Dead and Dating
Disclaimer: I don't own the Southern Vampires. Sole copyright belongs to Charlaine Harris. I'm poor, please don't sue.
Rating: M
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When I opened my eyes I seen lights rushing by above me. I tried to look around but I couldn't turn my head. I started whimpering. I heard Eric's voice above me. But it was just a muffled sound. I couldn't even make out the words. I was scared. I tried to move but I couldn't. I felt myself being lifted onto another surface. There were lots of doctors hovering over me. I tried to scream, to tell them I was still awake. One got closer and put a little mask over my face. I felt sleepy, so I closed my eyes.
Suddenly I was pacing back in forth in front of a large window. I looked down and could see myself laying on a table surrounded by doctors. I tried to lift my arms to bang on the window, but I couldn't. My arms wouldn't work. It was like I was in a different body. Then I caught a glimpse of that body in the glass. My mind, was in Eric's body. But I hadn't evicted his mind. I could hear his thoughts. It was like I was floating along, just there for the ride. Our bond must have been stronger than I knew. I tried to relax, determined to find the meaning in all this. Just as I was calming my mind, Eric sat down in a chair. I felt his hands come up to cradle his head. When he finally pulled them away his hands were bloody...he'd been crying.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small black box like the one my key ring was in. He gripped it tightly then slowly opened it. If I had been in my own body I would have gasped. Inside was the most beautiful ring I'd ever seen. It looked like platinum. Diamonds were channel set all the way around the band, and on top was a beautiful round solitaire. He picked it up and held it in his hands, slipping it onto the tip of his little finger and just staring at it. He was thinking that he'd never get the chance to see me wear it. Or to see the look on my face when he knelt down and asked me to marry him. Eric imagined how beautiful I'd look on my wedding day. He had been carrying the ring in his pocket for 4 weeks. He kept it close to him always, so if the time was right he could pop the question. He sighed, took it off his finger, and put it back in the box. He slid the box into his pocket and stood up again. Suddenly there was loud beeping and people down on the floor started moving faster. I heard someone yell, "We're losing her!" Then before I knew it, everything was black again.
~*~
The next time I opened my eyes I was in a hospital bed. I turned my head to the side and seen Eric sitting in a chair. He was crying. I tried to replay everything that had happened in my mind. I thought I had been in Eric's body. It must have just been a dream induced by the sedatives they had given me. I decided it was best not to tell Eric. Just on the off chance it wasn't really a dream. Everything was still so fresh in my mind, I still remembered exactly what the engagement ring looked like. I smiled to myself.
"Er..." Before I could get the rest out he was by my side. He held a cup of water with a straw up to my lips and I sipped. The simple movement hurt. But at least I appeared to be alive. I tried to talk again. But before anything came out he put a finger to my lips.
"Sookie, I thought you were gone. When you smiled at me, I thought that was the last time I'd ever see you smile."
"Er..." He put his finger to my lips again.
"Please, let me talk." His eyes were pleading so I nodded the best that I could. He sat next to me on the bed and held my hand.
"The King wanted to take you. I was about to go after him, but he attacked first. You took a stake that was meant for me." I reached up and touched the tender spot on my ribs, it was covered in bandages and hurt like hell. Eric took my hand back in his and brought them to his lips. He pressed his mouth against the back of my hand and stayed like that for a while. It seemed he didn't want to let go. When he finally did he held my hands in his lap.
"When I seen you go down, I went into a fit of rage. I killed him Sookie. I'm not sure what this means for me. But I killed him." He let out a deep sigh then started to talk again.
"You put my hand over your heart, that nearly undid me. I called 911. I was too scared to fly or drive you to the hospital myself. You have some broken ribs and he almost punctured your lung. The scar won't be pretty. But you are alive. You were in surgery for hours. Once you came out of surgery it was almost dawn. I found a place to sleep during the day near here." I raised my hand and touched Eric's face. I tried to brush away the tears. I held up my hand and made a writing motion, so he would give me a pen and paper. He searched around for a few minutes before finding one. There was only one thing I could write.
I love you!
He smiled through the tears he had been crying.
"Sookie, I love you too. You mean everything to me. I would give up everything for you." Tears were streaming down my face. I loved this man. When I thought I was dying, it was him that I thought of. I wasn't scared to die, I was scared to leave him.
I wrote some more down on the piece of paper.
You are my world, Eric Northman.
I held it up to show him. He read it slowly then leaned over to kiss me. He sat back up and brushed my hair out of my face. I knew I must look an absolute mess.
Mirror?
I scribbled down quickly. He chuckled.
"I don't think you want to look right now. But believe me when I tell you, you are beautiful."
I'm sleepy.
I pointed to the word sleepy and yawned, then I patted the bed next to me and scooted over a bit. He came up beside me and stretched out, being very careful not to bump into my side. I closed my eyes, and once again, I passed out for the night.
~*~
When I woke up it was almost 7pm. I slept over 12 hours again. Eric was sitting next to me reading a book. He looked up when he heard me stir. He looked much better, he looked like he had slept, and changed into nice clothes. My own hand went up to my hair. But I didn't have to worry. Eric had put it up into a pony-tail while I slept.
"Eric..", I said, just testing my voice. It seemed to be back.
"When can I get out of here?"
He laughed. "I'm taking you home tonight. I was just waiting for you to wake up. I sat up in my bed and looked around. There were flowers everywhere. Noticing that I was looking at the arrangements, Eric grabbed a stack of cards and handed them to me.
"These are from your friends."
I looked through the notes. I had one from Pam and everyone at Fangtasia. It simply said, Glad you didn't die. I laughed a little at that one. There was one from Tara, Amelia, JB, Alcide, Calvin Norris, and Sam. Sam's card was nice. Inside he had written, Enjoy your 2 week vacation. You'll need it to recover. Don't worry about the bar, I have it under control. I smiled and showed it to Eric. He nodded as if he knew.
"I talked to Sam. He came to visit you and suggested some time off. I agreed that it might be a good idea for you to rest for a while."
"Eric, when I thought I was going to die..." I choked up and started crying.
"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."
"No, I do. It's just that. I wasn't scared. I wasn't afraid to die. The only thing I was scared of, was not spending any more time with you. Like our love would be cut short."
"Sookie, You scared me. When you were in the operating room, I was so worried that you weren't going to make it..." He let his voice trail off. Instead of continuing to speak he stood up and came over to me. He bent his face down and kissed me gently on the lips. He ran his hands over my face and down my shoulders, like he was trying to convince himself that I really was alive.
"Eric, can you help me get dressed?"
"Of course." He helped me stand up, which hurt, but I was tough. He helped me out of the hospital gown and into a pair of sweat pants and a t-shirt that he had brought to the hospital for me.
"I guess I'm not going to win any beauty pageants look like this." I tried to laugh at myself, but all I wanted to do was cry.
"You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Even in sweat pants and a t-shirt, you are a vision of beauty." He gathered up the rest of my belongings, and before I could protest, he picked me up under my knees and by my back.
"Come on babe, I'm taking you home." He kissed my temple and started walking towards the administration desk.
~*~
By the time we checked out of the hospital and got to Eric's house it was 9pm. I felt disgustingly gross. All I wanted was to take a bath, brush my teeth, and snuggle up with my viking. Eric had carried me into the house then went back out to the car for my overnight bag. When he came back in he dropped the bag and picked me back up.
"Would you like a bath, lover?"
He must have been reading my mind. I laid my head on his chest and nodded. I let him carry me upstairs to his bathroom. As soon as he sat me down I grabbed the toothbrush that I had left there. I found my toothpaste and immediately went to work on my teeth. Once I was done I felt a little better. While I was brushing my teeth Eric had started running the bath water for me. I turned around and he was in the midst of stripping down. Even being as hurt as I was, I could feel my lower abdomen warming.
"Eric.."
"Don't worry love. We aren't doing anything tonight. I'm just going to bath you, and hold you."
That sounded wonderful. Once he was done undressing himself he came over to me and lifted my shirt over my head. Next he unclasped my bra then removed my sweat pants and underwear. It felt normal, until I realized the huge bandage on my side.
"Can I get this wet?"
"Here let me take care of that." He pulled the bandage off to reveal stitches. He bit down on his finger and dabbed it over the cuts. "This should make it heal faster." I noticed he had brought a little bag upstairs with him. He reached in and pulled out what looked like a clear band aid. He took it out of the package and very gently placed it over my stitches.
"Here, water tight, now you can get a bath." I smiled and made my way towards the large whirlpool tub. Eric was having none of that. He picked me up and gently placed me in the water, then climbed in with me. For a second I just leaned back against him, feeling the jets massage my sore body. I didn't even want to move. I had been through so much, I just wanted a few moments of peace. Eric must have felt that through our bond. He leaned back in the tub and slid me closer to him. My back was against his chest and his arms around me. I reached up and held on to his hands. I leaned my head back against his shoulder and let out a soft sigh.
"It's okay, I have you. Just relax." He leaned down to kiss my forehead and then the tip of my nose. I laughed a little and squeezed his hands tighter.
"How about I bath you, and then get you into a clean nightgown and off to bed."
"That would be wonderful."
Eric reached over to a small soap dish and lathered up his hands. His fingers worked magic all over my back and arms. Then he turned me around and made sure to get my neck and chest. When he got to my breasts I was almost positive he was going to do something sexual but he didn't. He took them in his hands and cleaned them just like the rest of me. He slid down my stomach than had me lift my legs to him. He washed one, and then the other, then my most intimate places. He managed all this, without once making it sexual. For that I was definitely grateful.
"Can you wash my hair too?"
"Of course lover, let me drain this water first."
He pulled the plug on the tub and got out for a minute. He thoroughly dried himself, but stayed nude. Once he was done he ran downstairs and came back up with a large glass. By that point I was shivering so he turned the water back on to refill the tub. This time instead of getting in with me he knelt by the edge. While the tub was filling he sat the glass down and gave me a wonderful massage. I groaned when his fingers hit just the right spot. I was absolutely in heaven. Once the tub was full he picked up the glass and filled it with water, playfully dumping it on my head to get my hair wet. I sputtered through the water that made it's way down my face.
"Very funny Eric." He laughed and kissed my lips.
"I know."
He finished washing my hair without incident. When he was done he drained the water again and got me out of the tub. He grabbed a large white fluffy towel and began drying me off. Once he was done he picked up a soft pink robe that was hanging on the door. I never noticed it before.
"I hope you don't mind. I bought this for you. I know you don't like feeling like a kept woman. But I thought this might be nice." I smiled and slid into the robe he was holding open for me. He reached around my waist and tied it in the middle. Then he grabbed a much larger white robe and wrapped it around himself.
"Come, lets go sit by the fire." We headed downstairs. He sat me down on the soft fur rug in front of the fire, then he went over to my overnight bag and grabbed my hairbrush and a hair tie.
"May I?", He asked pointing the brush at my hair.
"Of course."
He sat down behind me and started gently brushing my hair. For the second time that night, I was in heaven. We didn't even need words right then. I was his, and he was mine. The love through our bond was so strong that I felt tears well up in my eyes. When he was done brushing my hair he put it in one simple braid and twisted my hair tie around the end. I reached back and felt the braid.
"I didn't know you could braid hair." That got a chuckle out of him. "I can do many things Sookie, I have had a thousand years to learn." It was my turn to laugh. It hurt to laugh, but it also made me feel warm inside. I looked up at a clock. It was only 11:30pm. I smiled at the thought that I still had all night with my viking. I started to lean back so I could lay down on the soft fur rug. Before my back even touched the floor Eric had his hand on it.
"Wait a second, lover."
He went into a closet and proceeded to pull out several pillows. He came back over to me and arranged them on the floor like a bed and gently laid me on top of them.
"Eric, you know what I was thinking?"
"What is that?"
"I was staked twice in the same night." I let out a giggle and touched my shoulder where I had been staked the first time. It was pretty much healed over. Thankfully Eric had tended to it before we went back to my house to retrieve my things.
"I know, Lover. I'm sorry I couldn't save you." He fell forward and put his head in his hands. "What good am I if I can't keep you safe?"
I reached up and pulled his hands from his face, holding onto them tightly.
"Eric, I put myself in front of that stake because I love you. Nothing you could have done would have stopped that. Now, please come lay down next to me and hold me."
Eric crawled on top of the pillows with me and wrapped his arms around me. I turned and nuzzled my head against his chest. "I promise I'll try to be a little less reckless when it comes to stakes."
He laughed and I felt it rumble through his chest. "I promise I'll stop putting you in situations where you are facing the pointy end of one."
Eric reached down and brush his hands over my cheek. "Try to sleep for a little while. I love you."
"I love you too."
And with that, I was asleep again.
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I managed to squeek out another chapter before I left for a few days with the in-laws. It is doubtful that I will get another chapter done before the 1st of December. But I do promise that as soon as I get home another one will be on it's way. Thank you again to everyone who has sent me reviews. I truly do appreciate all the compliments!