Bite Shift

64

None of my patients were very complicated. I had two with chest pain that were there overnight for observation, one who had gotten a pacemaker that day and would go home in the morning, one with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation and one with an exacerbation of congestive heart failure. The last one was being give diuretics twice a day and rang the call bell for help to the bathroom about every half hour. We were taking turns walking her into the restroom to pee.

Tiffany helped me count the narcotics and there were no issues. Tara came out, at one point, and slammed a paper onto the nurses' station, walking away without a word. It was the assignments for the morning shift. I picked up the paper, went to the white board, erased the old list and wrote the morning assignments for the new shift.

It was a very quiet night but I wouldn't say it out loud, none of us would. It would jinx everything.

Around 2:30 am, I checked my phone and still had no messages. I figured it was a good time for a break. I reported off to everyone and walked downstairs to Alex's office. Even before I reached the door, I knew it was shut. Knocking on it, I turned the knob with the other hand and pushed. The room was as cluttered as it had been before but no doctor sat inside it. He wasn't there.

He isn't working tonight. Must have missed him. I hope he isn't sick, or mad at me, I thought. "Or avoiding me" I said out loud.

I shut the door and walked back the way I came. The door to the crosswalk opened. Walking down the walkway, a slightly less than full moon shone through the glass, and I felt magical. Until the night I was attacked, the full moon had always felt like magic to me. I tried to not blame the moon for my problems and I caught a reflection of myself in the line of windows. It was me, in my usual scrubs, in my usual hospital. I had walked this path a thousand times; into work and out of work. This was the first time, though, that I was walking to my van for a blood break. It felt so surreal, to be looking forward to a Thermos of blood, in my van, at the hospital. How long would it take to get used to this?

The door at the end of the crosswalk opened to the silent parking garage. My van was one of only three cars. The other two were both black; a Camaro and Toyota Camry. I was paying closer attention to cars now. I knew I wanted a new one but not what kind yet. The only thing I had settled on was the color. I wanted black. So, I was looking particularly close at other black cars, to get an idea of what style I liked. I loved the look of the Camaro but I knew that was really impractical. I wanted something that was cool but I still needed to go to the grocery store and cart kids around. Plus, I lived in Pittsburgh, where snow is a possibility eight months out of twelve. A Camaro was not going to happen.

I hit the button on my key fob to open the side door of the van. It slid open and revealed my lunch. Unscrewing the lid, I drank the remaining liquid. It was still warm. I may need to invest in more of these!

"Kate!" I jumped and almost spit out the last mouthful of blood. I managed to gulp it down and took a deep breath. Looking around, I saw Will getting out of the Camry. He jogged over to me and gave me a hug. I don't think I could have been any more surprised than I was.

He leaned back, one hand grabbing each one of my upper arms. "Don't be mad."

"What are you doing here?" This was becoming a real issue. I did not need vampires showing up at the hospital every time I worked. It was going to raise some suspicions and I would have to change jobs. But, then, I didn't know any hospital that would like their nurses getting personal visitors every night.

"Sorin made me come."

"Really?"

He let go of my arms and shrugged. "He said you'd be mad. But he said that someone should be here" he made quotations for the next two words, "in case".

I snorted and shook my head. Unbelievable. That whole speech about strong women and he didn't mean a word of it. "In case of what?"

"I'm not sure. He said that I would know if it happened. He wanted someone older, faster, and stronger nearby. He wanted me to ask one of the bodyguards but I volunteered. Honestly, I could use a night away. And, I was curious about where you worked!"

I was so angry that I couldn't see straight. Faster and stronger? His bodyguards?! Who the hell did he think he was??

"Thank you for coming all this way but I don't need anyone."

Will pouted. "Listen, girl." He touched each finger on his left hand as he counted. "One, Sorin will be mucho pissed if I don't stay. Two, it doesn't hurt to have a friend around. Better to not need me and have me than the alternative. Three, I guarantee there is a hot doctor or two around here that I can look at and fantasize about later."

What could I say? I did not want him on Sorin's bad side because I was being stubborn. I could let him hang out in a waiting room until I was done and deal with Sorin tomorrow night. I was off so I would have plenty of time to tell him what I thought of his little "bodyguard plan". If I thought a vampire visitor would raise eyebrows, Tamela or Edwin or Naseem standing and watching me work was definitely not an option!

"Fine," I relented and he smiled. He jumped up and down like I had just invited him to a slumber party. "I will show you where the 5th floor waiting room is. There are some copies of women's magazines from a decade ago to look at. You can find out what men really want while I wrap up this shift. You leave when I leave."

He put his right hand on his heart. "Yes, milady."

I laughed. I couldn't help it. He was, by far, the furthest from the vampires in every movie and book, that could ever exist.

He pointed at the open side door. "You might want to toss the Thermos in and close the door. Last thing you need is a dead battery when it's time to go. I don't think you want to explain to your coworkers why you need to sleep in a closet during the day."

"Good point," I said. I turned to the van, screwed the top back on the Thermos, laid it on the floor and hit the button to close the sliding door. The loud beep that indicates the door is closing hit my ears.

A sharp pain ripped down my spine. I saw a flash of white and the world went black.