Hands grasp at me, pulling my arms. I blink. Confused, I whimper, staring up at Sarah and Doc. Rapid words are spoken that I can’t make out. Why is there blood on their hands?
The needle Soren slips Doc brings me the welcoming coolness of deadening emotions. Fuck. Why am I allowed to slip away when it’ll only be momentarily? I deserve to be gone forever…not this temporary reprieve.
“How was I supposed to know he’d dig his fucking nails into his ears?” Sarah hisses at Doc.
I have a moment to be thankful I didn’t lose my hearing, before my heart sinks. I didn’t even realize… Fuck. I’m spinning. Spinning so far away. The drug both weighs me down and provides a buoyancy…a confusing feeling where nausea sneaksup on me. Closing my eyes, I ignore their fighting, begging for the darkness to overwhelm me again.
“Stop it!”
I gasp, hearing that voice is a lifeline. It’s a way back. If I’m allowed to have it. But I’m not. My Owner and Daddy would never forgive me. I whimper, mouthing ‘please’, as a different. Set of hands find me, soothing me.
“I have you, Caro. I won’t let you go.”
Tears finally break through, even as I stifle the fear, the guilt, and the fact I’m not allowed to have his touch. His words are low promises, ones I know he can’t keep. Still the comfort warms me, touching my frozen, shattered heart.
I let it calm the crashing waves that have been tearing me apart, and it soothes me as I fall into the darkness of drug-aided slumber.
His voice. His hands.
Master.My Master…
Well, that didn’t go to plan.I could have told Sarah that, though. Hell, I fucking tried. Stubborn woman. I understood her need to be with Lio, the friendship between them, her pain at seeing him so lost and being unable to help him, but being too damn close to him makes her just as vulnerable as he is.
Not that I blame her. I would have done the same had it been James or Soren in that bed, but this…nothing about this was supposed to happen.
“Hollis isn’t going to be happy,” I say quietly.
My words earn me a scathing look from Sarah. “Well, I’m sorry things don’t always go to plan. Especially not when it comes to something like this. Though, you,” she turns to glare at the man currently cradling a now sleeping Emilio, “aren’t supposed to be out of bed without assistance!”
“I wasn’t about to let him suffer,” Allesandro hisses. He looks at me, with more life in his blue eyes than I’ve seen in a long time—for a while, I thought they’d lost their spark for good. “Hollis will have to get over himself. Lio is more important than his ego.”
I roll my eyes and throw my hands up. “Both of you are so fucking short-sighted when it comes to him…”
“Doc…” Soren warns, but I ignore him, much as I ignore the threat of Sarah’s scalpel—she’s not nearly as good at concealing her weapon as I am.
“You don’t want to hear this, but it’s the truth. You cannot separate your feelings from your work when it comes to him. I understand it, I do. He’s your friend, and you care about him, but this situation is exactly what I was trying to avoid!”
“Oh, and you’re not biased toward your family?”
I shake my head. “Not in the way you may think. You want to know why Hollis is going to be upset? Not because he doesn’t want Allesandro around Emilio—though we can’t ignore that he won't be happy about it—but because Emilio ishis, and Hollis takes great pride in protecting those under his care.” I meet Allesandro’s eyes. “You’re very lucky Hollis loves that Boy more than anything, and he’ll do whatever it takes to make sure he’s okay. Otherwise, this won’t end well for you.”
“I’ll be gone before he wakes again.” He looks down at the sleeping boy in his arms and I can feel his pain wafting off him.
It makes me huff and wish I had a stiff drink, or that Daddy would slip one of the sedatives intome, so I don’t have to be awake to deal with this shit.
I shake my head. “You don’t get it. What do you think Lio is going to do once he’s lucid enough to understand what’s happening? Why do you think it was so important that Hollis insisted on talking to him first, or at least seeing him first?”
“Because he and Tennant are controlling bastards on their high horses,” Sarah grumbles.
“Be very careful with your words,” I warn in a low tone. A subtle flick of my wrist and my scalpel slides free from my sleeve, though I keep it concealed in my hand.
I look to Allesandro, hoping he remembersthispart of his Boy as well. “Do you remember when he was in my office after getting shot? Before you went home, when it was just Hollis…” I try to soften my tone. I’m not sure it works, but the words seem to jog his memory as he sighs and looks at the Boy in his arms.
Allesandro leans down and presses a kiss to Lio’s too-long hair, before easing him onto the bed and tucking him under the blankets. The care he gives the Boy is sweet, and I hate to admit it, but I can see the love he has shining through every action.
“Lio would have given Hollis up had I asked. He was torn between his feelings for him, and his devotion to me. That’s what you’re saying, what Hollis meant when he insisted on being here when Lio woke. He knew Lio would need reassurance—that he would need permission to accept me again.”
“He never stopped loving you,” Sarah tries to argue.
