Getting Alexandre inside the house proved to be a challenge. I was weakened from the lack of blood from allowing Alexandre to feed on me, hunger, plus of course the little parasite currently draining my energy in my womb. I tried pulling him out of the car, but had to stop and go inside to get something to eat first. I brought a spare bag out to Alexandre and hung it for him while I tiredly drank from a cup.
"I'm sorry Alexandre, I'm truly sorry. You were right, I was rash and impulsive, but it was you who paid the price." I sobbed. The baby kicked and I rubbed at my stomach, suddenly infinitely grateful I had kept the child, because if Alexandre didn't pull through, I didn't know how I would survive without some part of him in this world anymore.
"Shh..." I soothed and drank some more blood. "Mummy's just really worried about your papa, but we're going to do everything we can to keep him safe, aren't we?" I drained the rest of my cup and waited for my strength to return.
Without the rage fueling me, carrying Alexandre was a little more difficult. I cursed the virus for skipping out when the hard work needed doing. Luckily though, Alexandre had set up his little medical unit right by the front door. Damn that hundred year wisdom, I could almost hear him chuckling at me now. I placed him on a gurney and puffed heavily, holding my back and then patted my stomach.
"You ok in there?' I asked and then began hanging IV lines for Alexandre. I was forcing the blood twice as fast now. It meant I would have to 'dine out' but so be it. Alexandre's life came first. I sat down in a chair beside the bed, exhausted, realizing I would need to feed some more and change Alexandre's bandages and blood bags, but I just needed a little nap. I woke with a snap when I realized someone was knocking at the door. I stood up, heading towards it, only to remember I was covered in blood. Damn! I raced to the bathroom and quickly rinsed off, throwing on a cotton robe and wrapping a towel around my head, hoping I had rinsed off or hidden enough traces of blood and dashed back to the door.
"Just a minute!" I called and then opened the door a crack and peeked out. Two officers stood there and one immediately blushed upon seeing my attire. The other noticed my stomach and made quick apologies.
"I'm sorry ma'am, we just had a few question for you and Mr. Rivers." The cop stated. I looked beyond them nervously to the car, knowing the backseat was stained with blood.
"Um, Alexandre is actually ill right now, if you'll excuse me, I'm a little, well indecent, but if you'll come in to the kitchen, I'd be happy to pour you a soda or something and see what I can do to help?" I smiled lightly and fidgeted with the robe to show my discomfort. The one blushed again and the second one shook his head slightly.
"It's alright ma'am, it's not urgent, but we would like to talk to you soon. Please come down to the station as soon as Mr. Rivers is feeling better so we can have a chat." He handed me a card and I smiled politely. As they walked off the steps I grimaced and held my breath until they passed the car. I'm lucky it was parked directly in front of the doors so that they veered off to the right side of the wide staircase to go around it to their own vehicle. I needed to get that car moved and cleaned ASAP. I sighed and looked down at my stomach.
"What do you think baby? Check on daddy and just get that over with since we're already wet?" I sighed and waited a beat or two. "Right, I'm going to take that as a 'you hate the idea as much as I do yes'." I turned and walked back into the room to check on Alexandre. His blood loss seemed to be slowing down.
"I'm sorry Alexandre, I don't have your skills. I'm afraid my stitching was rather crude, and I dearly hope I got all the bullet fragments, but I have my doubts." That had been an unfortunately grueling process I had to use my senses to try to locate the fragments around the smell of the blood, since I had not yet learned how to run the x-ray. Which, at this point, it was probably safer to let him heal and then extract any leftover at a later time anyway. I was running out of bagged blood. Even my stitching did not completely stop the bleeding, there was simply too much damage-too much of him blown away by the shotgun. I leaned over and kissed Alexandre's forehead. "I'll be back to check on you later." I told him quietly.
After dressing myself in an older T-shirt and baggy shorts, I drove the car around to the side of the house to the stables side. I hunted around for a bucket or something to carry water in and in exasperation headed towards the garden. It was still cold, the wind blew angry icy wind at me and I shivered.
"Come on, I just need a stupid plastic bucket ok, why is everything so neat here?" I whined.
"Here you are." Said a pleasant voice with an unidentifiable accent. I turned slowly. "But if you're worried about the car, I took care of that before your police friends arrived. The smell of blood was, very strong." The face matched the voice, almost fatherly in a way, just a touch of grey in his hair, handsome, open face, but my instincts immediately screamed at me to run, especially when his eyes locked on my waist.
"So it's true!" He whispered, eyes full of shock and wonder. He extended a finger towards my stomach and I stepped back a bit self-consciously, putting a hand over my stomach as if to protect the baby. "I'm sorry, that was bold of me. My name is Cornelius, I'm one of Alexandre's friends. He may have mentioned me?" I could smell this man's power. The virus had had many years to mature in this body and it showed.
"I'm sorry, Alexandre doesn't really discuss his past often." I offered, taking another step back with a shiver.
"Oh, how rude of me, making a lady stand outside in the cold, and in your condition no less!" Cornelius rebuked himself and took off his suit jacket to drape around my shoulders. I flinched and he smiled wryly before gesturing with an arm and asking "Shall we go inside?"
I didn't know what kind of new threat Cornelius posed, but it was very obvious to me that I was not going to be able to escape him out of doors. I nodded once and reluctantly turned my back on him, neck hairs bristling as I walked towards the house. He stepped up beside me, and keeping his hands carefully clasped behind his back, kept pace.
"So what's happened to Alexandre?" Cornelius asked politely. I cringed. "It was his blood I cleaned up in the car, was it not?" I gritted my teeth and nodded.
"Shotgun wound, then massive dose of sedative." I replied tersely.
"How interesting. What trouble you young ones get yourselves into." Cornelius remarked. "How is he?"
"Bad." I admitted, heartbreak evident in my voice. Cornelius picked up the pace.
"No time to waste then." He murmured. When we reached the door, he held it open for me. "Would it help you to know that Alexandre trusted me with a key and informed me that he thought you were pregnant some months ago?" Cornelius asked. "In fact, that is why I am here, because I had been attempting to call these last couple of days and there was no answer. With such a strange request, I feared...well I didn't know what to fear to be honest, so I came as quickly as I could." Remembering the 'old friend' Alexandre mentioned, I eyed him skeptically, but decided to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"He's this way." I said, leading the way into the room now devoted to medical equipment. Cornelius followed and let out a small grunt of surprise.
"What's all this for?" He asked and I turned and his eyes were immediately drawn to my waist again and he nodded as if in understanding. I wrapped my hands around my stomach protectively. "Trust Alexandre to try to out-think every problem. Well at least it looks like it came in handy. Let's see what we've got." Cornelius began rolling up his sleeves. I hovered uselessly, afraid to leave Alexandre's side, but not sure what good I could do even if I tried. The smell of Cornelius scared me. Cornelius pulled back the bandages I had wrapped around Alexandre's torso and hissed.
"This is...quite extensive." Cornelius commented. "Your handiwork?" He asked motioning with his head.
"Yeah, I'm afraid I'm not very good at this." I answered sheepishly.
"It's proficient, sloppy, but it will accomplish much of what is needed. You've missed some metal in his chest though, I can smell it from here. Could you hold this back for me please? There we are, though I see why you stopped, he is very weak. How much sedative was he given?" Cornelius fired off.
"I don't know the exact amount, just that it was enough to kill...a human. He took the blow for me." I could feel my eyes tearing up.
"On top of this injury, yes I can see why he's still unconscious. How many bags of blood have you given him?" Cornelius questioned me. I tallied them in my head.
"About...10? I think, plus I fed him some from me as well." I rubbed my wrist where the scar was finally turning white, but had not faded yet. I was still underfed. Cornelius took note of it and then took better stock of me.
"Child, sit down, when what the last time you fed?" Cornelius demanded. I sat and wryly noted the 'child' at the beginning of his statement, wondering if this was where Alexandre got it.
"Earlier, I just have had to expend a lot of energy for Alexandre, and the baby tends to kind of sap my strength a bit." I placed a hand on my stomach again. Cornelius used his perfect teeth to bite a crescent into his wrist. He tore the flesh with a nasty ripping sound.