disclaimer: We do not own the bloodlines world or characters. That would be the doing of Richelle Mead.

Christian's POV:

You know, most people would be bummed out to find out their wrist was messed up. I could care less as long as it healed. I didn't even care that it hurt. Mikhail said to just let him bandage it, so he could help out in the other room. I obliged.

He told me to take some Motrin for the pain and sleep it off, which was all I needed to hear.

I never could sleep much in cars. I never understood how people could. The long hours had worn me out. And being able to lay in my, our, bed again was great. Now I just had to wait for Lissa.

And sure enough, she came. Without a word, she kicked her flats aside and crawled under the covers and into my chest.

"Is your wrist Okay?"

"Yeah."

"Did you let Neil wrap it?"

"No."

She looked up at me wearily. "Christian..."

"Mikhail beat him to the job."

She chuckled softly to herself. "Oh Christian. You know what I meant."

"Yep. Just like messing with you. Hey, I got some pretty sweet bandages out of the deal." I held up my bandaged hand and lower arm. The bandages were simple white. "I'm thinking of buying some sticker sheets."

She laughed again.

"I can heal it, you know."

"No. You're already exhausted"

"I meant tomorrow."

"It doesn't even hurt."

We sat in silence for a moment, listening to each other's breathing. The light above us hummed.

"How's Rose?" I asked.

"Sleepy. Fine, though."

"I heard she was really close to dying."

"Yeah."

"How close?"

She closed her eyes. A strand of hair was slowly inching it's way down her cheek. I reached out and brushed it aside before she could even notice it. "Close enough."

"Lissa..."

"Sydney's pretty bad. I should probably get back out there. I just wanted to come see you, and-"

"Just lay down for a second? Rest your eyes? I can go check on Sydney if you want."

"Oh?"

"Well, of course. We were in the same car for hours on end. I've learned so much about her in our long conversations."

"Like?"

"Like, she hates when I whistle. She didn't say it, but I could tell when she gave me death glares over her shoulder."

She laughed. "Sydney gave you a death glare?"

"Yeah, and if I didn't know better, I'd think she meant it too."

Lissa was smiling down at our hands. They had automatically interlocked at some point.

"How are we going to keep her hidden? There's already problems."

"It only looks hard cause we haven't really started yet."

"When did you get so knowledgeable?"

I wished she'd look into my eyes. "When we ate Chinese food earlier tonight. My fortune cookie said 'The mountain is only daunting until you start climbing it'."

"It's true."

We stayed there a little longer. Then I shifted and pulled myself out of the covers. "I'll go check on Sydney. I'll be right back."

She nodded and curled up into a ball. "I'll wait for you."

I let my fingertips linger on her arm for a moment. "Hey. Sleep. I'll be back in a second. You've been using way too much spirit to wait up for anything."

She nodded into the pillow.

Adrian's POV:

It wasn't that I wanted her to die. God, that was the last thing I wanted. But I was also ready to tip toe around healing her until the very last moment. Without using spirit, I wasn't able to guess how close to that moment she was. Sonya was able to tell, but anxiety, probably made worse by exhaustion and use of spirit, had made my judgment foggy. The protests sounded stupid as soon as I uttered them.

I hoped with everything I had that she would trust me someday. That day had probably just been delayed by a lot, though.

She yanked her hand away as soon as she could manage to do it. I could see her and Sonya struggling a minute before Sonya let go.

"I can make it even easier if you'll let me," she said.

I forced my eyes to focus on them and leaned forward so my elbows rested on my knees.

Sydney had turned to face Sonya by then, and she had her knees pulled to her chest, sitting in the crook of the couch.

She was okay. I just had to keep telling myself that, and maybe I would start to believe it.

Sonya glanced at me. "I didn't get to finish heeling her. She pulled away."

"She's alive though." I considered looking at her aura, but figured I would be more useful conscious. "And she'll be fine."

Sonya nodded. "Yeah. She might take a day or so to recover, but nothing like what it would have been."

Mikhail came in with Neil. Dimitri went over to them and they spoke in whispered voices. I couldn't hear what they were saying. Mikhail went over to Sonya, who had sat back on the coffee table, sat beside her, and draped his arm over her shoulder.

"Are you ready to go back to our room. It's late enough to sleep."

She let her head rest on his shoulder. "I have to stay."

"We'll keep an eye on Sydney," Neil said.

She glanced up at him and looked back at her. "I guess so... I'll be back in the morning."

I laughed. "After that spirit? A promise of morning is about as empty as Christian promising to lose the attitude."

She frowned. "I will."

"You will sleep," Dimitri said, cutting me off before I could say anything. "You must rest."

"I heard my name?" Christian sauntered in. "Before the way too grammatically correct Dimitri opinion."

"Yeah. I was saying you'd never lose your attitude. Looks like you proved it." My sarcasm was ruined by a yawn. I was exhausted. I knew if I stood, I wouldn't get far, if anywhere.

"I came to check on Sydney. Lissa's resting."

"Is she okay?" Sonya asked. She was standing now and almost to the door.

"Yeah. Just tired. Used a crap-load of spirit."

"Maybe I should just say bye-" Sonya started. Mikhail tugged on her sleeve.

"Come on. Bedtime."

She nodded. "Alright. We're leaving then. I'll be back tomorrow."

"Okay," Neil said. "Bye."

"Bye."

Mikhail led her out with his hand on the small of her back.

The group dispersed slowly. Christian left first, after catching up on everything and taking a snack from the fridge in the other room. Dimitri went to be with Rose. Neil alerted us that he'd be back in ten minutes with a cot for himself. He asked me if I wanted one. I told him no. The chair was fine.

He left. Sydney kept fingering the back of her head. Her eyes stayed open much larger than they naturally are.

"I'm sorry," I said.

She flinched at my voice and turned her head to look at me. Her hand dropped back to her opposite wrist and they hugged her knees close.

"They had to. They didn't want you to die. We didn't want you to die. And you were so close."

She nodded, but kept staring at me like I was holding a sword.

"You don't have to be scared." My body decided that it wanted to yawn then. "I'm still weak from spirit. I don't think I could even walk over there."

She looked down so her chin rested on her knees.

I lay back in my chair with another yawn. I never noticed how high the ceiling was until now. It looked so far up. I wondered how they change the bulbs on the chandelier.

Neil came back a few minutes later. He couldn't find a cot, but he had taken a thick blanket and some pillows from one of the empty rooms. He pulled the coffee table away from the couch and folded the blanket so it would be thicker.

Before Neil turned off the light, he asked, "Do you want to head to a room?"

"No."

"Do you want the bed?"

I glanced at it. "I think the armchair is more comfortable."

He nodded. "Okay. Sydney, are you- oh."

I glanced over when he did. She'd fallen asleep sitting up. He laughed a little to himself, walked over, and repositioned her.

"Okay. I'm going to turn off the light, then." He flicked the switch, and the room was pitch dark. All the curtains had been closed when the sun came up.

Sydney's POV:

I didn't know when I fell asleep. Before Neil got back with his cot. After Adrian tried to reassure me. What he was saying helped a little. I certainly didn't feel comfortable enough to fall asleep, but I was exhausted. I wondered what time it was at some point, but I didn't feel like asking.

My head had stopped throbbing, and I could move to touch it. My eyelids felt heavy, and Adrian shared his yawns with me. I made sure mine were quiet.

They had healed me. It made me feel dirty. There was vampire magic in my blood. Why had it even worked with my human magic? Had it worn down over time?

When my eyes did close, I dreamed.

That wouldn't exactly be an accurate verb. Dreaming implies a good imagining. This wasn't a dream. This was a nightmare. This was a memory.

I was in the cold room again. It was pitch dark and wet. There was a loud, mechanical voice.

"Confess to your sins."

I shivered. My teeth chattered. I was freezing.

"Confess to your sins."

I was banging on the walls. Every day they seemed more solid. I'd never get out.

Tears. Shrieks. The mechanical voice.

"You can be healed, Sydney. Confess to your sins. You must confess."

I collapsed against the floor. Tears were streaming down my face. The floor felt different now. Fuzzy. The coldness had left. But it was still dark. The sound of the room was different. A different kind of silence. Not as empty. But I couldn't be tricked. I was still there. I had to be. It was still dark. The same pitch blackness.

I pulled my knees to my chest and cried. My shoulder hurt. I'd fallen on it.

Something touched my arm and I screamed. "No! Please! I have nothing to confess!"

"Shh..." said a soft voice. I shrank further away. Adrian. Adrian was touching me. "Hey, it's okay."

Why was he here?

"Sydney, can you hear me?"

He wasn't here.

He wasn't there.

I wasn't there.

I cried harder. Memories weren't as vivid across my eyelids now. But they were still there. I had made a fool out of myself. Where was the couch? Why was I not on the couch? I was on the carpet.

"Sydney, are you awake?"

I couldn't bring myself to answer. I heard shifting fabric and he grunted. Then he was lifting me, and he gently set me on the couch. "Are you okay? Did you hurt yourself when you fell?"

I fell. I must have fallen off the couch while I was dreaming.

It was only a dream.