Loving Merritt Forever

4

Him

My alarm for sundown went off. I was glad we were moving towards winter and earlier and earlier sunsets. Longer nights were coming. It would make trying to woo the object of my desire much easier while she was still human. I stretched my muscles after the stillness of daytime. Disappointed I hadn't been disturbed by the cell phone for once in my undead modern lifetime.

Then I was worried about her. I called the hotel, no charges for room service had been added to the room, no one had seen her come or go, and the maids had left the room untouched thanks to the do not disturb sign I had left on the door. Did my little bird fly away? Carefully making sure the sun was indeed down, I headed swiftly to the hotel, scaling up the wall to the balcony unseen, just wanting to look in the window first. All I saw was a hump on the bed that could be the covers or her.

Asher had assured me she only had four drinks after I had chewed him out for letting her get wasted when he wanted to discuss the details of his prize. I was suddenly worried that there had been something else slipped in her drink, maybe she had vomited while asleep, choked and died while I had been in my lair. I felt something I hadn't felt in a long time. Panic over someone else's welfare. If she went and fucking died on me I would tear Asher apart.

I opened the sliding door silently, just wanting to slip in and make sure she was alive. I thankfully heard her heart beating in her chest, she was breathing and making little whimpering noises. Not ones of pleasure, she was hurt. Without thinking, I said her name softly, "Merritt?"

Her eyes flew open, deep dark chocolate pools full of fear at the sound of her name. She went to move to get up, a cry of pain was all I heard before she fell out of the bed, onto the floor in a heap. Grabbing at a sheet to try and cover herself. She had been in bed in nothing but her panties and bra. But I didn't have a chance to admire what had been hidden under layers of lace yesterday, all I could focus on was the way her left arm was hanging wrong, limp and useless by her side. Along with the scars I glimpsed on her body. Multiple clean surgical scars.

"You're hurt" I said, kneeling in front of her, looking at the bruised, swollen dislocated shoulder. I saw red as I realized someone had to have hurt her, my voice coming out as a snarl "Who hurt you?" That was wrong. I shook my head to clear the demon out of my mind and focus on her and what she needed. "You need a doctor," my voice much more level now as I slammed the raging demon back deep inside my mind.

She shook her head as I tried to help her stand so that she could see a doctor. Pulling the sheet closer around her small frame. She was petite, but once free of miles of lace I could see she was all womanly curves. Soft and touchable. My eyes were focused on her injured shoulder, avoiding looking at her lewdly. She should have been safe here.

She sighed, sounding exhausted and defeated in every way. "I don't need a doctor, I'm a nurse, can you just," she paused, like she was carefully considering what she wanted to ask me. "Just help me pop it back in?"

She was insane. She was really a nurse, a recently graduated one. Did she have any idea how much what she was asking for would hurt? I must have not been hiding my concern as she kept talking, "I dislocated my shoulder trying to undo the zipper to get out of the dress." she looked at the floor, away from me. "If I go to the hospital, all my new coworkers will only ever see me as the broken mess who had her wedding hijacked and then dislocated her own shoulder to get out of the dress." She was embarrassed and didn't want anyone to know she had hurt herself.

She had to be in excruciating pain already, but getting the joint back in would hurt more. "If you are a nurse, then you know it's agony." My voice sounded almost gentle, as I tried to coax her towards modern medicine.

"It already hurts." she sounded firm, until a soft "Please?" followed, along with a very determined look in her eyes. I had a feeling if I refused her she would still try and set her arm herself. Probably only hurting herself worse.