Bite Shift

79

The ER entrance was my best bet. Without my badge, I was going to have to get the security guard on duty to let me up to the floor I needed. If I was lucky, it was someone I knew.

I was lucky. Stewart sat at his post, just inside of the sliding glass down. He looked up and shock crossed his face. "Kate?" His wide eyes made a path down to my feet and back up to my face. "You look.... you're..." he was stuttering.

Fuck. I forgot to put on makeup and I had no idea how to mask. I didn't even know if I could. Stupid, Kate, really stupid.

"I want to see Monica Russell. She was brought in last night."

That changed his face and was the distraction I needed. "I heard. She's in the unit. I would love to get a hold of the stronzo that did that to her. In my father's day we would have tracked him down and taken care of it ourselves. I thank Saint Christopher that Dr. Kitchner found her when he did."

So, there's part of the story. She was attacked and Alex found her. What else were they saying. Why was she in the ICU? Was she hurt that badly?!

"I need to see her, Stewart. Can you call up and tell them to let me in?"

"Yeah," he nodded. "Course."

He picked up the phone and I made my way to the elevators, head down, trying to be unnoticeable. Mercilessly, the chaos of the emergency room made everyone too busy to give me a glance. When I was in the elevator, I raised my head.

The door opened to the intensive care unit. It was a locked unit and you needed to be buzzed in. I hit the white button on the intercom. It crackled when a nurse said "Yes?"

"Stewart called from the ED. I'm Kate from 5. I'm here to see Monica Russell." There was a click when she unlocked the door.

The ICU is the opposite of the ER. It is dead silent. Beeps from vents, IV pumps and heart monitors were the only sounds. The nurses whispered at the station. If I hadn't been a vampire, I would never had known they were talking at all. I approached the station. Jackson was the only one I knew. He was either visiting or had been pulled up here for the night. Looking at the two pretty nurses he was talking to, I was betting he was up here to use his charms. When he noticed me, his mouth dropped open. I was going to have a lot of explaining to do and didn't have the time. I decided to ignore the look.

"Where is she?"

"5." That was all I was going to get. He was having trouble thinking. I didn't want to be there when he was able to start asking questions so I left him gaping.

The door to room 5 was shut. I gently rapped my knuckle against the wood and slowly swung the door open before anyone answered. Alex was sitting at her bedside; his head was back against the chair and his eyes were closed. He looked peaceful. I wondered if he would have nightmares about the last two days.

Monica was less picturesque. She lay in the bed looking too small. The swelling had gotten worse since last night. One side of her face was a tie-dye of black, blue, purple and red. The eye was not going to be open for a while. Her lips were cracked and bits of dried blood rested in the corner of her mouth. One hand lay on her stomach. A pulse ox was taped to the first finger and a BP cuff was wrapped around her upper arm. The machine next to her told me that her oxygen levels were fine but her blood pressure was low. The O2 sat level was likely due to the oxygen being pumped into her nose by the cannula that rested in her nostrils. The other arm lay at her side. An IV in her forearm was giving her fluids. The bag on the pole was lactated ringers so she was low on fluids, blood or both. A PCA pump was next to the IV pole. She must have been in a great deal of pain for them to use that.