Blood Bargain

Fourteen: In Which Ellie Stitches

Ellie didn't realize she'd fallen asleep until she woke up tucked securely into bed. The house was toasty warm, and the blankets were heavy on top of her slightly flushed body. She stretched groggily and started to push the blankets off, but she quickly realized that the blanket closest to her body was all she was wearing. It was still wrapped around her from when she'd...

... When she'd been sitting on Kaz's lap, she realized. If her cheeks hadn't already been red from the heat, they certainly were now.

A clanking sound from the kitchen caught her attention, and she looked over to see Kaz fiddling with a cast iron skillet near the gas stove. He'd pulled his white hair back with a leather tie, and he seemed intensely focused on whatever was in the pan. While Ellie slept, he'd clearly taken the time to change clothes, now wearing loose linen pants and a nightshirt.

"Kaz?" she called.

"Ah, she's awake," he replied cheerfully, glancing over with a small half-smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Like a horse trampled me on the way down the mountain," she sighed, rolling her shoulders, but kept the blanket tucked securely next to her body. "Grab me a nightgown when you get a sec, will ya?"

"It's on the side table," Kaz said, turning back to his cooking. "Come get food. I won't look."

Ellie glanced over to find that a bundle of white fabric was, indeed, on the side table, along with her faded red robe. Checking to make sure that Kaz was still focused on the pan, Ellie grabbed the gown and slipped it over her head while still under the blankets, wiggling the fabric around her body till she felt covered. She grabbed the robe next, pulling it partway around her shoulders when she suddenly paused, realizing what Kaz just said.

"You cooked?" she asked, bare feet silent on the brick floor as she padded towards him to peek in the pan.

"Badly, I think, but yes," Kaz said. "It's never been a special skill of mine, but I can manage."

Two plates sat on the table, both loaded down with toast and some slightly overdone sausages. In the pan, he carefully flipped two portions of fried eggs. The smell made Ellie's mouth water, and though she wasn't sure if the hunger gnawing at her belly was from sheer exhaustion or the smell of his cooking, she was happy he'd taken the time to make something.

"Not bad," Ellie said, smiling brightly. "How's the shoulder? And the side?" She reached out to pull aside the neckline of the nightshirt and check his stitches, but Kaz smacked her hand away, shaking his head.

"I'm not bleeding through my shirt, so you can wait until after we eat for that."

"... Fine," she conceded, eyes narrowed. "I'm puttin' the kettle on, though. We'll need hot water."

The food that Kaz cooked was actually good. She had to hand it to him— it wasn't just the fact that they were tired and hungry and in need of a good meal. He'd made the eggs fluffy, and she didn't mind a little char on her sausages. He'd even managed to find a jar of marmalade in the cellar, and Ellie decided they deserved it as a treat after the day they'd had. Survival did funny things to your head, she thought.

After they'd eaten, she rinsed the plates and took care of the crumbs, putting the dishes in a pile to clean in the morning. As long as there wasn't food on them, they could wait a few more hours. Ellie took a knee and fished under the sink for a moment, pushing aside the blue checked curtain that hid her storage to reach for a jar she kept far, far in the back.

"What's that?" Kaz peered around her as she pulled out a large mason jar. There was a slightly foggy liquid inside, and she couldn't deny it looked a little suspicious, but it was perfectly safe. In fact, they were probably going to need it for stitches.