The Vampire's Requiem II [malexmale]

Chapter Thirty-Two

Chapter Thirty-Two (Starling)

 The distraught look on Daimonas' face broke my heart.

I knew from the moment Newell told him about Dominik that Daimonas blamed himself, especially since he had a vision that predicted Dominik's attempt. It was why he was silent the whole way to the hospital. His heart was breaking and he was fighting so hard not to cry, but even I could see how much he wanted to break down.

Part of me was jealous. Someone hadn't gotten so close to Daimonas that Daimonas that cared if something happened to them, enough to actually cry over them. But I knew Daimonas would never love anyone else or cheat on me. He was incredibly loyal and sweet and naive, and I liked all of that about him. Daimonas didn't know how to betray or hurt people. At least, not unless they hurt him first, or someone close to him, like this Jason dickwad that hurt Dominik.

Newell pulled into the hospital parking lot roughly and swerved into a parking spot, making my stomach throw itself into my throat. I pursed my lips and swallowed hard in an attempt not to vomit. I made a mental note to take the bus or skateboard to wherever I wanted, because Newell was an awful driver and how he managed to even fake a license was beyond me.

We climbed out of the car and let Newell lead the way into the hospital, where he approached the front desk to ask about Dominik. The rest of us stayed near the lobby in case they told us to wait, but much to our relief, we didn't have to. According to the doctors, we were the first ones to actually visit Dominik.

"His parents only came to sign papers and then they left," The nurse told us, her accent thick and her disgust evident, "I can't believe they would leave him alone like this. No wonder the poor child couldn't stand it anymore." Nobody said anything, but Daimonas winced. I laced my fingers together with his hand and gave his hand a squeeze. He just looked at me helplessly before the nurse led us into Dominik's room.

The hospital room was stark white, except for Dominik's pale blue hospital gown and his striped blankets and pillow. Beside his bed was a rolling cart with a tray of untouched food on it. My eyes drew to Dominik's wrists that were heavily bandaged with gauze. His expression was completely blank behind his glasses. A cold chill swept through me as I stood there, staring at him.

Yesterday, I had seen the discomfort on his face at having me arrive so suddenly and I felt kind of bad for ruining their little hang out, but I needed to be with Daimonas again, so much that it hurt. I didn't stop to think maybe I had hurt his feelings, but it was so hard to tell when his face was expressionless most of the time.

"Dominik, you have some visitors." The nurse said gently. Dominik said nothing, just stared straight ahead in absolute silence. The nurse bit her lower lip and turned to Newell, who was frowning at Dominik.

"He's been like this all morning," She said softly, "Please be patient and if something happens, let us know and we'll be right here." She gave a nod after that, then departed. Newell cleared his throat, looking at Xed.

"We'll go wait in the lobby. It gives me a chance to call Vladimir and inform him of the situation, if the snake doesn't already know." He added dryly, then stepped out with Xed hot on his heels. I shut the door to give us more privacy. Daimonas approached the bed carefully, looking scared that if he touched Dominik, he might shatter.

"Dominik?" He asked hesitantly. Dominik just turned his head the opposite way. Daimonas looked hurt.

"Dominik, I... I'm so sorry." He managed. Dominik turned his head to stare at him now, looking somewhere between surprised and annoyed.

"Why are you sorry?" He asked. His voice was like a blade of ice. I said nothing, mostly because I didn't know Dominik as well as Daimonas did and I didn't know how to deal with someone who was feeling this level of pain. From what Daimonas had told me, Dominik was always tormented. Even worse was that he still had memories of his parents being kind to him. Nothing was more horrible than ripping that away from someone and never giving it back. Dominik had suffered heavily, and he just wanted to get away from it all and the only thing he could think of... My eyes went to his wrists again, staring intently.