Pain.
It was shooting through her body and she wasn't sure what it was that was hurt in the first place.
'Dumbass! You just had to fall down the stairs, didn't you?' Winter silently scolded herself.
Things went down at the library thanks to the 'vampires' in the area becoming brave once the sun set.
'Elevator, no more stairs tonight...' She hit the up button and stepped onto the elevator when it opened. Maybe it was the fact that she had been concentrating on the pain but it only seemed to be a few seconds before she made it to her floor.
Bridget ran to Winter when she stumbled into the apartment, catching her before she could trip over the little rug they had at the door.
"Winter! What's wrong?!" She asked, lifting her up and carrying her into the living room.
The dark haired woman shook her head with a cringe, "The library was slightly trashed."
"Slightly?"
"The big, fancy window on the roof that's in the fiction area upstairs? It's not there anymore, it's shattered completely."
"The vampires?"
"Yep..."
Bridget looked her friend over, taking off her shirt that still had small bits of broken glass in it.
"I took one out but another fell through and landed on me. I fell down the stairs with it."
"From the top?! That's a lot of stairs, Winter! Something might be broken! You need to go to the hospital!"
"No."
If it was one thing she hated it was hospitals...
"I'm going to take a shower. Stacey gave me the next few days off until the window is fixed, I should be better by then."
"At least take a break from-"
"No."
Winter stood up and walked to the bathroom, Bridget seeing the horrendous bruise covering her lower back. The stripper seriously considered getting in touch with someone that could possibly help her stubborn friend...
She grabbed her phone from the couch and began to dial the one number she knew of that would lead to Quinlan.
"Gus! I need to talk to Quin. I'm not sure if its an emergency or not but I need him here now. Its about Winter."
After the shower, Winter wrapped a fluffy white towel around her and let herself collapse on her bed. The pain killers she'd grabbed from her medicine cabinet were finally kicking in and now she was just sleepy as hell. She stretched out a bit on her side and fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.
"I didn't see any cuts but her back looks badly bruised." Bridget whispered to Quinlan on the other side of the door.
He opened the door, stepped in then shut it behind him. The room was dark all except for the moonlight shining in through the window. Quinlan approached the bed where the woman was laying still and gently moved the wet hair out of her face.
There was no wounds of any kind on her face or neck. He gently unwrapped the towel from her body and examined every inch of her. Thankfully, there were no cuts or scratches. Rolling her over, he saw her bruised back Bridget had mentioned. No open wounds or broken bones from what he could tell but there were several scars he had noticed.
He shifted her so she was once again laying on her back and placed his forehead against hers, relieved that she wasn't corrupted. Now he was focused on how beautiful she was...
Quinlan pulled the blankets up so her naked body was hidden and smoothed her hair back again.
Once he left the bedroom he was met with a very anxious Bridget.
"She's fine, just badly bruised." He said, "But she has many scars all over her body..."
"That is not my story to tell, Mr. Quinlan. One day she will tell you herself, I'm sure."
Quinlan nodded and started to leave, looking back when Gus didn't follow to see the man flirting with Bridget. Seeing his annoyed glance, Gus gave the woman a quick hug and ran to follow him.
Bridget was alone again and flopped down on the couch, "Damn I need a drink."
Note: The next chapter will be longer, I promise.