Chapter 46

☆ ☆ James ☆ ☆

After telling Kara my thoughts on diablerie, I sensed something was off. She tried her best to hide it, but I could tell something was bothering her. She tried to change the subject by picking up The Notebook. I had almost finished reading it to her last night, but she had marked a page near the halfway point. I assumed that was the last point she remembered before drifting off to sleep. 

I allowed her to feel as though everything was alright; we could discuss what was bothering her at a later time when she was more comfortable. I turned to the page where she had marked her starting point, and I continued to read it aloud once more. She listened diligently, and I glanced up at her as I turned each page, not allowing myself to get lost in the story this time. 

We were interrupted a few times by the nurses doing their rounds; I would pause my reading to allow them to take her vitals and ask any follow-up questions. Kara took the opportunity to ask for another meal the second time they came around. When the nurse brought back another smoothie, she said, "I think it's so sweet that you're reading to her." 

I smiled. I didn't think of it as sweet; I just wanted to be around her and would do anything she asked, especially after what she had endured due to my disrespect toward Sylas. I entirely blamed myself for the incident and was just thankful that she was alive. I would read her a million books if it would appease her and help relieve some of the guilt that I felt.

It was nearly 1:00 a.m., and I was only a few chapters away to the point where I had stopped reading before leaving her this yesterday morning. At this rate, I would need her to pick out the next book for me to read from the ones I had brought to keep her occupied during her stay. She drank her smoothie while I continued reading The Notebook to her.

I personally loved this story because it was about a love enduring hardships; I thought it was relevant to our own story, though not precisely the same. Nicholas Sparks knew nothing about the prophecy, our blood bond, vampires, or werewolves. However, I knew our love would be an enduring one, which ideally could last forever once I turned her into a vampire.

Kara interrupted my reading to let me know she needed to use the bathroom by waving her whiteboard overhead, catching my eye. "Do you need help?", I asked. She shook her head and removed her nasal cannula before scooting off the bed. She used the IV pole to support herself, and she made her way to the bathroom on her own.

I was impressed. Yesterday that would have been a feat for her to accomplish, but today, she was able to do it on her own. I smiled. It was more of an affirmation that she was healing under the watchful eyes of the staff here at the hospital. She was so much stronger than I could have imagined, and though I knew she couldn't see it herself, however I could, and her resistance made me love her that much more. 

She had been gone for at least ten minutes, and I started to worry. I gently rapped on the door, imagining the worst, but I heard the toilet flush and the sink water turn on. She was fine, and I let out a sigh of relief. She opened the door and smiled at me. I asked, "Do you want to go on another walk down the hall to stretch your legs?" 

She nodded, and I obliged. I opened the door to her room and walked alongside her; she didn't rely on me to support her as she did yesterday and took fewer breaks, only stopping once at the end of the hall for a few minutes and walking the entire way back to her room. I could tell when she started to struggle toward the end.

Kara would always push herself, and I did have to help her back into the hospital bed. She put her nasal cannula back on and was reenergized by the flow of oxygen she received. The walker with the seat should help her get around our wing with no issues during my training and feeding, that, and having access to everything close by.

The items I ordered from Amazon would be arriving sometime today, and I would make sure to set everything up before returning to the hospital later this evening, in case she was cleared to come home. The human servants had already gone shopping and had prepped a multitude of different easy-to-swallow meals for her. The meals were labeled and sitting in the kitchen's freezer. 

Kara wrote on her dry-erase board, "Will you read some more?" I chuckled, "Of course, Love." I picked up where I left off before her bathroom break and finished the rest of the novel within two hours. She was crying silently when I looked up. I cupped her cheek and wiped a tear away, "Don't cry, Love. We are fortunate not to deal with things of this nature." 

Vampires did not succumb to things like Alzheimer's, cancer, stroke, heart or kidney disease. Once we were turned, only the sun, fire, beheading, diablerie, a stake through the heart, or a bite from a werewolf could kill us. Those deaths sounded more brutal, but at least they didn't last long, and there wasn't prolonged suffering.

Sure, we could be tortured beforehand with silver, and werewolf bites made us extremely sick before passing, but even so, you wouldn't survive any of those fates for more than an hour. She wrote on her board, "What are you thinking about?" I shook my head, "I was thinking about the ways that you could a vampire could meet the true death."

She cocked her head in a manner, asking me to continue. "Well, the instant deaths are beheading or staking us through the heart.", I continued, " Burning us or diablerie would take somewhere between 5-10 minutes." I paused, "Sunlight would take about 20 minutes, and being bitten by a werewolf 30 minutes to an hour."

I was still unsure how long it would take once a progeny's sire was killed or if that was even true from the reading. She wrote on her whiteboard, "Those sound like really terrible deaths." I nodded, "But they wouldn't last for long, whereas the ailments humans face could be prolonged and painful."

She understood what I was saying, especially after listening to Allie and Noah's story. I had roughly four hours til sunrise and needed to leave a little earlier today. I wanted to prep the wing as much as I could before Kara came home, and since there was a possibility she could go home this evening, I wanted to prep now so that I could return to the hospital faster. 

I would stay with Kara another hour or so before leaving her. I asked, "Is there anything you want to do before I leave?" Kara wrote on the board once again, "Do you think we could go outside for a bit? It's stuffy in here." I nodded, "I'll ask." I went to the nurse's station, "Excuse me. Kara wanted to go outside to get some fresh air. Would that be alright?"

A male nurse looked at me suspiciously, "She isn't trying to leave, right? If she is, she must fill out some forms because that would be against her physician's advice." I chuckled, "Not at all; I think she just has some cabin fever and wants to breath some fresh air." He nodded, "If she stays in the wheelchair and doesn't stray too far from the front door." I said, "You've got a deal."

I returned to her room, pushing a wheelchair, "The nurse said you have to stay in the wheelchair, and you can't go too far from the entrance." Kara clapped excitedly and did a little happy dance in her bed. I helped her out of the bed even though she could have accomplished the task herself. She took the blanket from the bed to stay warm in the crisp winter night air.

She held on to her IV pole, and I pushed her in the wheelchair to the entrance of the building. She inhaled deeply as she met the air, and her warm breath fogged up as she exhaled. I kissed her forehead and placed my hands delicately on her shoulders, rubbing them gently. She reached back and placed one of her hands on mine.

We stayed there for a while, trying to admire the stars through the hospital's bright exterior lights. When she started to shiver, I decided it was time to take her back in. "Come on, Love, let's get you back to your bed.", I said. She looked back with pleading eyes, begging for just a few more minutes. 

I sighed and let her stay a few more minutes. I wasn't sure if the ploy was to take a few more minutes with me or if she actually wanted to be out in the cold watching the stars instead of returning to her hospital room. Either way, I wouldn't say no to her. She tapped my hand after a time, and I took that as her initiating her willingness to return to her room. 

I pushed the wheelchair back as she held on to the IV pole and got her back into her bed. "I need to get going, Love.", I said, gently kissing her lips. She nodded, not wanting me to leave but understanding regardless. She wrote on her whiteboard, "I love you, James." I smiled, "Times the sideways eight." I kissed her once more before leaving her and returning back home.