From Chapter 7

As we exited the hospital, I saw Pam standing by Godric's Audi, parked next to a car with Chow in the driver's seat. As we got closer, Pam tossed a set of keys to Eric, got in the car with Chow, and they drove off. Eric opened the backseat door for Godric, waited until he and Lilliana were inside, then shut the door and crawled behind the wheel as I got into the passenger seat. As we pulled out of the hospital parking lot, I turned slightly to look in the backseat, and saw that silent tears were flowing freely down Lilliana's cheeks. Godric continued to stroke her hair, and murmured softly to her.

"Var inte rädd lilla. Jag är här. Jag kommer alltid att vara här. Jag håller dig säker min älskade." After Lilliana fell asleep, the rest of the drive was made in complete silence.

Chapter 8

SPOV

After passing through several security coded gates, Eric parked the car in the garage of what I can only assume was Godric's home. He exited the car, and held the rear door open for Godric, who climbed out with Lilliana still in his arms. Godric stepped through the door into the house first, followed by me, with Eric coming through last, pausing to enter another code in a keypad. As we started to walk through the main areas of the home, I had to resist the urge to slow down and take in my surroundings. I was interested in seeing Godric's home, but, making sure Lilliana was safe and comfortable had to be the first priority for all of us. As I continued to follow Godric down a hallway, I felt a whooshing of air next to me, and I turned to see that Eric was gone, but, within a few seconds, the same whooshing signaled his return, and he had a bottle of water and a wash cloth in his hand.

Godric opened a door and entered into a large, spacious, very beautiful bedroom. The carpet was a deep rich brown, with cream colored walls, with a large bed in a deep color wood standing against the far wall. There was paintings and photographs of dancers, ballet mostly, throughout the room, and the bed was covered in very soft, very comfortable looking pillows and blankets in a deep hunter green. I immediately knew that Godric had this room designed specifically for Lilliana. As Godric laid her on the bed, Eric walked through a door into an attached bathroom, and soaked the wash cloth in warm water, returned, and began wiping blood, sweat, and tears from Lilliana's face. She slowly opened her eyes and I could see that she was trying, with great effort, not to let the tears start again.

As always, trying to be a peace keeper, she smiled lightly and said, "Gee, if the whole world knew that all it took to bring out the gentle side of a vampire was to get beaten up, things would change dramatically." Eric gave her a bit of a half smirk, and tilted his head in acknowledgement of her comment. "Eric," she began, and waited until she knew she had his full attention, "I need you to promise me that you won't go looking for Mark." I immediately knew what his reaction would be.

"Ana, you know that is a promise I can't make."

In a show of strength I didn't know she possessed, she grabbed his forearm fiercely and pulled him closer to her. "Now, you listen to me you stupid, stupid Viking. The police are out there searching for him, and if he should turn up dead somewhere, they're going to come straight to you because they know of our involvement. I refuse to let you loose everything you've worked for over this. He is not worth your time, or energy and I will certainly not let you risk Fangtasia over him."

The room filled with a pulsing silence as the two of them stared each other down. In order to lighten the mood, I giggled, smiled lightly and said, "Well, Godric, I think I understand what you meant when you said she won't take any of Eric's bull shit." Eric's eyes moved to my face in an unreadable expression, whereas Lilliana looked at me, and immediately smiled and began laughing, loosening her hold on his arm.

Godric sat on the bed next to her, and began stroking her hair again and said, "Darling, I want you to take some of my blood so you can heal." When it looked like she was going to argue he put his finger over her lips and said, "I will accept no refusal. The emotional and mental healing that you will need after this event will be hard enough without having to worry about physical pains as well." She looked into his eyes for a moment, and nodded her head in acceptance. "Eric," he continued, "please run a bath for Lilliana, so that I may bathe her and put her in clean clothes before I give her blood so she may rest."

Eric stood and turned towards the bathroom, but she grabbed his hand and said, "Wait. No, Godric. I can't. It's too embarrassing." Godric clearly looked as though he didn't understand what was making her uncomfortable, so she turned and looked at me, and I nodded and said, "It's alright, I'll bathe her and help her change while you two prepare the bed for her."

Godric simply nodded, stood from the bed and walked over to a chest of drawers, pulled a simple cotton nightgown and panties from a drawer, walked into the bathroom and set them down, started the water, and set a fresh towel on the vanity. He left the room as Eric gently unfastened the braces from Lilliana's wrist and leg. He helped her stand, and then I came up next to her and took her hand to help her walk into the bathroom. She was still wearing her hospital gown, and apparently, she didn't have anything on underneath. As we walked away from him, Eric, in typical Eric-fashion, said, "Ana, somehow I always knew you'd have a cute butt." She turned her head and looked at him over her shoulder and answered, "Look who's talkin'." I shook my head, gently laughed at their banter, and closed the door behind us.

LPOV

Sookie shut the bathroom door, helped me shed the hospital gown, and held my hand to steady me as I lowered myself into the bathtub. The hot water felt wonderful on my sore muscles, but made each little scratch and cut sting. Sookie could see that I was uncomfortable, so she said we'd get me clean and out pretty quickly so I could get to bed. As I leaned forward so she could wash my back, and I said, "Thank you for doing this. I realize that you've probably had to play nurse quite a few times since we met. I just don't think I could've handled Godric doing this."

"It's fine. I don't mind helping. I've been in your situation a few times myself. It seems that humans who spend a lot of time with vampires end up getting hurt quite often. We have to stick together and take care of each other, you and I."

"Will you stay here tonight? I don't want to be alone tomorrow when I wake up. I know that Godric will stay with me as long as he can, but, he'll leave before dawn."

"Of course I will. And, I was actually thinking about talking to Eric and Godric about arranging to have someone with you at all times until this Mark guy is caught. Lean your head back and we'll wash your hair and then you can get out and get dressed, okay?"

I leaned my head back and relaxed as her fingers massaged the shampoo into my scalp. "Can I make a confession to you?"

"Sure."

"As much as I really don't want him to get in trouble for it, a part of me really hopes that Eric and his people DO find Mark. I know that human law will only punish hum lightly, and that's only IF a jury convicts him, and, the track record for people getting punished for hurting women who associate with vampires is pretty bad."

"I know hun, I know."

After she finished washing and rinsing my hair, she helped me to stand up, towel off, and put on the soft cotton panties and nightgown that Godric had laid out for me. As we did this, I started to realize that my injuries were not nearly as bad as I initially feared they were. It could've been much worse. I had a sprained wrist and ankle, two broken ribs, and several small cuts and bruises from going through the glass shower enclosure. I shivered as I remembered the sound of it, and Sookie held my hand tight, and let me back into the bedroom. I could see that Eric had turned down the bed, and laid the pillows out for me. I smiled gently as I saw him, and he returned my smile, obviously happy to see that I was looking a little more like myself.

"You know, Eric, I'm gonna need a new Fangtasia t-shirt now. My other one didn't quite survive. Do you think I might actually be able to pick it out myself this time though?"

"Why, didn't you like the one I choose for you?"

"Oh, no, it was fine. But, it was a size too big, and, I'm thinking you did that on purpose because you didn't want me showing off the assets, so to speak."

And there it was, that guilty grin that says 'I know I did something wrong, but, don't expect me to apologize, because I'm glad I did it.' God, I loved that smile.

As both Sookie and Eric helped me lay down in bed, I saw out of the corner of my eye that Godric had walked back in. I had assumed that he had changed into more comfortable clothes, and heated himself up a bottle of blood, because, after he feeds me, he'll need to replenish to keep himself at full strength. He hates finding himself at anything less than full strength at any time. When he finally came fully into my view, I shivered with delight. He DEFINITELY made himself more comfortable. He stood there in a pair of black cotton lounge pants, and nothing else. The dark black of the pants made his skin look even paler, causing his tattoos to stand out. I'd never seen him completely shirtless before, and although I knew his chest and stomach muscles were well defined, I had no idea how fit he truly was. I know that Eric was highly aware of where my eyes were refusing to move from, he smirked, leaning his head down to kiss my temple, and said, "Have fun darling." I felt the heat of a blush color my cheeks as I turned and told him goodnight. As he was almost out of the room, I remembered myself and said, "Oh, Eric? Sookie is going to stay the night. Do you think you could show her to one of the guest rooms and help get her situated?" He gave me the patented 'Eric-look,' half a smirk and one raised eyebrow, and I winked at him. I knew he'd appreciate me giving him any excuse to get Sookie alone and near a bed. And with that, Sookie followed him out of the room, and Godric went and shut the bedroom door behind her.

Godric smiled at me as he walked closer to the bed. "I'm glad to see that you're feeling well enough to tease Eric."

"Oh, I could be at death's doorstep and still tease Eric. He just brings it out of me."

"So it would seem," he said as he sat down on the bed next to me, taking my uninjured hand in his. "And it would also seem that you are able to bring out the worse in me. I owe you an apology for last evening. I was very out of line."

He looked like he was going to say something else, but I put my hand up signaling for him to stop. "It's fine. Well, no it's not fine, but, now's not the time."

"Very well, but we will have this conversation." He leaned his back up against the pillows and the headboard, and straightened his legs and lifted the blankets slightly over them, and held his arm out to me, encouraging me to cuddle up to him, which, of course I did. As if I could ever resist an invitation such as that.

"While you were taking your bath, I spoke with Isabel on the phone and explained to her what happened. She wanted you to know that she is very sad you were hurt, but thrilled that you are alright, and would like for you to call her tomorrow evening."

"Thank you, I will. How is she doing, taking over as Sheriff?"

"She is handling it well. She had been my second in command there for so long, none of the other vampires have any problem taking their directions from her. I think that the only one that it would've been hard for was Stan. However, since he perished in the bombing, it's not something to worry about now."

"I never did like Stan. He always frightened me. But, I'm sorry that his existence was ended that way. No one deserves that."

"Yes, well, what's done is done. Now, I want for you to lean your back into my chest, and I will offer you my wrist." He helped me move into position, and after making sure that I was comfortable, bit into his wrist, and held it to my mouth. This was not the first time I'd had to ingest vampire blood in order to heal with an injury. On one of my visits to Dallas, I had been chopping some vegetables for a salad, and Isabel came up suddenly behind me startling me, and I sliced my hand very badly. Isabel insisted that I take a small amount of blood to heal the cut so I wouldn't need stitches. She told me that she wouldn't tell Godric, and I agreed to keep it a secret as well. I didn't know it at the time, but, I'm now sure that the next time he saw me, he known. I'm sure he could smell Isabel's blood in me. After I drank for a few moments, I could feel the cuts on my body begin to heal. It was an interesting, tingly sort of feeling. When I felt my ribs snap back together, it startled me and I bolted upright, loosing my grip on his wrist.

"Are you alright? Was it the ribs," he asked?

"Yes, yes it was. I'm fine thanks. I just wasn't expecting it." He put his arm on my shoulder, and guided me back into his chest. I noticed that his wrist had already healed, and because he made no move to bite again, I assumed we were done. I turned my head to rest my ear on his chest, and curved my body into his. Never in my life had I felt safer than in that moment.

"Stay til I'm asleep?"

"Of course, beloved. Of course." And with that, he pulled the blankets up over me, leaned in and pressed a kiss to the forehead, and began stroking my hair until I fell into a relaxing sleep.

SPOV

As I followed Eric down the hallway, I couldn't help but notice that Lilliana was right, Eric DID have quite the nice butt. He turned and opened a bedroom door, and gestured for me to enter. I gasped when I took in the beautiful room before me. The carpet was black, and the walls had been painted a deep charcoal gray. All of the furniture in the room was either bright white, or blood red.

"This is the bathroom," Eric said pointing to a door nestled against the corner, "there are fresh towels, and a few spare toiletries in the cabinet. Please feel free to use anything that you need." He turned and looked at me, after a moment of hesitation said, "Sookie. I am truly grateful that you went to check on Ana today, and that you were able to get her help in time to save her. When she came to my office last night, it wasn't a very pleasant conversation, and I don't know what Godric and I would've done if that had turned out to be the last time we spoke with her."

"You care for her very deeply, don't you?"

"Yes, yes I do."

"HA!" This started and surprised him. "When you told me, at the fellowship, that you didn't understand the word love, I knew it was just a bluff!"

He smirked a little and said, "Yes, well, please keep that information to yourself. I'd hate for it to get out and ruin my reputation. Well, if there's nothing else you need, I will leave you to rest. I will make sure that your car is here before you wake tomorrow, and I will leave your keys next to the sink in the kitchen."

"Eric, wait. There's something that we need to discuss." I wasn't quite sure how to begin, so, I decided that the best answer would be the straightest one. "We need to talk about what happened last night, at the theatre."

"Yes, yes we do, Sookie. But not now. You're exhausted and need a good long rest. I hope to see you tomorrow," and with that, he walked towards the door as if he were going to leave.

"Eric, wait a minute, please."

He turned to look at me, and before I lost my nerve, I said, "Will you kiss me goodnight?" I could tell by the look on his face that he was most definitely NOT expecting that. Not that he was disappointed. He walked over to me, put his hands on my cheeks, framing my face, and laid his lips to mine. He slowly nibbled on my lower lip, until mine parted, and he was able to slip his tongue into my mouth. I had only ever kissed Eric like in my dreams, and, I can now say that they did not even BEGIN to do him justice. After another moment had passed, he gently ended the kiss, stroked my cheek with his thumb, said goodnight, and walked out the door, leaving me in silence.