[ If and when Elena feeds on someone else in the future, perhaps she'll share that sense of relief with Gil more fully, when she's not so worried about taking too much or about any of this being more than the donor can handle. Maybe with Sam, who seems able to take just about anything, as much as she hates having to feed from him at all. But for now, she has to be in control, for his sake and her own.

It's that control, that need to take care of him, that has her moving quickly to wipe away the trickle of blood with the cloth, to press against the small punctures and prepare a bandage to wrap around his neck. She'd gone for the side so that it would be easier to secure the bandage and not have it move. ]

I'm going to finish bandaging this up and then I'm going to get you some water, okay? Maybe some tea if I can find it. Just keep breathing, Gil.

[ Elena can feel that nausea creeping up in him and trying to spill over into herself, and she does her best to keep pulling in strong, steady breaths, concentrating on what she's doing as she ties off the bandage. ]