Lord Liverchester

Chapter 21

I couldn't sleep, but I dreamed. I dreamed of the way life should have been. In this dream, I heard Dorian's breathing and I smelled his cologne in the air without the scent of blood tainting it. I didn't feel so painfully alone or scared. I was sure he would make it. I almost convinced myself that it was real, but then I made the mistake of holding Dorian's body. He was so tightly curled up, rigid and stiff. At some point he had turned over to face me. I had heard him struggling to breathe in his sleep, but it was such a far away sound at the time. I looked at him in the darkness, the pale light of the moon outside able to penetrate the thick curtains to illuminate his face. He was so beautiful but there was a blanket of death over him. Something kept him hanging on, an invisible thing keeping his life from swinging the other way. I tried to ignore the bad parts, thinking maybe this was all a dream in itself. When I realized over and over that it wasn't, I would cry. His fever had broken and his body was so cold, not even shivering though it was ice to the touch. I covered him up with the layers of silk and fur blankets that surrounded us, and he never once stirred. I kissed him and kept watch, waiting for him to wake up. Just after the stroke of midnight, he opened his eyes. It was only for a minute, but he looked at me. For that moment, he was aware of his surroundings, even able to talk to me.

"I feel bad," he said, his voice small and childlike. "It hurts so bad."

I ran my shaking hand through his hair and over his cheek. He had told me through his songs that he liked gentle actions like that when he was sick. A voice in the back of my head tried to tell me this was more than a sickness, but I ignored it, instead listening to every word Dorian said. His fleeting consciousness only lasted a short time but he found it within himself to thank me, to tell me exactly what hurt, and finally to reassure me. His eyes were large and still fearful, motioning downward when he said his stomach hurt. It was like being stabbed, he said. The fear in his eyes faded when sleep took hold again, pulling him back under its grasp. I wished someone would tell me what to do, how to help him. Healing didn't appear to be working anymore. I did what I could to comfort him, still getting reactions for a little while as I kept smoothing his hair. He even smiled, a small twitch at the corner of his mouth. When he was asleep again, the rasp in his lungs was back and he growled, a soft sound at the base of his throat. I sighed softly in relief, thinking we could make it until morning. As hard as I tried, I still couldn't sleep. I had a feeling something was going to happen. I watched to see if he would wake up again. I looked toward the door. There was a sound elsewhere in the house, off in the direction of the front door. I lifted my head, holding my breath. I heard Bladrian talking, and another voice. I thought that was surely the end, the grim reaper was coming.

The door opened slowly and Bladrian walked into the darkness. It was only him at first, coming up to Dorian's side and kneeling. He had been crying, his eyes glistening in the low light. I told him that Dorian had woken up and talked to me. Bladrian smiled, so relieved. He backed away to make room for another figure, somebody familiar. My powers were still working, so I dropped the curtain, finding the doctor from Kingstingham standing there.

"I came as quickly as I could," he said. "Kingstingham isn't close enough for house calls in the middle of the night, you know. Luckily, Dorian's pulse is still strong. We haven't lost him yet."

The doctor got Dorian to lie on his back, and from there he carried out a thorough assessment. Dorian slept through the whole thing, his eyes opening just a slit. I sat over to the side and hugged my knees to my chest, hoping stronger than ever that Dorian would hold on. All of us seemed to hold our breath. The doctor was gentle but pressed hard on Dorian's stomach, confirming his own suspicions rather quickly.

"He threw up blood?" the doctor asked.

Bladrian and I nodded.

"And he's got a stabbing pain in his stomach?"