Ever After (45 page)

Chapter 32

Dangerous procedure

“William, she is not dead. I spoke with my friend Xavier and he told me what we have to do to get Corrine out of all this. I know you are upset, and I understand but you have to hear us out on this ok?” Pratt asked cautiously.

“She’s alive.” Will gasped in shock. He bent over wrapped his arms around me hugging me. “How can you be sure? How does this Xavier know all this?”

“He has spent his life studying failed changes and causes of death in vampires. I know him and I trust him fully to advise us on Corrine’s condition Will.”

“Has she spoken or moved?”

“No, and she will not if we don’t treat her heart right away. I know exactly what must be done, but you may not like it Will.”

“Well what is it?” He looked up at Pratt, who seemed uneasy telling him about plunging a long needle into the only thing that kept me alive, my heart.

“It’s not too complicated, but there are risks. I know it is going to sound barbaric to you, but hear me out.”

“What then, just tell me?” Will was getting impatient now.

“I was just telling Doc that Corrine’s heart is basically dormant right now. It is still beating but barely, just enough to keep her alive. It needs to have a jump-start if you will something to get it going. I will need to inject serum directly into the heart muscle to do that.” Silence filled the room. I waited for Will to lose it, to protest such a dangerous thing.

“No, you can’t do that, it is insane. I am no doctor, but I know she is still over half human, and could easily bleed to death .You are not experimenting on her I will not allow it!”

“Will, you do not understand Pratt. If we do not try this Corrine will die in a few hours. The serum left in her system will wear off, and her body will shut down. If we give her this injection, yes there is a possibility it may fail, but if it does not she will live and recover and be with you!” Doc placed both hands on Will’s shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes. “Are you going to take that chance, are you going to deny her that William?”

“Will it hurt her, will she feel that?” I felt him squeeze my hand.

“No not at first. If it does work when she begins to wake up, she will have intense pain, but she will be alive and it will not last for very long. I will give her something for the pain, and she will be alright.” Pratt tried to reassure him.

“It just sounds so dangerous, and painful.” He sighed.

“Let us try Will, it is worth a shot, and it’s the only thing we can do. Time is not on our side here, she is down to less than two hours before all the serum in her body wears off. I can do nothing for her if she dies, not even venom will bring her back.” I could feel Will still clutching my hand, as he thought about it. I prayed he would let them try, he had to. I could not bear to be trapped in my body for the rest of my life. I would rather really be dead than un able to communicate with anyone. I could not imagine that, never speaking or moving being a prisoner for God only knows how long.

“You really think this will work?” Will said softly. I could see him through my eyes which were open just enough to see, but not enough for any of them to think I could actually see. He was not looking at them; he was staring at my hand deep in thought.

“Yes Will, I feel Xavier knows what would be best. He has studied the serum and vampire changes for longer than I have been on this earth. I know he would not advise me if he felt he might be wrong. He will be here tomorrow as well, he wants to assist us with Corrine’s recovery and handle Leo.”

“Do it then, do what you have to do if you can bring her back to me. I know she would want you to try whatever you could to keep her alive.” I felt him run his fingers along my cheek softly. “This is what she wants. I know that now, I can feel it.” I wished I could tell him I loved him, or blink anything to help ease the pain he was in. I could see he was hurting; his eyes were damp as he blinked back tears. “What do we do next, if we are running out of time, we have to do this now don’t we?”

“Yes, time is a major issue. I think we are about ready. The heart monitor is setup, and we are getting readings on it. I have the iv’s going and extra blood units.” Pratt rattled of the list of items he had. Doc was pre paring the extra blood units.

“Do we need shock paddles?” Sayann asked. I felt sick at the thought of that. I had only seen them used on E.R and Gray’s Anatomy, I never thought of having them used on me in real life.

“Yes, good thinking Sayann, we may need them if her heart is slow to get back on track with a steady pulse rate.” Pratt replied.

“I don’t want then used unless it’s absolutely necessary.” Doc quickly added.

“We most likely will not need then, but I want to be ready if we do.” I waited for them to begin, not knowing exactly how it would be done. I only knew they had to inject the serum in to my heart. I prayed I would not feel that. I had been numb this long; if it could only last a little bit longer through this, I would be happy.

“I will need all of you if and when she does wake up.” Pratt spoke again; I could hear him, as he was right next to me.

“What, why is that?” Libby asked.

“The last thing Corrine will remember as her body wakes is the very last thing that happened to her. I am thinking it will be when Todd bit her. That memory will not be a pleasant one for so she is very likely to fight us and rip out her IV’s.” I had trouble-believing Dr.Pratt. I knew where I was, and I definitely wasn’t going to freak out.

“ I will need all of you to help hold her down, in panic mode she will be very strong and try to get away from us, until I can get her to listen to me.”

“I will have to get through to her, and get her to calm down quickly, so she doesn’t throw herself into a heart attack.” I was shocked by that. There is no way; I could over power all of them. I was not going to fight anybody. I just wanted to wake up.

“We can’t give her any sedatives?” Doc asked.

“No we can give her nothing; it will tamper with her system. Xavier was very clear about that. It is natural of course to think of her comfort, but we cannot do that right now.”

“I understand.” Doc moved to the other side of me as he spoke. I was getting really good at figuring out where everyone was by the direction of their voices now. All of them surrounded me, and I was terrified.

“Sayann, Libby I need you to hold down her legs. Doc William and I will hold her down up here. I will need you all to make sure she does not move an inch when I am injecting the serum into her heart, it is critical. I cannot have any movement at all or it will be a disaster.”

“Yes, we can do that.” Sayann answered. I could feel her hand on my leg now. I knew it was almost time for Pratt to get the needle ready. I waited as they all pre pared to hold me down, and protect me from myself apparently.

“Now, let’s begin everyone.” I felt Pratt’s cool hands clean the area on my chest for the injection.

I wanted to tense up, but nothing happened. I thought about it, and I kept forgetting I couldn’t move. The room was silent as Pratt slowly put the long needle in to my chest. I could feel pressure from it but it thankfully, it did not hurt. I waited as he slowly removed it, nothing seemed to be happening.

I thought it would be instant, that I would be able to open my eyes and speak, but I felt no different. I waited for Pratt or Doc to say something, but they were silent. I didn’t know if they were shocked, it did not work or were just waiting for the serum to do something to me.

Chapter 33

Alive

I suddenly felt a wave of heat across my body. It felt like boiling water in my veins, spreading slowly through me. It was a searing UN bearable heat. I needed to breathe. I wanted to cry out in pain, but could not get any air into my lungs to do so.

I wanted to scream in agony, and tell them all how much it hurt and to try to make it stop. In a split second, I felt a jolt in my chest, as if I was hit with a baseball bat. I was pretty sure I did gasp in pain this time. I jerked back trying desperately to move away from the pain inside me.

I threw my head back and took a deep breath, the air burned as it filled my lungs. I tried to pull my arms free from Doc and Pratt, to wrap around my aching chest, that felt like it might split open at any moment. I started to choke and cough. The air was burning too much, now I did not want to breathe, I just wanted to die.

I felt my head spinning as I tried to open my eyes; everyone was a blurb of mixed colors and shadows. I felt afraid; I suddenly couldn’t remember where I was anymore. I tried hard to remember, but then I knew. I was in the woods, Todd had seen me and he was about to attack me.

I had to run and get away from here. I could smell the cologne her wore, he was holding me down and wouldn’t let go. I pulled as hard as I could begging for him to let me go. I heard myself scream out for William, but he was not there. I thrashed my head back and forth; the pain the fear, all of it was too much.

I could not break free from Todd’s grip; he seemed to be holding my whole body down. I knew he was going to kill me now. I felt tired. I had nothing left in me to fight him off with. I panted trying to catch my breath, my body was still being held down, but I didn’t care anymore. Familiar voices filled my ears, as I tried to understand them, not one of them sounded like Todd.

“Corrine, easy now its Doc you’re ok. Try to keep breathing for us please.” I knew that voice, Doc it was Doc. I had to think hard, Doc was good. If he was here, William must be too.

“I’m here.” The voice I was so desperate to hear came next. It was my William, he was here, and he was with Doc.

“William.” I managed to whisper.

“Todd is dead, you are safe Corrine. Doc and Pratt are here you are in no danger ok?” He desperately tried to calm me down.

“What?” I took a deep breath, and this time it no longer burned my lungs.

“Will is right Corrine, you are safe now.” Doc’s voice said calmly.

“Corrine, it’s Pratt, can you try and open your eyes for me honey?” I pulled my arms in now to my chest, as they were let free.

I turned slightly and felt William’s arms around me. I leaned into his firm chest. It felt like I was melting into him. I tried to open my eyes all the way, but the light burned them. I turned my head into Williams arm, away from it.

“No I can’t it burns, too much.” I cried out clutching William’s arm.

“Sayann dim the lights please. I had forgotten she might be highly sensitive to them for a few days now.” Pratt ordered.

I turned my head slowly away from Will, and carefully opened my eyes. I could see Pratt, and Sayann standing next to Doc and Libby. I looked up despite my neck feeling like a stiff board, directly in to William’s stunning blue eyes. I did not move as our eyes took each other in. I had feared I would never see him again, and now he was right in from of me. A smile spread across his face.

“You’re all here, all of you?” I whispered. “William, you are here.” I sighed with relief.

“Yes, my love. I have not left you since I found you in the woods.”

“Is this real? Am I alive or are you all in my head?” I blinked hard thinking they all would just diaper when I opened my eyes again. I was terrified this was just a dream, and I would be thrown back into my “
tomb
” again.

“It’s real Corrine, relax we are all really here. You were in a coma, a very deep nearly death like coma for a few days. The venom from Todd’s bite attacked your body system.” Pratt shook his head.

“Fortunately you had enough of the serum in you to safe guard your heart from stopping. Doc and I just gave you an injection into the heart muscle to wake you, but all will be well now.” Pratt thoroughly explained.

“Venom?” I shook my head, and then I felt the sting in my neck and it all came flooding back into my mind. I slowly placed my hand on my bandaged neck, and I knew it was really true. Todd had become a vampire and he had bit me.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop him Corrine.” Will said softly.

I felt sort of dizzy at the thought of Todd as a vampire, but now I remembered the night at my house when he and Kyle kid napped me. I remembered being at the stone house and meeting Leo, and how Sayann helped me escape. I remembered the look in Todd’s eyes right before he bit me also, that I could never forget as long as I lived. I must have been about to hyperventilate as the heart monitor started to go crazy.

“Corrine, calm down now you must not get upset ok.” Pratt warned as he placed a hand on to my arm.

“Sorry, I just had like a massive flash back; it’s kind of a lot to take in all at once.” I sighed leaning back in to William again. I made myself take a deep breath and try to pull myself together.

“I need you to rest now, and we will talk more about all this later. You are in no danger, so try to relax.” Doc smiled at me and gave William a wink.