Fallen from Grace

Chapter XII

Once those words left Gabriel's mouth, Eleanora staggered back, not being able to believe her ears. She stumbled on something, forcing her to fall down as the tears streamed down her face. Shaking her head she felt the tightness coil inside her chest as it ached beyond comprehension. Sobbing silently she pulled the leather jacket closer to herself as she felt that it was her fault.

She should have caught onto his motives, and she should have stopped him from doing something so reckless. She sobbed into her arms before looking up at Gabriel. Through the haze of her tears she could see him stagger to his feet, his face red and his eyes bloodshot. Standing up, he faced her, before stretching both of his hands in front of him, his palms facing Eleanora.

Breathing harshly, he focused his energy on his hands as a white light shot towards Eleanora. Shrieking in fright, she pulled up her arms to cover herself as a cold sensation enveloped her. Breathing harshly, she expected something more to happen before she felt something fuzzy against her leg.

Screaming in fright she removed her hands from her face and looked down, surprised to find Sebastian purring against her leg. Eleanora looked around herself in utter bewilderment before realizing that Gabriel didn't mean her any harm, and instead meant to transport her back home.

Hiccuping she looked around herself for a moment before a torrent of emotions came crashing down on her like cold tidal waves, each wave stealing the air from her lungs. The tears flowed down her cheek as she sobbed into her hand, Sebastian meowing up at her in concern as the ache continued to grow in her chest.

"No, no, no, no." She sobbed while shaking her head. Wrapping her arms around her knees, she rocked herself back and forth as she tried to regain her breathing. The doorbell ringing through out the apartment scared her as she jumped up in fright. Sniffling and desperately wiping at her eyes she tried to look presentable to open the door, considering the fact that if it were Mrs. Scott or Elliot than they wouldn't leave until she opened the door.

Momentarily glancing at herself in the mirror, she saw that her cheeks were flushed, her eyes puffy and blood shot with her nose a bright red and her hair completely disheveled, she looked like she either had been crying for hours or she had a bad case fever. Blinking rapidly, she felt a lump forming in her throat as she made her way over to the door. Slowly, she unlocked it and swung it open. However the moment that she did, a tuft of matted dark brown hair came in her face as a very heavy person crashed on her.

"Eleanora." The person groaned in pain.

"A-Apollyon?" Eleanora gasped in astonishment as she held him tightly, but loosened her hold on him when he whimpered in pain and clutched onto her back for some sort of relief. "God, y-you're bleeding."

With great difficulty she dragged him inside as he still clutched onto her. Gently she settled him on the sofa as he was hunched over, and breathing heavily, drops of blood and sweat trickling down his face. Crouching in front of him, she cupped his face in her hands as she inspected him. He had a gash on his forehead as his entire face was sticky ad clammy due to the blood, his eyes closed as he tried not to cry out in pain.

"Apollyon, where else are you bleeding?" She inquired softly as she stroked his cheek.

"B-back." He whimpered in pain. "S-s-side."

"Sweety, let me call the ambulance to take you to the hospital." Eleanora spoke softly as she pushed the hair out of his forehead to inspect the cut.

"N-no!" He exclaimed, grasping onto her wrist to prevent her from calling. "Y-You d-o it."

"Me?" She asked in astonishment. "Apollyon, I can't! I'm not qualified to stitch you up. I don't even have morphine to make you numb!"

"F-f**k it." He growled in pain. "I w-won't let them touch me. E-either you l-et me blee-d to de-ath, or y-you patch me up y-your-self."

"Apollyon." She groaned in desperation as he could very easily bleed to death at the moment.

"I mean it." He spoke through gritted teeth. "I wo-n't let them touch me."

"God." Eleanora groaned before removing the leather jacket she wore. Rolling up her sleeves, she helped him up form the sofa and took him to her bedroom, where she seated him on the bed. "Stay here." She instructed sternly as she ran to her kitchen to retrieved all the things that she needed. Placing them into her room, she noticed him to be leaning his head against the headboard as he was sweating profusely. Swallowing, she went into her washroom to retrieve the medical kits she kept there.

Inhaling a calming breath, she straightened Apollyon as he looked at her drowsily, offering her a meager smile.

"I'm going to remove your shirt now, okay?" Eleanora informed him as he managed a nod. Gently she lifted the shirt over his head and threw it to the side as she could see the gaping wound on his side. Climbing on the bed she looked at his back and gasped in horror.

There were two large and deep gashes starting from behind his shoulder and ending at the middle of his back. The wounds were oozing blood and it was smeared all over his back.

"Oh, God." She gasped while shaking her head. "I can't do this, Apollyon, I have stitched up small cuts, I can't do this."

"Eleanora please." He groaned while clutching the sheets in his hand. "I trust you enough for this."

Swallowing thickly, Eleanora took a few deep breaths to calm her fried nerves. Her mind racing with everything that she had learned in biology.

"Okay, okay." She talked to herself before getting off the bed, and taking out the gauge from the medical kit. She tightly wrapped it around his head and then his side. Both of the wound would require stitches, but currently she had to stem the blood flow long enough to focus her attention on his back.

"Alright, Apollyon." Eleanora spoke breathlessly as adrenaline was coursing through her body, her eyes wide with attention. "This will hurt, like a lot, so bite down on this." She instructed as she held out a dishcloth in front of him. Apollyon bit down on it as he breathed harshly through his nose.

"Okay, now lie down on your stomach...and just prey that I don't screw up." Eleanora continued as she helped him lie down on her bed. Breathing deeply, Eleanora removed all her layers, simply leaving her in a full sleeved shirt as she rolled up the sleeves. Sending a silent prayer of her own, she straddled his waist with the medical kit lying beside her with everything she needs.

"Here goes nothing." She muttered as she grabbed hold of the antiseptic fluid and slowly poured it over the wound. As the fluid came in contact with the cut skin, all of Apollyon's muscles tensed as he tightly grabbed onto the sheets, biting down on the cloth as he shook with suppressed pain.

She cleaned the wound, ensuring that she had it completely disinfected before putting the fluid down. Eleanora stroked his hair as a comforting gesture as he was breathing harshly, his eyes shut tightly.

"Okay, this will hurt more. But you have to stay still." She informed him calmly as she was ready to stitch him up. "Don't move, no matter what."

Exhaling deeply, she started at the task at hand as his pained scream was muffled by the washcloth in his mouth, his knuckles white due to the death grip he had on the sheets as he tried his best to remain still. Burying his face in the pillow he cried out in pain as it was too much to bare. Apollyon's entire body was beaded with sweat as he tried to remain brave and do as instructed.

He felt the needle go through his skin and the silken thread pulled the torn skin together, seaming it. The tears and sweat flowed down his face as he had trouble regaining his breath. It felt like hours as she worked on his back, the pain pulsating through his entire body as it felt like a red hot needle was piercing him from every pore. He tried hard to keep breathing as Eleanora murmured soothing words to him, trying to calm him down by telling him random children stories.

He would have appreciated it if only he weren't in so much pain to the point that he couldn't even form a coherent thought. After what felt like eternity, she finished with his back, wiping away the blood and the stitches with antiseptic wipes as he cringed at the sudden cold sensation on his burning back. Taking out another roll of gauge she plastered it onto his back before making him sit up.

Eleanora was kind enough to give him the liberty of breathing for a few minutes before she started the process again. She helped him drink a few glasses of water as she wiped at his face with a warm towel.

"We're done with the hardest part." She told him softly. "Now only a bit more is left, okay? Then you can take a nice warm shower, alright? And once you're clean, you can go to sleep."

Eleanora was beyond surprised that he hadn't blacked out once through out the whole ordeal. He was holding on, and he was in pain. Eleanora gently pushed him onto his back, ensuring that it didn't hurt his back too much. Straddling his waist, she stroked his cheek before putting the washcloth in front of him as he tightly clamped his teeth on the fabric, laying his head back as he tightly grasped her bed-sheet into his sweaty and clammy hands.

Taking in another calming breath, Eleanora steeled her nerves before removing the gauge from his stomach. Taking the towel she wiped away the smeared blood, before pouring antiseptic on it. Apollyon's stomach clenched as the fluid came in contact with his skin, groaning in pain as he tightly shut his eyes, mentally preparing himself for the stitches. Sooner than he realized, he felt the needle pierce his skin and the silk thread seam his skin together again.

Throughout the time that she worked on his wound, he remained absolutely still, he might have blacked out a moment or two, but he couldn't be sure as his sole focus was on not moving. Soon Eleanora finished stitching his stomach, cleaning the area before wrapping it again. Apollyon was shaking as tears flowed down his face at the pain. Wiping them away, Eleanora placed a kiss on the top of his head before telling him that he was the bravest person she had ever met.

"Now, only your head is left, okay?" She whispered to him softly. "Then we're done. Promise."

"Okay." He croaked out as Eleanora had taken the washcloth out of his mouth.

She soon set out to work on his forehead, as the pain was benign compared to the previous two wounds. They were done rather quickly as she wiped at the finished stitches with antiseptic wipes, and plastered a bandage on the area.

"All done." She spoke gently as she brushed strands of his hair out of his eye. "Do you want to rest for a moment?"

Apollyon simply nodded as he felt too drained to do anything. As he lay there on her bed, Eleanora inspected him and saw that his body was littered with bruises and small cuts here and there. The major threats were out of the way and the cuts would heal themselves, but it would take a few days for the bruises to heal. He'd have scars, Eleanora realized suddenly. Two of them on his back, one on his stomach, and another one on his forehead, but could easily be concealed by his hair.

"Okay..." He groaned as he tried to sit up. Eleanora helped him up as he was unstable on his feet. After a lot of stumbling and staggering, along with bumping into things, they finally managed to submerge him into the warm water. Apollyon leaned against the tub as he sighed in relief at how relaxed his aching muscles felt in the water.

"I'm going to go over to your apartment and get you some clothes, okay?" Eleanora informed him as she was crouched beside his figure in the tub. He looked up at her with wide panicked eyes, fear evident on his features. "I'll be right back, I promise."

Letting go if her wrist he allowed her to walk away. She went over to his apartment, grabbing the most comfortable looking clothes before walking back down the stairs and towards her own. Entering she placed some food into the microwave for heating and went into her bedroom. She called out to Apollyon, telling him that she was back as she cleaned her room, disposing off all the bloodied and used material.

She helped Apollyon get dressed before settling him on the bed. He was still in much pain, but she promised to give him painkillers once he was done eating. She fed him before giving him the pills. He nearly choked on them the first time, and the second time he couldn't swallow them and spat them out due to their bitter taste, and eventually Eleanora had to crush them and mix them with the water just so that he could swallow them.

She tucked him in, watching him drift off to sleep as she waited a moment longer to ensure that he was completely asleep before coming undone. She collapsed to her knees as she gasped for the air that she desperately needed.

For the first few hours of the night she cried her eyes out, believing that her best friend was dead, and then he suddenly appears on her doorstep, all bloodied and bruised and on the verge of dying due to blood loss. Then he insists that she patches him up, with no prior experience on how to handle such deep wounds and gashes. Sucking up her conscious, she cleaned every wound littering his body and attended to it. Stitching him up, personally, with her own hands, as his cries and groans of pains reverberate in her skull.

Clutching her head, she tried to consolidate herself of the traumatic experience she just went through and prayed that something like this never happens again.

But wait. Gabriel said that he was dead, but he isn't. Apollyon is right here. What happened to leave him like this? What did Michael do to him?

What did actually happen?