Thanks for sticking around guys, and I LOVE all you reviewers. Thanks SO much. This is not the end just yet, so there will be more chapters (hopefully soon)- just throwing that out there. :) -R
The thunderous call of the heart monitor reverberated off the bloodless walls and collided with her chest. Beep. Talking over steaming piles of food. Beep. Making love in her backyard as the sun warmed them. Beep. Running through the house with her hair flying around her face as she turned back to laugh at him. Beep. The blood on his face after the fight. Beep. Sam's limp body on the ground. Beep. The mournful determination in his eyes. Beep. The crimson sheen on the sides of the empty vile as it crashed to the ground. Beep.
She closed her eyes and tried to steady herself with deep breaths. The stringent aroma of the sterile room restricted her air intake. She felt as though the bleached white covering on everything was looming dangerously close to suffocating her. Watching the steady drip of the IV into his forearm, she imagined each drip was strengthening him from within. She took his hand and squeezed it gently, hoping for any reaction, but he remained limp and unresponsive. The monitor continued to chirp its song of life and when a bittersweet taste filled her mouth, she realized in horror that she was going to be sick.
When she had emptied her stomach, she hugged the porcelain of the toilet for a moment. As she was rinsing her mouth out in the sink, she caught her own eye in the mirror and stared. Her flesh was ghostly pale and sweaty, her sallow appearance blending her in with the rest of the colorless world. She swallowed hard. Reaching into her purse, she extracted a tube of lipstick and numbly struck out at the mirror, leaving a trail of bright red across her reflection. She pondered the effect without any concrete thought and absently colored the rest of the mirror the same shade, until all she could see was the scarlet glow.
A knock on the door startled her from her revere. She fumbled with putting the cap back on the tube then carefully extracted herself from the bathroom, closing the door to hide her vandalism.
The doctor took in her disheveled appearance and offered her a sympathetic smile.
"When loved ones are in the hospital, it's always stressful." She nodded and cast her eyes downward. "He's going to be just fine. He'll make a full recovery. He's just unconscious right now because those IVs right there are giving him some medicine to make him more comfortable. A few days at most, then you can take him home."
"Thank you," she pressed her lips together in what she hoped looked like a smile. "Thank you so much."
"It would probably help us if we knew what had happened to him..."
Still, she found that she could not meet his eyes. "I wish I knew."
She sat at his bed undisturbed for another few hours until Sam poked his head in. She rose and stepped out into the hallway with him.
"Hey," he whispered.
"Hi." There was an awkward pause. "You look great," she offered.
"Yeah," he ran a bashful hand through his hair. "All that blood Pam gave me really helped. I feel good."
Sookie smiled. "That's vampire blood for you."
"Yeah, she showed up just in time." The sharp look Sookie gave him made him falter. "I mean...I would have died if it wasn't for the three of you."
"You're right," for the first time all day, Sookie met someone's gaze and Sam flinched by the fire in her glare. "You would have died. What were you doing there, Sam? Why would you take on a panther with a transformation into a dog?"
"I thought you were in trouble-"
"I had it under control! Eric and I had it under control. We had a plan. It would have worked." She pressed a hand to her eyes as she began to get choked up.
"Sookie, I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say except that: I'm sorry. I thought you needed help, I just wanted to look out for you. You know I care about you, I worry that you get yourself involved with those vampires-"
Sookie snorted.
"Those vampires? Those vampires saved your life and mine, again, Sam, and they have been there for me when no one else was and showed more humanity and compassion than any person I know!" Her chest heaved with angry breaths as she took in Sam's pity-filled eyes.
"I didn't mean Eric, Sookie. I'm sorry-" She held up a hand to silence him.
"It's," she shook her head to clear her thoughts. "It's done. I made mistakes too, so many mistakes. It's no one person's fault." She glanced down and they stood in silence. Finally, she looked at him once more. "I'm glad you're okay." Her smile trembled at the corners.
Sam put a hand on her shoulder. "And you'll be okay?"
"Yeah," her eyes avoided his. "I'll survive."
She sat in the silence of her car for a while when she got home, her forehead against her steering wheel. With great effort, she extracted herself from the automobile and began walking toward her darkened house. As she was unlocking the door, a voice arose from the shadows.
"Sookie."
Sookie yelped and whirled around with her hands raised in defense. The owner of the voice looked at her with barely concealed amusement.
"A little on edge?"
"Eric," she sighed. "I didn't see you there." When he half-smiled she added snarkily, "skulking in the shadows."
He chuckled. "Skulking? Simply waiting, Sookie."
"Waiting?"
"For you to arrive home. I wondered how you were. How your brother is fairing."
"Jason will be fine," she ran a hand through her hair and over her face, suddenly feeling exhausted. "He's on a lot of meds, so he's pretty out of it; he sleeps mostly. The doctor says he'll be okay."
"And you, Sookie? Are you okay?"
"Just peachy." Her growling stomach interrupted their silence and she grimaced in embarrassment. "Except I may be a little hungry."
"Perhaps a little Burger King is called for?" Eric was smiling at her so that she couldn't help but laugh.
"Only you, Eric, would ever love fast food so much."
"I never knew you were so judgmental, Sookie."
"I never knew you were such a fatty, Eric."
"Perhaps-"
His fingers brushed the back of her hand as he began to speak and she immediately, instinctively recoiled from the ice of his touch. Her eyes shot up to meet his, and as if by some stroke of magic, she fell through his gaze until they were back in the clearing and she was standing in front of him. The vile was splintered on the ground before him and he was crouched on his hands and knees, his head tucked against his chest and his back heaving with labored breaths.
"Eric!" She was too stunned to approach him and Felton seemed to be having the same experience in his panther form as his large head tilted in curiosity at the man.
Eric began to cough and Sookie could see his body trembling. "Eric!" She ran over to him and put one hand on his back, the other on his chest. His ribcage was expanding and contracting as he gasped against her. "Just breath," she exclaimed in panic. "It's going to be okay! You're going to be okay."
He turned his head to look at her and his eyes were wide with wonder and fear. "Sook-" he panted. "Sook-, Sook-" His eyes were beginning to tear from his coughs. "Sookie." He dropped his head to rest on his clasped hands in the dirt.
"Eric, oh my God." She held his shuddering body and looked around desperately as the sun finally sank from sight. Eric took another gasp that seemed to shake the entire forest, and then he was still.
With her arms still wrapped around him, Sookie began to shake him gently. "Eric?" His body swayed under her touch as dead weight. "Eric!"
A growl behind her brought her back to the reality of the situation, but before she could think of screaming, Eric body was ripped from her grasp and Felton was slammed against a tree. While the cat roared, his body became a blur as he was knocked against tree after tree, so quickly Sookie could barely keep track, until finally the human Felton returned, so exhausted only Eric's hand on his chest kept him upright.
"Where is he?" Eric snarled. When Felton made no response, Eric raised his arm so that the man's feet dangled off the ground. "Where?"
"Thirty miles from here. In the trailer on Bungay Road," Felton's voice was barely a whisper. "I didn't kill him." Eric's back was to Sookie, but although she could not see his face, she could clearly make out the fear on Felton's.
"How kind," Eric grunted, and as Sookie watched, he sank his fangs into Felton's neck, filling the clearing with the sounds of his feeding.
Pam appeared beside Sookie. "Well," she smirked. "What have we here?"
Eric whirled to face them and Sookie saw that the bruises on his face from the fight had healed, there was human blood smeared on his mouth and chin, and, as their gaze connected, she realized a light was gone from his eyes.
Sookie blinked back to the present to find those same blue eyes staring at her.
"Are you alright?"
"Yeah." Although his face showed no sign of hurt, she realized that she had pulled away from him and took his hand in hers. "Sorry, I just forgot. I got so used to you being warm. You were always so warm"
Eric said nothing. "So," she sighed. "What now?"
"Now, I must settle thing at Fangtasia, my absence and Pam's distraction has caused trouble for the bar. There is also the matter of the witch and Yvetta to which I must attend."
"So you're going to be busy for a while, huh?"
"Yes."
Sookie hesitated. "So will I still see you?"
Eric took a step closer and looked down at her intently. "Oh yes, I plan on seeing a lot of you very often." Sookie smiled weakly at his joke. "Things will settle down soon, Sookie and we'll talk then."
His voice was gentle, but brisk and Sookie marveled at how much he had already changed. Gone were the tender looks and sensitive musings; as if his lack of heartbeat forbade such emotional actions. Still, here he was, holding her hand and reassuring her. She smiled at him although it felt forced.
"Okay, you let me know."
"I will." He gave her hand one last squeeze and then stepped off her porch and began to walk away.
Sookie watched his retreating form saunter across her driveway before calling out, "Eric!"
He half-turned to look at her and she smiled sadly at him. "It was a nice dream wasn't it?"
He regarded her for a long moment. "It was. It was a wonderful dream."
Without another word he walked away, fingering the burn on his palm from her silver ring, marveling at the fact that even as the wound began to close, he could still feel the ache.