The Good, The Bad and The Fanged

It sounded like a whisper, but it was more of a tired breathe. Zoe had informed Sam that she was bleeding again, after looking to her lip and noticing there was no problem, it dawned on Sam what the actual problem was. The wound that was inflicted on Zoe a short while ago had flared up again, simply bandaging that kind of wound up was not going to stop it completely, but it would slow it down at least, and the borrowed time that it had given to Zoe was up. Sam could not do anything for her other than take her somewhere, the hospital was probably out of question and Sam could not think of anywhere else to go to get it healed other than his apartment, but that would involve Sam getting the both of them there via teleportation, and that would cause damage to Sam too.

"If you need me to take you anywhere, I'll do it as quickly as possible, just name the place" it looked like Zoe was getting weaker by the second, the wound on her side was clearly taking its toll as she tended to it with her hand, she peeled the side of her-... his shirt and the blood stain on it was clear, they would need to see to it fast to stop any further injuries.

Zoe looked at him with her dark blue eyes, “No hospitals… they would freak out if they took an x-ray. No more teleporting,” She winced again as she started moving forward and down the alley, in the general direction towards Sam’s apartment. “I have no clue how you stand it, the thing makes me feel dizzy. Besides, I have seen enough blood for one night.”

Zoe waited for Sam as she had no idea where exactly his apartment was. She would move her hand to her wound every few minutes in the walk back. Her many freckles stood out vividly on her pale skin as well as her lips.

No hospitals, it was a risk either way to be honest, but it was best to stay away from there otherwise the police could get involved. No more teleporting, teleporting could be the difference between healing her leg quickly and losing it, but it was understandable why she didn't want it, it wasn't the most comfortable means of transportation, it took Sam a short time to grow past the problems it caused him, but doing it with another person still caused an issue, so in the interest of both of them, it was best not to do it. Zoe still seemed pretty independent for a wounded woman, even with her damaged leg, it seemed she was still trying to get to his apartment, she would leaned on the wall most of the time to give herself more stability, passers by probably just thought she was drunk.

Sam was trailing behind her slowly, making sure she was ok, but when Sam could not stand to watch her in pain any longer, he swept her off of her feet, holding her up by the legs and resting her head on his arm to keep her comfortable, they certainly moved at a quicker pace when Sam carried her, he just hoped that it wouldn't be too late.

Zoe was hobbling along just fine when Sam scooped her up, the Arae squeaked as well as yelped in surprise; the sudden motion made her ankle and side twinge.

“I could have made it just fine,” She stated defiantly, crossing her arms and glaring at him. The two were about eye level and Sam gave her a look that said, ‘suuuure you could.’
Zoe glowered at him some more but seeing that the dirty looks wouldn't make him put her down she settled down.

“Stubborn little thing aren’t cha?” She stated, resting her head on his shoulder as he walked. The slight swaying motion was making her sleepy… or that could be the blood loss… Zoe couldn’t tell at this point so she fought the subconscious.

"Stubborn? I'm simply doing this out of kindness, this way we get to my apartment faster, if you want me to let you find your own way then I can put you down right now, but judging by the fact you wasn't really going the right way, I must be right in assuming you have no idea where you are going" Zoe looked away from him with slight embarrassment, she didn't answer which only made Sam sure he was right.

Sam looked down to his bloodied shirt that Zoe was wearing, it was probably best for her to keep it now, it was hard to wash out that much blood and it would be a lot easier to let her keep it, it can be something to remember him by. As Zoe requested, Sam did not use any teleportation to get to his apartment, every minute or so he would look to Zoe and study her expression, it seemed like she was slowly fading out of consciousness the closer he would get to his apartment. Sam managed to carry Zoe to the top of his stairs, her eyes were shut and she was not responding to anything he was saying, Sam shuffled his hand into his pocket and managed to pull out his key, with a shaking grip, he managed to unlock his door and lower Zoe onto his couch. Amber walked over in her human form, "Why is she back here?..." she asked, it appeared she thought she would never have to see Zoe again, but she was wrong.

"Just calm down, we can talk about this later, I think she is passed out" Sam placed his index and ring finger onto the vein of her neck and could still feel a pulse, he looked up to Amber and they both knew what needed to be done, Sam had only seen CPR be done on television programs, but he had caught the gist of what needed to be done. He placed the heel of his hand onto Zoe's chest and interlocked his other hand over the top of it, with all of his body strength he pushed down several times, shifting her body in the process. He then moved over to her head and pinched her nose slightly, he leaned down and placed his lips on hers and breathed out, he snapped his body to her chest and noticed a slight rise, he must have been doing it right, after one more breath she was still not showing any signs of waking. Sam moved back to her chest and pumped down more times, with each push he said "Don't...die...I...just...met...you!" he moved back over to her head to give mouth to mouth once more, he moved his head down but was met by a clonk as Zoe had snapped her head up and had opened her eyes, unfortunately it was too late and the two of them had banged heads, but at least she wasn't dead.

Sam slipped back to sitting onto the floor and was panting, he always watched people to things like that elsewhere but never thought he would have to do it himself one day. As Zoe looked to him he smiled, "Sometimes being stubborn helps..."

Zoe must have drifted off and when her eyes flew open Sam was leaning in to kiss her.
“AH!” She sat bolt upright, they banged heads, and then she started coughing violently before sucking in air. “WHAT-THE-HECK!”

Her chest was aching were Sam had pounded on and she scrubbed at the welt developing on her head furiously. The cat looked slightly amused at the, “You just tried to kiss me!” accusation. Zoe decided that cat was more trouble than it was worth.
Calming down a little she asked what had happened. She sighed and relaxed back onto the couch.

“Stupid… stubborn… British… male…” She growled into her hands along with several other words that were illegible through her fingers. Zoe’s ears had turned red with embarrassment, though it was hard to tell through her bright red hair. It was long enough that the ends touched the floor, barely. The Arae turned her head to look at him, eyes narrowed. “No more kissing.”

No more swapping saliva… or cop escaping… just no.

“I need more gauze and duct tape,” Zoe stated, sitting up slowly. The shirt was large enough that it could be rolled up and tied right above the wound.

Sam stood up whilst rubbing his forehead, "Not kissing... CPR. If that's the thanks I get for saving your life then you can do it next time" Zoe clearly didn't understand the situation properly, if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't be moaning at him right now. Sam stepped over Amber to the counter in his kitchen, he picked up the duct tape and gauze that was left previously and returned to Zoe, she clearly wasn't impressed with his effort last time, so he tossed both items into her hand and let her do it herself.

"You think I enjoyed it when you kissed me in the alleyway? Now we're even" Sam wiped his lips to get rid of the lip gloss that had been transferred to him as he saw Amber appear quickly after his kissing comment, Amber's eyes shot between the pair of them, she must have thought something was going on between the pair, even though nothing was. Sam ran his hands under a tap to ease the pain on his knuckles, the adrenaline must have been covering up the pain in his fists and he needed to attend to it. As far as he was aware, Amber was still in the front room studying Zoe, her curiosity is going to get her killed one day.

Zoe caught the gauze and duct tape before rolling her eyes, “Fine, no more carbon dioxide swapping in any way shape or form. Watcha looking at cat?”

Quickly Zoe replaced the gauze, and then she wrapped the roll around her middle to prove extra cushioning to her wound. She undid the knot on the now blood stained shirt and the fabric dropped hiding her muscular stomach. With that she turned her attention to her leg and she cleaned that up too. Zoe spotted the cat giving her dirty looks.

“Your cat does not like me,” She said, relaxing back down into the couch. “But I don’t blame her, I could eat her if I wanted.” Zoe yawned, displaying snake fangs. “Not that I like the tastes of cat mind you, to stringy for my liking.”

With difficulty she propped herself up and she began to braid her long messy red hair into a long ropy braid before tossing it over her shoulder, the cat still eyed her suspiciously.

Sam returned to the wounded woman as he rubbed his knuckles in a hope to wipe away the pain. Sam noticed Amber take a small step back when she noticed Zoe's fangs and understandably so, she wasn't a fan of Zoe but she wasn't going to jump into a fight, to defuse the situation Sam walked over to his cat, clicked his fingers and said "Go to my bedroom", the cat looked at Zoe once more and walked off into Sam's bedroom, "Sorry, she tends to dislike new people, once you get to know her, she's a real sweetheart. How is the leg? Are you going to be alright?" It felt like the closer the pair got, the harder Zoe tried to push him away, he just saved her life and she did not sound very grateful about it, but if Zoe's leg was going to cause more trouble, she would probably have to stay in Sam's apartment for the night, whether she likes it or not.

Zoe noticed Sam rubbing at his knuckles, “Let me see.”

She held out her hand and took his, studying the bruises intently. “Ice it and maybe a light pain killer. It should hurt worse in the morning.”

Her hands were just as bad if not worse as there was a higher force behind each of her punches. As far as the cat was concerned, she was almost positive that the stinking feline hated her. Zoe watched the cat saunter away with her tail in the air.

“My leg is fine, it’s my side I am concerned about it looks like it has gone through a cheese grater.” Zoe sighed, “Oh well… that’s what I get for being distracted. I should be mostly healed by tomorrow morning if I hold still.”

So it was settled then, Zoe would be staying for the night, not by her choice however, but due to the circumstances. Amber wasn't going to be happy, but Sam had learnt to trust her, if she did bite him and kill him during the night, he would hope that doing it would make her feel bad at least, that is if she cared about him at all.

Technically Zoe was the guest of the house, and if she was going to be staying the night, he didn't feel right leaving her to sleep on the couch, which is a lot less comfortable than his bed. He stepped in front of her and lifted her up again slowly, trying not to cause any discomfort, "You can take my bed and I'll crash on the couch, just try not to get blood anywhere ok?" Sam took her into his bedroom and Amber scampered out past them quickly, he lowered Zoe down onto the bed and backed off, it was late and Sam was tired, he opened his chest of drawers and yanked out at blanket. Sam stood by the doorway and said "If you need anything just give me a shout, I'll just be out here" he flicked off the light switch and closed the door. He tossed the blanket onto the couch as Amber followed him around in cat form, he grabbed a bag and filled it with ice, as he crawled onto the couch, he felt like he was back in England and had returned to his rusty old excuse of a bed, it didn't take too long before he drifted off to sleep with the ice protecting his hand that became more painful by the hour.

Zoe protested as usual, she had already gotten blood on the couch.
“SAM!” She yelled at the door, “Just stop being a gentleman for once will ya?”

But alas Sam would not heed Zoe’s protests. So she settled back onto the pillows, flipping over so she wasn’t on her hurt side and crushing the pillow underneath her cheek. Sam was a nice guy… if anything too nice…

The feline bothered her however and that thought would pester her throughout the rest of the night. Zoe felt something hard between her hip and the mattress so Zoe fished around in her pocket before pulling out her silver ring. She sighed and closed her eyes briefly, a pang of grief hitting her hard in the chest. Zoe missed her family terribly… even though it had been years now. She slid the ring back onto her finger and twisted it around. The words ‘with all my love’ had been engraved on the inside of the band. Other than that it was unmarked. Zoe’s eyes eventually drifted closed and she fell asleep.

Zoe awoke startled; her body ached as bruises were developing. What had woken her was a bird perched on the window sill, it chirped brightly at her and Zoe scowled. She was not a morning person. Zoe rolled off of the bed with a wince and she moved stiffly towards the door, down the hallway, and then she was intercepted by the cat who was giving her another dirty look.

“What? I am just after gauze and duct tape.” She muttered, stepping around the cat. Then she happened upon a sleeping Sam, lying on the couch, his hand smashed under his cheek. The guy snored softly, not too badly but enough to make her jump every once in a while she crept across the kitchen. His bag of ice had melted and so Zoe replaced it, the temporary ice pack covered the purple knuckle. The cat followed her around as Zoe moved as if Amber were scared that the Arae was going to do something.

Finished hunting down stuff, Zoe padded up to the bathroom to take a brief hot shower and fix her wounds… getting all of the blood off would feel nice.

Sam awoke as the sun beamed in through the front window onto his face, he winced and turned his head away from the sunlight as he took in a deep breath and sat up, he placed the ice pack that was on his hand onto the ground and rubbed his eyes, his back wasn't feeling too great, he was used to sleeping in his comfortable bed, not the hard couch. He looked over the couch down the hallway and noticed his bedroom door open and the faint sound of water hitting a tiled floor, he put two and two and together and assumed Zoe was taking a shower, he span his head to the opposite side to see Amber staring out of the window with her arms crossed, "I get the feeling she knows what I am Sam, she needs to leave as soon as possible" she said, sounding very worried.

"Maybe if you wasn't watching her and following her all the time, she wouldn't be so suspicious..." Sam pushed himself up off of the couch and scratched his scarred back, "Just tone it down a bit, be more... cat like" Sam had tossed his shirt into the washing the night before, so before Zoe had escaped from the shower, Sam planned on reaching into his bedroom and taking out another one.

Zoe turned off the water, running her fingers through her hair, removing tangles from her long red mess. She would need to get it cut soon. Quickly she dried off and pulled her clothing back on. Then she picked up the gauze and duct tape, wrapping her wound again. Hanging the towel she stepped out the door to find the cat and Sam staring intently at each other… The Arae had no idea on what to make of this situation.

“Uh,” She arched a red eyebrow. “Should I come back later?”

The intense staring contest was immediately broken.
Zoe slipped past the two before heading down to the kitchen, sliding the silver ring back onto her finger. Her bare feet padded softly on the wood floors. Her leg was mostly healed and the slashes on her side had scabbed over. She didn’t get such a good sleep last night as Zoe was used to sleeping outside, under the stars, and by other animals… sleeping indoors was a bizarre concept to her.

Sam was slightly embarrassed about Zoe noticing him and Amber staring at each other, she must have thought he was crazy, or maybe even that her first thought about the cat was correct. Sam noticed Zoe place a ring on her finger as she passed the bickering pair and entered the kitchen, he looked back down to Amber with a look that said "See? Nothing can happen between us" He grabbed his keys and walked to the front door, "I'm just going to check if I have mail" he yelled to not only Amber but Zoe as well, he slipped past of one of his neighbors as he ventured down the stairs to the mail boxes, a different and far more attractive neighbor that Sam had yet to pluck up enough courage to talk to was already reading her daily mail, Sam appeared beside her as he unlocked his box and grabbed several letters that were addressed to him, as he slipped them out, he peaked to the woman who had looked up from her letter for just a second to reassure herself that someone else was there, they both smiled at each other as Sam shut his box and locked it. He stood still as he flicked through each letter to find them to all be advertisements, he barely knew anyone so he always wondered why he expected a meaningful letter to come by, he mumbled something to himself as he slipped the letters into the bin, he turned back to the stairs and was about to return to his apartment when the woman broke the silence "You aren't from around here are you?" her soft voice spoke, Sam had heard questions like that from several different people whilst he had been in this new country, so he immediately knew that she was talking to him. He span around on the steps and pointed to himself, "Me? No, I'm from the UK" he was thrown into the deep-end now and he couldn't just cut and run, he extended a hand as he drew closer to her "I'm Sam, Apartment 11" she grasped his hand and shook it, shooting him a smile "I'm Nicole"

Zoe happened to notice the cat make a b-line for the window and leap up, her tail twitching. She picked up her jacket and pulled it on, wincing as the fabric brushed over her wound. The darn cat was agitated by something; Zoe couldn’t tell what it was so she moved over to peep out the window. The view was fantastic but down at the bottom was a mail box along with Sam and another woman. She was quite a looker, long legs and excellent coloring could be made out from this distance.

“You don’t like other females intruding in on your life don’t you,” Zoe observed. The cat looked at her and meowed sadly. Since the cat was giving her the kicked kitten expression, she ran her fingers through the cat’s fur lightly. “I will be out of your hair eventually. I just need to replace Sam’s shirt.”

With that she pulled her shoes on and was out the door. She waved at Sam as she walked past him talking to the female. The female eyed her warily as she walked by.