The noise of the party died down.
Luna was sure the crowd is already far behind them.
That's when the uneasiness started to sneak its way in.
Luna's awareness to the doctor's proximity became unbearable.
She removed her face from his neck.
"Doctor you can put me down now. I can walk from here"
Hannibal ignored her and kept walking.
He found the request absurd; the room was just a few meters away.
Luna wiggled her way out of his arms; Hannibal gave up, and let her down slowly.
Luna placed a hand on the wall, to balance and compensate for her injured foot.
She didn't know where they were headed so she waited for him to lead the way.
Hannibal on the other hand thought he had to assist her from behind, so he waited for her to start walking.
"Where are we going doctor?" Luna cut through the awkward silence.
Hannibal smiled; Luna just lost the waiting game for breaking word first.
He offered his arm; Luna took it and followed his lead.
They walked slowly, pacing to avoid aggravating her injury.
Hannibal opened a door "This is my room" he offered.
He led Luna and sat her on the Ottoman at the end of his bed… putting a bolster behind her for comfort.
I will touch your ankle now… Luna nodded.
Hannibal gently pressed below the bony protrusion on the inside of Luna's ankle … does this hurt?
"A little…"
How about this, Hannibal pressed the protrusion outside of Luna's ankle and her eyes widened.
"Can you rate the pain from 1-10?"
"It's a six"
"Is it tolerable?"
"Yes"
"It's not swollen and you're still able to walk, I don't see any reason for us to worry. I will get an ice pack, stay here and keep it immobilized"
She nodded.
She was now alone with her thoughts.
There's something eerie about this room. she thought to herself.
Hannibal comes in with his kit and an Ice wrap
Beguiling and Baffling, that's how her thoughts describe the scene.
The doctor was wrapping her ankle with the ice pack; she has to keep it on for 15 minutes.
He checked her wrist while waiting.
Luna held her breath as he unrolled the handkerchief he used on her wrist.
Dried blood made the handkerchief stick to the cut.
He used warm water to wet the bandage and make its removal easier.
After the wound was clean, Hannibal ran his fingers around it, the sensation sent shivers down Luna's spine.
Her senses were rattled awake. Hannibal noticed it "Still responsive, that's good".
"The wound is clotting properly; I will smear it with scar ointment later, we wouldn't want this to mark now do we?" Hannibal said smiling.
Luna's head turned to her right, avoiding eye to eye contact.
Why does it feel so wrong to look at him, then her eyes adjusted to the room.
Her wounded hand grabbed onto Hannibal's sleeve, her face paled in fear.
He followed the direction she was looking at "Does the Armor scare you?"
Luna nodded. "before I knew it was an armor yes… but now it doesn't".
Another smile creased Hannibal's lips.
"Good! Let's proceed to bandaging your ankle then"
The party was over, Alana and Will started to clean up.
"Where's Luna?"Alana asked.
"Dr. Lecter took her upstairs; her ankle was acting up"
"Let's go get her, its late…"
They opened the door to find Luna on the bed and Hannibal asleep on a chair by the fireplace.
Luna was playing with the bandages on her wrist.
"Luna… it's time to go home" Alana whispered.
"Shhhh" Luna motioned them to keep it down.
"She's not allowed to move" Hannibal said as he sat up from the chair.
Will and Alana apologized for waking him.
"It's alright, I wasn't really asleep anyway. I was just resting my eyes"
"Thank you again for today Hannibal" Will slyly acknowledged his efforts.
Hannibal stood up and smiled at Will "It was nothing. I am glad to be of service"
"We should get going now" Alana stated.
"You should stay; I have guest rooms you can use." He continued while elevating Luna's ankle on a pillow.
"I wish we could, Alana and I both have class tomorrow" Will explained
"I see, well you can leave Luna with me"
"Oh no doctor, I can go home, I wouldn't want to impose" the raise in Luna's tone gave out her level of anxiety.
"Now Luna, it's not nice to disobey your doctor" Hannibal said; Luna lost all objections in her head.
It felt like he was warning her about the trouble that she's already in for misbehaving.
"I will pick you up tomorrow, how about that?" Alana offered.
"I'm not sure she'll be better tomorrow" Hannibal offered his observation.
I need to go home; her mind yelled.
Next thing she knew Will was already beside her.
"I want to go home" Luna whispered in Will's ear.
"I know" he answers.
"But you can't" he said as he touched her bandaged wrist. "I'm sure you know why".
Luna nodded in acceptance. "Look I will come by your house tomorrow and get you some clothes.
Then we will have lunch as usual. Agree?" somehow Luna felt better.
"We'll see both of you tomorrow then" Hannibal said. They all smiled.
"I will see you both out, Luna stay here and keep your foot elevated."
Luna's mind refused to quiet down.
She wasn't ready to see the doctor again; there's even a part of her yelling she's better off disconnected from him.
Her mind is anticipating his questions, preparing answers…
Thinking of things to tell to him; things they can talk about to mask awkwardness.
Then she hears her phone ringing; where is it anyway?
It sound's like it's somewhere towards her front.
The doctor probably placed it on the table by the fireplace while he was fixing her on the ottoman.
Who could be calling? How can she answer it when she's not allowed to move… Let it go to voicemail she thought.
The door opens. She turns to her left Hannibal came in carrying a bed tray.
"Here's dinner; Will and Alana told me that while they were cleaning up they noticed you didn't touch your food. They reminded me to feed you"
He placed it on the bed."I already cut the meat into pieces so you won't need a knife"
Luna wasn't sure if he was being considerate or tartish.
She decided it's the first as the latter would be rude; and rudeness is not a usual thing with him.
She finished her food and set the tray aside.
Hannibal plumped a pillow and placed it behind her, telling her to lie down.
He wanted to talk to her; but her eyes already showed signs of weariness.
She probably had a long day.
Luna knew he wanted to tell her something, the look on his face gave it away.
Somehow the rattling in her head stopped; could it be because she was already dead tired?
"We'll talk tomorrow right doctor?" Luna said sleepily.
"Yes Luna… Goodnight" Hannibal answered with a smile creasing on his lips.
He was cleaning up the food tray when he heard a phone ringing, he realized its Luna's
He answered the call thinking it was Will or Alana; calling to say goodnight.
"Hello"… there was no answer, "Hello" still no answer, that's when he decided to look at the caller ID
~Number Blocked~
Hannibal set the phone down and went back to tidying the aftermath of Luna's medical care and dinner.
Corina instructed her son to dial Luna's number again, she didn't want a voicemail.
She wanted to somehow make an excuse for how she acted tonight.
A part of her knew Luna deserves to be treated better; she deserves a better aunt.
She doesn't do apologies but she was willing to do anything that may come close.
Her son did as he was directed.
"Hello" a man answered the phone…
Corina's son was stunned; he couldn't speak.
Where's Luna!? His thoughts yelled out.
He listened in, better this time. "Hello" the voice sounds like Luna's doctor.
Corina was confused; her son just shoved the phone back to her and ran out.
She can't understand him sometimes; correction she can't understand him at all.
He's not her own flesh and blood, but she loves him like her own son.
She would give him the world if she hasn't already.
Giving him everything may have been wrong she thought.
Now he wants Luna; If only she could give him Luna.
She laughed by herself thinking of her son's exact words.
How does a mother give her son something that's not hers?
Luna tossed and turned.
Something woke her up; something feels off.
She can sense eyes looking at her.
Her ankle feels better now, Maybe she slept well.
She sat up; lifting her foot from the pillow, she turned to her right and set her feet on the floor.
She was now seated at the edge of the bed looking at the dreadful Armor's silhouette.
She decided to stand and look closer, holding on a foyer for support.
Then the eerie feeling made her back down; she wondered around the room instead.
She walked towards her left, touching, feeling and visualizing.
Everything was Art; the walls, the mirror, and the fireplace.
Her foot started to feel heavy again, like she had to drag her leg.
Her hands started to roam to find something to hold on to… then...
"Luna…"
Her eyes widened; she turned around, it's just a hallucination she convinced herself.
"How are you Luna?" she recognized the voice. Her "stupid" attacker from the safe-house,
She is not physically up for manhandling today. She heard his footsteps getting closer.
"Stop right there" Luna warned him. "My doctor is outside, I will scream!"
"Nothing would satisfy me more…" The man leaped over the bed and reached Luna before she even realized what he intended to do.
His hand covered her nose and her mouth, "Shhhhh… Be quiet!"
Hannibal was headed for the guest room when he heard gentle noises from his room.
He stopped on his path… waited… the noise came back; he opened the door to check on his patient.
The light from the hall entered the room and illuminated the bed. Luna wasn't on it.
Then he was hit, by something hard at the back of his head, the room turned and he fell on the bed face first.
He can hear Luna struggling; he's choking her he thought.
"Don't…" his last word; before he lost consciousness.