Aaron thought he had located the same vein Jamie had just used. He lined the needle up and looked at Jamie, hoping to get some sort of indication that he was safe to proceed. From his vantage point, Jamie concurred that it looked like the placement was right. He slowly nodded his head just once, giving Aaron the motivation he needed to follow through. He felt the needle slide into her vein and breathed a sigh of relief. Slowly, he pushed down on the plunger, letting the medication flow into her body. As the last few drops exited the syringe, there was a collective exhale from those in observation. Aaron applied pressure to the injection site with a cotton ball and secured it with the Band-Aid. He continued to apply gentle pressure for a few more seconds until he was sure that the bleeding had stopped.

“How do you feel?” he asked quietly, moving her arm over next to her body but not removing his hands.

It took her a moment to answer, but when she did, her voice was groggy. “Tired,” she mumbled. “Warm.”

A small smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. “That’s good. You should go to sleep.” Then, turning his attention to Jamie, he said, “I think she’s stabilized. Do you want us to help you up?”

The doctor could hardly lift his head by himself, but he managed a small nod. He relied on his teammates to lift him up off of her, and Eliza grabbed one arm while Aaron took the other. They carefully lifted him up and off of the bed. Once he lost contact with Cadence, he began to restore himself and Aaron watched as it seemed like a wave of energy wash over his friend. “I think I’ll be okay in a few moments,” Jamie said as they carried him toward the door. “I’d like to stay until she’s completely asleep.”

“I know you want to stay,” Aaron said, “but you’ve got to take care of yourself, too. That was a huge drain to your system, and you need to replenish.” He and Eliza continued to walk Jamie to the door.

“Take him to my bedroom,” Janette yelled after them. “He can rest in there.” Eliza acknowledged that they had heard her, and they made their way out into the hall.

Jamie didn’t protest anymore, and they laid him down on Janette’s bed. Eliza stayed with him a moment to tuck the blankets around him, but Aaron rushed back into the other room.

Janette was stooped at the side of the bed. Cadence’s eyes were barely open, and her breathing had become deep and slow. “How are you doing, darling?”

Cadence moved her head, as if she was aware that her grandmother was nearby but wasn’t exactly sure where or what she had said. After a moment, she said, “So good.”

“Do you want me to stay?” Janette asked, seeing that her granddaughter was quickly falling into a deep slumber. Cadence did not answer, so she lingered for a moment, brushing the hair off of her granddaughter’s forehead.

“I know you wished there was something you could do. Watching her go through such a painful episode must have been very difficult. I’m sorry it happened.” Aaron was standing next to the bed now.

“It’s not your fault,” Janette replied, catching his eyes. “Although, it wouldn’t have happened if she hadn’t decided to go through with this at all.”

Something about her tone made him think perhaps she was wishing her granddaughter had made another decision. He had no response for that, so he didn’t say anything at all.

After a moment, Eliza returned. She approached the bed cautiously. “Looks like she’s almost out.”

“How’s Jamie?” Janette asked.

“He’ll be okay,” Eliza replied. “He just needs to rest for a few hours. I’ve never seen something zap him so quickly,” she added.

Janette nodded. “Well,” I think our little princess is off to dreamland.” She gazed down at her granddaughter’s slumbering face. “Do you think she’ll be okay now?” she asked Aaron.

He nodded. “Yes, I think she’ll be just fine.” He knew there had been a possibility that Cadence would have some pain with her Transformation simply because of all of the coding on her DNA that would be activated. He had never expected anything like that. This was one time when he was especially glad that Jamie was a Healer.

“All right then,” Janette, nodded. “I guess there are other things we should be doing.” She squeezed Cadence’s arm and whispered, “Sweet dreams, my darling.”

Eliza glanced down at Cadence and smiled a sympathetic smile before meeting Janette at the foot of the bed and escorting her out of the room. She paused for a moment at the door. “Are you coming?” she asked, the lilt of her voice a bit grating to his ears.

“I’ll be down in a minute,” he assured her.

“She’s asleep. There’s nothing else to do,” Eliza reminded him. Once again, he found himself at a loss for words, so he said nothing, and as she left, he heard her mutter, “I don’t know why he needs to stay.”

Aaron wasn’t quite sure why he was still there either. He had promised Cadence that he would stay with her until she was asleep, and he had done that. Though her eyelids fluttered every once in a while, he knew she was out and would remain so for quite some time. He knelt down next to her again, studying her face. Though her lids were closed, and he could no longer see those curious brown eyes, he couldn’t help but find himself reflecting on just how beautiful she truly was. In the brief seconds during the Transformation gone wrong when he thought there was a slight possibility that they might lose her, he didn’t find himself wondering what his team would do if she was no longer able to help them defeat Holland; rather, he found himself pondering what he would personally do if something happened to her. This feeling both excited and terrified him at the same time. In his position, it was never a good idea to become emotionally attached to anyone, particularly a Hunter he was attempting to protect. As much as one attempted to always make rational decisions, nothing was as likely to interfere with decision making like an emotional reaction. So, he had attempted to avoid emotions as much as possible. Though it sometimes made others describe him as too direct or impersonal, this style of leadership had worked for him for more years than he cared to count, and he knew it was not in his best interest to let Cadence or anyone else interfere with that.

And yet, he couldn’t help but remain next to her bed, watching her sleep, for much longer than he intended. Just another sign that he needed to find a way to distance himself from her emotionally before it was too late. She was perfectly still, except for the rhythmic rise and fall of her chest. She looked peaceful, even happy. He hoped she was dreaming sweet dreams of more innocent days when Vampires were only Halloween legends, and the only guarding she needed was from scrapes to the knee. He stood and pulled the blankets up more tightly around her. As he leaned more closely to her face, he couldn’t help himself, and before he even fully realized what he was doing, he gently kissed her on the forehead. “Sweet dreams, Cadence,” he whispered, leaving her to slumber. When she awoke, everything would be different. And then, the real work would begin.