Lou stirred on his bed at the sound of the knocking. He had mostly stopped bleeding, but the trip back to his room had taken a lot out of him, and the hour or so he spent bleeding onto his bedsheets had taken out just as much. He was a mess; his gut sliced open, organs ruptured and only just barely putting themselves back together as the alien implant in his chest worked overtime to stitch him back up. His hands were covered in blood from clutching the injury, and his entire back was a sodden mess of deep slashes; his shirt was a tattered mess of bloody strips of cloth. The right side of his face was a bruised and swollen mess, his eye swelled shut and his jaw creaking agonizingly. Blood caked his mouth, chin and chest from all the blood he'd coughed up on his way there.
In short, he had had better days.
"Whattaya want," he groaned, rolling halfway over onto his blood-drenched sheet, gasping in pain as he did so.
The groan sounded normal enough- like she'd just woken him from a deep sleep. But the gasp of pain that followed alarmed her, a confirmation of all her worries. "Lou, can I come in?" she called gently, deeply concerned. To the point where she wasn't sure she could leave him in good conscience if he refused her entry. The blood was too disconcerting for her to let him turn her away. "I'm worried Lou," she admitted, "There's a lot of blood out here. What happened? Are you okay? Do you need... help or something?"
Maybe if she just bombarded him with questions he would give in. Not that she was sure he was trying to keep her out- it would probably be best if she gave him the time to respond to her.
He heard Willow's voice and his heart jumped. He'd wanted to see her again. So badly. But not like this. Beaten, humbled, humiliated. His head was clearing from the alcohol that he'd so inebriated himself with earlier, but the pain and bloodloss was still leaving him more than a little out of it. There was a small and perverse part of him that wanted her to see him like this just so she'd feel sorry for him; regret pushing him away the way she had and leaving him to suffer this way. He tried to push it away, that thought. It sort of disgusted him, as much sense as it seemed to make.
But what the hell. If she wanted to see him, to talk to him, whatever the reason might be, he'd take it.
"C'm'on in," he called out, half-coherently. "Mind the mess. It ain't pretty in here."
Cautiously, Willow opened the door slowly. There was definitely something wrong with Lou and she wasn't sure she wanted to see what. The hall was soaked with an awful lot of blood and Lou had survived the fall from the helicopter seemingly without a scratch. Something very bad must have happened to bring this on
( ... )
Spike swept down the hallway. He had started to rush here the moment he got the reply from Willow. He hardly even needed directions once he got off on the right floor. The smell of blood was good enough for him. It took all his willpower to keep from wandering about in game face. Had he been a younger vamp he might not have been able to manage it. That smell had him moving even faster. Then he saw Willow helping the big lummox down the hall. The floor was soaked in blood. But none of it smelled like the witch's
( ... )
"Right," Willow said, moving aside so that Spike could get to Lou better, "Vampire. Are you... sure you're going to be okay around all this?" Willow asked; it probably would have been better to ask that question earlier. There was a lot of blood around and she still didn't know this Spike as well as she would have liked. Either way she was grateful that he'd come so quickly and was so willing to help.
Hurrying ahead she opened the door for the two of them, hoping that none of Lou's wounds had reopened during the journey. She glanced down the hall worried- Spike had gotten here quickly. How close could Eddie be? "Thank you Spike," she said softly when they got nearer. She genuinely meant it and felt a bit sappy about that, but it meant a lot to her.
"Yeah, thanks," Lou put in, with all sincerity and gratitude. He'd normally be loath to accept help like this, but in the name of avoiding another attack like the last one, he was willing to sacrifice a bit of dignity. "But don't blame us for all the bloodly redecoration. Blame Crazy Eddie. He's the one that decided what was inside'a me belonged outside." He limped into Willow's room, leaning heavily on the much-smaller vampire, before easing himself down onto her bed, sighing with relief at being able to get off of his feet. "That guy... I've met a lot of freakjobs around here, but nobody... nobody I've ever met scared me as much as that psycho."
"No worries Red." Spike assured Willow. "If I was a bit younger or a bit hungrier might be an issue but I'm fine. Not even planning to take a nibble." Not that he expected this guy had much left in him. Seemed most of it was on the floor. He just nodded at her thanks, feeling it really wasn't necessary. He had said he would look after her and he bloody well kept his promises.
Spike helped ease Lou down on the bed. He nodded. "Right, Not really seen something like this since the good old days of running around with Angelous and Dru." He moved around gathering some supplies. "Good thing about being one of the Scourge of Europe is... you learn how to keep someone injured like this alive." Though usually it was just barely, and so they could continue to suffer. "You should see if you can get some coconut water," He said. "And liver, leafy green vegetables, some kind of citrus fruit or juice but make sure it's high in vitamin C and maybe some nice heavy whole grain bread." Then he started to do his best to tend the wounds.
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In short, he had had better days.
"Whattaya want," he groaned, rolling halfway over onto his blood-drenched sheet, gasping in pain as he did so.
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Maybe if she just bombarded him with questions he would give in. Not that she was sure he was trying to keep her out- it would probably be best if she gave him the time to respond to her.
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But what the hell. If she wanted to see him, to talk to him, whatever the reason might be, he'd take it.
"C'm'on in," he called out, half-coherently. "Mind the mess. It ain't pretty in here."
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Hurrying ahead she opened the door for the two of them, hoping that none of Lou's wounds had reopened during the journey. She glanced down the hall worried- Spike had gotten here quickly. How close could Eddie be? "Thank you Spike," she said softly when they got nearer. She genuinely meant it and felt a bit sappy about that, but it meant a lot to her.
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Spike helped ease Lou down on the bed. He nodded. "Right, Not really seen something like this since the good old days of running around with Angelous and Dru." He moved around gathering some supplies. "Good thing about being one of the Scourge of Europe is... you learn how to keep someone injured like this alive." Though usually it was just barely, and so they could continue to suffer. "You should see if you can get some coconut water," He said. "And liver, leafy green vegetables, some kind of citrus fruit or juice but make sure it's high in vitamin C and maybe some nice heavy whole grain bread." Then he started to do his best to tend the wounds.
Reply
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