Monday, December 31, 2012

I think I finally got it!

So after a lot of trial and error I think I have finally found a way to post the freebies without putting the end of the book first.  Took me most of the day but I think this will be a better way, especially since the chapters will be in order from #1 on.
Thanks for your patients!  I look forward to your comments!
www.leichellek.com

Sunday, December 2, 2012

Memiors of Mrs. Bruce Wayne Chapter 1

I remember the first time I met him. I was a teenager, preparing to go away to college. I remember the strong scent of strength and power as he held me to his massive chest. "Hold on!" he had yelled over the furious inferno that raged around us. I had been trapped in a building during one of Joker's many escapades.
He had saved my life and was gone before I could catch my breath and thank him. He would continue to protect the city and I would go on to college and medical school.
He wouldn't enter my life again until I went to work with my mentor Dr. Leslie Thompkins. I was on my way to Leslie's office when the door opened and I was looking at the most intense and brilliant blue eyes I had ever seen. I suppressed the shiver my body wanted to enjoy.
I vaguely heard Leslie say, "Bruce Wayne, let me introduce you to my right hand, Dr. June Robinson. She had been a Godsend."
He extended his hand to me and said, "Pleasure to meet you Dr. Robinson."
"The pleasure is all mine Mr. Wayne." And indeed it was. All the negative thoughts that had been swimming around in my head about the billionaire playboy had disappeared as he spoke and shook my hand.
J'onn J'onzz would later explain it was my telepathy that allowed me to connect with the real man and not the personified image he created about himself.
Bruce Wayne would smile at me and then continue out of the clinic. The questions began to bombard my brain like an enraged swarm. I didn't trust myself to speak, not sure if I should like or dislike our generous benefactor.
Shaking myself mentally I turned to Leslie, who was smiling at me and handed her the files I had temporarily forgotten I carried. I made it back to my office and finally caught my breath. There had been something familiar yet distant. He was like the kid who yelled, 'yea I'm friendly and I want to play with you just don't expect it every day.'
I had felt the power, the charisma, and yes the money. That had to be it. My breathing had returned to normal and the logical side of my brain had taken over. Leslie was most likely treating him for an STD and they were keeping things hush-hush.
Shaking the image of Bruce Wayne from my mind I knew I would never be a part of the circles he frequented. Little did I know that I was getting ready to be part of a circle few were privy to.
Some years later Leslie had decided to retire so she called me into her office to break the news to me. I sensed there was much more she wanted to say but either wasn't sure or completely ready to tell me. We talked about keeping the clinic thriving in the community and continuing to be there for the patients.
"Bruce Wayne will continue to need you, even if he won't openly admit it." I sat dumbstruck by her admission.
"He is a private person. Nothing like the tabloids portrays him. He purposely carries a burden and refuses to share it with anyone. He will ignore your advice, push you and fight you at every turn but you must not back down. I know some day he will come to trust you as much as he trusts me. He is extremely loyal and will do his best to never let you down."
My intuition let me know that the secret we were keeping for Mr. Wayne had nothing to do with scandal or rich people gossip. She was preparing me for a world more dangerous than any my medical career could prepare me for.
At her funeral he came up to me to offer his condolence. His eyes had so much sorrow and I shocked us both when I took him in my arms and hugged him as if to draw all the hurt and pain out of him. I kept hearing Leslie's words to me, 'He won't admit it.' To onlookers we looked like two mourners sharing an emotional moment over our dear departed friend but that day my telepathy hit me full force and I knew everything about him and knew that even if Leslie had not sat down and talked to me, there would be nothing I would not do to help him in his mission to keep his promise. When I pulled back from him he looked at me a bit bewildered. I had let him touch peace and it had unnerved him in a way that no criminal had ever or would ever do. He nodded and continued down the row.
Leslie's words would come back to me yet again when I would find him in her old office three weeks later. I had not had the heart to clear her things and like sensing her presence if nothing else on days when life had become an out of control wildfire. He had been looking at the pictures she kept on her bookshelf. He tried to hide it but he was favoring his left side. Bane had been in town. Bruce might have broken ribs but I knew I would have to let him be in control of the situation if I was going to treat him.
He spoke first answering my unasked question, "I was so used to coming here to talk to her, I was here before I realized…."
I took him by the hand and lead him into one of the examination rooms. He said nothing while I unbuttoned his shirt and began to ascertain his injury. No broken bones but extremely bruised ribs. As I examined him I steadied my breathing so I could talk to him.
"Leslie told me about you." His quick intake of breath and widened eyes almost caused me to lose my train of thought. I continued on before he could speak, "No she didn't tell me the specifics of your secret, just that you had one. She hopes that you will trust me as you trusted her. I don't need to know the specifics even though I know you go by another name."
He did interrupt me then as I began to apply the bandage to his side. "How long?" It was the softest I had ever heard him speak.
"I've known ever since the funeral. When I hugged you I knew everything, from beginning to end. I had meant to drive out to your home and talk to you but I was still coming to grips with my new power and with the loss of my dear friend."
I finished bandaging his side and took one of his hands in mine. "I miss her too. I know you knew her longer and she was a connection to your parents. I hope to be as much help to you as she was." I silently added that he could trust me but I knew he was a man of action and I would have to prove it and not just say it.
He would thank me for the medical care and I could almost feel the sincerity his eyes gave me. Clark Kent would tell me some time later that for the one superhero without special powers, Batman's eyes could do things that none of them had ever been able to do.
Bruce Wayne would take me to dinner as week later and a month later the Wayne Foundation would give us a grant so large that I could hire more staff for the clinic and open another clinic in a west end of Gotham.
I began to purposely leave my balcony doors unlocked, not that I believed he would have a problem with opening them if they had been but I wanted him to know I expected him and I was ready to prove myself trustworthy. Plus I was ready to meet Batman. I had gotten to know Bruce Wayne quite well, it was time for me to really know this extraordinary man completely.
He didn't disappoint. I understood why criminals feared him. Everything I had ever heard or read paled in comparison as he stood before me. The Dark Knight indeed.
We stood looking at each other. Though my heart beat wildly in my breast I did not let my eyes waver from his stare. I was tempted to reach out with my mind but thought better of it and let him appraise my sincerity at face value.
"Are you injured?" I whispered into the silence.
"No. Come to the house at nine tomorrow." With that he was back out my balcony in a flash and then as if he had never been there he was gone.
I would stand there blinking and replaying the scene to make my brain believe what had just happened. I had passed his test and it seemed it was time to pull me into the circle completely.