Edward carried the broken body of his mate to another clean room. He would have preferred to move her to his rooms and place her in his bed. Unfortunately, her injuries would require a firm, unbiased touch to administer the transfusion. Gabriel was the man for that job. His indifference to Iona would ensure that he would not give in to her pleas for mercy and his strength would guarantee the job would be completed correctly.
As they entered the treatment room, Edward looked at the personnel that were waiting to begin the task. Gabriel, the epitome of efficiency, had apparently ordered the necessary people and items to be ready for Iona's treatment. With a fleeting thought, Edward wondered how long they had been standing at their posts.
As Edward placed her body on the treatment bed, Iona whimpered as though in great pain but too weak to voice her complaint. He stared for a few minutes at the face he had loved when she was once human and then one of his own. She had not been given the luxury to choose to be a vampire but, barring the night terrors, she had seemed to finally be adjusting to his way of life. Staring into her strained face, he saw the evidence of her severe blood loss in the gaunt, paleness of her cheeks and the dark bruising under her eyes.
Feeling Gabriel's hand on his shoulder, Edward turned to look at his friend. The stress of the day had not escaped the normally well groomed, emotionless man. Gabriel still exuded the confidence required to complete his job but not without cost. The tall man, with black hair and eyes, scared most immortals and all humans that he encountered. Edward hoped that, even with his own exceptional abilities, he would never have to compete against Gabriel's strength and prowess.
Still, Gabriel's eyes confirmed the torment that he was experiencing. Causing Edward pain through the abuse of his mate was not a delight. Alena had chosen her sister over him once before and, with tonight's events, she may choose to do so again. If he could turn back the clock, he would have never agreed to the interrogation. He would have never let her learn about his true nature. Hell, maybe he would have never met her.
No, he would not deny the one light in his life of knowing her. No matter how much pain their relationship had caused or received, he would accept losing her in the future but he would not forget their past. He wondered if she considered him a monster capable of beating her sister to a pulp. Knowing that Alena had been escorted safely to his rooms, Gabriel willed himself to quit thinking about her and focus on completing the task at hand.
"Edward," he said to his friend, "you will need to be close and available when the time comes to share your blood, but you may want to step outside of the room until we are ready for you."
Before Edward could answer, he felt the nudging of his mate's broken hands against his arm. When he leaned close to her face, tears poured from her eyes. He read a myriad of emotions including pain and fear mixed with the remains of her trust in him.
"I won't leave her now," he stated in his voice that ruled his domain.
"You know that there will be considerably more pain for her," Gabriel stated.
"Damn it, Gabriel, I won't leave her!" Edward exclaimed and then leaned closed to her body to kiss her forehead.
"Then at least avoid the tainted blood," Gabriel conceded.
With a nod of his head to the medical staff, Gabriel put the system in motion. Swiftly inserting IVs into the woman's major arteries, they began evacuating the remains of the contaminated blood. As the dark, red liquid filled the clear tubing, the faint sound of a dying heartbeat could be heard. With her body struggling to survive, she began whimpering in pain.
"How much longer?" Edward implored moving away from her dying body.
"When the heart is near its last beat," Gabriel responded with answers Edward already knew.
"I can't stand this," Edward moaned pacing around the room.
As the quiet heartbeat struggled, the woman's moans became quieter until they ceased altogether. Finally, the unnatural heartbeat assumed an eerie percussion of a single beat interrupted by pauses of silence. Each quiet pause grew longer between the muscle's struggles.
"Gabriel," Edward screamed running to the bed, "we're going to lose her!"
"Edward," Gabriel cautioned his friend, "Step back and be ready when I give the word."
The woman's heart continued its erratic rhythm, searching for the rich liquid needed to feed its body. As the intermittent silence increased, her body seized and a final breath was forcibly exhaled from her lungs.
"Edward," Gabriel instructed, "Now."
Without hesitation, the king of the American vampires lovingly lifted his mate's dying body and sank his fangs into her neck. Forcing the venom that would not only sooth her pain but assist with her change, he held her close until he knew that he could no longer delay feeding her. Quickly sealing the bite marks, he then bit his own wrist and held it to her mouth. Because she was unconscious and not able to swallow, he tilted her head back to open her throat. Rich, strong blood flowed from his veins into her mouth. Gently massaging her throat, Edward watched as the blood that had pooled in her mouth slid into her body.
When he was sure that she had swallowed enough of his strengthening blood, he moved to each of her injuries, gently licking the wounds so they would instantly seal and eliminate further blood loss. Heeding Gabriel's warnings about contamination, he protected his own mouth with his venom and spit out any blood absorbed from healing his mate. As he touched each wound, the medical staff removed the contaminated lines and inserted new tubing that quickly began pumping new, donated blood into her system. At the touch of Gabriel's hand on his shoulder once more, Edward stood back from his beloved's body.
"We've done all that we can," Gabriel advised. "She needs to sleep and let the change proceed without interruption."
