Alexandru flickered in and out of consciousness during the night hours for the first week that he was free of his confines in Belarus. He would wake to find Samir or Mr. Hughes or Faeron nearby, ready to feed him, tend to his wounds that had finally begun to heal more rapidly. By the beginning of his second week in his old room at Vorhees, the one he had shared with his Domino all those many months ago, when dusk settled in the sky, his eyes would open and he was able to remain awake the whole night. When he woke, however, he wasn't entirely sure he was happy to be that way, the immense pain that greeted him with every stirring was enough to down a bear, and he would lay in bed, his eyes molten and his voice strangled as those around him tended to his every need.
"Where is she?" Was his first question, and Mr. Hughes had sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed.
"She went back to her home, Alexandru, she hasn't lived at the spa since shortly after Faith was born." His former employer had told him gently, worried to further anger the recovering vampire.
"But she was here." He was sure of it, he was sure that he had seen the woman he loved at some point, but she had been different, she had smelled different.
"She was. It was Domino that got you free. She brought you here so that you could heal."
"She left me."
"I think that she would argue that you have been the one to leave her...several times. She didn't want to stay, she said that she couldn't be here, not if there was a chance that something could go wrong. You were quite bad off when you first arrived. It was touch and go for a little bit." Mr. Hughes had explained to him.
"She smelled like darkness." Alexandru had groaned as he'd squeezed his eyes closed.
Mr. Hughes nodded, "She's been changed to a vampire, did you not see her wings?"
Alexandru shook his head, he'd barely seen more than a glimpse of her face, "Her sire? Domino shouldn't have-."
"She doesn't have one. Jo, a vampire who helped find you, actually, has developed a method of changing someone into a vampire that doesn't create a sire bond. Domino wanted to change, Alexandru. For herself, for Faith. She didn't want to change for you, so don't look at me like that." Mr. Hughes had frowned at the look of frustration he was being given by the still thin vampire.
"She has no sire?"
"No, she's like Faith in that aspect. No one can control her." Mr. Hughes had risen from the bed and gotten a bag of blood from the cooler, "You need to eat. You have a long way to go before you're ready to get your family back."
"Do I have a chance? Do I have a chance to get them back?"
"There's always a chance, Alex."
Two more weeks went by with Alexandru feeding voraciously. His body was slowly growing stronger, and in the past week, he'd been able to start bearing a little weight, cautiously taking a few steps each night, then a few more, until he was able to make his way back and forth from the bathroom. He would have a long way to go before his muscles would be back to their original shape and strength, but every day, there was a little improvement. The vampire, however, wished it would work a little faster, he had a family, they needed him, he couldn't be here forever.
"How much longer will you keep me here?" He had asked Mr. Hughes, who had frowned and shrugged his shoulders.
"Once you're well enough to make it up to the room Domino used to sleep in, to the dresser there where she left you something, then we can talk about whether or not you're ready to leave. But not before."
Alexandru had cursed at the man and pushed himself to get to the bedroom door. He had only made it to the doorway of the kitchen before he fell down, too exhausted to move any farther. It had been a bit humiliating to see Samir walk over from the couch, a smile on his face, and the giant had picked him up and carried him back to bed. He tried again before the night was over and was only able to make it about a step or two farther.
Another week went by before he was able to walk up the staircase to the ground floor, and then another before he was able to make it to the elevator. The basement staircase wore him out much more than walking in a straight line. There was no way he would be able to do two flights of stairs. Still, Samir was constantly having to pick him up and return him to his space below stairs. Alexandru's frustration that six weeks after his rescue, he was still unable to walk as he should, and that his body was only just returning to a usable state, was making him so cross that most everyone at the spa was steering well clear of him. He knew there were eyes watching him every now and then as he would walk towards the destination that he sought every day, but other than Samir picking him up, or Faeron encouraging him, or Mr. Hughes just standing there with a frown on his face, no one else approached the vampire, who was usually hissing foul language as he tried to make his legs work the way he wanted them to.
"Open the fucking door." He groaned one night in the middle of week seven, his hand on the knob, his whole body shaking from exhaustion.
"Are you sure? You aren't going to make it much farther." Samir said from close behind him and Alexandru closed his eyes, if he turned, it was over, he'd have to go again tomorrow. Damn it. He wanted his family.
"Fuck off." He growled and turned the knob awkwardly, sighing in satisfaction as the door slowly swung open before him.
He saw the bed that Domino had been in when he'd last seen her, saw the desk and the chair near the window. Her scent was ever so faintly in the air, and it warmed him to breathe her in. The dresser had been moved to the side of the bed, Alexandru frowned, that damned angel must think he was hilarious. Alexandru straightened and took a step forward and felt his muscles begin to scream from the burning feeling from the heavy use.
"Stop, Alex, it's not a good idea." Samir cautioned him.
