Inseparable

Ava: Chapter Six

Gabriel

I wait for Ava to fall into a deep sleep. Sliding out of bed, I notice a trace of chocolate on her lips. Kissing it away, I find her lips are ironically sweeter. Glancing at my watch, I see it's nearly midnight, and I'm due to meet Alexander at one in the morning like we always had. Staggering into the tent, Gladys who was wearing red lipstick, now has pink lip marks on her mouth, neck, and above her chest.

"Someone had a good night, I see."

"Yes, Leslie leaves tomorrow morning, and I had to say goodbye. The poor girl told me she'd leave her husband for me. I told her I was not the settling down type, and she told me she was, and she settled in on my face!"

"So, you enjoyed eating out this evening?"

It took her a minute, and she gawked at me, punching me in the arm, and defensively said, "Gabriel, don't you kiss Ava with that filthy talking mouth."

I chuckle and look at her for a moment and nonchalantly say, "I am not the one who's been exercising their tongue this evening on a helpless nurse."

I had to dodge the punch, which nearly sent Gladys tumbling to the floor in her drunken state. I steadied her, and she sat on her cot while I knelt to help her out of the heels, I had purchased for her.

As she yawns, she sleepily asks, "Was Ava alright tonight? Did she have any problems?"

"No, I healed her with drops of my blood as soon as we left the medical tent, when I kissed her. I couldn't help myself; I refused to let her suffer another minute of discomfort."

Gladys scrunches up her nose in disgust, and I remind her "Gladys, blood and vampires go together; it's the price you pay for immortality."

She defensively snaps, "Oh, don't get your panties in a twist; blood doesn't bother me, well, unless I am drunk and a bit nauseous."

"You're serious about this, aren't you?

Yawning widely, she says, "Damn, straight I am! We'll talk tomorrow."

"Gladys, I would not trust myself to turn you, I have an underlying fear I might not get the process correct and kill someone I care about deeply."

She smiles at me and sleepily says, "Don't worry, we'll figure something out, and I also care about you too, even though I have tried my hardest not to."

She winks, rolls on her side, and whispers, "Good night, Gabriel."

"Good night, Miss Hastings."

I stop by the medical tent to update Mikhail and Tatiana.

"Hello, I wanted to thank the both of you again. Ava is feeling well and sleeping soundly for now. I gave her my blood when I kissed her earlier; it was only a few drops."

Mikhail then sits at the desk and asks, "Do you mind if I ask you a very personal question, Gabriel?"

"I consider you a friend and I have not had many of them in my 600 years, you are free to ask me anything you like."

Tatiana sits on top of the desk, and I observe how Mikhail's hand instinctively moves to her leg gently squeezing her thigh, and lovingly intertwines his hand in hers.

"How do you keep control of your thirst you're craving for blood?"

As he asks this he stops and adds, "This is a war there is so much blood everywhere."

"I have conditioned myself and compared to most all the others I have met of my kind the urges I have do not seem to be consumption of blood, well not in the way most think of vampires."