Of course, gratitude towards LuvinEvian and Courtaney...you ladies rock out loud as usual:)---EF
His hand pushed her out the way, as the viper's venomous fangs latched into his flesh. The viper retreated into the thick grass after biting the palm of Julian's hand. Eve hastened over to him. "Julian, are you okay?" She looked into his hand, noting the puncture wounds and spots of blood. "It bit you."
"I'm fine, really. Are you okay?"
" Yes, you saved me. Thank you."
"There's no need, I wouldn't let anything hurt you." He closed his eyes for a long moment.
"Julian, are you sure you're okay? Vipers are extremely poisonous."
He chuckled. "That little thing can't hurt me."
She pressed her tiny hand into his. "It already did." She gathered her dinnerware. "I think we should go home."
"Eve."
"Don't argue with me. You might be bigger, but with situations like these, I'm wiser. Let's go."
Julian gathered the items. "As you wish."
Back at home, Julian's removed Eve from his pocket and set her next to her little chair. She noticed beads of perspiration covered his forehead. Even after collecting wood and hours of hunting, she'd never seen him break a sweat. Her tiny hand covered his finger. "Julian, you don't look well."
"It's a bit warmer out than I expected, that's all."
"That's not all. Julian, you're hurt." Eve frowned. "Let me see your hand again."
He shook his head. "Eve, I appreciate your concern, but I 'm fine, please believe me." His heart warmed to Eve's concern for him. Did she care for him as much as he did her?
She looked at him, her chocolate eyes pleading with him. "Julian, please let me see your hand. Please."
Relenting, he turned his hand over, and winced at Eve's sharp intake of breath. Swelling surrounded the puncture site. Eve looked up at him in alarm.
"Julian, look at your hand! And you're sweating--I want you to lie down, right now!"
Julian smiled at Eve, loving how she tried to be forceful with him. "Eve, I don't need to lie down. I'm just a little warm, my dear." Eve motioned him down, and when his face was close to hers, she held her hand to his forehead.
"You're burning up, Julian. You need to lie down now, and I will get something to help you." She looked at the bowl of water that sat upon the table. "Can you carry that and place it next to the bed for me?"
"Of course, my dear, but I think you are overreacting--" Julian closed his eyes, suddenly feeling a little weak--"just a bit." He got up and obediently carried the bowl and placed it next to the bed.
Walking over to him, Eve pointed at the bed. "Lie down, Julian. "
"Eve."
"I mean it," she commanded. Julian reclined on the bed as Eve went over to the flowers he had gathered for her earlier. She searched until she located two flowers in particular. "Feverfew and purple coneflower," she said in relief.
"What are you doing, my love?" Julian called to her, curious as to why she suddenly began tearing the flowers and stems apart.
"Making a poultice for you. The coneflower is for the snakebite," she said, holding it up to show him, "and the feverfew is for your fever." She went to the bowl and dipped the plants in the water. When she finished, she held her arms up to Julian.
"Will you lift me up?"
"My darling, you need not ask," he said huskily, reaching for her with his uninjured right hand. Carefully he placed her beside him on the bed, his fingertips grazing her cheek. "I could not ask for a better doctor."
Eve first went to his forehead, applying the feverfew to it. As her hand gently smoothed on the leaves, she realized he felt even warmer than before. She hoped the leaves worked soon. "Now for your bite," she said, walking around his large body and alongside his arm.
Reaching his hand, she cringed at the site of the two punctures and the swelling surrounding them. That, too, seemed to have gotten worse.
"Oh, Julian." She sighed, applying the coneflower to his wounds. "You were bitten saving me. I don't know how I can ever thank you." Her eyes filled with tears at the risk he made for her.
"Please do not cry, Eve. I would have done anything to save you. I can't live without you." He touched her face with his uninjured hand. "I would rather die."
"You don't mean that, Julian, please don't talk like that."
"Yes, I do mean it. I love you, Eve."
She closed her eyes at his declaration. To have such a man love her. A tender, wonderful, handsome, gentle man… A giant.
Her eyes sprang open. Oh, God. I'm in love with a giant! Fearful, Eve did not respond. She did love him, but what could she do about it? Julian moaned. Eve turned back to him.
"Julian? What's the matter?"
"Oh, Eve, I hate to trouble you, but I am suddenly so thirsty." Julian closed his eyes. He felt weak, and did not think he could make it to the cool water spring in the cave. "Could you get me a drink, please?"
"Of course," Eve agreed. Julian lifted her from the bed and gently placed her on the floor. Eve hurried to the spring, grabbing the little wooden bucket Julian made for her. Filling it, she ran back to him, out of breath.
"Julian," she panted, holding the bucket up to him. He quickly drained it, and handed it back to her. Eve kept refilling the bucket for him, until his thirst was finally satisfied.
He looked at Eve, who sat next to the bed, exhausted from her labors. "My poor darling. I regret putting you through so much."
"You saved my life, Julian. I can't let you suffer." Eve leaned against the bed, closing her eyes. She then felt Julian lifting her, depositing her on his chest. He held her there, his gaze full of love, and physical pain.
"Eve, you are truly an angel sent to me in my time of need." He breathed deeply. "You are my love."
"Julian..."
"No, let me finish. You are my heart, Eve. I never want to be without you," he whispered, closing his eyes in a fitful sleep. His hand dropped from her. Eve crawled forward and opened his left eye, noting the dilation, and then his right one. Even though he was enormous in size, Julian was having a terrible reaction to the snakebite, much as one who is allergic to bee stings would from a single bee too small to cause most any harm. Eve pondered the reason why. Perhaps his system was not made to handle such an attack, even though he had been increased exponentially in size by the old witch he had somehow insulted. Could it be that hateful witch didn't give him the ability to fight off poisons such as this that invaded his body with as much lethalness as they would a normal-sized human?
Eve tabled her ponderings at the sound of Julian's low moaning. Whatever it took, she would help him recover. She could not bear the thought of his suffering.
Ripping another strip of material off of her old dress, she dipped it in the water bowl, and carefully climbed the bed, where Julian lay with fever. She wiped his forehead with the cloth, trying to ease his high temperature.
Tears blurred her vision. "Please Julian," she whispered, "please fight this. You have to be all right." Unbidden, her tears dropped on Julian. "I don't know what I would do if you--you have to get well."
Suddenly Julian grabbed her, frightening Eve. She stared at him, seeing his eyes open, yet glazed with the fever that wracked his body. He held her, a tormented look in his gaze.
"Do not try to escape me, Eve! You are trying to run away again! I won't let you. I won't let you leave me alone. No more loneliness." His balled fist pounded the bed. "No more."
Eve's heart raced. Julian was delirious. She knew he wouldn't want to hurt her, but in his condition he could and not be aware of it. She dipped the piece of her dress with more water and pressed the cool cloth to his forehead. "Julian, I'm not leaving you. I promise," she soothed.
"What a treasure I've found. This breathtaking creature will help me not be so alone anymore. Never again." Unseeing eyes held hers. He was so sick. "I want to make her happy. So happy she will never leave me. She will stay with me."
"I will stay with you, Julian. I promise. I will stay with you."
He closed his eyes, and when he opened them, they shined with caring, tenderness. "You'll stay with me?" he repeated.
"Of course I will. I don't want to leave you," Eve whispered, settling upon his chest. "You rest. I'll be right here."
She sighed deeply. "How can it be that Julian has come to mean so much to me? He's my captor." Her eyes fell upon him. All too aware of Julian's weakened condition, she could easily escape, yet the desire to flee didn't existent. She yearned to be near this. The man who loved her. The man she loved.
Eve smiled to herself. She loved Julian. She loved him desperately. "No one has touched my heart my heart the way you have," she murmured. Her little hand brushed his sweaty brow. "I don't care if we can never be together in every sense of the word, or that I can never bear your children. I can live with that." She snuggled against him. "What I cannot live without is you."
Hours later, the feel of a slight tickle against her cheek roused Eve from her sleep. She lifted her head to find Julian's smiling face. "Good morning," he said.
Eve sat up. She heard a squish as she and crawled up close to his face. He was drenched in sweat. That was a good sign.. Her tiny hands covered his cheeks. "You're cool." She smiled. "Your fever broke."
"I had the strangest dream," he said. He closed his eyes, sighing. "It was a nice dream. You were in it."
"Me?"
He nodded. "Yes." His easy chuckle filled the room. "I dreamed that…I dreamed you said you loved me." He chuckled again. "I must have been really feverish, right?"
Eve lowered her head for a moment, before returning his gaze. She couldn't deny her feelings.
"You were very feverish, but it wasn't a dream. I do love you, Julian." She pressed her face against his cheek. "I love you very much."
