The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death
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marysuevirusTitle: The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death
Chapter Sixty Seven: A Bitter Pill to Swallow
Fandom: Anita Blake universe
Rating: 18 and up
Warnings: graphic sex and violence, language, anything else i can toss in.
Disclaimer: the recognizable characters and places contained herein are the property of LKH. i'm merely borrowing for the sake of entertainment. no money is being made from this venture. the Sues are the sole property of their originators, Ginevra, Dazzledfirestar, Nanaea, SilverFoxChan and ladydeathfaerie. the concept and title of The Mary Sue Virus are used with permission from Dazzledfirestar.
Author's Notes: by George, i think she's got it!
The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death - Index Link
The sun had been down for nearly half an hour when Jean Claude entered Aedan's hospital room. From his corner, Edward watched the other man's gaze move immediately to the bed and the form huddled under the blankets there. Aedan had been sleeping off and on since her friends had left, waking long enough to eat a light dinner before drifting back off. It made Edward wonder if the marks were doing their job or not. He'd been sure that things would have gotten better for her by now, but the exhaustion seemed to cling to her. Maybe the damage had been so severe that it was going to take the marks time to do their thing.
The vampire didn't immediately shift his attention Edward's way. Which the assassin hadn't really expected to happen. But the frown caught him off guard, because he was so used to seeing Jean Claude maintain that safe blankness. It prompted him to turn his gaze back to the bed. Aedan was dozing fitfully, hands twitching against the blankets while pain crawled across her face. "Has this been happening often?" Jean Claude asked, voice low enough to avoid disturbing Aedan's rest.
"Off and on," Edward replied, watching as the twitching subsided for a moment, then picked up again in earnest. At the same time, Aedan's spine bowed just a bit, as if she was riding a wave of pain. "I suspect she's reliving the events of last night. Likely because of the ass chewing she was subjected to this afternoon."
"Her friends are quite shaken by what happened," came the reply. It drew Edward's attention back toward Jean Claude to find that the frown he was wearing had only gotten bigger.
"They're not the only ones," Edward confirmed. The tone of his voice brought Jean Claude's deep blue gaze his way. One hand motioned lazily toward the bed. "She took ten years off my life last night. I can't imagine what it was like for someone tied to her as thoroughly as you are."
"I was frozen with fear," Jean Claude admitted, voice a faint whisper of sound in the room. He frowned as Aedan twitched again.
"Don't worry. The dreams are normal. Aedan has always suffered through dreams and nightmares. Because she blocks it out when she's conscious. This is her brain's way of dealing with the shit she refuses to think about," Edward assured him. Then he frowned. "What I'm worried about is how worn down she seems to be. She's done a lot of sleeping but it doesn't seem like she's done much healing. She still acts like it hurts to take a full breath."
Jean Claude set down the bag he'd carried into the room, dropping it absently into the chair next to the bed, and reached out a hand to trail his fingers against her forehead. Aedan stilled immediately, relaxing into the bedding as if the dream had never been. "She expended a great amount of energy last night. Far more than she should have."
"Using her power drains her?" Edward asked. Jean Claude looked at him and offered him a faint smile.
"Her power is practically limitless," he replied. "Her energy is not. She is still only human and, as such, has limits. She reached her limits last night. Her body is making up for it now. Which is why the healing is slowed."
Edward considered that, deciding it made perfect sense. He turned his gaze back to the bed a moment and watched as Aedan slept peacefully. "I should have been with her last night. If I had, this would never have happened," he said.
His statement prompted a chuckle from the vampire, bringing his gaze back the other man's way. When Jean Claude looked at him, Edward made sure his face told the man he was more than welcome to explain his laughter. "Do you think you would have stopped her so easily if she was determined to do what she felt was best?"
"I could have stopped her," Edward replied, certainty in his voice. He watched as Jean Claude shook his head, then moved the bag from the chair and settled himself into it. It was close enough to the bed that he could reach out and lay his hand on Aedan's without making any adjustments to his posture.
"She had two of Rafael's best rats on her last night. Not Bobby Lee and Claudia, but still two of his better rats. And she brought them down very quickly and very easily," Jean Claude told him.
That was something Edward hadn't been aware of. She would have had to have done something to both rats at the same time to manage to get away from them as she obviously had. He couldn't think of anything that would give her that kind of edge. "How?"
"She drained them of their energy. The moment they got into the elevator. They were unable to stop it because by the time they realized what was happening, she had already weakened them. By the time the elevator doors opened, she had taken enough to render them unconscious." Jean Claude sounded equal parts amused and upset by that. Likely he hadn't figured that Aedan would do something so reckless. To be honest, Edward really hadn't thought she would, either.
"That seems an odd way to keep someone from stopping her," Edward mused.
"I believe she used the energy she borrowed," Jean Claude told him. Edward gave him a curious look. This was something he'd never gotten to discuss with Anita, though he'd known she was capable of doing it. Having Jean Claude there and willing to talk about it was all the invitation Edward needed to satisfy that curiosity. "In her battle of wills against the summoner last night. I believe she used the energy she stole from the rats against him."
"How would that even work? I thought it was an energy transfer type of thing."
Jean Claude stared at him a moment, eyes deep and fathomless. Likely he was considering how much information he could safely share with the most feared vampire hunter on the planet. Edward could have told him that he would never use that information against the vampires, but Jean Claude was intelligent enough to know it for the lie it was. Finally, the vampire heaved a sigh and shook his head, making the curls in his hair bounce. "That talent is generally used as an energy transfer, yes. Anita gifted it to Aedan. Both of them have felt the need to use it to save lives. Aedan has used it to keep Asher alive. And to save Rhiannon. She drew energy from one party and gave it to another. In Asher's case, it was from Micah and Minette. For Rhiannon, she took energy from the vampire who attacked them at the restaurant. Both times, she used it to heal the second party."
Edward nodded. "She channels the energy from one person to another. Kind of like the old Robin Hood stories. Take from the rich and give to the poor. The rich in this case are the ones with energy and the poor are the ones who have been hurt."
"Exactly so," Jean Claude nodded. Aedan made some noise in her sleep, prompting the vampire to reach up and once again touch her forehead. Almost immediately, she calmed and went back to actually sleeping.
"So... What did she do with the energy she took from the rats last night?" Edward asked. He thought he had it figured out, but he wanted the vampire to confirm his beliefs.
"She held on to it. And used it to sustain herself during the evening. It is how she lasted against the demon so long with a punctured lung," Jean Claude said. Which was exactly what Edward thought she'd done. "Regardless of the rashness of her actions, she knew what she was doing."
"My actions weren't rash because I knew exactly what I was doing," Aedan grumbled, voice low and filled with sleep. Perhaps a touch of pain. She didn't bother to open her eyes, but she did tug her hand from Jean Claude's hold. He reached out and took hold of it again, ignoring the unspoken command to let her be. She offered them a frown to let them know she didn't like that they'd been talking about her while she slept. "We are not hashing this shit out again. I am not apologizing for doing my job and keeping a friend, and innocent civilians, safe. End of story. So if you're here to chew me out, you can not bother and just fucking leave."
"On the contrary, ma mie," Jean Claude said, reaching down to pick up the bag he'd brought with. "I am here to take you home. Dr. Lillian is talking to your physician as we speak. She and I thought it would be prudent to get you released from the hospital before any serious healing took place. The less you need to explain to people, the better."
That saw her opening her eyes. She shot the vampire a frown, as if she didn't quite trust him. Edward held back the smile that thought brought to life. He was glad to know that she wasn't so far under the man's spell that she trusted him implicitly. Then she was struggling to sit up, her actions slow and cautious. Jean Claude put a hand out to stop her, the smile on his face slightly amused and filled with tenderness. "There is no need to start until Dr. Lillian has accomplished your release. Relax, ma mie, and save your strength."
Her eyes narrowed on him. "You're being nice," she said, voice filled with accusation.
"Am I not supposed to be nice?" he questioned lightly. It saw her eyes narrowing even further, if such a thing was possible.
"You should be raging at me for doing what I did, despite the fact I said we weren't talking about it again. But you're not. Don't think I don't know exactly how you feel about what went down last night. You forget, buddy. I'm tied to you the same as you're tied to me and you don't always remember to keep yourself apart from me."
"You said yourself that you will not talk about your actions last night. What point is there in me raging at you if you refuse to listen to me?" he asked. It was a reasonable question. Which saw Aedan even more on alert. She was saved from having to come up with an answer, though, when the door swung open and Dr. Lillian came in. She glanced at the three of them, then motioned to the door with one hand.
"Both of you boys. Out in the hallway. Allow me to examine my patient. And help her change into her own clothes," she ordered brusquely.
Edward was afraid of very little. He'd seen so many things in his life that there wasn't much left that would see him quaking in fear. Dr. Lillian might be one of the only people on the planet who could make him worry about his continued existence. So he rose from his chair and headed for the door, shooting a look Aedan's way as he did so. He heard Jean Claude rise from the chair next to the bed, felt him at his back like a shadow. Normally, Edward would have made sure the vampire left before he did. This wasn't normally, though, and Jean Claude was more trustworthy than some. The two of them crossed the hall to lean against the wall opposite the door and wait.
"Suppose Lillian is going to read her the riot act?" he asked. If anyone could get away with it, it was Lillian.
"Do you really think she needs to? All she needs do is give Aedan a look and that will be all it takes," Jean Claude replied. There was maybe a touch of amusement in his voice. Edward decided that there was a sadistic streak in the vampire a mile wide.
~*~*~*~*~
Aedan watched as Lillian stared at her. Edward and Jean Claude had left the room a full minute earlier and, as yet, Lillian had not said anything. She was having a hard time reading the woman's expression, but she was pretty sure the good doctor was gearing up for an ass chewing. "Don't even bother," Aedan warned.
"Girl, you have been in more dangerous situations in the past month than Anita got into in the entire time I knew her. Is it a talent or do you go looking for trouble?" Lillian asked, voice very definitely filled with displeasure.
"Obviously I go looking for it. Because my life is so uncomplicated without the murders and death threats," Aedan retorted.
Lillian heaved a sigh and shot her a look. "I'm going to let that one go because I know you're not at your best. But I have to know what you were thinking."
"I'll tell you like I told everyone else. I was thinking that I was doing my job. I was thinking that I was doing what needed to be done to keep a friend from dying. To keep more innocents from dying." She made sure that her voice was pitched low, so that she knew that Lillian would have to actually listen to her. "No one seems to think that I understood what I was doing. That I understood the risks I was taking. Trust me. No one understood better than I did."
"Aedan," Lillian began, voice tight with emotion. The woman fell silent for several long moments before heaving a sigh and settling herself in the chair next to the bed. "You died last night. Your heart stopped beating and you died. Do you understand that?"
She considered a smart remark, but Lillian sounded worn. Maybe a little less in control than she let people think she was. So she held on to the smart assed comment. "I know. And before you say anything else, I knew it would happen. In fact, it had to happen in order to give the demon flesh. They wouldn't have been able to banish him if that hadn't happened. The death of the summoner's last sacrifice was meant to give the demon living flesh here on earth. Unexorcisable by any man or woman of faith. Unkillable. Unstoppable. Which is what the demon was trying to accomplish. The summoner was too blinded by his desire for power to realize that the demon was using him as a means to an end."
Aedan paused and sighed, not sure if this was what Lillian wanted to hear. But someone needed to understand what she'd done. And why. No one else wanted to listen. Maybe Lillian would. "However, there is a small bit of information that I think the demon was hoping no one had bothered to study up on. In those first few moments after the sacrifice's death, the newly birthed demon is vulnerable. Its as if the magic that protects them is stripped in the power exchange. Not for long, mind you. But long enough that if someone was to take a blessed blade to it, they'd be able to send it back to its own realm. Christophe and Rhia... That information was shared with them. So they knew that the demon would be open to an attack right from the start."
"Why didn't you share that information with anyone else? So that someone else besides you knew what the plan was," the doctor huffed.
"Pretend you're Jean Claude. Or Edward. And imagine I come to you and tell you exactly what I just told you about the demon. How to defeat it. Do you honestly believe that it would sway your decision?" she asked. "Think about it. If I told either one of them what I knew and what I was planning to do, they'd have locked me up and tried to send someone else to their death. Why should someone else have to die? Especially if they didn't have the added protection of the marks?"
"The marks don't make you immortal, Aedan. You can still die."
"I know that. Trust me, I know. But who would you sacrifice in my place?" she questioned gently. "There were too many dead people tied to the summoner. I wasn't about to give them one more."
Lillian nodded her head and sighed. "There's been so much death the past few months. Anita. The lycanthropes. The people slaughtered by the demon. You shouldn't have been so willing to add yourself to that list, Aedan. What if Edward hadn't been there to keep you alive? What if you hadn't come back? Do you think we want to lose someone else? Do you think we're willing to lose someone else?"
The doctor sounded older than her years. Tired. Frightened. Aedan reached out and rested her hand on Lillian's in a gesture meant to soothe and offer comfort. "I honestly didn't think anyone would really miss me. Minette, yes. Because we've been friends for so long. But the others? You? You hardly know me. And I'm the one who failed to protect Anita."
Lillian frowned at her. "You are not responsible for Anita's death. And what makes you think you failed to protect her?"
"She died, didn't she? And I didn't do anything to stop the mob that attacked us that night. I sat in the car and watched it all happen and didn't even lift a finger to help." Even after all this time, there was no way for Aedan to keep the bitterness at her failure from her voice.
"Haven't you realized by now that you protected Anita that night? Maybe not in the way you felt you should. But you still protected her. You protected her loved ones and her legacy. She asked you to take care of everyone. And you did. Because of your selflessness, no one was lost after Anita died. You saved us when you made your promise to Anita. You protected everything and everyone she loved. You kept her with us. You've done more than you think. Losing you would have been a blow few of us would have recovered from, Aedan."
There was such raw emotion in Lillian's eyes, and in her voice, that Aedan found she had no reply to make to that. So she remained silent, contemplated what the woman had told her. Maybe she'd gone about things the wrong way. But she was never going to regret offering herself up in Rhia's place. Anything to keep Rhia alive. Anything to keep another innocent family from being slaughtered.
"Now that I've given you something to chew on, let's see about getting you ready to go home," Lillian said, a faint smile on her face. "First things first. Let me take a look at your injuries. After that, we'll get rid of the IV. Then we'll get you into your own clothes."
"Okay," Aedan nodded. She allowed Lillian to help her sit up and swing her legs over the side of the bed. When she was upright and mostly breathing normally again, the pain slowly subsiding, she let Lillian pull the ties on the hospital gown so that the garment gaped and then fell down her arms. Aedan wasn't surprised to see white gauze taped to her upper chest and under her ribcage. She only winced a little bit when Lillian peeled the tape back so that she could get a good look at the damage hidden by the bandages.
The darkness of the sutures used to close up the hole in her shoulder were stark against her skin, allowing Aedan to see that they were small and neat. She could see that the skin where the hole had been was starting to take on a shiny look, letting her know that the wound was closed and already working through the scarring phase. Lillian righted the bandage, then repeated the process with the one taped to Aedan's back. Aedan heard Lillian making what she thought were approving noises as she studied the twin to the wound in her chest. "We'll take these out once you're home. I think this will continue to close nicely without the stitches."
"Whatever you say," Aedan replied.
Lillian replaced the bandage, gently pressing the tape down to keep it in place for the time being. Then she moved on to the other wound. The tape pulled more this time, forcing Aedan to bite her lip in order to keep the bad words down to a minimum. She couldn't see that wound as well as the other one, but the look on Lillian's face let her know it was ugly. "This one will require more time. I think it should be good in a day or two. But for now, we'll leave it as is. Are you ready to put clothes on?"
Aedan considered it and gave Lillian a look. "Maybe? Does it require a lot of lifting of arms and the like?"
"Jean Claude picked out clothing that he felt would be easy for you to get on without having to move your arms too much. I think the worst thing might be your bra. We can skip that if you want."
"No. I think I'll be okay for however long it takes to get home. I can always take it off when we get there. Knowing everyone, I'm probably going to end right back up in bed."
Lillian leveled a look on her. "You're damn right you will. You have to take time to let this heal up, Aedan. The demon did some serious damage. You need to let it fully mend or you'll have nothing but problems."
Aedan wanted to roll her eyes but she didn't. She knew Lillian was well aware of what kind of damage the demon had inflicted. No doubt she'd already seen Aedan's chart. "Tell evil doers that."
"If Detective Storr so much as thinks you're going to a crime scene any time soon, I'll be happy to set him straight on that account." The look on Lillian's face said she would take Dolph's head off if he even considered calling Aedan in to look at a crime scene.
"Chances are good you won't have to do that. He saw what the demon did," Aedan told her.
"I'll be surprised if he can go a week without trying to antagonize you," Lillian replied, hands busy with opening the bag Jean Claude had brought. Aedan watched as she brought clothes out of it. A bra, fresh panties, a shirt with buttons and a pair of old jeans. Socks and a pair of sneakers came out last. Lillian looked up at her. "Where do you want to start?"
Aedan considered that. "Bra first. Then I think I can wiggle out of my underwear without too much trouble. We can put the fresh pair on, then the jeans, and I can stand and attempt to get them up my legs together."
Lillian shot Aedan a look that told her exactly what she thought of that plan.
In the end, Lillian did most of the work. They did start with her bra, working it up and on with little movement required on Aedan's part. Once Lillian had the thing hooked, Aedan took far longer than she liked adjusting the girls and getting them set into the cups properly. Next came ridding her of her dirty undies and getting her into the fresh pair. Aedan didn't like that Lillian seemed to be doing most of the work while she stood there like a lump. But Lillian didn't seem too put out and, to be honest, just moving her arms made her muscles ache. So by the time Lillian got her into her clothes, she was tired and sore and wanted nothing more than to sleep.
Lillian let Jean Claude and Edward into the room once Aedan was settled in a chair, her feet bare and cold against the tiled floor. She was surprised when Jean Claude wordlessly took possession of the shoes and socks and knelt before Aedan to help her put them on. Lillian slipped from the room without a word, no doubt off to order up a wheel chair. Probably a good thing, because Aedan wasn't up to putting on a tough girl act.
Jean Claude was just rising to his feet when Lillian returned, a nurse pushing a wheel chair following after her. "I've gotten her signed out. The staff physician doesn't like the idea of letting her leave, but I talked him around," Lillian told them. The nurse parked the wheel chair next to the one Aedan was sitting in and made to help her up. But Jean Claude motioned her away and offered Aedan his hand. She gave him a look, but put her hand in his and allowed him to help her get to her feet. Seconds later, she was settling into the wheel chair with a soft, thankful sigh. Edward collected her personal possessions and then they were off.
~*~*~*~*~
Aedan dozed the entire way to the Circus, head resting against Jean Claude's shoulder. He'd wound an arm around her shoulders the moment they'd gotten into the vehicle and held her to him, afraid to let her go for fear that she'd simply vanish. Lillian rode with them, settled silently between the Wicked Truth. He knew that Edward followed the limo in his own vehicle, no doubt intent on seeing Aedan properly put to bed before letting her out of his sight. He was starting to think that perhaps there were deeper feelings than friendship between the bounty hunter and his human servant
The ride was made in silence, each passenger left to their own thoughts. Jean Claude couldn't quite stop himself from thinking about the events of the previous evening, of how helpless he'd felt as Aedan had lay dying. It was an odd feeling, one he didn't care for very much. It reminded him of the night Anita had died, of how he'd felt as he'd realized that he was losing her and there had been nothing he could do to stop it. How he'd felt when she'd shut him out. His reaction to Aedan's near loss was similar to what he'd felt with Anita's death. He thought it was far too strong, much stronger than it should have been, and he refused to look at it too closely. He didn't want to consider what it might mean, wasn't ready to think about that. Instead, he took solace in the weight of her body against his, in the soft sound of her breath as it slid in and out of her chest. In the steady thumping of her heart in her chest.
It was a miracle she was there with him. Despite the absolute madness of her actions, despite the danger and the death, she'd survived. He didn't know if she was the luckiest person in the world or if she was simply that good. He wasn't sure which one he preferred.
When they arrived at the Circus, Aedan roused herself and did what she could to help them get her out of the back of the limo. It wasn't much. She was stiff and she moved much slower than she liked. When she finally stood on the surface of the parking lot, face pale and drawn and breath almost rasping from her throat, Jean Claude carefully lifted her up into his arms in order to carry her into the building and then down the stairs. He was, perhaps, only slightly surprised that she didn't argue with him about it.
They made it down the stairs and to her rooms without incident. He'd made a point of keeping her friends in the dark about his intentions to have her released from the hospital, so none of them were waiting to greet her when they finally stepped into the lair. Aedan didn't say anything about the empty living area, but he felt her sadness that they weren't there, how hurt she was that they hadn't bothered to welcome her home. He'd have to ensure that they did so later, after she'd rested. And, while he was at it, he'd have to find a way to mend their friendship.
Edward followed after them silently, the bag holding her property in one hand. Jean Claude suspected that he had his gun hand free on the off chance some villain leapt out of the shadows at them and tried to make an attempt on her life then and there. He once might have found the idea of an assassin living in his lair laughable. But not anymore. Aedan was a magnet for trouble and he wouldn't put it past her enemies to try and attack in the place it would be least expected.
Once they'd entered her room, Jean Claude settled her in the center of the big bed then took her things from Edward and made a show of carrying them off in order to give the man time to speak with her alone. They all knew it was for show, that he'd hear everything. But it was the gesture that mattered most. "You're going to stay in bed and rest up," Edward told her, no small amount of threat in his voice.
"Yes, boss," Aedan replied. There was just a hint of sass in her words, a touch of her normal self, but mostly there was seriousness. She had to feel particularly bad if she wasn't going to fight him on it.
"That's it? No arguing? No sarcastic come back? Just immediate agreement?" Edward asked. He sounded a touch confused, as if he wasn't sure what to make of her easy acquiescence. To be fair, Jean Claude didn't know what to make of it, either.
"No arguing. No sarcastic come back," she replied. "In case you missed it, I had a demon sink his talons into my body last night. My chest hurts and its a little tight when I draw a breath. We won't get into what my stomach feels like. All I plan on doing is sleeping and healing. I'll be a complete pain in your ass when I'm back up to snuff."
"I'm counting on it," Edward told her. A quick glance over his shoulder showed him that there was a touch of warmth in the man's face and a hint of a smile tugged the corners of his mouth up. "Be good. If you misbehave, Jean Claude will send me a text and I'll come back here and kick your ass."
"I'm sure the line for that will be long," she returned. There was silence a moment before Aedan spoke again. "Going home to check on Donna and the kids?"
"Yeah. I need to make sure they're okay."
Another pause. "I scared you that bad, did I?" The question was soft, the words spoken gently. It was a strange, sharp contrast with the man they were meant for. A man who, on any given day, came across as cold and callous.
"Aedan, you died. It doesn't matter that you knew what was going to happen. It doesn't matter that you came back. You fucking died. And... I've already lost one good friend. I can't lose another. I can face just about any monster you send my way and come out of it untouched. That monster, though? That's one I can't face again. Not so soon." It was an oddly intimate moment, given life by a man who was not often inclined to intimacy.
"I'm sorry," she told him. And she meant it.
"I'll be back," he warned. A moment later, Jean Claude heard the door close. He took a moment to chose something for Aedan to wear while she slept, then shut the drawer he'd had open and turned to face her. She was eyeing him as if she expected him to descend upon her like a starving beggar descended upon a feast laid before him. Jean Claude offered her a smile and moved to the newly installed flat-screen television that was centered on the wall so she could watch it from her bed. One finger found the power button and turned it on, filling the room with the soft sounds of some program. Then he crossed the room and joined her on the bed.
Getting her out of her clothes proved far more taxing than he liked, and Aedan was left short of breath and in pain. It was far easier to get her night shirt on than it had been to take her clothes off. He carefully maneuvered her until she was propped up against the pillows at the head of the bed. He settled next to her, reaching out to take hold of the remote for the set, which ended up in her hand. "Let me know if you are hungry, ma mie," he said. "I will send for some junk food."
He felt Aedan's gaze come to rest on him, felt her confusion and disbelief at his actions. No doubt she'd expected him to start chewing her out the moment he got her settled and the fact that he wasn't obviously threw her. There was a knock at the door before it opened and Dr. Lillian entered with one of the wolves trailing behind her. She carried her bag in one hand. The wolf had a tray laden with a can of Coke, a plate that held a sandwich, and a bowl filled with salad. The wolf settled the tray across Aedan's legs, then left. Lillian set her bag down on the edge of the bed, then opened it up. One hand reached in and came out quickly enough, setting one of those brownish colored prescription bottles down on the tray next to Aedan's Coke.
"Pain relievers. I know your chest is still tender," the doctor explained. "Take those with food. Its probable that they'll put you to sleep. That isn't a bad thing. Rest is the most important thing right now."
"Yes, ma'am," Aedan replied dutifully.
"Let's get you undressed and I'll remove the stitches in your chest. Then you can put on some night clothes and settle in for the evening." Lillian turned and shot a look at Jean Claude. "I don't want her moving unless necessary. The wounds will heal better if she isn't in and out of bed all the time. And that means no phone calls from the police. None from Animator's, Inc., either. Nothing but rest."
"Of course. I have already arranged to have someone sit with her when I cannot," Jean Claude assured Lillian. He stole a glance at Aedan to gauge her reaction and was mildly disappointed that she didn't look ready to argue about it.
"Good. Now," Lillian began and started taking items out of her bag. "Let's get her out of her clothes so I can deal with her stitches."
It took little time to strip Aedan of her clothes. She helped where she could, and did an admirable job of keeping how she felt to herself. But Jean Claude felt the pain and exhaustion eating at her when they were done. Then he watched, silent and intent, as Lillian peeled the white gauze away from her skin. The small puncture wound in her shoulder was closed, the skin under the dark stitches already starting to turn shiny with scar material. Lillian studied them a moment, then shifted her attention to the back of Aedan's shoulder. "The sutures are neat and tiny. Had you been forced to heal at the normal human rate, I don't think these wounds would have left scars. You had a good surgeon."
"Great. I was so worried about bikini season," Aedan replied, voice heavy with sarcasm and exhaustion.
"Hush, girl!" Lillian scolded before turning to her bag. They watched as the woman pulled a pair of scissors from its depth. Next came a set of tweezers. She also brought out a pair of gloves and a box of wipes. She spent a moment or two wiping her hands down with one of the wipes, which she tossed onto the night stand nearest her. Then she snapped on the gloves and picked up the scissors. "This shouldn't hurt. It might pull a little when I tug the sutures free. Just so you know."
"I'm a big girl. I think I can handle it," Aedan told her. Lillian flashed her a smile, then went to work. It didn't take long at all to remove the stitches, a single snip of the scissors cutting the loop and a tug of the tweezers pulling the sutures from Aedan's skin. There was a hint of the hole left behind by the demon's talon, and tiny little pinprick holes where the stitches had been placed. But there was little else to say that she'd been injured only last night. The process was repeated on Aedan's back, each broken stitch left in the center of the used wipe.
"Edward told me you slept most of the day. That's probably why your shoulder is almost healed. Its likely that your lung is almost back to one hundred percent. The abdomen will take a little longer. Please don't push. Relax and let it take its own sweet time. I doubt it will take much longer. The pain, however... There's no telling how long it will take for your muscles to fully recover. Give them time, Aedan."
"I will," she promised, biting back a yawn. Lillian smiled at her, reaching out with one hand to pat Aedan's arm gently. Then she gave her a look that said she'd be in such deep trouble if she didn't.
"I'll be back to look in on you tomorrow. Unless you need to get out of bed and use the bathroom, please stay put." Had Lillian phrased the last part as an order, it might have made Aedan angry. But it was more plea than order, and Aedan gave the woman a nod.
"I promise," she said.
Lillian smiled. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to return to the rodere and inform everyone as to how you're doing. I expect you'll have visits in the near future. I'd put some padding on that backside if I was you. That way they can't chew it all off." She was gone before Aedan made a comment.
Jean Claude wordlessly helped Aedan into the night shirt he'd picked for her, taking it slow and easy so as not to aggravate any of her healing injuries any more than necessary. She was tense and pale when the shirt was in place and it took very little convincing on his part to get her to lay back against the mound of pillows propped up against the headboard. Jean Claude reached out and opened the Coke for her, offering it silently before settling himself next to her. He watched from the corner of his eye as Aedan sipped the cold beverage, then set the can down and absently broke a bite off the sandwich.
It went this way for several long moments, Aedan silent as she stared at the television and picked at her meal. She changed channel several times until she found a station that was showing some animated film. He didn't know what it was, but he thought the main character bore some kind of resemblance. He lowered his hand and let his fingers trail against the bared flesh of her thigh, took comfort in the feel of her skin under his. She was warm and soft and alive.
Alive. It felt odd to him that this had been one of his thoughts. But images of the night before, of Aedan simply slipping away from him, of his arm covered in her blood, of the sight of the demon trying to rip her heart from her chest, loomed up to remind him that it wasn't an odd thought. That he really had nearly lost her not even twenty four hours ago. Fear flooded his veins. It was the same fear he'd felt last night. The same fear he'd felt when Anita had died. And with it came his rage. How dare she do something that nearly took her from him. How dare she make him care for her and then almost get herself killed. How dare she up end his life so thoroughly!
"Aedan," he began.
"Don't," she said. How she knew was beyond him. He was sure there was nothing in his voice to give his emotions away. He was sure he had his inner most feelings and thoughts locked away from her.
"Aedan," he said again.
"I told you we weren't going to talk about this again. I meant it," she informed him. Her voice sounded soft and was filled with sleep. He should let her rest. Let her slumber and heal. But the fear refused to let him. The fear ate at him and reminded him that he could lose that which he held dear easily. Far too easily.
"That is too bad because I intend to talk about this. And you will listen to me, whether you like it or not. What happened last night cannot be allowed to pass without discussion," he responded.
"You mean an ass chewing, don't you?" she questioned, though her tone said she didn't care what he chose to call it. She was going to be stubborn about this. She was going to make him want to throttle her before the conversation was over.
"Call it what you will, Aedan," he shot back, letting anger creep into his voice. Letting emotion decide how he moved forward. "You died last night. You put your life in danger without letting anyone know what it was you planned on doing. And you died."
He was staring at her, so he saw her roll her eyes. As if he was being far too dramatic about it all. "I had it all under control. Why will no one understand that?"
"What I understand is you put yourself in danger. Willingly. And you never once considered speaking with anyone about what you planned doing. What I understand is that I saw you die last night. What I understand is that you do not understand why your friends and family are all upset with your actions. That, Aedan, is what I understand."
"I had it under control," she said again, this time more forcefully than the last. As if that was enough to make it all okay. Jean Claude frowned at her.
"You had it under control!" he scoffed, giving his fear permission to run free. Giving his anger the right to run along beside the fear. "You had it under control when a power mad mortal locked you inside a circle with a demon determined to end your life in order to give itself a foothold here on earth. You had it under control when that same demon drove its talons into your chest. Into your stomach. When it attempted to rip your beating heart from your chest. You had it all under control then?"
"Yes!" she spat angrily, more force behind her words than she likely meant. Because in the next moment, she was trying to hide the fact that she'd only managed to send pain flashing through her muscles and that it was suddenly hard to draw a full breath. Her voice, when it next came, was a hoarse whisper. "I had it perfectly under control, Jean Claude. You had no reason to worry."
"No reason to worry?" he asked, positively stunned by the statement. "Aedan, do you hear yourself? You knew when you spoke with me last night that you were going off to do something that would end with your death. You knew it when you sent your message to Rhiannon. When you drained your guards into unconsciousness. You knew what would happen and you have the nerve to tell me that I had no reason to worry?"
"You had no reason to worry because I knew you wouldn't let me die." Her tone said she honestly believed that. He was shocked beyond belief by her convoluted line of thinking. He shouldn't have worried because she knew he'd save her?
"What kind of idiotic thinking is that?" he demanded. She didn't look at him, refused to take her eyes off the television. So he clearly saw her jaw clench with tension and anger.
"Apparently the biggest kind," she said, so softly he barely heard it. And the pain buried in her words. He realized then that she'd honestly been counting on him to keep her from dying, that she'd sincerely believed he was capable of such miracles. The thought saw some of his temper subsiding, saw him taking a breath in order to bring order to his thoughts.
"Aedan," he started again, ensuring that his voice was gentle so that she'd be sure to listen. "I was too far away the night Anita was attacked on the road to be of any help. I do not even know if I could have given her aid that would have kept her alive. I could have perhaps shared my energy and strength with her, but to what end? The numbers were far too large for me to have been of any real help. Anita understood what was going to happen when she got out of that car. And she made that decision without regret. And she shut me out so that I was not there when she died."
Aedan slanted a look his way. "And that's different how, exactly?" she asked.
"Because she did not step out of the car with the intent to get herself killed. She got out of the car to protect you and Minette." His tone was cold and he saw that his words had struck home, but not in the way he intended them to. She closed herself down right before his eyes, shut herself away so that he couldn't tell how badly his words had hurt her.
"I see," she said, voice flat. "I'm sorry I assumed you gave a shit. Please get out and let me sleep."
"Aedan," he tried. She turned her head just enough that he could see the anger and betrayal swimming in her eyes. The tears she wouldn't let fall while he was present.
"Get. Out."
"Given you died just last night, I am sorry to report you will have to put up with me for a few hours more," he said, letting her know that he wasn't going anywhere. She shifted her attention back to the television and pretended she was watching the show that was playing.
"You can be pissed at me all you want. I am not going to apologize for keeping Rhia safe. I am not going to apologize for keeping innocent civilians safe."
"I am not... Yes. Yes, I am upset with you. Your actions were careless and the consequences were deadly. No matter how things ultimately turned out. But that is not the point I have been trying to make," he told her. One hand reached out and tugged the remote from her hand, thumbed the television off so that she had no choice but to pay attention to him. "The point I have been trying to make, that we all have been trying to make, is that losing you would have been something we simply could not have endured."
"You would have carried on. You always do," Aedan replied, so softly that he almost didn't hear her.
"Yes. I would have carried on. And the hole in my heart would have been twice as big. That much harder to fill. Your actions last night were commendable. You did what you felt was necessary to protect a friend. That is a noble idea. And it is what Anita did the night she died." He paused a moment, gave her time to mull over what he'd just said. "But there is a difference in what she did and what you did. Anita's choice was one made in the heat of the moment, because there was no time for anything else. Your choice was made well before you acted. And you chose not to tell anyone about your plans."
"Because I knew how you'd all react. You'd have freaked out even worse than you are now," she retorted, a frown pulling her lips down. "You all act like I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. You want to protect me when the truth is, you can't. I did what I had to do to stop the summoner. End of story."
"You chose to play his final victim. You chose to let him kill you in order to achieve your ultimate goal. Why do you not understand that you died last night and that it was not an acceptable choice?"
"Because I knew you would never let me die. I knew you'd be there to keep me alive," she informed him. There was so much unbridled faith in her voice that it left him stunned for a moment. Then he sighed and shook his head, chuffing out a laugh that held no joy or humor in it.
"I did not save you, Aedan. I could not save you," he said. She blinked and looked over at him, confusion plain to read on her face.
"I don't understand," she replied. He kept himself from saying that much was obvious.
"I could not help you last night, Aedan, because I was frozen with fear. Every one of us was. You were mortally wounded. You died before our very eyes. Not a one of us was capable of remembering what to do to keep you alive. Had Edward showed up a minute later... You would have stayed dead, Aedan," he told her, voice firm in order to ensure she understood just what he was saying. "And I would have lost someone else I cared about. I... cannot do that again, Aedan. I cannot survive the loss of someone so precious to me."
"I didn't think it would... " she trailed off and stared at the blank television.
"You made a choice that put your life in danger, Aedan. A choice that put other lives in danger. You made that choice and kept it to yourself, knowing that anyone you shared it with would do whatever they could to stop you. That was selfish and wrong. You hurt every last one of us by your actions. By your lack of faith and trust that we would do whatever we could to help you achieve your goals."
She dropped her gaze to her hands, stared at them for a long, long time. He watched her, waiting for some sign that she finally realized what she'd done. If the realization came, she kept it to herself. Instead, he watched her fish a pill from the bottle Lillian had left for her and swallow it down. Then she finished off her Coke and set the can down on the tray, pushed the tray away as best she could. She didn't look at him. Didn't say a word. She simply shifted herself into a more reclined position and set her head on the pillow, intent on going to sleep.
Jean Claude sighed and removed the tray. There was nothing more he could say that she'd understand. If she hadn't grasped his meaning by now, she never would. The tray was set in the hall outside her door. He shut the door and moved for the bed, shedding everything but his jeans. She might not want to talk to him, but there was no way he was leaving her alone. No way he wasn't holding her in his arms to ensure she didn't simply vanish on him. The lights were switched off. He joined her in the bed and took a moment to slide the covers up over her legs. When he was settled, back against the mound of pillows beside Aedan, he reached for her and pulled her into his hold.
She didn't fight him, simply allowed him to nestle her against his side and wrap an arm around her to keep her there. Slowly, inch by inch, she relaxed into his hold until he was sure she'd fallen asleep. So it was that the tears splashing against his chest surprised him. As did her voice when it rose up out of the darkness.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone."
~*~*~*~*~
She found him standing in the open door, staring into the darkened room silently. One hand slid up his shoulder while her other arm wrapped around him from behind. Somehow, that single touch saw the tension leaking out of him. "Bad day?" she asked quietly, her voice warm and tender. It practically begged him to tell her what had him brooding in the darkened doorway of a teenaged girl's bedroom.
"Yeah," he said. She went up on tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek, then tugged at his arm with one of her hands.
"Come on. Come with me and we'll talk about it over a cold beer," she insisted.
He let her draw him away from the doorway, let her pull the door closed before she herded him toward the kitchen. The lights flicked on after she nudged him into the room, then she was steering him toward a chair at the table. He sat, let her press a kiss to the top of his head, then watched as she headed toward the fridge. Out of it came a pair of cold long necks, and she took a moment to pop the tops before bringing them to the table. She set one before him, then took a seat and got a good look at him. "You look terrible, Ted. What's so bad that you're standing in Becca's door, watching her sleep?"
Donna's concern was palpable. Real. It made Edward feel better. "A friend of mine nearly died last night," he told her softly.
She studied him a moment, frowning, then her face cleared up and he saw the disbelief. "That young girl you've been mentoring?"
"Aedan," he nodded.
"What happened?" she asked softly, one hand reaching out to lay over one of his.
"She took on a demon," he replied. Donna blinked at that.
"I'm sorry. Did you say a demon?" she asked, lifting her beer for a sip.
"Yes. A demon," he confirmed.
"What was she doing tangling with a demon? She's just a girl."
He smiled faintly at the motherly tone that came out in her words. "That girl is in her twenties," he reminded her, then lifted his own beer to take a drink.
"She isn't much older than Peter," Donna insisted. "She's still a child. Don't change the subject, Ted. What was she doing tangling with a demon?"
Edward drew a breath and gave careful consideration to just what to tell her. Most of it was Aedan's story. Not his to tell. But there were things she was going to have to be told in order to understand why Aedan had taken on a demon. He didn't think Aedan would be upset that he shared her story with Donna. But he would worry about asking for forgiveness if, and when, it was needed. "You know that Aedan is an animator?" he asked, though there was no need.
"Yes. You'd introduced her to Anita in the hopes that she could learn something from the other woman."
He nodded. "That's right. She was supposed to follow Anita around." Shadow her, actually. "Pick up some pointers about animating and generally learn more about who and what she was." Keep Anita alive in the face of the rumors that someone was gunning for her. "She was with Anita the night she was killed."
Donna's face took on a look of disbelief. "Oh, no! That poor girl! She wasn't hurt, was she?"
"No, Donna. Aedan wasn't hurt. But some odd things happened that night."
"Odd, how? What kinds of odd things?"
Edward took another pull off his beer and set about removing his coat. Making himself comfortable. She waited patiently, watching him as she did so. He wasn't sure how she was going to take this bit of news. Most people thought it was a load of crap. Hell, he was one of those people to some extent. But he was starting to feel like he couldn't deny some of the things he'd seen. That there was more going on than he could rationally explain. "When Anita died, she extracted a promise from Aedan. She asked that Aedan and a friend look after the people she loved, that they take care of her family. Aedan and her friend said yes. And apparently, when they did, Anita somehow transferred her powers to them."
Donna frowned. "I don't... How could she do that? Is such a thing possible? I didn't think magic or whatever worked that way."
Edward felt a small smile tug up one corner of his mouth. "Anita defied what was expected. According to someone in the know, Anita crafted a spell that would allow such an event to come to pass. All the intended recipient had to do was promise whatever Anita asked of them. Her death powered the spell. Put those two components together and Aedan and her friend are suddenly carrying around more baggage than they expected." He paused and took a drink, thinking back to that night after they'd assembled in the cemetery to say goodbye. The ride in Jean Claude's limo. "Aedan found herself bound to the Master of the City. She had Anita's powers. Her memories."
Donna frowned, obviously confused. She wasn't the only one. Edward still didn't really understand any of it. "So, what? Aedan became a stronger animator?"
"Aedan was born more than an animator. She was born with necromancy. And Anita had the same gift. She passed that on to Aedan. Made her even stronger than she was. Anita's death also saw Aedan taking her place as the local authority on the preternatural crowd. She took over at Animators, Inc. and she became the person who got called to crime scenes."
"That poor girl! She was shoved into Anita's shoes. Tell me you aren't treating her like she's Anita," Donna turned a look his way. One that said she'd never forgive him if he'd done something like that.
"Of course I didn't," Edward told her. His words saw Donna relaxing back into her chair. "But most everyone else did. And Aedan, for what ever reason, felt she had no choice but to try and live up to Anita's reputation. So when the murders started happening, she was there to look at each and every one. Both the lycanthrope killer murders and the demon summoner murders."
Donna frowned and shook her head. The mothering instinct was running high and she was likely cursing every person in Aedan's life for being an asshole. "How did she manage?"
"Lots of stubbornness. And probably a healthy dose of stupidity," Edward replied. "So, of course, Aedan was the one who discovered the name of the summoner. And she went to confront him. Alone. Which ended up with her being his final victim. Because, for whatever reason, she said that was the way it had to be done. The demon tried to rip her heart out of her chest. It almost killed her."
He finished the tale off in a quiet voice, then lifted his beer and took a drink. Donna stared at him, mouth agape and eyes wide. Seeing that look made him glad that he hadn't told her the actual story. He wasn't sure Donna would stomach that one well. She was barely stomaching this one, as it was. "It almost killed her. You say that so non-chalantly. As if its no big deal some demon tried to rip her heart out of her chest. How can you be so... blasé about it all?"
"Because if I'm not, I'll get mad and go yell at her," he responded. Which was true. The more he thought about Aedan's stupidity, the more he wanted to take her head off for it. That was part of the reason he'd come back to check up on Donna and the kids. Plus, having seen Aedan die, he'd felt the need to just reassure himself.
"You'll do no such thing, Ted," Donna said, eyes narrowing on him. "The last thing she needs is people yelling at her. I'm sure she feels bad enough about what happened as it is. She doesn't need you making things worse."
He really didn't think he could make anything worse. He'd watched her friends tear into her for what she'd done. And he was sure that Jean Claude had done so once they were alone. Edward had said what he'd needed to say. And he could only hope that Aedan took it to heart. He could only hope that she understood it and found a way to prove to her friends that she was never going to do it again.
"I'm not going to go yell at her, Donna," he assured her and finished off his beer. It should have done wonders toward soothing his battered emotions. Sadly, it hadn't. All it had done was make him much more tired than he already was. Maybe a good night's sleep would see the rest of his emotional baggage disappear. "But I will be going back to check on her in a couple days. Make sure she's healing up well."
"You wouldn't be the man I loved if you didn't, Ted," she smiled at him. Her eyes moved over his face, a visual caress that reminded him that there was still good in the world. And that someone thought he was worthy enough to love. Some days, it really humbled him. Other days, he wondered just how much longer the charade could go on. Today was definitely one of the latter days. "It scared you really badly, didn't it?"
Edward sighed. Donna had no idea. And he wasn't ready to explain all if the ins and outs of it yet. She was going to get a thinner version of the story. For now, at least. "It did. She's so young. To be honest, I don't know if she really understands what the world she's stepped into will do to her. And she's a friend. I don't have many of them, you know. I'd hate to lose the ones I do have."
Technically, Aedan was probably his only real friend. But Donna didn't need to know that one, either. There was still so much he kept from her, things he didn't want her to ever know because he didn't think she'd ever understand them. "She's lucky to have you as a friend, Ted. And I'm sure she'll be fine. It sounds like she just needs a little bit longer to get her feet wet."
"Maybe. I'd feel better if I knew for certain that I'd never have to worry about her doing something so bloody stupid again. But I know that'll never come to pass. There's a recklessness to her that defies... pretty much everything."
"Kind of like someone else I know," Donna said quietly. He looked up at her to find her watching him with shrewd eyes. Donna leaned toward him, put her hand over his and squeezed it. "You can't live her life for her, Ted. You need to let her grow up and make her own mistakes. She won't learn if you don't."
"Her mistakes can get her killed, Donna. And I don't know if I'd be able to live with that if it happened."
The quiet admission saw her rising from her chair so that she could round the table. She stopped next to him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close to her. He let her, seeking solace in the warmth she offered. Aedan's adventures had rattled him more than he liked and any comfort he could get was more than welcome. "Its hard losing someone we care about," she whispered into his hair. "I don't want to see anything happen to her, either, Ted. She's just a girl."
Aedan was more than 'just a girl' but he understood what she meant. And it honest to God made him feel better when he felt her lips press against the top of his head. "You, of all people, know what the world is like. But you can help keep her safe. Teach her what you know. Guide her along her path. Steer her in the right direction. You can't always be there to protect her. But you can teach her so that you're always there in spirit."
"That means time away from you and the kids," he reminded her. He was already spending more time away from them than he probably should be. But the past two months had been so fucked up and it had been hard enough losing Anita. Realizing that Aedan had technically died... He almost hadn't found it in him to keep her breathing until the EMTs had arrived. He'd almost been victim of the same fear and helplessness that had frozen Jean Claude in place.
"You always come home to me. The kids will understand. Especially if we someday get to meet your friend," she told him softly. It was a subtle hint that Donna wanted to know more about his personal life. More about Ted when he wasn't home with her.
"There are a few things she has to take care of before that can happen. Once they're dealt with, though, I'll be sure to talk to her and see if she'd be willing to spend a weekend getting to know you," he told her, lifting his face to offer her a slight smile. Donna returned it with one of her own, her eyes searching his face.
"You're tired. Let's go to bed. You can sleep in in the morning and I'll make you some breakfast when you get up. And we'll talk more about your friend afterward," she promised.
"That sounds like heaven," he told her. And meant it. Donna stepped back and let him climb to his feet, then accepted the tender kiss he pressed upon her. She wrapped an arm around his back and urged him toward the door and the hallway. Then toward the bedroom they shared.
He fell asleep wrapped up in Donna's embrace, the warmth of her body keeping reality at bay for just a little while.
Chapter Sixty Seven: A Bitter Pill to Swallow
Fandom: Anita Blake universe
Rating: 18 and up
Warnings: graphic sex and violence, language, anything else i can toss in.
Disclaimer: the recognizable characters and places contained herein are the property of LKH. i'm merely borrowing for the sake of entertainment. no money is being made from this venture. the Sues are the sole property of their originators, Ginevra, Dazzledfirestar, Nanaea, SilverFoxChan and ladydeathfaerie. the concept and title of The Mary Sue Virus are used with permission from Dazzledfirestar.
Author's Notes: by George, i think she's got it!
The Mary Sue Virus: Beyond Death - Index Link
The sun had been down for nearly half an hour when Jean Claude entered Aedan's hospital room. From his corner, Edward watched the other man's gaze move immediately to the bed and the form huddled under the blankets there. Aedan had been sleeping off and on since her friends had left, waking long enough to eat a light dinner before drifting back off. It made Edward wonder if the marks were doing their job or not. He'd been sure that things would have gotten better for her by now, but the exhaustion seemed to cling to her. Maybe the damage had been so severe that it was going to take the marks time to do their thing.
The vampire didn't immediately shift his attention Edward's way. Which the assassin hadn't really expected to happen. But the frown caught him off guard, because he was so used to seeing Jean Claude maintain that safe blankness. It prompted him to turn his gaze back to the bed. Aedan was dozing fitfully, hands twitching against the blankets while pain crawled across her face. "Has this been happening often?" Jean Claude asked, voice low enough to avoid disturbing Aedan's rest.
"Off and on," Edward replied, watching as the twitching subsided for a moment, then picked up again in earnest. At the same time, Aedan's spine bowed just a bit, as if she was riding a wave of pain. "I suspect she's reliving the events of last night. Likely because of the ass chewing she was subjected to this afternoon."
"Her friends are quite shaken by what happened," came the reply. It drew Edward's attention back toward Jean Claude to find that the frown he was wearing had only gotten bigger.
"They're not the only ones," Edward confirmed. The tone of his voice brought Jean Claude's deep blue gaze his way. One hand motioned lazily toward the bed. "She took ten years off my life last night. I can't imagine what it was like for someone tied to her as thoroughly as you are."
"I was frozen with fear," Jean Claude admitted, voice a faint whisper of sound in the room. He frowned as Aedan twitched again.
"Don't worry. The dreams are normal. Aedan has always suffered through dreams and nightmares. Because she blocks it out when she's conscious. This is her brain's way of dealing with the shit she refuses to think about," Edward assured him. Then he frowned. "What I'm worried about is how worn down she seems to be. She's done a lot of sleeping but it doesn't seem like she's done much healing. She still acts like it hurts to take a full breath."
Jean Claude set down the bag he'd carried into the room, dropping it absently into the chair next to the bed, and reached out a hand to trail his fingers against her forehead. Aedan stilled immediately, relaxing into the bedding as if the dream had never been. "She expended a great amount of energy last night. Far more than she should have."
"Using her power drains her?" Edward asked. Jean Claude looked at him and offered him a faint smile.
"Her power is practically limitless," he replied. "Her energy is not. She is still only human and, as such, has limits. She reached her limits last night. Her body is making up for it now. Which is why the healing is slowed."
Edward considered that, deciding it made perfect sense. He turned his gaze back to the bed a moment and watched as Aedan slept peacefully. "I should have been with her last night. If I had, this would never have happened," he said.
His statement prompted a chuckle from the vampire, bringing his gaze back the other man's way. When Jean Claude looked at him, Edward made sure his face told the man he was more than welcome to explain his laughter. "Do you think you would have stopped her so easily if she was determined to do what she felt was best?"
"I could have stopped her," Edward replied, certainty in his voice. He watched as Jean Claude shook his head, then moved the bag from the chair and settled himself into it. It was close enough to the bed that he could reach out and lay his hand on Aedan's without making any adjustments to his posture.
"She had two of Rafael's best rats on her last night. Not Bobby Lee and Claudia, but still two of his better rats. And she brought them down very quickly and very easily," Jean Claude told him.
That was something Edward hadn't been aware of. She would have had to have done something to both rats at the same time to manage to get away from them as she obviously had. He couldn't think of anything that would give her that kind of edge. "How?"
"She drained them of their energy. The moment they got into the elevator. They were unable to stop it because by the time they realized what was happening, she had already weakened them. By the time the elevator doors opened, she had taken enough to render them unconscious." Jean Claude sounded equal parts amused and upset by that. Likely he hadn't figured that Aedan would do something so reckless. To be honest, Edward really hadn't thought she would, either.
"That seems an odd way to keep someone from stopping her," Edward mused.
"I believe she used the energy she borrowed," Jean Claude told him. Edward gave him a curious look. This was something he'd never gotten to discuss with Anita, though he'd known she was capable of doing it. Having Jean Claude there and willing to talk about it was all the invitation Edward needed to satisfy that curiosity. "In her battle of wills against the summoner last night. I believe she used the energy she stole from the rats against him."
"How would that even work? I thought it was an energy transfer type of thing."
Jean Claude stared at him a moment, eyes deep and fathomless. Likely he was considering how much information he could safely share with the most feared vampire hunter on the planet. Edward could have told him that he would never use that information against the vampires, but Jean Claude was intelligent enough to know it for the lie it was. Finally, the vampire heaved a sigh and shook his head, making the curls in his hair bounce. "That talent is generally used as an energy transfer, yes. Anita gifted it to Aedan. Both of them have felt the need to use it to save lives. Aedan has used it to keep Asher alive. And to save Rhiannon. She drew energy from one party and gave it to another. In Asher's case, it was from Micah and Minette. For Rhiannon, she took energy from the vampire who attacked them at the restaurant. Both times, she used it to heal the second party."
Edward nodded. "She channels the energy from one person to another. Kind of like the old Robin Hood stories. Take from the rich and give to the poor. The rich in this case are the ones with energy and the poor are the ones who have been hurt."
"Exactly so," Jean Claude nodded. Aedan made some noise in her sleep, prompting the vampire to reach up and once again touch her forehead. Almost immediately, she calmed and went back to actually sleeping.
"So... What did she do with the energy she took from the rats last night?" Edward asked. He thought he had it figured out, but he wanted the vampire to confirm his beliefs.
"She held on to it. And used it to sustain herself during the evening. It is how she lasted against the demon so long with a punctured lung," Jean Claude said. Which was exactly what Edward thought she'd done. "Regardless of the rashness of her actions, she knew what she was doing."
"My actions weren't rash because I knew exactly what I was doing," Aedan grumbled, voice low and filled with sleep. Perhaps a touch of pain. She didn't bother to open her eyes, but she did tug her hand from Jean Claude's hold. He reached out and took hold of it again, ignoring the unspoken command to let her be. She offered them a frown to let them know she didn't like that they'd been talking about her while she slept. "We are not hashing this shit out again. I am not apologizing for doing my job and keeping a friend, and innocent civilians, safe. End of story. So if you're here to chew me out, you can not bother and just fucking leave."
"On the contrary, ma mie," Jean Claude said, reaching down to pick up the bag he'd brought with. "I am here to take you home. Dr. Lillian is talking to your physician as we speak. She and I thought it would be prudent to get you released from the hospital before any serious healing took place. The less you need to explain to people, the better."
That saw her opening her eyes. She shot the vampire a frown, as if she didn't quite trust him. Edward held back the smile that thought brought to life. He was glad to know that she wasn't so far under the man's spell that she trusted him implicitly. Then she was struggling to sit up, her actions slow and cautious. Jean Claude put a hand out to stop her, the smile on his face slightly amused and filled with tenderness. "There is no need to start until Dr. Lillian has accomplished your release. Relax, ma mie, and save your strength."
Her eyes narrowed on him. "You're being nice," she said, voice filled with accusation.
"Am I not supposed to be nice?" he questioned lightly. It saw her eyes narrowing even further, if such a thing was possible.
"You should be raging at me for doing what I did, despite the fact I said we weren't talking about it again. But you're not. Don't think I don't know exactly how you feel about what went down last night. You forget, buddy. I'm tied to you the same as you're tied to me and you don't always remember to keep yourself apart from me."
"You said yourself that you will not talk about your actions last night. What point is there in me raging at you if you refuse to listen to me?" he asked. It was a reasonable question. Which saw Aedan even more on alert. She was saved from having to come up with an answer, though, when the door swung open and Dr. Lillian came in. She glanced at the three of them, then motioned to the door with one hand.
"Both of you boys. Out in the hallway. Allow me to examine my patient. And help her change into her own clothes," she ordered brusquely.
Edward was afraid of very little. He'd seen so many things in his life that there wasn't much left that would see him quaking in fear. Dr. Lillian might be one of the only people on the planet who could make him worry about his continued existence. So he rose from his chair and headed for the door, shooting a look Aedan's way as he did so. He heard Jean Claude rise from the chair next to the bed, felt him at his back like a shadow. Normally, Edward would have made sure the vampire left before he did. This wasn't normally, though, and Jean Claude was more trustworthy than some. The two of them crossed the hall to lean against the wall opposite the door and wait.
"Suppose Lillian is going to read her the riot act?" he asked. If anyone could get away with it, it was Lillian.
"Do you really think she needs to? All she needs do is give Aedan a look and that will be all it takes," Jean Claude replied. There was maybe a touch of amusement in his voice. Edward decided that there was a sadistic streak in the vampire a mile wide.
~*~*~*~*~
Aedan watched as Lillian stared at her. Edward and Jean Claude had left the room a full minute earlier and, as yet, Lillian had not said anything. She was having a hard time reading the woman's expression, but she was pretty sure the good doctor was gearing up for an ass chewing. "Don't even bother," Aedan warned.
"Girl, you have been in more dangerous situations in the past month than Anita got into in the entire time I knew her. Is it a talent or do you go looking for trouble?" Lillian asked, voice very definitely filled with displeasure.
"Obviously I go looking for it. Because my life is so uncomplicated without the murders and death threats," Aedan retorted.
Lillian heaved a sigh and shot her a look. "I'm going to let that one go because I know you're not at your best. But I have to know what you were thinking."
"I'll tell you like I told everyone else. I was thinking that I was doing my job. I was thinking that I was doing what needed to be done to keep a friend from dying. To keep more innocents from dying." She made sure that her voice was pitched low, so that she knew that Lillian would have to actually listen to her. "No one seems to think that I understood what I was doing. That I understood the risks I was taking. Trust me. No one understood better than I did."
"Aedan," Lillian began, voice tight with emotion. The woman fell silent for several long moments before heaving a sigh and settling herself in the chair next to the bed. "You died last night. Your heart stopped beating and you died. Do you understand that?"
She considered a smart remark, but Lillian sounded worn. Maybe a little less in control than she let people think she was. So she held on to the smart assed comment. "I know. And before you say anything else, I knew it would happen. In fact, it had to happen in order to give the demon flesh. They wouldn't have been able to banish him if that hadn't happened. The death of the summoner's last sacrifice was meant to give the demon living flesh here on earth. Unexorcisable by any man or woman of faith. Unkillable. Unstoppable. Which is what the demon was trying to accomplish. The summoner was too blinded by his desire for power to realize that the demon was using him as a means to an end."
Aedan paused and sighed, not sure if this was what Lillian wanted to hear. But someone needed to understand what she'd done. And why. No one else wanted to listen. Maybe Lillian would. "However, there is a small bit of information that I think the demon was hoping no one had bothered to study up on. In those first few moments after the sacrifice's death, the newly birthed demon is vulnerable. Its as if the magic that protects them is stripped in the power exchange. Not for long, mind you. But long enough that if someone was to take a blessed blade to it, they'd be able to send it back to its own realm. Christophe and Rhia... That information was shared with them. So they knew that the demon would be open to an attack right from the start."
"Why didn't you share that information with anyone else? So that someone else besides you knew what the plan was," the doctor huffed.
"Pretend you're Jean Claude. Or Edward. And imagine I come to you and tell you exactly what I just told you about the demon. How to defeat it. Do you honestly believe that it would sway your decision?" she asked. "Think about it. If I told either one of them what I knew and what I was planning to do, they'd have locked me up and tried to send someone else to their death. Why should someone else have to die? Especially if they didn't have the added protection of the marks?"
"The marks don't make you immortal, Aedan. You can still die."
"I know that. Trust me, I know. But who would you sacrifice in my place?" she questioned gently. "There were too many dead people tied to the summoner. I wasn't about to give them one more."
Lillian nodded her head and sighed. "There's been so much death the past few months. Anita. The lycanthropes. The people slaughtered by the demon. You shouldn't have been so willing to add yourself to that list, Aedan. What if Edward hadn't been there to keep you alive? What if you hadn't come back? Do you think we want to lose someone else? Do you think we're willing to lose someone else?"
The doctor sounded older than her years. Tired. Frightened. Aedan reached out and rested her hand on Lillian's in a gesture meant to soothe and offer comfort. "I honestly didn't think anyone would really miss me. Minette, yes. Because we've been friends for so long. But the others? You? You hardly know me. And I'm the one who failed to protect Anita."
Lillian frowned at her. "You are not responsible for Anita's death. And what makes you think you failed to protect her?"
"She died, didn't she? And I didn't do anything to stop the mob that attacked us that night. I sat in the car and watched it all happen and didn't even lift a finger to help." Even after all this time, there was no way for Aedan to keep the bitterness at her failure from her voice.
"Haven't you realized by now that you protected Anita that night? Maybe not in the way you felt you should. But you still protected her. You protected her loved ones and her legacy. She asked you to take care of everyone. And you did. Because of your selflessness, no one was lost after Anita died. You saved us when you made your promise to Anita. You protected everything and everyone she loved. You kept her with us. You've done more than you think. Losing you would have been a blow few of us would have recovered from, Aedan."
There was such raw emotion in Lillian's eyes, and in her voice, that Aedan found she had no reply to make to that. So she remained silent, contemplated what the woman had told her. Maybe she'd gone about things the wrong way. But she was never going to regret offering herself up in Rhia's place. Anything to keep Rhia alive. Anything to keep another innocent family from being slaughtered.
"Now that I've given you something to chew on, let's see about getting you ready to go home," Lillian said, a faint smile on her face. "First things first. Let me take a look at your injuries. After that, we'll get rid of the IV. Then we'll get you into your own clothes."
"Okay," Aedan nodded. She allowed Lillian to help her sit up and swing her legs over the side of the bed. When she was upright and mostly breathing normally again, the pain slowly subsiding, she let Lillian pull the ties on the hospital gown so that the garment gaped and then fell down her arms. Aedan wasn't surprised to see white gauze taped to her upper chest and under her ribcage. She only winced a little bit when Lillian peeled the tape back so that she could get a good look at the damage hidden by the bandages.
The darkness of the sutures used to close up the hole in her shoulder were stark against her skin, allowing Aedan to see that they were small and neat. She could see that the skin where the hole had been was starting to take on a shiny look, letting her know that the wound was closed and already working through the scarring phase. Lillian righted the bandage, then repeated the process with the one taped to Aedan's back. Aedan heard Lillian making what she thought were approving noises as she studied the twin to the wound in her chest. "We'll take these out once you're home. I think this will continue to close nicely without the stitches."
"Whatever you say," Aedan replied.
Lillian replaced the bandage, gently pressing the tape down to keep it in place for the time being. Then she moved on to the other wound. The tape pulled more this time, forcing Aedan to bite her lip in order to keep the bad words down to a minimum. She couldn't see that wound as well as the other one, but the look on Lillian's face let her know it was ugly. "This one will require more time. I think it should be good in a day or two. But for now, we'll leave it as is. Are you ready to put clothes on?"
Aedan considered it and gave Lillian a look. "Maybe? Does it require a lot of lifting of arms and the like?"
"Jean Claude picked out clothing that he felt would be easy for you to get on without having to move your arms too much. I think the worst thing might be your bra. We can skip that if you want."
"No. I think I'll be okay for however long it takes to get home. I can always take it off when we get there. Knowing everyone, I'm probably going to end right back up in bed."
Lillian leveled a look on her. "You're damn right you will. You have to take time to let this heal up, Aedan. The demon did some serious damage. You need to let it fully mend or you'll have nothing but problems."
Aedan wanted to roll her eyes but she didn't. She knew Lillian was well aware of what kind of damage the demon had inflicted. No doubt she'd already seen Aedan's chart. "Tell evil doers that."
"If Detective Storr so much as thinks you're going to a crime scene any time soon, I'll be happy to set him straight on that account." The look on Lillian's face said she would take Dolph's head off if he even considered calling Aedan in to look at a crime scene.
"Chances are good you won't have to do that. He saw what the demon did," Aedan told her.
"I'll be surprised if he can go a week without trying to antagonize you," Lillian replied, hands busy with opening the bag Jean Claude had brought. Aedan watched as she brought clothes out of it. A bra, fresh panties, a shirt with buttons and a pair of old jeans. Socks and a pair of sneakers came out last. Lillian looked up at her. "Where do you want to start?"
Aedan considered that. "Bra first. Then I think I can wiggle out of my underwear without too much trouble. We can put the fresh pair on, then the jeans, and I can stand and attempt to get them up my legs together."
Lillian shot Aedan a look that told her exactly what she thought of that plan.
In the end, Lillian did most of the work. They did start with her bra, working it up and on with little movement required on Aedan's part. Once Lillian had the thing hooked, Aedan took far longer than she liked adjusting the girls and getting them set into the cups properly. Next came ridding her of her dirty undies and getting her into the fresh pair. Aedan didn't like that Lillian seemed to be doing most of the work while she stood there like a lump. But Lillian didn't seem too put out and, to be honest, just moving her arms made her muscles ache. So by the time Lillian got her into her clothes, she was tired and sore and wanted nothing more than to sleep.
Lillian let Jean Claude and Edward into the room once Aedan was settled in a chair, her feet bare and cold against the tiled floor. She was surprised when Jean Claude wordlessly took possession of the shoes and socks and knelt before Aedan to help her put them on. Lillian slipped from the room without a word, no doubt off to order up a wheel chair. Probably a good thing, because Aedan wasn't up to putting on a tough girl act.
Jean Claude was just rising to his feet when Lillian returned, a nurse pushing a wheel chair following after her. "I've gotten her signed out. The staff physician doesn't like the idea of letting her leave, but I talked him around," Lillian told them. The nurse parked the wheel chair next to the one Aedan was sitting in and made to help her up. But Jean Claude motioned her away and offered Aedan his hand. She gave him a look, but put her hand in his and allowed him to help her get to her feet. Seconds later, she was settling into the wheel chair with a soft, thankful sigh. Edward collected her personal possessions and then they were off.
~*~*~*~*~
Aedan dozed the entire way to the Circus, head resting against Jean Claude's shoulder. He'd wound an arm around her shoulders the moment they'd gotten into the vehicle and held her to him, afraid to let her go for fear that she'd simply vanish. Lillian rode with them, settled silently between the Wicked Truth. He knew that Edward followed the limo in his own vehicle, no doubt intent on seeing Aedan properly put to bed before letting her out of his sight. He was starting to think that perhaps there were deeper feelings than friendship between the bounty hunter and his human servant
The ride was made in silence, each passenger left to their own thoughts. Jean Claude couldn't quite stop himself from thinking about the events of the previous evening, of how helpless he'd felt as Aedan had lay dying. It was an odd feeling, one he didn't care for very much. It reminded him of the night Anita had died, of how he'd felt as he'd realized that he was losing her and there had been nothing he could do to stop it. How he'd felt when she'd shut him out. His reaction to Aedan's near loss was similar to what he'd felt with Anita's death. He thought it was far too strong, much stronger than it should have been, and he refused to look at it too closely. He didn't want to consider what it might mean, wasn't ready to think about that. Instead, he took solace in the weight of her body against his, in the soft sound of her breath as it slid in and out of her chest. In the steady thumping of her heart in her chest.
It was a miracle she was there with him. Despite the absolute madness of her actions, despite the danger and the death, she'd survived. He didn't know if she was the luckiest person in the world or if she was simply that good. He wasn't sure which one he preferred.
When they arrived at the Circus, Aedan roused herself and did what she could to help them get her out of the back of the limo. It wasn't much. She was stiff and she moved much slower than she liked. When she finally stood on the surface of the parking lot, face pale and drawn and breath almost rasping from her throat, Jean Claude carefully lifted her up into his arms in order to carry her into the building and then down the stairs. He was, perhaps, only slightly surprised that she didn't argue with him about it.
They made it down the stairs and to her rooms without incident. He'd made a point of keeping her friends in the dark about his intentions to have her released from the hospital, so none of them were waiting to greet her when they finally stepped into the lair. Aedan didn't say anything about the empty living area, but he felt her sadness that they weren't there, how hurt she was that they hadn't bothered to welcome her home. He'd have to ensure that they did so later, after she'd rested. And, while he was at it, he'd have to find a way to mend their friendship.
Edward followed after them silently, the bag holding her property in one hand. Jean Claude suspected that he had his gun hand free on the off chance some villain leapt out of the shadows at them and tried to make an attempt on her life then and there. He once might have found the idea of an assassin living in his lair laughable. But not anymore. Aedan was a magnet for trouble and he wouldn't put it past her enemies to try and attack in the place it would be least expected.
Once they'd entered her room, Jean Claude settled her in the center of the big bed then took her things from Edward and made a show of carrying them off in order to give the man time to speak with her alone. They all knew it was for show, that he'd hear everything. But it was the gesture that mattered most. "You're going to stay in bed and rest up," Edward told her, no small amount of threat in his voice.
"Yes, boss," Aedan replied. There was just a hint of sass in her words, a touch of her normal self, but mostly there was seriousness. She had to feel particularly bad if she wasn't going to fight him on it.
"That's it? No arguing? No sarcastic come back? Just immediate agreement?" Edward asked. He sounded a touch confused, as if he wasn't sure what to make of her easy acquiescence. To be fair, Jean Claude didn't know what to make of it, either.
"No arguing. No sarcastic come back," she replied. "In case you missed it, I had a demon sink his talons into my body last night. My chest hurts and its a little tight when I draw a breath. We won't get into what my stomach feels like. All I plan on doing is sleeping and healing. I'll be a complete pain in your ass when I'm back up to snuff."
"I'm counting on it," Edward told her. A quick glance over his shoulder showed him that there was a touch of warmth in the man's face and a hint of a smile tugged the corners of his mouth up. "Be good. If you misbehave, Jean Claude will send me a text and I'll come back here and kick your ass."
"I'm sure the line for that will be long," she returned. There was silence a moment before Aedan spoke again. "Going home to check on Donna and the kids?"
"Yeah. I need to make sure they're okay."
Another pause. "I scared you that bad, did I?" The question was soft, the words spoken gently. It was a strange, sharp contrast with the man they were meant for. A man who, on any given day, came across as cold and callous.
"Aedan, you died. It doesn't matter that you knew what was going to happen. It doesn't matter that you came back. You fucking died. And... I've already lost one good friend. I can't lose another. I can face just about any monster you send my way and come out of it untouched. That monster, though? That's one I can't face again. Not so soon." It was an oddly intimate moment, given life by a man who was not often inclined to intimacy.
"I'm sorry," she told him. And she meant it.
"I'll be back," he warned. A moment later, Jean Claude heard the door close. He took a moment to chose something for Aedan to wear while she slept, then shut the drawer he'd had open and turned to face her. She was eyeing him as if she expected him to descend upon her like a starving beggar descended upon a feast laid before him. Jean Claude offered her a smile and moved to the newly installed flat-screen television that was centered on the wall so she could watch it from her bed. One finger found the power button and turned it on, filling the room with the soft sounds of some program. Then he crossed the room and joined her on the bed.
Getting her out of her clothes proved far more taxing than he liked, and Aedan was left short of breath and in pain. It was far easier to get her night shirt on than it had been to take her clothes off. He carefully maneuvered her until she was propped up against the pillows at the head of the bed. He settled next to her, reaching out to take hold of the remote for the set, which ended up in her hand. "Let me know if you are hungry, ma mie," he said. "I will send for some junk food."
He felt Aedan's gaze come to rest on him, felt her confusion and disbelief at his actions. No doubt she'd expected him to start chewing her out the moment he got her settled and the fact that he wasn't obviously threw her. There was a knock at the door before it opened and Dr. Lillian entered with one of the wolves trailing behind her. She carried her bag in one hand. The wolf had a tray laden with a can of Coke, a plate that held a sandwich, and a bowl filled with salad. The wolf settled the tray across Aedan's legs, then left. Lillian set her bag down on the edge of the bed, then opened it up. One hand reached in and came out quickly enough, setting one of those brownish colored prescription bottles down on the tray next to Aedan's Coke.
"Pain relievers. I know your chest is still tender," the doctor explained. "Take those with food. Its probable that they'll put you to sleep. That isn't a bad thing. Rest is the most important thing right now."
"Yes, ma'am," Aedan replied dutifully.
"Let's get you undressed and I'll remove the stitches in your chest. Then you can put on some night clothes and settle in for the evening." Lillian turned and shot a look at Jean Claude. "I don't want her moving unless necessary. The wounds will heal better if she isn't in and out of bed all the time. And that means no phone calls from the police. None from Animator's, Inc., either. Nothing but rest."
"Of course. I have already arranged to have someone sit with her when I cannot," Jean Claude assured Lillian. He stole a glance at Aedan to gauge her reaction and was mildly disappointed that she didn't look ready to argue about it.
"Good. Now," Lillian began and started taking items out of her bag. "Let's get her out of her clothes so I can deal with her stitches."
It took little time to strip Aedan of her clothes. She helped where she could, and did an admirable job of keeping how she felt to herself. But Jean Claude felt the pain and exhaustion eating at her when they were done. Then he watched, silent and intent, as Lillian peeled the white gauze away from her skin. The small puncture wound in her shoulder was closed, the skin under the dark stitches already starting to turn shiny with scar material. Lillian studied them a moment, then shifted her attention to the back of Aedan's shoulder. "The sutures are neat and tiny. Had you been forced to heal at the normal human rate, I don't think these wounds would have left scars. You had a good surgeon."
"Great. I was so worried about bikini season," Aedan replied, voice heavy with sarcasm and exhaustion.
"Hush, girl!" Lillian scolded before turning to her bag. They watched as the woman pulled a pair of scissors from its depth. Next came a set of tweezers. She also brought out a pair of gloves and a box of wipes. She spent a moment or two wiping her hands down with one of the wipes, which she tossed onto the night stand nearest her. Then she snapped on the gloves and picked up the scissors. "This shouldn't hurt. It might pull a little when I tug the sutures free. Just so you know."
"I'm a big girl. I think I can handle it," Aedan told her. Lillian flashed her a smile, then went to work. It didn't take long at all to remove the stitches, a single snip of the scissors cutting the loop and a tug of the tweezers pulling the sutures from Aedan's skin. There was a hint of the hole left behind by the demon's talon, and tiny little pinprick holes where the stitches had been placed. But there was little else to say that she'd been injured only last night. The process was repeated on Aedan's back, each broken stitch left in the center of the used wipe.
"Edward told me you slept most of the day. That's probably why your shoulder is almost healed. Its likely that your lung is almost back to one hundred percent. The abdomen will take a little longer. Please don't push. Relax and let it take its own sweet time. I doubt it will take much longer. The pain, however... There's no telling how long it will take for your muscles to fully recover. Give them time, Aedan."
"I will," she promised, biting back a yawn. Lillian smiled at her, reaching out with one hand to pat Aedan's arm gently. Then she gave her a look that said she'd be in such deep trouble if she didn't.
"I'll be back to look in on you tomorrow. Unless you need to get out of bed and use the bathroom, please stay put." Had Lillian phrased the last part as an order, it might have made Aedan angry. But it was more plea than order, and Aedan gave the woman a nod.
"I promise," she said.
Lillian smiled. "Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to return to the rodere and inform everyone as to how you're doing. I expect you'll have visits in the near future. I'd put some padding on that backside if I was you. That way they can't chew it all off." She was gone before Aedan made a comment.
Jean Claude wordlessly helped Aedan into the night shirt he'd picked for her, taking it slow and easy so as not to aggravate any of her healing injuries any more than necessary. She was tense and pale when the shirt was in place and it took very little convincing on his part to get her to lay back against the mound of pillows propped up against the headboard. Jean Claude reached out and opened the Coke for her, offering it silently before settling himself next to her. He watched from the corner of his eye as Aedan sipped the cold beverage, then set the can down and absently broke a bite off the sandwich.
It went this way for several long moments, Aedan silent as she stared at the television and picked at her meal. She changed channel several times until she found a station that was showing some animated film. He didn't know what it was, but he thought the main character bore some kind of resemblance. He lowered his hand and let his fingers trail against the bared flesh of her thigh, took comfort in the feel of her skin under his. She was warm and soft and alive.
Alive. It felt odd to him that this had been one of his thoughts. But images of the night before, of Aedan simply slipping away from him, of his arm covered in her blood, of the sight of the demon trying to rip her heart from her chest, loomed up to remind him that it wasn't an odd thought. That he really had nearly lost her not even twenty four hours ago. Fear flooded his veins. It was the same fear he'd felt last night. The same fear he'd felt when Anita had died. And with it came his rage. How dare she do something that nearly took her from him. How dare she make him care for her and then almost get herself killed. How dare she up end his life so thoroughly!
"Aedan," he began.
"Don't," she said. How she knew was beyond him. He was sure there was nothing in his voice to give his emotions away. He was sure he had his inner most feelings and thoughts locked away from her.
"Aedan," he said again.
"I told you we weren't going to talk about this again. I meant it," she informed him. Her voice sounded soft and was filled with sleep. He should let her rest. Let her slumber and heal. But the fear refused to let him. The fear ate at him and reminded him that he could lose that which he held dear easily. Far too easily.
"That is too bad because I intend to talk about this. And you will listen to me, whether you like it or not. What happened last night cannot be allowed to pass without discussion," he responded.
"You mean an ass chewing, don't you?" she questioned, though her tone said she didn't care what he chose to call it. She was going to be stubborn about this. She was going to make him want to throttle her before the conversation was over.
"Call it what you will, Aedan," he shot back, letting anger creep into his voice. Letting emotion decide how he moved forward. "You died last night. You put your life in danger without letting anyone know what it was you planned on doing. And you died."
He was staring at her, so he saw her roll her eyes. As if he was being far too dramatic about it all. "I had it all under control. Why will no one understand that?"
"What I understand is you put yourself in danger. Willingly. And you never once considered speaking with anyone about what you planned doing. What I understand is that I saw you die last night. What I understand is that you do not understand why your friends and family are all upset with your actions. That, Aedan, is what I understand."
"I had it under control," she said again, this time more forcefully than the last. As if that was enough to make it all okay. Jean Claude frowned at her.
"You had it under control!" he scoffed, giving his fear permission to run free. Giving his anger the right to run along beside the fear. "You had it under control when a power mad mortal locked you inside a circle with a demon determined to end your life in order to give itself a foothold here on earth. You had it under control when that same demon drove its talons into your chest. Into your stomach. When it attempted to rip your beating heart from your chest. You had it all under control then?"
"Yes!" she spat angrily, more force behind her words than she likely meant. Because in the next moment, she was trying to hide the fact that she'd only managed to send pain flashing through her muscles and that it was suddenly hard to draw a full breath. Her voice, when it next came, was a hoarse whisper. "I had it perfectly under control, Jean Claude. You had no reason to worry."
"No reason to worry?" he asked, positively stunned by the statement. "Aedan, do you hear yourself? You knew when you spoke with me last night that you were going off to do something that would end with your death. You knew it when you sent your message to Rhiannon. When you drained your guards into unconsciousness. You knew what would happen and you have the nerve to tell me that I had no reason to worry?"
"You had no reason to worry because I knew you wouldn't let me die." Her tone said she honestly believed that. He was shocked beyond belief by her convoluted line of thinking. He shouldn't have worried because she knew he'd save her?
"What kind of idiotic thinking is that?" he demanded. She didn't look at him, refused to take her eyes off the television. So he clearly saw her jaw clench with tension and anger.
"Apparently the biggest kind," she said, so softly he barely heard it. And the pain buried in her words. He realized then that she'd honestly been counting on him to keep her from dying, that she'd sincerely believed he was capable of such miracles. The thought saw some of his temper subsiding, saw him taking a breath in order to bring order to his thoughts.
"Aedan," he started again, ensuring that his voice was gentle so that she'd be sure to listen. "I was too far away the night Anita was attacked on the road to be of any help. I do not even know if I could have given her aid that would have kept her alive. I could have perhaps shared my energy and strength with her, but to what end? The numbers were far too large for me to have been of any real help. Anita understood what was going to happen when she got out of that car. And she made that decision without regret. And she shut me out so that I was not there when she died."
Aedan slanted a look his way. "And that's different how, exactly?" she asked.
"Because she did not step out of the car with the intent to get herself killed. She got out of the car to protect you and Minette." His tone was cold and he saw that his words had struck home, but not in the way he intended them to. She closed herself down right before his eyes, shut herself away so that he couldn't tell how badly his words had hurt her.
"I see," she said, voice flat. "I'm sorry I assumed you gave a shit. Please get out and let me sleep."
"Aedan," he tried. She turned her head just enough that he could see the anger and betrayal swimming in her eyes. The tears she wouldn't let fall while he was present.
"Get. Out."
"Given you died just last night, I am sorry to report you will have to put up with me for a few hours more," he said, letting her know that he wasn't going anywhere. She shifted her attention back to the television and pretended she was watching the show that was playing.
"You can be pissed at me all you want. I am not going to apologize for keeping Rhia safe. I am not going to apologize for keeping innocent civilians safe."
"I am not... Yes. Yes, I am upset with you. Your actions were careless and the consequences were deadly. No matter how things ultimately turned out. But that is not the point I have been trying to make," he told her. One hand reached out and tugged the remote from her hand, thumbed the television off so that she had no choice but to pay attention to him. "The point I have been trying to make, that we all have been trying to make, is that losing you would have been something we simply could not have endured."
"You would have carried on. You always do," Aedan replied, so softly that he almost didn't hear her.
"Yes. I would have carried on. And the hole in my heart would have been twice as big. That much harder to fill. Your actions last night were commendable. You did what you felt was necessary to protect a friend. That is a noble idea. And it is what Anita did the night she died." He paused a moment, gave her time to mull over what he'd just said. "But there is a difference in what she did and what you did. Anita's choice was one made in the heat of the moment, because there was no time for anything else. Your choice was made well before you acted. And you chose not to tell anyone about your plans."
"Because I knew how you'd all react. You'd have freaked out even worse than you are now," she retorted, a frown pulling her lips down. "You all act like I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. You want to protect me when the truth is, you can't. I did what I had to do to stop the summoner. End of story."
"You chose to play his final victim. You chose to let him kill you in order to achieve your ultimate goal. Why do you not understand that you died last night and that it was not an acceptable choice?"
"Because I knew you would never let me die. I knew you'd be there to keep me alive," she informed him. There was so much unbridled faith in her voice that it left him stunned for a moment. Then he sighed and shook his head, chuffing out a laugh that held no joy or humor in it.
"I did not save you, Aedan. I could not save you," he said. She blinked and looked over at him, confusion plain to read on her face.
"I don't understand," she replied. He kept himself from saying that much was obvious.
"I could not help you last night, Aedan, because I was frozen with fear. Every one of us was. You were mortally wounded. You died before our very eyes. Not a one of us was capable of remembering what to do to keep you alive. Had Edward showed up a minute later... You would have stayed dead, Aedan," he told her, voice firm in order to ensure she understood just what he was saying. "And I would have lost someone else I cared about. I... cannot do that again, Aedan. I cannot survive the loss of someone so precious to me."
"I didn't think it would... " she trailed off and stared at the blank television.
"You made a choice that put your life in danger, Aedan. A choice that put other lives in danger. You made that choice and kept it to yourself, knowing that anyone you shared it with would do whatever they could to stop you. That was selfish and wrong. You hurt every last one of us by your actions. By your lack of faith and trust that we would do whatever we could to help you achieve your goals."
She dropped her gaze to her hands, stared at them for a long, long time. He watched her, waiting for some sign that she finally realized what she'd done. If the realization came, she kept it to herself. Instead, he watched her fish a pill from the bottle Lillian had left for her and swallow it down. Then she finished off her Coke and set the can down on the tray, pushed the tray away as best she could. She didn't look at him. Didn't say a word. She simply shifted herself into a more reclined position and set her head on the pillow, intent on going to sleep.
Jean Claude sighed and removed the tray. There was nothing more he could say that she'd understand. If she hadn't grasped his meaning by now, she never would. The tray was set in the hall outside her door. He shut the door and moved for the bed, shedding everything but his jeans. She might not want to talk to him, but there was no way he was leaving her alone. No way he wasn't holding her in his arms to ensure she didn't simply vanish on him. The lights were switched off. He joined her in the bed and took a moment to slide the covers up over her legs. When he was settled, back against the mound of pillows beside Aedan, he reached for her and pulled her into his hold.
She didn't fight him, simply allowed him to nestle her against his side and wrap an arm around her to keep her there. Slowly, inch by inch, she relaxed into his hold until he was sure she'd fallen asleep. So it was that the tears splashing against his chest surprised him. As did her voice when it rose up out of the darkness.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt anyone."
~*~*~*~*~
She found him standing in the open door, staring into the darkened room silently. One hand slid up his shoulder while her other arm wrapped around him from behind. Somehow, that single touch saw the tension leaking out of him. "Bad day?" she asked quietly, her voice warm and tender. It practically begged him to tell her what had him brooding in the darkened doorway of a teenaged girl's bedroom.
"Yeah," he said. She went up on tiptoes to press a kiss to his cheek, then tugged at his arm with one of her hands.
"Come on. Come with me and we'll talk about it over a cold beer," she insisted.
He let her draw him away from the doorway, let her pull the door closed before she herded him toward the kitchen. The lights flicked on after she nudged him into the room, then she was steering him toward a chair at the table. He sat, let her press a kiss to the top of his head, then watched as she headed toward the fridge. Out of it came a pair of cold long necks, and she took a moment to pop the tops before bringing them to the table. She set one before him, then took a seat and got a good look at him. "You look terrible, Ted. What's so bad that you're standing in Becca's door, watching her sleep?"
Donna's concern was palpable. Real. It made Edward feel better. "A friend of mine nearly died last night," he told her softly.
She studied him a moment, frowning, then her face cleared up and he saw the disbelief. "That young girl you've been mentoring?"
"Aedan," he nodded.
"What happened?" she asked softly, one hand reaching out to lay over one of his.
"She took on a demon," he replied. Donna blinked at that.
"I'm sorry. Did you say a demon?" she asked, lifting her beer for a sip.
"Yes. A demon," he confirmed.
"What was she doing tangling with a demon? She's just a girl."
He smiled faintly at the motherly tone that came out in her words. "That girl is in her twenties," he reminded her, then lifted his own beer to take a drink.
"She isn't much older than Peter," Donna insisted. "She's still a child. Don't change the subject, Ted. What was she doing tangling with a demon?"
Edward drew a breath and gave careful consideration to just what to tell her. Most of it was Aedan's story. Not his to tell. But there were things she was going to have to be told in order to understand why Aedan had taken on a demon. He didn't think Aedan would be upset that he shared her story with Donna. But he would worry about asking for forgiveness if, and when, it was needed. "You know that Aedan is an animator?" he asked, though there was no need.
"Yes. You'd introduced her to Anita in the hopes that she could learn something from the other woman."
He nodded. "That's right. She was supposed to follow Anita around." Shadow her, actually. "Pick up some pointers about animating and generally learn more about who and what she was." Keep Anita alive in the face of the rumors that someone was gunning for her. "She was with Anita the night she was killed."
Donna's face took on a look of disbelief. "Oh, no! That poor girl! She wasn't hurt, was she?"
"No, Donna. Aedan wasn't hurt. But some odd things happened that night."
"Odd, how? What kinds of odd things?"
Edward took another pull off his beer and set about removing his coat. Making himself comfortable. She waited patiently, watching him as she did so. He wasn't sure how she was going to take this bit of news. Most people thought it was a load of crap. Hell, he was one of those people to some extent. But he was starting to feel like he couldn't deny some of the things he'd seen. That there was more going on than he could rationally explain. "When Anita died, she extracted a promise from Aedan. She asked that Aedan and a friend look after the people she loved, that they take care of her family. Aedan and her friend said yes. And apparently, when they did, Anita somehow transferred her powers to them."
Donna frowned. "I don't... How could she do that? Is such a thing possible? I didn't think magic or whatever worked that way."
Edward felt a small smile tug up one corner of his mouth. "Anita defied what was expected. According to someone in the know, Anita crafted a spell that would allow such an event to come to pass. All the intended recipient had to do was promise whatever Anita asked of them. Her death powered the spell. Put those two components together and Aedan and her friend are suddenly carrying around more baggage than they expected." He paused and took a drink, thinking back to that night after they'd assembled in the cemetery to say goodbye. The ride in Jean Claude's limo. "Aedan found herself bound to the Master of the City. She had Anita's powers. Her memories."
Donna frowned, obviously confused. She wasn't the only one. Edward still didn't really understand any of it. "So, what? Aedan became a stronger animator?"
"Aedan was born more than an animator. She was born with necromancy. And Anita had the same gift. She passed that on to Aedan. Made her even stronger than she was. Anita's death also saw Aedan taking her place as the local authority on the preternatural crowd. She took over at Animators, Inc. and she became the person who got called to crime scenes."
"That poor girl! She was shoved into Anita's shoes. Tell me you aren't treating her like she's Anita," Donna turned a look his way. One that said she'd never forgive him if he'd done something like that.
"Of course I didn't," Edward told her. His words saw Donna relaxing back into her chair. "But most everyone else did. And Aedan, for what ever reason, felt she had no choice but to try and live up to Anita's reputation. So when the murders started happening, she was there to look at each and every one. Both the lycanthrope killer murders and the demon summoner murders."
Donna frowned and shook her head. The mothering instinct was running high and she was likely cursing every person in Aedan's life for being an asshole. "How did she manage?"
"Lots of stubbornness. And probably a healthy dose of stupidity," Edward replied. "So, of course, Aedan was the one who discovered the name of the summoner. And she went to confront him. Alone. Which ended up with her being his final victim. Because, for whatever reason, she said that was the way it had to be done. The demon tried to rip her heart out of her chest. It almost killed her."
He finished the tale off in a quiet voice, then lifted his beer and took a drink. Donna stared at him, mouth agape and eyes wide. Seeing that look made him glad that he hadn't told her the actual story. He wasn't sure Donna would stomach that one well. She was barely stomaching this one, as it was. "It almost killed her. You say that so non-chalantly. As if its no big deal some demon tried to rip her heart out of her chest. How can you be so... blasé about it all?"
"Because if I'm not, I'll get mad and go yell at her," he responded. Which was true. The more he thought about Aedan's stupidity, the more he wanted to take her head off for it. That was part of the reason he'd come back to check up on Donna and the kids. Plus, having seen Aedan die, he'd felt the need to just reassure himself.
"You'll do no such thing, Ted," Donna said, eyes narrowing on him. "The last thing she needs is people yelling at her. I'm sure she feels bad enough about what happened as it is. She doesn't need you making things worse."
He really didn't think he could make anything worse. He'd watched her friends tear into her for what she'd done. And he was sure that Jean Claude had done so once they were alone. Edward had said what he'd needed to say. And he could only hope that Aedan took it to heart. He could only hope that she understood it and found a way to prove to her friends that she was never going to do it again.
"I'm not going to go yell at her, Donna," he assured her and finished off his beer. It should have done wonders toward soothing his battered emotions. Sadly, it hadn't. All it had done was make him much more tired than he already was. Maybe a good night's sleep would see the rest of his emotional baggage disappear. "But I will be going back to check on her in a couple days. Make sure she's healing up well."
"You wouldn't be the man I loved if you didn't, Ted," she smiled at him. Her eyes moved over his face, a visual caress that reminded him that there was still good in the world. And that someone thought he was worthy enough to love. Some days, it really humbled him. Other days, he wondered just how much longer the charade could go on. Today was definitely one of the latter days. "It scared you really badly, didn't it?"
Edward sighed. Donna had no idea. And he wasn't ready to explain all if the ins and outs of it yet. She was going to get a thinner version of the story. For now, at least. "It did. She's so young. To be honest, I don't know if she really understands what the world she's stepped into will do to her. And she's a friend. I don't have many of them, you know. I'd hate to lose the ones I do have."
Technically, Aedan was probably his only real friend. But Donna didn't need to know that one, either. There was still so much he kept from her, things he didn't want her to ever know because he didn't think she'd ever understand them. "She's lucky to have you as a friend, Ted. And I'm sure she'll be fine. It sounds like she just needs a little bit longer to get her feet wet."
"Maybe. I'd feel better if I knew for certain that I'd never have to worry about her doing something so bloody stupid again. But I know that'll never come to pass. There's a recklessness to her that defies... pretty much everything."
"Kind of like someone else I know," Donna said quietly. He looked up at her to find her watching him with shrewd eyes. Donna leaned toward him, put her hand over his and squeezed it. "You can't live her life for her, Ted. You need to let her grow up and make her own mistakes. She won't learn if you don't."
"Her mistakes can get her killed, Donna. And I don't know if I'd be able to live with that if it happened."
The quiet admission saw her rising from her chair so that she could round the table. She stopped next to him and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him close to her. He let her, seeking solace in the warmth she offered. Aedan's adventures had rattled him more than he liked and any comfort he could get was more than welcome. "Its hard losing someone we care about," she whispered into his hair. "I don't want to see anything happen to her, either, Ted. She's just a girl."
Aedan was more than 'just a girl' but he understood what she meant. And it honest to God made him feel better when he felt her lips press against the top of his head. "You, of all people, know what the world is like. But you can help keep her safe. Teach her what you know. Guide her along her path. Steer her in the right direction. You can't always be there to protect her. But you can teach her so that you're always there in spirit."
"That means time away from you and the kids," he reminded her. He was already spending more time away from them than he probably should be. But the past two months had been so fucked up and it had been hard enough losing Anita. Realizing that Aedan had technically died... He almost hadn't found it in him to keep her breathing until the EMTs had arrived. He'd almost been victim of the same fear and helplessness that had frozen Jean Claude in place.
"You always come home to me. The kids will understand. Especially if we someday get to meet your friend," she told him softly. It was a subtle hint that Donna wanted to know more about his personal life. More about Ted when he wasn't home with her.
"There are a few things she has to take care of before that can happen. Once they're dealt with, though, I'll be sure to talk to her and see if she'd be willing to spend a weekend getting to know you," he told her, lifting his face to offer her a slight smile. Donna returned it with one of her own, her eyes searching his face.
"You're tired. Let's go to bed. You can sleep in in the morning and I'll make you some breakfast when you get up. And we'll talk more about your friend afterward," she promised.
"That sounds like heaven," he told her. And meant it. Donna stepped back and let him climb to his feet, then accepted the tender kiss he pressed upon her. She wrapped an arm around his back and urged him toward the door and the hallway. Then toward the bedroom they shared.
He fell asleep wrapped up in Donna's embrace, the warmth of her body keeping reality at bay for just a little while.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-07-25 05:35 am (UTC)I love Doc Lillian, I must say. Only she could order Edward and JC around. :-)
I think my favorite part is the end with Edward and Donna. I'm so glad you brought her (and by extension the kids) into this! :-) I hope one day Aedan DOES get to meet them. Then again, I'm a sap for stuff like that. :-)
Gawrsh..I see an ending in sight....but noooooooo! I mean, yay but nooooooo! ;-)
Seriously sweetie, as always, a joy and an honor to read your stuffs. And I still hate you for being such a great writer, by the way. ;-) xxoo
(no subject)
Date: 2018-07-25 10:52 am (UTC)i honestly believe that Lillian is the only one who can bend Death to her will. she's always come across in the books to me as a force to be reckoned with. and Edward is smart enough to know when to pick his battles
including the bit with Donna was last minute. i kind of like how it came out. how it really gives us a chance to see a more human side of Edward. which i feel is so important to showcase because there's such a build up around the idea of him being this super badass bounty hunter/assassin that thinks its fun to go after shit that doesn't want to die. so it really feels like a good addition and the perfect place for it.
yes. the end is nigh. i don't know what i'll do with myself when that happens...
glad you enjoyed, bb. thanks for reading and commenting.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-09-10 09:35 pm (UTC)Another solid chapter, hon. I'm always a fan of Dr. Lillian bossing people around. Have you ever seen Sky High? Cloris Leachman played Nurse Spex. She's always what I imagine Dr. Lillian looking like for some reason.
By George, I do think Aedan has finally gotten it!
I also enjoyed the ending bit with Donna & Ted. I'm reading Serpentine right now and it takes place during Edward & Donna's wedding. Haven't actually gotten that far into it yet, but yeah. Should be interesting. It's weird seeing Edward play the doting groom to be.
(no subject)
Date: 2018-09-10 10:07 pm (UTC)i am so solidly set on the idea that Lillian takes no shit from anyone. literally. she's old enough to just... tell them what to do or tell them off and get away with it. she just doesn't care. i think that attitude works in her favor. a lot.
hopefully! she can't afford to have many more encounters like the one she had with the demon. silly girl.
i have pretty much loved Edward from the very first moment she introduced him in the books. so, pretty much right after i fell hard for Jean Claude. and i really do like that she's written him in a way that allows him to separate the different aspects of himself. i am not sure i'm ready to believe he'll actually get married (i have so much catching up to do, honestly. i don't even remember what the last AB book i read was). if he does, cool for him. i think he loves Donna in his own odd way. but thinking about him married is just weird.
glad you enjoyed, sweetie. thanks for taking the time to read. .:smoochies:.