The Love Bite [boyxboy]

Chapter Nine

"This is how it's meant to be, Mark. A life for a life. A tooth for a tooth. An eye for an eye. Once you come home, I'll take you off the ventilator and let your parents do with you as they please." He explained calmly. I felt my heart rate pick up, feeling it slam into my ribcage and lungs, making me choke and try to move.

Every part of my body hurt!

It burned!

It ached!

Make it stop!

I squeezed my eyes shut, feeling tears streak down the sides of my face as I tried to yell at him, but I choked on the tube in my throat. The more I struggled, the more it hurt. I watched as Jack departed, leaving me alone. I slumped back on the bed, lying there and staring up at the ceiling, spacing out as another wave of pain struck me as I tried to steady my breathing.

"I don't wanna go! I'm not sick!" I heard myself yell in my head as the world around me seemed to fade out and I found myself standing in front of my old surburban home in Lansing. My parents were waiting by their Ford Focus, my dad just adding his music player to the sound system as my mother insisted I get in the car.

I'd had a cold that week and it was driving my mom insane. She kept telling me to hurry up.

What if it wasn't a cold?

What if it was the flu?

"I hate doctors!" I barked from the doorstep, sitting with my knees drawn to my chest as I played my DS. My mom sighed and walked over, plucking the game from my hands and snapping it shut, tucking it into her purse.

"That's not fair!" I protested.

"Too bad," She responded with the thrust of her hip, "Come on. You're fourteen, sweetheart. The doctors shouldn't be scary anymore."

"I don't want them to draw my blood, that's it!" I argued, trying to get up and get away, but she caught me by the back of my neck and wheeled me around, guiding me to the car as I grumbled under my breath. My mom sighed once we got to the car and my dad got in, smirking at how childish I was acting.

"Okay, let's make a deal," She decided, making me glance at her, "If you behave and let them do a few tests, I'll buy you that new video game you wanted AND we'll stop for Chinese. How's that sound?"

"Sounds like you're a good negotiator." I responded, opening the car door. My mom beamed.

God, she was pretty. I always thought I was super lucky for having a young, pretty mother. Her hair was as black as mine, only curly and fell down to the middle of her back while her wavy bangs fell across her forehead, above a pair of sparkling blue eyes. She was wearing a pretty blue sweater that day to match her blue jeans. She got in beside my father, who glanced at me in the rearview mirror. He was the one that made me feel adopted sometimes, physically anyway.

We acted the same. We were always watching scary movies together, trying to bake cookies without catching the kitchen on fire, and talking about the possibilities of the world. But physically, I hardly looked like him. His hair was blonde, dishwater blonde, while his eyes were deep hazel. He had a little beauty mark under his right eye, right where my tear drop tattoo was now.

We got in the car comfortably and took off toward the doctor's.

I didn't want to be there. Sitting in that cold hard chair as they prepared for a blood test. My heart was racing and I felt like I was about to die. They wrapped the band around the top of my arm, dabbing at the crook of my elbow with cold alcohol. I trembled for a second before looking up.

My mother smiled at me, holding up my DS and waving it teasingly. I pushed my lip into a pout to try and get her to cave, but she didn't and just held onto my dad's hand. My dad smiled reassuringly. I squeezed my eyes shut quickly as the needle fell into my skin, then withdrew seconds later. My head spun, but only because I was nervous.