Carlos left the room to find their reserv bloodstones and a bottle of water for them to share… if Cecil felt up to it at all. He came back soon and placed the net bag of bloodstones on Cecil’s end-table. He then took the water to his own side before stripping down to his boxers.
Carlos crawled into the bed and lay beside Cecil. He watched the other to see if he was still awake at all.
Cecil groaned and muttered sleepily as Carlos crawled into bed with him. He reached out, seeking his husband blindly (it was hard to tell if he was asleep yet, or only pretending to help himself get there), hoping to snuggle and hold him, and to find comfort and solace in him.
Carlos smiled slightly. Of course Cecil wanted cuddles. He obliged him and took one hand in his before sliding in to wrap it around his own waste. He put one hand on Cecil’s hip and then just used his other to help pillow his head.
The day finally started to catch up to Carlos and he got sleepy. He sighed and shut his eyes, waiting to fall into sleep’s embrace.
Everything would be better tomorrow. It almost always got better tomorrow.
Contented with the cuddles, Cecil slept. He slept far deeper than was normal for him, his body completely cold and still and lifeless.
Normally, he rose with the sun, but today, he just stayed like this, not moving, not breathing. He missed the sunrise, and the birds he would have frightened off with his coffee hammer. He was undisturbed by his husband waking.
He was absolutely and in every way as a man dead.
Carlos, himself, slept more than he usually did as well. He
was very tired, and his body wasn’t at 100%. It needed additional resources to
replenish his missing blood supply, and to save those he had slept longer.When he finally started to stir, when the sun was shining
through the blinds in the window, he had the sense that something was wrong. He
felt alone. Very alone. Which he shouldn’t have been, as he fell asleep with
Cecil – he almost always fell asleep with Cecil. His arms were still wrapped
around the other man’s body.He opened his eyes to confirm that Cecil was still there.
However, his mind started to catch up with him and Carlos realized he was cold.
Very cold. Like standing water. And he couldn’t hear anything; no breathing, no
bodily functions – nothing.Carlos started to panic and he pushed himself up quickly,
looking down at the man beside him. “Cecil? Cecil, are you—“ He stopped, not
wanting to say it. “Ceec, can… can you hear me?” he asked instead, hand
gripping the other’s shoulder and giving it a shake.The monster – what if its bite was actually venomous? What
if the vampirism was actually just symptoms leading up to a death? What if –
what if – what if Cecil was actually… actually…Cecil did not give a response. His body only went limply along with the shaking, He did not stir, did not resist the shaking. He was sickeningly, painfully, heartbreakingly still.
The stillness lingered in the bedroom as well, thick in the air, lonely over poor Carlos as he fearfully, frantically tried to rouse his husband. The possibility, horrific beyond name, that Cecil was truly no longer there drained the warmth from the room and left it as cold as the white-haired radio host.
Time itself was still now; it seemed to go on for an eternity.
The eternity that Cecil wouldn’t be there.Then, at the end of this endless wait, there was a soft, breathy, blessed
g r o a n.
Carlos was growing more and more frantic as he tried to
somehow rouse Cecil back from wherever his soul had gone. He was actually startled
very badly by the groaning noise.
However, it didn’t actually give him any relief – Carlos worried
that the noise had been made by air being expelled from Cecil’s lungs while his
body had been shaken by Carlos’ anxious and frightened hands.
“Ceec!” he exclaimed desperately. “Ceec, Ceec, Ceec, can you
hear me? Honey, please, wake up for me!” His hand remained on Cecil’s shoulder,
the grip desperate and tight.
The Perfect Scientist 
