Mary put the Pepsi bottle filled with blood in the fridge with a grimace, hoping beyond hope that she wouldn’t accidentally drink from it at some point in the middle of the night.  She shut the door, stood staring ahead for a second, then reopened the door and shoved the bottle further back, behind a half-empty carton of milk. 

With that taken care of, she left the kitchen and sat on the couch, staring ahead blankly.  She could hear the steady rush of the shower from upstairs, and was reminded of the night when she and Markus had been in opposite positions.  She only hoped she could do half as much for him as he’d done for her.

She found herself starting to fidget, and knew she had to do something to get her mind and worries off Emily.  She went back into the kitchen for the phone, and for a split second couldn’t remember who she was planning to call.  She had half a mind to call the guys, regardless of Markus’s wish to keep them out of it for the time being.  It seemed profoundly stupid to have sent her best friend into such a dangerous situation because he didn’t want to burden them.

Mary: “Oh, fuck it.”

She defiantly hit the number for James’s phone and waited with growing impatience for him to answer.

James: “…llo?”

Mary: “James?  Are you bu… where the hell are you?”

James: “Mary Jo!  Hiroshi’s!  We’re doing karaoke and eating sushi; you should come join us.”

Mary: “I don’t sing.  Are you drunk?”

James: “Got a good buzz going.  Why did you call?”

Mary: “It’s nothing that can’t wait ‘til tomorrow.  I’ll let you get back to… is that Tristan singing Billy Idol?”

James: “Damn skippy.”

Mary: “Yeah, OK.  I’ll talk to you guys tomorrow.  Make sure you get a cab home so you don’t kill some innocent bystander.”

James: “Already planned to, doll face.”

Mary stared at her phone in confusion for a few seconds.  Of course it had been stupid to call James; what did she expect?  She dialed the number she should have from the start, the one Markus had asked her to.  The phone didn’t even ring an entire time before Serge had answered.

Serge: “Markus?”

Mary: “It’s Mary.  Listen, Markus is all right, he—“

Serge: “Oh thank god.  Is he there?  What happened?  Was there some sort of accident?  Can I talk to him?”

Mary: “He’s here, yes, but he’s not ready to talk about what happened yet.  He wanted me to call you and just let you know he’s safe.”

Serge: “Why doesn’t he want to talk to me?  I’m coming over there.”

Mary: “No, Serge!  He needs a little bit of time to come to terms with what happened.”
Serge: “How long is ‘a little bit of time’?  Days, weeks?”

Mary: “It could be before the end of the night, it could be a week.  I just don’t know the answer to that.”

There was a long pause on the other end of the line, and Mary thought she heard a muffled sob, making her feel extremely uncomfortable.  When Serge spoke again, his voice had only a slight tremble.

Serge: “Thank you for calling, Mary.”

Mary: “I’m sorry I can’t tell you anything else.”

Serge: “He’ll come around.  He’s strong, very strong.  Tell him I love him.”

Mary started to reply, but was cut off.  She hardly had a chance to wonder what to do next before she heard Markus’s footsteps on the stairs.

Mary: “I just got off the phone with Serge.”

Markus: “Thank you, Mary.  I owe you one.”

Mary: “He wasn’t very happy that you don’t want to see him, but he told me to tell you he loves you, so there ya go.  Feeling any better?”

Markus: “Not really, no.”

Mary: “Physically?”

Markus: “Still a bit foggy, and weak as a kitten, but improving.”

Mary: “What are your plans now?  If you want to stay here more than a few days, I’m going to have to start charging you rent.”

Markus: “I think I should probably call the guys.”

Mary: “You decide this after Emily leaves, fantastic.  However, it’s pointless.”

Markus: “What do you mean?”

Mary: “I already called them while you were upstairs, and don’t give me that look.  I was going to have them check in on Em, but they’re toasted.  Seems they decided to have their own ‘boys’ night out.’”

Markus: “This whole thing cannot possibly get any worse.”

Mary: “Don’t say that.  It just tempts things to do their damnedest to prove otherwise.  You have to go home, Markus.  I failed ‘Giving Comfort to the Undead 101.’  James and Tristan could give you some pointers for surviving your first weeks as a vampire, but Serge is the only one who can give you the sort of help you really need.”

Markus: “When did you suddenly become so insightful?”

Mary: “When I found myself watching an awful lot of daytime talk shows.  I can’t wait to start my new job.”

The room was dead quiet for a moment as Mary waited for Markus to come to any sort of decision.  She was beginning to drift off to sleep when he finally spoke again.

Markus: “I can’t go home tonight, Mary.  I know you think I’m being completely stupid, but I just can’t.  If you don’t want me staying here, I’ll totally understand.  I’m sure one of the guys would let me stay with them.”
Mary: “That might be a better idea than trying to stay out of the sunlight here.  Did you want to call them, or did you want me to?”

Markus: “I think I can call.”

Mary: “Good, because I don’t want James getting any ideas about how much I’ve been talking to him tonight.  The phone’s right here.”

Markus: “Thanks.  I really hope Emily’s OK.”

Mary: “I do, too.”