Brigit then with a tone of understanding, said, "Please go on Vincent. I am yer friend. I will accept whatever it is ye want to tell me."
Vincent then tipped his head, and explained, "It is because of how I look, and who I am that sets me apart from other men. Brigit, You just said my disguise looked real, it is because...this is my true face. And it was at this very hospital, my mother had abandoned me. Miraculously, I was found and taken to the man who became my Father. He raised me, took care of me, and loved me as his own son. No one knows anything about my lineage...there are no answers as to why I am who I am."
Vincent then slowed down, realizing this may be too much for Brigit to comprehend, and so he carefully asked, "Please tell me I was right to tell you all this? I don't want you to fear me."
Softly Brigit replied, "Fear ye? How could I fear ye? I am glad ye told me..."
Brigit then kindly continued, "...Ye must have withstood so much pain, to grow up so different. Life is hard enough for those of us who are..."
Grievously, Vincent finished her sentence with a word, he knew she could not use, "Normal?"
To which Brigit sadly answered, "Aye."
As Vincent lowered his head, he softly replied, "Perhaps...I shouldn't have told you..."
As a silence fell between them, Brigit in wanting to show him she was not afraid of him, and that he was right to share his secret with her, took his hand in hers, and softly said, "Vincent, please, no regrets."
And so, Vincent in a low voice repeated, "No regrets, however, my story has been an added burden for you to bare, as no one can ever know about me. You see, there are others from my world, who's safety depends on secrecy."
Wanting to put him at ease, Brigit reassuringly answered, "Don't worry, I can keep a secret with the best of 'em. I won't breathe a word of it."
To which, Vincent warmly said, "Somehow, I knew that would be so."
And so being so curious about his life and existence, Brigit then asked, "Where is it that ye live? Ye call it yer world?"
Securely, Vincent confided, "Yes, my world, or community, is in the abandoned subway tunnels, which run below the city. There are many of us there."
In trying to imagine what this place must be like, Brigit dreamily told Vincent, "I would like to see yer world sometime."
To which Vincent warmly said, "Yes, you would be welcome there."
As Brigit looked at her watch, she stood to sadly say goodbye, and said, "I hate to leave when we have so much to talk about, but I must be gettin' back to me father. Do stay in touch Vincent."
Thankful for this meeting, and for Brigit's friendship, Vincent warmly said, "I will."
Not wanting Vincent to think her affection for him had changed any, she sensually raised her brow as she asked, "Vincent?"
To which Vincent inquired, "Yes?"
With an alluring smile, she told him, "Just fer the record, if ye become available, I really would love to see yer etchin's sometime!"
Stunned though he may be, Vincent did want to lighten the mood, a bit, and so he splayed his hands out at his side, and jovially replied, "Ahh, but Brigit, I don't etch."
As Brigit smiled, and began to walk away, flanked by her security guy, she turned once more and waved goodbye.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Peter had just put Rita's chart away, when Catherine stepped up to the desk, and asked, "Am I interrupting?"
Upon hearing Catherine's voice, Peter looked up, and cheerfully said, "Hey hey, not at all Kiddo."
Happily, Peter gave his favorite gal a hug, and as he stepped back to take in her whole look, he whistled and said, "Hey look at you! You're looking very Renaissance like!"
In response, Catherine said thank you, but then anxiously asked, "Any chance you saw Rita tonight? Dad brought her here from the party after she hurt her ankle."
To which Peter informatively said, "Yes I did, I took care of her."
And so Catherine asked, "How is she doing?"
With an assured nod, Peter replied, "Just a sprain Cathy, in fact I just finished wrapping it for her, and sent her, her daughter and YOUR Dad home."
Happy to hear this news, Catherine expressed how relieved she was it wasn't anything serious, and then out of concern for the tired good doctor, Catherine asked, "Are you allowed to break out for a cup of coffee?"
Thinking coffee sounded pretty good about now, Peter teasingly said, "They let me out on good behavior from time to time...Why? Are you buying?"
To which Catherine replied, "Absolutely!"
Peter then told the nurse where he'd be, and together he and Catherine headed for the cafeteria.
As they walked along, Peter with a paternal interest asked, "So tell me, any truth to the rumor that you met someone at the party tonight?"
As Catherine looped her arm through Peter's, she smiled as she replied, "I did, and actually, he's waiting for me in the cafeteria."
To which she then apprised him, "And yes, without any help from you, I managed to find my own cultural-minded guy tonight. So, it appears YOUR Mr. Wells, isn't the last interesting single male left on the planet after all."
Upon hearing this scoop, Peter was privately happy on two levels. One, was the fact Catherine looked quite enamored with her new guy, and two, she won't be bugging him to meet Mr. Wells!
And so Peter impressively replied, "You don't say?"
To which Catherine excitedly added, "And you won't believe this, but one of his favorite authors is Wordsworth!"
Relieved the subject matter had moved on past Mr. Wells, Peter then said, "Well let's go meet this fella!"
Catherine knowing she can freely introduce Peter to Vincent on this night, looked about the cafeteria crowd, and as she spotted him, she excitedly said, "Oh there's Vincent over in the corner."
Upon hearing his name, Peter was absolutely stunned by the coincidence that her new cultural guy had the same first name as "HIS" cultural friend, A.K.A. Mr. Wells!
And so Peter surprisingly asked, "Did you say Vincent?"
Just then Vincent turned around, and from his vantage, he saw Catherine approaching, walking arm in arm with PETER!
Seeing them so friendly, caused Vincent to privately expound, "Oh cheer! It looks like Catherine and Peter know one another! What will Peter think?"
And as Peter got a load of Vincent, he continued to put one foot in front of the other, but was basically in a state of shock to see that Catherine's Vincent was also his Vincent!
Oblivious to the look on Peter's face, Catherine continued with the introductions, by excitedly saying, "Vincent, I want you to meet my good friend, Dr. Peter Alcott. And Peter this is Vincent..."
And so as the two men stood in a friendly standoff, both were wondering how to handle this situation!
As far as Vincent goes, he was unsure how much Peter wanted to reveal to Catherine about his role as a Helper, and as for Peter, he was unsure how much he should reveal about Vincent!
But Peter had an added concern, he didn't want Catherine to be mislead by her new cultural guy in any way, shape or form!
And so Peter in his subtle way, wanted to let Vincent know he was expecting him to be honest with her. And so he cautiously began the whole subject, by saying, "Actually kiddo, Vincent and I know each other."
To which Catherine, with surprise, asked, "You do?"
With a bit of trepidation, Vincent then too said, "Yes...we do..."
Feeling totally perplexed, by this revelation, she couldn't help but wonder how much Peter knew about Vincent. And so she looked up at the both of them, and asked, "How well do you know each other?"
And though Peter didn't want to betray Vincent, he did want to make a point, and so with a raised brow, he revealed, "Quite well, you see kiddo, I have known Vincent since he was a newborn babe..."
Catherine's mind was spinning, thinking if Peter has known Vincent that long, then he must know all about his differences!
So meanwhile, as Vincent stood getting Peter's "Fatherly Concern" message loud and clear, he thoughtfully said, "Peter, you should know, there are no secrets here...Catherine knows who I am..."
And then speaking to Catherine, Vincent continued, "...and Catherine, Peter does as well."
Relieved this was so, Peter took a deep breath and said, "Well that is a relief. I was wondering where to go with all this."
And then with wonder, Peter asked, "How in the world did you two meet?"
To which Catherine smiled at Vincent and answered, "We met at the Party Dad and I went to, you know the Masquerade Party given in honor of Brigit O'Donnell."
Peter then looked at Vincent, to say, "You never mentioned you were going to THAT party when I saw ya earlier."
Thoughtfully, Vincent replied, "You seemed to be in a bit of a rush, and I didn't want to delay you by going over my trite social itinerary."
Thinking back, Peter laughed to himself, because he knew the only reason he was in a rush, was because Vincent was asking questions about Catherine!
Still stunned, Catherine then asked, "And what about you two? How is it you know each other?"
Vincent turned to look at Catherine as he explained to her, "The world I exist in, could not function without Helpers from the city above. Peter is a Helper to us, and has been since the beginning."
A stunned Catherine asked, "Peter you?"
Kindly Peter verified, what Vincent had just told her, and with a nod, said, "Jacob, Vincent's Father, was a colleague of mine before he went below to start his colony in the tunnels. I always valued him as a good doctor, and as a wonderful friend. I wanted to do all I could do to support his decision to live below. In fact I helped Jacob doctor Vincent when he was brought below as a mere infant."
Catherine stood in disbelief, thinking about all the years she has known Peter, never guessing he had this secret side to his life!
Meanwhile getting back to the subject of Vincent and Catherine, Peter felt he needed to assume the parental role to these two tonight, and so he carefully said, "Knowing you two as I do, I can certainly understand how a friendship would form between you..."
Happy to hear Peter knew them both well enough to understand, Catherine further explained her heart, as she softly said, "Yes...when I first met Vincent, it was as though I was being united with someone I already knew. As if somehow, we were meant to be together..."
To which Vincent humbly added, "Yes, as though the Heavens had a hand in our meeting..."
They both then looked hopefully to their friend for support, and waited for Peter to say something.
Now knowing the full scope of things, Peter knew it was time to give some fatherly advice. So he told them, "Look, I love you both and I'm not sure what to say exactly. I only hesitate, because..."
Peter then looked at Catherine and said, "Keeping an unconventional relationship a secret won't be easy Kiddo. It can take its toll on a person."
Catherine looked up at Vincent, and he back at her, while she told Peter, "I will gladly live with the secrets...I have to, because I connected with Vincent before I knew we were different from one another, and now that I do know, it is too late, I cannot walk away."
And now addressing Vincent, Peter made his case by saying, "And Vincent, your safety could be in jeopardy by the risks you will be taking when you come above more frequently to see Catherine."
To which Vincent stepped up to also avow, "And because of this bond which connects us, there is no risk so great that could ever separate us."
Peter stood there for a moment, digesting everything these two just declared to him. And so knowing he was up against it, he then lovingly put his arms around them, and said, "Vincent, you earlier told me you thought the Heavens had a hand in your meeting tonight, I believe you are right. There were definitely some forces at work here!"
And at that moment, Peter knew he was the only one privy to all of the magical forces at work that day, and felt the moment of revelation had come!
And so, he decided to have a little fun helping these two put the missing puzzle pieces together!
So...mischievously, Peter said, "Well today sure has been one full of surprises! And speaking of which it sure was a surprise running into you at Mr. Smythe's earlier today CATHY."
Smiling, Catherine replied, "I know! And to think you were picking up the copy of the Wordsworth I wanted, for your friend Mr. Wells!"
And then Catherine astonishingly continued, "Oh I should tell you, I took a moment to read the poem Mr. Wells likes so much. "A Night-Piece"...well you won't believe this, but Vincent loves this poem too, and he even recited a part of the poem to me this evening."
In reply, Peter raised a brow, looked at Vincent, and in a wry disbelief, he said, "Oh is that so!"
As Vincent began to put it all together, in a shocked manner, he clarified, "So Peter...is Catherine your friend "Cathy?"
Peter nodded as he smiled, and then he looked at Catherine and asked, "Hey Cathy, what was the message you wanted me to pass on to my friend Mr. Wells?"
Wondering why Peter would ask her that question now, Catherine thought back anyway and repeated, "Well I asked you to tell Mr. Wells that I hope he enjoys his book."
With a tip of his head, Peter jovially suggested, "Instead of my telling him, why don't you give Mr. Wells, that message yourself!"
Looking totally confused, Catherine asked, "Uh? What do you mean Peter? I don't even know your friend."
To which Peter replied, "Maybe you should ask Vincent what his last name is..."
And then Peter lovingly said, "Look you two, I have rounds to make, Vincent I think you have the gist of things, take it from here will ya. Goodnight kids."
As Catherine stood, feeling very confused, she repeated, "Ask you for your last name? What is Peter talking about Vincent?"