Chapter 7

Hayley considered leaving Elijah's bedroom and going to her own room. There were snacks in her room because she was often a bit hungry, despite having regular meals. However, she decided not to leave the Original's room. Klaus would not stay with the sick man and yet someone should. Hayley was certainly willing to do that.

She sat down in the chair by the lamp and picked up the book again. After a minute, she realized that she had read the same page twice and didn't know what the words said. She couldn't concentrate while worrying about Elijah or thinking about her feelings for him. She put the book down and then stood up when Klaus came from the bathroom carrying his brother. She could see that Elijah was conscious, but his color was ashen and he was sweating again.

After putting the older brother on the bed, Klaus turned to Hayley. "Stay with him, love. He's very weak. I wish I knew what to give him to reverse this poison."

"I wish that, too."

"I'm going to see what progress has been made," Klaus said and he walked from the room, closing the door behind him.

Hayley leaned down on the bed and looked closely at Elijah's face. "Are you awake?" she asked.

He nodded slightly.

"Can I get you anything?"

"Cold," he murmured. His lips were so dry now that there was a crack that oozed a drop of blood. The tiny wound did not heal.

"You want something cold or is it that you are cold?"

"Me. Cold."

Hayley wished there were blankets that were already warm that she could put on him. An electric blanket would have been nice, but she didn't know if there was one in the house. Instead, she pulled up the duvet to cover him.

"Elijah, I'm going to get in bed with you so that my body heat can warm you a little," she said. He did not indicate that she should not, so she lifted the duvet and climbed onto the bed. She covered herself and then turned on her side and fitted her body against his side. It wasn't easy because the main part of her body to touch him was her bulging abdomen, but she also got one of her legs over his and an arm over his chest. Her clothing was thin and her body heat easily penetrated. As a werewolf, she actually had body heat somewhat greater than a normal human.

His skin was damp and icy, and he didn't smell very good either. Normally, vampires didn't mind either heat or cold. They normally didn't shiver or sweat. Elijah was sweating and Hayley could feel a slight shivering quiver in his muscles. She felt really sorry for him. On the other hand, she liked snuggling close to him.

"Baby move," he murmured.

"Yes, she's kicking a little," Hayley said.

"You warm. Feels good."

"Good. Maybe I can get the cook to warm some blankets in the oven. Want me to call her?"

"No. Don't need. You enough."

Hayley could barely understand his murmurings, but she got the point and stayed where she was. After about fifteen seconds his breathing ceased, as did his heartbeat. The reading lamp was still turned on and she could easily see him. She studied him and again saw that he was not going gray and leathery, so he was still "alive." Here she was snuggled in bed with the man she was very fond of, but the situation was not at all romantic. Maybe things would change when he was recovered.

It was not long afterward that there was a knock on the door. Hayley wondered who that was. Not Klaus, who would have walked in. Slowly, she eased out of the bed and went to the door. The person knocked again and said, "I have warmed blankets."

Hayley opened the door and found the maid Elise there. She lived in a room in the house and often stayed up late because of the activities on the premises. She was well-paid and the vampires were forbidden to bite her.

"Thank you, Elise," Hayley said, taking the three folded, but nicely warmed blankets. Apparently, Klaus had thought to ask the maid to warm them for his ill brother. Sometimes, Klaus surprised Hayley. She accepted the blankets and took them to the bed. After gently pulling the duvet from Elijah's body, she laid one of the blankets over him, leaving it folded in half so it wouldn't cool down too quickly. She laid a second on top of the first. The third one she kept aside. She then pulled the duvet up over the two blankets.

Elijah stirred, taking in a breath. He wrinkled his brow, but didn't open his eyes. One of his hands moved around under the covers as if searching for something.

"Hayley?" he whispered.

"I'm here. Try to rest, Elijah," she said, sitting on the edge of the bed and laying the back of her fingers on his forehead. He was still cold.

"Warm," he murmured.

"Are you too warm?"

"No. Good." He seemed to settle down again and fell asleep.

Hayley eased off the bed. She looked at the ornate clock ticking softly on one of the nightstands. The hour was late. She knew she should get some sleep herself. First, she needed a visit to the bathroom. The baby took up a lot of room in her abdomen and pressed down on her bladder. She made more "pit stops" than she had in the past.

While she was in there she also neatened the room a bit. She picked up the suit pants, vest and jacket from the floor and laid them neatly over the edge of the tub. The shirt and sox went into the clothes hamper. Then she stared at her image in the mirror over the sink. She looked tired.

"We need our beauty sleep, little girl," she said to the baby as she laid a hand on her belly.

Going back into the bedroom, she looked at the chair with it's footstool and she looked at the bed. Which should she choose? The bed was easily big enough for two without bodily contact. She chose the bed, slipped off her shoes and eased herself down onto the duvet. Because of the baby, she was more comfortable on her side and she turned toward Elijah. The room was not chilly, so she lay there and made herself relax.

For a while she studied the side of his face, his profile, the arch of the one dark eyebrow that she could see, his long dark lashes lying against his pale skin, his dry lips, the dark stubble that was peeking through the pale skin of his jaw. His beard was slow-growing as was typical of male vampires. He didn't shave every day. She didn't know how often he cut his hair, but apparently it, too, was slow-growing. It was short and basically straight, but she could see that it would curl a little if let to grow longer. She liked his nose. All in all, she thought he was a handsome man.

Despite her worries about him, she was tired and she fell asleep. She was having some kind of dream where she did have wings and she was trying to fly, but the wings were too small and she couldn't get off the ground. Some soft noise woke her and for a moment she was not sure where she was. Then she realized she was looking at the side of Elijah's head. She had fallen asleep on the duvet on his bed. Her arm was still over his chest.

She also saw that Klaus was in the room, standing beside Elijah's side of the bed, but looking at her. He had a smile on his face, the one where you suspected he was laughing at you. She raised up on an elbow and looked at the man beside her. He seemed to still be asleep.

"He has warmed up a bit," Klaus said softly, laying the back of his fingers against his brother's forehead.

"Good. He was so cold." Hayley rolled onto her back in preparation for getting up. "I fell asleep. I should go to my own bed."

"Stay. Rest," Klaus said. "I am sure you are weary and it's very late. Do you have your cell phone?"

"No. It's in my room."

"I'll get it for you. Stay with him."

Hayley nodded and lay on her back with her head on the second pillow. She felt a little cool, since the room had cooled with the night air outside. When Klaus returned with her phone, which he put on the nightstand on her side, she asked him to hand her the third warmed blanket. He opened it up and covered her with it. A trace of warmth still remained inside the folds.

"Comfy?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Call me if he needs me. I'm going to rest for a while."

After he had gone and the closed door shut out the voices of the vampires out in the courtyard, Hayley lay thinking for a while. Lying in bed with Elijah, even under these circumstances, was no hardship for her. It would be so nice if they could openly have a relationship. But Elijah was wary and cautious. He had lost people he had been close to. She could wait. Soon, her eyes closed and she slept again.

She woke when someone moved in the bed. Opening her eyes, she found herself lying on her other side and facing a wall. An arm lay over her from behind and she had to assume it belonged to Elijah. Turning her head, she found him lying on his side, spooned against her back. The duvet and blankets were still between them. Was he deeply asleep or did he know he had his arm over her?

She could see that dawn's light was coming in the window as well as the French doors. The drapes were drawn, but there was light to either edge. She was still a bit weary, having had little sleep. Lack of sleep hadn't used to bother her, but it did more now with the advancement of the pregnancy. She was too awake to go back to sleep, so she moved carefully to ease out of bed. Elijah's arm tightened on her and she stopped moving.

"Are you awake?" she whispered. She couldn't see his face because it was tucked down against the back of her shoulders. However, she felt him nod his head slightly.

"Are you feeling better?"

He nodded slightly again. He also moved his arm, feeling, until his hand came to rest on one of her breasts. She was wearing a bra and shirt and still had the one blanket over her, but she could tell he knew what he was feeling. Her breasts had increased in size with the pregnancy and she had had to buy new bras. She laid her hand over his, feeling that his skin was cool, but not icy like it had been before.

Then he moved the hand higher on her chest until his fingers touched her throat. She couldn't keep herself from tensing up. When she had taken care of him in the shack on the bayou, when he had been hallucinating and sick from Klaus' werewolf bite, he had imagined that she was someone else. In fury, he had risen from his bed and grabbed her by the throat, intent on strangling whoever it was he was imagining. Luckily, someone else had come in and stopped him. Now, she almost gave in to the urge to yank his hand from her neck, fearing that it was happening again.

A/N A little cliff hanger here. I know some people don't like to be left wondering, but it seemed like a good place to end this chapter. Will he hurt her? Is he dreaming? Is he really awake? Thanks to all of you reading this and my other stories. And thanks to "Jeremy Shane" for always reading and commenting.