right there.”
Hunky Copy ushered them out, Ulric shooting me backward glances until the door closed behind them.
“Girl,” Crinkly said, calling my attention back to him. “ Geneva . You’re new here, so possibly you don’t understand the way things work. If someone’s knocking your friend around, you get her out of there. You don’t break some guy’s jaw and another’s arm.” He looked stern, implacable, serious .
“Yes, sir,” I answered, even though it hurt to say it. I’d do it again in a second if I had to, and I knew it.
“Good. Anything else happens and your name comes up, I’m locking you away until I can find something to stick you with—jaywalking, underage drinking, fake ID. I don’t like it when trouble rolls into my town.”
He sounded like he was straight out of the old west, but I was smart enough not to crack a smile.
“Understood.”
And finally, finally he led me to the others. To Bram.
Ulric tapped Lily on the shoulder, and they both shifted away from Bram’s bedside far enough to make room for me. I thought Ulric needed a second, anyway. He pretended to cough into his sleeve, but I saw him use it to wipe away a tear. I was touched that they’d give up a place for me at the bedside when I really didn’t belong. I was new and I’d failed Bram. I knew it, even if they didn’t. Super-vamp powers came with super responsibility … or something like that. Admittedly, what I remembered most about Spider-Man was that upside-down kiss. Oh, and Toby Maguire’s totally hot blue eyes.
But I wasn’t thinking about that right then. I was thinking about kohl-lined chocolate brown eyes and how really awesome it would be to see them open.
“Bram?” I whispered.
His still-perfectly-shaped head didn’t move.
“He’s breathing on his own at least,” Bella said in a hushed voice. “That’s good.”
I didn’t know what it was about hospitals that made everybody—even me—speak in whispers.
Bella was right. An oxygen tube fed into Bram’s nostrils, a heart monitor blipped away and an IV dripped, but he was breathing on his own. There was some kind of doohickey on one index finger that fed stats into yet another monitor, which beeped at intervals. It was a regular medical musical.
“Will he be okay?” I asked, turning to Officer Crinkly.
“That’s for a doctor to say.”
“But you know,” I accused him. “You’ve talked to them.”
He refused to say more, except to ask, “Do you want to see the other kids? The ones you put here?”
I shook my head. I’d had enough. The antiseptic smell of the hospital and the boop-boop of the equipment were overwhelming. It felt like my head might just explode.
None of the others wanted to see the bully boys either. Not surprising. I squeezed Bram’s hand. Lily and Bella gave him a kiss on the forehead—very, very gently—and Ulric teased him about how unconscious guys got all the action. I almost smiled at that. I thought that if Bram were awake, he’d smile too.
7
We went quietly, but as soon as I hit the daylight, I knew I was in trouble. My skin started to burn and itch at the sting of the sun, and I realized that I hadn’t had any of my fortified blood with its sunscreen potion since late last night. It shouldn’t have been a problem. I’d gone longer without blood, but the whole awake-during-daylight thing apparently took more out of me than usual, and I hadn’t been compensating. I hadn’t even realized I needed to. Yet another thing to discuss with my keepers.
Ulric, seeing me wince, took it for emotion—or at least a good excuse to snake an arm around me. The flesh he touched, now shaded, nearly sang with relief.
“You okay?” he asked.
I gave him a sidelong glance. “ I’m fine, but if you need a hug, knock yourself out.”
“Really?”
“Hug only. Bust a move and you’ll pull back a bloody stump. Capisce?” It wasn’t until it was out of my mouth that I realized I was perfectly capable of
Hunky Copy ushered them out, Ulric shooting me backward glances until the door closed behind them.
“Girl,” Crinkly said, calling my attention back to him. “ Geneva . You’re new here, so possibly you don’t understand the way things work. If someone’s knocking your friend around, you get her out of there. You don’t break some guy’s jaw and another’s arm.” He looked stern, implacable, serious .
“Yes, sir,” I answered, even though it hurt to say it. I’d do it again in a second if I had to, and I knew it.
“Good. Anything else happens and your name comes up, I’m locking you away until I can find something to stick you with—jaywalking, underage drinking, fake ID. I don’t like it when trouble rolls into my town.”
He sounded like he was straight out of the old west, but I was smart enough not to crack a smile.
“Understood.”
And finally, finally he led me to the others. To Bram.
Ulric tapped Lily on the shoulder, and they both shifted away from Bram’s bedside far enough to make room for me. I thought Ulric needed a second, anyway. He pretended to cough into his sleeve, but I saw him use it to wipe away a tear. I was touched that they’d give up a place for me at the bedside when I really didn’t belong. I was new and I’d failed Bram. I knew it, even if they didn’t. Super-vamp powers came with super responsibility … or something like that. Admittedly, what I remembered most about Spider-Man was that upside-down kiss. Oh, and Toby Maguire’s totally hot blue eyes.
But I wasn’t thinking about that right then. I was thinking about kohl-lined chocolate brown eyes and how really awesome it would be to see them open.
“Bram?” I whispered.
His still-perfectly-shaped head didn’t move.
“He’s breathing on his own at least,” Bella said in a hushed voice. “That’s good.”
I didn’t know what it was about hospitals that made everybody—even me—speak in whispers.
Bella was right. An oxygen tube fed into Bram’s nostrils, a heart monitor blipped away and an IV dripped, but he was breathing on his own. There was some kind of doohickey on one index finger that fed stats into yet another monitor, which beeped at intervals. It was a regular medical musical.
“Will he be okay?” I asked, turning to Officer Crinkly.
“That’s for a doctor to say.”
“But you know,” I accused him. “You’ve talked to them.”
He refused to say more, except to ask, “Do you want to see the other kids? The ones you put here?”
I shook my head. I’d had enough. The antiseptic smell of the hospital and the boop-boop of the equipment were overwhelming. It felt like my head might just explode.
None of the others wanted to see the bully boys either. Not surprising. I squeezed Bram’s hand. Lily and Bella gave him a kiss on the forehead—very, very gently—and Ulric teased him about how unconscious guys got all the action. I almost smiled at that. I thought that if Bram were awake, he’d smile too.
7
We went quietly, but as soon as I hit the daylight, I knew I was in trouble. My skin started to burn and itch at the sting of the sun, and I realized that I hadn’t had any of my fortified blood with its sunscreen potion since late last night. It shouldn’t have been a problem. I’d gone longer without blood, but the whole awake-during-daylight thing apparently took more out of me than usual, and I hadn’t been compensating. I hadn’t even realized I needed to. Yet another thing to discuss with my keepers.
Ulric, seeing me wince, took it for emotion—or at least a good excuse to snake an arm around me. The flesh he touched, now shaded, nearly sang with relief.
“You okay?” he asked.
I gave him a sidelong glance. “ I’m fine, but if you need a hug, knock yourself out.”
“Really?”
“Hug only. Bust a move and you’ll pull back a bloody stump. Capisce?” It wasn’t until it was out of my mouth that I realized I was perfectly capable of
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