Chapter Twenty-Six
Blake read Luke's email concerning Alice's case a few times before finally saving it and turning his computer monitor back off. Basically, no one at St. Micheal's had any information about Dr. Nuardi's or Alice's attack. Most of the staff had alibis, and the ones that didn't were either too old or too feeble to have had the capacity to pull off such a stunt. It was a dead-end. No finger prints, no hairs, no fibers, nothing. Still Luke was sure that someone in the hospital had abetted the perpetrator. Getting a patient pulled out of the hospital without raising a single eyebrow was no easy task. As for Luke's lead on the night vision goggles, Luke wrote saying that he had spent hours on the phone with all of the state supply stores and had come up empty. Luke wasn't surprised however, being that there was no description of the buyer or buyers to give to the store owners. Luke wrote, however, that all was not lost. He was going to spend the next week calling up any store he could find in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts. Basically, Luke was coming up with nothing, but was still diligently working hard to solve Alice's mystery.
Blake stood up and stretched. A quick check of his watch made him dash for the door, grabbing his keys and coat on the way out. The freezing November air hit his lungs hard as he dashed for his car. He had been gone a lot longer than originally planned. Blake didn't want Alice to think he was a liar, and after promissing to never leave her, he had done just that. He knew Tess was at least keeping her company, but still it was no excuse for his abesence.
He made it back to St. Micheal's in record time, and almost slipped on the ice as he sped across the parking lot and into the entryway. Blake didn't even bother to take off his coat before nodding to the officer stationed outside her door and quietly slipping into Alice's room. Tess was fast asleep in the chair, her completed crossword puzzle was now on the floor. Alice too was sleeping or was at least doing a damn fine job of pretending to be. As quietly as possible he nudged Tess and stirred her out of sleep. “Sorry I'm late Tess.” Blake whispered. “Why don't you go on home, get some good sleep.” Tess nodded, picked up her dropped paper, and shuffled out of the room. Blake took off his coat, draped it down the back of the chair, sat down, and turned his gaze towards Alice.
She was wide awake, sitting up in her bed. If Alice could see, Blake would have thought she was staring him dead in the eyes. Alice didn't say anything and remained perfectly still, not even blinking. “Alice?” Blake whispered, not wanted to scare her. “Its me, Dr. Hansen.” There was no response. Alice didn't move a muscle, she only continued her unwavering stare straight into Blake's soul. It was honestly sort of eerie. “Alice?” Blake repeated. “Are you awake?” Still there was no response. Blake stood up and took a few steps closer, putting his hand gently on Alice's shoulder. He could feel her heart beating fast. Too fast and too hard for someone who had just survived a heart attack. Blake was really starting to worry. Again he said her name, and again there was no sign that she had heard him. He shook her shoulder gently, causing Alice's upper body to sway a little.
“Don't.” Alice finally said, but it was almost as if she wasn't saying it to anyone but herself. Her gaze hadn't moved from its original spot, so Alice as now staring straight at Dr. Hansen's stomach, only inches away from her face.
“Alice, wake up. You're dreaming Alice.” Blake shook a little harder, trying desperately to rouse Alice from her sleep.
“Don't . . . touch . . . me.” She said it slowly, as if she had to think about each word before she spoke them. She still hadn't blinked, and tears were beginning to form in her eyes as her body attempted to keep her eyes moist.
“Alice, it's me, Blake.”
“I . . . know . . . who . . . you . . . are.”
“Alice, are you awake. Are you hurt?”
“What . . . do . . . you want?” Blake thought for a second before answering. Still unsure what was going on with Alice. He wanted to stay calm and focused, but it was hard thinking that she was somehow hurt.
“Alice, I just want to be happy, with you.” It was as honest of an answer as he could make.
“Yes . . . I can . . . make you . . . happy.” Alice said, finally slowly blinking her eyes for the first time.
With strength Blake didn't think a woman her size and in her condition should have, Alice lunged towards him, crashing them both onto the chair. Pushing herself too far away from the monitors and I.V. Stations, all the wires and tubes that were attached to Alice were ripped out. Blood began dripping down Alice's arms as the catheters dislodged from her veins. Blake froze, unsure of what to do. Alice's hands were all over his body, practically ripping his shirt off. Blake looked straight at Alice and was surprised to see her smiling back at him. “Alice, stop please. This isn't right.”
“I . . . can make . . . you happy.” Alice repeated as she pulled her hospital gown up over her head, dropping it on the floor. Blake averted his eyes, trying desperately to not look where his body wanted him to stare.
“Alice, you're sleepwalking. You need to wake up.” It was the only logical explanation. Blake had never encountered a sleepwalker before, but he had taken a course in pre-med on sleep anomalies. She was fitting the description to a tee. His mind began to race, trying to recall the proper procedure for handling such a case. As Alice continued to work at his clothes, Blake closed his eyes and began picturing his medical journals. A moment later, Blake opened his eyes again, remembering what his text books recommended for sufferers of sleepwalking. The best course of action Blake knew of was to allow Alice to continue through her episode, assuming she was not hurting herself in the process. Usually episodes of sleepwalking only lasted a few minutes, and afterwards the sleepwalker would relax, return to their normal sleep cycle, and remember nothing of the events in the morning. Alice had already managed to hurt herself, but it wasn't a serious injury, and could be fixed simply with a few band-aids.
Sleepwalking was a tricky situation. If Blake tried hard to wake Alice, she would mostly likely become confused and scared. And, if Blake could last out the few minutes it took for Alice's episode to run its course, she would likely fall back to sleep. Quickly, Blake made the choice to let Alice continue. Not for his own pleasure, but for Alice's health. Certainly, she wouldn't be able to do too much harm in only a few minutes, and Blake thought it best that Alice not remember this in the morning.
Blake tried not to move as Alice finally managed to unbutton his shirt and pull it open. She quickly ran her hands over his chest, sending sparks of heat down to Blake's pants. Blake bit his lower lip, as his breath became ragged. God she was good, but Blake fought his urges, knowing that this was not how he wanted his first encounter with Alice to go. He reminded himself over and over that it would end within minutes and he could tuck her back in to bed.
Alice began kissing Blake's neck, using her tongue to trace the outer rim of his ear. Her fingers traveled lower down Blake's chest, tracing the hair down to the hem of his jeans. She flew into action, deftly unbuttoning them and pulling the zipper down. Blake had no intention of stretching to allow Alice to pull his pants down. Alice's brow furrowed as she became unable to proceed further. Still, the action happening inches away from Blake's most private of places was enough to stir his desires. His cheeks became hot red as he felt himself becoming stiff. Finally Alice gave up, and returned her hands to his chest, but the damage had already been done. He was hard and panting, and no amout of reason was going to calm him back down.
Blake managed to keep his hands to himself, but only because Alice had them both pinned down under her legs. Her hands however, were like magic. Everywhere Alice touched, Blake felt like fire. Never had Blake gotten this worked up with such ease. His back arched stiff as Alice's tongue made its way into his ear and back out again, traveling back down his neck and onto his chest. Just when Blake thought his body could no longer hold out, Alice's body began to sink softly into his.
Her hands slowed, her lips stopped, and seconds later, Alice was fast asleep on top of Blake. Her breathing became regular and even again, and she curled up tight against Blake's naked chest. Blake sat under Alice for a few minutes, regaining his composure. His body began to ache as Alice's weight was transferred into his lap. He moaned softly as he finally managed to get his arms and hands free. Alice's naked body was pressed against him so hard, Blake was finding it hard to catch his breath. Blake sat their in the silence, and watched Alice's closed eyelids. After almost twenty minutes, Blake was sure Alice was back in a deep sleep.
As gently as he could Blake wrapped one arm under Alice's legs and the other around her chest. He carefully stood up, hoisting Alice up with him. Blake lay Alice back into her bed, and pulled his arms back out from underneath of her. She stirred only a little as Blake began to pick up the mess around him. As quickly as he could manage, Blake zipped his pants back up and rebuttoned his shirt before grabbing Alice's gown up off the floor. He got the laces on the gown untied and gently slid it back onto Alice's body. Blake knew he couldn't retie the strings as Alice was lying on her back; hopefully Alice wouldn't notice in the morning.
Blake turned off the I.V.s and wrapped the tubes and wires up neatly, setting them all off to the side. He then ran over the the set of drawers by the sink and grabbed a handful of band-aids. Her bleeding had already stopped, but Blake didn't want any of the nurses to become suspicous. He had to make everything look as normal as possible. Blake gently covered Alice's new wounds up and then looked around, admiring his handy-work. Other than a few streaks of blood on his shirt, the floor, and the chair, everthing looked pretty good. He grabbed a wad of papertowels out from above the sink and scrubbed as much of the blood off as possible. The blood on the floor came up easily, but his shirt and the chair were both a different story.
Blake tossed his coat back on and buttoned it up before settling himself back down in the chair for the night. One quick glace at Alice and he was sure she would be out for the rest of the night. His mind began to replay his few moments with Alice straddled on top of him, and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get them to leave his thoughts. After a few long hours Blake finally fell asleep, only to then dream the same memories over and over again.