8 Seven*

The woman at the reception - her name was Samantha Denton. - raised her head to acknowledge the entry of us. Her eyebrows raised at the sight of me - probably wondering who I was - and she seemed quite shocked to see the face of Dawn, as if unable to believe that she had come back here. Well, if she had heard about the you-know-what, I suppose it wasn't much of a shock to see that expression of hers.

"Ms Smith is in her tattooing room. There's no one in it except her, so I suppose it'll be alright if you just enter." She mumbled all of that and stopped looking at us, returning to the monitor to work on something.

Dawn slowly nodded and walked toward the room, as if she's been here a lot. "I've been here a few times, just to have a chat with her before all that. Her room is at the end of the hallway, and also the biggest room in here. She wanted the biggest room 'cause she had said she would like to stay in that room to work on designs and supposed that she would have to work overnight a bit more often than she would please." Dawn explained as if she had seen the curiosity that filled in my mind. I slowly nodded but didn't bother responding vocally.

Dawn stood in front of the door and seemed to take in a deep breath. I could tell she was nervous, although I doubted she would talk with her. I held her hand, trying my best to comfort her and ease her anxiety. Her hand was a bit cold and slightly wet from her sweat. That wasn't much of a change, though, since her hands were always slightly colder and moister than the average hand due to excessive sweating and cold hands.

She gave the door a small tap, and the woman inside - obviously Jane Smith - said, "Come in."

We entered together, me still holding her hand. She gave a quick nod at Dawn and looked curiously at our held hands. "You didn't tell me you'd bring someone with you." She accused Dawn, her blue eyes in a shade of a mixture of tease and surprise. I was quite surprised to see no trace of disgust in her eyes or posture. She appeared kind as if she was trying to say "I don't like the idea of your being pansexual, but I will not mind or think about it too much". I felt thankful to her for being able to not care too much about it than before.

I glanced to see Dawn's face and was happy to see that she also had the same expression on her face as mine: relief. Dawn smiled apologetically and said, "This is Lucas. I suppose you've met him or someone close to him before. I just came to give you the drawing. I added a black rose by the way. It'll prove its worth sooner or later." With that last sentence, Dawn glanced at me as if trying to say that the drawing would be on me. I didn't know what she intended or what she was planning.

"Oh, yeah, I believe I've met one of your friends, I think," Jane said while taking the drawings from Dawn. At a glimpse, I could tell there were two cages; one with the door open, and the other closed. "Nice work, Dawn! I think this could be used as a matching tattoo! There had been a few requests to make one for the many couples that visit us who wants the design to be slightly different, and I think this would be perfect." She smiled genuinely back at her, really thankful for her efforts.

"I'm glad you like it. I've added the drawings for a few different types of birds on the paper behind it." Dawn smiled gratefully at the reaction and added the comment. She almost laughed when Jane's eyes lit up with happiness.

"I'm sorry to say this, Jane, but I feel like the drawings I've provided you today would be the final ones. I'm not completely sure if I'd be able to continue working, with my health declining at a speed I had not expected or even thought of in the first place." Dawn said, after looking at me for a bit of support.

"Why, did something happen?"

"Well, the reason Lucas had to come with me is that..... He's my caretaker. I've just been diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer in the extensive stage before I came here."