Athelstan Wilder (whereareyoulord) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-06-28 22:12:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, brother athelstan, eli |
Who: Athelstan and Eli
What: Saving Athelstan's skin.
When: The night of 6/28, concurrent with these texts
Where: Mostly at UCI Hospital.
Rating: PG13, blood and violence
Status: Complete
Athelstan had been walking home from church as dusk was falling, planning out his evening. There were a couple of things he had to do, and then he was going to the nursery tomorrow to speak to Madame Navi about a job. She had said she’d hire him.
But out of nowhere, he’d hit the sidewalk; there had been something big, and blue, and angry. Athelstan had closed his eyes, whimpering as he felt sharp claws or teeth or something bite into his neck and collarbone. Inwardly, he tried to calm himself, hearing the words of the Lord’s Prayer in his head. Death came for everyone.
And yet, eventually, he felt it leave. The smell was the same; the lights behind his eyes were pulsing, but he opened his eyes and realized he was still on the sidewalk. He felt the blood pooling at the side of his neck, felt his hands and arms tingling. He managed to grab his phone and feebly text Eli.
Never had she been more glad that she was a vampire. It had never seemed like a blessing before, it had always seemed like a nightmare. But as soon as she found out where Athelstan was from his text she was off like a shot, moving faster than any creature should have been able to move, climbing up buildings in a blur, jumping from roof to roof to reach him.
And when she did, when she saw the blood, her fangs came out on reflex. She hated it, but they extended and pricked her lower lip. Leaping from the top of the building, she landed next to him in a crouch. Her cheeks were streaked red from crying bloody tears for him, and she knelt next to him. “Athelstan. Can you hear me?”
“Mmhm.” Athelstan tried to speak more clearly. Thank God above she was here. “Is it bad?” he managed in a near whisper. He could move his limbs - he tried wiggling fingers and toes, and it seemed to work - but he didn’t want to get off the pavement until he knew how bad the neck wound was.
She bit her lower lip. “Yes.” She ripped his shirt off of him with very strong fingers, wrapping it tightly around the wound. “I have to get you to hospital.” But when she looked up, she saw two of the blue figures approaching them. “Stay.” Not like he could move, but still.
Snarling, she sprung toward them, ripping off arms, heads, sending a fine mist of whatever was inside them sailing. She knew that Athelstan could hear their cries, their pained grunting noises, but she was silent. She was death incarnate, and somehow, this felt right. Like she’d been made to do this. Dreams intruding on her waking moments. She knew that, but still. She’d be there to rip anything in half that harmed him.
Athelstan was able to raise one arm high enough to hold the cloth to his neck as hard as he could, but he knew he wasn’t generating that much pressure. He heard her command, and then he heard the creatures shrieking. He did not, however, hear anything from Eli. He wasn’t sure what to make of it.
When it was silent, though, he wet his lips, trying to speak again. “Eli. Not sure - too weak to press.” At this point he figured he was mostly just sopping up blood.
Soon she had ripped the creatures to pieces. Covered in their blood, she reached out to take Athelstan in her arms, one hand pressed to the wound. She only stopped to sling him over her shoulder so she could climb up the side of a building and start leaping from roof to roof toward the nearest hospital. “I have you.”
It felt bizarre, being slung about like useless meat, but he wasn’t exactly in a position to complain. He did his best to stay coherent, to think, and the only way he could think of to keep his brain engaged was to murmur prayers. If he recalled, Eli wasn’t bothered by them. He grit his teeth to give himself something physical to focus on as well. “Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee ...”
“Keep talking,” she murmured, trying not to cry for his benefit. It was all she could do to keep her fangs tucked behind her lips as she ran from building to building. Soon they were at the hospital, and she leaped off of the roof, transferring him in her arms to a cradle. She only just barely missed three paramedics.
“Please, you have to help him. May I come in with him, please? Tell me I can come in with him.” She finally felt like she could cry, since he was with people who could help him.
The nurse could only stare. “Why didn’t you call an ambulance?” She hit an emergency button on the phone immediately, beckoning Eli back beyond a big swinging door. “You can come in; tell the doctors what happened.”
Athelstan could only make noises to let Eli know he was still awake; he was definitely feeling weak now and it was hard to keep his neck from going limp. “Hospital?”
“There was no time, we were only a block away.” Eli took his hand, moving to find a gurney. A doctor was running toward her, and she was still crying. “Yes, we’re at the hospital. I’m staying with you as long as I can.” She leaned down to kiss him gently, hoping against hope that it wouldn’t be the last time.
Athelstan smiled and closed his eyes. He thought he might have lost a few minutes; when next he became aware of himself, he was lying down in what felt like a hospital room, with his head slightly higher than his feet. There was a woman applying steady, firm pressure to his neck, and he blinked several times, trying to look around to find Eli. He heard her voice, or so he thought, and another woman speaking grimly. “We don’t know what those monsters are capable of, but at least the wound looks clean.”
Eli’s fangs had retracted, and the blood on her face could be construed as Athelstan’s. As long as she wasn’t exposed to sunlight, she could pass. But when she saw that he was awake, she cried out and tried to move toward him. “Athelstan!” She reached for his hand, only to be told by a doctor that she’d better stay out of the room he was in, for his sake.
Athelstan made a pained noise. “No,” he grunted. “Eli.” He wanted her in the Godforsaken room, if he could be.
He heard a man sigh, presumably one of the doctors. “For a minute only. We’re admitting you, so she can come upstairs to be with you then. The thing missed the major arteries, but you did lose a lot of blood.”
And then he saw Eli’s face and smiled, closing his eyes in relief. “OK?” Was she okay, was he going to be okay, either, both.
Eli smiled, moving to take his hand and kiss his knuckles. “You will be fine, they stitched you and will be giving you blood to replace what you have lost.” Just talking about it made her stomach growl. “I am fine, as always. Don’t ever worry about me, Athelstan. I love you, and I will always be fine.” She stroked his cheek. She could hear one of the nurses say ‘awww’ under her breath.
Athelstan would have blushed if he could. As it was, he squeezed her hand lightly, trying to nod by closing his eyes. “Thank you,” he wheezed, trying to move his arm, but only belatedly realizing there was an IV in it. “See you upstairs.”
“Okay,” the doctor broke in, “now you do need to step outside, miss. There’s chairs right down the hall; we’ll be going right by, so you just come with us when you see the bed.” Athelstan didn’t protest this time, knowing it wouldn’t be long. He’d never been in an American hospital, so he wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.
Eli nodded, smiling at how peaceful he looked. One of the nurses told her to sit, that she’d be able to follow the gurney upstairs. And in about half an hour, the same nurse was wheeling Athelstan upstairs. She followed behind, blinking when they got to the elevator. “You’re sure it’s all right I go in?”
“Of course, sweetheart.” The woman held the door for her, and Eli walked inside. The halls upstairs were fine, they were part of the hospital proper, and she resumed her vigil. Once outside his room, the nurse chuckled. “You can go in there too, dear. There’s a bathroom there as well. Wash up, and then order some food, your stomach hasn’t stopped growling for an hour!”
Washing up she did do, but eating, well. She’d do that later. Instead, she sat down by Athelstan’s bed, taking his hand and running her thumb over the knuckles.
Athelstan was awake, but only just. Still, he perked up when he saw Eli. “Hello,” he managed, smiling sweetly. “Not bleeding anymore.”
“This is so,” she smiled. It was a thin one, but still there.
His first concern was for her. “They didn’t ... stop you?” He worried sometimes if anyone could tell what she was. Athelstan would do quite a lot to keep any harm from coming to Eli, least of all from people who had nothing to fear from her.
She shook her head. “They don’t know. If they do, they haven’t let on.” She kissed the knuckles of his hand again, biting her lip. “Are you in much pain? I can get the nurse.”
“No. Medication in the bag.” They’d hooked up a new IV, and he was just barely aware of the stitches, so that was a good sign. Athelstan closed his eyes. “I’m glad you’re still safe.”
“Oh, Athelstan.” She couldn’t help but laugh a little even though she was crying again. “I will always be safe. Don’t worry about me. I worry about you. I would have turned you, you know. If you ... if you hadn’t been able to make it to the hospital.”
He was silent for a moment, before simply saying, “Glad you didn’t have to.” He honestly wasn’t sure about how to react to that. He believed that no creature was low in the eyes of God, and yet, he was so happy to see the sun every day. To lose that would hurt.
She bowed her head. “It would have just ... given you time. To decide.” She couldn’t help but bite her lower lip hard to keep back a sob. “I don’t want to think of you that way. You deserve to be human, you shouldn’t ever be ... what I am.”
No, that wasn’t what he’d meant. It wouldn’t do at all. “Not what I said.” Athelstan ground out. “Said I was glad you didn’t have to. Just that.” She wasn’t any ‘lesser’ than him because of what she was. He felt sick when he saw her cry.
“I’m just happy you’re well, Athelstan. I was so scared.” Her head ducked down and she moved to let it rest against his shoulder. “It doesn’t matter what I would have done. You’re fine.”
He squeezed her hand as tightly as he could. “I will be.” He smiled drowsily. “My Eli.”
That made her grin. “Yes, always.” She sat up a bit to kiss his cheek. She wondered if he remembered that she’d said she loved him. She’d meant it.
He did. He just didn’t want her to think he was only saying it back because of the pain medication. “Think I’ve got morphine,” he murmured. It was partly explanation, partly apology for how drowsy he was getting.
“You sleep. I am not going anywhere, so I will be here when you wake.” His room had no windows; it was as safe as anything for her.
“What about dawn?” Athelstan’s eyes were worried, as wide as he could make them.
She pointed to the walls. “It will be kept out.”
If she honestly didn’t mind not leaving this room until it was night again, it was her choice. Athelstan had already learned the futility of trying to tell Eli what to do. He nodded, squeezing her hand again and closing his eyes. Hopefully the sleep would replenish his strength. “Lucky to have you.” He told her, before falling silent.
She hummed quietly, stroking his hair to help him sleep.