All The King's Men - On HOLD

Can't Forget You

Music: Can't Forget You by My Darkest Days (wow this song really fits. click to listen above)

Chapter 5 – Can't Forget You

Claire

Michael struggled slowly to awareness. His eyes were glassy and unseeing, rolling wildly for a moment. A deep groan released from his chest.

"Shhh...It's okay...I'm here...I'm not going anywhere," I whispered softly, trying futilely to calm the oncoming storm.

"Eve?" He asked in confusion, still not able to focus on my face.

I hated when he did that. I hated to hear the tiny glimmer of hope in his voice, while he remained lost somewhere in his imagination, before reality came crashing back, turning his dreams into a nightmare again.

"No Michael, it's Claire," I whispered as gently as possible.

His eyes found mine and he studied my face. I knew when he was fully aware because his features contorted with pain and the sobs began, gut wrenching and heart breaking sobs that wracked through his entire body. I slid closer and moved his head to cradle it in my lap, wrapping my arms around his shoulders to help him contain his body's out-of-control trembling.

He turned to his side, still tightly within my embrace and curled into a ball. In between his cries, he chanted and gasped for air, "No, no, no....I can't do this...Can't live without her."

I ran my fingers through his hair, and murmured soft shushing sounds of comfort. He couldn't hear me. Not when he was paralyzed by his suffering. We continued like this for three hours...An endless cycle of tears and desperate pleading with me to change his reality and bring her back to him.

During his second hour of torment, Myrnin had appeared in the open doorway. The agony in his eyes mirrored mine as he watched silently, careful not to alert Michael to his presence. Michael never wanted anyone else but me to see him so broken. But Myrnin could feel my pain. It drew him to me, unable to stay away. After several minutes, resignation ghosted over his features and he forced himself to leave. It would be a long night for him as well.

Abruptly, Michael was silent. His eyes were closed but I doubted he was asleep. I held my breath, not wanting to disturb his fleeting moment of peace. I glanced around the room, my eyes coming to rest on the map of the world that had once been mounted to the wall, detailing our many attempts and locations to find Eve and Faeryn. Now it just laid shredded and gathering dust on the floor. Michael had torn it apart four years ago when we had run out of leads. Now he kept it as a shrine to his failure and wouldn't allow anyone or anything to let him forget.

For six years, we had traveled the world sporadically, whenever a new lead arose, only to come up empty each time. And then the trail had gone completely dry. Myrnin suspected that most, if not all, of our previously leads were rabbit trails created by Gwion to keep us away from his location.

Suddenly Michael's chest jolted and his voice rose as he called out in a panic, "Claire??"

"I'm here, Michael... I'm here," I quickly assured him, moving my fingers along his scalp again.

He opened his eyes and looked up at me. He whispered brokenly, "She tasted like Eve."

"What?" I breathed, struggling to understand what he was talking about.

"The girl with black hair...Her blood tasted like Eve," he admitted guiltily.

Now it all made sense.

Why he hadn't healed the girl.

He had wanted to bathe his senses and even his body in her scent. Shit.

"Is she okay?" He asked worriedly.

I struggled to regulate my breathing as shock coursed through me. This was the first time he had ever mentioned another woman on this night. I didn't know how to feel. I knew I should be happy to see any improvement in his grieving, and I was, but the change was a little overwhelming.

He was still waiting for my answer.

I scrambled to reassure him, "Yes...She was fine when she left."

My words seemed to satisfy him and his eyes fluttered shut again.

I reached carefully with one hand for my phone and quickly typed out a text to Myrnin: "I need you to find the girl with black hair that slept with Michael last night. Heal her bites and don't you dare put your tongue on her to do it. Make her do it the old-fashioned way. I don't care she doesn't want to drink your blood. I need her name and phone number for him."

Right before I hit send, I remembered to add: "Oh...And could you compel her to forget the little encounter she had with me earlier?"

It probably wouldn't help Michael to know I had roughed her up a little bit, I thought chagrined.

Less than a minute later, Myrnin replied: "Consider it done."

Another hour droned by quietly and I wondered if Michael actually had fallen asleep. We were quickly coming up on the magical hour of midnight, signaling the end of the day he hated most. I watched the time tick by on my phone. Right after midnight, Michael asked, "Is it over?"

I guess he hadn't been asleep after all. I wondered how he knew the exact time, but maybe it was just habit to him now. I answered quietly, "Yes."

"Okay," he murmured as he untangled himself from the bed. I discreetly looked away as he walked out of the bedroom to the bathroom. A moment later, I heard the sound of running water in the shower.

I gathered up my phone and called Myrnin. "Did you find her?"

"Yes, I just left her. Her name is Hailee. She is a senior at TPU and she won't remember you."

"Thanks," I breathed a sigh of relief, as I quickly wrote out her details on the pad of paper for Michael.

He chuckled, "You're going to have to tell me what you did to her later."

"She didn't have any bruises on her cheek, did she?" I whispered guiltily.

"You did that? Damn, Cariad, you and your temper."

"I know...I know," I hissed. "I was just irritated when I found them. I didn't realize how messed up she was until after I had gently nudged her awake."

"Gently nudged her awake, huh?" He repeated, catching my choice of words.

I changed the subject. "Michael's in the shower now. I'll stay until he falls asleep."

"Okay, don't be long."

"I won't. I'm exhausted." Even in this durable body, the emotional strain of this night always wore me out both physically and mentally.

Michael emerged just as I hung up. "I'm okay now. You don't have to stay."

"You know that's not how our arrangement works," I gently teased him as I patted the bed next to me.

His body visibly relaxed as he climbed under the covers. His eyes found mine in the dark and he whispered, "Thank you."

I didn't say anything, just nodded in understanding. He closed his eyes and I followed suit, waiting for the telltale signs that he was asleep. However, I must have dozed off because I was awoken when Myrnin lifted me from the bed and cradled me to his chest as he walked back through the portal to the lab.

Super short chapter I know, but this was a good stopping point. :) :)