The Dreamtrap - 7. Chapter 7

- VII -

Julian woke up several hours later and lay in bed without moving or opening his eyes for several more minutes, enjoying Raven’s even breath on his skin. Finally, he sighed, opened his eyes, and shifted carefully, trying not to wake up the sleeping brunet. Raven didn’t even stir at that, and Julian slid out of bed and headed to the shower.

By the time he emerged from the shower, he realized that he was hungry, so he went downstairs, carefully shutting the bedroom door behind him, since Raven was still asleep. He critically looked through the fridge, noting that every single dish had to be warmed up first in order to be edible, and Julian knew that the microwave would only ruin the flavor.

He didn’t feel like fiddling with the stove and reached for the phone instead. Soon enough, he ordered enough food to last them until the end of the day without need of warmth (potato and chicken salads are great things once in a while), and after he finished, he glanced at the clock; it read 3:05. He knew that they fell asleep around eleven, give or take, and decided to let Raven sleep for a bit longer.

He went into the garage to retrieve his bag from the car, and while he was doing that, he threw a quick glance into the back seat of Raven’s car. There was something in there, which Julian could not identify without the lights on, so he opened the door of the car, and then blinked a couple of times, a small smile playing with his mouth. It was a picture frame, and it wore the exact same design Raven drew a bit ago. Julian immediately knew that it was the new frame for Raven’s latest obsession.

He pulled the frame out and slammed the door shut, figuring that he might as well get the painting that his mate was drooling over for the last ten days or so into this frame before Raven woke up. He made his way to the study, the weight of the frame never bothering him, his mind wondering.

“You thought that he was fucking someone else,” his inner self sighed, and Julian opened the door to the study and lowered the frame onto the floor.

“What was I supposed to think?” he reasoned silently while walking towards the curtains and pulling them apart.

“You could wait until actually witnessing whatever it was before jumping to conclusions,” his inner self retorted.

“Right,” Julian muttered under his breath while pulling the painting off the wall and quickly getting it out of its shabby frame without as much as even glancing at it. “One comes home unexpectedly early...”

He shoved the old frame into the corner next to the door and grabbed the new one, swiftly undoing the latches on the back.

“...hears clearly fuck-induced moans that come from his mate...”

He flipped the painting facedown, fitting it neatly into the new frame.

“...and then he hears, ‘Oh, yeah, just like that, fuck, don’t stop!’ Seriously...” he blew a strand of hair off his forehead and critically looked at the back of the painting, making sure it aligned just fine with the structure of the frame.

“There could be a number of reasons,” his stubborn inner self all but rolled its eyes. “Masturbation would be one of them,” it said pointedly, and Julian sighed.

“Right...” Julian sighed once again and carefully put the latches back on, making sure they stayed put, while flipping the painting face-up. “I guess...” He frowned and straightened up, staring at the painting without seeing it. “I am paranoid...” he shrugged finally.

“Why?” his inner self asked with sincere surprise. “You only had one mate before, and Vivienne never cheated on you... Is it because Raven is a guy?”

“Might be,” Julian muttered and grabbed the painting off the floor, never paying any real attention to it.

“Are you going to tell him about your initial reaction?” It sounded as if Julian’s inner self was having the time of its life while the blond was carefully fitting the painting onto the hook in the wall.

Julian sighed and straightened up, propping his arms on his sides.

“Yes,” he said finally. “I am going to tell him about my initial reaction, and yes...” he narrowed his eyes before his pesky inner self could chime in with anything else. “I will owe him; I am fine with that. I’ll do whatever he wants...”

“You know, you don’t really have to...” that damn inner voice started saying thoughtfully, and Julian cut it off, turning away from the painting.

“I will,” he said firmly. “And I will deal with his reaction. Now shut up!”

He nodded with satisfaction when there was no more outbursts from his annoying inner self, grabbed the old frame, and left the study without pulling the curtains together. He walked towards the bedroom after quickly glancing at his watch. It was almost four in the afternoon. Julian pushed the door of the bedroom open, and it swung inwards without any creaking. Raven was still asleep; he was lying in the same position as Julian left him longer than an hour ago.

The blond marveled at Raven’s ability to stay asleep and motionless for this long and walked closer. He sat down on the edge of the bed and carefully ran his finger along the smaller man’s eyebrow.

“Hey...” he called softly and sighed when the brunet never moved. He cupped that sleeping face in his palm, running his thumb over the jawline. “Raven...” he called softly. “It’s almost four in the afternoon...! Wake up...!”

Raven hadn’t made a single sound or movement, remaining as still as before Julian touched him. The blond sighed.

“Really...?” he muttered. “Raven, wake up...” he squeezed his fingers tighter on brunet’s face, frowning slightly when that caused no reaction whatsoever. “Raven...?”

He let go of Raven’s face and grabbed his shoulder.

“Raven...!” he called louder and shook the sleeping man somewhat carefully. Careful transformed into vigorous when the brunet wouldn’t even sigh. “Raven...!” The blond was getting more and more concerned. “Is this a joke you decided to pull?” he asked sharply, knowing that wasn’t it – Raven lay absolutely still, his breathing remained the same, and he was definitely not faking this strange lethargic sleep. “Raven...! Shit...”

Julian let go of the smaller man’s shoulder and closed his eyes, reaching for the magic streams. He found the one he needed and yanked it towards himself, his hands shaking. He wrapped that stream around Raven’s sleeping figure, and the stream shimmered soft-pink for a few seconds. Julian waited somewhat patiently, knowing that this particular stream could bring back someone who recently died if used correctly.

When nothing happened, the blond’s expression became dumbfounded, and he forced the stream to shimmer harder. This time, Raven’s body glowed bright-red for almost a minute while Julian was mercilessly biting his lower lip. Nothing happened.

Julian tried the stream several more times, each time more frantic and desperate than the previous one. Finally, he let go of the stream, his concern blooming into full-grown panic by now. He got off the bed and went into the closet, his movements rushed and jerky. He emerged from the closet a minute later, carrying some clothes in his hands.

He dressed Raven’s unresponsive body, his hands shaking worse than they did ten minutes ago, and after he finished, he lifted the smaller man up in his arms and left the bedroom. The blond carefully lowered Raven into the back seat of the car, slid behind the steering wheel and slammed on the gas pedal, flying out of the garage without bothering with the brake before he threw the car into a different gear.

...It took him ten minutes at the most to arrive to the hospital’s main entrance, and he parked his car in the front row, completely ignoring ‘For Staff Only’ sign. He pulled Raven’s limp body out of the back seat and kicked the door of the car shut. He quickly crossed the parking lot and marched into the lobby, heading straight for the receptionist desk. The young woman on duty raised her head, and slight panic splashed in her eyes when she recognized Julian immediately – the man was rather well known.

“Master Sal...” she started saying, but the blond interrupted her.

“I need a doctor and a private room... Now,” he said darkly, and the woman blinked at that.

It seemed like she was about to say something about signing-in, but at the last second, she wisely decided against that.

“Yes, master Salamander,” she quickly said instead, and vigorously waved her hand at the young man in white uniform not too far from the desk. “Henry,” she said as quickly as before. “Take them into three-fifteen... Do it...!” She said when the young man was about to say something. “I know it’s reserved, but we’ll figure something out...!” She made desperate eyes at the young man, and Henry just shrugged and nodded. “Make sure everything is okay in there,” she added, and Henry nodded once again. The woman shifted her gaze towards Julian. “The doctor will be there shortly,” she said with a rapid nod, and the blond turned away from her without saying anything.

“This way,” Henry said mildly and walked towards the elevators. Then he slightly paused and looked at Julian. “Would you like me to get a wheelchair for him?” he glanced at Raven, whose head was resting in the crook of Salamander’s neck.

“No,” the blond answered shortly, and the tone of his voice left no room for further questions.

Henry quickly swallowed and nodded, looking away from Julian’s cold eyes.

“This way,” he said once more and pushed the button with an arrow up next to the elevators.

The elevator’s doors smoothly slid open, and Henry let Julian in first before stepping into the cabin himself. He pushed the black shining button with green number 3 on it, and the doors silently rolled shut. They arrived onto the third floor twenty seconds later, and Henry held the doors of the elevator just in case while waiting for the blond to step out.

He led Julian to the room 315, opened the door, and switched on the lights, quickly scanning the room with his eyes, making sure everything was in order. He knew that the room would be fine, since it was reserved for the last three days for a certain surgical patient. Henry briefly wondered what they were going to say to the person when he arrived here tomorrow morning and found out that the room he specifically requested and paid for, wasn’t available anymore. Then he shrugged to himself – it wasn’t his problem.

“Is there anything you want me to get for you?” he cautiously asked the blond who lowered Raven onto the bed and was standing next to it, his back rigid. “Some water or a cup of coffee...?”

“No,” the blond answered as shortly as before without turning around.

Henry shuffled his feet somewhat uncomfortably, having no idea whether Julian wanted him to stay here until the doctor arrived or to do the opposite. He didn’t dare asking Salamander any more questions, afraid that the blond would unleash something nasty on him, considering his rigid posture and dark expression. It was obvious that Julian didn’t have much patience right now.

“Leave,” the blond said quietly without turning around, answering Henry’s silent, desperate question.

“Yes, master Salamander,” Henry said with audible relief and stepped out of the room, carefully shutting the door behind him.

He took a deep breath and went towards the stairs, ignoring the elevators. He walked into the lobby a minute or so later, and headed towards the receptionist desk. The same young woman, who told him to lead Salamander into room 315, looked at him with a silent question in her dark eyes.

“Everything is fine,” Henry said in a low voice when he got close to her. “The room is in order and...”

“I don’t give a damn about the room,” the woman interrupted him with hushed impatience. “This is it, right? It finally happened!”

Henry sighed and leaned on the desk.

“Maybe she will leave us alone at last,” he muttered. “I would be able to shave in front of the mirror again without being ambushed by her every single goddamn time...!”

The woman let out small, relieved laughter.

“Tell me about it,” she agreed with a slight nod. “I still can’t believe that Salamander’s mate was the one who bought that damn painting! Out of all people...”

“Yeah,” Henry said darkly. “Scared the shit out of me when I realized that... I mean, it’s Salamander we are talking about...! If he finds out...”

“He won’t,” the woman interrupted him firmly. “First, there is no way he could even make a connection, and second...” She smiled gently. “Even if he does somehow, I’ll take care of that.”

“He doesn’t strike me as an easy puppet,” Henry muttered as darkly as before, and the woman snorted.

“I prefer challenge,” she said in a low voice. Then she sighed. “I wonder what she wants us to do now, after she finally sucked him in... I guess we’ll find out tonight,” she sighed again, and Henry gave her a silent, agreeable nod.

****

“Goddammit, Raven, don’t you dare getting stuck in there...” Julian muttered and his fingers tightened their grasp on the sleeping man’s wrist. “I don’t know where you are right now, but don’t you dare getting stuck in there...!”

Soft knocking on the door made him look up.

“Come in,” he called loudly, and the door opened smoothly, letting in a slender, young-looking woman with dark, piercing eyes.

“Master Salamander,” she nodded professionally. “I am doctor Callum...” She stretched out her hand, and Julian reluctantly shook her warm, slender fingers. “What seems to be the problem?” she asked, shifting her gaze towards Raven.

“He won’t wake up,” Julian said tightly. “He was fine in the morning, fell asleep at eleven, and won’t wake up since... Magic seems to be useless,” he added after the doctor started checking Raven’s pulse, frowning slightly.

She threw a quick glance at him, and the blond nodded.

“I tried waking him up using magic streams; nothing happened.”

Doctor’s expression became quite thoughtful after that statement.

“If the streams did nothing,” she started saying slowly mostly to herself without looking away from Raven’s serene face. “There might be something in his blood that prevents him from...” She didn’t finish the sentence and looked up. “I need to run several tests,” she said quickly. “I need to check his blood, and do some...”

“Do whatever you think is necessary,” Julian interrupted her in the same tight voice, and she nodded without saying anything else.