He shivered slightly. "Demons...well they don't have to lie about who they are and it's usually very easy to tell because even when they try to pretend to be human, they're...well...demonic and egotistical in the worst way. Angels on the other hand rarely care for themselves. it's all about rule following and making sure that their keeps stay out of harms away."

he looked over at the head of golden mess curals peeking in before answering her other question. "he's technically not your guardian anymore. not until he gets his rank back. as a completely pure human spirit he has very little energy to expand. essentially, he's litterally a ghost. it takes extreeme concentration to move just a small object. also, it's against the rules for them to assist unless it's absolutely life threatening. and while you would have been seriously hurt, you wouldn't have died."

She shook her head at this, cutting the block of cheese with a knife she'd found in a block to one side. "And now here you are, eating dinner with me..." she said. She looked at him over her shoulder. "I'm starting to think that if he is real, he asked you to watch me while he's gone... you certainly are helpful for a person who barely knows me." She kept the suspicion out of her words, but her eyes were wary.

He nodded. "it's possible. but Malichai wasn't very forthcoming with the details either. from what i understand when he's summoned it gets him into trouble. whatever he's up to. it must be extreemely important to risk hell over. you really should stop saying you don't believe. even if you really don't, i've never seen a wounded puppy look like that before and it was quite painful. poor guy really likes you."

Eva's brows pulled together. "If you want me to believe in angels, then prove it to me. First, if he's here, ask him how long he's been my guardian. If he's not, I'll just wait until you 'see' him again."

He inwardly sighed. "Okay, Malichai, how long have you been Eva's gardian?"

Malichai gave him a scornful look. this counted as mystisim but he decided he was already in trouble, why bother following the rest of the rules?

"Since the very second she was born. april 22nd at two thirteen fourty five pm."

Andrew repeated this information, hping she wouldn't decide to throw him out.

Eva grimaced. "Fine then," she said, "if he's been with me that long, then he should know better than anyone else." She paused for a moment, not sure if she wanted to ask all of a sudden. She turned and looked back down at the slices of cheese and the knife in her hand. "Six years ago, something happened to my family that nobody knew about. Everyone thought that they knew, but all they knew were lies. Why didn't I die too?"

He watched as Malichai cringed and faught off tears. he remembered that night very well.

Andrew bit his lip as Malichai began to tell the story. "They were murdered. you hid in a closet for two days and the murderer didn't know you were there. Malichai says he hel you the entire time. you didn't die because he wanted you to live. he hid you with his powers to make sure that man didn't find you."

Eva let out a cry as she cut herself on the knife, dropping it as sorrow took over her heart. She didn't want to believe anymore. She didn't want to know that there were tings going on in this world that she couldn't see. She pulled her hands to her face, hiding in them as she began to sob, leaning against the cupboards as she did so, unable to support herself.

Andrew and Malichai both dashed forward, Andrew wrapping his arms tightly around her. it was odd to him but at the same time he worried she'd hurt herself more if she fell. "Hey...i'm sorry. you okay? where'd you get cut at?" he was trying to detatch himself from the situation emotionally but it wasn't working and tears had begun to form in his own eyes as Malichai desperately tried to touch her.

Eva's blood welled up from her hands and dripped down her cheeks, the tears running through them to slip into her robe. She tried to say something, to tell that she was sorry, to beg him to leave her alone, something. But she couldn't speak through her tears and sobs as he hung in Andrew's arms. She closed her eyes to the blood as it tried to get into her eyes, then she was gone to the world, entire body limp as her arms fell to her sides, eyes open, but not conscious, the tears still streaming down her oddly relaxed face.

His eyes widened as he settled her to the floor, trying desperately now to find the wound. he pulled the tie off her robe to wrap around her hand having absolutely nother else to stop the bleeding at the moment. "Shit!" he swore as he looked around the kitchen.

in a split second choice he dashed for the phone after wrapping her hand tightly, hoping that would stop the bleeding until at least the paramedics arrived.

Malichai hung close, kneeling to her with a heavy frown. "She's got a pretty bad fever too."

Andrew groweld as the phone rang. finally an operator picked up and he knelt beside her again, this time talking to the woman while he waited the ambulance.

"hey..." he patted her cheek slightly. "can you hear me? come on, come round." his accent was heavy as he spoke. it seemed to get heavier in worry or anger.

Eva didn't move, her mind lost in itself, body too disconnected to even cry anymore. The tears began to dry with the blood on her cheeks, quickly starting their turn from damp to gritty.

Soon, the siren of the ambulance could be heard, coming closer to the house at a high speed.

Andrew sighed heavily as he stood, hanging up the phone after telling the opperator that they were there. he ran out to the street to flag them down.

Meanwhile upstairs, Akane was just beginning to realize the ambulance was headed for the house.

he melted into the kitched cieling, peering down in wide eyes. "What the hell's going on here?!"

Malichai was either too worried to feel much like fighting, or too tired to care that the demon was there in the first place. "too much all at once. she's cut pretty bad again and she hasn't regained a lot of the blood she lost just earlier today..."

the paramedics rushed in with a streature and lifted her up carefully onto it. Andrew looked at one. "may i ride with you?" There was a pause before the man nodded and he followed the two paramedics out to the ambulance. he hoped Eva would be okay. and ffor what it was worth, again he found himself praying, this time for her safety.

Eva awoke later in tears, a nightmare yanking her from her sleep. She would have shrieked had she been able to. She clutched at her throat for a moment, gasping for air to calm herself down. She shivered beneath the thin hospital blankets, pressing her hands over her face for a moment before she realized that there was a needle tape into the back of her hand. She groaned now when she realized where she was, the day coming back to her far too quickly. Why hadn't she eaten more of that cake? Why hadn't she stopped for food sooner? Why had she gotten so angry--? Her head spun and she plopped back against the pillow with a hand still over her eyes.

At the foot of the bed Akane and Malichai stood in a stare down. Akane however lost as Eva moved. Malichai was by her side, taking her hand much quicker but Akane was the first to look over at her.

"I know you can't hear me, but i want you to try to register this. i'm here. i'm always here my little Eva. i promise i'm still looking out for you."

Akane rolled his eyes, mimicking the former angel. "don't make me ill. just tell her your're in love with her already."

Malichai looked up at glaired. "i am not in love with her! not that you'd know the meaning!"

Akane wrinkled his nose. "i've been in love before."

Suddenly feeling warm, Eva's brows knit. She shook her hands. "You're here..." she murmured, barely audible as she stared down at the blanket, "but why can't I see you? Why Andrew and not me?" She shook her head and reached to press the button to call the doctor, knowing the routine all too well.

Malichai looked down at her, staring into her eyes for a moment. "can---you hear me?"

Akane held his breath waiting for the answer as well. he never could tell with mortals until they spoke to him.

Alas, Eva could not, she could feel the presence in the room, but she couldn't here him. She didn't answer, chapping her arms slowly as she realized that she was only wearing a thin hospital gown.

Akane let out a sigh and decided to leave. Malichai felt a bit heart broken but sat beside her still, trying to warm her though he knew it would be impossible in his state.

The doctor finally entered the room and looked her over. "Hello there, Eva," he said, "I'm Conrad Hughes. How are you feeling?" She shook her head slowly.

"My head hurts," she answered, "and I feel like I've been dragged at the bottom of the ocean for a few leagues.

Malichai sighed softly at this. he disliked seeing her like this and it was seeming all too familar from before.

he leaned over her ear softly, a gesture he'd made many times before to comfort her. "Try to forget."

Akane looked forlorn as he found Andrew. "it's really bad Andrew..." he said this with a completely serious tone.

"What's happened?!" he ignored the looks he got.

"it's...not looking good." Akanes tone and eyes spoke of tragedy.

"What?! is she going to be okay?!"

Akane looked down, pausing for a long moment to secretly look around at the people staring at Andrew.

"It's..."

then he looked up with a huge grin. "The crushe Malichai has on her is so bad it's sickening! i can't believe he's trying to hide his feelings!"

The doctor walked into the room then, looking around until he spotted Andrew. "Andrew Piper?" the man asked, "Eva's friend? She's looking for you."

Andrew stood and nodded. "y-yeah. i'm Andrew. how's she doing? will she be okay? i assume she's awake..."

his thoughts were going quickly through his mind.

"She's alright now," the doctor said, but frowned, "but you should take better care of your girlfriend if she cannot take care of herself. With as high a metabolism as she has, she should have eaten much more today than she has. And she should have been brought in for that cut on her hand. It was starting to get infected." He shook his head, muttering something about boys not knowing about chivalry these days before leading the younger man back to the room where Eva was.

Andrew throught to argue, but if they knew he was just her friend they may not let him see her and after what Akane had just pulled on him, he wanted to make sure she was okay.

he looked down the entire time. "We haven't been together all day. she was out on her own most of the day." he frowned also. "it shouldn't have been infected. i'm trained. i don't understand. it was a freash first aid kit, i used sterril everything..."

he took a deep breath. he felt like shit.