Sitting next to her on the floor, Henry told her the same story he had told Mike the day before. It was actually a bit easier telling her, since she continued to look straight ahead rather than at his face, though it was just inches away. Time passed in silence before she responded,
"Phillipe, huh? There's a name you don't hear much anymore."
She turned her face in his direction and struggled to suppress a yawn,
"So where would we find Phillipe? I certainly don't intend to let his treatment of me pass without any response."
"Mike is looking for him now. There really isn't anything for the two of us to do unless you want to wander through the city. If I get close enough, I will sense him, but he'll have to be pretty close. I think a better plan would be to allow you to regain your strength so we can be prepared to deal with him when he is located."
Vicki turned away again trying to master her temper before she said something she might really regret. It took a few minutes but she managed to regain most of her composure.
"Henry, I'm fine! You and Mike both want to treat me like a piece of fine china. I've been taking care of myself for a number of years and I've lived to tell the tale."
"Vicki, I can hear the anger underlying your tone. Look at me please. It isn't that I don't think you can take care of yourself. With normal mortal concerns you would probably do better without me, but these aren't normal mortal concerns. You've been attacked by my enemy as a message to me. How do you think that makes me feel? Knowing that in addition to the demon marks, you've now also been tortured because of me?
"I wasn't tortured. I just got banged up a little bit."
He took advantage of their physical closeness and wrapped his arm around her shoulders,
"It was torture, Vicki. Your mind won't even let you remember all of the details yet. It's delivering them to you a little at a time in your dreams. Maybe when you remember the whole event you'll change your mind. Don't form an opinion based on the little you do know."
Vicki turned her face away and stared back at the wall across the room. She was certain that Henry could probably see the tears in her eyes that blurred her already poor vision. She rapidly blinked them away. The reality was that she would much prefer not knowing exactly what had happened to her. She could feel everything hovering just out of her mental reach, and while she was tempted to fight for the information, another instinct warned her to stay away. Lately, she felt like she had taken one hit after another. Giving up her job, ending her romantic relationship with Mike, opening a new business which was struggling financially, learning that the things that go bump in the night really were true, getting marked by a demon, struggling with her feelings toward Mike and Henry, and now the icing on the cake, being attacked not because of what she was doing, but rather who she was involved with.
She realized Henry had started gently stroking her hair probably to distract her from her thoughts. She knew she should pull away and start helping Mike with his search for Phillipe, but she really felt like she needed a time out, even though she would never, ever admit it. When Henry removed her glasses she closed her eyes so she wouldn't be reminded how blurry her vision had become without them.