Learning to Adapt

Chapter 13

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN HE'S NOT BREATHING?!" I shouted worriedly, staring with wide eyes at Damon. He shook his head sadly, but the rest of the vampires just stared at us. At this point, I didn't care if I was making a scene. Chris wasn't breathing, and his blood was seeping across the floor. 

"Chris..." I said softly, leaning over him. He was as still as a statue, his eyes closed and his expression blank. His shirt was ripped open, exposing a long bloody gash above his belly-button. I stroked his curls, a hollow, dead feeling in my chest. 

"Hey, look, I'm sor-" Damon began, placing a hand on my shoulder. 

"Don't touch me," I snapped, cutting him off as I glared at him menacingly. "There has to be a way to fix this." I said angrily. 

"Well, normally there would be, but-" 

"But what?" I asked impatiently, a spark of hope flickering inside my chest. 

"He's lost too much blood as this point. Normally, a vampire can be revived if he drinks the blood of his mate. But since he's lost so much blood, if he drank your blood, then you'd be the one in his posistion," Damon explained, his expression wary. "I wouldn't reccomend trying it-" 

"What if I only gave him half my blood?" I asked experimentally, a plan forming in my head. 

"That's extremely risky. Then you'd both have the potential to die. Not many vampires make it out of this state alive-" 

"I'm doing it." I said instantly, knowing that if I delayed for much longer then Chris would lose too much blood and there'd be no possible way to bring him back. The crowd of vampires surrounding us were whispering to each other in hushed, concerned voices. I ignored them, closing my eyes and raising my wrist up to my mouth. I felt my fangs come out, and I took a deep breath before sinking them into my wrist. I tasted hot, coppery blood as I pulled my wrist away and saw the two puncture wounds I had made. I quickly tilted Chris' head up, placing my bleeding wrist to his mouth. The blood trickled down a corner of his mouth, but after a few seconds his eyelids fluttered and he weakly began to drink, taking shallow breaths as he did so. I stared down at the gash on his abdomen, watching as it began to heal. He was getting stronger, drinking more steadily now, but black spots began to swim across my vision. 

"C-Chris..." With a gasp, I pulled my hand away, cradling my wrist in my other hand as I watched Chris slump weakly back onto the ground. The steady bleeding from his gash had slowed, but he was still mostly unconscious. I felt extremely tired and drained. 

"Rebecca..." A distant voice was saying. I blinked slowly, my eyelids feeling heavy. Damon's face swam in front of my vision as I felt myself falling, but I couldn't stop or remain conscious. As soon as I hit the ground, I drifted into a peaceful type of sleep. I knew vampires didn't sleep, but this felt different...it was much more peaceful. 

***

CHRIS POV

I woke up in an unfamiliar room, sunlight seeping in through the dark curtains. I blinked steadily and groaned. I tried to sit up, but a hand pushed me back into the pillows gently, keeping me still. Then I realized something: I had woken up. Vampires weren't supposed to sleep! So was I dead? 

My eyes fluttered open and I gasped, breathing hard as I stared up at the face above me. It was an older, female vampire. She was busy wrapping bandages around my torso. I looked down and saw a huge gash before fresh bandages were applied. I nauseously glanced back up at the face of the vampire, who was now staring at me. 

"Awake?" She asked softly, pulling the blanket back over my body after she had finished applying the bandages. 

"W-where am I?" I said, my voice cracking as I spoke.