The room came back into focus, as if everything was in slow motion. A slight shake of her head caused a wave of nausea that threaten to bring up the meager contents of her stomach.

"Don't move too much. I'm not the best seamstress, so I'm not sure how well those stitches will hold." That cold monotone cut through the fog her brain was wrapped in, bringing her back to reality.

"Whyyy arrre youuu dooing thissss?" She slurred every word as if she was coming out of anesthesia. But there was no way he could have gotten any sedative strong enough to put her, let alone keep her out.

"Because you need it."

The answer confused her more than any she could have expected. No one did things out of the kindness of their own hearts, no one. She wasn't even sure she'd ever met someone with a heart.

"You have to want something, everyone does."

"I just need to know what's going on here. You're the first person I've talked to since getting here that hasn't tried to shoot at me, and that was three days ago."

"Where have you been for the last five years, under a rock?" Tamar asked.

"I've been... out of town for a while, I just got back."

A shadow moved over her, looking up Tamar saw Malachi stand and walk away towards the window.

"Stay as still as you can and get some more sleep. I'll be back within the hour." Tamar was about to ask what he was doing when she watched him, with a slight hop, drop out of view through the space where the window had once been.

What kind of person was this man? He'd just jumped out a window from a height of at least nine hundred feet with no more fear than someone stepping off a curb. But her head was so full of cobwebs she couldn't push many thoughts through it at the moment. And the blanket he'd brought was so warm and inviting. So she snuggled deeper into the bed, making sure she avoided the broken spring she found a couple of hours before, the hard and sharp way.

Why did she feel so relaxed around him? Sure, he'd set the bone in her leg and sewed it up, but what did he want? He'd said he only wanted information, but she'd been lied to before, by everyone. So why would he be any different? She fell asleep on that thought.

* * *

The first thing she saw when she opened her eyes hours later was the once white ceiling. But beyond that she realized what had brought her out of her deep sleep, the smell of meat, freshly caught with the blood still in it. Mouth watering, she began to swing her legs off the bed before her mind reached first gear. The pain that shot through her pulled a muffled cry from her and caused her vision to narrow as the floor rushed up to meet her nose.

Throwing her hands up, she squeezed her eyes shut and tensed for the impact. Seconds went by and still no jarring thud, so she cracked an eye open to see the once plush carpet less than an inch from her face. She was being held an inch off the floor by something, but she couldn't see it. Until she lifted her head and saw two black clad feet, looking further towards the ceiling she caught sight of the rest of Malachi standing over her. His suit was out as hundreds of tiny threads, each supported a different part of her body.

"I told you not to move around too much."

"Yeah, well I'm hungry and I wanted to make sure you didn't eat all of whatever you're cooking." She looked up at him again. "You can put me down now."

With a slight movement of his hand, everything holding her up was gone. She hit the cold hard floor with a sudden thud and howled as her leg banged down hard.

"What was that for?" She screamed, pounding both fists against the floor.

"You told me to put you down, so I did." Tamar caught his words after he'd turned and walked back into what she took for a kitchen.

With a hiss of pain Tamar pushed herself onto her hand and one knee, the injured leg she held off the floor. Shuffling around the best she could, she caught ahold of the edge of the bed and pulled herself her up until she could balance on one foot. Eyebrows furrowed into a deep vee, she stared towards the other room where the smells were coming from and took a tiny hop. The motion jarred her bad leg so badly she screamed.

"Get back in that bed or I'll put you back there myself. When these rabbits are done, I'll bring them to you."

"You are not going to treat me like a child!" She yelled through gritted teeth. Then for good measure she stuck her tongue out in his direction before hobbling back to the bed and sitting down.

"Then don't act like one. You are in no condition to be out of that bed, you still have a fever so the less movement the better. Just let your body heal and you'll be fine in a couple of days."