In Sickness, Health, and Full moons

Chapter Seven [Azrael]

No miracles. Just a lot of calories. Azrael did come back in a better mood though, so maybe that was a miracle in itself. She'd made the right decision going to some karaoke bar and even though the sun had just barely set when she left, the bar still had plenty of confident idiots there to make fools of themselves. And she was a little tipsy.

That's not to say she wasn't still grieving, just that the agony wasn't as sharp. Much more brutal, the pain in her shoulder only got worse as the evening progressed, but that was almost a blessing. Physical pain she knew, could handle and fuck it hurt enough that she didn't have much room for everything else rattling around where he'd hollowed out her chest.

God, he really got me good, didn't he? Closing the door to her hotel room behind her, Azrael tossed her purse onto the table and moved directly to the bathroom mirror. Moving her hair from her shoulder confirmed her suspicions; she'd bled through her shirt. Dammit! At least she'd been smart enough to wear black so she doubted anyone noticed a little gold sparkle in the dark fabric. Is it ever going to stop bleeding? For good, at least. It has stopped bleeding several times, but kept opening and reopening as she moved.

She groaned and dragged her hands down the sides of her face. This fucking sucks. Especially considering she didn't have another shirt. Resigned to washing the blood out of this one, she carefully peeled it off and ran the bloody part of the fabric under cold water from the sink. The bandage she'd put over the wound this morning was disgustingly saturated with blood so she took that off too.

That's worse than I thought. No wonder it hadn't stopped bleeding, she could see the distinct rips in her flesh where each claw had dug across her skin. She sighed. Needs stitches. Given the placement, she couldn't exactly do it herself and given her species, she couldn't exactly see a doctor. An utterly humorless smile pulled on her lips. Funny, under any other circumstances, this might be a time I'd tell Tanner the truth about me. She didn't know how he'd have taken it, of course, but she knew he'd take care of her no matter what.

With another groan, Azrael left her shirt in the sink and grabbed a hotel towel to press against her shoulder. They could come to their own conclusions as to what the crazy crying woman had stained their towels with. She turned from the bathroom back to the table, intending to pull her phone from her purse but paused at the small note stuck to the dark wood.

Delivery left on the bed for you Mrs. Kelly.

Azrael read it again. A delivery? She raised her head as walked around the small corner to the bed to find flowers, a stuffed animal, and a card propped up nicely against the pillows. Azrael's stomach dropped, leaving a sour feeling behind. There was no question of who they were from. Just a matter of how he found her so fast.

For the love of god is there anything he can't do?

Leaning her head on the towel to keep some pressure on her shoulder, Azrael tiptoed her way over toward the bed as though his gifts would follow his example and try to bite her. She paused before touching anything, unable to make herself move. This was all just... so Tanner. So him to find her so quickly but keep his distance, to call only once and leave flowers when that didn't work. To try to fix things but let her decide where to go next. Dread tightened her stomach just as a warmth filled her chest, leaving her breathless and nauseous as she scanned over what he or some hotel employee working on his behalf left.

Flowers, beautiful pinks and white she wasn't totally sure of the names of. She knew the red rose. She knew what it meant. Tucked into the flowers, a card beckoned to her with the promise of answers or maybe just some goddamn peace and finality. She nearly reached for it, but stopped at the sight of the third item. A stuffed animal. A stuffed wolf.