• Choose a category
• All
• Classic-Fiction

“How did this happen?” he asked, laying the lightest of touches on my face. He pulled the remaining chair closer and sat in it. Eric continued with his work.

I began to explain. I was so tired my voice faltered from time to time. When I got to the part about Gabe, I didn’t have enough wits to tone the episode down, and I could see Bill was holding on to his temper with iron control. He gently lifted my blouse to peer at the ripped bra and the bruises on my chest, even with Eric there. (He looked, of course.)

“What happened to this Gabe?” Bill asked, very quietly.

“Well, he’s dead,” I said. “Godfrey killed him.”

“You saw Godfrey?” Eric leaned forward. He hadn’t said a thing up till this point. He’d finished doctoring my arm. He’d put antibiotic ointment all over it as if he were protecting a baby from diaper rash.

“You were right, Bill. He was the one who kidnapped Farrell, though I didn’t get any details. And Godfrey stopped Gabe from raping me. Though I got to say, I had gotten in a few good licks myself.”

“Don’t brag,” said Bill with a small smile. “So, the man is dead.” But he didn’t seem satisfied.

“Godfrey was very good in stopping Gabe and helping me get out. Specially since he just wanted to think about meeting the dawn. Where is he?”

“He ran into the night during our attack on the Fellowship,” Bill explained. “None of us could catch him.”

“What happened at the Fellowship?”

“I’ll tell you, Sookie. But let’s say good night to Eric, and I will tell you while I bathe you.”

“Okay,” I agreed. “Good night, Eric. Thanks for the first aid.”

“I think those are the main points,” Bill said to Eric. “If there is more, I’ll come to your room later.”

“Good.” Eric looked at me, his eyes half open. He’d had a lick or two at my bloody arm while he doctored it and the taste seemed to have intoxicated him. “Rest well, Sookie.”

“Oh,” I said, my eyes opening all the way suddenly. “You know, we owe the shapeshifters.”

Both the vampires stared at me. “Well, maybe not you guys, but I sure do.”

“Oh, they’ll put in a claim,” Eric predicted. “Those shapeshifters never perform any service for free. Good night, Sookie. I am glad you weren’t raped and killed.” He gave his sudden flashing grin, and looked a lot more like himself.

“Gee, thanks a lot,” I said, my eyes closing again. “Night.”

When the door had closed behind Eric, Bill gathered me up out of the chair and took me in the bathroom. It was about as big as most hotel bathrooms, but the tub was adequate. Bill ran it full of hot water and very carefully took off my clothes.

“Just toss ’em, Bill,” I said.

“Maybe I will, at that.” He was eyeing the bruises again, his lips pressed together in a straight line.

“Some of these are from the fall on the stairs, and some are from the car accident,” I explained.

“If Gabe wasn’t dead I would find him and kill him,” Bill said, mostly to himself. “I would take my time.” He lifted me as easily as if I were a baby and put me in the bath, and began washing me with a cloth and a bar of soap.

“My hair is so nasty.”

“Yes, it is, but we may have to take care of your hair in the morning. You need sleep.”

Beginning with my face, Bill gently scrubbed me all the way down. The water became discolored with dirt and old blood. He checked my arm thoroughly, to make sure Eric had gotten all the glass. Then he emptied the tub and refilled it, while I shivered. This time, I got clean. After I moaned about my hair a second time, he gave in. He wet my head and shampooed my hair, rinsing it laboriously. There is nothing more wonderful than feeling head-to-toe clean after you’ve been filthy, having a comfortable bed with clean sheets, being able to sleep in it in safety.

“Tell me about what happened at the Fellowship,” I said as he carried me to the bed. “Keep me company.”

Bill inserted me under the sheet and crawled in the other side. He slid his arm under my head and scooted close. I carefully touched my forehead to his chest and rubbed it.

“By the time we got there, it was like