194. Pushed

Bridgeport, present day...

"There, you look gorgeous," Eloise smiled sadly at Leigh's sleeping form. She'd just brushed her hair, washed her face and dabbed some lip gloss on her lips. 

Leigh wasn't a diva, but she liked to look her best. Eloise didn't know any woman who didn't. And with the endless visitors pouring in she knew Leigh would freak if they saw her all bruised up and sickly.

To be honest though doing up her best friend was more self-serving. She was trying to distract herself and block out her guilt-ridden thoughts.

Maybe her guilt was misplaced, maybe it wasn't but Eloise blamed herself for Leigh's accident. She thought if she'd gone to lunch with her like she was supposed to Leigh would not have had any reason to drive to her office park to see her and that maniac driver would not have run her over.

"Okay, it's working! For months you've wanted my attention, you have it now. If you wake up I'll tell you everything," Eloise whispered.

Her words seemed to be the cue Leigh had been waiting for; she opened her eyes then and smiled at her.

"You sly devil, you tricked me," Eloise laughed, but her eyes were moist with tears of relief.

"No, I didn't-" Leigh tried to talk but her face hurt, her throat felt dry and parched.

Eloise pressed the red button on the cord hanging on the side of the bed. Within a few minutes two nurses (an odd looking pair, one old and skinny and the other young and plump) rushed into the room.

Eloise excused herself while they attended to Leigh. She ran smack into William Thornton at the door.

"Leigh’s awake, the nurses are busy with her right now," she smiled at him.

He nodded, but didn't smile back and in her heart she knew why. He knew what she was, she could see it in the way he looked at her, it wasn't outright contempt, but it was close.

Without saying anything Thornton took her hand and led her to the cafeteria, which was surprisingly empty for this time of the day. But he still sat them in one corner of the room, as far from the cashier as possible, he obviously didn't want their chat to be overhead by curious ears.

"For all it's worth, it wasn't Krisis," Thornton began.

"Then how did you know?" Eloise asked. Thornton explained how he'd narrowed down his search.  

"It could be Devon," she pointed out.

"Yes, it could be," he agreed, but in the same breath he went in for the kill. "However it’s not Devon. Your fiancé is human. I bumped into him last night as he was leaving his work place. I picked up the scent you left in Leigh's room on him also, but it was faint. Not as overpowering as it is right now."

"What are you going to do to me?" Eloise asked in a small voice. She didn't expect to get caught, especially by the same man who'd put a bounty on her head.

"I don't know," his reply was surprising, but not comforting.

"Are you going to kill me? Am I going to die?" Eloise was almost in tears now. She hated what she'd become, but she didn’t want to die.

Thornton carefully weighed his words before he spoke, "Leigh is fond of you. And so is Krisis.  He asked me to back off and I would have if I didn't have such a bad record with the Council. I hate to do this but I have an obligation to bring you in."

"But I didn't do anything wrong!" Eloise argued.

"I beg to differ," Thornton retorted. Without waiting for her comeback he went ahead and explained the Council's reasons for wanting to get rid of her.

"Those are unfounded fears. I don't hunt humans!" Eloise’s denial was loud enough to attract the cashier’s attention.

Thornton gave her an icy look, “Sure go ahead and tell her what you are.”

“I’m sorry,” Eloise put up her hands and pushed away from the table, her chair scraped loudly on the floor as she leapt to her feet and rushed out of the cafeteria.

Thornton caught up with her with little effort and backed her against the wall in the corridor.

“Let go of me!” She hissed under her breath.

“If you do exactly as I say, there’s a good chance you’ll come out of this unscathed-”

Eloise didn’t want to listen to him, but she found herself paying attention to his offer.

“Let me get this straight, I have to attend a hearing and plead my case?” She asked after some time.

Thornton nodded.

“And if I don’t?” Eloise crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

“You’ll be dead by sunrise.” The unwavering look in his eyes told her he meant every word.

“What if they don’t believe me? What if they don’t believe that I don’t hunt humans and that man at Waylon’s Haunt was an accident, what then?”

“You’d better do a very good job of convincing them. Your life depends on it,” Thornton reminded her before he walked away.

Eloise dazedly found her way to Leigh’s ward. She was a little bewildered to find the room buzzing with their family and friends. Everyone was so busy fussing over Leigh they didn’t see her hovering near the door, they didn’t even notice when she let herself out.

Outside the hospital she called Devon and asked him to go straight home from work, she had something to tell him.

“I have to see Leigh. Can’t it wait?” Devon asked on his end.

Eloise assured him it couldn’t; their whole future depended on this talk…