Sweeter Than Wine

Something Isn't Right

He steps further into the room, Paul, Ritchie and John following quickly after.

"Did you give her more of those fucking drugs?!" George demands, rising from his spot behind me to angrily stomp over to them.

He grabs Samuel roughly by the shirt, "why would you do something like this? Do you want me to kill you where you fucking stand you god damned monster?!"

"I told him to." John says simply, ignoring George's sharp tongue.

John pushes George back, earning himself a disturbingly low growl.

"Why. Why would you tell him to drug her?! You've seen what this does! It hurts her! Have you gone bloody fucking bonkers John?!"

John continues to ignore George as he takes a seat next to me.

He licks his thumb and gently wipes the streak of blood off of my lip.

"....she's awake isn't she? She's right here. Alive and well. Conscious. No waiting required." He says as he slides one hand into my hair.

"At what cost?!" George shouts, turning back to the others with a bewildered look. "Why would you let him do this?"

Paul and Ritchie shrug, obviously a bit uncomfortable with George's volume.

"Well....it seemed to make sense....we thought it would be worth a little discomfort for her to be awake..." Ritchie says sheepishly, bowing his head a little in shame.

"It was only enough to help wake her up..." Paul says with the same shameful look.

"They why did I have to drink so much to ease the pain?!" George shouts, this time directed at Samuel.

He shrugs, "I honestly don't know. I only put enough in to increase her blood back to normal levels."

George narrows his eyes in suspicion, backing away slightly.

I lock eyes with Samuel, seeing nothing but truth is those once petrifying green eyes.

I stay silent, trying to assess the situation. Something feels off, but I can't quite place my finger on it.

John tilts my head slightly, turning my attention back to him.

I try to keep my breathing steady as I look into his dull, whiskey eyes.

What's wrong with John? His eyes seem...wrong....

I keep staring, his eyes unblinking, looking deep into mine. Almost as if they're asking me, can you see it? Do you see what's wrong?

My body may be awake, but it's not very strong at the moment. I feel weaker than I ever have before. And if my thoughts are correct, I'll need to come up with a plan.

I reach up and delicately brush my thumb across John's cheek, trying to keep my face and relaxed as possible, breathing slowly to keep my heart from racing.

I lean in and kiss him gently, "thank you for waking me, John....reality is much nicer than living in a dream."

He smiles at me, giving me a long, breathtaking kiss after.