brain or spinal cord that goes beyond the injury, that will tell me."

Emily picked up her bag and coat.

"I'll go put my bag away and meet you at the car."