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Aiden’s jaw flinched, his right eye crinkling the tiniest bit before he wiped all e room" He kissed the top ofhe exchanged heated glares with Dorian

I tried to sit up but every bone in ether I hoped the doctors had better luck with ht hout ain His ar as he studied the floor

"Thank you," I began, sing around the dryness inup

I was taken aback by the abruptness of his corateful damsel who’d been rescued fro unintelligent as I stuht words When someone saves your life it kind of warrants a fantastic "thank-you" speech: one that shows the savior just how grateful you are Dorian was getting gypped

"Do you have any idea how close you ca?" Dorian’s words were cold and clipped, unlike the normal smooth masculine tone I was so used to I couldn’t speak so I just shook my head

"You lost a lot of blood from the cut on your arm If it’d been a quarter of an inch deeper it would have hit bone" He pushed off of the wall and stood at the foot ofanywhere but at me

"I don’t knohat he did to you, but you had blood on your skull plus a fracture Your face looks like it was used as punching bag and your clothes were coated in so ht you in" Dorian curled his fingers around the footboard and squeezed so that his fingers turned white

"You were knocking on Death’s door and I didn’t even hear it," he mumbled "If it hadn’t been for Eddie…you’d be dead"

A bottoht Eddie and ordered him away then I would be dead I sed around the lump in my throat and looked down at the arm that had been slashed A row of stitches ran from my elbow and stopped two inches before my wrist The skin was raised in red puckers froertips over ht cheek ollen so much that I could see its puffiness when I looked down I couldn’t i that you couldn’t see my name on your death list?" I wasn’t sure how Dorian’s job worked: if names of the people about to die just popped into his head or if it were so more complicated He didn’t talk about that aspect of his life very much

"You’re blocked fro Death onaround as he began pacing the rooround I assury because this had never happened to hi the upper hand in the fate departht that I was the exception to the rule did nothing to help my unease

"Hey," I said and Dorian stopped to look at me "I’m okay I survived and it was because of you" I smiled "Whether you saw my death or not, you still savedhis scowl "It’s just like you to try and get Death to look on the bright side The only silver lining I’ve ever seen is…" Dorian didn’t finish his sentence Instead he stood there and stared athis silence to speak for hiht our attention away fro from Dorian to me

"I’d like to speak with Gwen," he said

"Too bad," Dorian said matter-of-factly

"Dorian, it’s okay," I told hilared at each other The tension in the roohtened

"I’ll be right outside the door," Dorian warned as he passed Aiden

"He’s pretty protective of you," Aiden noted as he walked over to my bed and sat in the chair I nodded, unsure how to respond "That’s the only thing I like about hih escapedhis hand out, he clasped mine and squeezed I noticed his skin was a lot warmer than it had been before

"Gwen, I want you to drink fro the smile to fall from my lips "You’re still not out of the woods You have a fractured skull that’s causing bleeding on the brain The doctors are waiting until the swelling goes down to ery They’ll offer you va vampires My blood will heal quicker" Aiden took a deep breath, his eyes burning into mine "Please let me do this for you"