This Chapter is dedicated to DxGRAYxMAN, thank you for your continued support :) you're awesome!
Through the darkness, an annoying beeping sound was close by, I slowly opened my eyes and found myself in an unfamiliar room, the walls pure white and one wall covered in long vertical blinds, over my head, the glaring lights blinded me. I was propped up on a hard, uneven bed, a bed with rails. The pillows were flat and lumpy. My hands were all twisted up with clear tubes, and something was taped across my face, under my nose, I hated the feeling, I lifted my hand to rip it off.
"No, you don't" And cool fingers caught my hand,
"Em?" I turned my head slightly, and his exquisite face was just inches from mine, his chin resting on the edge of my pillow.
"Em, I'm so sorry!" I quickly said, not believing he was here, right in front of me,
"Shhhh, Everything's all right now Lil, I'm here" Emmett said in a soothing voice as he used one hand to stroke my hair,
"What happened?" I couldn't remember clearly, and my mind rebelled against me as I tried to recall my last memories,
"I was almost too late. I could have been too late, I could have lost you" he whispered, his voice tormented, I felt bad for him, I had caused so much pain,
"I was so stupid, Emmett, I'm so sorry, I thought he had my mom" I said trying to explain myself,
"He tricked us all" Emmett said to me, my thoughts suddenly switched,
"I need to call my dad and my mom, and Bella! Where is she? Is she okay?" I realized through the haze, and was suddenly trying to get up, Em sighed and pushed my lightly back down into the bed, under his iron grip, I wasn't going anywhere,
"Alice called them. Renée is here, well, here in the hospital. She's getting something to eat right now, Charlie is with Bella, she's fine, he made her go back to the hotel and get some sleep, they will be back soon" Emmett explained quickly to me,
"mom's here?" I tried to sit up, but the spinning in my head accelerated, and his hand pushed me gently down onto the pillows, once again,
"She'll be back soon" he promised me, I nodded,
"And you need to stay still" Emmett said, I nodded slowly,
"But what did you tell her?" I panicked. I had no interest in being soothed at the minute, my mom was here and I was recovering from a vampire attack. "Why did you tell her I'm here?" I said as the heart monitor picked up my partying,
"that you fell down two flights of stairs and through a window, Bella tripped and you pushed her out of the way, to protect her" He paused for a second,
"You have to admit, it could happen, she is accident prone, and you're the huge idiot that would take the pain for her" Emmett said with a playful tone, but I knew under all that, there was some resentment behind that statement, I sighed, and it hurt. I stared down at my body under the sheet, the huge lump that was my leg.
"How bad am I?" I asked, Em glanced down at my body before speaking,
"You have a broken leg, four broken ribs, some cracks in your skull, bruises covering every inch of your skin, and you've lost a lot of blood. They gave you a few transfusions. I didn't like it, it made you smell all wrong for a while" Emmett explained,
"That must have been a nice change for you" I said trying to break the tension,
"No, I like how you smell" Em said, suddenly I remembered my neck,
"How did you do it?" I asked quietly and he knew what I meant at once.
"I'm not sure." He looked away from my wondering eyes, lifting my gauze-wrapped hand from the bed and holding it gently in his, careful not to disrupt the wire connecting me to one of the monitors. I waited patiently for the rest.
"It was impossible… to stop," he whispered, he sighed without returning my gaze.
"Impossible. But I did. I knew I had to" He looked up finally, with half a smile.
"I must love you" I smiled at his response,
"Don't I taste as good as I smell?" I smiled in response. That hurt my face.
"Even better, better than I could have ever imagined" Em said quietly,
"I'm sorry," I apologized sorrowfully,
"Of all the things to apologize for" Em said looking towards the ceiling,
"What should I apologize for?" I asked him,
"For very nearly taking yourself away from me forever, for giving yourself up willingly, for trying to make a deal with James for Bella's life" Em listed the reasons off, I glanced down,
"I'm sorry," I apologized again,
"I know why you did it." His voice was comforting,
"It was still irrational, of course. You should have waited for me, you should have told me, at least Edward would have got a letter" Em complained,
"You wouldn't have let me go" I said in a matter of fact kind of why,
"No, I wouldn't" he agreed in a grim tone, some very unpleasant memories were beginning to come back to me. I shuddered, and then winced, he was instantly anxious.
"Lil?, what's wrong?" Emmett said quickly, checking over my body,
"What happened to James?" I whispered, Emmett sighed,
"After I pulled him off you, Lucas and Jasper took care of him." There was a fierce note of regret in his voice. This confused me.
"I didn't see Lucas and Jasper there" I asked confused,
"They had to leave the room… there was a lot of blood" he admitted, I nodded,
"But you stayed?" I asked confused,
"Yes, I stayed, I couldn't leave you" he admitted,
"And Alice, and Carlisle…" I said in wonder,
"They love you, too, you know" Emmett said rubbing circles into our enclosed hands, A flash of painful images from the last time I'd seen Alice reminded me of something.
"Did Alice see the tape?" I asked anxiously.
"Yes." A new sound darkened his voice, a tone of sheer hatred,
"She was always in the dark, that's why she didn't remember" I explained, remembering all the parts now,
"I know. She understands now." His voice was even, but his face was black with fury. I tried to reach his face with my free hand, but something stopped me. I glanced down to see the IV pulling at my hand.
"Ugh." I winced.
"What is it?" he asked anxiously, distracted, but not enough. The bleakness did not entirely leave his eyes.
"Needles," I explained, looking away from the one in my hand. I concentrated on a warped ceiling tile and tried to breathe deeply despite the ache in my ribs.
"Afraid of a needle," he muttered to himself under his breath, shaking his head.
"Oh, a sadistic vampire, intent on torturing her to death, sure, no problem, she runs off to meet him and offers herself to him, but an IV, on the other hand…" he said to himself, I rolled my eyes. I was pleased to discover that this reaction, at least, was pain-free. I decided to change the subject.
"Why are you here?" I asked. He stared at me, first confusion and then hurt touching his eyes. His brows pulled together as he frowned.
"Do you want me to leave?" the pain laced his voice
"No!" I protested, horrified by the thought.
"No, I meant, why does my mother think you're here? I need to have my story straight before she gets back" I explained,
"Oh," he said, and his forehead smoothed back into marble.
"I came to Phoenix to talk some sense into Bella with Edward, to convince you to come back to Forks." His wide eyes were so earnest and sincere, I almost believed him myself.
"Bella agreed to see Edward, then you and her drove out to the hotel where I was staying with Carlisle and Alice, of course I was here with parental supervision," he inserted virtuously,
"but Bella tripped on the stairs on the way to my room and… well, you know the rest. You don't need to remember any details, though; you have a good excuse to be a little muddled about the finer points" Em said softly, I thought about it for a moment.
"There are a few flaws with that story. Like no broken windows in any hotel" I said stating the facts, Emmett laughed,
"Not really, Alice had a little bit too much fun fabricating evidence. It's all been taken care of very convincingly, you could probably sue the hotel if you wanted to. You have nothing to worry about," he promised, stroking my cheek with the lightest of touches.
"Your only job now is to heal" he whispered and gave pressed his lips to my cheek, I wasn't so lost to the soreness or the fog of medication that I didn't respond to his touch. The beeping of the monitor jumped around erratically, now he wasn't the only one who could hear my heart misbehave.
"That's going to be embarrassing," I muttered to myself, he chuckled, and a speculative look came into his eye.
"Hmm, I wonder…" he joked and he leaned in slowly, the beeping noise accelerated wildly before his lips even touched me. But when they did, though with the most gentle of pressure, the beeping stopped altogether.
He pulled back abruptly, his anxious expression turning to relief as the monitor reported the restarting of my heart.
"It seems that I'm going to have to be even more careful with you than usual." He frowned.
"I was not finished kissing you," I complained.
"Don't make me come over there" I threatened him, He grinned, and bent to press his lips lightly to mine. The monitor went wild. But then his lips were taut. He pulled away.
"I think I hear your mother," he said, grinning again,
"Don't leave me," I cried, an irrational surge of panic flooding through me. I couldn't let him go, he might disappear from me again. He read the terror in my eyes for a short second.
"I won't," he promised solemnly, and then he smiled.
"I'll take a nap" he joked with me, then he moved from the hard plastic chair by my side to the turquoise faux-leather recliner at the foot of my bed, leaning it all the way back, and closing his eyes. He was perfectly still.
"Don't forget to breathe," I whispered sarcastically. He took a deep breath, his eyes still closed.
I could hear my mother now. She was talking to someone, maybe a nurse, and she sounded tired and upset. I wanted to jump out of the bed and run to her, to calm her, promise that everything was fine. But I wasn't in any sort of shape for jumping, so I waited impatiently. The door opened a crack, and she peeked through.
"Mom!" I whispered, my voice full of love and relief. She took in Emmett's still form on the recliner, and tiptoed to my bedside.
"He never leaves, does he?" she mumbled to herself, I smiled in response,
"Mom, I'm so glad to see you!" I said as cheerfully as I could, She bent down to hug me gently, and I felt warm tears falling on my cheeks.
"Liliana, I was so upset!" mom said as she sat in the chair, Emmett had just left,
"I'm sorry, Mom. But everything's fine now, it's okay, Bella is fine" I comforted her,
"I'm just glad to finally see your eyes open." She sat on the edge of my bed. I suddenly realized I didn't have any idea when it was.
"How long have they been closed?" I asked
"It's Friday, hon, you've been out for a while" mom said with a frown,
"Friday?" I was shocked. I tried to remember what day it had been when… but I didn't want to think about that.
"They had to keep you sedated for a while, honey — you've got a lot of injuries" mom said with a frown,
"I know." I could feel them,
"You're lucky Dr. Cullen was there. He's such a nice man… very young, though. And he looks more like a model than a doctor…" mom said going off topic,
"You met Carlisle?" I asked surprised,
"And Edward's sister Alice. She's a lovely girl" mom said with a smile,
"She is," I agreed wholeheartedly, she glanced over her shoulder at Emmett, lying with his eyes closed in the chair.
"You didn't tell me you had such good friends in Forks" she teased me, I cringed, and then moaned.
"What hurts?" she demanded anxiously, turning back to me. Edward's eyes flashed to my face.
"It's fine," I assured them.
"I just have to remember not to move." Em lapsed back into his phony slumber and mom nodded, I took advantage of my mother's momentary distraction to keep the subject from returning to my
less-than-candid behaviour.
"Where's Phil?" I asked quickly.
"Florida — oh, Liliana! You'll never guess! Just when we were about to leave, the best news!" she was grinning,
"Phil got signed?" I guessed.
"Yes! How did you guess! The Suns, can you believe it?" she sounded so proud,
"That's great, Mom," I said as enthusiastically as I could manage, though I had little idea what that meant.
"And you and Bella will like Jacksonville so much," she gushed while I stared at her vacantly,
"I was a little bit worried when Phil started talking about Akron, what with the snow and everything, because you know how Bella hates the cold, but now Jacksonville! It's always sunny, and the humidity really isn't that bad. We found the cutest house, yellow, with white trim, and a porch just like in an old movie, and this huge oak tree, and it's just a few minutes from the ocean, and you'll have your own bathroom" she was saying, my head was spinning,
"Wait, Mom!" I interrupted. Emmett still had his eyes closed, but he looked too tense to pass as asleep,
"What are you talking about? I'm not going to Florida. I live in Forks" I said stating the obvious,
"But you don't have to anymore, silly," she laughed,
"Phil will be able to be around so much more now… we've talked about it a lot, and what I'm going to do is trade off on the away games, half the time with you and Bella, half the time with him" mom said like it was the most obvious thing in the world,
"Mom." I hesitated, wondering how best to be diplomatic about this.
"I want to live in Forks. I'm already settled in at school, and I have a couple of friends" she glanced toward Edward again when I reminded her of friends, so I tried another direction,
"and dad needs me. He's just all alone up there, and he can't cook at all, I'm staying in Forks" I said adamant,
"You want to stay in Forks?" she asked, bewildered. The idea was inconceivable to her. And then her eyes flickered back toward Emmett
Her hands fluttered helplessly over me, trying to find a safe place to pat. She made do with my forehead; it was unbandaged.
"Liliana, honey, Bella hates Forks," she reminded me, I guessing she had spoken to dad,
"It's not so bad and I love it, for once I'm putting myself first. I'm staying in Forks" I said, she frowned and looked back and forth between Emmett and me, this time very deliberately.
"Is it this boy?" she whispered. I opened my mouth to lie, but her eyes were scrutinizing my face, and I knew she would see through that.
"He's part of it," I admitted. No need to confess how big a part.
"I think that boy is in love with you," she accused, keeping her voice low.
"I think so, too," I confided, smiling,
"And how do you feel about him?" She only poorly concealed the raging curiosity in her voice. I sighed, looking away. As much as I loved my mom, this was not a conversation I wanted to have with her.
"I'm pretty crazy about him" I said There, that sounded like something a teenager with a boyfriend might say.
"Well, he seems very nice, and, my goodness, he's incredibly good-looking, but you're so young, Liliana…" Her voice was unsure; as far as I could remember, this was the first time since I was eight that she'd come close to trying to sound like a parental authority. I recognized the reasonable-but-firm tone of voice from talks I'd had with her about men.
"I know that, Mom. Don't worry about it. Dad already spoke to me," I soothed her.
"That's good" she agreed, easily pleased. Then she sighed and glanced guiltily over her shoulder at the big, round clock on the wall.
"Do you need to go?" I asked her, She bit her lip.
"Phil's supposed to call in a little while… I didn't know you were going to wake up…" she admitted guilty,
"No problem, Mom." I tried to tone down the relief so she wouldn't get her feelings hurt.
"I'll be back soon. I've been sleeping here, you know," she announced, proud of herself.
"Oh, Mom, you don't have to do that! You can sleep at home, I'll never notice." The swirl of painkillers in my brain was making it hard to concentrate even now, though, apparently, I'd been sleeping for days.
"I was too nervous," she admitted sheepishly.
"There's been some crime in the neighbourhood, and I don't like being there alone" she continued,
"Crime?" I asked in alarm.
"Someone broke into that dance studio around the corner from the house and burned it to the ground, there's nothing left at all! And they left a stolen car right out front. Do you remember when you used to dance there, honey?" she asked stoking my hair, like she used to do when I was a child,
"I remember." I shivered, and winced,
"I can stay, baby, if you need me" she said panicking,
"No, Mom, I'll be fine. Emmett will be with me" I reassured her,
"I'll be back tonight." It sounded as much like a warning as it sounded like a promise, and she glanced at Emmett again as she said it.
"I love you, Mom" I said smiling,
"I love you, too, Liliana, Try to be more careful when you walk, honey, maybe don't save Bella as much, I don't want to lose you" mom admitted, Emmett's eyes stayed closed, but a wide grin flashed across his face. A nurse came bustling in then to check all my tubes and wires. My mother kissed my forehead, patted my gauze-wrapped hand, and left. The nurse was checking the paper readout on my heart monitor.
"Are you feeling anxious, honey? Your heart rate got a little high there" she asked concerned,
"I'm fine," I assured her.
"I'll tell your RN that you're awake. She'll be in to see you in a minute" she said and walked to the door, as soon as she closed the door, Em was at my side.
"You stole a car?" I raised my eyebrows.
"It was a good car, very fast" He smiled, unrepentant, I laughed,
"How was your nap?" I asked.
"Interesting" His eyes narrowed,
"What?" I asked intrigued, He looked down while he answered.
"I'm surprised. I thought Florida… and your mother… well, I thought that's what you would want and you would follow Bella if she moved" he admitted, I shook my head,
"I think I should put myself first for once" I admitted with a small smile,
"you maybe it would be better" Em whispered, I paled,
"Why did you say that? are you tired of having to save me all the time? Do you want me to go away?" I whispered, trying to keep my voice from shaking.
"No, I don't want to be without you, Liliana, of course not. Be rational. And I have no problem with saving you, either, if it weren't for the fact that I was the one putting you in danger… that I'm the reason that you're here" Emmett admitted,
"Yes, you are the reason." I frowned, "The reason I'm here — alive."
"Barely. Covered in gauze and plaster and hardly able to move" His voice was just a whisper.
"I wasn't referring to my most recent near-death experience," I said, growing irritated,
"I was thinking of the others, you can take your pick. If it weren't for you, I would be rotting away in the Forks cemetery by now" I said joking a little, he winced at my words, but the haunted look didn't leave his eyes.
"That's not the worst part, though," he continued to whisper. He acted as if I hadn't spoken.
"Not seeing you there on the floor… crumpled and broken." His voice was choked.
"Not thinking I was too late. Not even hearing you scream in pain, all those unbearable memories that I'll carry with me for the rest of eternity. No, the very worst was feeling… knowing that I couldn't stop. Believing that I was going to kill you myself." Emmett admitted,
"But you didn't" I stated,
"I could have. So easily" he argued, I knew I needed to stay calm… but he was trying to talk himself into leaving me, and the panic fluttered in my lungs, trying to get out.
"Promise me," I whispered.
"What?" he said looking at me
"You know what. Don't leave me" I was starting to get angry now. He was so stubbornly determined to dwell on the negative. He heard the change in my tone. His eyes tightened.
"I don't seem to be strong enough to stay away from you, so I suppose that you'll get your way, whether it kills you or not," he added roughly.
"Good" I stated, but he hadn't promised, though, a fact that I had not missed. The panic was only barely contained; I had no strength left to control the anger.
"You told me how you stopped… now I want to know why," I demanded,
"Why?" he repeated warily,
"Why you did it. Why didn't you just let the venom spread? By now I would be just like you" I said flatly,
Emmett's eyes seemed to turn flat black, and I remembered that this was something he'd never intended me to know. Alice must have been preoccupied by the things she'd learned about herself or she'd been very careful with her thoughts around him, clearly, he'd had no idea that she'd filled me in on the mechanics of vampire conversions. He was surprised, and infuriated. His nostrils flared, his mouth looked as if it was chiselled from stone. He wasn't going to answer, that much was clear.
"I'll be the first to admit that I have no experience with relationships especially with a vampire but it just seems logical, a man and woman have to be somewhat equal… as in, one of them can't always be swooping in and saving the other one. They have to save each other equally" I said, I watched as he folded his arms on the side of my bed and rested his chin on his arms. His expression was smooth, the anger reined in. Evidently he'd decided he wasn't angry with me. I hoped I'd get a chance to warn Alice before he caught up with her.
"You have saved me," he said quietly, I frowned,
"I can't always be Lois Lane, I want to be Superman, too" I insisted,
"You don't know what you're asking." His voice was soft; he stared intently at the edge of the pillowcase.
"I think I do" I said carefully,
"Liliana, you don't know. I've had almost ninety years to think about this, and I'm still not sure" he admitted,
"Do you wish that Rosealie and Carlisle hadn't saved you?" I asked confused,
"No, I don't wish that." He paused before continuing,
"But my life was over. I wasn't giving anything up" he admitted, I sighed,
"You are my life. You're the only thing it would hurt me to lose." I was getting better at this. It was easy to admit how much I needed him. He was very calm, though. Decided.
"I can't do it, Liliana. I won't do that to you" he was adamant,
"Why not?" My throat rasped and the words weren't as loud as I'd meant them to be.
"Don't tell me it's too hard! After today, or I guess it was a few days ago… anyway, after that, it should be nothing" I argued, He glared at me.
"And the pain?" he asked, I blanched. I couldn't help it. But I tried to keep my expression from showing how clearly I remembered the feeling… the fire in my veins.
"That's my problem, I can handle it" I said bluntly,
"It's possible to take bravery to the point where it becomes insanity" he said to me,
"It's not an issue. Three days. Big deal" I said trying to sound brave, Emmett grimaced again as my words reminded him that I was more informed than he had ever intended me to be. I watched him repress the anger, watched as his eyes grew speculative.
"Charlie? Renée? Bella?" he asked curtly, minutes passed in silence as I struggled to answer his question. I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. I closed it again. He waited, and his expression became triumphant because he knew I had no true answer.
"Look, that's not an issue either," I finally muttered; my voice was as unconvincing as it always was when I lied.
"Renée has always made the choices that work for her, she'd want me to do the same. And dad's resilient, he's used to being on his own and Bella is her own person, I can't take care of them forever. I have my own life to live" I said bluntly,
"Exactly, and I won't end it for you" he snapped,
"If you're waiting for me to be on my deathbed, I've got news for you! I was just there!" I snapped back,
"You're going to recover," he reminded me. I took a deep breath to calm myself, ignoring the spasm of pain it triggered. I stared at him, and he stared back. There was no compromise in his face.
"No, I'm not" I said slowly
"Of course you are. You may have a scar or two…" he said as his forehead creased.
"You're wrong, I'm going to die" I insisted,
"Really, Liliana," He was anxious now,
"You'll be out of here in a few days. Two week at most" he said, I glared at him.
"I may not die now… but I'm going to die sometime. Every minute of the day, I get closer. And I'm going to get old" I pointed out, he frowned as what I was saying sunk in, pressing his long fingers to his temples and closing his eyes.
"That's how it's supposed to happen. How it should happen. How it would have happened if I didn't exist, and I shouldn't exist" he stated, I snorted. He opened his eyes in surprise.
"That's stupid. That's like going to someone who's just won the lottery, taking their money, and saying, 'Look, let's just go back to how things should be. It's better that way.' And I'm not buying it" I snapped back again,
"I'm hardly a lottery prize," he growled.
"That's right. You're much better" I said honestly, He rolled his eyes and set his lips.
"Liliana, we're not having this discussion anymore. I refuse to damn you to an eternity of night and that's the end of it" he snapped, I laughed a little,
"If you think that's the end, then you don't know me very well," I warned him. "You're not the only vampire I know" I said with a small shrug,
"Alice wouldn't dare" he growled and his eyes went black again, and for a moment he looked so frightening that I couldn't help but believe it, I couldn't imagine someone brave enough to cross him in this state,
"Alice already saw it, didn't she?" I guessed.
"That's why the things she says upset you. She knows I'm going to be like you… someday" I guessed
"She's wrong. She also saw you dead, but that didn't happen, either" he said back in a flat tone,
"You'll never catch me betting against Alice" I said honestly, we stared at each other for a very long time. It was quiet except for the whirring of the machines, the beeping, the dripping, the ticking of the big clock on the wall. Finally, his expression softened.
"So where does that leave us?" I wondered, He chuckled humourlessly.
"I believe it's called an impasse" he said looking away, I sighed.
"Ouch," I muttered.
"How are you feeling?" he asked, eyeing the button for the nurse.
"I'm fine," I lied.
"I don't believe you," he said gently.
"I'm not going back to sleep" I argued,
"You need rest. All this arguing isn't good for you" Em commented,
"So give in," I hinted,
"Nice try." He reached for the button.
"No!" I said trying to swipe his hand away, but he ignored me.
"Yes?" the speaker on the wall squawked.
"I think we're ready for more pain medication," he said calmly, ignoring my furious expression.
"I'll send in the nurse." The voice sounded very bored.
"I won't take it," I promised, being my stubborn self, he looked toward the sack of fluids hanging beside my bed.
"I don't think they're going to ask you to swallow anything" he chuckled, my heart rate started to climb. He read the fear in my eyes, and sighed in frustration.
"Lil, you're in pain. You need to relax so you can heal. Why are you being so difficult? They're not going to put any more needles in you now" he said confused,
"I'm not afraid of the needles," I mumbled. "I'm afraid to close my eyes" I admitted, then he smiled his crooked smile, and took my face between his hands.
"I told you I'm not going anywhere. Don't be afraid. As long as it makes you happy, I'll be here" he promised me, I smiled back, ignoring the ache in my cheeks.
"You're talking about forever, you know" I joked,
"Oh, you'll get over it" he joked, I shook my head in disbelief— it made me dizzy.
"That's the beautiful thing about being human," he told me. "Things change."
My eyes narrowed. "Don't hold your breath." He was laughing when the nurse came in, brandishing a syringe.
"Excuse me," she said brusquely to Emmett, he got up and crossed to the end of the small room, leaning against the wall. He folded his arms and
waited. I kept my eyes on him, still apprehensive. He met my gaze calmly.
"Here you go, honey." The nurse smiled as she injected the medicine into my tube. "You'll feel better now."
"Thanks," I mumbled, unenthusiastic. It didn't take long. I could feel the drowsiness trickling through my bloodstream almost immediately.
"That ought to do it," she muttered as my eyelids drooped. She must have left the room, because something cold and smooth touched my face.
"Stay." The word was slurred.
"I will," he promised. His voice was beautiful, like a lullaby.
"Like I said, as long as it makes you happy… as long as it's what's best for you."
I tried to shake my head, but it was too heavy.
"'S not the same thing," I mumbled, He laughed,
"Don't worry about that now, Liliana. You can argue with me when you wake up" he said, I think I smiled.
'"Kay." I could feel his lips at my ear.
"I love you," he whispered.
"Me, too" I admitted,
"I know," he laughed quietly. I turned my head slightly… searching. He knew what I was after. His lips touched mine gently.
"Thanks," I sighed.
"Anytime." I wasn't really there at all anymore, I drifted off into a peaceful sleep knowing he was right there.
