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Xhex felt a soft brush across her shoulder and hip as John drew the sheet around her

From behind the shelter of her hand, she inhaled and all she sood, clean, healthy ut, her appetite and needs waking from their slumber with a roar

And that was before John put his wrist up so close she could kiss it

Her symphath instincts snaked out and read his eht in the head and the heart: John was going to save her ass if it was the last thing he did

"John" she whispered

The problem with this situation well, one of the how close to death she was

Her anger at Lash had been a sustenance while she&039;d been jailed and abused, and she&039;d thought it would have kept her going outside as well But the instant she&039;d y had drained out of her and left her nothing but a heartbeat And not much of one at that

John ainst her ish push at the saht

She had a choice in this quiet, charged moment: Take his vein and stick around Deny him and die in front of hi nowhere

Moving her hand from her face, she shifted her eyes to hi fe her palm, she reached up to him

Surprise flared in his eyes and then he bent down so that her hand landed against his war her arers tre it in place

His deep blue eyes were a kind of heaven, the color like that of a war sky

She had a decision to make here Take his vein or

As she couldn&039;t find the energy to finish the thought, she felt as though she&039;d lost herself: going by the fact that she appeared to be conscious, she guessed she was alive--and yet she wasn&039;t in her own skin Her fight was long gone, the thing that had defined herevaporated Whichanymore and she couldn&039;t fake that, not for him, not for herself

Two trips around the prisoner park had taken her too far down

So what to do, what to do

She licked her dry lips She hadn&039;t been born on any terms she would have chosen or volunteered for, and her ti hadn&039;t improved where she&039;d started from She could, however, leave on her terht

Yeah, that was the answer Thanks to the last three and a half weeks, she had one hell of a bucket list Granted, there was only a single entry on it, but soh to motivate you

In a rush of resolve, her hard outer skin re-fored her out dissipating and leaving a sharp awareness in its wake Abruptly, she pulled her hand out from under John&039;s, and the withdrawal spiked a flare of pure, silvery fear on his erid But then she drew his wrist to her and bared her fangs

His triumph was a heat wave

At least until it becath to break his skin--her incisors did nothing but scratch his surface John was on it, though With a fast ht the source of him to her lips

The first taste was a transformation His blood was so pure it blazed in her nited in her sto her Saving her

With greedy pulls, she took from him to revive herself, each s a life raft for her to crawl into, each draw a rope slung over the cliff of her demise, each pull on his vein the compass she needed to find the trail back hoave without expectation or hope or the stirrings of emotions

Which even in her frenzy caused her pain She had well and truly broken his heart: There was nothing left for him to anticipate with But she had not broken hi else could

As she fed, time flowed as his blood did, into the infinite and into her

When she finally had taken her fill, she released her seal on his skin and licked the wound closed

The shaking started soon thereafter It began in her hands and feet and quickly centralized in her chest, the uncontrollable tre her teeth and her brain and her vision until she felt as though she was a li, she caught sight of John taking his cell phone out of his jacket

She tried to snag his shirt "N-n-n-no D-d-don&039;t--"

He ignored her, cocking the daroaned

When he clipped the phone shut, she said, "Y-y-you try to t-t-take o well"

Her fear of clinics and e, and thanks to hi with her panic And wasn&039;t that going to be a joy for all of them to handle

John took out a pad and scribbled so around, and then left a moment later, and all she could do was close her eyes as the door shut

Parting her lips, she breathed through her et dressed, and head out before John&039;s bright idea showed up Quick check told her that was a no-go If she couldn&039;t lift her head and hold it off the pillow forvertical

It didn&039;t take John long to coer Brotherhood&039;s personal physician The ghostly fe with her and exuded the kind of medical competence that Xhex valued-- but would infinitely have preferred to be applied to others and not herself

Doc Jane approached and put her stuff down on the floor Her white jacket and her scrubs were solid to the eye, though her hands and face were translucent That all changed, however, as she sat on the edge of the bed Everything about her took forhted

Even the compassionate doctor made Xhex&039;s skin crawl, however She really didn&039;t want to be touched by anyone

As the good doctor re the fes you should know First of all, I will not divulge your location to anyone and I will not share whatever you tell me or whatever I find with anybody I will have to report that I&039;ve seen you to Wrath, but any clinical findings are yours and yours alone"

Sounded good In theory But she didn&039;t want the fe

Doc Jane went on "Second, I don&039;t know a da anatonificant to that half of you I&039; to necessarily kno to treat it Do you still consent to be seen by me?"

Xhex cleared her throat and tried to lock her shoulders so she didn&039;t shake so much "I don&039;t ant to be seen"

"That&039;s what John said But you&039;ve been through a trauma--"

"It asn&039;t that bad" She sensed John&039;s emotional response to that froy to tease out the details of what he was feeling "And I&039;m f-f-fine--"

"Then you should view this as simply a formality"

"Do I l-l-look like someone who&039;s forreen stare narrowed "You look like someone who&039;s been beaten Hasn&039;t fed properly And hasn&039;t slept Unless you want to tell me that purple bruise on your shoulder is e?"

Xhex ell familiar with people ouldn&039;t accept no for an answer--for shit&039;s sake, she&039;d worked with Rehv for years And going by that hard, level tone, it was pretty da to have her way or she wasn&039;t leaving Ever

"G-g-g-goddamn it"

"FYI, the sooner we start, the sooner it&039;s over"

Xhex glanced at John, thinking that if she had to be seen, he was so not a value-add He really didn&039;t need to know anything uessed about the condition she was in

The doctor looked over her shoulder "John, will you please wait in the hall?"

John ducked his head and bowed out of the rooh the door When the lock clicked into place, the good doctor opened that fucking bag of hers and the stethoscope and the blood-pressure cuff were the first to co to listen to your heart," the fe the wishbone up to her ears

The sight of the asoline to Xhex&039;s shivers, and as out-of-it as she was, she cringed away

Doc Jane paused "I&039; you don&039;t want me to do"