I sat with my back leaning against my bed frame, a puddle of vomit a foot away from my outstretched feet. Jeff was lying unconscious in a fetal position, his head on my lap. I gently and soothingly rubbed his cheek with the side of my thumb, keeping him calm. It had become very dark in my room, only the light from the bathroom's half closed door illuminated a small fraction of my room. I had my eyes closed, trying to ignore the pain of my busted lip as I listened out for Gwyn.

After I had hung up with her, I proceeded to calm Jeff down with soothing words and gentle caresses on his cheeks, rubbing his cheeks with my thumbs gently. He began to calm down, crying. I felt shaken. To see someone notorious for ruthless murder in such a vulnerable state, it was kind of horrifying. It made me realize that he was truly human, and not the monster that he made himself to be. The monster that every sane person feared. He calmed down enough to be able to breathe better…. Then promptly vomited. I had turned him over so that he wouldn't choke and drown in his own vomit.

I dragged him away from his vomit and had been holding him like this for the last half hour. I was waiting for Gwyn. She was working in the main office deeper in town today instead of her private one, so it would take her an hour to get here with good traffic. I sighed and opened my eyes and looked at Jeff. He was breathing heavily, but he was calm now. I don't know what he saw in his fever induced freak out, but it must have been something he feared. I've never seen anyone act like that when sick. I was…worried. Maybe he wasn't a total sociopath after all.

The sound of footsteps on the staircase broke my train of thought. I tensed up and held my breath. Please don't let that be Papa…. Please, please please….

I breathed a big sigh of relief when a soft knock was heard from my door. Papa would never knock softly.

"Come in Gwyn!" I said hoarsely. She opened the door and rushed over to me.

"Oh Liuie! Oh thank god!" she stopped short when she saw Jeff's face. A weird look of terror and intrigue formed on her face.

"What the eff…? Okay…. Fuck, okay…." She turned away, running her fingers through her hair. Damn… I thought. Busted.

"Liuienna Starla-Marie Valentine… why…."Gwyn paused, her voice high pitched, but not loud. I cringed. She never, ever used my full name so I know I'm in some serious trouble. No one ever used my full name. Not even Mama.

"Why…. The hell… are you harboring…. A MURDERER?!" she shrieked dramatically. I winced. Of course she would recognize him; He was truly infamous.

"Um…. I… I … don't know." I said honestly. She shook her head, running her fingers through her hair nervously.

"Liu…" she sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. I looked down at Jeff; I didn't have anything to say, I mean, what COULD I say?

Gwyn walked out of the room, coming back a few moments later with a stack of towels, a bucket and a mop. I looked up at her.

"Gwyn…." I murmured.

"First things first, I'm going to clean up this puke from the floor," she dropped the towels onto the bed.

"Then, we're going to strip this fucker," she pointed to Jeff, "and clean him up. Then I'm going to re-insert the I.V and give him some antibiotics to help kill this virus." She dropped the bucket, which was filled with a water and ammonia solution, onto the floor and dipped the mop into it. She wrung it out and started to mop up the vomit.

"Damn my code of honor… and damn the pinkie promise!" she grumbled. I smiled.

"Thank you Gwyn. I'm so happy I can count on you."

"Yeah, yeah."

)0(0)0(0)0(0)0(

"Oooof…. He is one heavy bastard!" Gwyn said, dropping a newly bathed and clothed Jeff onto my bed. I lifted his feet and swung them onto the bed, my face burning with embarrassment and my eyes avoiding looking at either Jeff or my aunt. I had to give Jeff a bath while Gwyn cleaned up the mess that was made and looked for new clothed for Jeff to wear. He was wearing a pair of my brother's gray sweat pants and a Led Zeppelin T-shirt. I sat on my rocking chair and watched Gwyn as she hooked up the I.V with a smaller solution bag. She then inserted the new I.V tube into Jeff's arm. She sighed and pulled out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket.

"I thought you quit?" I said quietly, standing up and stretching out my back.

"Yeah well… screw it." She shrugged as she tapped the pack in her hands. I tiptoed to my window and opened it, letting the cool air into the room. Gwyn stepped out onto the balcony and leaned against the rail. I grabbed my zippo lighter and a wood tipped cigar and joined her.

"Shit, I left my lighter at home." I flipped open my lighter and clicked it, holding out the blue flame to the tip of her cigarette. She inhaled to light it and I lit my cigar as well.

We were silent for a while, just the sound of rustling leaves was heard. I didn't say anything. I didn't know what to say. I brought home a homicidal maniac; I mean, I've done some pretty stupid things in the past, but this takes the cake. I just wish Gwyn would say something or yell at me or something. She's bailed me out from a lot of stuff and even covered for me so that Mama and Papa never found out. But I know this time, she probably won't cover for me again. This is too risky. Too dangerous. I sighed a puff of smoke.

"So," Gwyn stubbed out her cigarette butt and flicked it. "What's the plan Liuie?"

"What?" I said dumbly, snapping out of my thoughts.

"What do you mean 'what?'? You have a psychopathic killer in your bed, and not in a sexy way," I rolled my eyes. "You can't hide him forever, y'know. If you get caught with him here, you can go to jail for harboring a fugitive of the law. And what are you going to do once he gets better? Do you think he won't hurt you just because you helped him?"

I took a drag from my cigar. "Hm… I don't know." I exhaled and looked up at the sky. It was a clear night.

"I don't think anything like that Gwyn. I know this isn't smart…. Hell, this might be the stupidest thing I've ever done." I tapped the ash off the tip of my cigar.

"Stupider than the time you sold 'special' brownies at your school's bake sale?" She said with a chuckle.

"Hey! That wasn't my fault! How was I supposed to know that Arlen spiked a batch of brownies with pot for him and his bandmates? He asked me to make a batch, and took the wrong one." I pouted

"Okay, okay…. How about: Stupider than the time you worked as a burlesque performer while you were still in high school?" She said, an eyebrow raised.

"Yeah…. Yeah stupider than that… Although I was really good as a performer." I said with a little pride.

"Yeah you were good, but I was better…. I still remember how hard that body guard dropped when I socked him." She said, rubbing her knuckles in remembrance. I chuckled.

"Well… I'm old enough to do it now…" I mumbled. She snorted.

"Yeah, okay. You do that." She lit another cigarette.

"Really?"

"I was being facetious, Liu."

"Oh."

We sat in silence once more. I looked down at my yard. I saw Scrappy chasing some small rodent around the yard, rustling leaves and darting around. I watched my kitty for a while as I finished my smoke.

"Liu… Are you sure you don't want to call the police? I mean, this is dangerous. Really freaking dangerous." She said, the concern overflowing in her voice.

I shook my head and stubbed out my cigar. "I know Gwyn, I know." I walked back inside and sat on my rocking chair. Gwyn sighed as she closed and locked my window. She plopped onto my computer chair. She tapped her nails on the desk, lost in thought. I made myself comfortable and threw a thin periwinkle knitted throw blanket over my legs. I'm keeping an eye on Jeff tonight. I rocked myself gently.

Gwyn stood up and headed for my door. "I'm going to make some coffee."

"You're going to stay the night then?" I said hopefully.

She sighed and pulled out her cell phone. "Yeah… I'll let Mei know that I'm staying here tonight… I'm going to keep an eye on you both." She rubbed her neck.

"God help me if Robert says something to me when he gets home." She shook her head and walked out of the room. I sighed and looked at Jeff. I gently stroked the back of his hand with my thumb and tucked him into the blankets.

I settled myself in my chair comfortably. I hope Gwyn brings me a cup of coffee too, because it was going to be a long night.