"the world was on fire
and no one could save me
but you."
- Wicked Game, Ursine Vulpine & Annaca

╳

"Curtis okay?" I ask, walking back into the room after Frank ends his call.

"Yeah, he's okay. But he's done. I won't be askin' for his help anymore. He's done enough." Frank says and I nod in agreement.

I cross my arms, leaning back against the doorway while we're both quiet for a moment.

"..You're not going to be better by tomorrow." I say quietly. "You know that, don't you?"

Frank holds eye contact for a long moment before finally dropping his gaze to the floor.

"Rage and adrenaline are wonderful things, but.. they can only get you so far." I continue. "I can't let you go after Billy. Not like this."

"A good nights sleep can pull miracles." he comments sarcastically, even though part of him is serious.

"Not this time, Frank." I shake my head slowly. "They had you hospitalised for a reason. You needed the care and attention. And that was before a seventy foot drop off a bridge." I remind him.

He lets out a sigh, shifting himself into a more comfortable position.

"I know you're fucking strong, but.. a good nights sleep isn't going to fix this." I say, informing him on what he already knows but doesn't want to acknowledge.

"Guess we'll find out." he comments lowly.

"You need more than sleep, Frank." I stress, stepping closer to him. "Your blood pressure's dropping, and your pulse is weakening.. If they start to worsen, you're in real danger."

"Well, the hospital ain't an option." he comments, looking back up at me.

"I know." I nod. "But even if it was.. I may have something better."

Frank tilts his head and arches a questioning brow.

Biting my lip, I walk out and grab the supplies from the kitchen, then return to Frank. I sit down on the floor in front of him, cross legged, while he flicks confused glances between my face and the supplies in my hands.

"This the shit you went back into the ambulance for?" he asks.

"Mmhm."

"You risked your life for this plastic?" he frowns.

"There's no risk when I can't die." I remind him. "Yeah, if the van exploded while I was still inside it woulda hurt, but I would've been fine." I shrug.

He looks at me, his eyes becoming sad and serious. "You know, just because you can heal, doesn't mean you need to put yourself in harms way." he tries to point out.

"That's exactly what it means." I state.

Brows furrowing, he stares at me a moment longer, before looking back at the supplies I hold. "And what do you wanna do with this shit?" he asks.

"..I want to give you a blood transfusion." I declare, and Frank's face falls blank.

"What?"

"I might be able to heal you." I explain.

Frank's quiet for a moment, his mind processing this new information.

"You really think that'll work?" he asks.

"Guess we'll find out, right?" I say, repeating his earlier words back to him.

When he gives me a nod of consent, I stand back up and drop the supplies in his lap. Sitting down on the edge of the mattress, I help him with the buttons on the police shirt.

Once the buttons are undone, Frank leans forward and removes the shirt, dropping it onto the floor. 

The air leaves my lungs at the sight of his battered and bruised torso. I saw him change at the hospital, but since the accident, he's gained bruising over his dislocated shoulder and over his ribs as well.

I pull my gaze from his body and look into his solemn eyes.

God, I hope this works. 

After spreading a towel across his lap, I hang the bag up on the curtain rod over the window, then fit the IV's into our arms, taping mine tight to stop my body expelling the foreign object. 

My blood fills into the line and with gravity and the help of some pumping, the transfusion eventually begins.

I monitor Frank for fifteen minutes, looking out for any signs his body is rejecting my blood. With no swelling, headaches, fever, dizziness, rashes or trouble breathing, I adjust our lines and increase the rate of the transfusion.

Twenty minutes later, I gasp and lean in close to watch the dark coloured skin on his face slowly change.

"What?" a concerned Frank asks as I examine his face.

"It's slow, but.. your bruises are changing." My face loses its frown, a smile growing in its place. "..It's working."

"Yeah?"

I beam excitedly at him.

Minutes pass as Frank's bruises change from dark purple, to blue, to light brown, all the while shrinking in size. And soon the bruising on his torso begins to do the same.

Frank watches the lacerations on his arms slowly start to heal before his eyes. "Holy shit.."

"How do you feel?" I ask, as my senses monitor his heart rate and blood pressure.

"Fine. I- Ah!" a light crunch cuts his words short as his shoulder fully corrects it's dislocation. "What the fuck." he grunts.

"It's working!" I chuckle, before grabbing his face with both hands and jumping up to place a quick kiss on his forehead.

Sitting back on the edge of the bed, I feel a sudden dizzy spell come over me, but ignore it as we both watch his body continue to heal for close to an hour.

"Jen?"

"Mm?" I hum, dragging my eyes up to meet Frank's.

"Christ.." he mutters under his breath. "I think that's enough, yeah?" he comments, reaching for the drip in my arm. But I push his hand away.

"It hasn't even been an hour yet."

"Yeah, well, fifty minutes is close enough." he argues. "Clearly it's working, and you're pale as shit."

"I'm fine-" I try to assure, but Frank gives up on my drip and reaches for his own. "Okay, okay! Jeez.." I concede, standing up to reach for the blood bag hanging in the window. "Do you want a blood bath?"

I shut off our lines before pulling the IV's from our arms, bundling it all into the towel.
Then I drop the towel into a garbage bag. But as I stand up straight, I'm hit with another dizzy spell that causes me to stumble.

"Easy.." Frank says, wrapping an arm around my waist. His other hand makes me drop the bag before he pulls me down to the bed beside him.

"I'm fine." I insist, but let him pull me close anyway.

"You gonna fix me up, only to hurt yourself?" he rebukes.

"Goddamn right." I reply and he scoffs. I chuckle quietly, enjoying the feeling of my body against his.

Keeping me at his side, Frank lays with me while the sky outside starts to turn a brilliant shade of orange, signalling sunsets approach.

The transfusion may be over, but my blood is still in his veins, and Frank's body continues to heal beside me. I smile contentedly, pleased with his body's progress and more than pleased to be against his warm, bare torso.

Finally satisfied enough colour has returned to my face, Frank eases his hold on me and we both sit up.

"See? Fine." I look at him with a closed lip smile.

His eyes flit over my face momentarily, before locking onto mine. They're so dark, and warm and.. affectionate. Frank shakes his head, a smirk playing on his lips as he lets me stand up.

I pick up the garbage bag, eyelashes fluttering as I swallow nervously, my cheeks turning pink as I turn to leave the room.

He's so intoxicating without even trying.

"Where are you goin'?" he asks huskily. I suppress the shiver running down my spine at the timbre of his voice.

"We need to dispose of this." I respond, letting the bag swing in my fingertips.

Frank stands up from the bed and I have to leave before I get stuck staring at the ever healing perfection of his body. I exit the darkening trailer and step out into the sunset's deepening orange glow.

Scouring the junkyard, I grab random pieces of junk to build a fire pit.

Frank exits the trailer, now dressed in his own clothes, and helps me light a fire. He also finds a piece of junk to use as a makeshift grate to keep the flames contained.

Frank dumps the police uniform into the fire and I dart inside to change, coming back outside to add my nurse scrubs to the pit.

We watch the clothes burn and when there's not much material left, I add the evidence of our transfusion into the fire before Frank places the grate over the flames.

"How'd you know it would work?" he asks lowly while we watch it burn.

"I didn't." I admit. "Odds were fifty-fifty. Your body would either reject it or accept it." I pull my eyes from the flames to look up at Frank beside me. "We got lucky."

"Thank you." he says, his tone expressing deep gratitude.

"Any time." I reply with a smile, titling my head. "How are you feeling?" I ask, reaching up and placing my hand on his forehead, then his cheek, checking his temperature.

"I feel good. Real good." he answers, watching me intently as I check him over. "Perfect." he adds, and it brings my eyes to his.

His browns eyes look down at me as warmly as the heat of the flames on my skin. Said flames highlight his bone structure as shadows caress his features.

Good lord, he is beautiful. 

Beautiful and injury free.

"You certainly look perfect." I comment, before swallowing the excess saliva forming in my mouth.

We hold each others gaze for a heavy moment, before a loud crackle of the flames pulls my attention back to the pit in front of us.

"So.. am I gonna get supersonic hearing and smell shit from a mile away?" Frank asks, making me burst into laughter.

"No." I chuckle. "From the little I understand, the regeneration is most present in my blood. The heightened senses are more of a bonded, developmental.. thing." I try to explain and Frank nods. "But maybe I'm wrong." I add. "Smell any shit?"

"No more than usual." he replies.

I laugh at him and shake my head. 

"You did so good today, you know that?" he says, the look in his eyes conveying the same sincerity as his tone. "In the hospital, in the ambulance.. you didn't hesitate."

I haven't really given it any thought until now, but he's right. I didn't. Something needed to be done and I did it, no hesitation. And on my own terms.

"I just.. did what I had to." I comment, rocked by this realisation.

Frank sends me a smirk. "Attagirl."

I smile shyly and drop my gaze back to the fire. It's ridiculous how much I delight in him using that one little phrase.

"Hey-" he says, bringing my attention back to him. "I'm proud of you."

I stare at him for a moment, before my eyelashes flutter. I didn't know I ever desired to hear those words, but hearing them has my eyes glossing.

"You were really there for me today." he continues. "You have no idea how much that means to me. God knows I don't deserve it."

"But you do, Frank." I declare.

He smiles a gorgeous crooked smile that reaches his warm eyes. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Sweetheart?!

Lord, strike me down now, for I fear I may never recover.

For someone who doesn't share his feelings, his words this evening are overwhelming. And I am at a loss.

So I lean in and place a kiss upon his perfect cheek.

But as I pull away, Frank's hand comes up and softly grips my jaw. He looks heatedly into my eyes, before he pulls my lips to his.

I instantly melt into him as we share a passionate kiss. It's sultry and needy and our hands begin to explore one another as the kiss deepens. Until I feel his hand wrap around my arm. Reflexively, I snatch hold of his wrist and jerk back with a shaky breath, looking down at his hand. His empty hand.

"Sorry.." I breathe, instantly feeling embarrassed.

"No, I'm sorry." he affirms sincerely. "I'm sorry I broke your trust like that last night."

"..Trust was wounded. Not broken." I clarify.

Frank arches a brow and tilts his head, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. "How fast does this particular wound heal?" he asks me.

"Oh, there's just one last thing to do before it's healed." I inform him.

"Yeah, what's that?" he queries, licking his lips.

"I'm going to have to strip search you." I state matter-of-factly. "Make sure you're not carrying."

He smirks, a breath of amusement escaping his nose as he drops his gaze to the ground. When he looks at me again, his eyes possess a lustful glint of desire and consent.

I smile softly at him, biting my bottom lip.

"Right this way, sir." I say, offering him my hand.