Hidden In Plain Sight (MxM)✔

Chapter 26 - Pain

Pain was all Luke could feel. His surroundings no longer mattered as his breathing grew labored and his consciousness faded in and out. He knew someone would smell his blood, and no amount of peppermint oil could hide it now.

Everything was a blur, either from his condition or from the speed that Nicholas was carrying him, he wasn't sure, but his body was growing colder by the second.

Then they stopped, and Luke bobbed his head, trying to look around. Opening his mouth, he found he was unable to speak as bloody bubbles gurgled up from his throat.

"What the hell happened?!" Came a startled voice.

"I don't have time to explain. We need to stabilize him!" Nicholas answered urgently.

"Why does he smell like that?"

"We don't have time!"

"But he should start healing if he's still alive, shouldn't he?" A moment of silence was followed by a confused, "Why isn't he healing?"

"Hurry up and find some bandages!" Nicholas hissed, avoiding every question as he hurried to stop the bleeding.

He heard people shuffling around, then something pressed hard against his abdomen, causing Luke's eyes to fly wide open as he let out a pained scream.

Then, an iron strong grip held him fast, and the stranger started shouting orders. At this point the pain was too unbearable, and Luke could no longer understand what was being said.

An unknown amount of time passed, with various hands ripping the humans clothes away and stitching together parts of his flesh. At one point he heard a scuffle, and a few things were smashed against the wall as someone was forcibly removed from the room.

Luke's body began to shiver dangerously when the pain dulled. He opened his eyes and blinked at the light from the fireplace. He felt sick, and numb at the same time.

"Luke!" Nicholas hurried to his side, cupping the human's cheek. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have let you step up without me. I didn't expect him to attack before you finished speaking. I...I thought he wanted at least a full confession so I had planned to..." Nicholas stopped as he choked up, then grabbed Luke's hand tightly.

Once again the human tried to speak, but was only able to muster a bare whisper before coughing again. Suddenly a woman burst into the room with an armload of gauze. "What are you doing? Don't let him speak! He'll rip open the stitches!"

Nicholas put a hand over Luke's abdomen, holding him down as coughs racked the human's body.

"Shhh, there, there. It'll be okay." The Vampire cooed as the woman stepped closer to inspect the damage.

Luke finally stopped coughing and rolled his head over to see who she was. She was dressed in a typical black and white maids uniform, with a little white bonnet on her head. She had a V shaped face, with a button nose and serious eyes. She examined Luke's injury expertly, then sighed.

"I'll have to redo the last three stitches. Don't. Let. Him. Talk!" She wagged a finger at Nicholas before stepping away.

The Archduke nodded obediently before returning his attention to the human. "Luke, don't talk okay? It's been three nights but you're not healing as fast as we'd hoped."

Three nights? But didn't they just arrive a few hours ago? How the hell did he miss three nights? Also, how the hell was he still alive? Didn't his stomach get ripped open? Weren't humans fragile? None of this made any sense!

"The Emperor is looking for us. Greer happened to come to the Capitol despite my orders, and he's been hiding us ever since." Nicholas tossed a cautious glance back at the stitches. "I suppose I should thank him for being so stubborn. Otherwise I wouldn't have known what to do with you. The nurse said you were too injured to be moved so we're still in the Capitol. Unfortunately the Emperor has shut down all the roads leaving town. So for now, it looks like we're here to stay."