Love Metamorphosis

Chapter 37

She woke up in the dark, feeling equally as ill as she had the day before, Adele had passed on her flu to Jemma on Friday and by Saturday they were both sick. She was exhausted but she wanted to check on Adele, glancing at the clock she saw it was 10 o'clock Saturday night. Pulling herself out of bed she looked in on Adele and found her fast asleep, her breathing less hindered as it had been that morning.

Her glass was empty so Jemma tiptoed in to retrieve it before heading for downstairs. It was dark in the living room and she felt sluggish, so she took the long way around to the kitchen. Realizing that practically no moonlight shown in the kitchen she stumbled, looking for the light above the sink.

Her hip caught the corner of the counter and sent her sprawling as her socked foot couldn't keep traction. She heard the cup shatter an instant before she hit the ground. The cold floor felt good against her face and she lay there a moment before she tried to right herself. She pushed herself up and was about to stand when she had to pull back her left hand. She had cut herself on the glass; she could feel the slick feel of blood pouring down her fingers.

Pulling herself up onto the island she felt light headed, she was never very good around blood. Normally she could just stomach it, but with her being so unwell she threw up in the sink. Wiping away her tears with her sleeve she hastily flicked on the light, she gagged at the blood all over her hand.

She ran the water and stuck the bloody fingers under the water, hissing as the hot water burned her fingers. She ran the garbage disposal and watched most of the blood and vomit get gobbled up and it was all soon out of sight. Wrapping her hand in paper towels she dabbed water off so she could pull out a sliver of glass stuck in her ring finger.

When she pulled it loose she gaged again as more blood ran down her fingers. She couldn't stop the tears, her fingers hurt, her head hurt, and her stomach was very angry with her. All of it was amplified by the pain in her heart. She sniffled and wiped away her tears again, she was making a mess of the kitchen.

Her hand was shaking as she held another buddle of paper-towels to her fingers; she could see the blood soaking through almost instantly. She needed to get back upstairs and get anti-biotic ointment on her fingers before she bandaged them. She was halfway across the kitchen when she remember the water and went back to fill a glass and get a new straw from the bag she had left on the counter.

She turned on the lights in the house as she went, the electric bill be damned. She was not risking her life over a little bit of money again, it was absurd, and in her own home she wouldn't have done something so stupid. She placed the glass in Adele's room, careful not to drip blood anywhere.

She was miserable. There was no other way to say it, but since he had left she had contracted the flu, managed to bruise her entire body, cut 3 of her fingers open and they were bleeding like geysers, and a somehow alienated Eric. She would get better from the flu and her bruises and cuts would heal, but she didn't know what she was going to do about Eric.

She bit her lip and let a curse word or two slip out of her mouth as she applied the anti-biotic ointment. One handed she dug out the box of bandages and put the bigger strips on her fingers. She had to put three big ones on her middle finger and two small ones on her ring finger to cover the wounds. She heard the foyer door open and she froze, had she locked the front door?

She couldn't remember so she reached for the plunger next to the toilet, cradling her left hand she crept out of the bathroom and down the hall. She peered around the corner and didn't see any movement, happy that she had left a trail of lights on behind her. She put her back against the wall and she looked down the hallway that led to the other bedrooms and a small library, it was dark down there and she was starting to panic.

She heard a distinct creak in the kitchen, one of the floorboards needed to be replaced and Adele loved to jump on it. She said it reminded her of her floor at home, and Jemma found it hard to scold her over something so silly. She crept back and turned off the bathroom light, before moving back toward the stairs; she had to protect Adele.

She was nearly back to the stairs when she heard someone running up them, two at a time. She raised the plunger ready to strike as the shadow became bigger in the stairwell light. She was about to bring her arm down as hard as she could when Eric came to a screeching halt at the sight of her and threw up his arms in defense.

"Jemma what are you doing?" He demanded, obviously startled as she brought down her arm, plunger and all.

She instantly sunk to her knees as relief passed over her, "I thought you were an intruder. What are you doing back?"

"Mary called," Eric said drawing a little closer, "She told me Adele was sick and that I needed to come home."

Jemma shook her head, "I told her we were fine, and that you had obviously left for a reason."

"I did, but not for the reason you think," he said reaching down to take the plunger from her, "I don't know what good this would have done against a burglar."

"I was in the bathroom," she said trying to get to her feet, "It was close at hand."

"I saw the blood and the broken glass," he said taking hands to help her up before turning her left hand over and looking at her patch job.

"I am sorry," she said instantly trying to take her hand back so she could cover her mouth when she coughed before finishing, "I was just about to go back and clean it up."

He looked at her closely before touching a hand to her cheek, "You're burning up."

He didn't wait for an answer but picked her up without so much as a cringe; princess style. She didn't have the strength anymore to fight. It had drained out of her with relief that he wasn't ignoring her. She rested her head against his collarbone, listening to his breathing and its steady rhythm. It was lulling her asleep.

He set her down on the bed and helped her get under the covers, she sniffled and said after she was settled, "Eric?"

"Yes Jemma?" He said leaning down, to where she could almost make out his face from the light pouring into the room from the stairs.

"Thank you for coming back." She said sleepily her eyes drooping.

He kissed her forehead. "I never should have left."

Then she fell asleep and slept like the dead.