Template:Featured Articles/52-2022

Moment of Awesome - Laurie Collins/Wallflower: A broken and bitter Laurie meets with Nathaniel Essex after her quest to regain her arm - and takes her final step away from the light. "A bit of advice. Revenge is always self-defeating. The best way to make them pay is to leave them behind for a better purpose." He looked up as a cool gust swirled in off the ocean. "I have a need for an assistant. Your medical background isn't necessarily the best suited for my needs, but I do know your character and your intelligence. I'm certain I can teach you the gaps in your knowledge." “How?” Laurie hated the slurring that made speech so difficult, and the amount of time and energy the previous attempt had taken. She’d have said and asked so many things. But how was the most important right now. As she was, she couldn’t possibly see any way in which she could do what he wanted her to do. "You are a unique mind, Dr. Collins. My solution is...extreme. And dangerous. But I might be able to change your life and... my son has asked me to do everything I can do for you. And I can do much." They had been working together for months, and he had trusted her with not just his son’s life but with his ultimate purpose. She couldn’t do less than trust him to help her now. And if the secondary benefit was to prove to everyone who couldn’t see what she was doing needed to be done, then that was just as well. “Yes, then. Whatever is needed.” "What if I told you I could fix all of this? The damage, even your arm? Are you willing to risk it?" Laurie’s eyes closed, a grimace of pain crossing her features as she moved herself to a slightly more comfortable position. She’d lost so much, Hope especially. What he offered…Could it be? She opened her eyes as tears glittered but didn’t fall from her lashes, and the desperate hope there was almost painful to behold. “Don’t promise me anything you can’t do. But, if you can. I would do anything, be anything. Please.” "It's extremely risky. I can't promise you'd survive it. But, there is an option there." “It can’t be worse than this.” Laurie waved to all of her, including the cane, the sunken face, and drooping skin that she couldn’t bear to look at in the mirror anymore. “Death would be a release.” "No. I've beaten God once. I can do it again. If you trust me." Essex held out a hand. Laurie’s hand gripped his tightly without a moment of hesitation. She knew he would do everything in his power for her. If there was anyone she now trusted other than herself and Nate, it was Dr. Nathaniel Essex.