Stay With Me, Forever and Always

The soft rustling of clothes was the only sound that I heard as I awoke. Something warm and damp was dabbing across my forehead. I opened my eyes, and met an unexpected sight.

Vincent was leaning over me with a bowl of steaming water in his lap and one hand extended outward with a cloth, dabbing the sweat beads off of my forehead and face.

“Wh--” I started, then coughed violently. My throat burned with each breath, word, or cough.

“Talking’s probably not the best idea right now.” Vincent handed me a notebook and a pen that had been laying off to the side, motioning for me to ‘talk’ with that instead.

I rolled my eyes, but accepted them and wrote, “Thank you, Captain Obvious,” which I then proceeded to show him.

He chuckled, then turned serious. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” I penned, “but can you explain what happened to me?”

After I wrote down what I’d just experienced, he frowned, put the bowl and cloth on a nearby table, and stood. He stared out the window, and after several long minutes, I threw a couch pillow at his head. He whipped around, and I tapped the notebook with my pen. He stayed where he was. “I’m not entirely sure what happened....” He drew the words out.

I narrowed my eyes at him, suspicious. He turned and stared out the window again.

I sighed, then winced. I started to write again, then threw the forsaken thing on the ground. “Why does my throat hurt so bad?” I whispered.

Ha glanced over his shoulder at me. “You really should use that pen and paper. It’ll help.” When I shook my head in response, he sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “You screamed so much that your vocal chords couldn’t take it. They’re shot for now, but they’ll recover in a day or two.”

I nodded, then remembered our previous blowout. “So why are you even here? I mean,” I wrote hastily, “it’s not like I don’t appreciate what you’re doing for me, but I didn’t think you’d show up after that.”

Vincent read what I wrote, then after a short pause, asked in a low voice, “Do you want me to leave?”

I shook my head furiously.

He chuckled. “I know I said you wouldn’t see me, but when I heard you screaming, I had to come back and at least check on you. And when I saw you lying on the floor, shivering and helpless....” He shrugged. “I knew I had to take care of you.”

I stayed unresponsive. What was I supposed to say to that?

My mouth spoke up for me anyway. “Thanks. For, y’know.... everything.”

Vincent smiled, then frowned. “You need to rest.”

I nodded and yawned simultaneously. “You can stay here and help me on one condition.” I wrote and yawned again. I was more tired than I realized. “You don’t get to bite me again without my consent.” I closed my eyes, and barely heard his last statement before sleep took over.

“All right, Charlotte. Good Night.”