Final chapter to "And I'll Love You"

It's broken up by night, starting with the second night since Sookie is healed by Claude.

Snoogans and Snoochie Boochies.

My brain starts to stir before my body does. But I feel her with me in bed. My consciousness is greeted with a kiss. Through our bond she can feel that I'm waking up. Relief flows from me, because she is kissing me, and it means she still remembers me. I struggle to open my eyes as quickly as I can. I don't want to miss a moment with her if I can help it.

"Good evening, husband." I hear her whisper in my ear. My body is still dead, but my mind is racing. Her hands are all over me. I can feel her body shift to lay on mine. Any moment now my eyes will be open. She moves her body suggestively over mine.

My eyes open. I devour her.

For the first time in over two years, I am in bed with my wife, and we are naked.

"That's no way for a grandmother to act." I tease her.

"Speak for yourself gramps." Sookie tells me in a fit of laughter.

"How do you feel?" I ask her in a more serious tone. I stare into her eyes, questioning the light behind them.

"I feel fine I guess."

"You guess?"

"Yeah. I mean, I feel like myself." Sookie says, and shrugs her shoulders. Worry flows from her. I decide to lighten the mood. We had ended on much to serious a note for my taste the night before.

"Yes, you do feel like yourself." I say. I touch her body, and it sends a shiver through her. But this puts Sookie in an even more worried mood.

"Eric… I just don't know that I can again. I'm no spring chicken anymore…"

I put my fingers at her lips, and Sookie smiles shyly, and lowers her gaze from mine. I take my fingers from her lips and lift her chin so she is looking back in my eyes.

"I told you last night, I'm not expecting anything from you. The fact that you are here as you are now, is more than I could have hoped for. I don't need anything else."

Sookie smiles at me, and then a more serious look takes over. "Look, while I'm still me, I think there are some things that we really need to talk about."

"Not tonight Lover…" I start to say, but she cuts me off.

"If not now, then when? What if this doesn't last? There are some things that I would like to say you know. Everyone who's important let me speak my mind Eric, except for you. I don't want to go back to how things were without getting a few things off my chest." Sookie says. She is visibly frustrated with me.

I know she's right. I kiss her on her lips, and pull her into my arms. "As long as it's not about you living away from your home, away from me, then I'm open to hear anything you have to say." I tell her. She lets out a heavy sigh. I feel her frustration. It's mingled with my own.

"Yeah, well, we'll get to that…"

I cut her off. "I will not discuss it."

"Mr. High-Handed rides again!" she says, and gets out of bed.

"Sookie, get back in bed with me." I tell her.

"No. If you can't at least listen to me about this, then there's no point." she says as she puts on her robe.

"Sookie, I don't want to fight with you. Please, come back to bed." I say, and pat the bed where she had been.

"Are you going to talk about what we need to at least talk about?" she asks.

"No."

"Fine. When you are ready to discuss it, I'll be in the living room." And with that, she is gone from our bedroom. I lay back in bed. She won't be long. She will realize that the most important thing is that we spend the time that we do have, together.

An hour passes and I'm still alone in our room. I give in, and put on my boxers, and go in search of my wife. She is asleep on the couch. I pick her up, and carry her back to our bed. I lay her down gently, trying not to disturb her. If I can get her into bed without waking her, I get my way, and we spend the night in bed together, and we don't talk about her future. Our future.

"Nice try." she says as I slip into bed with her. Fucking blood bond. She starts laughing at the feel of my defeat. I join her.

When our laughing subsides, she is back in my arms. "Go ahead. Say it." I tell her.

She takes a deep breath before she speaks. "Scarlett told me everything. She told me about the past two years."

"When?"

"Today. She didn't spill the beans very easily, mind you. I practically had to drag it out of her. I swear, she's as stubborn as you sometimes. Anyway, it helped me decide. I want to go to a home. If I get sick again. If this doesn't last, Eric, this is what I want."

"But I can take care of you." I say.

"Honey, I know you can. I don't doubt that. But I don't want you to. Not like this."

"If the roles were reversed. If it was me who was ill, would you put me in a home?" I ask her.

Sookie looks away from me before she answers. "No."

"And why wouldn't you? If it was what I asked of you." I question.

"Because I love you. Because of all the reasons you said last night."

"Then I don't see how you expect me to do any different."

"Then what about my other suggestion?" she asks. I know what one she's referring too.

"Out of the question." I tell her, looking away this time.

"But I'm asking you to put me out of my misery. If I get sick again… this is no life for me Eric. None. I'm gone. All I'm doing is putting you and Scarlett and Pammie through misery. I don't want that. I don't want to do that to any of you. I'm asking you. I'm begging you. Just put me out of my misery, or put me in a home so I quit putting the three of you through hell."

I turn on my side to face her. I take her face in my hands. "You can not ask me to do that. I won't. You are not a burden. I am not going through hell. Each day that you are in my life is a gift. I will not throw it away."

"Eric…" she starts, but a tear escapes her.

"I won't give up Sookie. I won't."

Night 7

I wake. Sookie is in bed next to me, and asleep. I turn on my side and put an arm around her. I thank Claude a thousand times.

"Pammie wore me out today." Sookie says. She senses the smallest little irk I feel at the sound of our granddaughter Pamela being referred to as 'Pammie'. "What was that for?" she asks.

"Her name is Pamela. Or Pam."

Sookie laughs and kisses my cheek. "Eric, she's three years old. Pamela and Pam are fine for when she's older, but right now, I like calling her Pammie. It's a little girls name. Everyone else thinks so too ya know. Including your Pam." she says, and pokes her finger in my chest to accentuate her last sentence.

"Yes, I know. And she's been ordered to refer to her as Pamela or Pam." I say, and poke my wife back to accentuate my sentence. We both smile at each other.

"Say it… just once." she asks.

"No."

"Come on… say it." she says, teasing me.

"I will not." I say, and cross my arms over my chest.

"For me?" she says, and gives me her 'puppy dog' eyes.

I mumble, "Pammie."

Sookie crumples in a fit of laughter.

Night 42

"I have to go to the bar tonight. Would you like to come with me?" I ask as I get dressed, sorry to be out of bed and away from my wife's warm body.

"Oh Eric, I'm to old." she laughs.

"I am older than you, and I still go." I tease her. I flash her a grin.

"I look like I could be your grandmother." she says. She always says that. She never got over her insecurity completely.

"And I could be your grandfather twenty times over." I reply.

"Why do you need to go?"

"I have sheriff duties I have to see to. It cannot be avoided. I've put it off to long at this point. Felipe will not put up with me much longer, regardless of how much he likes you, I still have a job to do."

"I'll go." she says, and gets out of bed, and starts looking for something to wear. "How long do you think it will take?" she asks.

"Not long. An hour, two at most." I say, and she yawns. "If you are tired, you don't have to come."

"No, I'm alright. Just spent more time awake today that I planned. But I got a nap before you woke up, so I'm alright."

We head to the bar, and Sookie makes me take her in the employee entrance. She scurries to my office, and I follow. She sits on the couch and reads while I see to my duties. A few vampires new to the area come to swear fealty to me and my wife. I pass judgment on a vampire from the area who has stolen from another. Trivial matters.

"Eric, I'm going to go get something to drink, you want anything?" Sookie asks as she rises from the couch after the last meeting for the night.

"No, thank you." I say, and start to go through some paperwork Pam has left for me to sign. Sookie leaves the room. I stare at the paper in front of me, and start to read, but I find I'm reading the same line over and over. I cannot concentrate. I feel strange. I realize it is coming from the bond. Fear, apprehension… confusion.

I leap over my desk, and am out in the bar area searching for my wife. I find Pam at her side, trying to soothe her. Pam was tense, and saddened. Our eyes meet, and she backs away as I approach Sookie. I place a hand on her shoulder as she turns to me.

"Sookie, what's wrong?" I ask her. But I can feel it.

"Eric… where am I?"

Night 67

"She's to weak to leave her bed. I will do what I can to keep her comfortable." Ludwig says as she exits my bedroom. I lower my head. "This is new to me, Northman. I have never seen a condition like hers. She is unique to begin with."

"Thank you." is all I can say. Ludwig leaves. I go back into my room, and lay next to my wife.

"Sookie, can I get you anything?" I ask.

"No, thank you." she says. She allows me to hold her. We cry together.

Night 77

"Speak." I say as I answer my phone.

"Eric." the voice on the other end says. It's Pam.

"You have landed?" I ask.

"Yes. I am headed to my hotel. It is nearly dawn."

"Your trip?"

"Ordinary." she replies, and we are silent for a moment before she speaks again. "How is Sookie?" she asks quietly.

"The same. She's no longer speaking. But she seems to at least remember me most of the time."

We are both silent again before she speaks. "You will let me know?" she asks.

"I will." I say, and we hang up.

Night 82

"To hot?" I ask my wife as I test the water in the shower, and ease her under the faucet, holding her in my arms. She shakes her head that it is not.

We are in our shower. I hold her to my body with an arm and I soap up a sponge with the other. I start to lather her body, making sure to be gentle and soothing as I do. She holds her arms to my body, as if she is trying to keep herself upright, but she is weak, and it is doing nothing. Not that it mattered. I was more than strong enough to hold her.

"Do you remember our first shower together?" I ask, as I look down at my wife and smile. I have her held to my chest. She is facing me, her hands on my chest. I am rubbing her back with the sponge. She looks back up at me, and smiles. I feel her fondness of the memory. She rests her head against my chest.

We finish our shower, and I hold her up on the bathroom counter as I dry her. I plant small kisses on her cheeks and lips as I do to reassure her.

Once she is dry, I carry her back to our room, and lay her in bed. I put on her night clothes, along with the undergarment that she must now wear since she can no longer get up to use the bathroom herself. I look at her face as tears start to fall. Through the bond, I can feel that she is ashamed.

"I love you." I tell her as I finish, and give her a kiss on her lips. "There is no reason for these tears. I am your husband. You are my beloved." I say, and kiss her again. She smiles at me.

Day 86

My mind wakes. There are unfamiliar feelings in my chest, in my head. It is the bond, but I cannot tell what is happening. I struggle to open my eyes, but it is futile. I am conscious enough to tell that there is someone in my bedroom. It feels like Scarlett.

I am fighting for my mind to stay awake. The feeling in my chest remains, but it is no longer a shock. My body fights to go back to it's daytime slumber. My mind looses the battle.

My mind is woken again. This time, the feeling in my chest is growing.

It is the bond with my wife. This time, it feels like my core is being slowly torn from my chest. It is agony. I cannot wake. I fight with everything I have. A thousand years of strenght to wake. If only for a moment.

I feel like my limbs are moving. I want to scream. I scream in my mind. I am not sure if anyone can hear it. I can hear my daughter acknowledging to someone else in the room that my body is stirring.

She can hear my screams.

The pain is steadily rising.

My wife is dying.

Our bond is slowly breaking.

I lay in my daytime prison for an eternity before dusk falls. And then I wake.

Night 86

"Dad." my daughter says, and she is crying. I look to Sookie. She is taking slow, shallow breaths. Her heartbeat is slow and erratic. A tear escapes me as I lay my body against my wife's side.

Scarlett kisses my cheek, and then her mothers. She gives Sookie a hug, and kisses her again before telling her good night, and leaves the room.

"Sookie." I say, and hold her to me. I fight to keep the tremors in my body at bay. I am in pain from the bond dying. From my beloved dying.

She lays her head further against my chest. I try not to crush her in my grip. I cannot hold her to me close enough. I check what remains of our bond for pain from her, but there is none.

Her breathing slows more. Her heartbeat is almost non-existent. I feel love from her through our bond. My eyes are clouded with tears.

She inhales deep.

"I love you." I say. And she is gone.

Thank you everyone for the love and kind words about the story.

Not sure what I'm going to do next. But hopefully will be soon.

Thank you again for reading.

Snoogans and Snoochie Boochies.