In Dreams: Bleed Out

Dangerous Allies

Alexandre collapsed on his bed and tugged me down as well when I tried to walk away.

"Please Carys, I'm serious about not being apart from you today.  Yesterday was hard for you, and for me..."  his voice broke and the tormented look returned to his eyes.

"It was Hell."  I supplied with compassion, brushing the hair from his forehead as I sat next to him on the bed.  "I can imagine how terrifying the explosion must have been, I've only been that close to death once, and mine was... much more peaceful..."  I trailed off as Alexandre's face took on a horrified expression.

"Oh Carys, I wasn't afraid for my own life.  In pain?  Yes.  Scared?  Yes, terrified!  But I was afraid I couldn't get back here...to protect you."  Alexandre's face broke into a sad smile and he pulled me down onto the bed, wrapping his arms around me.  "If those idiots had somehow gotten to you..."  His breathing hitched and he tightened his grip on me.

"Still need to breathe here, Alexandre."  I wheezed, and he loosened his grip slightly.  I looked at his face with tears standing in his eyes, and traced the path of the escapees with my fingers before whispering my reply.  "But you're here, and I'm fine, and I love you and everything's ok."  I gently placed my lips on his, then on each of his closed eyes, tasting his salty tears on my lips before drawing back to see Alexandre looking at me with such a heartrendingly loving look that the world could have burned around me and I never would have noticed.

"I love you too Carys.  More than I ever imagined possible.  More than I've ever loved anyone in over a century of life."  He leaned his forehead against mine and held me tightly, and when his breathing deepened, I knew he had fallen asleep.  Closing my eyes, I listened to the deep, rhythmic pattern, running a hand along his back, feeling the scar tissue.  Still quite bumpy.  Alexandre groaned.

"Carys..."  He murmured, which made me pause, thinking I'd woken him.  The scar on his hip worried me.  It was so thick and ropy, that the only thing I could imagine was that he'd been cut nearly in half by flying debris.  How badly had he been injured?  My hand was captured again in its exploration.

"Dangerous territory miss."  Alexandre grumbled, eyes still closed.  "A little lower and you're going to get a sneak preview by touch of what you're too bashful to view by sight.  And if you're not careful with the tender touches...well, let's just say you may encounter things a little more quickly."  Alexandre warned, pulling my hand to his chest, 'safer territory'.

"The medical books in the library, do they have basic, like introductory stuff?"  I asked Alexandre.  He opened his eyes and looked at me cautiously.

"I thought you said you'd already had s****l education..."  He replied helplessly.

"No, no, not for that...  I have a very, very small amount of medical knowledge, courses in high school, advanced placement college courses kind of things.  You know, biology, chemistry, I want to build on that.  I think I've found something to do with the time that's been given to me."  I told Alexandre, a fire burning in my soul as I said it.  His eyes lit up and he smiled at me.

"Whatever isn't there is easily purchased.  Just tell me what you need."  He kissed my hand and smiled again sleepily.  "Now, no more cheating.  If you're going to touch me, at least do it when I'm awake and can enjoy it.  I need sleep."  Alexandre griped halfheartedly with a smile, but placed my hand in the hollow above his waist permissively, so I wrapped my arm around him and snuggled into his chest.  Inhaling his scent deeply, I could feel him tuck my head under his chin, and I didn't know why, but it suddenly felt like I was where I belonged.  Alexandre's breathing gentled and deepened again and I drifted off to the sound of his steady breaths.

I woke up first, which confirmed to me once again how badly Alexandre had been injured.  I watched him sleep for a short while, his face didn't look as hollow, and he had a little more color.  I desperately wanted a look at his scar tissue, but held still.  Something in me wanted to just force him to get better, if I could just dump life into him somehow...  I couldn't stand seeing him like this.

"Your gaze is going to burn a hole into my head."  Alexandre said sleepily with his eyes still closed.  I jerked.

"Good God, I thought you were still asleep!"  I gasped and he chuckled lightly and yawned.

"You may sleep like the dead, but others of us do not."  He replied."  If you're no longer tired, you don't have to lay here with me, just..stay close..where I can sense you.."  he murmured rolling over onto his back, and I could tell he was already falling back to sleep.  I placed a hand on his face and he murmured something else that sounded like 'cheater' and I laughed lightly before gently unwrapping the remaining arm he had around me and getting out of the bed.  I leaned over and kissed his cheek lightly and he hummed gently and agreeably, causing me to smile as I left the room.

Underwear first.  I raced to my room and quickly changed into a pair of fresh underwear laughing lightly to myself as I did.  All of the things that had happened in this past day or so had still not stopped me from forgetting the fact that I very much had been going bare under the pair of loaned pajamas.  I thought briefly about changing those as well, but decided I rather liked this pair of soft flannel pajamas with Alexandre's scent, so I kept them on and, keeping my promise, raced back to Alexandre's room to make sure he hadn't missed my presence.  Since he was still sound asleep, I gravitated towards the medical journals in the library, looking for any kind of introductory books or beginner coursework.  I lucked out with a series of nursing textbooks and eagerly grabbed the first few off the shelves.  Excited, I went back to the kitchen for an extra cup of blood and darted back to Alexandre's room.  I sat gingerly on the bed next to him, he had rolled over onto his right side, giving me a good view of his back, and I winced.  He still had a long ways to go to heal.  I ruffled his hair lightly and he murmured again, then I settled in to read.

The first few books were filled with basic medical jargon, information of metric conversions, names of anatomical features and instruments, some these things I already knew, some I would need to refer back to, repeatedly.  The one I was most excited about had a section on musculoskeletal anatomy.  I turned pages as quietly as I could, lost in my reading while chewing on my bottom lip.  I heard Alexandre sigh and roll over and glanced at him to be sure he was ok and I hadn't woken him.  His brow was furrowed so I reached out and smoothed the wrinkles with my fingers until he sighed and murmured something and his expression relaxed.  I went back to my book, sipping from the cup as I read, until Alexandre suddenly grabbed my arm.

"May I?"  He asked quietly, gazing at the cup urgently.  I nodded and he finished it off.  When he fell back to sleep it was holding my hand, which made page turning a little more difficult, but not impossible.

Eventually, I got tired of reading and slid out of Alexandre's grasp again, stretching and walking around the room.  I examined some of the odds and ends he had collected with interest.  For a man who claimed not to be religious, he had an amazing collection of religious texts and paraphernalia.  He also had a decent collection of scientific and medical journals.  The old medical kit was tucked away carefully on a shelf, next to what I could only assume were other kits of similar design.  There was a preserved flower in some kind of glass or resin globe that sparked my interest.  I wondered what the story was behind it.  I ran my fingers along the old wood grain of the desk and paced the hallway a couple of times before deciding to take the cup back to the kitchen to give myself something to do.

I heard a noise coming from the ballroom when I entered the kitchen and panicked, stepping to the left of the doors separating the two rooms, prepared to make a break for Alexandre's room to rouse him if I needed to.  Somebody dropped something, causing me to dart halfway across the kitchen before a familiar cheer went up in the ballroom that I recognized.  I went to the door again and opened them slightly.  The repair crew was on the other side of the ballroom and had just placed the new railing, though somebody had made a mess of the temporary fixture, which if I had to guess, was what the noise was about.  I smiled slightly and stepped into the room, admiring their work.  If I didn't know any better, I never would have guessed the railing had been replaced.  I was spotted by one of the workmen, who came over with an apologetic look on his face.

"Sorry about the noise Miss.  We're almost done here.  As promised, we'll leave the key on the kitchen table before we leave for the final time.  Do you have any further requests?"  He asked politely.

"Oh no, I don't think, that's all up to Alexandre, have you been paid?  I don't know how he usually does, but I can run and ask him, if you'd like.  He's feeling a little under the weather today."  I answered.

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.  No, we're fine, he's made all the arrangements already."  The workman took a step forward  "Would it be possible for him to give final approval today?"  He looked at me curiously as he said  "I've never known him to be ill."  I was beginning to feel uneasy.

"Well he's suffered a bit of an injury, to his back, but I'm sure he'll be better in a few days..."  I offered.  The guy nodded, I smiled weakly.  "I think there are still some drinks in the fridge, would you guys care for anything?"

"Uh no, thanks though.  Again, sorry for the noise."  He replied apologetically.  

"You're fine.  I'll let Alexandre know you were here.  By the way, you've done beautiful work!"  I answered brightly and he smiled a big smile and trotted back to his companions.  I went back to the the kitchen and washed out the cup, making sure the bio-hazard freezer was shut tightly and wandered my way back towards Alexandre's room.  He blinked blearily when I entered and half sat up.

"Are you ok?"  He asked with worry.

"Yep, just needed to stretch my legs."  I replied with a smile.  He relaxed and held out a hand.

"I'm sorry I'm boring you today."  He grinned weakly as I took his hand.  I shrugged noncommittally and with a soft growl, he yanked my arm, pulling me down on top of him.  "Though I could think of many more interesting things we could be doing in this bed."  He said with a sigh.

"If only I wasn't so goddamn tired."