He was quiet for a few beats, his eyes dull as he gazed into her closet. She’d left the door open after getting out a fresh set of sheets for him, and now he stared at her clothes, sorted by length and arranged by color, all the shoes stored neatly in identical clear plastic boxes. He reached out and curled his hand around hers, tugging her down beside him.
“You’re being so nice to me,” he said.
“Well, sure. Aren’t I always nice to you?”
Something glimmered in his eyes, but she couldn’t interpret it. “Yeah,” he stroked one cold fingertip down the side of her neck, “you always are.”
Lucy gulped, feeling the chill bumps rise along her skin at his touch. Before she could respond, he’d leaned into her, locking his arms around her waist and resting his cheek against her heart. “What if this is a bad idea, Lucy?” he asked, his voice ragged. “What if I wake up in the middle of the night and attack you?”
She closed her eyes for a second, feeling her pulse kick up another level at his closeness. She’d always wondered what it would be like to hug him, and now she knew: wonderful. Even if he did still feel frigid as a popsicle. But she also knew he didn’t mean anything romantic by all this touching. He was just scared and seeking comfort. Well, if nothing else, Lucy could at least try to offer him that much. “Well…” she said, and patted his damp hair, “I’m, uh, trusting you not to do that.” She chuckled, but even she could tell it sounded wary.
“What if I can’t be trusted?” he asked.
“Of course you can. Whatever’s happening to you, Aaron, you’re still you.”
“Am I?” There was a heart-rending note of despair stitched into the question.
The answer, of course, was that Lucy didn’t know. She had no idea how much Aaron was changing, or if he would ever be the same again after this. She knew she couldn’t say anything that disheartening to him, though. Instead, she ran her fingers through his hair and massaged his scalp. She brushed her palm over his shoulder and caressed his spine, curling her fingers to mimic the motion her mother had always used to comfort her when she was sick.
“Mmm,” he moaned, “that feels good.”
So does that, she thought, because now he was unconsciously nuzzling his face against her bosom.
“Yeah?” she said, working to keep her tone upbeat. “Well, how about this: if you go to bed, I’ll keep rubbing your back like that.”
“You will?”
She was gratified to hear an answering note of optimism in his voice. “Mm-hm, I promise.”
He held her for another second before sitting up. A smile plucked at one corner of his mouth. “You’ve got a deal.” He crawled under the bedclothes and flopped onto his side, facing away from her. Lucy kept her word and perched beside him, petting and scratching his back until he drifted off to sleep.
That had been almost forty-eight hours ago. Since then, Aaron had been the least obtrusive houseguest Lucy guessed anyone had ever had. He’d never reawakened, not even to use the bathroom. It was almost as though he was…hibernating. Which, despite her reassurances about trusting him, made Lucy worry about what to expect when he finally did come around again. A grumpy, ravenous bear? No, worse, she thought, a grumpy, ravenous vampire. The thought made her shudder, but, nevertheless, she closed the bedroom blinds tight and nailed blankets up over them to keep out the sun.
She had dropped into the office for a few hours the next day to try and cover for Aaron. She’d told his supervisor her boss was suffering from a nasty case of the flu and would be out for the rest of the week. Jessica, meanwhile, had also called in sick, leaving her assistant, Megan, in charge of the bookstore. Then she, Lucy, and Dara had spent the afternoon scouring Jessica’s paperbacks and the internet for any information they could find about vampires.
They’d emailed each other anything that looked interesting. Most of it seemed like nonsense, of course, and a lot of it was contradictory, but it was all they had to go on. It would have helped enormously, Lucy thought, if they could have spoken to someone who actually knew anything concrete about these creatures. If they could have consulted an expert. But so far, the man Nathan had recommended, Kiefer, had never answered his phone. Jessica had left messages until his inbox wouldn’t accept any more, and he hadn’t responded.
“Well, we have to do something,” Lucy said. “We can’t just sit around waiting to see what happens to the guys when they finally wake up. If they ever wake up.” She was referring to Jason as well as Aaron, since Dara had reported that her husband had also fallen into a coma-like stupor two days ago, and had yet to stir again.
“I agree,” Dara said with a sigh.
The three women were sharing a video chat on their cell phones, and Lucy could see how the past few days had taken a toll on her two friends, especially Dara, who had developed dark circles under her eyes. Lucy wondered if she looked as bad herself. Probably worse, she decided glumly, considering she’d been the least attractive member of the group to begin with.
“I feel weird talking about this over the internet,” Dara added, raking a hand through her curls. “Why don’t the two of you come over? Bring some clothes and stuff. I’ve got plenty of room, and you can both spend the night if you need to. But we won’t let ourselves leave here until we’ve come up with a plan to help the guys. Sound good?”
Jessica looked discomfited by the thought of a sleepover at Dara’s, but she nodded anyway. “Alright.
