Dark Days (The Childe Series, #2) (36 page)

“What are you talking about? And quit poking me!  Have you gone crazy? Who’s hurt?” Isaac asked, confused at his sister’s current emotional state.

“Don’t try to look innocent. I know you caused his accident. He’s lying in the hospital, tubes hanging out everywhere, in pain, because of you being a complete and utter ass!” she poked even harder, as she enunciated every word.

“Hey, stop that! We haven’t hurt anyone. Now calm down, who’s in the hospital?”

“Matt! He said he saw you!”

“Wait a second, Matt’s hurt? Well, it wasn’t us. We haven’t seen him since the dance.”

“He said monsters, vampires came after him, and that just about describes you guys to a tee now, doesn’t it?” Hannah glared at them.

“Hannah, Isaac’s telling the truth. We left the dance and came straight here. We didn’t touch your little boyfriend,” Amelia huffed.  Isaac started to move toward his sister.

“Stay away from me. I’m going to tell Mom and Dad about this. And you better have a good explanation for hurting an innocent.” Hannah stomped up the stairs and slammed her bedroom door.

“That was entertaining,” Amelia quipped.

“Quiet Amelia, someone or something hurt that boy, and since it was definitely not us, who did it? We’re the only ones of our kind in this town that cause trouble, but we never hurt anyone, scare them yeah, but-”

“I don’t know why you’re so upset. You liked the idea of someone stirring up trouble last year,” Amelia sneered, covering up her hurt feelings after Isaac snapped at her.

“Not while we’re getting the blame for it,” Isaac replied. “Anyway, Hannah’s right. Our parents do need to know. I’m going upstairs to try to convince her we had nothing to do with this. You guys go to your parents. They must still be at the meeting. I’ll catch up with you later,” Isaac said, moving quickly up the stairs.

Cat sprang up in her chair when she heard moans coming from Matt’s bed. She saw his eyes open, looking bewildered as he scanned the room. He began panicking as he saw the tubes hanging from his arms.

“Shhhh, Matt, it’s okay.  You’re safe, you’re in the hospital. You had a little accident, but you’re going to be alright,” Cat whispered, patting his hand.

“What…happened?” Matt’s gaze held Cat’s as he waited for her answer.

“You were in a car accident. You were the only one hurt.  The police said you must’ve lost control on the icy roads or something. Do you remember anything?”

“No, the last thing…I remember, is driving away from Hannah’s house.”

“Hey dork, what did you go and have an accident for?  We’ve been here all night watching your butt sleep instead of being in our own warm, comfy beds. You’re lucky you’ve got friends like us,” Amanda’s voice sounded normal, but her face revealed her true feelings.

“Sorry…why didn’t you all go home? Cat what are you doing here? We haven’t been…talking lately,” Matt grimaced.

“Go back to sleep, Matt, we’ll fill you in when you feel a little better.  See this button? It’s for pain. Do you want me to push it?” Matt barely nodded. Cat heard the beep as she pressed down. “Now that will make you feel better. Close your eyes and relax, we’ll be right here if you need us.”

“Thanks,” Matt mumbled and then closed his eyes.

As Cat and Amanda turned around to return to their seats they saw Julie and Elle staring up at them. “He’s fine, we should see if we can get some sleep ourselves,” Cat said wearily, plopping down in a chair, and then stared out at the darkness beyond the hospital windows.

 “Ow,” Cat said, sitting up from the uncomfortable position she had slept in all night. Touching her bottom lip she pulled back her finger and it was bathed in blood. 
Oh crap, my fangs are out. Fan-flippin-tastic!
She thought. Cat covered her mouth and looked from side to side. She was relieved to find everyone was still asleep. She concentrated and tried to make her fangs retract, but they wouldn’t. Glancing at the bed she noticed a new IV pole with a bag, filled with a red substance, hanging from it.
Of course, blood,
Cat thought realizing that the coppery smell must have triggered her fangs. W
hen was the last time I took my pill?  Stupid, Cat, just stupid. I’ve got to get out of here!
She told herself as she quietly made her way past the sleeping bodies. Carefully opening the door, Cat slipped out into the corridor, still covering her mouth with her hand. It was brightly lit and people in colorful scrubs moved in and out of rooms lining the hall. Cat stood outside Matt’s room wondering what to do next.

“Cat?” Dr. Bane’s voice seemed loud in the quiet corridor. 

“Dr. Bane, I need your help. I’m kind of having an
issue
at the moment. If you know what I mean,” Cat whispered, removing her hand from her mouth, revealing her obvious predicament.

“I’d say you are. When was the last time you took your pill?” he asked as he took her arm leading her down the hallway to a closed door marked
Personnel Only
.

“I don’t remember,” she lisped, covering her mouth again.

“Well, you’re too far gone now for the pills to have effect. We need to get you some real blood,” he whispered as he unlocked the door and flipped on the light switch. Three refrigerators stood in front of them surrounded by cabinets labeled with their contents. “Have a seat in that chair Cat, and let’s see what we can drum up for this condition of yours.”  Dr. Bane opened one of the refrigerators, and Cat saw rows and rows of labeled bags filled with a red substance that she assumed was blood. In the door were several bags sitting by themselves. Dr. Bane grabbed a few of them and shut the door. Holding them up to the light, “Well, these bags don’t seem to have labels. They’re probably excess. I’m sure it’ll be okay for you to have these,” he said, handing one of the bags over to her.

“What do you expect me to do with this?”

“Okay, I’m going to need you to bite the bag, and let your fangs do the rest.”

“Ewwww! I don’t want to drink it. Please tell me there’s another way.” She scowled when he shook his head.

“Open up, Cat, and place the bag to your teeth. Come on, be a big girl and take your medicine.”

Opening her mouth, Cat closed her eyes as she felt the cold plastic bag caress her lips. She cringed as her teeth pierced it, feeling the blood entering her teeth. Cat was amazed there was no taste. Dr. Bane’s handsome face broke into a smile. “Not bad, huh?” Cat shook her head and watched as the bag emptied. Dr. Bane took another bag and held it out. Pulling the other one gently from her teeth, she pushed the second bag in. “I think two bags should be enough to suppress your appetite. It’s a good thing this happened here. The last thing we want is for you to have to find a warm-bodied blood supply on your own.” Cat silently chuckled as she visualized herself trying to feed from Fredricka, getting a mouthful of fur in the process.

Cat suddenly began to feel dizzy, her vision blurring slightly. She felt an uncontrollable urge to giggle out loud, but the plastic bag stuck to her fangs made it difficult.
I better keep this bag in my mouth. I wouldn’t want to get blood all over me. They’d call me Bloody Cat, or blood-sucking Colvin, or Undead Cat if I did,
she hysterically thought. As Dr. Bane removed the bag from Cat’s mouth, she let out a loud giggle and hiccupped

“Cat, are you okay?”

“Yes,” she said, followed by another loud hiccup. “Yeeeessss, I’m just great, Doc!” she giggled again at the alarm she saw in his face. Bringing the second bag up to his nose, Dr. Bane immediately realized the cause of her strange behavior. The blood was tainted with alcohol.
Great, how did Dr. Gregg’s experimental blood get put in here?
Then he remembered the broken refrigerator down in the lab.
Fantastic
,
now she’s drunk! How am I going to explain this?
He thought.

“Doc, do you…know how many feeeeeeeemales…drool over you. Even my mom…thinks you’re hot!” Cat laughed, lying back in the chair. She would’ve slipped out of it if Dr.  Bane’s reflexes hadn’t been so quick. Holding on to her, he grabbed his cell, and pressed a few keys.

“Aldon, we have a slight problem. I need you to meet me at the hospital’s back entrance. Yes, as soon as you can. Thanks, I’ll explain when you get here.” He hit the end button and then caught Cat as she suddenly leaned forward, planting a big kiss on his lips.