Vampire Bride

Chapter Twenty Five - Part Two

I race in a manic flash of fury to her house to find the front door open and her lying in a puddle of her own blood.

I scoop her up in my arms and to my relief she groans in protest. Thank god.

"Where were you?" she mumbles.

"I'm here now." Is all I can get myself to say. My own guilt eats at me. I let her down. I repeatedly told her I could protect her and I didn't.

I gently place her in the passenger seat and set out for the hospital. The scent of her blood is nothing I can't handle. However, all that changes when I shut the driver's door. The intoxicating smell attacks my senses. Unwillingly, my fingers grip the steering wheel as I talk myself out of the dark place I refuse to go down. Before when her blood was spilled I had control over my urges, but it's been a while since I've fed.

Charlie moans in pain as speed down bumpy roads and jerk the car around tight corners. One final squeeze of the steering wheel brings me back to reality. Charlie needs a hospital and a hospital is where we're going to go.

In half of the time it should have taken to get there, I squeal into a spot in the emergency parking area. Making my way around the car to gather her in my arms without drawing attention to myself, we make our way inside. The nurse at the desk covers the shock on her face from the blood that rolls down both of our arms.

"She needs stitches," I tell the nurse.

A nurse immediately rushes out from behind the closed door signaling me to follow her. Some relief melts into my bones as lay her on the table, medical personal all around.

"Hello..." He looks over some papers in search of her name. "Are you her...boyfriend?"

"Yes. Someone attached her, I found her on the floor...bleeding."

"We'll get her all stitched up, see if she needs a transfusion, some fluids. I promise she's going to be fine."

"Charlie...Charlie." He softly calls her name. She sturs. "Charlie can you tell me what happened?

At first she groans, the bright lights blinding her prevents her from opening her eyes. She tries to move her injured arm, but yelp in pain as it twitches. "Someone broke into my house and attacked me," she replies in a quiet voice.

"Attacked you?" His suspicious eyes move to look at me. The snap of rubber gloves hitting his wrist echoes within the room.

"I...don't know...who. A woman, she was waiting for me...in my house."

The doctor removes the makeshift bandage to reveal a slow ooze of blood seeping out of the deep cut. "Did she do this to you?"

Chalrie nods. "She had my knife...I tried to take it away from her...but she cut me in the process."

"You're okay now. You're safe." He starts to open packages of sealed utensils that a nurse brings in. It seems like time stands still as I watch him remove a needle from a sterile package and insert it into a small glass vial.

"You're going to feel a pinch, okay. I need to numb the area before I stitch you up." Without waiting for her to reply, he starts to poke the needle inside the gash in several spots.

Charlie sucks in a breath each time the needle pierces her skin. Thankfully it only takes a few seconds and within no time he starts to thread the wound together. The strong-willed, overbearing Charlie unintentionally shows weakness as she refuses to look at the needle. She also refuses to look at me.

I'm not entirely sure that the numbing solution is even working because every time he punctures her skin she winces with pain.

Mid-stitch the sliding door opens to reveal two uniformed men. "We're hoping that Ms. Preston can tell us about what happened to her tonight." One of the officers says.

"She already told the doctor everything she knows. It was a woman, she didn't see her face. She broke into her home waiting for her."

It takes Charlie a few seconds to reply due to the pain she's experiencing. However, she nods her head through it with gritted teeth agreeing with me on what happened.

"Are you aware of anyone that would want to hurt you?"

Charlie bites her bottom lip as the last stitch is pulled through. "No." Her voice seems to be getting stronger.

"If there's anything else you would like to add to your statement when you're better, just come on down to the office. Have a good night." Just as fast as they came in, they leave.

"You're all fixed up, Charlie. You can take some pain relievers for any discomfort, but you should heal up without much of a scar." With that said, the doctor waits by the open door for us to follow him out.

I mumble a thank you to the nurse behind the desk before exiting the building. Charlie leans against for support all the way to the car. With the window still rolled down, we head back to my place. To my joy, Charlie doesn't protest, but then again she barely can keep her eyes open.

Once we arrive back at the hotel, I gather her up in my arms yet again. This time she protests, but I ignore her and carry to my room. I place her down on my bed just like all the other nights, but the second her head touches the pillow she bolts up right.

Her accusing eyes finding me. "How come you didn't come Maxwell?"

I can't find my words, so she continues in lecturing me. "Really...nothing?" Apparently she feeling better, because there's an argument lighting up her eyes. "Not one word to explain yourself with. Is this because of Dave? You let me get attacked because Dave kissed me?" I can see the trouble she is having in finishing her sentence.

"No. Would never let you get attacked." My eyes instantly go to a bandage on her arm. "I wanted to help you, believe me, it was killing me."

"Killing you? I was the one getting sliced and diced. Why didn't you come? I thought you said you could sense when I'm in danger. If it was killing you, why didn't you come?" she accuses me on the verge of tears.

"He's threatening people to help him do his dirty work. He had..."

"He had who?" I can see the hand on her good arm ball into a fist at my refusal of helpful information.

"James, he had James keep me away."

"James, who the hell is James?" Any sadness from before vanishes.

"You don't know? James is Morgan's boyfriend. Your assistant's life was in danger if James didn't hold up his part."

"Wait...Morgan's boyfriend that she told me she met in church is a vampire?" Confusion distorts her features.

"He most likely implanted that memory to make him seem more appealing to her standards."

"I thought you said you can't do stuff like that."

"We can't get rid of memories, but we can make memories. They still don't last forever unless the donor believes them on a higher level. Morgan obviously is attracted to James and clings to the knowledge that he's a churchgoer. Therefore, there's no need to continue the influence. It would have worked on you, but you're a little more stubborn than most." In all honestly, I have no idea if Morgan knows that James is a vampire or not. She could be hiding James's secret just as Charlie is hiding mine.

"I just want to change out of these clothes and lay down." She mutters. She remain sitting on the bed and doesn't shuffle to the edge until I back away to the door.

I shut it behind me, cursing myself. "Damn it."