SAVE CRISTOF!…that was my battle cry…
enjoy.
"Pill time, now that you've digested some." Beth said cheerfully, bringing a cup with her as she entered his room.
Cristof didn't move. He was still spread out on the floor, having previously dragged all the pillows and blankets down around him.
"Sit up please." Beth stopped near his feet.
"No." he said, not moving. He was refusing to even open his eyes. "No. No. And no. Did I mention no?"
"Sit up Cristof." she said more firmly.
"You go away." Cristof said, still not using her name.
"Don't be difficult. We agreed remember? Even waited so you could keep the food down," she said, trying to reassure him.
"No." he said simply. "No, no, and no. Only the foolhardy open the door for the reaper. I don't have much choice in the matter. Seems to be a swinging door."
"Sit up and take your pills or I'm going to get a syringe and take care of it myself." she stated simply as if she were discussing a shopping trip.
"No!" he said loudly, his arms raising to cover his face as if he was about to be struck.
"Fine." she frowned slightly, turning to walk out of the room. She was back within moments, with the promised syringe which she was filling with liquid from a small clear vile.
"Witch." he mumbled softly. "Witch's follow me. It's a constant. This isn't what I saw yet unless the seeing is changing. I can't see."
"You're not supposed to see anything but what your eyes translate, it's not natural. That's what the medicine is for." she mused, setting the glass bottle on the dresser and tapping out air bottles from the syringe.
"Says the one being blinded." Cristof continued.
"In the arm it is." she looked at him, "If you struggle, I will tie you down."
"You'd would think someone so blind would be good at listening but I guess in this case they go hand in hand. I should have expected it." he muttered softly as if her words didn't even register.
She knelt at his side, placing the body of the syringe between her teeth as she grabbed his arm and pushed back his sleeve.
"Let go!" Cristof yelled loudly. He wasn't able to move well but he thrashed as much as he was able, too weak to pull his arm from her hold. "No! No more!"
"Hush." she said as she pulled the syringe from between her teeth.
Cristof's eyes stayed on the needle and continued trying to free his arm but he was still far to exhausted. "Not needles!" he yelled. "I don't like needles!"
Beth cringed at the volume of the noise, "Shut up and stop moving before you make me hurt you."
Outside the house, at just about this time, Adia stood at the base of the steps. She debated how she could approach this house. It wasn't like with Ezra where she could have an obvious excuse; this woman might not even know of Cristof let alone have him. She stared indecisively up at the foreboding structure until she heard Cristof's voice. His hollering really. It startled her and then confused her until she shook it off.
She tried the door, which wasn't open before glancing around the dark neighborhood and moving across the porch to a window. It slid open easily, making her chuckle. She didn't want to break anything. Just as she ducked inside she heard him yelling a second time.
'Needles' was all she could pick out but that was enough to make her sprint. She knew him well and she knew he didn't yell for anything. She also knew how terrified he was of needles so she could imagine that would be enough. But this was a highly inappropriate time for him to have to worry about them, which concerned her.
"Let go! Let go! Let go!" Cristof yelled, his voice breaking as he continued. It took time for doctors to coax him into getting an injection and that was only when several others were around to distract him like a child. It was too much for Beth alone.
"Stop moving or I'm really gonna end up hurting you!" Beth huffed, trying to hold his arm still. He might not have been able to pull away but she couldn't get him to stay still enough either. She needed both and to keep him still and that made it hard to actually hold the syringe.
"You are hurting me!" Cristof said loudly. "No more!"
"The fuck do you think you're doing!" Adia nearly yelled as she stood in the doorway.
Beth whipped her head around and glared. "Asks the one who's obviously broken into a house? Who the hell do you think you are?" She held tighter onto Cristof who seemed to be so focused on the needle that he was still oblivious to Adia. "Could very well call the cops."
"Go ahead. And I'm sure all your neighbors will be happy to be witnesses to the screaming that man was doing while you were trying to ILLEAGALLY medicate him." Adia glowered back, "Let him go."
"It's not illegal." Beth bluffed like a professional. "Withdrawal was killing him. I think they'd be more concerned with you! You need to get the hell out."
"Adia?" Cristof muttered, voice horse.
"I can take one look at the way you're trying to hold him and tell you know shit about what you're doing. Let him go and put the fucking needle down or I'll call the cops myself and turn you in. Don't try to bullshit me." Adia scoffed. She wished she could get closer to Cristof but it would be dangerous and stupid with the woman still holding a syringe full of medication she couldn't identify.
"Yeah, explain to the cops that you broke into a house. That'll go over real well." Beth scoffed, pulling Cristof's arm up and making him whimper when she moved the needle closer to his arm. She didn't need him conscious at the moment. It would only cause more trouble.
"Bitch you just don't know when to say when." Adia grabbed the first thing her hand landed on which happened to be a book and threw it hard at the woman, hitting her in the back of the head. She didn't waste time closing the gap between them and grabbing the hand that held the syringe and taking it from her. She squirted the contents onto the carpet glaring at Beth. "Now, wanna try letting go of him like I asked last time?"
Beth glared, standing up slowly. It didn't matter much if she wasn't holding Cristof down; he didn't have the strength to move anyway. "This isn't any of your damn business."
"I just made it my damn business," Adia set her hands on her hips, "Go call the cops, make my freaking day!"
"Eager to go to jail are you?" Beth frowned.
"Adia." Cristof muttered softly, eyes closed as he relaxed in his curled up ball.
"Eager to put you there. I'm from his hospital. I recognized his screaming. Your neighbors will attest to it." Adia stared her down, "My prints may be on that needle but so are yours and they're on the bottle you got that shit out of. This is on you and you know it. So call them. I am begging you."
Beth frowned. "Then you wanna end up like him. Fine by me." She walked towards her. "Not gonna help him now anyway."
"End up like him? You're an idiot. Do you hear the shit you just said? Never mind. I'm taking him, you know that right?" Adia moved toward Cristof finally.
"I don't think so." Beth said, staying between them. "He's not going anywhere."
"Want me to knock your teeth down your throat?" Adia grabbed a fist full of the front of her shirt and shoved her to the side; "I deal with men like him every day without the slightest issue. Men four times his size with one person to help me and you think you're going to be an obstacle?"
"Going to have to be aren't I." Beth glared, getting back to her feet. She wished she had another syringe handy but she'd have to find something else.
Adia ignored her for a moment, looking to Cristof sympathetically. She wanted to leave with him quickly but Beth really would get in her way.
"Well you can try." Adia looked back at her, "But you'll fail. Can you get up Cristof?"
"No." Cristof muttered. "Not leaving when the snake still desires a bounty. Better the bigger bounty when it means less to me."
Beth rolled her eyes at his babbling and focused on Adia. "He's not going anywhere."
"Sweets you're coming with me. I'm not leaving you here. Try to stand for me?" Adia asked him as she glanced around the room.
"I can't." Cristof said softly. "The smaller bounty means more to me."
"See? He doesn't wanna go, but you should." Beth stared.
"We'll work on that later sweets, work on this first. C'mon, I can't leave you like this and I don't wanna be lookin` at this witch for any longer than I gotta. Just try for me." Adia reasoned, grinning slightly when her eyes landed on a particular hole in the knobs on the closet doors. They weren't the most sophisticated locks but they'd hold till she could brace something against the door.
Cristof smiled widely. "Yes. Witch." he said as if they were the only part her heard.
"Yeah." Adia chuckled, "So up you go right?"
"Adia." Cristof sighed softly, taking his time to push himself up on wobbly arms.
"It's a waste of time. He's not going anywhere." Beth said again.
Adia looked to Cristof and her heart practically stung. "Lay back, I'll get you in a second." she said softly, "Need to put her on the damn receiving end of whatever that was doing to you. See how she feels."
"I can do it." Cristof said, voice barely over a whisper as he tried to pull himself up at least to his knees.
"You just cause him more pain." Beth pointed out.
"I.. You did that to him!" Adia said, outraged. Grabbing her ruthlessly by her hair this time, she dragged the woman across the distance to the closet before opening the door and shoving her inside. It wasn't exactly a roomy fit and she fell back over boxes that were on the floor, narrowly missing the metal clothing bar with her head as she tugged a few garments down with her. "Better pull in your legs." Adia snapped in warning before slamming the door closed, disregarding the thud and cry of pain that said Beth hadn't had time to do so and it likely collided wit her knee or worse, her shin.
Adia snatched down the key that was clearly visible on the top ledge of the doorframe and locked the closet promptly. It was meant to keep out nosey guests and children but it worked well for Adia's purpose too. She decided on a classic to block the door, the dresser, taking a few moments to maneuver it into place. When she finally stopped and sighed, ignoring the hollering Beth was doing, she looked promptly to Cristof.
He had managed to sit himself up properly but he almost looked winded from the effort. "Adia always comes when I'm ill." he mused weakly.
"I'm awesome like that." Adia offered him a smile. She walked over, taking the opportunity to kneel next to him and touch the side of his head, "Ding dong...the witch is dead, or, almost."
"Witch. Reaper. Liar. Seducer. Snake." Cristof rambled off quickly. "Bounty hunter that doesn't know the things I know."
Adia chuckled, "I missed you, you know."
"I missed Adia." he said softly, smiling weakly.
"C'mon you. Arm over my shoulders." she moved so she was beside him.
"I need shoes..." he muttered. "Cold?"
"Oh. Damn, you're right. Shoes, and cloths and a coat and gloves." Adia stood quickly, "Where are they?"
He pulled the blanket back to peek under the bed and pull out shoes. "There's gray, gray, gray bag in the bathroom with cloths I can wear. Coat was down stairs."
"Gray, gray, gray, got ya." she said quickly, hurrying out, calling back as she went, "Tooth brush?"
"Bag. Everything's back in the bag. House not mine. Bag is mine. Bag is a gift. Mine." Cristof said, taking his time putting his shoes on with shaking hands.
"Okay." was her response. She reappeared with the large duffel bag slung over her shoulders; "We'll get your coat when we're down stairs"
"Okay." he mumbled, still fumbling with his laces. He was nearly glaring at his tired, shaking fingers.
"Let me." she said softly, crouching down near his feet so she could reach them.
His breathing was shallow and he could have easily had a fever. "I'm sorry, Adia."
"Why are you sorry, she is insane and not in a good way." Adia said, frowning slightly as she tied his shoes quickly.
He wiped at the tears threatening to fall down his face. "I don't feel good."
"I know sweetie," she said softly, looking up at him once she'd finished and reaching to cup her hand against his cheek, "I know, I don't know what she was giving you but I'll make sure you're okay, okay?"
Cristof reached out for her slowly, pressing his forehead into her shoulder as he nodded. It had been a long time since he had wanted contact with someone. He didn't like Beth to touch him and he hadn't seen Ezra in days.
Adia slid closer, wrapping her arms around him as she sighed quietly. It was a horrible situation she had to figure out how to deal with and more and more she was distrusting Erickson. In that moment, hugging Cristof, she spared a thought to wonder if he was actually safe at the hospital with a man who was willing to let a drug addict go just to get him back.
"Come on sweets, you can rest in the car. I don't think its safe for us to stay here, she's not screaming anymore," Adia said softly.
He reached up and touched her face lightly, lightly because he taught himself to be gentle so others wouldn't be intimidated. "People keep secretes from Adia and expect things in return. The bounty on my life. She," he pointed to the closet, "And doctors aren't so different."
"I'm not sure what all of that means but, I think were starting to agree on that last bit." she smiled softly.
"Help up?" he asked, giving her a very child like look.
"Certainly was my plan." she smiled softly, pulling away from the hug to move beside him, "Arm over my shoulders."
He did as he was told, doing his best to help her by pushing himself up. "Okay."
It was a bit of a struggle but Adia lifted him to his feet then paused so they both could catch their breath.
"Rooms shouldn't move on their own." Cristof said as if it were a new observation. It took some time but the two of them finally got into a rhythm to get through the house.
Adia had to lean him on the back of the sofa to get and put on his coat and then they were gone. She settled him in the passenger seat of her jeep, reclining the seat enough for him to be able to rest, and started the half-hour drive back to her house.
Thanks for reading!
Sadistprincess- Yeah, words for Beth can get pretty colorful, but my opinion tends to side with Cris' opinion. You'll see. A little more on Adia revealed here but I love your guessing, I hope you continue with it. ^_^
Cristof: Ms. Writer. The voices seems to be getting married. Are we invited.
….dunno Cris, I'll have to walk to Hatter and Chessie.
Na'viWolf- thanks for reading ^_^