Finally, he set the clipboard aside. He rubbed his nose, leaning against the counter behind him, crossing his feet-- she now saw were clad in Nike tennis shoes-- and he held his other arm easily across his chest. "I study aura. I will tell you as far as I can in layman's terms what that means. Everything in the universe is related to and connected to an energy vibration. Every atom, every particle of an atom, every electron, every elementary particle, even our thoughts, and consciousness are just vibrations. Hence we may define aura as an electro-photonic vibration response of an object to some external excitation, such as an ambient light for example. This definition is sufficient for the purpose of reading auras providing that we can train ourselves to see aura vibration. If we are not able to see aura naturally, I have developed, with my colleagues here at the university, cameras that can capture the aura for all to see."

Tracy sagged, the headache coming back, and she automatically reached for Richard's hand. He softly traced her wrist with a finger and slipped her fingers next to his. The headache and its accompanying heat and shock simply exited. He shivered with the sudden tingle of it, and she sagged even further, and finally staggered to the bed-table and perched against it. Her eyes sought Richard's accusingly.

But she couldn't deny that he was somehow responsible for lessening her pain, as was the good doctor. Somebody had to know what they were talking about here.

She wished that Raine had been able to come.

"So, this isn't what Richard was originally talking about, some kind of sensitivity to electromagnetic fields." She put a hand to her head, and pulled at the heavy hair gathered there. Her blue eyes were clear but troubled.

She saw the doctor's eyes travel to her companion's. "Yes, actually the two are interconnected, we are finding."

"In what way?"

"In some people, Miss McCaffrey, the high-frequency electromagnetic fields around us interfere with the aura vibration of an individual." His eyes were earnest, but she could see that this was the crux of their research, and it wasn't a proven fact.

"So, you're saying that an aura vibration can be responsive to an outside stimulus?" Richard pointed out, his voice deep and reassuring in the whirring stillness between them.

"All aura reveals the life force, so to speak, of the recipient." The doctor's voice was completely confident and convinced of his theory.

"Life force, meaning an electric vibration?" Tracy was trying hard to understand the significance of what had happened to her, because right now, she felt very alone with the electric thing racing through her searching for a way out. It was a live thing, an extension of herself.

The doctor took his eyes off Richard and they softened as they sought Tracy. "I would like to photograph your aura, I can then show and explain this to you in a manner you can understand." He stood up, presumably to help Tracy to the imaging tube. "This will take several minutes fellas, and I would like to have her alone."

"Not possible." Tracy and Richard said at exactly the same time, both of them looking alarmed, with Tracy turning even paler than she already was.

Michael stood up as if to protest as well.

Tracy felt the swirling electricity seem to pause, hesitate as if trying to figure out what had upset her, and then race back to the spot Doctor Armani had last touched on her wrist. She felt dizzy. Michael's leap to her side belied his girth.

"No, don't!" The doctor commanded too late to stop Michael from getting the brunt of Tracy's current as he slumped to the ground in an unexpectedly graceful heap. Tracy slid off the table to help Michael up, stunned by his sudden feint, and Richard grabbed her and pulled her into his chest, her lithe little curves hot against him.

"Trace, he's not receptive, don't touch him in this condition." Richard whispered as she strained for her friend. The doctor was helping Michael sit up and get his bearings.

"Oh my God!" She whispered, and with shaking hands moved her hair out of her eyes as they teared up. "This isn't happening. It can't be happening. What is it? It's like an alien is inside me."

Doctor Armani settled Michael and then turned once more to Tracy, this time, his eyes were very determined. "It's not an alien." He laughed. "There is something that is confusing to me. Richard, you are the one who made this appointment and you assured me at the time you were not romantically involved with her, but that she actually has a love interest elsewhere. And you assured me that she would be receptive to our tests and research, and I was led to believe that Michael is her close friend, and manager. Is any of this true?"

Richard took a deep breath, one hand on Tracy's, as he rubbed the other over his eyes.

"Michael is her manager, and a very close friend, I knew he would want to come. He's been on her to get to a doctor about her headaches. She will be conducive to the tests very shortly after she and I talk outside, and no, we're not romantically involved. I just--- happen to be there occasionally to help with the headaches." His eyes were on hers steadily, he hadn't wanted this to happen, he'd just wanted to help.

Tracy's hand covered her mouth, and her eyes darted back and forth. Richard pulled her into his arms, this time sheltering her against his chest, he wondered what this looked like to the doctor.

"You're telling me you ground her?" Doctor Armani used a term they'd never heard.

"Like a ground? An electrical ground?"

"Let's assume she just exhibited a backward electromagnetic overload, due to outside emotional stress and stimulus. It's natural, she doesn't know what to expect. But I am here to tell you, my friend, there are those whose own currents compliment those with this disorder. I believe that you grounded her, took the current and channeled it out of you both to a safe place."

"You've seen this before?" Tracy looked up expectantly, with a modicum of hope. Her fingers tightened on Richard's, but she missed the interested expression passing between him and Doctor Armani. Richard cocked one brow as if to say, it is what it is. The doctor made a quick note on his clipboard.

"Maybe not as strong as yours, but I have seen similar, and that is what my research is about. Not to find a cure, because I don't believe it will be possible to change your current, but I do believe that there are things we can do to make your quality of life more comfortable. All things either repel or attract."

Tracy was staring at Dr. Armani and Michael.

The doctor grabbed Tracy's chin, using a handkerchief to wipe her tears. "He'll be all right. Pay attention to what I'm saying."

Her eyes slid to his. "Electricity." She repeated. "Attract or repel."

"If I were to take a coil of wire and pass a magnet through it, as the magnet rotates up the wire, it creates a field that generates the flow of electrons through the coil. Do you follow me?"

She nodded. Richard gently eased up her stranglehold on his fingers, feeling returning to the ends. She rubbed her own hand, not looking at him, simply believing he understood her need.

"All of us have an electromagnetic field. All our bodily functions are conducted through one of these electric impulses. Hence the current...." His dark eyes suddenly pierced hers. "A current inside of us that conducts the impulses. We all release this current harmlessly I might add, into the atmosphere which is designed to contain it in a beautiful memory bubble so to speak, outside of us. While everything we are and can be, is held also inside us, in what you might like to call our soul, spirit matter. Each cell records through the use of these electromagnetic impulses who we are--- a spiritual signature. This can be read in what we call the aura. My field is aura research and how it can be used to help in the healing processes of our minds and bodies." He had all of their attention now and had come to stand very close to Tracy and Richard, once more eyeing the contact between them, and her death grip on his hand. "The current flows through us a certain direction, up the coil, or down the coil, generating the proper field for each of us. In about ninety percent of people, this function goes unnoticed in their day to day lives. It is like breathing. Depending on which way the current is flowing, we will either attract or repel."

"In other words, we are either a positive or a negative charge." Richard said slowly, his dark eyes bright on Tracy.

"Or... in some cases we will be a ground. A person whose own field is such that to some degree is able to manipulate the current flowing through them and possibly through others as well." He took Tracy's wrist gently.

Her eyes widened as the flow ebbed and changed course, causing a feeling of nausea and dizziness. "You--- are manipulating the current inside me."

The doctor smiled and released her. "I am diffusing the current. In a moment I will endeavor to reset your current to flow through you rather than gather and conduct...." He walked to the tubular bed. "I can do this best by photographing your aura. Then a series of electrical charges, you won't feel them, we'll have to schedule another appointment. I'll need time to analyze the data."

He moved away and Richard scooted next to her on the bench, his whole body in direct contact with hers. He took her hand and slowly brought it to his lips, so that her eyes followed its progress and she found herself staring at him--- her mouth fallen open, her senses alive with proximity. His dimples flirted alarmingly. "I can feel it building."

Tracy snapped her mouth shut and tried to pull her fingers away.

"Strong emotion can bring it on." Richard went on, very low as the doctor recalibrated his tubular imaging machine and Michael got himself water from a Culligan bottle behind the door.

She drew in her breath sharply. "What kind of strong emotion?"

The doctor came to help her off the dentist seat and Richard let her go, his eyes crinkled knowingly. He used two fingers to point between him and her and then folded his arms confidently.

"We are not lovers." She hissed.

"Yet." He mouthed, cocking his head to one side. "I think this qualifies as intimate."

Her blonde curls twirled around her shoulders and settled against her back in a huff. His snicker was audible.

"Let's get those pictures now."

"So, how come some people can diffuse those of us with this sensitivity and others can't? Just their own electrical makeup?"

"Yes. Our research shows that a good portion of the population is capable to some degree of diffusing others. It is really random, and there has been no definitive way yet to discover who and to what extent. Some do it without even realizing it, they just attract or repel." He eyed her meaningfully, making sure she caught the words. "Most of the time your current flows naturally, but when triggered, it can flow in the reverse, or escalate to a shocking level." He chuckled at his own joke and then flourished a hand so that she'd know the tube thing was ready.

Tracy gave Richard one very bewildered, but determined expression and then followed the Doctor's orders.

*******