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I’m so sorry. I thought I lost you. It was my fault, I’m a Keeper, I should have protected you. I knew better, I should never have let you out of my sight.

“Merrick. I’m ok and I’m not your charge, remember?”

But you are. I don’t care what I’m supposed to do anymore. I won’t let anything happen to you, anything more, I should say. You are everything that’s important to me now.

“We are all in this together, now. It wasn’t your fault I got attacked and I know you had to do what you did and I know why. I remember, it’s ok. Please don’t do this,” I said and lifted my, what felt like, 50 lb hands to his upper arms. “Three days I’ve been in the dark, alone.” I missed the guilt free, easily enticed Merrick. “Please just...let it go, just be you.”

I was barely able to hold myself up, leaning almost entirely on him for support but I refused to wait any longer. I licked my lips, reached up on my tip toes, pulling on his arms and very lightly touched his lips to mine.

This wasn’t a passionate kiss. This was a grateful I-forgive-you-but-you-don’t-need-my-forgiveness kiss.

Our lips touched, barely grazed, for just a few seconds and I could already barely breathe. I leaned my forehead on his chin and tried to catch my breath. I didn’t even get to witness his reaction because I was so out of it.

He picked me up in his arms, as if I weighed nothing, careful of my shoulder and carried me to the kitchen. Kitchenette. A half everything. Half stove, half sink, half refrigerator. He sat me down on the bench at the table and went to make me a sandwich.

I looked around at the dark motel décor. All the windows had thick dark curtains drawn to let in enough light to see to get around. I saw candles and flashlights on the counter. There was about twelve cases of soda on the floor by the walkway.

Leave it to Danny to do the shopping.

I figured while Merrick has his back to me I should try to fix me hair somewhat, it was the only thing I could do. Pulling my hair from the rubber band was excruciating. The muscles in my arm felt like stone, unwilling to give and move. Using my other arm, I eventually managed it.

Putting it back up neater would be that much harder so I sighed in frustration and left my hair more disheveled and messy than when I started.

I ate quickly as I was starving, Merrick sat right next to me, watching me closely, and by the time I was ready to ask for an escort to the shower, before anyone else could see me, I was suddenly surrounded by a swarm of eager bodies from the hall.

Danny grabbed me in a hug under my arms and I could barely keep myself from toppling over.

“Sorry, sis. Still groggy? You never did do good with drugs.”

“Yeah, I’ve slept for three days and I can barely keep my eyes open,” I said and noticed my voice was still raspy from too little use.

Celeste was there too, hugging me as well. She didn’t say much, but it was hard with Danny there to get a word in.

Jeff even walked through the crowd to hug me, which surprised the heck out of me, and Merrick too, from his surprised face. I hadn’t seen Jeff touch any of us let alone hug anyone.

“I’m glad you’re ok. I’m sorry for what I had to do to you,” Jeff whispered in my ear and then quickly exited the room.

After a few more pleasantries, I couldn’t muster one more ounce of it. As politely as I could, I asked if Celeste or Margo could help me with a shower, Celeste jumped at the opportunity to help. As she put her arm under mine we all saw Calvin running down the hall.

He jumped up and put his arms around me and it was all I could do to keep from screaming as his arm scraped across my shoulder.

Apparently my face didn’t hide my pain well and he was berated by Celeste quickly.

“I’m sorry, Sherry! I forgot,” he said with a quick enthusiastic apology.

“It’s ok,” I breathed. “Calvin, I’ve missed you.”

I blew out a sigh trying to cover my deep painful breaths. No one bought it and I was soon handed a couple pills and a glass of water, then carted off by Celeste at the insistences of several others. Merrick threw me a sympathetic glance. He knew I hated being made a fuss over and he had apparently seen this recovery before. This must be what Jeff meant by ‘the poison makes for a painful recovery’. No way just a gash would hurt like this hurt, taking my breath away.

The water pressure was bad. The place did have power, somehow, but no water pressure. At least Celeste’s bathroom didn’t. The shower, though much needed was torture on my shoulder and face and I hurried though it.

Once I stepped out, Celeste helped me towel dry and dress in some pajamas, some of her hip sleep pants and matching camisole.

“You have such a cute body, Sherry. I wish I was short and cute. It sucks being taller than most of the boys my age,” she sweetly babbled on and on, for my benefit I assumed, taking my mind off the pain. She giggled. “I guess I don’t have to worry about that anymore, do I?”

It was night time already as she sat me down on the bed to brush my hair for me. She braided a long low ponytail and continued to tell me all about my wonderful brother. How he had saved her from the beast and had no idea that I had been hurt. Once the ‘he is so sweet’s started, I tuned out for a bit, throwing in a few mechanical nods.

With the mention of Merrick’s name, my attention was brought back around. She said he never left my side, not once. In fact he slept nights in the chair next to my bed. He would sponge off my face and shoulder and bandage it daily. He was constantly peeking in the hall, looking out the window at Danny, asking people passing by in the hall to make sure he was ok, calling Danny in his mind. I could feel the warmth spreading out in my heart.

Jeff, Ryan and Kay came in quite a bit to check on me too. Everyone felt so guilty for having to do what they did to me. Celeste told me she could hear the commotion and my screams in the next room.

I had a few questions about all this. For Merrick. Why hadn’t he told us about this before and was this as weird as it was gonna get?

Celeste walked me to my room, continuing to try to fill me in on the last three days. We took up a few of the rooms in one hallway, all right beside each other.

I caught a glimpse of myself in the hall mirror. It could be worse. My eye and cheek didn’t look as bad as I had imagined, just a little pink and purple but healing. Celeste had made a very pretty braid of my normally unruly hair and it rested over my shoulder.

Danny caught me in the hall, just before his door. He hugged me again. This time lifting me and holding tight for a long while. I let him, though his grip is tight on my sore body. I know he felt just as bad if not more so than Merrick and the rest.

I was so proud of him all of a sudden. When Celeste spoke of him earlier, I didn’t catch it before, but she wasn’t saying he was some crush that she had.

She was saying he was becoming a man. A man that took charge in a situation and took care of her and others. He did what had to do be done with me as well. I was beginning to see the Special in him. Maybe his time was coming sooner than we think.

As I pushed open my room door Merrick was inside. I turned to say my thanks to Celeste but she was gone already. Giving us privacy. Hmmm.

I turned to Merrick to see a new face, a happy one with a relieved smile. I smiled too.

“See. Now that’s more like it,” I said closing the door.

“I was just getting your things put away in here. New sheets and blankets,” he said placing the pillows back on the bed.

“Thanks.”

“Tired?”

“Surprisingly so. You?”

“Very.” He chuckled, as if for some inside joke with himself.

“I heard from Celeste what you did. I guess I didn’t make such a good pit stop choice after all, huh? Thank you. That was very sweet of you to look after me,” I said stealing Celeste’s description, but it fit Merrick just as well. “I have a lot of...questions but can we talk about everything tomorrow, maybe?”

I watched his happy expression change to unhappy, to disappointed, to trying to look not unhappy and disappointed. I figured I knew why, so I saved him before he could start to feel too bad.

“Merrick, would you mind staying with me? I really...don’t want to be alone.”

The happy face was back.

“Um, sure. If that’s what you want.”

“It is.”

I grabbed his hand leading him to the bed before he could suggest another arrangement. I switched off the lamp before crawling in and waiting in the dark to feel him climb in beside me. I felt nothing.

“Merrick?”

“Are you sure you’re comfortable with this? I can sleep in the chair again, it’s no problem.”

“Merrick, I know you, I know you would never do anything I didn’t want to. I just don’t wanna be alone, at all. Please...unless
you’re
uncomfortable?”

We weren’t back to this were we? But I felt the mattress depress as he climbed in under the covers. He opened his arm up for me to fold myself into and I laid my head on his chest and took a deep breath, his arm lightly around me. He was so incredibly warm as always and smelled like soap and shaving cream.

“One question,” I said baiting him.

“Ok.”

“Why didn’t you ever mention those creatures before? Or the fact that you’re faster than everyone else?”

“That’s two by the way,” he laughed softly, “and you noticed that, huh?” He sighed. “I didn’t want to scare you or worry you anymore than you already were. Things were weird enough as it was. Those creatures, the Markers, are supposed to be extinct. We haven’t come into contact with one in many, many years. And I move just a tad faster, marginal.” He laughed a quick breathy laugh.

“Anything else I should know about?”

“I missed you like crazy,” he whispered, tightening his arms on me.

“I missed you too, kinda. It was actually a pretty quick three days for me.”

“Not for me.” He chuckled a humorless laugh.

“Sorry.”

“Don’t apologize,” he chided.

“You didn’t have to do that, stay with me, but I’m glad you did...I had a dream...about my fourteenth birthday. Remember it?”

“Yes. The day your dad gave you that necklace. You looked happy that day. Mostly.”

“It was the clearest dream I’ve ever had. I’ll never understand our parents. We’ll probably never see them again. But I feel guilty because I should feel worse about it. But they chose, and it wasn’t us. I had all but forgotten how much they use to bicker back then. I always wondered if the reason for the fight that day was the necklace.”

“It was.”

I couldn’t believe how much I loved talking to him about my life. I didn’t have to tell a whole storyline to get to a point. He knew exactly what I was referring to and he liked it. He liked to reminisce about
my
life and I liked that he liked it. I liked it a lot. I liked him a lot.

I felt him chuckle beside me.

I’m glad you wanted me to stay with you. I was trying to think of ways to convince you to let me at least sleep in the chair tonight. I feel like I need to be here.

“Well, I’m glad too. I want you here, I feel safer with you.”

“Good. I want you to feel safe. I was worried you’d be traumatized after what happened, but I should’ve known better. You’re so strong and level-headed. You don’t let much get you down.”

For some reason, I blushed at his praise.

“Thanks. Though I don’t feel that way about myself.”

“Well, I could sit here all night and tell you all the ways you are those things but I’m already fighting to stay awake.”

“Oh. I’m sorry. Of course, I’ll shut up,” I said feeling guilty as he had already said once how tired he was, because of looking after me.

“Never. I would love to go back and forth with you about how you’re as great as I think you are, this body is just tired, that’s all.”

I felt him chuckle again and I managed a giggle, that hurt an awful lot, but tried to not let him know.

“Alright. Whatever you say. Goodnight, Merrick. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, sweetheart.”

My heart swelled. I smiled and shifted so I was laying more comfortably on him and his hand came up to rest on my lower hip, lower than it ever had before. I felt myself tense, he noticed.

“Is this ok? I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to overstep-”

He immediately removed his hand and began to move away from me altogether but I stopped him.

“Of course you weren’t. It’s fine, better than fine.”

He remained still. I fiddled for his hand in the dark and found it, replacing it on my hip and snuggling in closer. He moved it higher and I sighed. I grabbed it again and pushed it lower.

The last thing I want is for you to conform to whatever idea I set for us as what is passable behavior if you’re not comfortable. I want you to say so, not just do it or let it be done so my feelings won’t be hurt. I won’t take your decisions away, so many people before me have done that. I just want you to be happy even if that doesn’t include me at all.

“I know that. That’s one of my favorite things about you,” I said with certainty. “I did choose. Right now, everything is right where I want it.”

I patted the hand on my hip and sighed happily before hearing his long breath release.

“You’re sure?”

“I promise. You aren’t making me do anything I don’t want to. I adore you too, ya know,” I repeated his earlier comments to him.

He laughed softly in my ear.

“I don’t think anything could make me happier than hearing you say that,” he whispered into my hair and I smiled as I let sleep take me.

The next day I woke and Merrick was gone. Well, not gone but away from me, in the chair. Most of the day was spent pretty much lying around. I was so, so tired. So drained, so achy still. Merrick stayed with me a lot but I slept a lot too. I tried to relay how grateful I was to him for taking care of me with little touches of reassurance.

Then at nightfall, I was still incredible tired but had been thinking about some things.

After pulling him down with me when he checked on me, I laid on his chest, a repeat of last night, and I pondered how I felt about all this. How I would feel if I knew I’d never see him again? How would I feel if he stayed with me forever? Where did I think this was going, what with the invasion and all?