Fates (On Hold, Rewriting)

Chapter 9-UPDATED

Chapter 9

I wake up in a hospital bed with tubes and an IV attached to me. The bitten wrist is wrapped up in a bandage. I am the only patient in the room, but not the only body. Jason, who is sitting in a chair next to my bed, stirs when I awake.  

He sighs. "Thank goodness you're okay." 

My head is pounding, presumably from hitting my head when I fell. I shush him. "Not so loud. I have a headache." 

"Sorry." 

The reality of where I am hits me. "I can't be here. They can't know I exist." 

"Don't worry," he assures me. "There won't be any paper trail on you." 

"But I have been admitted into the hospital! Of course there will be a paper trail," I argue.  

"My mother is your attending physician," he states. "She's taken care of your paperwork and the bill won't be paid for by you guys. The government won't have anything on you, I swear." 

He had better be right about that. "What happened to me? How did I get here?" 

He rises and shuts the door to the room. "Lilly," he says, face grim and hands in his pockets, "you were attacked by a vampire." 

I gasp. "The dog?" 

He nods. "Some vampires have the ability to shift into another animal. For some, this allows them to attract humans easier, or not draw much attention to their deaths. I found you after you had already fainted. You lost a lot of blood, Lilly. They had to do an emergency transfusion." 

"What do the regular doctors think happened to me?" 

"They know it was a dog that bite you. They just don't know how to explain the large amount of blood you lost," Jason says. "To explain the concussion, they believe you tripped and hit your head. That's why you were unconscious when I found you. The rabies vaccination status of the alleged dog is unknown, so they will make you go through treatment." 

"Which is?"  

"A series of shots to make sure you were not infected," he replies. "But you don't need to go through any of that. And the healing process for the bite doesn't have to take anywhere near as long as it should." 

I give him a puzzled look. 

"My blood," he says bluntly. "My blood is what allows me to heal at an incredible rate. If given to a human, the effects will be the same. All you have to do is give me permission, Lilly." 

"Why are you giving me a choice?" 

"To prove to you not all vampires are monsters. To show that I am a respectable man who will not force something you do not want on you." He sounds sincere in his words.  

I'm pleased he is trying so hard to change my opinion, but there will always be a part of me that objects. "Jason, please understand how difficult of a decision this is for me. I have principles, and they are screaming, 'No!' But at the same time, I know I cannot be handicapped like this for a few weeks." 

"I understand completely," he says. "But what is your final decision?" 

After a great inner debate, which included the fact that my parents would think it was strange Jason had found me, I comply. "Go ahead," I say. "Will it hurt?" 

He grins and shakes his head. "No. You won't even feel the blood entering your body." He draws the blinds by the door and window, blocking out the moonlight. Quickly, he bites his own wrist and unscrews the tube connected to the fluid bag. Without flinching, he inserts the end into his arm and his blood flows through the tube and into me. I feel a tingling sensation in my wrist and ask Jason to help me unwrap it. I watch as the wound stitches itself shut and the doctor's stitches melt away.