Page 50 of Afflicted

Her breathing is still shallow. She closes her eyes. “Did you kill him?”

“Yes.” I lean back in the chair. She doesn’t want me too close. I can't blame her. She has no reason to trust me. “He’s dead.”

“Where’s Matt?” Her breath catches in her throat, and she coughs.

“Here, let me get you some water.” I retrieve a bottle of water from a shelf in the hallway, and when I walk back in, Juliet is sobbing quietly. I sit down beside her, unsure of what to do. How do I comfort her after what just happened?

She turns to look at me, then down at her arm, her eyes following the tubing up to the bag of blood that’s slowly filtering back into her body. “Won’t you get in trouble?”

I shrug, opening the bottle of water and holding it out for her. “I don’t care.”

She tries to sit up, but her eyes flutter and she sighs.

“Can I…” I trail off as I shift closer to her. “I can help you sit up. Is that OK?”

She eyes me hesitantly, then gives a short nod. I put a hand under the base of her neck, and help her up slowly. Her eyes stay on me as I hold the water bottle to her lips, and she takes a small sip. She chokes a little, and coughs.

“Steady now,” I say softly, and offer her a little more. She takes one more small sip, then shakes her head.

“Where’s Matt?” She asks again.

“He was outside, standing guard,” I say, and I instantly regret it when I see the tears well up in her eyes again. I shouldn’t upset her any more than she already is.

“He - he didn’t call for help,” she says, and covers her eyes with her hand. “He just let it happen. Hehelpedhim.”

The red begins to seep at the edges of my vision again, and I resist the urge to reach out and take her hand as she weeps. Fucking bastard.

He’s dead.

I hear footsteps in the corridor, and suddenly Sam is standing there in her uniform. She looks down at Juliet on the bed, and back at me.

“What’s going on here?” She asks.

I rise to my feet. “Braun assaulted her.”

Sam’s eyebrows shoot up. “I guess that’s why he’s now in two pieces in the storage building?”

“That would be why, yes.”

“Right, OK.” Sam looks down at Juliet. “Is she OK?”

“She’ll be fine,” I reply. “I’ve given her 2 units of blood, she’ll be alright.”

Sam sighs and shakes her head as her eyes meet mine. “They’re not going to like this, Silas.”

“I don’t really give much of a fuck.”

She scoffs, and gives me a lopsided smile. “Don’t I know it.” She casts another look down at Juliet and shakes her head. “Lucky for her you came along, huh?”

“I suppose so.”

Sam chews her lip for a moment, before clasping her hands behind her back. “I’m going to need you to report to me in the morning, Silas.”

“Understood.” I look down at Juliet in the bed. She’s still trying to curl up, as small as she can, covering her face with her hands. Sam’s footsteps retreat, and we’re alone again.

She asked me to hold her once. That day, after the attack. She asked me to hold her in my arms. She’s told me that I make her feel safe. But she hadn’t just been raped by a fucking vampire. She’s probably terrified of me now.

And yet…

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