Dear Mr. Mercer,

I hope that my blood served you well. I could not bear the thought of you dying in the hospital like that. I heard about your mother and your brothers after I recovered. You were all wronged and I am sorry for your loss. I am glad that I got over my fear of needles and saved you. You do not deserve a death so gruesome and should live a long life. I really don't know what to say. I doubt you want to know about me. I guess I just want to make sure you are ok. You don't have to write back.

Sincerely,

Keriah L. Taylor

Jack looked at the letter for a moment. It was short and he could tell she had never done something like that before. And she hadn't judged him and his family. He didn't have much time to think about it though, Bobby returned with his brothers and the letter was forgotten. They didn't care who had given him the blood, they were just happy that he was alive.

"Hey fairy, snap out of it." Bobby said from the driver seat. It had been months before the doctors approved Jack's home recovery. His brothers were all there to bring him home; they even brought him his smoking papers and tobacco. Sofi had gotten his guitar re-stringed and the boys had fixed the house. Pulling up to his home, Jack was reminded of his mother and tears began welling up in his eyes. He squeezed them shut and took a deep breath. He heard her voice in his head and smiled again. "You are my baby boy Jacky. I know it hurts now but it will fade away. You are among love now." Opening his eyes he saw Bobby walking around to help him out of the car. He made it upstairs without much trouble but he was exhausted and fell asleep.

Keriah stumbled out of bed for the third time that night. She hadn't slept a wink in two days. She blamed all that sleep she had last week after forking over all that blood. "Jack Mercer." She said softly with a sigh. She had gone to visit him after waking and discovered he had gone home for the last bit of his recovery. Dr. McCarn had given her the address to the Mercer House but Keriah wasn't planning on going there. "No," she thought with a sigh, "It would be too weird. What would I say? 'Hi, I gave you brother blood, can I stay for coffee?" She looked at her watch and realized that it was only 1am. She felt like going to a bar but the closest one was miles from her apartment. There was this House of Blues wannabe a few blocks away called the Fighting Spirit. It had been months since she'd been there. She slipped into a pair of jeans and grabbed her coat and messenger bag on the way out.

The cold air met her with a burst and she was refreshed. Her headache ebbed away as she showed her ID to the bouncer. He gave her a long hard look before stepping to the side. The air was dimly lit and smoky but the band on stage was pretty good.

"Give her the heave ho,

She don't know what she do.

Take around back
Show her the new grooves"

She ordered a White Russian and settled in at one of the few booths in the back. She sat directly beneath the light and pulled out a book from her bag. The band's set had ended and the pre-recorded hits blared out of the speakers. A few drunken girls danced with the band members. The drummer walked over to the bar and flirted with the bartender before grabbing his drink. "Nothing ever changes." Keriah said to herself.