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Cyprien wasn’tpolite chitchat now; he really wanted to know In a way, that curiosity washer--which reminded her, she was theShe pushed away the re "All you want is my speed, not my life story"

The misshapen head inclined her way "I would still like to knohy you becaardener, this old Polish guy na as a bull but a wizard with flowers, and he could grow anything"

"He was kind to you?"

"Not particularly He gruarden and told " She wanted the wine noanted the warmth to thaw the ice inside her, but she wouldn’t let herself drink it Not here, not with hi red nose with a sore on it that wouldn’t heal By the time he saw a doctor, it was too late It was melanoma--skin cancer--and it was bad His nose had to be amputated"

Cyprien made no crass comment, or any sound at all He si bandage over his face Then he had to wear a prosthetic nose" She remembered how it had looked on his weather-beaten face, and the red, angry flesh around it "Kids aren’t very nice to old hbors’ brats came to the fence and called Stash names, like he was a monster"

"Did you do the same?"

"Nope Once I saw him take off the fake nose to wipe some sweat away I told him he just looked like a jack-o’-lantern, and he should take off his nose and scare away those nasty kids I was six, I believe" She s "After that, he’d take his nose off around me Stuck it in the back pocket of his jeans I didn’t know at the time, but his face never really healed, and it hurt him to wear it Most people can’t stand to look at soh It’s considered one of the worst disfigurements you can have"

"Is it?" Cyprien touched a mass of scar tissue on his face where his nose should have been "What happened to this gardener?"

"He died a year after the surgery They didn’t get all the cancer, and it went up into his brain That’s when I decided to be a surgeon"

"For which I rateful," Cyprien said, his voice strained

She stared across the table at hiardener’s flat, sad face superiive myself Stockholm syndrome "That’s the reason Satisfied now?"

He nodded "Café au lait, Phillipe"

Alex felt like an idiot as she drank the cup of strong chicory coffee Phillipe brought her Cyprien was a man who could heal in minutes If there was some way to nail down and duplicate what his body did naturally, it would make a tremendous difference to patients like Luisa Lopez It would, in fact, changeher captive She couldn’t afford to be hostile toward him

"That was the best racious ard; she was out of practice Hostile was so much easier "Thanks"

"You’re very welco cautiously "Have you been able to spontaneously heal your entire life?"

He shook his head "I acquired the ability as a young enetic factors "Does it run in your farandparents, aunts, uncles?"

"No" He lifted his wineglass to his enetic" She put down her coffee cup To isolate a gene for spontaneous healing would be thea pink diamond mine The applications were endless, but she didn’t think of anonyht of Luisa "Mr Cyprien, if I restore your features, will you allow me to run soan to explain what could be learned fro him, until he held up one of his hands

"Dr Keller, I appreciate your enthusiasm, but my ability does not come without a heavy price" He placed his hand over hers The bones and ine a war fought by soldiers whose injuries heal as quickly as ainst the, which had tasted so divine, abruptly forlad" Cyprien merely finished his wine and rose "If you’re finished, perhaps we can adjourn to my chambers? You can inspect your equipment"

Alex blinked "What equipment?"

"Éliane obtained what you requested" He walked over and offered her an arht "Come, I’ll show you"

Chapter Five

Ten ical table All around her, diagnostic equiplass-paneled cabinets showed off shelves stocked with every conceivable instrument and medical supply She stared at the portable lab and X-ray machine, their related processors, and the latest in alloplastic and autogenous grafting erated cases

She stared up at Cyprien "This isn’t equip field hospital"

He sat beside her and turned as if watching her face "It is what you will need, is it not?"

"Uh, yeah I could treat a hundred patients here" She pushed herself off the table and tapped the surface "You’ll be first"