H E A L I N G O V E R N I G H T

Author: Liza C. Title: Healing Overnight Go to: M/S Index Back to: Chapter 6                                      Chapter 7 "Didn't you hear? I have a complex." He watched her a moment, gauging her reaction.  She didn't seem adverse to him saving her from the cold; he counted that as a positive. "I did hear."  Sara felt her heart race in her chest as he sat up straight beside her, since his arm was behind her she had no choice but to follow suit. His eyes traveled over her, searching for any apprehension or distrust in her expression. Finding none, and stealing from reserves of courage, he quickly slipped behind her so he was prone and stretched against the back of the couch. With Michael behind her, Sara had no choice but to scoot forward almost completely off of the couch. With a slight scowl, she turned to look down at him.  "So you're idea of chivalry is to steal the couch from me?" He answered by swiftly slipping one arm around her waist and gently but firmly pulling her back against him. Before she knew what had happened. She was lying on the couch in front of Michael. Her back spooned firmly against his front, one of his arms draped comfortably around her waist. "Isn't this better?" His voice was a low rumble in her ear. "Better?"  Despite the fact that her senses were on overdrive and every part of her body tingled with sudden awareness, there was amusement in her voice. "Okay... warmer?" He amended quickly. Having him pressed behind her was definitely sending jolts of heat through most parts of her body.  She wasn't sure exactly what was happening, although she was sure it was rather pleasant. Without thinking too much about it, she shifted and moved her upper arm so now it was resting over his arm that circled her waist.  "It is… warmer. I guess you've achieved chivalry." From behind her Michael smiled to himself.  "Not really. I'm even warmer than you with the couch behind me and you in front. You're like my own personal heater, it's entirely self-serving." She giggled lightly at that and then took a deep breath and felt herself relaxing back against him. It was odd to be lying in the arms of a convicted felon and a wanted fugitive, but to feel entirely, blissfully safe.  Even if it could only last for a finite period of time.   That last thought is what brought her back to reality.  Her time with him was limited and everything about his future was a question mark.  It brought to mind once again what he'd done. "May I ask you something?" "Yeah." She could feel his warm breath on her ear as he said the simple word. "Why did you do it? Why did you sacrifice everything for this plan?" Michael was silent for several seconds. Finally, with a resolute sigh he answered.  "He's my brother." "I don't know many brothers, who would do what you did. You gave up everything." "He was in that position partially because he helped me.  The life I had was made possible because of his sacrifices." "But that life has now been sacrificed. No matter how this goes, your life will never be the same." "No, but if everything goes to plan we'll both be alive. Besides…" "Besides what?" Michael swallowed hard. This was something he didn't think about much, but now after meeting Sara and being affected by her… feeling what it was like to form a connection with someone… it was becoming clear what had been missing from his pre-Fox River life.    "I'm not sure I was sacrificing all that much." "What do you mean?" She asked as she rested her hand over the top of his in what she hoped was a comforting and encouraging manner. "Lincoln and LJ were my only family." He answered concisely. She nodded slightly, knowing what it was like to have sparse family ties.  "What about friends?" "Uh… sure, I had friends, people I worked with, a couple of guys I went to college with, but…" "But?" she prodded. "You know on those stupid TV shows, there's always some group of friends that are as close as family?" "Yeah." "I never had friends like that." Despite the possibly sad truth of the statement, Michael's voice held a laugh. "Yeah, me neither." She paused before asking a question she knew she shouldn't be so curious about, but she was.  "What about girlfriends?"  Her voice squeaked a bit on the word 'girlfriends.' She felt him shrug his shoulders behind her, but she wasn't about to accept that as an answer. "Michael you're incredibly handsome and can be very charming when you want to be.  Surely, there were girlfriends." "You think I'm incredibly handsome?" she could hear the smirk in his voice. "Michael…" She nudged him lightly with her elbow. "I dated… but it never lasted very long." "How come?"   He sighed and took a deep breath before continuing; he'd never really sat back and taken a good hard look at what his life had been.  "I don't know, they were usually the ones to break it off and I didn't really care… which come to think of it is probably why they ended it." Michael was silent for several beats before continuing, "So, now, looking back it was all kind of empty and not that hard of a life to leave."  He felt another layer peel back off of his veneer of self- awareness.  That was a truth he hadn't really faced.  He'd had material things and he'd had professional success, but he hadn't been very successful at building relationships.  Any relationships.    He cleared his throat, wanting to cease talking and thinking about himself.  "What about you?" "What about me?" "Boyfriends?" "Uh… a few. I've dated some pretty self-involved losers with deep- seated emotional problems." "So if we dated, I'd be breaking that streak?" That quip made her laugh softly. "You think I'd date you?" "Do you usually spoon with men you wouldn't date?"  He teased back, feeling like he was crossing some invisible line and not caring.   He was no longer the guy who needed something from her flirting with her.  He was Michael flirting with her and it felt as if this was exactly how it was supposed to be… at least for tonight. "Only if they're convicted felons and only if it's for survival." "Fair enough."  But he brought her closer by draping his top jean clad leg over hers. That act of intimacy rendered her speechless.  Sara thought about how when she woke up that morning she wouldn't have been able to fathom her current situation.  But frankly there was nowhere she'd rather be at the moment and no one she'd rather be with.  She looked down to where the palm of her hand was resting on the back of his.  She found a sliver of skin between the bandages and caressed it with her thumb.  At her gentle touch he spread the fingers of his hand. Sara took the invitation and slipped her fingers through his.  He immediately squeezed their linked hands and a feeling of warmth spread through Sara and went straight to her heart.   "Michael… may I ask you one more question?" "Course." His voice had gotten slightly drowsy and for a second she felt bad for continuing the conversation when he was on the verge of sleep, but there was something nagging at her.  Something from the story that didn't make sense.  Something she needed to know about the man who she was currently entwined with on a couch, in a cabin, in the middle of nowhere. "There's one last thing I don't get." Sara tried to sound casual. "What?" The sleepy timber of his voice sounded almost like a buzz to her ear. "The last day." "Yeah?" "You had Nika pick-pocket my keys at lunch and then she visited the prison and slipped them to you.  You returned them to me that afternoon when it was time for your shot." "Yes." Now he was once again fully alert. "Why go through all that? Why didn't you just take them that morning when I was checking on your burn? Why involve Nika?"   Her voice was rough and her heart beat a bit faster at the question. With no more delay, she got to the heart of the matter. "After all, that's why you kissed me, isn't it? To get the keys?" Michael felt his gut twist, he had no choice, he couldn't lie.  "Yes." She felt another stab of betrayal at hearing the truth from his lips. Realistically, she knew the kiss was a lie like everything else had been, but it still had seemed special to her and she realized some part of her hoped it hadn't been part of the plan. But she refused to show her letdown at that and continued. "So, what? You couldn't reach them?" "I could reach them." He replied softly. "Then you didn't think you could get them out of there without me seeing?" He shook his head slightly, although it did little good since she wasn't facing him.  "You wouldn't have noticed they were gone until you went to use them again." "Then what was the problem?" He paused for a moment.  Finally, he released her hand and tugged her towards him so she was on her back rather than on her side.   Propping his head up on his other elbow, he looked imploringly down into her eyes. His voice was heated when he finally replied, "I was kissing you." "Kissing me was the problem?"  The words came out in a throaty rumble. "It was the plan, yes, but once it was happening, I… I just couldn't." "You couldn't?"  Her voice betrayed her by cracking as she spoke. "Sara, I couldn't make that moment between us about deception." Michael felt his heart in his throat as he told her the truth, but he didn't let it stop him. "That kiss might have started out as a plan to get the keys, but it turned into something more for me.  So as badly as I needed your keys, I couldn't take them. Not like that." Those words were what Sara needed to hear. She needed to hear that the moment in the infirmary had been real for him too.  As he spoke the last remnants of her anger and doubt evaporated and she found herself just a woman in the moment, looking into the eyes of a man who cared for her. And just like that she was kissing him. The first kiss had been good, very good despite the circumstances, but this one was infinitely better.  Better because there was no ulterior motive.  Better because there were no more lies or deceit between them. Better because they were alone and free to follow their hearts instead of behind a screen in a bleak prison infirmary.   Better because this kiss reaffirmed for Sara that her judgment hadn't been completely flawed when it came to matters of the heart and better because it set a part of Michael free. Even if he felt he didn't deserve it and even if he knew he had more work to do, for Michael's psyche the kiss felt like the beginning of forgiveness.  The belt of guilt and remorse that had been cinched tight around his heart for the better part of the time he'd known her, loosened.  For no reason other than she was Sara and she was here and she was kissing him.   It started off as Sara just brushing her lips against his.  But it was all the invitation Michael needed, instantly he moved towards her and deepened the connection.  The first few kisses were sweet and tender, all the emotion that had been building up the last few hours manifested in a physical way.   But the slow, languid, emotional movements their lips made against one another soon gave way to a more passionate embrace. Mouths parted and tongues began tangling with a fiery, primal intensity. Intoxicated, by his touch, taste and feel, Sara fanned the fingers of one hand across his cheek while her other arm snaked around his back to draw him closer.  Michael responded by shifting his weight over her and the sensation of his body pressed down against hers sent waves of dizzying heat crashing through her.    At Fox River, there had always been barriers between them, things both real and imagined to keep them apart. But currently there were none and Michael couldn't get enough, beneath him she was so soft and so warm and so… real. During the last week or so on the run he'd let himself imagine what it would be like to be with her on more than one occasion, but the reality was so much better than his fantasies.  However, even the best fantasy eventually must end. With reluctant resolve, Michael finally pulled back. Breathlessly, he gazed down at Sara, trying to process all that had happened in the course of one short night.  It was hard enough to believe that she was actually here. Let alone that hat she had helped Lincoln… or that they had just made out.    The only light in the room came from the embers in the stove.  In the soft glow Sara's skin looked luminescent and her lips were slightly redder and fuller than before, probably from all the kissing.   She'd never been more beautiful, and he knew without a doubt she deserved so much better than this.  As he caught his breath he leaned down and rested his forehead affectionately against hers for a few seconds before asking, "What are we doing?" "I don't know." Sara replied still breathless herself as Michael leaned back.  And it was true; she had no idea what she was doing.  Even being in his presence for one night was stupid and reckless and most likely something she could go to jail for.  Even so she knew she wouldn't regret a moment of it. "You have to leave in a few hours." "I know…" She agreed sadly and then looked up into his direct gaze. "I don't want to go." "I don't want you to go… but you have to." Reluctantly, she nodded ever-so-slightly in agreement.  She knew she had to leave. As Michael looked down at her, he felt at war with himself.  Part of him felt pure joy at the connection they shared; the other part was furious for allowing her to get so close. Even being near him was dangerous and he'd already hurt her enough.  But he couldn't help it, the way she was looking up at him, so open and trusting, lifted his heart. "Sara, I have nothing to offer right now. Any association you have with me will only prove to be a liability.  And if I were a nobler man I would push you away for your own good, but the truth is I'm not noble and all I want to do right now is hold on tight." That made her smile. With one hand she reached up and cupped the side of his face. Her fingers traced the light stubble there. "Michael, this can't last forever… you guys being on the run… can it?" "In the next few weeks we’ll either expose the truth or flea the country."  He didn't add the unspoken scenario where they would all end up dead. "I want to help." Sara replied intently. "It's too dangerous."  He shifted backwards so his body was now wedged beside Sara against the back of the couch.  "You have to go back tomorrow and pretend like you've never seen us." "What are we going to do?" Michael looked down at her.  He had no idea what they were going to do, but he couldn’t help the huge smile that spread clear across his face as he looked into her inviting brown eyes. "I have no idea, but I'll think of something, all we need is a plan.  But for now?" "Yeah?" "I think we need sleep."  And with that he pulled her towards him so she was facing him, lying on her side, draped firmly against him. "Yeah… okay… sleep." Sara agreed as she found a surprisingly comfortable spot on his shoulder to rest her head. "Goodnight, Michael." "'Goodnight, Sara." *** Veronica had only been mildly surprised when she exited the bedroom and found Sara and Michael entwined on the couch, both in a deep sleep.  Part of her hated to wake them, hated to intrude on such an intimate scene, but she knew Sara needed to get back to the city.  It had taken some stealthy movement on her part, but she'd managed to rouse Sara without waking Michael.   After Sara checked on her patient and decided that he was doing well enough for her to leave him, it only took her a few minutes to gather all her belongings.  Just like that she was ready to leave the cabin. As they stood near the door, Veronica glanced at Michael still sleeping peacefully on the couch. With a whisper she asked, "Shouldn't we wake him up?  Don't you want to say goodbye?" Sara looked over at him and felt something tug deep inside her chest, but she shook her head. "No." "Why not?" "Because goodbyes suck." Veronica nodded with sympathy. "Yeah." At that Sara tore her gaze from Michael and met Veronica's eye with a smile. "And because this isn't goodbye." "It's not?"  Veronica couldn't help the smile that formed on her lips.   Sara shook her head and waved the disposable Wyoming cell phone she'd taken off the table a few minutes earlier. Veronica smiled realizing it meant she wanted to stay in touch with them.  "No, I am going home this morning, but this is definitely not goodbye." "I'm glad to hear it." Veronica's voice was filled with relief, they were facing such daunting odds that Sara as a true ally was extremely good news. Sara reached out and squeezed the other woman's arm. "Thank you, Veronica, for going against Michael's wishes yesterday and coming to get me." The other woman was shaking her head. "No, thank you. I don't know how you did it, but Lincoln already seems so much better than last night. I don't know what we would have done without you…" "Well I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't have come to get me yesterday. Lincoln's not the only one who did some healing overnight." And with that Sara walked out of the cabin, not knowing what the future would hold, but certain her path would cross with the current inhabitants sooner rather than later.  After all Michael was working on a plan... The End.

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