The Adventure Continues

[abrightboy]

For thatsfascinating.



The villa Malcolm rented was in the Languedoc, not far from Marseilles, south of Avignon. It was a very historic region, though Malcolm was particularly not interested in visiting Marseilles again. There was a charming village nearby the villa and if they were going to go to an historic city for a day, he'd rather make the trip over to Montpellier, where he'd never been at all, much less with Dr Whitly.

The villa had six bedrooms. As the driver brought their luggage inside the bright and spacious main room, Malcolm handed him some folded Euros and thanked him and shut the door behind him.

"First choice of a room is yours," he told Edrisa with a smile. "But you might want to explore first."

Comments

[thatsfascinating]

The compliment drew another smile, a little warmer this time. She looked at his right eye and flicked the light toward it, testing the reaction of the pupil.

"Have you killed anybody?" she asked softly as she switched the phone to the other hand.

[abrightboy]

"In the FBI? No. Shot a man in the knee once because he couldn't be talked down. But... I have a weird fragment of a memory from... I think it's from the camping trip with my father and John Watkins. I'm holding the knife you found in the station wagon and my father is guiding my hands. And I don't know what happened next."

[thatsfascinating]

"Yeah, you told me," she said, flicking the light on the other side. She frowned and sat back. "Your left pupil is a little sluggish. Definitely a concussion. How are you feeling right now?"

[abrightboy]

"Bit dizzy, bit of a headache coming on, mind's getting a bit fuzzy..."

He tried to fit a torn piece of fabric from her dress back in its place and it fell again. He looked at her. "Did he hurt you?"

[thatsfascinating]

Oh. That's why he told her something she already knew. She furrowed her brow worriedly as he tried to put her dress back together, and took that hand, holding it tightly.

"I don't know," she said with a small shake of her head. "It all happened so fast." She lifted her chin to show him her throat. "Are there any marks?"

There were the wounds from her kidnapping, almost healed, but far more noticeable and concerning were the very new deep purple bruises developing, with the clear impression of fingers.

[abrightboy]

"Bruises," he said gravely. "Bruises where he strangled you. Did he hit you? Could there be more?" he asked.

[thatsfascinating]

"He pushed me," she said, lowering her chin. "I think the wheat chaff on the floor might have cushioned my hands and knees, though..."

She lifted up her skirt to look at her knees, which were a little red and scraped.

"Not too bad..."

[abrightboy]

He bent over and pressed a kiss to each knee, then curled up on his side with his head in her lap.

[thatsfascinating]

Edrisa blinked at that. He was acting strangely, and she was worried. She gently touched his hair, avoiding the blood.

"I love you," she whispered.

[abrightboy]

He smiled sleepily.

"I love you too," he said easily. "Everything's going to be okay."

[thatsfascinating]

Okay, that was really nice, but also definitely weird. He wasn't usually that free with those words.

"Bright? I need to look at your scalp wound."

[abrightboy]

He pushed himself up to sitting again to look at her.

"I'm okay," he said. "Just sleepy. I kind of want a nap."

[thatsfascinating]

"I totally understand." She touched his cheek lovingly. "And I'm going to let you sleep soon. I just need to tend to your head wound."

She stood and offered her hands. "Are you okay to make it to the bathroom?"

[abrightboy]

He nodded and got to his feet with her help. Adrenaline had subsided since the fight and the headache was getting worse.

"Why didn't you run?" he asked her suddenly as they walked. "I told you to run."

He'd just remembered, but suddenly it was vivid.

[thatsfascinating]

She held him tightly to steady him as they made their way to the bathroom. Then he asked that question.

"Hold on...let's sit down..." She helped him down on the toilet seat and sat across from him on the edge of the tub.

"He would have shot you," she said. "I could never forgive myself if that happened."

[abrightboy]

"But... he could have killed you," he protested. "If I hadn't woken up..."

[thatsfascinating]

"He would have killed me," she said with a nod. "But you wouldn't have chosen not to wake up. I will never choose to leave you to die."

[abrightboy]

For a moment he just stared at the shower curtain, the neat pile of towels and the mat on the floor as his eyes drifted around the room.

"I just wanted you to be safe," he said softly. "Your job isn't supposed to be dangerous."

[thatsfascinating]

"It is dangerous," she said softly. "Sometimes. But this isn't about my job. It's about you, and me, and us. I'm not going to leave you, no matter how dangerous it is. You wouldn't leave me."

[abrightboy]

His eyes halted their wandering to shift to her face.

"But I can't... you can't be gone; what am I going to do?"

[thatsfascinating]

She frowned, tilted her head. Was he hallucinating? The concussion could have brought it on, along with the stress, the trauma...

"Bright...are you okay? You know I'm here, right? I'm okay.'

[abrightboy]

"Yes."

His eyes trailed down to the rip in her dress again.

"I know. I know you saved the day."

He put a hand to his head.

"I'm just tired."

[thatsfascinating]

"I know you are," she said softly. "I'm going to take you to bed soon."

She stood and pulled a washcloth from the stack and turned on the sink.

"This will just take a minute, I promise," she said, getting it wet, then squeezed some shampoo onto it.

[abrightboy]

His eyes widened slightly as she picked up the washcloth.

"Oh no... I was going to help you wash up," he realized sadly. He looked at her miserably. "How hard did he hit me?"

Maybe she'd been right.

[thatsfascinating]

"Hard enough to knock you out," she said, returning to him, washcloth in hand. "Don't worry about me right now. Let me take care of you."

She gently began dabbing at the blood, half-dried in his hair, trying to wash it away enough so she could see his scalp more clearly and find out where the blood was coming from.