SPOV

Since Eric had drove Sam's car to the farmhouse, and I'd driven myself earlier, Eric and I had to depart in separate vehicles. Neither one of us wanted to be away from the other yet, but, unfortunately there was no way around it. Eric said he needed to meet with Pam for a bit, so he took my car to Hell's Inferno, and I took Sam's back to Hope House. I needed to check my emails and meet with Sam for a few minutes, and then Sam would drop me at the club, and Eric and I would take my car to visit Quinn in the hospital.

I had just sat down at my desk and began opening the pile of mail when there was a knock at the door, and Sam stuck his head in. "Hey, you're back!"

"Yup. Just got here a few minutes ago."

"How are you holding up? No nightmares, anything like that?"

"Oddly, no. I don't know if it's that I'm still in shock, or if I'm just so relieved to be able to stop looking over my shoulder at all times, but, I'm doing fairly well."

"Yeah, well, I'm sure getting laid doesn't hurt, too, right?!?"

"Sam Merlotte! That is absolutely none of your business, and you know it."

"Actually, it will continue to be my business until the day you discontinue being my friend." He smiled brightly, convinced he'd won the argument.

"Fine, you're right. But this conversation is between two friends, not between boss and employee, right?"

"Yup."

"Well, in that case," I stood, walked over to him, and wrapped him in a huge hug, "THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! I can't even begin to tell you how grateful I am that you loaned him your car and sent him to my place."

"I suddenly get the feeling this is more than just a casual relationship, Sookie."

"He told me he loves me. Well, after I told him I love him, of course. Why is it that guys never say it first?" Sam laughed at this.

"Other than the lovey dovey stuff, anything else happen while you guys were there?"

"Now that you mention it, Crystal showed up." I'm sure the look of disgust that crossed his features matched my own. "She still thinks she's going to end up getting money from Gran's estate."

"Honestly, Sookie, I don't know why you don't just hire an estate lawyer to put a rest to all of this. You can't just sit around and wait for her lawyer to find a way to argue her case."

"Ha! You sound just like Eric. In fact, he said he even has a friend that is an estate attorney from New Orleans that he suggests I use."

"Oh yeah, anyone I know?"

"Eric said it was a Mr. Cataliades."

"No Shit?!? Sookie, he's the best. I heard he has like a 3-year wait list for new clients. If Eric has an in with this guy, you should take him up on it." Maybe it was time to start doing something about this. I was beyond ready to stop Crystal from harassing me.

"I'll talk to Eric about it this afternoon. So, since Hoyt is taking on Eric, and Barry's been released, any idea on how long 'til you'll have somebody new for me?"

I could tell by the look on his face that he had something to say, and that he wasn't looking forward to it. "Yeah, um, about that."

He paused for longer that I would've liked.

"Out with it, Sam."

"I spoke with the parole board, and since Hoyt isn't state-certified for violent cases, you have to keep Eric as your case."

"WHAT?!?" I couldn't believe this was happening. The only reason I'd allowed myself to start a relationship with Eric was because I knew I wouldn't be his case worker anymore, and that it wouldn't be construed as impropriety. "How long have you known this, Sam? Because if you knew before you sent him to my place for 4 days, I'm gonna kill you."

"No, no, the parole board gave me their ruling morning. And, because of his 'heroic deed' that saved both you and Quinn from most likely being killed, they've made several concessions that normally wouldn't fly. I promise you, this will all be fine. Let me tell you what they have in mind."

As Sam informed me of the details of the ruling, I felt my anger leave, and joy replaced it. This was even better than I had imagined!

"Well, I think I'm going to quite enjoy this arrangement." He winked at my sentiment, and I stole a look at the clock on my wall. "Oh, shoot, it's already 2pm? We'd better get going. I'm supposed to meet Eric at Hell's Inferno soon so we can go visit Quinn before visiting hours end at 4."

Sam and I made our way out to his car, and he drove me to Hell's Inferno. I was completely ecstatic about telling him about the new arrangement Sam had just informed me of. Because the bar wasn't open until later in the evening, I walked around the back to use the employee entrance, pushing a code into the security at the pad as Eric had shown me last time I was here. As I got closer to the administrative area, I heard Pam and Eric talking in Pam's office. I didn't want to disturb them if they were in a meeting, so, I figured I'd just wait in Eric's office. However, what I heard when I passed by Pam's door stopped me dead in my tracks.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do? Don't you want to at least talk to her about this first, Eric?" came Pam's voice.

"No. She can't know. I'm sure she wouldn't go for it, so, for the time being, I'm going to have to keep this a secret from her."

"Eric, I'll do this for you, but, I really don't think Sookie's going to like it."

"Oh, Pam, I can guarantee you she won't. But, it's too late to turn back now. This all would've gone so much easier if she didn't have so much money…"

I knew right then that this was not a conversation I wanted to hear. I quickly made my way to Eric's office, and decided to sit in the waiting area outside of it, rather than inside. I didn't want to startle him when he got back. I silently replayed what I'd heard in my head. Hadn't I just said yesterday that I wasn't going to be making assumptions anymore, that I would wait to find out the truth before jumping to conclusions? I suddenly found it very difficult for me to do just that. I was so lost in thought, I didn't even hear it when Eric walked up to me.

"Well hello beautiful. How long have you been here?" It had only been a few hours since I'd seen him, but it felt like years.

"Just a few minutes. Sam dropped me off and then had to head to court. If we want to be able to see Quinn today we need to head over to the hospital soon, visiting time is only for another hour.

He said he'd be ready in a jiff, went into his office and signed a couple of forms, and then came out and said he was ready to go. I took the keys to my car from him, and we set out for the hospital. I decided that during our drive would be a good time to discuss his new parole situation.

"Eric, I have some news for you. I spoke with Sam earlier, and he said that because of the nature of the crime you committed, no one else at Hope House is board certified to handle your case. So, I'll still be your case worker." I saw the smile vanish from his features, much like it must've from mine when Sam told me this earlier.

"Okay. And what exactly does that mean for 'us'?"

"Well, in the situation where you were still required to live at Hope House, with me being your case worker, we'd have to put our relationship on hold." I saw rage and disappointment fight for domination of his features.

"However, that's not the case for us." He looked at me with a confused look. "Sam has some pull with the parole board, and they were able to come to an agreement. Because of your heroics in saving the lives of Quinn and I, the parole board has decided to grant you an early release. Starting today, you won't have to live at Hope House anymore. You can stay at your own home, now. And, since at this point my only function as your case worker is to ensure you're still working and that you haven't fled the state, then, our relationship doesn't have to change." I had just parked the car in the hospital parking lot when I said this last part. Eric immediately jumped out of the car, came to my door, opened, and pulled me into his arms.

"This is wonderful, Sookie. I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am about this."

"I know how you feel. I'm pretty damned excited about it, myself."

He took my hand in his, and we walked into the hospital to find Quinn's room. As we were riding the elevator to the correct floor, I mentioned to him that, if the offer still stood, I'd appreciate him giving Mr. Cataliades a call for me and seeing what he could do to help with the Crystal situation. He immediately took his cell phone out of his pocket, and called Pam and asked her to email Mr. Cataliades asking him to call Eric as soon as he had the chance. This phone call reminded me of what I'd heard in Pam's office earlier. I needed to trust him, but, it was difficult right now, unfortunately.

We reached the door that led to Quinn's hospital room, and I knocked softly before sticking my head in. "You awake, sleepy head?" I saw Quinn stir softly in his bed.

"Oh thank God, Sookie, Eric, please come in."

I couldn't quite put my finger on why he was so enthusiastic about it, but before I could spend too much time thinking about it, he added, "The freakin' nurses here just keep coming in like every 15 minutes to check on me. They're driving me nuts."

"Oh, darlin', its cause you're so gorgeous. Haven't you ever noticed that you have a tendency to make people of the female persuasion swoon quite easily?"

"Can it, Stackhouse." I knew Quinn was definitely on the road to mending. He wouldn't have joked this easily with me if he hadn't been feeling better. We sat and talked about his doctor's instructions, and some of the things he'd need to do in order to speed up his recovery time. At about 3:55pm, Quinn, looking absolutely exhausted, asked if I would mind it if he spoke to Eric alone for a moment. I was extremely curious as to why he would want this, but, told him yes, gave him a kiss on the cheek, and went into the hall to wait for Eric. Apparently, eavesdropping was going to be a good buddy of mine, today. I stood next to the closed door, trying to hear through it.

"Listen, man," Quinn began, "for what it's worth, I want to say thank you for saving my life. And, even though I know you have your own reasons for it, for saving Sookie's as well. Even though she and I aren't together anymore, it makes me feel better to see that she has someone who can take care of her. That being said, I need your help. Sam phoned me earlier to say that you guys were on your way, and, he told me about the new parole arrangement. Especially with you guys being away from Hope House on such a regular basis, I need you to continue to guard her properly. The more and more I think about what Compton said in that graveyard, the more positive I am that there is a traitor in our midst. Someone had been feeding Compton information."

When I heard these words, I felt the cold fingers of fear grip themselves back around my heart. Will it ever be over?