<span style="color: #FF0000">A soft whimper and the laying back of his ears against his head were the only inclination that he understood. Speech was a luxury that he had yet to discover in this form, though he hoped he could convey some form of communication. <br/><br/>With care he took that final step forward and lowered his head so that she could touch him, could feel his fur, the heat from his form and know he was not going to hurt her.</span><br/><br/>The whimper, the way his ears lay back, she felt like someone had kicked her puppy (for lack of a better expression). Her brother was…he was still her brother, but changed. Something had happened, he’d changed, and now he was this…beast.<br/><br/>This was nothing like what she’d seen in the woods, though. The night before, the beast had been this angry thing, with eyes that she’d not soon forget. Its speed and agility all screamed predator, and she was its prey. This…Eidhin was not that beast, that monster. Eidhin was still her Eidhin with some...new abilities.<br/><br/>That final step closed the gap, and her breath hitched again. Her movements were hesitant, but her fingers touched down on his snout. His fur was course, but oddly comforting simultaneously. Perhaps it was because she knew it was him, and not a random thing in her hospital room. There was still a slight bit of fear that lurked in the depths of her mind, knowing this likely wasn’t the only bomb he had to drop. But, her movements continued. Starting at the snout, the motion continued upward to the backs of his ears and about his neck; Gesture light as he was still her brother, she still sought to convey that she understood, that she knew he wouldn’t hurt her.<br/><br/>“…You’re not really back…are you?” she finally asked into the silence, her hand dropping. “This is why you’ve been gone for five years…Just because you’re here now…doesn’t mean your back, does it?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">At her touch his eyes had fluttered closed and he relished in her touch. How long had he wanted this? Not just contact with her, but contact at all with anyone while he was like…this…There was something about the closeness, how it made him feel less like a monster and more like a human; even if he was taller and covered in fur.  It took a moment for her words to sink in, for them to hit home as he had allowed himself fur just a moment to relax and forget. <br/><br/>When they did finally hit home, he whimpered again and opened his eyes. Now was the time he would have to tell her, tell her everything. Tell her about what he did and what they would have to do now.  Before he could figure out where to begin, the sounds of hurried steps could be heard outside her door and his head jerked back from her touch to growl. Without much thought and more of an act of instinct he stepped between her bed and the door. Ready to destroy whomever or whatever thought it could just rush into her room. Could threaten her….harm her….</span><br/><br/>Another whimper. That one sound was quickly becoming her least favorite. Each was followed by something that broke her heart a little more, and this one, alone, was an answer to her question. The tears welled anew, some beginning to fall before she could get a better grip on them, shaking her head as she choked back a sob.<br/><br/>But, now there was a new, more pressing, issue to deal with. He’d heard something she hadn’t noticed right off, running to the ready between her bed and the door, growling. She hadn’t even had proper time to react to the sound herself, and he was already there. Just in his stance alone, it was obviously not just to see who it was; A defensive thing, it would have been bad enough in human form. Werewolf, however…to maul her doctors…was far worse. It hadn’t clicked initially, the sound of the rapid beeping filling the room, alarms going wild.<br/><br/>When it did, though, she panicked. “Eidhin!” she hastily whispered. “Eidhin, you can’t attack the doctors! Hide in the bathroom or something! Please! They can’t see you! Please, Eidhin! Hide!”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">It took a moment for her words to sink in, the wolf wholly focused on that was on the other side of the door. When they finally broke through, he whined as any scolded puppy would before he huffed and lumbered off to the bathroom. Door closed mostly, his eyes at the opening of the door while he peered out at her and the flutter of activity that began the moment the doctors entered. <br/><br/>The alarms were set off, vitals were checked, while they mussed and fussed over her, unable to decide what had caused the issue. <br/><br/>“How are you feeling?” <br/><br/>“Are you in any pain?” <br/><br/>“Deep breaths in and out.”<br/><br/>Statements given in rapid succession as a fresh I.V. was pushed into her veins , “Are you feeling anything in your chest? Pressure? Tightness?”</span><br/><br/>This was the part she wasn’t going to like, with all the people panicked around her, but it was necessary.<br/><br/>Her face contorted into a grimace as they shoved a new I.V. in, temporarily pulling her focus while they adjusted it, trying to get the fluids in faster. Eyes fluttering at the sensation of cold moving into her veins, she started to shake her head, a light teeth chattering beginning.  “N-No, really! I’m f-f-f-fine!” Eilidh tried to assure them, goosebumps all over her, the urge to get under the sheets strong, but unable to do so while they fussed. “I was having a b-bad dream! Please, I just want to go back to sleep!”<br/><br/>They looked unconvinced as they lingered a while longer, taking more vitals, making her look into lights and do tests to make sure it wasn’t something she was hiding just so that they’d leave. But, unable to find anything conclusive, they reset her monitors, taking the data they’d collected and adding it to the file. One nurse lingered a bit longer than the rest, spotting clothing on the floor. Frowning, she picked it up, looked at Eilidh in confusion, before leaving, clothing in hand.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">It took all of his control to not rush into the room and throw the doctors from her. To just snatch her up and take her away from this place, to somewhere safe, even if that somewhere safe would around him.  How he planned to break it to her that he was the one who hurt her, the one who cursed her, he was not sure.  It would have to happen, that much was certain, but it was not a subject that could be easily broached. Much like their blood ties to one another. <br/><br/>Or…the lack there of….<br/><br/>The thought itself made him whimper, his ears lay back against his head and he wanted more than anything to just will this all away. To change it all and go back to how it was, even if that meant he would still be the disappointment of his father. At least they would be normal again and she could have the future that she wanted, with him able to be there to support her.  Unfortunately, it could not be that way; it would not be that way. Not ever again. <br/><br/>With a heavy heart, he waited just a moment before he exited the bathroom. His long claws clicked on the linoleum with each slow and measured step back toward her bed. Concern and an apology read in his eyes while he regarded her.  The longer he stayed in this form, the more he wished that he could talk or communicate beyond the growls, grumbles and whimpers. Perhaps then it would not be so bad to be like this, to be in this form for more than a few moments at a time.</span><br/><br/>As he finally exited the bathroom, he looked so pathetic. She could read the apology in his eyes in the way he held himself, carried himself, as he approached.<br/><br/>Looking at him, careful to keep her heart even, Eilidh tried to figure out what to say, what to ask. “Eidhin, is there…can you change back?” Her gaze dropped as she picked at the blanket, stealing another glance up at him before dropping it once more and shrugging. “It’d be…easier to talk with you…if you could talk back…”<br/><br/>She looked almost embarrassed that she asked him that. But, talking to someone who didn’t answer her back didn’t feel right. If she’d wanted that…she’d have continued with the letters that went unanswered verbally.<br/><br/>“…Please…”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">A look down at himself, then back up at her with his head cocked slightly to the side as if he did not fully understand her request. When it did finally sink in, he nodded his head and even his tail wagged slightly. A few steps were taken back from the bed; once again his body was wracked with pain. It was never easy, none of this ever was easy and he could not understand why. <br/><br/>Perhaps, it was penance from some time long ago? A reminder that this was a curse and not something to enjoy; one could think with all the pain and suffering that they experienced when they became this monster. <br/><br/>The sensation as bone breaks, only to reform and thicken in another place. Organs grew and swelled, some disappeared entirely. All of this continued to happen as if you were within a furnace covered in a blanket that was soaked in gasoline. None of it was pleasant and none of it he enjoyed. Except for the end, that moment was the one and only one that any of them could enjoy.  <br/><br/>How does one describe the sensation of flight without their feet ever leaving the ground? <br/><br/>The rush as your heart races, the way that every single smell, sound and even taste is heightened to a level that is beyond measure.  It was as if you were a live for the first time in your entire life and you could not wait to explore the world. This rush was only there when he became the beast, but never there when he returned to being human.  In those moments he felt oddly cold, alone and detached from the world around him. <br/><br/>A slit shiver went through his spine as he took a shuddering breath in the cold sterile air of the hospital room. Bare feet stuck slightly to the linoleum floor and he covered himself up as best he could now that he noticed the clothing he had stolen was missing. <br/><br/>“Could you….um…hand me a blanket….or som…something?”</span><br/><br/>No matter the form he had when shifting, she could see that it hurt, could hear it for herself as things continued to break and reattach where they needed. Another grimace took hold of her features, turning away as the sight of her brother, the familiar face, returned, heart picking up pace, but careful to stay well within a reasonable limit.<br/><br/>But when his question resonated, no longer merely shuddering breaths, she nodded. Taking the blanket off of her bed, she tossed it over with the one good arm, still careful to keep her eyes averted to give him privacy until he got sorted. Then, taking her IV bag and putting it on a wheeled hanger, she extricated herself (albeit slowly) from the bed and meticulously hobbled her way around to the cabinet. An arm reached up and pulled another blanket down, and one of the spare johnnies before hobbling back.<br/><br/>Leaving the blanket on her bed, she walked the johnny over, face completely turned away as she handed it over. “Do you…do you need anything else? Water? Or food? I could call the nursing staff for anything you need? Do you need to lie down? The bed’s not that comfortable, but it’s better than that chair, I’d wager,” Eilidh offered, the concern evident in her voice, even if he couldn’t see the expression that accompanied it.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">The blanket was taken, though there was a small smirk on his lips at her reaction and care. The blanket was wrapped about his waist and the Johnny taken to be draped across his shoulders. <br/><br/>At the rapid questioning he only smiled and shook his head, “No. I’m fine.” <br/><br/>A pause as he regarded the water on her side table, his tongue slipped out to lick across his dry lips. “Actually, I will have some of that water,” he answered, though he did not go to it, instead he took hold of her hand and waited for her to face him once again. <br/><br/>“Hey,” he whispered. “I’m not going to break, ok?”</span><br/><br/>His answer had her nodding, hazarding a short glance in his direction, and saw that he was covered but still gave him the benefit of the doubt and allowed him more time to get sorted. But, the moment he said he wanted water, she started to move for it, only to stop as his hand caught hold of hers. A confused expression slid across her face, glancing back, not understanding why he’d have stopped her from trying to help.<br/><br/>His whisper…it was acknowledged, but she wasn’t sure if he was just…trying to make her worry less. “I never said you’d break…but you can’t blame me for worrying,” she whispered back, offering an apologetic shrug. “…I just got you back and to find out you’ve changed so drastically…and that it’s a change that’s so painful…can you tell me you’d not worry the same if our roles were reversed?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He sighed and gave a sad smile before he shook his head, “I worried about you every single day we were apart. Even if I did kind of stalk you in the woods and stuff.”  He chuckled and smirked before he brought her hand up to the side of his face, “But see? All good and in one piece,” her hand allowed to rest there on his cheek.  “It hurts, you know that and I would never try to lie about that with you, but it does not last too long. Then before I know it, I am back to myself and feeling just a bit thirsty. I have come to realize I am far harder to hurt now that I am…changed…”</span><br/><br/>Her hand rested against his cheek, thumb stroking along it absentmindedly while she took in what he said. Then, instead of focusing on the pain, she tuned in to what he said. “…You…kind of stalked me in the woods?” she repeated, brow quirking. “Even though you worried for five years…and stalked me…couldn’t drop me a line, huh?” Her tone was on the more teasing side, but there was an edge of seriousness, if a subtle one.<br/><br/>“…So, how about that water?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He sighed and gave a soft groan, “I wanted to talk to you, but I did not think it was safe.” He tried to plead his case, his hand left her own so that she could return to bed and he could get some water. “Otherwise I would have agreed to see you sooner.”</span><br/><br/>Her hand dropped, and she made her way back to the bed, gingerly sitting down on it and then carefully pulling her legs up, the wince on her face pronounced but no sound was made. Then, turning to take a plastic cup out of her drawer, she poured him a cup and handed it over. “You didn’t think it was safe? Why? Because of this change?” Eilidh asked next. “You’ve just proven you aren’t a threat to me…that you are safe…why did it take five years to see that?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">The water was taken first before he answered her, already he wanted to just run again and leave her be. Even if she was changed now she would be better off without him. Pain was suffered now because of his actions and what he did to her; Etched on her face from the simple action of to get into her own bed that was his fault. <br/><br/>When the last of the cool liquid passed his lips, he sighed again and looked down at the now empty cup. <br/><br/>“That’s not true…” he crushed the cup before he looked at her again. <br/><br/>“What do you think attacked you?” pain and guilt in his eyes. “Who do you think hurt you?”</span><br/><br/>She watched him drink the water, eyes expectantly on his while she waited for an answer. And, once he started, her brow furrowed more.<br/><br/>How was it not true? His conduct in the room was proof enough; He hadn’t tried to hurt her, and, in fact, had tried to protect her instinctively from what was coming. How was it not true?<br/><br/>His question, though…had her frown setting in all the deeper. “…What do you mean who?” she asked. “I don’t know what attacked me…It was a blur, a beast of some kind…Happened too fast for me to get a real look at it…Why? Do you know what happened? Did you see it?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">Another sigh and he took up a seat in the chair, “We were the only ones who were there…E….”</span><br/><br/>A shake of her head, and she frowned more. “No, no we weren’t. It was you, me and the animal; You were behind me when it happened. I’d run away from you, and then it attacked me…There had to be something else there,” she replied to that with certainty.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">A slight growl of frustration, “No…there was only us. I was….scared and hurt when you rejected me and said those things to be. I….I…..” he stood suddenly from the chair and stalked off from the chair to the window.  “I lost control and just…” he lowered his head and closed his eyes, there he waited for her to say anything, to yell at him to do what he knew was to come and what he deserved.</span><br/><br/>It hit her like a ton of bricks, the realization that it’d been him…not something else.<br/><br/>Eidhin…her Eidhin…had attacked her…mauled her…damn near killed her…because he’d lost control. He’d tried to reach out, and she’d spouted off at the mouth. He lost control, and now…<br/><br/>What was there to say? Her eyes just stared at his back in shock, disbelief, hurt, the tears she’d bit back and calmed moments before now resurfacing and falling anew. She no longer saw what was there, didn’t see him, nor the rest of the room, eyes completely blurred and unfocused. Her heart started to race a mile a minute, the blooping not even registering in the wake of what he’d admitted, confided. All she could hear was her heart in her chest, his words on repeat in her head…and the one conclusion she could come to on another repetitive mantra.<br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">Eidhin…attacked me…he tried…to kill me…because I set him off…<br/><br/>Eidhin…attacked me…he tried to kill me…because I set him off…<br/><br/>Eidhin…attacked me…</span><br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">What to do? Stand there and watch her cry, or go to her and try to comfort her? Would she even want him to comfort her? Would he even want him to hold her? <br/><br/>He was the monster who had attacked her and caused her so much pain. It had been him that hurt and nearly……<br/><br/>There was no further thought on the matter, instead he closed the distance, his weight on the side of the bed caused the mattress to sag more than it already had been. Arms strong and powerful now gentle and caring were wrapped about her. Even as the machines went wild once again he just held her, his heart heavy with sorrow for the pain he had caused. <br/><br/>“E….” he barely was able to choke out her name amongst the multitude of emotions that ran through his mind and heart. Regret, guilt, pain and hatred at himself for all he had done to her. “I’m sorry….”</span><br/><br/>She didn’t notice when he moved, nor when he sat down on the bed. She didn’t even notice his arms, either. Wholly introverted and focused on what she was processing, nothing outside of herself registered.<br/><br/>Not until he choked out her name, until he apologized, did the world come back. The hospital room, the crazed monitors, her brother and what he’d done. She couldn’t hate him, not for something she had a hand in…but to know that he’d hurt her…it was shocking on so many different levels.<br/><br/>“…What now?” she asked, voice surprisingly detached despite the tears that were falling from her eyes, gaze still staring at whatever was in her direct sightline.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> “I…I don’t know really…” he whispered. “I just know that I am not going to leave again. So, you will have me back again, at least as much as can be with our current living situations…” the comment not meant to be a joke or funny in anyway. It was just a matter of stating the facts as they were. He lived in the woods and she lived…with their father. As it stood he would not be coming back to live there, but he was more than prepared to just spend the days in the woods with her. <br/><br/>Who knows, there was a chance that she had not been infected by him. <br/><br/>Right?</span><br/><br/>“You’re not leaving?” she repeated, focusing more on him for a moment. “What does our living situation have to do with anything? Are you back? Or…are you going to go back to the woods and just…watch me from afar again?”<br/><br/>Her question was straight to the point, the tears still falling and her voice still detached, but holding to a small ray of hope that maybe things could work out. Yes, he mauled her…but he hadn’t meant to. He’d lost control. He was controlled a moment before, so that was good, right? Things couldn’t get any worse, could they?<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> “I have a place in the woods, a cabin that I found and fixed up,” he tried to explain. “But…I can’t live with you again. Father would ever allow it…” without meaning to his eyes cast down to the scar on his chest for a second before he once again met her gaze. “But I would love to just see you every day and maybe you could sleep over from time to time?”</span><br/><br/>“…Why would he never allow it?” she asked, not understanding. “It’s not as though he knows what’s going on. Whatever happened, I’m sure he’d be happy to know you’re alive and safe.”<br/><br/>She knew that wasn’t necessarily true…but she thought she could talk reason into him. He was his son, after all. And, as such, he loved family as much as she did. Why wouldn’t he accept Eidhin back? Let bygones be bygones?<br/><br/>“I’m not saying that I won’t visit you in the woods if you’d prefer…even spend a time there with you. But I don’t see why he wouldn’t let you back into the house.”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">“Trust me on this…,” he sighed and hung his head slightly. “He knows more about this than he is letting on. I just…don’t feel safe there anymore. I would even want you to leave too, to come and live with me. We can just be in the woods together, which could be a good thing..., all things considering…” he said as if he expected her to already know. <br/><br/>Expected her to know that there was a chance she might have contracted the curse. That she too would turn into a monster and would be a danger to herself and others unless she learned to control herself. Both of them would need to train more if she were to be one like him.</span><br/><br/>Their father knew more than he let on? She mentally scoffed at the idea, shaking her head as she mulled it over.<br/><br/>He was just a reverend, a person that spent his time reading and rereading the bible, preparing sermons and making sure she was worshipping in a way he deemed acceptable. He was running meetings with the congregation, holding dinners or brunches. Not…looking up information on werewolves, on the stuff of legend.<br/><br/>Then it hit her. His last statement. “…What do you mean…<span style="font-style: italic">‘all things considered’</span>?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">For a moment he just looked at her as if she were a person who lived under a rock and never spent a single hour watching the large collection of horror movies he once proudly owned. “You know…I bit you…which means there is a chance you could be like…well….me….” he stammered a bit as he realized just how bad that sounded. <br/><br/>“I have not gotten to anything conclusive in my research but…that is just what…myths and rumors have said….not to mention the movies….” <br/><br/>It was at this point that he figured it might have been better to break this news to her in a different way, but she had always been the one better at these social encounters. Plus, now that they were back together it felt like old times which meant sharing openly.</span><br/><br/>Where the look of disbelief had been…now it was a look of angered disbelief. He had the nerve to assume that she was as well-versed in movies as he was, looked at her like she was some sheltered individual. Even if she knew about the movies, the lore that surrounded them, she wouldn’t know what was real and what was fiction. How was there any way to tell?<br/><br/>That’s right. There wasn’t a way to tell.<br/><br/>“So…you think that…I could be like you.” It was said so easily, tone shockingly even now as the tears stopped flowing and something sparked behind her eyes. No, no it wasn’t fear; That was buried deep just then. No…it was anger. “And you think…that…was the way to break it to me?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> “The moment it left my lips I realized that was the worst possible way…” he frowned. “I’m sorry, E. I just….”he paused and shook his head. “No, that was wrong of me and I have no excuse. I am sorry…I am very sorry...” he sighed his mind already on one of the cures for the aliment, though he knew she would never go for it.<br/><br/>It was said that if one that is bitten kills the one who bit them before the next full moon that they would break the curse. Whether that was true or not he was not sure, but he was willing to try it if that meant she was completely free of him.</span><br/><br/>She didn’t say anything for a long while as the silence descended back around them like a stifling, hot blanket, wrapping them in a cocoon of unspoken words. In fact, she didn’t do much of anything. Her mind continued to work it over what he’d said and what he’d told her. She was willing to forgive his lack of tact in the wake of the other changes.<br/><br/>But then the weight of what<span style="font-style: italic">could</span>happen was what she was left grappling with.<br/><br/>“Is…that how you were changed?” Eilidh finally asked, breaking that silence. “Someone…attacked you?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">A slight shake of his head was given before he gave a verbal response, “No. I kind of just…became this. I guess I was born with it…” he gave a shrug. “Um…I would not mind to hang out here…if that is ok with you?” he asked with hesitation in his voice.</span><br/><br/><span style="font-style: italic">He…he was born with it?</span><br/><br/>That one statement alone took the breath from her lungs. He was born with it. That meant<span style="font-style: italic">she</span>was born with it. How had she staved it off this entire time, completely unaware? What if she was sleep walking and transforming?! What if she’d actually been one this entire time and hadn’t realized?<br/><br/>“Why you thought you had any other choice…is beyond me…but I need you to stay with me,” she replied to that. “I’m unwilling to let you leave because, the last time you did, you vanished for five years.”<br/><br/>Another silence descended, just as uncomfortable for her as the last before she finally forced herself to ask what was on her mind. “…If you were born with it…that’d mean I…I’m…even if I hadn’t been bitten…I’m…like you, right?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">And a question he had not expected to answer was thrown into his lap and he just stared at her for a moment unsure of what to do or say. Certainly he had botched enough important news information to not want to do it yet again. But what to do instead? How does one explain without actually explaining that she was different because they were not actually twins? That their parents were not the same…<br/><br/>There was a way to deliver that information, but he just had to think about it. And now was not the time. <br/><br/>“You could have lucked out and it missed you? That happens, even with us being twins. My bite could have activated what was sleeping in you, if anything,” he gave the most logical explanation he possibly could and hoped it would be enough.</span><br/><br/>Even if it’d missed her (which, now that he brought it up, made sense), now there was a chance that it could be active…and that it’d come from her father, who hadn’t even said anything…<br/><br/>“…Do you think it…it did? Activate?”<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">To that he only gave a shrug and then tried to change the subject, “So, if you ordered a nice thick steak for me do you think the staff would get suspicious?” he asked with a smirk.</span><br/><br/>A roll of her eyes and a shake of her head were given in reply. "No...not at all...not as though I've made it plain I won't eat the meat they've tried to give me..." Nudging his shoulder, her eyes took a more worried, knowing look. "...I can't help but notice...you didn't answer my question."<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000"> “Come on, maybe the meds or the nightmare made you crave a steak? That is possible right?” he asked with grin. Then with her followed up statement he sighed and just gave a soft shrug, “I am not sure. This is all new to me and I have not learned much save for what it feels like and  how to control it….mostly. I’m sorry I don’t know more. But, at least now we will be together and we can figure this out together, right?” he offered with a smile. <br/><br/>It was the best that he could offer, it was the best that he could do given any of this. What he was and what she was to become was still largely a mystery to him. All he knew was what little he could figure out from the research that he did. The books were filled with some truth, but they were also filled with a lot of lies and misconceptions. Lies about what werewolves were and what they could do, what hurt them, etc.  What they needed was someone who was one an elder or something, to just show them what to do and how to live like this now. <br/><br/>Maybe his birth parents could help? If he could even find them that is. E</span><br/><br/>“Not like the steak would taste good anyway,” she replied with a light laugh, the sound ending almost as soon as it started; Part of that was due to the lack of will to laugh given the situation, while the other part was due to it physically hurting. While she was recovering far better than they’d expected, that didn’t mean the pain didn’t linger and all the pain meds in the world weren’t doing enough to stop that.<br/><br/>Shifting over as much as she could, she pet the bed next to her. “…Lay down with me?” she asked quietly. “I just…want to lay here with you like we used to…when I’d have a nightmare…” She paused briefly, and looked down. “If I fall asleep…You’ll still be here when I wake up, right? You’re not going to leave again?” It was a very real fear of hers, that he’d vanish again for another five years, or that this was just a fantastical dream cooked up by the slew of medication that they’d been giving her.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">He happily moved and adjusted himself to be laying down beside her, his arm adjusted so that she could rest against him. “I will be here when you wake up. I promise that I am not going to leave you again,” he whispered and pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead. <br/><br/>“Now sleep and rest. You are going to need the strength to deal with having me back in your life,” he joked though he was serious. Life was about to take a turn for the crazy and she would need every single ounce of strength she could get in order to keep up with it all.</span><br/><br/>Adjusting her IV tubes and other wires currently connected to her, she nestled into him, feeling more at ease now that he was back. All the news aside, she was still of the mind that some of it was sheer exaggeration, or that she was just high on medication. Something about it didn’t feel real, by any means.<br/><br/>“Good night, Eidhin…” she yawned, eyes drifting closed. “Love you…”<br/><br/>Only when his heartbeat registered beneath her ear did she feel any real sort of comfort, of assurance. It was just like the old days. When nightmares plagued all of her dreams, beasts and things attacking her in the wilderness, or even in her home, she’d always been able to count on Eidhin’s hug and her dreams would improve.<br/><br/>It was listening to that, and his breathing, that lulled her to sleep, her first peaceful sleep in five years.