Carson wrapped his arm around Rodney and leaned against him as Cait spoke to her father and brother. When tears started forming in his eyes again, Rodney reached up and wiped them away with his thumbs.
She's okay, he told him silently.
I know. That was just too bloody close, Rodney, he replied.
I know.
Soon, they were back in the private room they had set up for Cait, Carson making sure she was comfortable. As Kade spoke to her, he breathed in deeply and ran his hand over her hair. He had known this would be a consequence of the decision they had made. She seemed to accept it though Carson still found himself holding his own breath when she started to feed from him.
As she did, Carson found a strange feeling rushing over him. Feelings and sensations and thoughts that were alien and yet familiar. Blinking, he looked at Kade then at Rodney and Cait.
"I felt it too," he told him.
Kade nodded and sat down next to Cait on the bed. "I wondered if something like this might happen. Sometimes a bond forms between a Sangui and the person he or she gives their blood to like I did with Cait. I wasn't sure, though, if the connection between the three of you would block such a thing happening or not."
Reaching out, he touched Cait's cheek and then looked up at Carson and Rodney. "Are you three all right with this?"