I felt a little light headed so I laid my head down on top of him and entwined my legs with his. His breathing was better than it had been before but not perfect.
The door burst open. Patrick, Gabriel, and Joseph stood there frozen for a moment.
“What happened?” asked Patrick.
I sat up and slid off of Jonathon onto the other side of the bed. I realized my wrist was still bleeding. It had left a horrid looking stain on Jonathon’s shirt and my blood and was slowly leaking onto the sheets. Jonathon hadn’t used his saliva to stitch up my wound like he had the other times; I guessed he had been too far gone to remember.
I held my still bleeding wrist to my chest and looked from Jonathon’s motionless body to the vampires standing in the doorway. Joseph and Patrick’s faces were tense while Gabriel looked perfectly at ease.
Looking at Jonathon’s body I said, “He just, I don’t know, started having a seizure or something. I- I gave him my blood and that seemed to help. I just- I’m scared,” I said.
Patrick started over and looked at the mess on the floor with a question in his silver eyes, “Oh, I forgot. He threw up. If that’s even possible?” I asked.
Patrick inspected the mess on the ground with a critical eye.
Gabriel came over and took my wrist and studied it intently. “Come on,” he said, “let’s get you a bandage. I don’t think that you’ll need stitches. It doesn’t look very deep.” He helped me stand and kept an arm around me as I shook unsteadily.
He led me down the attic stairs to one of the many bathrooms on the second floor hallway.
“Are you okay?” he asked. “You seem a little shaken.”
“I’m fine. I just wasn’t expecting that to happen.”
“I don’t think anybody expected something like that to happen. We knew there would be repercussions for what he did we just didn’t know what,” said Gabriel.
“He will be okay, right?” I asked panicky.
“In time he’ll be fine. But I think it will be a while before he’s back to his normal vampire self. In fact he’ll probably have a lot of human tendencies for the next little while. I can’t be sure though what will happen. In all my years I’ve never seen anything like this. It’s a guessing game for all of us so I can only tell you what I think wil
l happen.”
He ran some water in the sink and added some rubbing alcohol to a cloth. I jumped when he put the burning liquid to my skin. “Sorry,” he said, “just a precaution.” He finished wiping the wound added some antibacterial ointment and taped a piece of white gauze to the tender pink skin.
“I forgot to ask you last time. Doesn’t the smell of my blood bother you? I know it doesn’t bother Jonathon since I’m his soul mate but you’re not and you don’t seem to mind it.”
He chuckled, “To me your blood stinks. The smell of your blood repulses all vampires except for your soul mate. It’s a defense mechanism so other vampires know that you’re taken.”
“Really?” I asked. I had thought my blood still smelled the same to them. “How come my mom attacked me after she was turned?”
“The young ones haven’t learned to differentiate between scents. Human blood all smells the same to them. As they mature they begin to smell the individual scents instead of the whole,” he explained. He helped me stand. “How’s it feel?” he asked.
“Better,” I said and gave him a small smile.
“And how’s your head?” He asked with a small smile.
“It’s good. Still tender but better,” I said trying to return his smile but it turned into a grimace.
“We’ll plan on taking the stitches out tomorrow,” he said.
“I’ll look forward to it,” I said a rolled my eyes.
He laughed. “I promise it won’t hurt that bad,” he grinned.
“Oh, sure. That’s what everyone tells me before something really painful,” I said.
He laughed again. It was weird seeing Gabriel laugh. I still had the picture of the brooding arrogant Gabriel in my head. It would be a while before I got used to this new and improved Gabriel.
“You have to be hungry. Let’s get you something to eat,” he said towing me out of the bathroom. I realized that I was indeed hungry. I followed him down the stairs to the kitchen mechanically.