Christmas Healing by Jasmine Bowen, Morris Fenris

to be receiving chemo every day, but with her body already weakened, it was every day and a half, and even that was hard for her.
    “Fine ,“ she replied and he stepped into the room. Within a moment of him stepping inside, Tony was suddenly at the door as well.
    Annalise gave him a smile. She had missed him, of course, but she still felt jerked away from the place where she had come to love.
    “ Tony, give me a moment, will you?” Dr. Hever asked. Tony gave him a look, but relented. Annalise smirked, glad to see some things didn’t change.
    “I’m just going to check your vitals, and make sure things are still strong, okay? You were a little lower than I liked last night.”
    She held out her left arm, reaching for her phone with the other hand. He wrapped a blood pressure cuff around her arm as she scrolled to her text messages.
    Skype meeting confirmed, 10 am.
    It was from Gregory, who had been kind enough to allow her to continue to communicate with Arthur through him. She hadn’t succeeded in getting Arthur a phone yet, although it was her next mission before it was too late.
    Too late.
    She didn’t like to think like that, but if things didn’t change soon, it would be true.
    “Hmmm,” Dr. Hever muttered to himself. “Your blood pressure is still really low. Do you feel alright?”
    “A bit light headed ,” she admitted.
    “Are you hungry?”
    “No,” of this she was sure. Chemo this round seemed to take her appetite completely.
    “You have to eat, Annalise. It’s almost 10 am. Dinner will be served at 5.”
    “I uh …” she brought her knees up to her chest. “Alright, I’ll be out in a bit. I’m going to shower and try to look decent today.”
    “Call if you need help,” he said, and let her alone.
    She reached for her phone, booting up Skype, and trying to fix her hair to make it not look like a rat’s nest, and wiped away sleep from her eyes, just as the Bugresson’s account popped up. Smiling and feeling better already, she pressed call.
    It was Rosa’s face that filled the screen, adjusting the webcam so that it properly captured what she wanted. With her own image in the bottom right corner, Annalise felt inadequate, messy and sloppy. The ballerina still looked perfect, as always, her red locks splayed around her face, and her large eyes surrounded by perfect makeup.
    “Well, you look like shit,” was Rosa’s greeting. “You should still be asleep.”
    “You’re kindness astounds me, Rosa, but let me talk to Arthur.”
    “Yeah, I know,” Rosa turned around from the computer and drew in a deep breath. “ARTHUR!” she bellowed, echoing through the house.
    Annalise looked around the living room of their mansion, taking in every detail. It wasn’t so long ago that she was sitting on the couch in the background, her legs curled up under her, and Arthur sitting by her side.
    They had put up some Christmas decorations since she left, one of the things that she had instructed Arthur to do. But mostly, the place still looked the same.
    Arthur ’s long legs came into view in the background and Rosa vacated the chair. When his face filled the screen, Annalise broke into a grin.
    “Hey,” she said. Arthur was still a bit nervous around technology, but seeing Annalise made him forget most of his fear.
    “ Annalise. How are you?”
    “I’m good,” she lied through her teeth, leaning her head back and trying to relax. All that sitting forward made her dizzy. “You look like you were coming from somewhere.”
    “Yes, we went out,” he said, hesitantly.
    “ Who’s we?”
    “My brothers and I,” Arthur replied. “Just for a visit to a coven.”
    “Oh,” she said, sensing that it was official vampire prince business. Gregory had expressed his pain a few times that Arthur, his regent, closest brother and once best friend, was not up to taking up his old duties. Annalise was glad to see progress in this area. “How was that?”
    “I am glad we finished on time, so I could be