Bite Shift

53

I walked up the stairs, blood in hand, and wanted to scream. It was all too much. Alex, Monica, Rhys, Will, Sorin, Tom, Sarah, Olivia, Ellie... too many people needed things from me and I was letting everyone down.

I just want to go back a week and not go outside to eat. I want to stay inside that night and not get attacked and not be a vampire. I want to have called off that night and stayed home with the girls.

But, would someone else have been attacked in my place?

Who knows. No point in wondering. I can't go back. I did get attacked. I am a vampire. That isn't going to change.

Unless Alex finds the cure. You have to believe. You have to have hope. He will find the cure and you can go back to daylight shift and leave all this behind you. You can do this.

I walked onto the 5th floor and didn't see anyone. They were probably sitting somewhere and charting or doing final rounds before all the patients were snoring. Monica was in her office so I headed that way.

The door was opened. I peeked my head in. "Ready to hang some blood?"

"You bet," she said and made her way around her desk and up to me.

I smelled it instantly. "You smoked!"

"Damn! How did you know?" She held up her hand to stop me. "I took Jackson with me. I was outside of the ER entrance. Stewart was in his booth watching me. I was safe, Mother."

"Fine. Next time, I want to go with you."

"Starting the habit?"

"No." I kept out the even though I don't have to worry about cancer anymore. "I just want you to be safe. I want you to have protection."

She laughed. "Are you a bodyguard now? Did you develop some kind of super power that I am unaware of?"

"Nope," I answered quickly, "safety in numbers."

Before she could say anything else, I turned and walked towards the back half of the unit, where 501 was. I heard her following behind me. Once in the room, I snapped on the small light above the bed. A small, frail women, of about 90, blinked her eyes open.

"Hi. I'm your nurse, Kate. This is Monica. Dr. Kitchner ordered you some blood so we are here to hook it up and give it to you, okay?"

"Okay," she answered and held out her left arm to present her white paper ID bracelet. Monica pulled a cow into the room and stopped it next to the bed. She picked up some IV tubing from next to the patient's bed. I read of the name, date of birth and admission number of the patient while Monica checked the paper order to ensure it matched. She read the order blood order out loud. "1 unit packed red blood cells, A negative, per type and cross. Signed by Dr. Kitchner."

I read the label on the bag of blood in my hand. "A negative. One unit packed red blood cells."

"Why are you saying all that," the patient asked.

I answered. "We want to make sure we have the right patient and the right blood so nothing happens. If I had the wrong person and gave you the wrong type, it could make you very sick."

"Okay, dear. Go ahead."

I hung the bag from the hook on the IV pole. Bags of blood are heavier than you think and I saw the small hole, in the thick plastic bag, stretch from the weight of the contents pulling it down. The plastic they are made of is pretty strong. You need a special set of tubing for blood and the spike that goes into the bag is thick and strong to be able to puncture the tough bag. While Monica typed into the patient's chart, I spike the bag and started to prime the tubing. I watch the dark red blood slide down the clear tubing and started to fill the drip chamber. When in the bag, I couldn't smell anything. But, now that it was spiked and open, the sweet coppery scent of it hit my nose. My stomach ached and my mouth started to water. I was still hungry and I wanted that blood. Now.