Angel barged into his office, barely noticing the door slamming into the wall. Doyle and Cordelia both jumped slightly, but he didn't care. Clutching his side, his stormed past them and down towards his home, underneath the office. Doyle and Cordelia exchanged a worried glance, then followed.
Ripping off his shirt on the way, Angel used it to stop the blood flowing from his side from dripping onto the floor - or more importantly, his expensive carpet. He heard a gasp from behind him as blood seeped into his shirt, but didn't bother to face his two employees, heading straight for the cupboard where he kept his medical kit. It didn't contain any panadol or anaesthetic - just bandages and other things used for patching holes in people. And right now, that was what he needed.
"Angel, in case you didn't notice, there's a large hole in your side," Cordelia pointed out, sounding slightly disgusted. Angel resisted the urge to turn around and snarl at her - barely.
"I'm aware of this Cordelia," he managed to grind out from between gritted teeth. He slowly lowered himself onto the bathroom floor, and gingerly lifted his shirt to inspect his wound. The gash was deep and wide. A human would have been killed almost instantly, but he was Angel. A wound this size was merely inconvenient, not to mention painful. It would heal in a few days - even a large wound like this - but right now it was still there, and it HURT. Muttering to himself about the lack of consideration demons had for other people, he opened the medical kit and began to rummage through it.
"Cordelia, why don't you go get some hot, salty water for Angel?" Doyle asked, moving over and sitting beside Angel, who blinked at him in surprise.
Cordelia opened her mouth to object, but for some reason changed her mind and went to do what she was told.
"What happened?" Doyle asked, gently taking the shirt from Angel's hands and inspecting the wound.
"Someone thought I looked better with a hole in my side," Angel replied, watching him as he let him take over. Doyle avoided his gaze as he used the shirt to apply pressure to the wound, trying to stop the bleeding.
Cordelia returned with a large bowel of warm salty water.
"If you're going to live - so to speak - through this," she said, handing the bowel to Doyle, "Can I go now? Cos otherwise you'll have to pay me for overtime."
Angel smiled slightly. "You can go, Cordelia," he said quietly.
"Great," she replied, and turned and left without so much as a backward glance. Doyle watched her go, then dipped Angel's shirt into the water.
"Did the other guy come out of the fight as bad as you?" he asked, watching as the water turned red.
"He didn't come out at all," Angel replied, hissing slightly as Doyle applied the wet shirt against his side, using it to wash away some of the blood that was already drying.
"Sorry," Doyle said, trying to be more careful. Angel smiled slightly.
"That's ok - I've been through worse than this." He watched a little river of his blood trickle across the floor and down the drain. So red�wait a sec. There was something wrong here. Something important. Something about blood supposed to be inside you� "Uh�Doyle?" he asked slowly. His vision was getting fuzzy, and it was hard to concentrate. "I think I'm suffering from blood loss�" The room began to tilt. Doyle said something, but he couldn't concentrate - the red river on the tiles was far more fascinating. So pretty�
Doyle was yelling at him. Why was Doyle yelling? He needed to loosen up - that was far more fun then yelling. Whoa�his head felt funny. He was sure it'd feel better if the room would stop going around in circles.
Suddenly Doyle yanked him close, hugging him tightly and pulling his face towards his neck. He neevr knew Doyle was so affectionate�sniff sniff. What was that smell? Blood. God, he was thirsty�but he was so tired too. Maybe he would take a little nap before he ate something. Doyle was yelling at him again and shaking him. It kind of made it hard to sleep. The smell of blood was suddenly stronger. So enticing�maybe he would have something to eat before he went to sleep.
Slowly, feebly, Angel licked the blood trickling down Doyle's neck. Doyle almost fainted with relief.
"That's it Angel," he said quietly, his hand in Angel's hair, guiding him toward the wound he had made. "Drink."
He gasped when he felt Angel's fangs pierce his skin, then shuddered as he began to suck. It felt�strange, but at the same time almost pleasant. Almost.
"Don't�drink too much," he managed to gasp, although whether Angel heard him or not was a different story. Suddenly the demon in him flared, and shoved Angel away, his face contorting to its true form. Angel too, had his demon face on as he fell back, his eyes closed.
His breathing ragged, Doyle felt his neck where Angel's fangs had been buried. Already the wounds were closing. Making an effort, he slipped back into his human features and crawled over to where Angel still lay.
"Angel?" he asked, trying to hide the fear in his voice. What if he'd pushed him away too soon? His answer was a slight groan. Angel's features melted back to human as his eyes flickered open. Unable to hide the grin on his face, Doyle placed a hand gently on his shoulder.
"Don't move," he ordered, reaching back towards the medical kit. Angel obeyed, lying still as Doyle patched him up, as he tried to figure out what had just happened. All he could think of was something about a river�
"What�what happened?" he asked as Doyle finished applying the last bandage.
"We nearly lost you mate," he replied, a small smile on his face. He went to move away, but Angel grabbed his arm.
"Thank you," he whispered, although he wasn't entirely sure why. Doyle blushed slightly.
"Anytime," he muttered, embarrassed. He helped Angel haul to his feet. "C'mon, the sun's coming up." He help drag the still sluggish vampire to his huge bed in the next room. He pulled off his shoes as Angel collapsed on the bed, asleep almost before his head hit the pillow. Doyle smiled at him affectionately, pulling a blanket over him, even though he didn't really need it. He let his eyes linger on Angel's naked upper torso. Gingerly he reached out and touched the smooth skin. So cool to touch. He pulled back and smiled slightly.
"Anytime," he said quietly, before leaving the room, shutting the door behind him.