Tabula Rasa

Chapter 13

He was asleep.

Calina sat back in surprise. She'd been taping the bandage over his wound when she realised that he hadn't stirred in several minutes. That his breathing was deep and even. That the hands loosely clasped in his lap were slack.

She idly tugged on her lower lip as she studied him. He looked so peaceful, his mouth slightly parted and the lines around his eyes relaxed.

His eyes.

He hadn't bothered wearing his glasses this morning, and she'd finally gotten to see his eyes. They were beautiful. Light brown in colour, with a warmth and vulnerability shining from them. She had a feeling he only showed them to people he was comfortable with...or when he was not feeling well and forgot all about hiding them.

Like this morning.

Because he had a cold.

A cold.

Something so simple, had brought this strong, fearless man low.

But it made sense. If Anya was right, and his ability to navigate the world depended entirely on his heightened senses, congestion of his nose and ears from a cold would affect him so much more than the average person. It was no wonder his balance and his reactions were so off last night. And why he'd looked so annoyed and miserable when he'd opened the door to her.

He must feel terrible.

Which gave her the perfect opportunity to repay his kindness from last month. She would help him today - as much as she could, and as much as he would let her.

She carefully eased off the couch and grabbed the blanket that was lying over the arm. She shook it out and gently draped it over him. Then she quietly tidied away the first aid supplies and took stock of his kitchen - he would need to eat soon.

Unfortunately, the fridge contained nothing but five bottles of beer, a half empty carton of milk, and a few boxes of leftover Chinese food. The cupboards weren't much better - he seemed to have been living off of take-out and cereal.

She could fix that.

She tiptoed passed his still-sleeping form and headed for the door. She found a set of keys in the jacket hanging on the coat rack and used them to lock his apartment behind her. Then she set off for the bodega a couple of blocks away.

She returned an hour later, arms laden with groceries. She let herself back into his home...to find him still asleep.

He'd shifted to a more comfortable position, his head now resting on the arm and his legs stretched out along the length of the couch.

The paper bags she carried crinkled, and the tins insides clanked together, as she entered the living space, causing him to stir slightly. "Shh," she whispered. "Its just me. Calina. You're safe. Go back to sleep."

He let out a deep breath and sunk below the waves of awareness again.

She smiled, and headed for the kitchen. She put away the food and placed the medication she'd bought - some vitamins, a tub of aspirin and a packet of cough drops - on the coffee table in front of him.

Then she sat in one of the armchairs opposite him and debated what to do.

She could leave. He had food and medicine now, and was sleeping soundly - there was nothing else she could do for him.

But she didn't want to go. She didn't want the two of them to return to being polite acquaintances again. She wanted to be his friend, and talk with him and take care of him.

She checked the time on her watch and reached a compromise with herself - if he didn't wake in the next half an hour, she would leave. Waiting any longer than that would be a little weird.