BloodStone: Ice (Book 1)(Completed)

Chapter 26

Ella walked silently through the hospital halls. Her reflective shield pulled tight against her, making her invisible to anyone who passed. She didn't want to be seen here. Didn't really want to be here. She hated hospitals. But this was something she had had to do.

The doors to the ICU were closed and she waited a few minutes until someone went through them before she entered. Being invisible to the public was all great, but if you opened a door that someone was most likely watching, and they saw no one, they would get suspicious. She needed time to check Michael over and she didn't want to be disturbed.

His room was at the end of the hall, where it was not in the direct line of view from the nurses station, so she was able to quietly close his door without it being noticed. He still hadn't regained consciousness and that was giving her cause for concern. His chart was hanging at the end of his bed, but she passed by it without glancing at it. She could get more from him by reading what was going on in his body. She reached down and carefully took his hand into hers.

He could breathe on his own. There had been a puncture in his lungs, but the doctors had repaired it. Still the machine they had going was easing the strain from them so that they could heal better. She closed up the edges, giving his water a strong command not to allow any extra fluid into them. His intestines had taken the brunt of the damage. They had removed several feet of them and she checked through them thoroughly to make sure there were no holes they had missed. He had been ripped open just below his rib cage and the vampire had tried to disembowel him. She wondered briefly what the doctors had made of his wounds. And what they had been told created them.

There was a large quantity of clotted blood in his system. Not large clots, yet. Still, she didn't want them collecting and causing heart failure or even stroke, so she pulled them apart and broke them down. She eased the blood clots around every bruise to help speed his healing, and ease the pain he would be in.

There was something else still there though. Something he couldn't fight on his own.

She moved her hand slowly up to the side of the neck. Hating what she had to do now. Hating to invade his privacy. But she needed to know his mind. Needed to know what he would want. She leaned in close to him and placed her lips next to his ear.

"Michael," she whispered. "You were injured in the fight. You are in the hospital. Do you understand me?" There was a brief flash of her face. She was standing in the recreational room calling out the hunters' names. Then the red building. "Good Michael. Now I need you to know what's going on so you can tell me what to do for you. You're going to be here in Dallas recovering for a while. I know you don't have a wife or kids back in Abilene, but was there someone else? Someone you want here with you?" A flash. A woman's face. A voice talking to the woman. His voice. Calling her by her name. Laura. "How can I get hold of her Michael? Is her number on your cell phone?" There was an image of a cell phone in his gear next to his cot. "I'm sorry. I can feel your pain. But you're doing wonderful. I just need you to tell me one more thing. Does she know what you do Michael? Or do you have some kind of cover story? I don't want to tell her the wrong thing." There was blankness for a moment and then an image. She studied it. It was similar to a police badge, but the wording was wrong. It didn't say security. She thought it said detective though. She would have to look through his gear to see if he had it with him. "Alright Michael. I'll take care of it. You go back to sleep now. And thank you. You did a wonderful job on the hunt. I'll make sure everything is taken care of until you can recover. Don't worry about a thing."