Chapter 41: Check Up

David stayed in the freezer holding Candice while she slept until the timer went off and he had to get up to replace the blood bag. He didn't want to change anything with the positive results he'd seen. After changing out the blood bag he looked over at his phone to find that hours had passed. It hadn't seemed like that long since she'd been awake.

Before he put his phone down he heard the knock on the door followed by it opening. He knew Allie had come back to check on Candice and quickly grabbed his pants and slipped them on. He met Allie at the freezer room door with a smile on his face.

"She woke up for a few minutes."

Allie's smile brightened, "That's great. Tell me what happened."

David followed Allie back to the freezer and watched as she inspected the silver marks before checking her IV. "I just changed it."

"That's good. We want to keep her well fed and make sure that every trace of silver is washed from her system. So what happened?"

David looked in and watched her sleeping face smiling. "I was lying with her, holding her telling her I loved her. I talked about so much and then I heard a sound. Then another and her eyes opened. She seemed to have difficulty talking or moving at first. She was only awake for a few minutes," he grinned. "She asked about Kayla right away. I told her Coraline was dead and she was safe but she said she was tired."

"That's to be expected. Her body has been through a lot." Allie gave his upper arm a squeeze, "That is great progress."

"Is there anything else I can do?"

"When she wakes up next time try and see if she can drink some blood. She should be able to stay awake longer each time with fewer naps in between in theory."

"In theory?" He asked.

"Look everyone is different and I've never handled a case like with. With humans when they suffer an ordeal they tend to come around slowly in steps but Candice is a vampire so I don't know if her healing will factor in. Then again that amount of silver stunted her healing for some time so there really is no way to be sure."

David understood. Everyone reacted differently to the same things vampire or human. "Should I try and keep her awake longer?"

"You should try and see what she can handle. If she is up for it you could try getting her out of the freezer and walking around to stretch her muscles."

"That won't hurt her?"

Allie could see the worry in his eyes. "Just trust your instincts. Stay by her side and if you see her struggling too much bring her back."

He nodded solemnly at the idea. He should have trusted his instincts before and this wouldn't be a problem. "Thank you for coming by."

"Of course. Now I'm going to leave you two alone I need to go check on my little patient. You have my cell just call if you have any concerns or questions."

"You're going to see Mick and Beth?"

"Yes, I'll give them the update on her if you'd like."

He nodded, "I'd rather stay with her and not answer a bunch of questions I don't know the answers too."

"I understand. I'll let the others know as well."

Allie left as silently as she had come and David stayed beside the freezer watching Candice. He wanted her to rest as long as she needed but he was also willing her to wake up so he could see her beautiful eyes again, hear her voice, see the life spilling out of her.

Allie had called Josef on the way to check on Kayla to let him know about Candice. Beth opened the door for her to come into their home. They had brought Kayla back to her bedroom where she would be most comfortable.

"Come on in," Beth moved aside for Allie to come in.

As Allie walked past and Beth shut the door she caught David's scent. "You just checked on Candice. How is she?" She'd been worried about her since she found out the extent of the injuries and was able to process it.

Allie grinned, "She woke up briefly. David asked me to let everyone know so he could stay with her."

Beth released a heavy breath, "Thank God. She's awake."

"Well…David said she woke up for a few minutes but then said she was tired and went back to sleep. I expected this don't worry it's a great sign but it will take some time before she is fully herself again."

Beth looked up hearing Mick's voice. He was taking his turn in sitting with Kayla who had been in and out of sleep throughout the day. Allie heard as Kayla woke up and began talking to Mick. "How about I go check on Kayla then after we can talk more."

"Thanks." They head up the stairs and Beth looks over at her, "I know this is completely natural but I still hate seeing her like this. I finally understand how Mick felt when I was still human and got sick. He would say he hated not being able to make it better, that he felt powerless. I get it now."

"I thought I had gotten myself used to seeing people sick working in my field but when it's someone you care about its never easy." They made it to Kayla's room and found Mick sitting on one of her tiny chairs next to the bed rubbing Kayla's back.

After the exam Allie was happy to report her fever was dropping and everything looked like it was clearing up but to keep giving her the medicine she'd given until it was gone to be sure to prevent a relapse. Mick assured her they would.

"Candice woke up for a few minutes." Beth told Mick the news in sub tones. "I was going to talk with Allie some would you mind staying with our girl."

"Of course I'll stay." Beth kissed his lips softly before leaning down to kiss Kayla's forehead which she observed was cooling off.

Beth lead the way out of the room and back down the stairs to the living room. "I know you were there and treated her first. What happened exactly? I heard she was covered in liquid silver but I'm still kinda confused."

Allie told Beth everything she knew. How the silver appeared to have been on less than an hour and that it appears that Ryan had tried to wipe as much off of her as possible burning himself in the process. She went on to tell Beth how they had cleaned her off and then when she turned her attention to Ryan that's when he managed to mumble out the warning that it had been a trap.

"I knew he had his issues but this whole mess never seemed like him. Besides he was in love with Candice he wouldn't torture her."

"Well I treated Ryan as well and he has someone making sure he stays fed. Josef didn't unstake him though."

Beth nodded, "I think that might be best for now. David has a lot to work through and the only one who will be able to talk any reason into him will be Candice."

Allie looked at the clock then back to Beth. "I don't mean to leave so soon but I have plans with my husband."

Beth grinned and walked Allie to the door, "Get out of here and go see him. Thank you again for all of your help."

To Be Continued…

Evilous