An hour before dawn, I saw my last patient and collapsed on an exam table.
"Sleepy?" Elliott asked, chuckling as he cleaned the countertops and put away medications.
"It's easy for you to make fun, buster, but we humans have to work for our energy! No easy supernatural abilities to keep us going. Sheesh. I love my job, I'll say that over and over again, but somewhere in between that scuffle with the older guy about prices for my services and the 27th patient, I honestly thought the night would never end."
Elliott laughed outright. "What was his problem?"
"Oh, he just thought that since I was backed by the Prince it would be some sort of government handout. I told him the mistake was understandable, and sent him on his way with a bill only for the materials he used. No use in trying to force him to pay for my services as well."
"Oh gosh, I almost throttled him!" Sandra shouted from the front room. I listened as her footsteps came into the exam room, lifting my head to see her lingering in the doorway.
"Oh Sandra, you are my savior. I cannot believe how incredibly polite and composed you stayed ALL night! Thank you so much."
"Only doing my job, boss." I let my head fall back on the table and turned to see Elliott just finishing mopping up. "And Elliott, my darling Nurse Elliott. Thank YOU! You were phenomenal. There when I needed you, out taking care of others when I didn't—I have rarely worked with better nurses."
"You flatter, my lady," Elliott smirked, but I could tell he was pleased. Although the table was feeling more and more comfortable, I realized I had to get up and keep working. I'd put off my research for too long, and there was a woman in desperate need of a cure somewhere in the city. I heaved my body up from the table and nearly fell off it. Sandra grabbed my arm and steadied me, but I realized that I hadn't eaten in nearly 8 hours, and it was certainly taking its toll on me.
"I'm going to order some Chinese food, either of you—" I broke off, laughing. "Of course you don't want any. Sheesh. Sometimes I completely forget that you monsters suck human blood."
"And if you don't watch your tone, you juicy human, we'll suck yours!" Elliott joked, handing me my cell phone from the pocket of my white coat that I had slung over the back of the chair. I called the restaurant and ordered my dinner. I was exhausted, but I would do anything rather than think about the mess I was in. If I was honest with myself, I was seriously scared of Theo and his Sire. Although there was something about Theo that attracted me intrinsically, I was always just a little nervous around him. He was so... self-assured of his royalty. That must have been it. I had certainly never dated a royal before, but I could tell that he simply assumed many things that I never would have.
After the food was delivered and Elliott and Sandra headed home, I sat in the waiting room to watch the sun rise. As the glow of the morning began to leak up from the cracks between the sky scrapers, I pulled two of the arm chairs to face each other and sat back with my feet up, my dinner on my lap, and my notebook beside me. It was lonely, watching the grey-gold light spreading over the city, knowing that everyone I had ever known in my old life thought I was dead, and everyone from my new life had their own families, friends, and lives to go home to. I was floating between worlds, and desperately lonely for someone to hold onto to anchor me. I could go back to Theo, I thought, but was the argument worth a warm body to sleep next to? I sighed. I just didn't have the guts for it that night, but maybe soon.
The room was still half dark when I woke up to the cramp in my neck, completely turned around. After a few minutes of my mind remaining startlingly blank, I noticed that the room I was sitting in was steadily getting darker. I stood up to turn the lights on and empty take-out cartons clattered to the floor. Ooooh....I had fallen asleep in my seat before I got a chance to get any work done. I massaged the hard knot at the base of my skull, but it did little to ease the sinking feeling of having missed an opportunity to get important work done. I checked the clock—it was coming on 9pm, and the doors were about to open.
Shit, I thought. I'm a mess—I'm even still wearing the same clothing! Quickly I picked up the cartons and napkins and threw them away with one hand while I undid my blouse with the other. I rushed along, pulling it off as I went down the hallway, starting to undo my belt buckle and pants as I opened up the door to the back bathroom. I had insisted to Theo that there be a full bathroom with bath and shower, even though he thought it was absolutely ridiculous. Still, I knew that besides the times that I stayed late or arrived early needing a shower, there would also be instances when sick people would need to be dumped in a cold bath or clean their bodies. I left my clothing in a pile on the closed toilet lid, and turned on the water. As I waited for it to get warm, I glanced into the mirror. My mascara was smeared, and my skin looked clammy and dull. My hair was curling in wisps by my temples, and the green of my eyes had folded into a sluggish grey. The two little puncture scars at my neck were fainter than the day before, and I was slightly relieved and slightly unnerved. Would I be attacked when Theo's mark completely vanished? Curls of steam wound their way through my legs as I fought to pull the hair band out of my knotted bun. The water was hot and soothing as I clambered into the shower, tilting my head back to soak my hair.
It was so good to get wet. The slickness of the soap on my skin made me loathe to wash it off, and I let my hands take extra circles around my nipples and stomach, gliding lower and lower. There was very little time before everyone arrived, but maybe I could touch myself just a little bit? I let my fingers drop lower, and they slid over my puffy lips, suddenly slippery in a new way. I dipped a finger into my hot pussy, and I gasped. It may not have been that long since I'd had sex, but I was aching already, missing the feeling of someone inside me. Just thinking about it made me hotter, and my breathing began to deepen as I circled my clit with one finger, just gently teasing it. With a finger tip on either side of it I began to stroke my clit, bringing my playing to a distinctly more serious level. I leaned back against the shower wall, toying with my nipples with one hand while I plunged my fingers into my cunt with the other hand. Oh god, the sensations were coming stronger and stronger, and unbidden I saw an image of Elliott fucking me with abandon—I gasped and stopped for a moment. What? I shook it from my head, allowing myself to just dwell on the feelings, but suddenly the bathroom door opened, and a body slipped through.
"Who's there?!" I called, grasping the shower curtain to cover myself. I looked around and saw Elliott, chuckling.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. It's just that you're practically shouting!"
"What? Elliott, this is highly inappropriate. Get out of the bathroom." He didn't seem to be moving, so I glared. "Now!" I growled, and I pushed on him with my mind the way I did to both Theo and his sire. Elliott cried out and I pulled back, slamming the curtain shut. The door slammed, and when I closed my eyes I could feel Elliott's fury and pain as he stormed through the hallway. With a deep calming breath that I could feel in my abdomen, I rinsed off the soap and got out of the shower. I let all the adrenaline leave my body as I wrapped my hair in the towel and put my clothing back on. Out in the waiting room I found him with his head hung between his knees, almost hyperventilating.
"Elliott, what's wrong? What are you doing?" I sat down beside him, my anger vanishing, but as I touched his back he shrunk away from me.
"What did you do to me?" he gasped, rocking back and forth, his head cradled between his hands. When it became clear he was in so much pain that he wouldn't say anything more, I became desperate. I couldn't treat him if he wouldn't tell me what was wrong—I stopped, realizing that maybe I could use the same technique to heal him that I had used to hurt him. I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and let my mind search for his. I felt a sort of thickness that I knew was his consciousness, and he gasped, and gagged, retching on the floor. I pulled back sharply, and tried to find a softer way to enter his mind. I imagined his mind as a semi-solid conglomeration of a clay-like substance and many small odds and ends in a box. I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it felt like, so I just let it sit there in front of me, and I looked for the injured part without touching. There was something to the side that seemed to be almost bruised or bloody—as much as clay could bleed. There was a cloud of concentration over it, and I blew lightly at it to disperse it, causing Elliott to wince and whimper.
