True Fate (35 page)

Savannah stood and started putting the things
back in her bag. "I meant what I said earlier, just think about it and let
me know.” she told Nia with a smile.

Darragh smiled at her. "Feel better Nia, we
will figure out what happened. Here.” he said handing her a small bottle about
the size of cough syrup.

Nia looked at him questioningly. “You lost a lot
of blood, drink this over the next thirty minutes. It will help to replenish
your blood supply quicker. You have a few more hours in this comfy bed and then
you can sleep in the car. In the meantime Eric and I have a glamour to work
out.” he said heading for the door.

"Thank you Darragh.” she told him with a
smile. Aaron and Eric came in as Savannah and Darragh were leaving. "She's
okay guys, she's going to be sore though. We'll see you in a few.” Savannah
said as Darragh tried reassuring Nia's worried guardians with a pat on their
shoulders.

Aaron came to her side and sat on the bed, the
relief evident on his face. He was looking at the puffy pink line where she had
been wounded. Nia was so touched by his red rimmed eyes, she has no idea what
she would do if it were him that was wounded. "Wow." he whispered
almost reverently.

"Yeah she really is the best, that's just
one reason why Lilith is not too fond of her.", Eric said laughing with
the relief clear in his voice.

"Okay, we can talk later. Y'all try to sleep
some or at least relax. I'll call when you need to get up.", Eric said.
Nia nodded and he headed for the door closing it behind him softly. She smiled
as warmly as she could, all things considered.

"That scared the heck out of me. I thought I
was going to lose you.” Aaron said with a lump in his throat. Nia wanted to get
up, sitting carefully first, wincing as she applied a small amount of pressure
on her recently healed arm. Deciding quickly that wasn't a good idea she simply
scooted to the edge, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. She got up
slowly and headed for the bathroom at a snail’s pace as Aaron walked at her
side to steady her, just in case.

Nia was too afraid to see how much of her blood
was on the bed so she didn't look at it. She looked herself over in the mirror
and decided a quick shower was in order. She had blood in her hair and on her
cheek. Her arm and her p.j.'s were covered too.

Aaron stood in the doorway, "Let's get you
cleaned up.", he suggested. Nia just nodded. He came and stood directly in
front of her and caressed her cheek, "That really was scary, the thought
of losing you was horrible Nia.” he whispered.

"Yeah.", was all she could manage this
close to him. Nia placed her hands on the rim of her t-shirt and lifted it over
her head. Her tank top was stained on the same side that her wound had been on.

She sighed, "That was my favorite
t-shirt." She said looking at her oversized Planet Hollywood shirt sitting
by the trash can. It was her last great vacation with the whole family. That
trip to San Antonio was still one of her favorite memories.

"It's black, we can wash it out.” Aaron said
throwing it in the sink. She smiled at him and nodded happily.

"Good idea.” she said planting a small quick
kiss directly on his lips. His eyes went wide, she guessed he wasn't expecting
that.

"Do you need help or do you want me to
leave?” he asked sounding a bit embarrassed. “I think I got it, but I need
something to put on if you can get that for me." Nia said as she turned on
the shower. Aaron nodded and left the bathroom and returned quickly. She took
the clothes and gave him a warm smile.

"Thank you.” she said as he closed the door.

"Anything for you, Nia.” he said through the
door and she couldn't help but chuckle at that.

The warm water was steaming up the bathroom as
Nia gingerly removed the tank top. Her skin was sticky with the residue of her
own blood. She got into the shower with her shorts on and her tank top in hand.
She rinsed her top first then took the shorts off and rinsed them out under the
warm stream of water.

She did her underwear next, happy they were white
and would bleach out fine. She let the water run over her hair and closed her
eyes, she didn't like the rusty hue the water was turning. It made her wonder
how much blood she had lost if that much was in her hair. She scrubbed every
inch of herself careful to keep her salve covered wound dry. Washing her hair
and letting the conditioner set a few minutes while she shaved her legs, after
all it may be her last opportunity for a good shower.

'Nia?’
she heard Aaron's
worried voice in her mind. She smiled, she was probably taking a long time.
'Come
in and have a seat. I'm almost done.’
she sent back biting her lip.

She knew she was being braver than usual, maybe
it was the meds Savannah injected or the liquid in the bottle Darragh gave her.
She had drank a third of it already.

'Okay.',
Aaron
sent back softly. She heard the creak of the door and the click of it shutting.
Aaron cleared his throat. "Umm, I was just making sure you were okay.” he
explained with his voice cracking.

"I'm just taking advantage of a good shower,
we really have no idea how crazy things are going to get after we leave here.”
she said slowly.

Aaron thought about it and Nia was right. He
would be sure to enjoy a shower too. "Good idea.” he replied as Nia was almost
done she moved to rinse her hair.

"Do you think I can trust Savannah?” she
asked him.

"With what exactly?” he asked staring at the
silhouette that had him mesmerized.

"She says she can help me unlock what
happened. Even if someone is trying to suppress the memory.” she explained.

"I don't know yet, maybe we should wait a
little while. Reliving it may not be the best thing and we have no idea if we
can trust her really.” he said carefully. "Yeah, I think you're right.
I'll think about it more and then decide. She did save my life after all. I'm a
little scared though, what if I was attacked or something like that? I mean was
I hurt in a dreamscape? Is that even possible?” she asked turning off the
water.

Aaron got up and quickly grabbed a towel,
"Here." he said putting it over the top of the curtain.

 
"Thanks.", Nia said with a wry
smile.

"I don't know if you were attacked or if it
happened in a dreamscape. But Eric and Darragh will figure it out, they said
not to worry.” he said heading towards the door.

"I'll be waiting outside.” he told her as
she reached for the curtain. She stepped out of the shower not giving him a
chance to make his exit, with the towel wrapped around her and Aaron froze. She
strolled up to him seemingly calm but shaking on the inside and leaned up and
planted a kiss on his cheek.

"I'll be out in a minute.” she said grabbing
another towel beginning to dry her hair.

"Okay.", Aaron said with bright red
cheeks, he was trying desperately to be smooth but Nia threw him for a loop,
yet again. She loved the affect that she had on him and soon she felt less
woozy too, she'd have to remember to ask Darragh what exactly was in that
bottle.

She put on the clothes Aaron brought her and
laughed when she pulled on the t-shirt. It was black with a Nintendo NES
controller on it. It was at least four sizes too big and hung like a dress to mid-thigh,
but it smelled like Aaron and she loved that. She found him flipping through infomercials
on the couch. "Nice shirt.” she said tugging at the hem.

"Yeah I've had that for a while and it's my
favorite shirt too. I was embarrassed to wear it around you.” he said motioning
to the pajama pants he was wearing and wincing at his admission. They had small
NES controllers all over them with a black background.

Nia let out a giggle, "I like those too.
Thanks for trusting me with it.." she said going over to him and sitting
across his lap.

Burying her face in his neck he just held her
with a hand across her back and the other on her knee.

"What's that?” he asked taking the brown
bottle from her hand.

"Darragh gave it to me. He said to drink the
whole thing within a half hour to replenish my blood supply.” she said.

"Well you need to finish it soon, you took a
little while in there.” he told her. She uncapped it and gave him a sniff of
the thick sugary liquid. It had a golden hue and looked like she was drinking
gold shimmering paint. "Weird", was all Aaron said about it.

"I don't know what I would do if I lost you,
Nia. I really don't think I could bare it.", he said in a whisper.
"Drink this, it will help too.” he ordered, grabbing a bottle of Orange
Juice he's snagged from a vending machine while he was walking with Eric. Her
hands still shook a little bit but she managed fine. She drank almost the whole
thing at once and snuggled back up to him.

Nia took a deep breath, "My arm is good,
it's just sore.” she said into his neck giving him goose bumps.

"I'm glad that it's healing. When I saw all
of the blood I panicked. I dropped the ball Nia. I was just concerned with
applying pressure and trying to wake you.” he said sadly. "I should have
protected you somehow.” he told her, ashamed.

Nia sat up and lifted his chin forcing him to
meet her eyes. "Hey, this is not your fault. You had no idea something
like this could even happen.” she assured him.

"Please don't feel that way. You did what
you could.” she said trying not to seem patronizing.

He caught the sentiment behind her words and nodded.
"I would follow you to hell and back to make sure you were safe.” he told
her in a husky voice, not lacking in intensity.

Oh how she got lost in his bright blue eyes and
remembered why she was happy. He was her promised. She didn't care how long they
had or hadn't known each other. One look and she knew, or she was reminded
rather.

"You need to lay down until they call us,
okay?” Aaron said. He stood still holding her, cradling her like a child. He
walked to the bed and pulled back the fresh sheets. Nia was thankful they had
been changed during her shower. He set her down gently and she scooted to the
middle of the bed. Aaron removed his shirt and climbed in after her.

He laid on his side and Nia laid next to him on
her back. He took a deep breath and she reached for his neck
, 'Help me take
my mind off of all of this. At least for a little bit.’
she pleaded
silently, too embarrassed to ask out loud.
'It may be our last time alone
for a while.’
she reasoned. She could feel through the bond just how much
he wanted to be closer to her too.

She opened up her emotions making sure he felt
the desire for him to be closer. She wanted him to kiss her until her mind
could think of nothing else. Aaron moved onto his elbow and looked her in the
eyes as she melted under his gaze.

Nia was biting her lip so shy and irresistible to
him when he leaned in over her careful not to put any weight on her at all.
Looking deeper in her eyes and kissed her full on, closing his eyes and opening
up his emotions as well. That kiss was without any of the shyness or
uncertainty that they usually carried. Nia's body shuddered as he skimmed her
bottom lip with his. She was lost in him just as much as he was lost in her,
the fire burning in his eyes told her so.

She pulled him closer and his hand rested on her
stomach. She had a flurry of butterflies break free in her belly and he traced
flaming hot circles on her abdomen. This could be the last moments of relative
calmness they would see for a while and they had no intention of wasting them.
Aaron kissed her neck and a small breathy moan escaped her lips, clearly out of
her control. He ran his lips across her jawline dotting kisses as he went
along. She pressed herself against him as if she couldn't get close enough.

Aaron was mesmerized, every part of him that
touched her was alive with an electrical hum. She had a very intense effect on
him, but when that moan escaped her lips it took every ounce of willpower not
to deepen his kiss. She was healing, after all and he had a feeling if it got
too intense, it may very well hurt her. He rested his forehead against hers breathing
heavily and looked in her beautiful golden amber eyes. The flecks of green
looked bright in her heady gaze. He slowed his breathing as she caught hers too.
Taking in a deep breath he rolled onto his back and Nia turned and rested her
head on his chest over his heart and placed her wounded arm across his
midsection.