Created by blood

Chapter 7

A quick dreamless sleep

Jonathan lies on his side, one arm under his head, as he stares blankly at the dust bunnies under the bed for the few seconds it takes for him to return.

"How'd you sleep?" Odessa purrs around the shiver in her bones as she climbs out of bed, bare feet padding lightly on the hardwood as she crosses the floor to relight the fire that had burned out long ago.

"Just horrible, if I am, to be honest. The dust kept me up all day. I fear I'll never stay here again." Reid comments, his face full of false seriousness.

"OH! So the good Doctor has jokes after all." Walker replies, laughter light in her voice as she turns to face him, watching as he rises to his feet as if pulled by strings. "Well forgive me sir, if you haven't noticed there is a flu going around. I'll thrash my staff later."

"I am not all "toff", as you call me pet. I joke often actually."

"Sure you do, you're free to prove me wrong, though I'm afraid you'll find I'm hard to impress." The little nurse murmurs with a giggle as she starts to get dressed. "Jonathan... Am I free to go off on my own tonight? I want... I want to check on Sean's night shelter, they've been alone for, well..." Walker says quickly, words trailing off as she stands to put on her boots, only to be interrupted by Jonathan as he steps into her personal space.

A tight stillness fills the room as Jonathan flexes his fingers before sighing deeply, giving in to the want ... No, not want, he realised, the need to touch her again.

At some point over the last few days, the unpleasant tingle that came from touching his pet had dissipated. Now, instead of sending shivers down his spine, it gave him a sense of calm he found hard to achieve otherwise.

"I know mon chérie, and you have my permission, but... " Reid says, pausing as he smirks at the loud groan she lets out. He knew she hated the word but enjoyed teasing her so. "I'd like you to stop at Pembroke, put the sample in the ice chest, as well as let Edgar know Dorothea will not be back any time soon, okay?"

"And you can not go yourself why?... Also what of your dear sweet Edgar? I'm sure amhránaí would rather see you than me after our two day absence."

"I'm sorry?"

"Songbird, he's hyper, obessive and talks more than you or I... which I can't believe is possible." Odessa innocently says, trying not to laugh at Reid's hitched eyebrow or his confused expression. Mine? Edgar wasn't mine, he thinks as he rests his chin on her head. Yes, they may have become good friends fast, but that was simply because Jonathan owed the administrator a great deal.

Doctor Edgar Swansea was the first person to speak to him without hesitation, without an air of distrust. Tom, like Sabrina, was nice enough, but both avoided looking at him, at his ripped, grimy, bloody clothing. Their responses were short, curt even as if they were praying this strange man would leave them alone.

Not Edgar, though. Yes, the man had pulled a cross on Jonathan, clearly knowing what he was before Reid did, but that did not stop him from talking to the bloke with sympathy and care as if speaking to an ill patient.

Swansea had offered him a job, a safe haven, freedom to come and go as he pleased, as long as Jonathan took the odd round or two. But above all else, he freely and quickly offered him friendship at a time when he had lost everything.

So no, Jonathan muses as his body relaxes into his pet's soft purring. Edgar was not his... At least not in the way I want her to be, Reid thinks with a low chuckle. "If you must know, my nosey little beast, I have a few things to attend to. During our investigation, more than one had asked for my help."