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Description
                                                 Chapter Ten Breaking Point

Caleb drifted in and out of consciousness for the next few days; during this time he had several conversations with his inner self.  Some of them he remembered, some he forgot; it was wearing on him, he could tell, but he wouldn't let it show.  During these days Katya, Sage, and Demeter all kept their eyes on him throughout the day; Demeter would come in on a regular basis because she was a nurse at the hospital, Sage would come in on her lunch break and Kayta would come in randomly so he was never alone.  Truth be told he liked it that way.  He didn't want to be left alone to dwell on his own thoughts.  Whenever Kayta came to visit she would have arms full of photography. She was an amateur photographer at heart, kind of like Caleb, except Caleb actually got paid for it from time to time.  She would just wander off and start taking pictures - not that they were bad, they were beautiful, like the woman herself.  She just didn't like getting paid for something she enjoyed doing.

After about another three days the Doctor came in and asked:

"So, are we ready to leave this hospital?"

Caleb nodded eagerly, but wasn't completely sure he should go home.

"I see none of your friends are here…" the doctor said

Caleb mumbled something about calling a cab. He was still a little woozy from the drugs, he knew he couldn't drive himself; hell, he wasn't even sure where his freaking car was, let alone what time it was. He listened to the doctor intently but couldn't keep track of what was going on... he was handed some papers to sign, and he tried to read them as best he could but they barely registered with him... as soon as they were done he called a cab and attempted to get dressed.  Demeter came in and seemed confused as to why he was getting dressed, but she helped him anyway. He had to wait a few hours before the cab company came and he passed it by idly staring out the window.

He heard a nagging voice that sounded vaguely familiar try to beg him off.  He ignored it, knowing it was in his mind.  If the doctor said he was ok, he was ok, and that was that.

The cab showed up. The nurses wheeled him out into bright sunlight and Caleb hissed involuntarily; he heard someone say something about a vampire, and in response he mumbled "No, just too god damn bright."

He held onto a crutch they gave him, and he numbly accepted an assortment of pain killers and what not; he would have to look at them later but right now his brain was barely registering anything.  He gave the driver his address and they made their way through the traffic.  He was trying to keep track of time but seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness... at one point he thought he saw a silver haired man in a trench coat sitting next to him and mumbling something that sounded vaguely like "Stupid", but he was sure he was hallucinating this.

The driver pulled up to his sidewalk and for a generous tip helped the injured man inside, but quickly shot out of there after dumping him on his couch.  Before he passed into a drug-induced sleep on his couch he though to himself 'I should really clean this place up...'

-------

Baby can we dine on your flesh were the first words he heard, in his mind, not out loud. The drugged man felt like he was drifting through a warzone.  He looked here and there and saw what he thought were bodies, and other gruesome things; at one point he saw a silver haired man - he thought it was Shadow but he couldn't be sure - standing over him with a katana in hand... then he felt the earth tilt and crash he fell on the floor… or rock or... something.

"Getting real tired of this Caleb, I mean it." said Shadow who was standing over him now.

"Hey you live here I don't, well at least not when I'm well." Caleb retorted, disgruntled at, his conscience for being a smart ass.

"Hey, I'm not the one who decided to go running head first into traffic away from his friends."

"What the hell else was I supposed to do?" Caleb retorted.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe... stay?!" Shadow said while finally helping Caleb up off the ground. "You, my friend, have something that many others don't."

"Oh yeah? And what is that?"

"Support for when you fall. Demeter is always there, Sage is damn near the first one to fight for you, and Katya won't fucking budge from your side until you tell her." Shadow made him face forward. "Look at what you have now; this is a fucking wasteland of regret…"

The rest was drowned out by the sound of Caleb's phone going off.

------

He looked drowsily at the phone; Ophelia flashed across the screen. He grumbled and pushed himself up with his good arm. He had to catch himself on the couch before he could grab the crutch the hospital had given him. Tucking it it under his left arm (easier said than done, considering it was in a sling) he finally collapsed back on the couch as his phone stopped ringing; he surveyed the carnage for the first time in a couple of days.  Seeing it with new eyes, as the alcohol was gone, and the drugs the hospital had given him were finally wearing off.  The inn tables were trashed, obviously gone through one night in rage; pictures were scattered across the floor, as were Ophelia's things; there was a pile of things that he seemed to be setting on fire at sometime but he couldn't remember, it was all such a blur.  He decided now that he needed to start on something, and get his mind off where it was going.

He got up, bracing himself against the couch. He grabbed his phone and started dialling Demeter's phone but then remembered she was still at the hospital.  His head spun, and he almost lost his lunch from it. He tried was Katya next, but her phone was turned off and he felt the familiar anger.

"What the hell?" he spat, and pushing past the pain he started to walk. He knew he was going to regret it, but damn it, it was his body.

The last person he tried was Sage; after all, she was moving in with him. She answered

"The fuck you want Caleb? I'm kind of busy."

Sometime during the ringing he had started trying to move the couch. After a grunt he said "You want to help rearrange our house wolfie?"

"Sorry Dragon-boy but I'm kinda busy."

There was silence on his end; his stitches had popped open, he was trying to speak something but all that came out was "Uh, uh……" before he took a spinning dive onto the floor as the blood from his stitches trickled out of him.

--------

Sage hung there waiting for his response - all she could hear was gargling, and she was getting irritated - but she was also worried; this wasn't like Caleb, and she could have sworn something in his voice or something he said was just wrong.  She tried to go through the conversation again then realized what he had said: Home. He had mentioned rearranging the house. Her jaw dropped then she said:

"Shadow, tell me they didn't let you out of the hospital already..."

All she could hear was dead air, so she hung up and tried calling again; nothing. She hung up and tried the house. Getting worried now, she called 911.

"911 what's your emergency"

"Look I haven't got much time---"

"Ma'am calm down and talk slowly"

She breathed out slowly; this was what she didn't like about emergency workers. She slowed down and said:

"My name is Malvina Vadoma, my friend Caleb Brown recently got run over.  I think they just let him out of the hospital before his time, I was on the phone with him and suddenly couldn't hear anything from his side, could you send an EMT to-" she gave them the address "-and have them check on him please."

"Yes ma'am, if you will hang on the line I will send someone to that address for you."

"Ok, if you don't mind me driving out there at the same time." She had already switched on her Bluetooth and was on her bike while the operator spoke

-------

"Welcome back." Were the first words that Caleb heard. He knew it was Shadow so he didn't even look up. The last thing he the remembered was the pop of his stitches, which wasn't good.

"Not welcome but at least back anyway." Caleb said in a rebuttal.

Shadow sighed and said "Get up, you're not weak, Caleb; just not ready."

Caleb got up and automatically lunged at Shadow who deftly stepped out of the way, knowing it was coming. Caleb had had enough of this figment attacking him, enough of the strain that he knew it was causing; he lashed out, clawing at air.

"What the hell do you want?!" Caleb, screamed, "I realize the mistake I made with Ophelia, I feel a thousand times bad for it; she was a slut, a whore, and a harlot!  Not something that I needed but I went into it like I always do Shadow, I go head first blind by lust and nothing else."

"I want you to listen to what you say now; you always say it.  Then, a year maybe two later you will go to another girl the same way and not realize it and get hurt again. It's like a fucking drug to you Caleb!" Shadow said, dodging every angry lash, every movement that Caleb made.

Caleb fell to the ground slamming his fists into it, and with his emotions the land seemed to be falling in around him.

-------

Demeter was taking down information for a patient when she saw the doors burst open with Caleb on a stretcher, and Sage in tow. She looked at the chart, saw she was done and rushed the blood and paperwork off to where it needed to go.  The exasperated nurse looked throughout the waiting room for Sage, then looked outside to catch her smoking, her hands unsteady, tears streaming down her face.

"What happened?" Demeter asked, loosing her hair from the chopsticks that held it up. "Why is Caleb back?"

"Popped stitches in his legs, and arms trying to move something. That goddamned doctor actually let the boy out in this condition!" She took a drag on her cigarette, blowing the smoke out in a hurry.  She looked at the nurse next to her. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"Well one, I'm not his admitting nurse nor his overseer so I didn't know what was going on. I knew afterwards and I really didn't want to get fired because of an altercation between me and the discharging doctor." She narrowed her eyes at Sage, but she knew the woman was stressed so she didn't continue her berating. "You got him here in time, though he might be out for sometime."

"True. I'm sorry, Dem, it's just… well, I'm angry at Caleb for one."

"He's only doing what he usually does, Malvina"

Sage shot Demeter a scathing look. "You know I hate that name."

"Well, you know I would rather you use my full name." Demeter said, a sarcastic smile reaching across her face.

The younger, more worried girl took the last drag on her cigarette and said "True. Let's go see if they've got him in a room yet."

----

The world was crumbling around Caleb as he knelt there. "What, pray tell, do you want from me, Shadow?" He forced out from behind clenched teeth.

"I want you to stop being such a stubborn bastard, and actually open your eyes. You have someone willing to help you and you can't even see it."

"Who?" the weary and bruised man looked up, seeing a females hand in front of him.

"Me." said a white clothed Demeter. "I've always been there since we met; now stop fucking around and listen."

He didn't know what to say.

-----

"We have to get someone to take care of the boy." Demeter said looking at the still body of Caleb with a worried expression. Her gaze shifted back to Sage and Kayta.

"Sage?"

"Don't look at me, I just got promoted at my job, I can't take time off."

"Ok, Kayta?"

"Uh nope I gotta go out of town actually; I have someone who wants me to take photographs of them."

Demeter sighed and then laughed "Well, we know we can't use Angela."

The other two laughed, Sage adding "Nope, she'd be trying to fuck the boy and that would just break him even more."

"I guess I could ask for time off, I do have some personal time allotted, I never use it."

Demeter walked over and looked at the IV bag and the other mechanisms around him as he stirred and said "Demeter" opening his eyes to the welcome sight of her upper body over him

Description
                                                 Chapter Ten Breaking Point

Caleb drifted in and out of consciousness for the next few days; during this time he had several conversations with his inner self.  Some of them he remembered, some he forgot; it was wearing on him, he could tell, but he wouldn't let it show.  During these days Katya, Sage, and Demeter all kept their eyes on him throughout the day; Demeter would come in on a regular basis because she was a nurse at the hospital, Sage would come in on her lunch break and Kayta would come in randomly so he was never alone.  Truth be told he liked it that way.  He didn't want to be left alone to dwell on his own thoughts.  Whenever Kayta came to visit she would have arms full of photography. She was an amateur photographer at heart, kind of like Caleb, except Caleb actually got paid for it from time to time.  She would just wander off and start taking pictures - not that they were bad, they were beautiful, like the woman herself.  She just didn't like getting paid for something she enjoyed doing.

After about another three days the Doctor came in and asked:

"So, are we ready to leave this hospital?"

Caleb nodded eagerly, but wasn't completely sure he should go home.

"I see none of your friends are here…" the doctor said

Caleb mumbled something about calling a cab. He was still a little woozy from the drugs, he knew he couldn't drive himself; hell, he wasn't even sure where his freaking car was, let alone what time it was. He listened to the doctor intently but couldn't keep track of what was going on... he was handed some papers to sign, and he tried to read them as best he could but they barely registered with him... as soon as they were done he called a cab and attempted to get dressed.  Demeter came in and seemed confused as to why he was getting dressed, but she helped him anyway. He had to wait a few hours before the cab company came and he passed it by idly staring out the window.

He heard a nagging voice that sounded vaguely familiar try to beg him off.  He ignored it, knowing it was in his mind.  If the doctor said he was ok, he was ok, and that was that.

The cab showed up. The nurses wheeled him out into bright sunlight and Caleb hissed involuntarily; he heard someone say something about a vampire, and in response he mumbled "No, just too god damn bright."

He held onto a crutch they gave him, and he numbly accepted an assortment of pain killers and what not; he would have to look at them later but right now his brain was barely registering anything.  He gave the driver his address and they made their way through the traffic.  He was trying to keep track of time but seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness... at one point he thought he saw a silver haired man in a trench coat sitting next to him and mumbling something that sounded vaguely like "Stupid", but he was sure he was hallucinating this.

The driver pulled up to his sidewalk and for a generous tip helped the injured man inside, but quickly shot out of there after dumping him on his couch.  Before he passed into a drug-induced sleep on his couch he though to himself 'I should really clean this place up...'

-------

Baby can we dine on your flesh were the first words he heard, in his mind, not out loud. The drugged man felt like he was drifting through a warzone.  He looked here and there and saw what he thought were bodies, and other gruesome things; at one point he saw a silver haired man - he thought it was Shadow but he couldn't be sure - standing over him with a katana in hand... then he felt the earth tilt and crash he fell on the floor… or rock or... something.

"Getting real tired of this Caleb, I mean it." said Shadow who was standing over him now.

"Hey you live here I don't, well at least not when I'm well." Caleb retorted, disgruntled at, his conscience for being a smart ass.

"Hey, I'm not the one who decided to go running head first into traffic away from his friends."

"What the hell else was I supposed to do?" Caleb retorted.

"Oh, I don't know, maybe... stay?!" Shadow said while finally helping Caleb up off the ground. "You, my friend, have something that many others don't."

"Oh yeah? And what is that?"

"Support for when you fall. Demeter is always there, Sage is damn near the first one to fight for you, and Katya won't fucking budge from your side until you tell her." Shadow made him face forward. "Look at what you have now; this is a fucking wasteland of regret…"

The rest was drowned out by the sound of Caleb's phone going off.

------

He looked drowsily at the phone; Ophelia flashed across the screen. He grumbled and pushed himself up with his good arm. He had to catch himself on the couch before he could grab the crutch the hospital had given him. Tucking it it under his left arm (easier said than done, considering it was in a sling) he finally collapsed back on the couch as his phone stopped ringing; he surveyed the carnage for the first time in a couple of days.  Seeing it with new eyes, as the alcohol was gone, and the drugs the hospital had given him were finally wearing off.  The inn tables were trashed, obviously gone through one night in rage; pictures were scattered across the floor, as were Ophelia's things; there was a pile of things that he seemed to be setting on fire at sometime but he couldn't remember, it was all such a blur.  He decided now that he needed to start on something, and get his mind off where it was going.

He got up, bracing himself against the couch. He grabbed his phone and started dialling Demeter's phone but then remembered she was still at the hospital.  His head spun, and he almost lost his lunch from it. He tried was Katya next, but her phone was turned off and he felt the familiar anger.

"What the hell?" he spat, and pushing past the pain he started to walk. He knew he was going to regret it, but damn it, it was his body.

The last person he tried was Sage; after all, she was moving in with him. She answered

"The fuck you want Caleb? I'm kind of busy."

Sometime during the ringing he had started trying to move the couch. After a grunt he said "You want to help rearrange our house wolfie?"

"Sorry Dragon-boy but I'm kinda busy."

There was silence on his end; his stitches had popped open, he was trying to speak something but all that came out was "Uh, uh……" before he took a spinning dive onto the floor as the blood from his stitches trickled out of him.

--------

Sage hung there waiting for his response - all she could hear was gargling, and she was getting irritated - but she was also worried; this wasn't like Caleb, and she could have sworn something in his voice or something he said was just wrong.  She tried to go through the conversation again then realized what he had said: Home. He had mentioned rearranging the house. Her jaw dropped then she said:

"Shadow, tell me they didn't let you out of the hospital already..."

All she could hear was dead air, so she hung up and tried calling again; nothing. She hung up and tried the house. Getting worried now, she called 911.

"911 what's your emergency"

"Look I haven't got much time---"

"Ma'am calm down and talk slowly"

She breathed out slowly; this was what she didn't like about emergency workers. She slowed down and said:

"My name is Malvina Vadoma, my friend Caleb Brown recently got run over.  I think they just let him out of the hospital before his time, I was on the phone with him and suddenly couldn't hear anything from his side, could you send an EMT to-" she gave them the address "-and have them check on him please."

"Yes ma'am, if you will hang on the line I will send someone to that address for you."

"Ok, if you don't mind me driving out there at the same time." She had already switched on her Bluetooth and was on her bike while the operator spoke

-------

"Welcome back." Were the first words that Caleb heard. He knew it was Shadow so he didn't even look up. The last thing he the remembered was the pop of his stitches, which wasn't good.

"Not welcome but at least back anyway." Caleb said in a rebuttal.

Shadow sighed and said "Get up, you're not weak, Caleb; just not ready."

Caleb got up and automatically lunged at Shadow who deftly stepped out of the way, knowing it was coming. Caleb had had enough of this figment attacking him, enough of the strain that he knew it was causing; he lashed out, clawing at air.

"What the hell do you want?!" Caleb, screamed, "I realize the mistake I made with Ophelia, I feel a thousand times bad for it; she was a slut, a whore, and a harlot!  Not something that I needed but I went into it like I always do Shadow, I go head first blind by lust and nothing else."

"I want you to listen to what you say now; you always say it.  Then, a year maybe two later you will go to another girl the same way and not realize it and get hurt again. It's like a fucking drug to you Caleb!" Shadow said, dodging every angry lash, every movement that Caleb made.

Caleb fell to the ground slamming his fists into it, and with his emotions the land seemed to be falling in around him.

-------

Demeter was taking down information for a patient when she saw the doors burst open with Caleb on a stretcher, and Sage in tow. She looked at the chart, saw she was done and rushed the blood and paperwork off to where it needed to go.  The exasperated nurse looked throughout the waiting room for Sage, then looked outside to catch her smoking, her hands unsteady, tears streaming down her face.

"What happened?" Demeter asked, loosing her hair from the chopsticks that held it up. "Why is Caleb back?"

"Popped stitches in his legs, and arms trying to move something. That goddamned doctor actually let the boy out in this condition!" She took a drag on her cigarette, blowing the smoke out in a hurry.  She looked at the nurse next to her. "Why didn't you stop him?"

"Well one, I'm not his admitting nurse nor his overseer so I didn't know what was going on. I knew afterwards and I really didn't want to get fired because of an altercation between me and the discharging doctor." She narrowed her eyes at Sage, but she knew the woman was stressed so she didn't continue her berating. "You got him here in time, though he might be out for sometime."

"True. I'm sorry, Dem, it's just… well, I'm angry at Caleb for one."

"He's only doing what he usually does, Malvina"

Sage shot Demeter a scathing look. "You know I hate that name."

"Well, you know I would rather you use my full name." Demeter said, a sarcastic smile reaching across her face.

The younger, more worried girl took the last drag on her cigarette and said "True. Let's go see if they've got him in a room yet."

----

The world was crumbling around Caleb as he knelt there. "What, pray tell, do you want from me, Shadow?" He forced out from behind clenched teeth.

"I want you to stop being such a stubborn bastard, and actually open your eyes. You have someone willing to help you and you can't even see it."

"Who?" the weary and bruised man looked up, seeing a females hand in front of him.

"Me." said a white clothed Demeter. "I've always been there since we met; now stop fucking around and listen."

He didn't know what to say.

-----

"We have to get someone to take care of the boy." Demeter said looking at the still body of Caleb with a worried expression. Her gaze shifted back to Sage and Kayta.

"Sage?"

"Don't look at me, I just got promoted at my job, I can't take time off."

"Ok, Kayta?"

"Uh nope I gotta go out of town actually; I have someone who wants me to take photographs of them."

Demeter sighed and then laughed "Well, we know we can't use Angela."

The other two laughed, Sage adding "Nope, she'd be trying to fuck the boy and that would just break him even more."

"I guess I could ask for time off, I do have some personal time allotted, I never use it."

Demeter walked over and looked at the IV bag and the other mechanisms around him as he stirred and said "Demeter" opening his eyes to the welcome sight of her upper body over him