A/N/ Disclaimer: This is the LAST of me quoting from the book, or rather taking paragraphs even though you guys have all read the damn thing. This is just how I roll, okay? And anyway, this is a flashback, so...yeah. Also, this chapter contains a nice little piece of Tanith and Skulduggery friendship. Think of it as Friar Lawrence and Juliet. Any who, onwards...
Chapter 5
The White Cleaver stood there,as silent as a ghost, deadly as a plague...
... "Valkyrie," Tanith said, keeping her voice low and steady, "get behind me."
"I'll hold him off. You stop Serpine."
Tanith drew her sword and heard Skulduggery and Valkyrie hurry away...
... "I ordered you to distract the Hollowmen, didn't I," she said "You were one of the Cleavers assigned to us."
"For what it's worth, I'm sorry for what happened to you, but it was necessary. And for what it's worth, I'm sorry for what is going to happen to you, but that's necessary too."
He started twirling his scythe and she raised an eyebrow.
"Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough".....
...The Cleaver pursued her down the steps, sparks flying as their blades clashed.
The prisoners watched, and for the first few moments, they were confused. The Cleavers were jailers, yet this Cleaver wore white...They saw something in him, something that identified him as one of them, and began to call and jeer him on. Tanith retreated down the steps, enemies all around her...
...He can't be stopped, she thought. Just like Serpine, he can't be stopped. Tanith turned and ran, but just as she was half-way up the steps, the breath rushed out of her.
She frowned, willing her body to move, but it wouldn't listen. She looked down, to see the tip of the scythe protruding from her chest...
...The Cleaver stepped beside her and took hold of the handle of the scythe, twisting her around. He seemed to be observing her pain, remembering what it was like...
...She had failed. She had failed and now Serpine had his attack dog back...
...Tanith slammed the Goal's door in his visored face, and pressed her hand against it. "Withstand," she whispered, casting a shield...
...Tanith tried to get up, but her body couldn't take anymore. She slumped to the floor, and the prisoners watched with delighted eyes, and began to whisper among themselves gleefully, as blood began to seep from her tunic onto the floor...
Tanith woke up in a sweat, but found herself shivering and gasping for air. She looked around her slowly and found herself in Professor Kenspeckle Grouse's medical bay, in the Hibernian Cinema's upper storey in Dublin. Blinding sunlight was pouring through the window to her right, making it seem more like summer than it had done in days.
She collapsed back onto the pillow and sighed, the only other sound in the room the steady 'Beep, beep,' of her heart on the monitor beside her. She moved a wired hand to feel the bandages wrapped around the gaping hole in her chest, which was still healing. When the hell was she going to get out of this place? It felt like an eternity. Tanith had been lying on this bed for the past week and a bit, sleeping, smiling at Kenspeckle's assistants' attempts at flirting with her, and staring out of the window, thinking about that night.
Professor Grouse stalked in from the other end of the room, looking official but very grumpy with his clipboard, white coat and stern frown.
"Ah, Miss Low, you're up," he said irritably, slipping the clipboard under his arm.
"Morning Kenspeckle," Tanith grumbled, pushing herself up painfully.
"Good afternoon, more like," Kenspeckle replied, checking her wrist. "And it is Professor Grouse to you, Miss Low."
Tanith couldn't help smiling. "Sorry, Professor."
Kenspeckle grunted in response, leaning in to check her over, then asked "So how did you sleep?"
"Shitty."
"Now Tanith..."
"Well, what am I supposed to say, Kenspeckle?" Tanith asked angrily " 'Yes, Professor, I slept very well last night because every time I close my eyes I see the bloody, mutilated face of a man about to be beheaded, by a Cleaver-turned-assasin, because of me. But instead of being beheaded, he turns into a statue, so now for all I know he is kneeling on a stone slab, a rock of a man, in some lonely alleyway in this god-for-sakin city!' "
"Can you lean forward please?"
"Sure." Tanith leant forward as Kenspeckle checked the bandages around her back. "And then there's the frustrating fact that I only knew the guy for like, a day, and I'm mourning him as if he were my brother or something. What the hell is wrong with me!"
"High blood pressure."
"What?"
"Your heart rate is going through the roof." Tanith looked at the monitor beside her that was bleeping alarmingly quickly.
"Oh."
"Just...rest up," Kenspeckle told her, giving her a concerned look under his bushy eyebrows. "Relax for a while, alright?"
Tanith collapsed onto her pillow and closed her eyes. "Okay."
"Good," Kenspeckle said as he took down some readings.
"So besides the rising heart-rate," Tanith asked with a small smile "How am I doing?"
"Hmm, you're healing up well," Kenspeckle replied grumpily. "Of course you are, under my care. The wound should be fully healed internally in about five days so then you can leave. It will be painful at times between now and then-"
"That's nothing new."
"-but, you will be fine within a week. There will be a scar for a few more weeks, but it will soon fade if you use the ointment I give you. And luckily it is in an area which...well, I don't think you would generally display to the public." Then he grunted.
"Mm-hmm," Tanith said, raising an eyebrow. "So, I'll be out within a week?"
"More or less, yes."
Tanith closed her eyes again. "It'll be good to be home."
Kenspeckle looked up from his clipboard at the girl in the bed. She was healing up well, sure, but she still looked drained. Incredibly drained, as though some of the life had been sucked out of her with that fight with the Cleaver. Her blonde hair was silkier and limper than it should have been, her cheeks were pinched, and there were purple rings under eyes.
"How have you been sleeping?" he asked, then adding "In general, I mean. Not just last night."
Tanith smiled a weary smile and rested back on the pillow. "I told you."
Kenspeckle nodded once, still watching her, concerned.
"Still having nightmares?" he asked, his gruff tone softening slightly. Tanith looked at him and after a moment she shrugged, which was a very painful move.
"Some, yeah," she replied quietly. Kenspeckle looked at her for a moment as if in understanding, probably thinking that she was reflecting on the 'horror' of almost dying. But it was more than just that which gave her nightmares.
"Well," he said, clearing his throat and once again becoming the moody professor. "You have two visitors outside. Shall I let them in?"
"Which two?" Tanith asked eagerly. She had a good idea of who they might be, and if they were who she thought they were then she was thinking, Well about bloody time.
"Detective Pleasant and Valkyrie Cain," Kenspeckle answered, walking towards the door. "They are downstairs in the cinema."
"Wait," Tanith said, frowning. Kenspeckle turned slightly.
"Have they been waiting out there all this time?" she asked. She immediatly regretted asking this as Kenspeckle raised a grey, bushy eyebrow at her.
"Yes, they have," he said slowly and clearly.
Tanith blinked. "Well, why didn't you let them in when they arrived?"
Kenspeckle's face and tone became irritable. "I am a professor, a doctor, Miss Low, and therefore I have a duty to tend to my patients, or in your case, patient, before anything else. Your health comes first, visitors can wait." He put a hand on the door's handle and yanked it open.
"I apologize, Professor," Tanith said solemnly.
"You should do," Kenspeckle replied. "Now allow me to go downstairs to let a dead man and a young girl into my exceedingly advanced and disturbing medical facility."
Then he strode out of the room, slamming the door shut, and Tanith allowed herself to laugh. It hurt, yeah, but it still felt good to laugh. A minute later she heard murmers from the door to her far left, and braced herself for what was coming next. Then two figures burst through the door, grappling with each other, trying to knock each other over. Kenspeckle's assistants.
"I'm going to ask her first!" one of them, sandy haired and small, yelled at his partner.
"No way, I'm going to!" the other, black haired and skinny, yelled back.
"She likes me better!"
"No she dosn't!"
"Yes she does!"
"Boys?" Tanith called over, smiling softly. The two assistants suddenly spun to face her, wobbling as they did. Stentor and Civet were a little too pre-occupied with their constant rivalry to be very good assistants, but they were sweet boys. And funny.
"Hey Tanith!" they said in unison, elbowing each other as they walked over.
"Stentor," she nodded to the sandy-haired one. "Civet," she nodded to the black-haired one.
The two giggled and she smiled another gleaming smile. Then Civet stepped forward and rolled up one of his white sleeves,and asked.
"Hey Tanith, what do you think of my biceps? I mean, you're, like, a highly trained fighter, right? So, I've been working out, right, so what do you think? Am I getting any more buff?"
Tanith looked at his right arm. Frankly it looked as though it might snap if she even stared at it too long, so she met his gaze and smiled.
"I, um, think that you should keep working out, and then...who knows? You might be able to beat Mr Bliss in an arm-wrestling match someday."
Mentioning Bliss left a bad taste in her mouth, but she didn't let this show. Civet was clearly delighted at this remark, but then was pushed back by Stentor, who walked over toTanith, looking concerned and doctor-like.
"Do you need me to do anything for you Tanith? Anything? Anything at all?"
Tanith raised an eyebrow and smiled. "Um, no, Stentor, I'm fine for now."
Stentor looked disappointed, and Civet chuckled, then Stentor punched him in the nose. The two fell to the floor, wrestling, then Kenspeckle strode in, with Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyire Cain right behind him.
"Stentor, Civet!" Kenspeckle ordered the two assistants scrambled to their feet, and stood to attention.
"Stop fighting like two wild animals and remove yourselves! We have guests."
"Yes sir," the two said, apparently ashamed. They left the room through the other door, and after a moment or so the remaining four heard them resume fighting. Kenspeckle sighed and turned to Tanith.
"Well, here they are," he said, gesturing between Tanith and the guests. "Enjoy yourselves. Now excuse me while I break my assistants apart."
"I hope you don't mean that literally?" Valkyrie said, raising an eyebrow and looking at the professor.
"We'll see." Then Kenspeckle left them, heading through the door, and slamming it shut.
Tanith and Valkyrie sniggered at the same time, then looked at each other, and smiled.
"Hiya Val," she said grinning at her new friend. Valkyrie Cain was twelve years old but was tall, coming up to Skulduggery's shoulder, with long brown hair, a long black coat, and a kick-ass attitude.
"Hey Tanith," she replied, stepping toward the bed. "How're you doing?"
"Oh, never better," Tanith said cheerfully, nodding at the door the boys had gone through. "You wouldn't believe how fun it is listening to that all day." Then she looked at the Skeleton Detective.
"Hey there, Skulduggery," she said with a nod and a smile. Skulduggery Pleasant stood there in a navy suit, a black hat and a tan over-coat, looking tall, powerful and elegant. The gentleman. Her hero. And yet a few night's ago she had screamed at him like a maniac.
"Hello Tanith," he replied with a polite nod of his head. "You're recovering well?"
"Under my care, certainly," Kenspeckle replied, coming back hallway outside was definetely quieter. "You two will have her back in five days."
"Good," Skulduggery said.
"Thank God," Tanith murmered. Kenspeckle heard her and gave her a dirty look.
"Oh, thank you, Miss Low," he grumbled, offending. Valkyrie appeared to be struggling not to laugh. Tanith winked at her, then looked back at Kenspeckle.
"I've tried to show you the best of hospitality, Miss Low. But never mind. And I almost wasn't going to mention the tatoo."
Valkyrie and Skulduggery looked at her and Tanith's face turned pink. She looked at the bed clothes.
"Tatoo, Tanith?" Valkyire asked, raising both eyebrows and grinning.
"It's only a little one," Tanith mumbled.
"It is not! And on her lower back, I might say," Kenspeckle added.
"Really, Tanith," Skulduggery said in an amused voice. "I didn't think you were one for Hennas...well, actually, no. No, I shouldn't of doubted that."
"Well, it is of a Celtic design so I shouldn't really be disapproving," Kenspeckle admitted with a shrug. "However it, er, was an unpleasant surprize to come across..."
"Can we please stop discussing my body art?" Tanith said loudly, clearing her throat with a strained expression. "Please?" She looked up at her two friends, eager to change the subject.
"So, how is life in the outside world?" she asked. "Any new developments?"
"Not especially," Valkyrie replied.
"Oh come on. They have to be more interesting than this place"
They heard a crash and a shout from the hallway. Kenspeckle sighed and left the room again.
"Um, so, anyway," Tanith began again. "Any word on the guy that put me in here? Perhaps I can kick his arse in a rematch."
She really did want to find the White Cleaver again, to fight him, to make him pay. She was never a vengeful person, but this Cleaver had done her worng, and she needed to fight him. Then maybe these nightmares would go away.
"Sorry, Tanith, but no," Skulduggery answered her. She sagged. "The Cleaver disappeared straight after the fight with Serpine. It hasn't been seen since. Completely disappeared."
Tanith looked at him, blinking, then folded her arms and pouted.
"Shit," she muttered simply. "That is...shit, and I was looking forward to a rematch. Crap! What the hell am I supposed to do now?"
There was another crash outside and Valkyrie cleared her throat.
"Well, I'm gonna go outside and catch that wrestling match, okay?" she said, grinning and sliding out of the room and leaving Tanith and Skulduggery alone.GXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXGXTXG
Skulduggery watched Valkyrie leave the room then looked back at Tanith in the hospital bed. She was sulking with her arms folded, and staring at the the wall to her right. Skulduggery tilted his head. She looked tired. She was well looked after, wired and bandaged up, but she looked...unwell. So tired.
"You really want to fight him again?" Skulduggery asked warily. He shrugged out of hs overcoat, draping it over his arm and putting his hands in his trouser pockets, then looked back at her.
Tanith sighed and unfolded her arms, shaking her head. "No, not really. I'd just...I'd like to make him pay, you know? Even if it is my fault he's on the loose in the first place."
Skulduggery nodded and said nothing. What he wanted to say was that it wasn't her fault, that he would have done the same thing in her situation...but his friend was gone because of that Cleaver. And it was because of her that Serpine had caught that Cleaver and experimented on it...
"I'm sorry," Tanith said suddenly after a moment of silence. Skulduggery cocked his head again.
"For what?" he asked, genuinely clueless.
"For...that night...in the petrol station." she said, regretfully. "Those things I had said to you...they were wrong. I'm sorry, Skulduggery."
"You screamed at me Tanith."
"Yes I did. And I'm sorry, Skulduggery. I was just...angry." Her voice cracked and her eyes glazed over. Skulduggery looked at her, then took a deep breath.
"No, I'm sorry, Tanith," he told her. She looked at him with almond shaped eyes. They were green, like a cat's.
"I was just as angry as you were, and for the same reasons, but instead of trying to understand you I got testy. I should have been the one to receive the call that the Elders were dead, but instead you were. We had been betrayed by Tome, Bliss, and we had lost Ghastly. That must have taken its toll on you too. I'm sorry."
Tanith looked at him, gazing into his black eyes sockets as if trying to read his thoughts, for of course she couldn't read his face. Then she smiled.
"Thank you, Skulduggery," she said softly. It was only now that he noticed the respect that was in her voice when she said his name. He felt like smiling. Well, he was very respectable.
He nodded back. "You're very welcome Tanith."
Tanith Low smiled shyly, glanced away, then brightened up suddenly, sitting up to talk to him.
"So what is going on outside of this place?" she asked curiously "Have they elected a new Council of the Elders yet?"
Skulduggery let out a low laugh. "After a few days? No such luck. It's going to take alot longer than that to replace Meritorious, Crow and, to a lesser extent, Tome."
"A much, lesser extent," Tanith added with a smile.
"But we have people over to help. The Japanese have sent over delegates and they're helping to restore some order, and some mages from the London Sanctuary are coming over sometime this week to...sort out, the new Sanctuary."
"Oh? From the London Sanctuary? Have they enquired as to the health of their country's greatest assasin?"
"I'm assuming you don't mean James Bond."
"Obviously."
"Well sorry, but no. They havn't asked."
"Bastards," Tanith muttered, looking at the bed again.
Skulduggery chuckled, and Tanith remained smiling for a moment, then her eyes went hard, and her fists clenched.
"Has Bliss turned up yet?" she asked menacingly. She looked up at Skulduggery with those hard eyes.
"Yes actually, he has," he replied with a nod.
"And?"
"He is helping to restore order to the Sanctuary."
Tanith scowled. "When did he turn up?"
"Two days after you were brought here. In Galway, somehow."
"Full of surprizes that guy, eh?" Tanith muttered with a bitter smile.
"Hmm, indeed," Skulduggery replied. "I think you should forgive him though."
"Ha!"
"Forgiveness is divine Tanith."
"And who said that? The Unnamed God?" Tanith laughed harshly once more. Skulduggery was taken back. He hadn't known she was atheist.
"You don't believe in God?" he asked. Tanith hesitated, then didn't look at him.
"I...lost my faith quite a while ago," she told him. She looked up. "But anyway, it was him that said that?"
"No, I said it," Skulduggery said, making light of it. "But I really do think you should forgive Bliss. Please Tanith."
"He pushed you off a cliff! I don't know why you're so forgiving!"
"He also refused to kill Valkyrie. That, I think, is reason enough for me to forgive him." Tanith said nothing, and looked away from him. Skulduggery continued.
"Just think about it Tanith. He...is a better person than his sister, if scarier. And he has some level of respect for you, that's for sure. Think about it."
He watched her for a moment, letting her think about it. Then she looked at him again, smiling.
"And how is his sister?" Tanith asked cheerfully.
"Meaning?"
"Has she found something to do with that Sceptre yet?"
"No, but I doubt that she won't in the future."
"But the Sceptre is broken, isn't it? Useless."
"Yes but China...has often found ways to make the impossible, possible, in the past."
"A bit like yourself," Tanith said with a grin.
"Yes," Skulduggery replied with a touch of hesitation. "Yes, she is."
"You and Valkyrie would stop her if she got up to any mischief, though, wouldn't you?" Tanith asked.
"Yes," Skul said with a laugh. "I suppose we would."
"You're officially partners now aren't you?"
"Yes, we are," Skulduggery said.
"What must that be like?"
"Interesting," Skulduggery replied. "I quite like it though. Having an assistant to follow me around like a little puppy. It's fun."
Tanith cocked her head and gave him a serious look, yet seemed uncomfortable asking.
"You do...care about her, though?" she asked. Skulduggery was silent for a moment, considering that. Then with a glance at the door just in case she might walk in at that moment, he nodded.
"Yes," he said, with genuine warmth. "Yes, I do. She is Gordon's niece after all, but also...there's something about her, Tanith. She makes me...happy. Like I'm alive again, you know? I know that sounds stange but... but Tanith?"
His voice suddenly went so hard that Tanith was shocked.
"What?" she asked, alarmed, her growing smile dropping.
"Don't you ever tell her that. Seriously, her reaction if she ever found out that I felt that way about her would be enough to kill me again! She would never let me live it down! Death by humiliation, huh, not very glamourous."
Tanith laughed. Then added softly. "You two are a great team though. The best."
Skulduggery looked at her and chuckled. "Thank you. You will be joining us now and then, right? Valkyrie would love that. Also for training sessions..."
"Are you kidding, I'd love that!" Tanith exclaimed. Then her smile dropped slowly as she remembered that proposition from a few nights ago...
"Um, Skulduggery," she asked, trying to make her voice sound stronger than it felt. "Do you mind me asking you something?"
"What?"
She licked her lips, and only after a long moment, looked up at him. "What are they doing with Ghastly? Did they find him?"
Skulduggery paused, then replied. "Yes, they did. Ironically, it was the Cleavers that delivered him to the Sanctuary."
"And no change?" she asked softly, looking down again.
"No."
Tanith was silent, her eyes cast down. Skulduggery observed her for a moment, wondering if she knew. Then he gathered his courage, and spoke.
"That night...before he transformed...Ghastly said something."
Tanith looked up at that, frowning, but curious.
"Really?" she asked "What?"
"Just...one word," Skulduggery said slowly. Tanith's eyes widened, curious, anxious, obviously hearing this information for the first time.
"What one?"Tanith asked intensely
"It was...only one word, though," he said, hesitant, wondering what effect this would have on her.
"Skulduggery, please," she said, trying a laugh, but her eyes were still hard. "What did he say?"
"A name," Skulduggery said, slowly and carefully. Tanith's next words were also slow and careful.
"What, name, Skulduggery?" she asked, so softly. Her heart was pounding in her chest, the monitors reacting ever so slightly to that. What did he say? How could she have missed that? When she looked down, perhaps, maybe that was when...
"He said yours," he barely whispered. Then, as she seemed to freeze, he said louder "He said your name, before he transformed."
Tanith's reaction was one that he could never have imagined. Her eyes were still wide, and she seemed to have forgotten how to breath. No, it was more than that. She began to gasp, and he realised that she couldn't. She really couldn't breathe. She began to shake uncontrollably. She realised what it meant.
"Tanith?" Skulduggery asked urgently, stepping toward her.
"My name?" she choked out. "He said... my name?"
"Tanith," he said once more before Valkyrie came into the room.
"Well that was something. I can't believe you guys missed it," Valkyrie said as she came in, then she looked at Tanith and her eyes widened. Skulduggery didn't take his eyes off Tanith.
"Tanith what's wrong?" Valkyrie asked, fearfully.
"Valkyrie we should go," Skulduggery said quickly.
"What?" she asked. Valkyire looked at him but he didn't looked at her.
"Valkyrie let's go," he said firmly, and he grabbed her by the arm as the monitors began to bleep furiously.
"Tanith," Valkyrie was about to say as Kenspeckle burst into the room. "Wh-"
"Tanith I'm so sorry," Skulduggery said as they reached the door. Kenspeckle bent over her, flustered, alarmed, and glared at Skulduggery.
"What, did, you, DO?" he asked with alarm but Tanith shook her head furiously.
"No, Kenspeckle," she gasped, her voice full of pain. She looked at Skulduggery, with eyes full of tears. "No, Skulduggery, thank you. Thank you for...telling me. I needed to know-" Then her back arched in pain.
"Valkyrie, we're going," Skul said quickly. The girl shot one last look at Tanith and her friend tried a smile.
"Don't worry Val, I'll be fine." Then Tanith coughed blood onto the bed clothes.
Skulduggery pushed Valkyrie out the door, and down the corridor.
"Skul, what is going on?" she asked slowly and urgently as they got to the stairs. She was scared, Skulduggery could sense it, and he was about to answer her when he heard a blood curdling scream from upstairs. They looked up, then Skulduggery looked at Valkyrie. Her eyes were wide with terror for her friend.
"What's wrong with her?" she whispered. Skulduggery gripped her shoulders.
"Stay here," he said urgently, then darted up the stairs and into the corridor.
"Skulduggery what's wrong with her?!" he heard Valkyrie scream as he bolted up the hall.
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Skulduggery burst into the bay and saw Tanith still on the bed, contorting in pain, her face cringing randomly and little gasps coming out of her mouth at different times. Kenspeckle dashed from monitor to monitor, feeling Tanith's pulse, checking the monitors, yet somehow it looked as though he knew what he was doing. He shouted at Stentor and Civet, who looked absolutely terrified, to get various liquids, to help her. Skulduggery sprinted to the bed.
"Tanith," he cried, standing by her side and taking one of her hands. She thrashed wildly. "Tanith, I'm sorry."
"No, Skulduggery, don't be," she gasped out, looking at him with watery eyes. "I needed to know. Thank you. Thank-" She cried out and arched again.
"What happened?" Skulduggery asked Kenspeckle urgently. Kenspeckle was pressing down on her heart firmly, as if trying to keep it inside her chest.
"The wound," Kenspeckle said through gritted teeth. "I never told you. I didn't think it would matter. The Cleaver's scythe went through her rib-cage, grazing her lungs and heart. It must have been a more serious wound than I originally thought."
"Can you fix it though?" Skulduggery asked urgently.
"Certainly, but only with some.."
The change in Tanith's heart rate was noticable. The monitors were beeping slower, and Tanith wasn't thrashing about as much. She was whimpering now, gritting her teeth.
"With some work from her," Kenspeckle finished.
"Tanith," Skulduggery called to her softly. Tanith's eyes were closed, but still she clasped his hand. Little beads of sweat stood out on her forward.
"Tanith, listen to me. Stay with us."
"I can't," she cried out, breathless. Her face contorted in pain, and she let out a short scream.
"It hurts...it hurts to much! My heart...my back.."
At the mention of her back Kenspeckle looked up from the bandage her was tending, and frowned. Skulduggery, however, didn't notice. He only bent over and spoke to her.
"Come on Tanith, please. Please don't give up, you hear me? Don't you dare give up."
"It hurts," she gasped, trying to hold her chest with her other hand. "I...I can't breath, Skulduggery. It feels..."
Tears from her eyes splattered on the bloodstained bed-sheets as she collapsed back, her hold on his hand weakening.
"It feels like my heart is breaking," she choked out.
"He's not dead, Tanith!" Skulduggery almost shouted, shaking her hand. "He's still alive. He's out there, waiting for you. Maybe he won't be back in a day, a week, but he will be back Tanith! Keep your heart beating. Keep fighting! Keep your heart beating for him!"
With that Tanith looked at Skulduggery's blurry form through her wet eyelashes, felt Kenspeckle trying to pump her heart again, and with one last squeeze of Skulduggery's skeletal hand, slipped into unconsiousness.
"Tanith."
Skulduggery looked down at her as she lay on the bed, peaceful. He let go of he wired hand and straightened up. The monitors were slowing down, to a steady, sleepy heartbeat. Kenspeckle stood up straight also, mopping his brow.
"Is she alright now?" Skulduggery asked, his voice thick in angst and worry.
Kenspeckle nodded slowly. "Yes. She's fine. I'll...I'll have to check her wounds though. Slip her some anesthetic as she sleeps. You'll have to leave for this I'm afraid, Skulduggery."
Skulduggery nodded once. "Yes. Of course."
He looked at Tanith's now sleeping body, looking so small in that hospital bed, like a little girl, with her blonde curls and sunken cheeks...she looked so delicate.
"She's a fighter, though," he thought out loud. "She'll pull through."
Well? Good? Bad? Ugly? R/R!
Love K x