Recovery..
#9 of Lunar
© All characters and storylines surrounding these characters belong to me, Eben Black..
Where am I?
What had happened? I was enveloped in a blanket of darkness. Thick, blackened shadows covered my vision, while my body felt like I was floating. Was I in water? There was a loud noise and the whole area was illuminated. I was in water. I underwater, bubbles frothed and pirouetted around me while I floated, sinking lower and lower. I panicked for a moment, gazing around looking for Ethan. There was no one to be seen. I wasn't in that hotel pool again. I sank deeper and deeper though. The waters around me darkened from a pale blue to a dark red. I gazed up and saw the surface of the water, and the sunshine blazing on the mirrored waves. Then I heard a noise. Beep. Beep. It grew louder and louder. Beep. Beep. The sea of red around me lightened to a pale pink, and then whitened even more. The noise grew so loud it felt like it was being yelled in my ear. I heard a rush of noise beneath me, I gazed down and watched the bottom of this sea rush up in a flourish of bubbles and froth. The sea smashed into me and I opened my eyes. I cried out and clawed at the bed sheets around me.
I took several deep breaths, looking around wildly. I was in a small, white room. A hospital bed underneath me, and one of those machines beside the bed that measured your heartbeat. It beeped twice, stopped and then beeped a further two times. Was that the beeping I'd heard in that dream? I looked down at my forearm where an IV was stabbed into my skin too. A blood transfusion. I remembered what had happened. Ethan had stabbed me. I looked down at my hand and found it bandaged heavily around the palm. I squeezed the hand shut and winced with pain. The wound was still fresh, no doubt it had been stitched up. I was nude underneath the white sheets, a bad sat at the end of the bed, no doubt full of clothes. I felt dazed and confused, but I also felt like I should be more panicked about what had happened. Morphine. Morphine can make any immediate danger the last thing on your mind.
Snow? Where was Snow?
The door opened and the very feline stepped inside. He looked up at me and a broad smile graced that beautiful face. He closed the door and walked wide around the bed before standing beside me, his hand taking my IV one. He sat down in the bedside chair and gazed up at me, there was a solid relief there and happiness that made me wonder how long I'd been unconscious for. I looked down at those beautiful cerulean eyes and pulled my good hand from his. He rested his head in my lap and I began stroking and caressing the strands of white head fur while he purred.
"How do you feel?" Snow asked.
"Morphine is a wonderful drug," I replied with a broad smile.
There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" Snow called.
There was a flicker of black fur and a canine muzzle passing through the door. I panicked and took a deep breath, but then realised it wasn't a black wolf, but a Doberman. The man stood at six foot four, broad-shouldered, strong muscules strained against the black t-shirt he wore. He wore black jeans and black hiking boots. His green eyes narrowed when he saw me and Snow together. He then saw the medical equipment and the dazed look on my face, and smiled. He held out a badge, an Investigation Squad one to be precise.
"Mr. Black, Mr. Valentine. My name is Eddie Harlan, and I'll be taking over your case until Ethan Black is caught and locked up."
"What happened to the previous man in charge?" I asked.
"He fucked up big time. He underestimated Ethan and in the process you were almost killed," Eddie replied, "If Snow had not stepped in we wouldn't have saved you."
"How did you know Ethan was at the apartment. None of us phoned the police," I replied.
"Officer Marshal reported in and said you'd returned home to fetch Snow. The officers standing guard at your apartment never responded to our calls, so backup was sent."
"But you had Ethan's corpse in the morgue?" Snow asked, looking confused.
"The dental records came back. A man named Louis Romero. He went missing in Louisiana a couple months back. Its believed Ethan killed him and planned to use him to fake his own death for a time."
Snow frowned and looked startled, "That wolf is fucking insane."
Eddie smirked and said, "One of the most insane my team has come up against."
"You and your team handle crazies often then?" Snow asked.
"The previous team that managed your case has been sent elsewhere. My team has been called in because we specialise at things like this."
"So how do you plan on protecting, Eben then?" Snow demanded, looking determined now, his hand squeezed mine as he stood up.
Eddie nodded and said, "Ethan is back in hiding. No one has a clue where he is. He abandoned your apartment and just vanished before we got there. Its believed he's hiding somewhere near there. I've had my team canvas the area, but so far nothing has turned up. I'll have you both put back in protective custody and set you up back in the Raddison. Ethan never found out where you were while you were there, so I'm not about to ignore a good idea when I see one. Just promise me, both of you, that no one leaves, regardless of what happens!"
Snow looked down then, almost ashamed of his actions earlier. "Alright."
I squeezed his hand, "No problem."
He smiled and then looked back up at Eddie. "One question; we've been recieving texts from him. Have you considered tracking the number?"
"I had it checked while Eben was unconscious, but it appears the SIM for the phone used has been deactivated. He wouldn't be that careless. He's insane, but intelligent too."
"He loses his cool whenever he sees me, but apart from that he's been acting calm, collected and level-headed, making all the right moves." Snow took a deep breath and sighed.
"What is wrong?" I asked.
"I should have killed him. I should have smashed his head in then and there," he growled.
"While I do not condone murder, that plan would have been futile anyway, Mr. Valentine. Eben had lost a lot of blood. You did the right thing in making Ethan flee, so you could focus on Eben."
"The police showed up seconds after Ethan had left," I murmured.
"It is believed he headed for the roof, rather than crossing paths with us downstairs. He made his escape that way. I've had the rooftops canvased too. Nothing," Eddie explained.
"Such a slippery bastard," I breathed.
"You have no idea," Eddie replied with a grin, "But I have the utmost faith in the team I work with. We'll find him and stop him, Eben."
I sighed and held Snow's hand against my cheek. Back to the hotel we would go then.
Night swallowed the skies in a sea of orange and black. I was huddled at the head of that queen sized bed. Fresh bedding had been laid down, while I sat among the mound of pillows. The hotel room door opened and Snow took a step inside, he walked through the small lounge and entered the bedroom. He had a small tray in his hands. He had pancakes. Pancakes? I looked a question at him.
"Eddie talked with the kitchen downstairs. We can have whatever we want, whenever we want. Custodial priviledge," Snow explained as he crawled onto the bed holding the tray in hand.
"What kind?" I asked.
"Lemon," he replied.
"Lemon?"
He nodded. "I've never considered it before, but I snuck a taste on the way up and its delicious." He took up a fork and stabbed a mouthful before holding it up for me. I took it and chewed. It was moist, sweet and so warm. I revelled in that sensation as he picked up another bite and took it himself. "Good?" he asked as he swallowed.
I nodded. He held out another mouthful and I took it. I rested my head against his shoulder, while he fed me. We chowed down and when we were done the tray ended up on the bedside table. Snow sat at the headboard of the queen-sized bed, while I huddled in his lap. He'd removed his shirt so that his warm chest and stomach fur was smothering me while we cuddled. His muscular arms encircled me while his tail swished slowly. I was numb. The morphine was wearing off, but I was still dazed. Snow caressed my head fur and held me close. He was so quiet. I gazed up at him and looked into those deep blue eyes. "Is it odd that Eddie feels dependable?"
"Nope. He seems like a decent, hard working man," Snow replied.
"Think Ethan can stand against him?"
Snow smiled and said, "Ethan is unpredictable, but Eddie seems determined."
I smiled back and played with his warm chest fur. "I'm tired again. Man, morphine is a bitch. I'm exhausted again," I mumbled.
"Get some sleep then." He trailed a hand along my thigh and cuddled me again.
"You won't disappear this time?" I asked, my eyes held a sadness that I had not realised I held inside me. Tears burned the back of my eyes as the white tiger touched his lips to my muzzle.
"I will never do anything like that again. I said I would protect you, and I will do that. I will stand at your side forever until this bastard is taken down," he assured me.
"Ethan was right."
"About what?"
"You are my white knight, aren't you?" I smiled as I said it. Snow smirked back and snuggled us down in the mound of pillows. Sleep swallowed us and for the first time in a long time I fell straight to sleep.