SWNOVELS Chapter 65: Charming!
Kane wasn’t sure what time he fell asleep at or how long he had been asleep for, it didn’t feel like long, when he started to wake up. A warmth spread through his body as he felt an all too familiar weight on his lap and cold toes seeking out warmth under his leg. His arms wrapped tighter around her, as she snuggled deeper to his chest.
“Can I have pancakes?” She asked, he couldn’t help the smile that spread across his face.
“Yes baby! You can have whatever you want” failing to keep the emotion out of his voice, he pressed his lips to her head over and over. Realization hit later that this must be hurting her, he went to loosen his embrace when she stopped him.
“Don’t let go, just a little longer, I can take it.” Cuddling as close as she could to him grabbing a hold of his shirt. He did loosen his embrace a little, but he didn’t let her go.
“There’s a lot of people in this room!” She said looking at everybody.
“They didn’t want to leave,” Kane replied as he looked over at everybody. Sometime throughout the night Lacey, Lydia and Seraphine entered the room and joined their mates.
“How are you?” Kane asked.
“Tired, sore….scared. How are you?” She replied, she could have lied and said she was fine, but he’d know and she’s not fine. She’s terrified, two nutjobs are after her, one’s cutting ears off of people and the other one can’t decide if they want to kill her or keep her.
“Tired, worried and scared” He confessed, she told him the truth, so he told her the truth.
“Why are you worried?” She asked, maybe it would take her mind off her fear.
“We set a plan into motion. The man who attacked you last Wednesday took a photo and sent it to White. White sent it to Carl. We sent it to Magnus, in hopes it would lure Magnus out and he would go after White. We think he might know who White is. I’m wondering now if it was the right call.” He explained.
“Oh! Well you can’t take it back now” he shook his head.
“No, we can’t! Why are you scared?” He kissed her head holding her closer to him, hoping to ease her fear.
“Oh no real reason, just the nutjobs hunting me. It’s nothing really that one cuts off people’s ears and puts them in boxes, and the other can’t decide whether to kill me or keep me. He sounds like two different people, other than that nothing major.” She was using humour to mask the fear, but the slight trembling of her body gave her away. Kane pulled the blanket off the bed and wrapped it around her. He knew that feeling less exposed made her less scared. Keeping her grip on his shirt, he felt her starting to relax a little. Gently massaging the back of her head, her eyes started to close.
“That’s cheating!” Her voice quiet and laced with sleep, she began to drift off.
“You’re tired baby! You need your rest” he whispered,
“Just don’t let me go!” She gripped his shirt tighter, but the strength in her hand faltered as sleep pulled her under. No baby! I will never let you go! He thought as he listened to her rhythmic breathing.
He woke a few hours later to a knock on the door and muffled voices.
“You get the door”
“No, you get it, you’re closer”
“Somebody get the fucking door” Kane croaked out. He still felt her cuddled in his arms, oblivious to the commotion in the room hiding under the blanket. Eventually someone answered the door for the doctor with a THUMP! And some cursing. He looked a little concerned with the amount of people when he entered the room. Then he saw that her bed was empty, panic crossed his face until Kane lowered the top of the blanket enough for him to see the top of her head.
“She woke up!” All eyes turned to Kane, and the sleeping ball curled up in his lap. “Did she say anything?”
“She asked for pancakes.” Kane replied,
“Well mayb….” The doctor was about to say something softer.
“She can have pancakes!” Kane cut him off.
“She can have pancakes!” The doctor agreed with a nod of his head. He heard Damon and Johnny snickering. Kane knew what the doctor needed to do, but that means he has to be the one to wake her up.
“Take a look at Carter and Marco, while I wake her up, they don’t look so good.” Kane commanded as he pulled the blanket back over her. Again the doctor nodded. Marco sat in his chair holding his head in his hands. Repeating never again, never again, in italian. Carter was the one that answered the door, after he stumbled and fell into it. He now sat on the floor resting his head on his arms, trying not to spill the contents of his stomach.
“Come on baby you need to wake up now!” He whispered in her ear.
“No I don’t” she mumbled back under the covers.
“The doctor is here” Kane again tried to coax her awake.
“No, make him go away” she snuggled in farther under the covers.
“But he’s here now, you can go back to sleep after.” He trailed his fingers up her side.
“No, sleep now, he can come back later” Johnny and Damon’s snickering was getting louder, he could also hear Lydia biting back her laughter.
“The faster he does his check up the faster you get pancakes” he was trying not to laugh, the whole room was trying not to laugh as they watched her weigh her options.
When her head finally emerged from the blanket, Johnny and Damon lost their battle and howled with laughter.
“Pancakes for the win” Johnny choked out. “Good morning darling, how are you?”
“Tired, sore and cold. Why are these flipping rooms always so cold” She said, pulling the blanket more around her.
“I will go and get you some pancakes.” Lydia said standing up. Dax looked at her with a grateful smile. While she was doing that Damon caught the look of disdain Lacey was giving Dax. His eyes caught Carter’s glare at Lacey and he just nodded. There was something going on there and he was going to get to the bottom of it.
“Let’s go,” Lydia said as she turned to Damon.
“Why do I have to go?” He asked looking back at her.
“Because you stink!” She replied,
“I’m not springtime fresh baby girl, but that was harsh.” She just glared at him. “Alright I’m coming” Damon got off the couch and followed Lydia to the door, mumbling about being grumpy under his breath.
“Ow! Grumpy and aggressive!” She pulled him out of the room, Johnny and Kenneth just started laughing.
“What are you laughing at? You’re not exactly springtime fresh either” Lacey glared at Johnny, who immediately stopped laughing, but made Kenneth laugh harder.
“I think we’ll leave and let you have some privacy” Kenneth chuckled and took Seraphine by the hand leading her towards the door.
“Are you going to come back?” Dax was more asking Seraphine than Kenneth, she figured he would come back.
“If it’s ok” she looked from Dax to Kane, back to Dax then to Kane again. Dax just nodded that it would be. She wanted to get to know Kenneth’s mate more, they only got to speak for a little bit the other night and Dax liked her. Johnny waited for the doctor to be done with Marco and Carter, helping them out of the room as they followed the others. Dax had tried to talk to Lacey again while she was in the room but she left before she could finish asking her if she was going to come back. She turned her face away burying it in Kane’s chest so no one could see the hurt in her eyes but judging by the embrace of Kane’s arms he already knew. Kane and Johnny shared a look, neither knew what to say, but both were fighting their anger over what had occurred. Only to hear a slight rumbling from Carter. Kane brushed it off as something the doctor did to him.
“Will they be ok?” Kane asked the doctor, still holding her close to him, helping to ease the hurt she was feeling.
“Blackout drunk, they have no memory of what happened over the last few days, and now they are going through the worst hangover of their lives. They will need to drink plenty of fluids, but they will be fine. Now how are you doing?” The doctor asked, turning to Dax.
“Tired, sore,” she said, pulling the blanket tighter around her.
“Are you cold?” He asked, making notes in her file.
“I’m freezing! It’s freezing in here.” She shivered,
“You lost a lot of blood yesterday, your body is still recovering so it’s cold. You would be freezing in a sauna. I will get some more blankets brought in for you. No you can’t leave! Not today, not tomorrow, maybe Sunday, but that’s a we’ll see.” The words were out of his mouth before she could even think to ask. Not that she wanted to, she would never admit it but she was slightly relieved by the doctors refusal to let her out this time. “Let’s get you on the table and take a look.” She held the blanket tighter to her not wanting to give up the little heat she had, she stiffly got up from Kane’s lap. A bit of wincing, some slight cursing and some help from Kane, she got seated on the medical table. He examined, cleaned, treated and dressed the wound on her back. He examined the rest of her injuries, she had a lot of bruising and scrapes all over her. His concerns were the major lacerations she sustained when she took the hit.
“You didn’t remind me to eat on Friday,” she said, when the doctor was done with his examination.
“Baby it is Friday” Kane said, she swallowed hard and looked at him a wave of confusion washed over her and she shook her head, it couldn’t be Friday.
“What do you remember?” The doctor asked, he didn’t seem concerned that she was confused about it being Friday and not Thursday.
“I was in the warehouse and Damon called me a pain in the ass” she replied,
“Sounds like Damon! You were in an accident, a car hit you after you pushed Damon out of the way” Kane responded,
“Is Damon ok?” She asked, a note of concern laced her words, and he smiled at her. His beautiful mate, she truly was special.
“He’s fine!” Kane assured her,
“I’m going to push that medical appointment for a bit, tomorrow at the earliest, but we’ll see and I’ll make sure you eat” The doctor replied with a smile.
“No bath right?” She asked,
“Afraid not until the stitches in your back come out in two weeks.” He answered,
“Ok” Kane saw her bite back the frown and mask her disappointment. He gave her hand a gentle squeeze letting her know that it was ok to be disappointed. He knew she was looking forward to one.
“I will give you something for the pain, and I will be back later to check on you.” She nodded her head, the doctor offered one last smile before he left the room.
“I’m sorry baby, I know you wanted a bath.” Kane said as he tied up the back of her gown.
“It’s ok, there’s always next time” though she couldn’t suppress the sigh he heard escaping from her. He helped her down from the bed so she could use the bathroom and brush her teeth.
When Dax came out of the bathroom, she looked at him confused, holding the back of her gown more around her.
“What’s wrong baby?” He asked, growing concerned,
“Why am I not wearing any panties?” She asked,
“You were covered in blood and I didn’t want you to wake up like that. The girls cleaned you up as best they could, but I finished the rest, and I didn’t have anything to change you into until after I went back to our room and Damon stayed with you. I did bring some things but everyone was here by then.” He explained as he pointed to the bag. She looked at the bag then back at him.
“Let me guess they’re red and lace!” A small smile played on her lips.
“What? I like the red ones.” He replied innocently,
“You like them better on the floor.” She countered,
“That’s not my fault, you wear them so well I can’t help myself” he crossed the room to stand in front of her.
“You need better control” she looked up at him, the smile on her face widening.
“Whether you’re wearing the red ones or not, you know I can’t control myself where you’re concerned” he slid his hand down her side to the hem of her hospital gown. “You are completely bottomless and I can’t help but think of the benefits that come with that, if you weren’t seriously injured I would take advantage of the situation.” Pulling her towards him, running one hand through her hair. He brushed his lips against hers, that might have been a mistake. Even the smallest touch of her lips against his is enough to ignite the fire burning in him. He itched to touch her, caress her, feel her move beneath him. Pressing his lips harder to hers, he slowly moved them back towards the bathroom and the shower. She probably wanted one but would have a hard time doing it herself, he needed one and was more than happy to be of assistance. She was cold, and he could warm her up. Um….injured! Ky reminded him. I’ll be gentle! Gentle meant nice and slow, he could go slow. He kicked the door shut behind them.
“So much for not taking advantage of my bottomless situation” she laughed, holding the towel she was wrapped in around herself as she went through the bag he brought to find some panties, but also finding some thick socks and the sweatpants she ended up wearing at family dinner.
“Do you also remember me telling you that I can’t control myself around you?” His own towel hung low but secure around his waist. She held up clean clothes for him as well and arched her eyebrow questioning them.
“I didn’t know when you were going to wake up, and I had no intention of leaving your side. I still have no intention of leaving, but I’m getting a damn couch this time.” She nodded her head, that made sense, she wouldn’t leave either.
Fighting off a shiver, her body was so cold, the shower did little to warm her up but the doctor said that was normal and her body should begin regulating her temperature again in a day or two.
“Put the socks and the pants on, and I’ll run up to our room in a bit and get your heavy blanket.” Again she nodded, grabbed the clothes she could and started to get dressed. He tied the back of her hospital gown closed and helped her into the bed, he wrapped as many blankets around her as were given to them, before he went to get dressed himself.
Dax had fallen asleep in the bed and he was sitting beside her going over Carl and White’s emails when a knock came to the door. He glanced over at her, her brows furrowed from the disturbance but she didn’t open her eyes. Putting down the reading material he stood up to answer the door. Damon and Lydia stood there with pancakes. Kane stepped to the side and let them in.
“I don’t think the doc wanted feisty pants to have pancakes,” Damon said, handing him a plate.
“She could have asked me for brownies and ice cream and I would have given it to her,” Kane responded, accepting the plate.
“Did you tell her yet?” Damon asked as he walked in.
“No, I’m still trying to figure out how to navigate that minefield. I don’t think it’s not my fault and you were born like this is going to cut it” He replied.
“No time like the present” Damon motioned towards her. Dax was stirring in the bed, all the noise had woken her up. Kane put the plate of pancakes down on the table and went to help her sit up. Then he retook his seat by her bed, while Damon sat in one of the other chairs.
“Good timing feisty pants, breakfast is here” Damon grinned at her. Lydia pulled the tray in front of her, placed a plate of pancakes on it and started cutting them up. Confusion crossed her face as she watched Lydia cut up her food, she looked to Kane, who just watched wide eyed unsure of what to do. She looked back to Lydia then to Damon, he was trying to control himself. She opened her mouth several times to say something but no sound came out. She was pretty sure her mouth was forming words, but silence as she just watched Lydia. When she was done she put down the fork and knife and looked at her.
“Thank you!” Dax said, looking at her pressing her lips together. She could hear Kane fighting to control his laughter. When Lydia realized what she did, she went red.
“Oh my Goddess. I went totally maternal on you. I don’t know why I did that, I am so sorry.” Maternal? What an odd choice in words. Her subconscious questioned. It sure is…...HOLY FUCK! Dax’s eyes went wide as she looked from Lydia then to Damon then back to Lydia, then to her stomach then back to her.
“Are….are….are you pregnant?” The grin she saw on Damon’s face confirmed it, but she saw Lydia’s head nodding her face lighting up. An ear piercing squeal ripped through the room and Kane covered his ears.
“She did that in the doctor’s office too, took about ten minutes for the ringing in my ears to go away” Damon said.
“I wanted to tell you first, but you were unconscious and the boys already knew, which means everybody knew. And they say girls can’t keep secrets” Lydia was very excited, but she still remained careful when she hugged Dax.
“It’s not my fault, they’re the ones that told me it was a possibility for the way you’ve been acting lately.” Damon defended himself,
“And how exactly have I been acting Damon?” Lydia didn’t even turn around, the amusement in her eyes would give away the tone of her voice. Dax could see the panic on Damon’s face as he tried to figure out what to say. He looked to Kane for help.
“Don’t answer that!” He said, shaking his head.
“Well, how exactly have I been acting?” Lydia pressed.
“Like your usual charming self” Kane cringed at Damon’s answer and continued shaking his head.
“Charming!” Lydia said. “Charming!”
“I’ve been charming” She looked at Dax who was trying to control her giggles.
“I hear you’ve been charming” it was a good thing she was hidden behind Lydia, the smile on her face would have given away the whole thing.
“You think I’ve been charming, well buckle up, I’m about to get delightful.” Lydia straightened her stance, Dax could see fear creeping onto Damon’s face, the more worried and panicked he looked the harder it was to control her laughter.
“Baby girl! I’m sorry….I’m sorry” Damon was on his feet, they could hear the panic in his voice “I didn’t mean it….I’m sorry” both Dax and Lydia erupted into laughter as Lydia took a seat next to Dax on the bed.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Damon’s voice still sounded a bit panicked as he breathed a sigh of relief. Even Kane was laughing.
“You think it’s funny, what would you have done if she murdered me?” He asked,
“I wouldn’t have seen anything. I told you not to answer that!” Kane looked at him, amusement danced in his eyes.
“Don’t fucking laugh, you’re in a world of trouble when this is you, yours isn’t exactly human anymore.” As soon as the words left Damon’s mouth he regretted them.
The amusement wiped from Kane’s face and was now replaced with a wide eyed stare.
“Excuse me!” Dax looked at both of them.
“The fuck Damon!” Kane growled,
“I’m sorry brother, that just slipped out” Damon said, staring at him.
“What do you mean not exactly human anymore?” Dax asked, looking at Damon.
“Uh…..” Damon opened his mouth then closed it, he didn’t know what to say. She looked at Kane.
“What does he mean?” Dax asked, turning to Kane
“Um….” Kane looked at her then looked away, still trying to figure out how to tell her, he scratched the back of his head.
“Did you bite me?” She accused, starting to check herself over,
“No! No, no baby I didn’t bite you….um….uh….Damon’s your brother” Kane blurted instead, Dax’s eyes just went wider.
“Ok! We’ll come back to that. If you didn’t bite me then what does he mean that I am not exactly human anymore? How does he know I’m not exactly human anymore? What am I, if I am not exactly human? And how did I get to be not exactly human?” The intensity in her stare as she looked between Kane and Damon had them shifting in their seats. Lydia looked back and forth between Damon and Kane, it became apparent to her neither one knew how to tell her.
“Oh for the love of Goddess. I’ll tell her, big babies. Men can be so….grrrr…. sometimes” She threw her hands up. She turned to Dax and took both her hands.
“I need you to listen to me ok sweetie” Dax just nodded her head, concern washed over her face.
“This might upset you and you’ll have questions, but I promise there will be time for Alpha Kane to answer them.” Lydia looked at Kane, who nodded his head.
“Yeah, I’ll answer whatever questions you have” He readily agreed, relief flooding through him. He had nothing when it came to telling her other than it wasn’t his fault and she was born that way. She looked at him, then back to Lydia.
“A lot of questions have been raised about you, but no one seemed to have any answers. How could you go from being in pain one day to perfectly fine the next day? You were hit by a car and ripped your back wide open and you lost a lot of blood yesterday and here you are popping up like a beautiful little flower 24 hours later. Type questions. So after you were brought in Wednesday and they sedated you, the doctor tested your DNA for the shifter gene. Having an unlimited supply of werewolf DNA on hand, Damon volunteered his blood. He also tested you against bears and cats.” Dax looked at Damon, he nodded offering her a smile, she looked back to Lydia.
“It takes a few days for the test to come back, and in his haste he didn’t uncheck familial DNA, when the results came back, you were a 57.8% match to Damon making you his full blooded sibling meaning you share both parents. The shifter gene is dominant, but he checked regardless and you came back positive for wolf DNA.” Questions, so many questions raced through her mind. She grasped at the first one she could.
“But….how come….why don’t….but then….but why….how come he gets to be the tall one?” Dax finally asked, pointing at Damon. Three sets of raised eyebrows stared back at her.
“Genetics?” Lydia guessed,
“With everything she just heard, that’s what she asks!” Damon quipped.
“Her world got flipped, Damon. She probably has a million questions running through her head and that’s the one she focused on.” Kane replied,
“Are you….is he….can I have a do over? Did he read it right? Didn’t his wife hit him a bunch of times with a frying pan? Maybe he didn’t read it right.” She looked at Lydia,
“He’s 99.9% certain of both. You’re a werewolf and Damon’s sister.” Lydia answered. Dax looked at Kane, who nodded at her.
“I’m related to him? Him?” She asked, pointing at Damon “Why him?”
“Why not me?” Damon asked, he tried not to take offence to what Dax said, she just got hit with a shit storm of information.
“She’s processing, try not to be offended!” Kane remarked,
“Easy for you to say” Damon huffed, slumping back in his chair. She sat there quietly staring at all of them, this didn’t make sense, if she was a werewolf, she’d know. She would have shifted, she would have it talking in her head, she would be all healed. If she was a werewolf, wouldn’t they know?
“We should go and leave them alone!” Lydia said to Damon,
“Uh….yeah” Damon got up “Good luck!” He held the door open for Lydia and they walked out.
When the door closed, Kane sat forward in his chair and opened his mouth, but didn’t even get a chance to say anything.
“I can’t be, the doctor’s wrong, he screwed it up. When Ky broke Damon’s arm he was fine the next day. Why am I still wearing this and looking like this? If I were a werewolf why am I not healing like one?” Before he could answer that question she asked another.
“How come I’m so small? You’re all tall, why am I this small?” Again he went to answer but she asked another question.
“I would have shifted, you said at 16 you get your wolf and you shift, I never shifted if I was one then how come I didn’t? Ky talks to you in your head there’s no wolf in my head. If I’m a werewolf, where’s my wolf? Why isn’t she talking to me? Why didn’t you smell it? You can all smell each other, how come no one smelled it on me? I’m not a werewolf, I can’t be, the test is wrong”
“Baby! Baby, one question at a time” Kane was trying to get her to stop bombarding him with questions so he could at least try and answer some of them.
“I don’t have super hearing, or super smelling power, I don’t growl like you. Why don’t I? How come I’m not as fast as you?” But it was the last question that broke him.
“How come I got dropped on the steps of a church and not with my dad? How come Damon got to grow up here and I didn’t? If we had the same birth parents, why didn’t she drop me off here too? What did I do that was so bad, that I got that life? What’s wrong with me?” His arms were around her immediately as her tears started to fall.
“Nothing baby! You did nothing wrong! There’s nothing wrong with you!” He whispered into her head.
“Then why was I punished? Why didn’t I get this life too?” She whimpered through her tears. He held her tighter to him, threading his fingers through her hair. He didn’t know what to say to her, he didn’t have answers to those questions. Only one person had those answers. Maybe it’s time to find her and get them! If it’s what she wants! She wronged our mate, by not giving her to Bruno! My dad would have killed Bruno if he knew he did this again! But she would have known what she was, grown up with a family that loved her! Kane couldn’t argue with that. He would have found her sooner. Love mate!
“I’m sorry baby! I’m sorry you didn’t get to grow up here, but you’re here now and I’m going to do everything I can to give you the life you deserve.” She clung to him, burying her face in his chest, her body shook as her sobs raked through her.
Some time had passed after her sobs had died down, they were lying in the hospital bed, she was cuddled into his side while he ran his hand through her hair.
“Where’s my wolf? How come I don’t have one?” She asked, her voice quiet.
“You do, we think she might be dormant.” Kane replied,
“Dormant? They can go dormant?” She asked,
“They can.” He said,
“Why? Why is she dormant?” She struggled to push herself up. Her back really hurt but she wanted to look at him. Helping her to a sitting position, he thought about how he was going to explain it.
“The doctor thinks maybe because you grew up in the human world, she didn’t know what she is, and thinks maybe she’s a part of you. A voice in your mind that you can hear. A…..” he started,
“Subconscious?” She asked, finishing his thought.
“Yes! When did you start having conversations with yourself?” Her wolf said 6 or 7.
“I don’t know, I was little maybe 6….7 I didn’t really think about it, it was just nice to talk to someone that wasn’t yelling at me or saying how worthless I was. Do you think that’s her?” She asked, he saw a small spark light up in her eyes.
“I think so.” He replied. She thought about that, it made sense, she wasn’t sure how many people talked themselves into reverse stripping for people they barely met.
“What about shifting? Why haven’t I shifted? You said 16 and shift, except I didn’t.” She restated her questions from earlier.
“Well, several theories about that one. Remember when I said it doesn’t happen very often but sometimes a werewolf can shift at a younger age?” He asked,
“Like you, you said you shifted at 10” She nodded.
“You might have been too young, I’ve never heard of a wolf shifting at 6 or 7. By the time you were old enough, the abuse you went through might have made your body too weak. Another theory is, you did shift or tried to, but because of the abuse you sustained your mind thought it was more abuse and blocked either the memory of it or the actual shift itself from happening. Your first one hurts like hell. Every bone in your body breaks at the same time and your insides rearrange so you can take on your alternate form.” Her eyes went wide as she looked at him. “Some wolves pass out from the pain.” He added.
“Then I never shifted” she said, she tried to hide the slight disappointment she felt.
“That might be why you don’t have super smelling power, or hearing, and you can’t growl like me. And why your not healing like one.” He traced his thumb along her cheek, urging her gently back into his embrace. “Why you’re this small, I don’t know and I don’t really care. I love you this small, you fit perfectly in my arms.” To prove his point he wrapped his arms around her more. He laid them back down and she rested her head on his chest over his heart. She felt herself getting sleepy but she had more questions she wanted to ask.
“Can they be woken up?” She asked, fighting the sleep in her voice.
“Yes, the bite from an Alpha that can turn someone, can wake up a dormant wolf.” She stiffened at that, she remembers the story he told her about the Alpha that bit his mate and ended up killing her instead. He started massaging the back of her head, and lowered his voice when he spoke again.
“It has to be a pure Alpha, one born with Alpha blood. The story I told you, that Alpha stepped into the roll, it’s why the bite didn’t work.” He pulled the blankets over her, then held her tighter to him. He could feel her starting to drift, but she was also trying to resist it.
“How can she be asleep if she’s talking in my head? What if she doesn’t wake up? Will she always be a voice in my head? Can you see Ky in your head? Does she have a name?” She asked,
“Her mind is awake, but her body is sleeping. She might be detached from it. She will be with you forever, it’s why she’s your wolf. I can see Ky. They all have names, Johnny’s is Diego, Damon has Titan, I believe Lydia’s is Rosie” She murmured something he didn’t quite understand, it sounded like ‘I wonder what her name is?’ but he didn’t ask her to repeat it; he let her fall asleep instead.