Gaining Innocence

Developments (CH:34)

CHAPTER 34:

Sleeping was a difficult task for Will, one that was full of routine, or rather, a collection of habits, which he had to follow, mainly by laying a towel on the part where he had lain on the bed and drinking a whiskey. of two fingers as if it had been a particularly long day. She didn't have the luxury of quick and easy comfort when she laid her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes. He had rarely woken up feeling rested and invigorated. Today, being able to sleep for two hours straight was a feat in itself. A candy.

Maybe it was because he felt relieved after he was finally done with the date. Perhaps it was the drug that was still pumping into his blood. Maybe it was the cold draft from the dash vents, or maybe his exhaustion had finally caught up with him that Will found himself easily asleep in Hannibal's car. Just like this morning, the sounds of the gentle purr of the engine and the hum of classical music turned out to be a very relaxing environment, a kind that induces sleep.

As expected, her dream was not dreamless. But it wasn't a nightmare either. Instead, his dream had a strange, if not comical quality; of Billy Joel's songs, courtesy of being subjected to that singer's hits for nearly an hour straight during the brain scan, mixed with the voices of Hobbs and Stammets and Buddish and Shannon and the newly added Gideon.

In that dream, fortunately, Will was only a spectator of the performance. Beside him was the feathery deer, seemingly disturbed by the cacophony before him, if his erratic panting was any indication to pass. (He didn't know. After all, Will was not an expert at reading a deer expression.)

Between choirs, somewhere, sometime, Herkus had joined the band of misfits, playing the violin that his guardian had bought him carelessly and with a smile on his face: the boy was clean and tidy, he was not a speck of blood anywhere near your person.

The River of Dreams sang in the background, Billy Joel's baritone gradually increased in decibels, and the instruments were played by Jack's finest trio for some reason, when an outside force interrupted this Twilight Zone moment.

It came in the form of a voice: male, foreign accent, and deep, rich timbre.

"Will." Burgundy eyes were watching him intently, her shoulder no longer shaking slightly now that she had opened her eyes. "We have arrived."

"What?" Will blinked. Any trace of the melodies faded from his mind as drowsiness sucked him into a quick, waning ferocity. He felt like Alice after coming back to reality, out of depth and generally perplexed. He blinked again, only to shake off the last tendril of sleep clinging to him, and then looked around. "Are we at ... your house?"

Hannibal hummed, unbuckling his seat belt. "While this may be presumptuous of me, it is best that you stay here today. At least, until the sedative no longer affects your awareness."

When Will agreed to take the diazepam, he was told to stay with loved ones or a friend for a period of twenty-four hours, for safety reasons. Will's loved ones, human beings, that is, were no longer on this earth, and he had no friends whom he could turn to for help at a moment's notice. Hannibal could, like now, but he didn't think, he'd never had that idea, too, of intruding into his psychiatrist's house. Will really looked forward to sleeping in his own bed for a day in a row, or as long as he could, milking the effect of the sedative for as long as possible, resetting his system.

"I didn't bring anything," Will said without thinking.

That wasn't exactly a no to the sudden invitation. But it wasn't a yes either. The ambiguity of his answer was picked up by the psychiatrist, and the older man's lips curved in a small upward curve, apparently amused.