Chapter Three:

Josef Konstantin had never been so worried in his life. Sara had simply fallen ill, then asleep. None of this writhing and choking had happened. So now, Josef was pacing back and forth beside Arianna's bed, willing the young woman to wake up again. A knock sounded on the door and he jumped, hurrying to answer it. "Oh. Mick. Beth. Come in."

"You seem a little short tempered today, Josef."

"Shut up." The vampire snapped, slamming the door shut behind the pair. "It's Charles today."

Beth frowned in confusion. "Wha-"

"It's a legal thing." Mick interrupted. "Keep in mind Josef has been alive for all of 400 years."

"Good point. Is she any better?" They followed the vampire into his bedroom, where Arianna was lying on the bed, far to still and cold to be alive.

"I don't know." Josef muttered helplessly, sitting on the edge of the bed and putting his head in his hands. "Mick, I can't go through this again. Once was more than enough."

"I don't know what to tell you, Jos-Charles…" Mick put a comforting hand on Josef's shoulder, patting it gently before starting off. "Do you want us to leave you alone?"

Josef looked as though he was about to shake his head, but thought better of it. "Go ahead. The doctor should be here any second…"

A knock sounded on the door and Josef dragged himself to his feet, making his way past Beth and Mick to open the door. "Hello, Dr."

"Hello, Mr. Fitzgerald. To what do I owe this pleasure."

"It's another one like Sara…" Josef replied softly.

The doctor nodded solemnly, making his way towards the bed while Josef turned to face Mick and Beth. "Please, if you wouldn't mind…could you stay with me for a couple of days?"

Beth nodded. "Of course we could. Provided you have the room…" She glanced here at Mick.

Mick waved his hand in an offhanded manner. "I've stayed here plenty. There's room."

Josef frowned in thankfulness. "You will never understand how grateful I am." He breathed, turning as the doctor entered the living room. "Well?"

"By rights, she appears to be asleep. The only difference is that she has a very low body temperature and pulse. I wouldn't worry unless she doesn't wake up in the next day or so, Mr. Fitzgerald."

"Thank you, Dr." Josef reached into a pocket, withdrawing a check that had obviously been prewritten and handing it to the doctor, who took it with a nod and left.

"Well, that's good news." Beth chirped, looking up at Josef expectantly.

"No." Josef murmured. "That's precisely what they told me about Sara." In the uneasy silence that followed, he strode off towards the bedroom, undoubtedly to check in on Arianna.

Arianna was dead. Simple as that. She was dead and there was nothing anybody could do about it. Oh, she was aware, but there was nothing SHE could do to make that known. A machine was breathing for her. Another was beating her heart. And yet another was feeding her. But try as they might, machines couldn't replace feelings. And feelings were what mattered most. She knew when Josef came to see her. When Josef apologized over meaningless things. And it was killing her. It was killing her that she couldn't respond. That she couldn't say the three words that she wanted to say more than anything else in the world. Arianna was dead.

Josef might have gone insane over the next few days, had it not been for his friend's company. At least, he had come to consider them friends. Beth laid a gentle hand on his arm as the vampire emerged from the bedroom, looking wan and paler than normal. "Josef?"

Josef seemed to cast around for the source of the noise, before spotting Beth. "Oh. Yes?" It had been four days since Arianna has fallen ill, and she showed no immediate signs of improving.

"When was the last time you fed?"

The blonde was more perceptive than Josef could ever have imagined, and he stopped short. "Right before I came to see you and Mick that…that night."

"You need to drink something, Josef."

The brunette shook his head, starting towards the main living area. "No. I'm fine. If she doesn't get better, I'll starve. I'm not drinking until she wakes up again."

"Josef, don't be an idiot!" Beth yelled suddenly, hauling back and slapping the vampire as hard as he could. "You'll die before HER if you do that!"

"I can manage." Josef returned coldly. "Stay out of it."

"But Josef-"

There was a yawn behind them as Mick exited the bedroom, undoubtedly having just woken up. "What's all the noise?" He stopped short, noting Beth looking aggressive and Josef with a hand to his face. "What the hell happened here?"

"Your girlfriend slapped me." Josef replied sharply. "I'll be fine."

"Why? Beth?" Mick didn't bother correcting the elder vampire, or hadn't heard the comment.

"He's going to starve himself if Arianna doesn't get better!" She snapped, looking murderous.

"Josef, don't do that! That's STUPID!"

"And so was that statement." Josef replied coldly. "I'll be fine, for the sixteenth time."

"Josef…" Beth spoke softly, just noticing the vampire's overly slender form, and features that were paler than they should have been. "You can't…"

"I can. And I will." And that was that. Josef Konstantin had resigned himself to death. And for him, it couldn't come quicker.

"You're being idiotic, Josef!" Mick shot out, grabbing the elder vampire's arm. "When Arianna wakes up, she doesn't want to see that you wasted away into nothing!"

"When? If, you mean."

Mick then did the one thing that could not have possibly made the situation better, no matter what. He hauled back, punching the elder vampire as hard as he possibly could. "STOP BEING SO PESSIMISTIC!" He yelled, grabbing Josef's collar and dragging him to his feet. "GO IN THERE, AND TELL HER HOW MUCH YOU LOVE HER, AND STAY THERE!" He lowered his voice to a hiss. "I refuse to let you sit here and die."

He set Josef down, pushing him back into the bedroom and slamming the door behind him. "Was I too harsh?"

Beth shrugged. "I couldn't have done that…"

But Mick's outburst had proven to be well timed. When Mick went to go sleep later on that evening, he smiled gently as he spotted Josef sleeping in the bed, arms wrapped around Arianna. The latter's arms were resting on the elder vampire's shoulders, free hand stroking his hair gently. "Good night, Arianna."

Good night, Mick St. John.

A/N:I know it's really short compared to chapter two, but I couldn't think of anything. Read and review!