“Thank you for calling Leo. I really appreciate it.”
Impressed with Leo’s maturity, I drove to the hospital to see Vance. I got to his room and found him sleeping. I quietly pulled up a chair next to his bed and grabbed a hold of his hand. I couldn’t seem to stop the tears from falling. He looked so fragile being hooked up to all those machines. He woke up a short while later and squeezed my hand.
“What are you doing here?” He asked, still a little groggy.
“Leo called and told me what happened. I came as soon as I heard. I wanted to make sure you were okay.” I replied while wiping my tears.
He sat up slowly, wincing in pain. “What exactly did he tell you?”
“Well, I already knew about the stakeout because Roxy told me what was happening.” I replied. “Leo said you were trying to perform a stasis spell on the demon but you got distracted. The demon sensed your presence and attacked. Oh God Vance. I had this horrible feeling all night that something was wrong. I tried finding you but couldn’t. I’m so glad you’re going to be alright.”
He smiled. “Did he tell you why I was distracted”
“No. I didn’t think to ask. Why?”
“Because we were arguing about you.”
“About me? What about me?”
“We had a difference in opinion. No surprise there, huh?” He attempted a small laugh but stopped short from the pain.
“An opinion about what exactly?”
“He was telling me that I should stop being so childish and call you. He saw me ignore your call last night and told me I was a fool. He said I didn’t deserve you. I told him that my relationship with you is none of his concern.”
“Your relationship with me? Do we have a ……relationship?” I asked timidly.
Sighing, he tightened his grip on my hand. “Karli, honestly I don’t know what we have. We’ve only known each other for a week, yet I feel like I’ve known you my entire life. I think you feel it too. I don’t know how to explain this pull I have towards you. It nearly killed me to see you go off with Leo the other night.”
“Look Vance, I know what you’re probably thinking about the other night. I can---”
“Karli, please let me finish. I need to get this out. When I watched you leave with him, when I thought about how you called him to help you, it brought back a lot of really painful memories for me. I felt like I was reliving a very difficult part of my past. I needed some distance to deal with that.”
“I guess I could understand that. I just wish you would let me explain. It’s not what you think.”
“Karli, there’s a lot we need to discuss.”´He said. “I know you’re apprehensive, but you need to believe that you can trust me. You are obviously carrying a lot of weight on your shoulders, and I honestly think I can help you with that. I feel like I need to help you with that. I want to be someone you can lean on.”
“Oh Vance, I---”
He pressed his fingers to my lips. “Please Karli, don’t feel the need to say anything right now. Why don’t we just agree to talk after I get out of here? Can you do that?”
“Yes. I can definitely do that.” I smiled.
Chapter 13
*****************
I’ve been anxiously awaiting Vance’s release from the hospital for the past few days. I found myself warming towards Leo again for helping me with him. We never talked about it, but I could tell he’s keeping his distance from me out of respect. We were relating to one another in a strictly professional manner. His apology was unspoken but obvious
all the same.
He filled me in on the case while Vance was in the hospital. Apparently, Leo subdued the demon at the scene after it attacked Vance. They brought the guy into custody and tested his DNA. He was not a match so they let him go with a minor assault charge, since Vance technically did provoke him by attempting to cast a spell on him. They rechecked the demon registration database and found nothing new. The next closest Stryker demon lived somewhere in the Midwest. They were basically back to square one with no suspect and no motive.
Vance was released from the hospital yesterday but I was working when he called. I’m off on Mondays so we agreed to meet at my apartment today. He said it was important that we had no other obligations when we had our conversation. I was terrified, yet excited about seeing him. I was going to lay all my cards out on the table, essentially trusting him with my life. There was going to be no turning back after today.
He had to check in with work so he told me he’d be at my place around noon. I took a shower and selected one of my newest matching bra and panty sets. I’m not planning on getting pelvic with the guy or anything. Sometimes a girl just needs some sexy lingerie under her clothes to feel empowered. I threw on a white sleeveless cotton wrap shirt with twill shorts because I wanted to show off my darkened tan. I spent a little extra time on my hair and makeup. I wanted to look good, but not overly obvious. Shortly after noon, I heard the buzzer. With one last glance in the mirror, I pressed the intercom button.
“Hello, who is it?” I asked.