***Sookie***

It was almost closing time. Jane Bodehouse had her left arm laying straight out across and over the bar with her head unceremoniously draped on it. And I just bet there's a little pile of drool that has enough alcohol in it to make a grown man tipsy. Time to call her son. I thought he enabled her; if he didn't pick her up, she'd have to walk home and then maybe she wouldn't drink herself into a stupor. But every night like clockwork we either called him when she passed out or he showed up at bar time.

"Jeez what? It's 2am and my phones ringing." Arelene fiddled with her apron to pull out her little flip phone. "This is Arlene?"

Who was calling Arlene at 2am? I shouldn't snoop but…

The police? Why? What? Rene in custody… For murderin' Maudette? Rene would never; they got the wrong man. What kind of evidence could they even have that… Murder weapon… Videos?! He… No. It can't be. It just can't.

"I'll be there in 20 minutes." Arlene looked shaken but not so much as she would have been judging by her thoughts. I was stunned. Rene had murdered someone? His mind always seemed to be focused on Arlene and the kids. Shows me how much I know.

"Hey Arlene, you all right?"

"Yeah, honey. Yeah. My sister's son is sick and I need to pick some things up from walmart for them…" I nodded.

"I'm sorry Arlene. I hope he feels better. I can finish your section and roll your silverware for you."

"You'd do that for me Sookie? Oh thank you!" Arlene was starting to cry. Her world was crashing down around her and she couldn't tell anyone that her fiancee was a murderer. If my boyfriend turned out to be a murderer I'd think twice too.

"Yeah, go do what you gotta do. Take care of your family." It was hard to walk the line between comforting a person for what they said or for what they were actually feeling. The sentiment was there; Rene may be going to jail for a long time, but Arlene had thought of him as family.

Rene. I never, ever would have guessed.

***Sookie***

It was 3am by the time I finished with work. It was a Friday, and a good night. I made about $150, which was a lot for a place like Merlotte's where many people tipped you a quarter a drink.

Gran was asleep, as she should be. When I first got my job she tried to stay up to greet me every night. We sat down and had a talk about it where I insisted that she needed to go to sleep at a normal time. She didn't like that.

"But how will I get up if you're not in the kitchen making breakfast. I'll have no reason to get out of bed."

"Ok, Ok Sookie! I agree to go to sleep as normal. But be safe. And I get to look in on you when I wake up."

"Deal."

The flood light was on and there were a host of bugs swarming around it. We swept the porch clean of the tiny bodies of the foolhardy creatures every morning.

"Sookie?"

I shrieked and slapped my hand on my chest in exasperation when I saw who had said my name.

"Bill! You know better than to sneak up on a lady like that! And in the dark like this?" Ok, I realize that vampires are only up at night, but that's not my problem. "And anyway, wasn't I supposed to call on you and not the other way around?"

"I'm sorry to disturb you Sookie. I wanted to let you know that the murderer of the woman Maudette has been detained. It seems he had an abiding hatred of women who were with vampires. I feel horrendous that I endangered you by involving myself in your life. Even if I was unaware of the murderer's purpose previously."

"I know Bill. It's ok."

"You do? How?"

"His name is Rene Lenier and he is… was… dating one of the waitresses where I work. She hasn't accepted it to be true yet. But she's devastated of course."

"Oh." He looked intently at me for a moment.

"How'd they catch him Bill? Do you know?"

"He walked into the station and confessed. He had video… items he used to kill these women…"

"I wonder why he would do that."

"Yes, it is a mystery."

"What's not a mystery is that you should not be out here at 3am waiting for me when I get home. I nearly died of a heart attack!"

"I never meant to cause you concern."

"Well you gotta try harder then to think about what a human wants if you intend to date me. I'm not a vampire. That news could have waited until tomorrow night. It's not like they found him and he went on the run. He's rotting in a jail cell right now."

"Yes, it seems you are correct in that I've forgotten how to be courteous. How can I make this up to you Sookie?" Again with the flirtation on his part.

"Ice cream." I said cheekily. "But some other time. Good night Bill!" The door latched behind me and I made it up to my room before passing out on top of my covers.

***Sookie***

Morning was uneventful but for the sad silence of Gran and I over Arlene's predicament. We talked about it while Gran fielded calls from other matrons of the town about the same thing. I went for a drive. Not to anywhere specific. I needed time to think about everything and I couldn't do that with Gran and Jason hovering around me. Not that Gran irritated me, but I needed to be alone. Bill was courting me, and I wasn't sure if I was ready for a relationship. Rene had been friends with Jason for some time now, and I didn't know how to be there for Jason as he found out his friend was a serial killer. And then there was me. I'd been around Rene enough to have read his thoughts, but I never noticed this. Maybe Maudette wouldn't have died if I'd been more careful. I had a lot of guilt.

I knew where I was. I didn't go off driving in the middle of nowhere. After listening to some music as loud as it could go in my car for a few hours, I needed some gas. A gas station wasn't more than 5 miles off and I arrived at the station, stepping out to pump my own gas and scan the parking lot.

...Gotta fix up that woman's car…

Well ain't that a fine piece of ass.

I shielded my mind immediately and turned away from the man who had that thought. A family in a van pulled up and from the looks of it, the parents were exhausted and the children were too. The baby screamed, the toddler screamed back, the oldest was yelling that he hated his parents. Oh dear.

"Hey, ya'll need help? I'm really good with kids and you look like you could use a quick break." The parents just looked at me for a second, before the mother was able to open her mouth in desperation.

"You're too kind… But it would be too much."

"Oh no, not at all. I'd love to help."

That broke the dam.

"Thank you… thank you so very much."

I meandered over to the children who stopped crying immediately when a new person approached. The eldest boy crossed his arms and refused to look at me. The toddler smiled with a tear-streaked, snot nosed face. And the little one stopped crying when the toddler stopped.

"Let's get you cleaned up, ok honey?" I picked up the toddler and started swaying with him while he giggled. That always made wiping faces easier. "Now what's there to be upset about, huh?"

While the parents were in the store getting much needed space away from their children, I managed to unravel the children's anger into smiles and relaxation. Even the baby was giggling. I loved kids, and I did want them though it seemed a far away dream. Their minds were so simple and not yet prone to cruelty. The parents returned with arms loaded. Soft-drinks, chips, ice cream. They were doing the best they could to find anything to calm their children. Surprise crossed their faces as their children were no longer out of control and looked content.

"Oh my god. Thank you. We're visiting my family and we've been driving for 8 hours and, and.." She burst into tears.

"It's all right. You guys have done well for 8 hours! My nieces and nephews would have jumped out the window by now!"

After some more pleasantries were exchanged, I turned back to my car. Both men who were there previously were gone.

Back on the road, I made it halfway to work before my car started sputtering angrily. "Good thing we have cell phones." There was a mechanic nearby. I knew him because he came into Merlotte's often. Gave me his number and said "if you ever need anything hon, you come to my garage and I will make sure you're taken care of." He said this with the sincerity of a father, because he knew I had none. I couldn't trust many people, but he was a kind soul.

"Jerald? Yeah, it's Sookie Stackhouse from Merlotte's. It's good to hear you too. Yeah, unfortunately my car broke down on Hwy 9 right before County J coming from Bienville. Yeah, I was just driving around to cool off from a long weekend. Ok, see you in 45 minutes? Great, thank you so much Jerald, this means the world to me."

"Sam? Yeah, my car broke down. I'll try to make it in to work as soon as I can. I'm sorry I'm short staffing you like this."

It was almost sundown. Now all I had were my thoughts. They were filled with what to do about Bill with a random dash of Eric's mocking, leering smile. Who knows why he was in my thoughts.

Night fell and I waited by the side of my car. The headlights up the road brought relief. I didn't have to sit out here and be bit by any more mosquitos. I realized it was a car, and not a tow truck. Maybe Jerald had sent someone to come pick me up. The car moved closer quickly and I saw that it must be going 60 or 70 miles an hour. I moved to the other side of my car for safety's sake. The car on the road turned a bit towards me, and it occurred uselessly to me that it was coming at me, at my car. It was too late to move.

My legs failed me. I could feel them, but they wouldn't respond. My car had been pushed slightly at me, and then forward with impact. The movement whipped me around, but not before the crunch of my legs hitting the side of the car as it moved told me that I could not walk. There was no crying to be done.

Jerald would be here soon, I told myself as everything went black.

Drink Sookie. Drink my darling. Drink. It was so sweet in my mouth and I swallowed deeply.

"Sookie, that's enough." It was pulled away from me. I heard myself mewl with need. My eyes met Bill's.

"You've been hit by a car. Your legs were completely broken. I...I did what I had to do. Please listen to me. I gave you my blood. It will heal your body for the most part, but we'll need to do another round later."

"How did you know Bill?" I whispered.

"I looked in on you when I rose. When you weren't at your house I had this thought, to listen to the police scanner. Then I heard that someone had reported a busted up car on the road. I just… I just thought I had to check. I found you about 7 minutes after it happened. Enough time to seal your femoral artery and heal you. It was so close Sookie."

"Bill. Thank you." I saw his eyes turn pink, and then redden to spill tears of blood down his face. Maybe he did like me, like he was indicating.

"Please come home with me, to rest. I can make sure you heal well. Please Sookie." The sound of his voice and the comfort it promised was enough. I didn't want Gran to see me like this.

"Take me."