This isn't really a chapter. It's just a little in-between something to assure you that I am still working on this story. A tricky part of the plot, lack of inspiration, and real-life busy-ness have all contributed to the slow going. Sorry for that, and thanks as always for your encouragement.

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Eric was still standing outside the hospital long after Bill had disappeared into the parking lot. He crossed his arms and leaned back against a fluted column, frowning straight ahead; several people going into the hospital gave him strange looks, but he ignored them. Sophie-Anne would be expecting him. Somehow, though, he couldn't bring himself to move. There was still a stabbing pain in his chest, and it seemed to be getting stronger instead of weaker. Then he smelled Sookie's unmistakable scent, and he knew why the pain hadn't subsided. In a blur of speed, he hid himself as she emerged from the hospital. Her bare feet looked white and small against the concrete.

A beggar approached her, but she rebuffed him quietly before shouting after him, "I have nothing!" Her mouth twisted. "See," she added in a dead tone, "I never had anything to start with."

Eric closed his eyes against the almost physical pain that slammed into him. If he still breathed, it would have knocked the air out of him. When he opened his eyes again, Sookie had begun walking down the street. Surely she didn't intend to walk all the way back to where she was staying, alone, vulnerable, injured, and barefooted in the dark? As he followed her down block after block, he conceded that she was doing just that. Leaving her now was not an option. He turned off his cell phone, which had begun vibrating in his pocket.

The walk was uneventful apart from a group of drunkards who tried to grab her outside a seedy-looking bar. Sookie screamed, wrenched herself free of the man who had taken her arm, and slammed him against the building. Though she couldn't see him, Eric smiled at her in the darkness. He thought of going after the men, but their interest in Sookie seemed to have died completely as they shook their heads and staggered away from her.

She walked on for a short time and caught her toe on a bit of raised sidewalk, which sent her sprawling to the ground. Even from his distance, Eric could smell the blood that oozed up from her knee and slid down her shin.

If he hadn't thought that the sight of him would give her even more pain, he would have scooped her up outside the hospital and carried her wherever she needed to go. It pained him enough to see her like this and be unable to help her, but he could shoulder it; in her state, she wouldn't be able to bear any more. He followed her until she reached a dark building, and he leaned against a light pole, waiting, until he saw a light flicker on upstairs. Then he left her.

If Sophie-Anne was annoyed at his ignoring her calls, she gave no sign of it. "There you are," she said easily when he was shown in to her. She gestured to a chair near her, and he took it. "Your human was attacked by a newly-made vampire named Jake Purifoy. He was already a Were before he was turned. The attack was unintentional, and Jake has been taken into our custody for safe-keeping and training. You will not harm him."

"As you say," Eric nodded.

"Was Sookie seriously injured?"

"Not by Purifoy," he said carefully. "But she did learn of Bill's betrayal. I'd guess that she was hurt more by that."

The young queen waved her hand in dismissal. "Oh, he didn't betray her, Eric. He sought her out on my orders, of course, but surely you can tell as well as I can that he genuinely cares for her."

"I have no opinion about that."

"You are one of the worst liars I have ever known. And thanks to my position, I have known many. You are like the humans' George Washington, yes?" She laughed. "You cannot tell a lie."

He smiled in spite of himself. "I don't think that's what they mean, but you're quite right all the same."

"I want you to stay here in the city for another few nights," she told him. "You will help with Jake Purifoy."

Under any other circumstances, he would have risked argument; as it was, however, the queen had (knowingly? intentionally?) provided him with an excuse to stay in New Orleans, where he could remain close to Sookie in case she needed him.