Harlow? Harlow couldn’t be here. He wouldn’t be… The human hadn’t been alive then. The burning sensation in his back faded, the smell dissipating…
The pain in his chest, however, rushed fully forward, drawing a hiss from his lips. The beat of his heart now felt like a bolt of lightning striking again and again through his center. His whole body felt off, his right arm was oddly immobile, itchy, and stiff. Something was wrapped around his chest, feeling tighter than it should, adding to all the pain. There was also this odd beeping, along with pulling sensations all over his body. Some felt like something inside was going to tear, while others just tugged on his skin in random places.
Foxx blinked, his tears still flowing as he slowly lowered his arms from his face. His eyes widened at the sight of Harlow standing there in his all-black outfit, looking so normal. Another sound came, causing him to tense up again—the sound of the priest screaming. Words that could only be scripture were coming loud and clear, the pain they brought added to everything he was feeling at that moment.
“Priest, if you don’t shut the fuck up, I’m going to come in there and put a bullet between your eyes!” Harlow growled loudly, teeth bared.
The ranting stopped, but…Foxx couldn’t stop the fear filled sob that slipped past his lips. Weakly, he clutched at Harlow’s shirt, the only thing in reach as the human leaned over him.
“Ah, shit, Foxx. You’re safe.” The man gently ran a hand through Foxx’s curls. “That fucker is not going to touch you again.” Harlow grimaced, jaw clenching. The guy hesitantly brushed away one of the tears rolling down his cheeks, before awkwardly clearing his throat and saying, “Come on, let’s get you laid out flat. We should probably check and make sure you didn’t pull any of your stitches, or one of the random lines going into you.”
Foxx let Harlow help him straighten up, and he found he needed the help, as moving felt like hard labor at the moment. All the pulling sensations made sense as he caught sight of the IV and numerous other cords coming out of his hospital gown.
“Weak…” Foxx rasped, his voice coming out hoarse.
“Yeah, you are going to be feeling like shit for a while.”
Foxx flushed when Harlow adjusted the covers and lifted up his hospital gown, staring with a frown. He looked down at the large bandages around his chest, gauze poking out the sides, with a plastic tube coming out of the area. There were patches all over him linking to the machines nearby, and…his right arm had a cast on it, which explained the stiff, itchy feeling he’d felt.
Foxx flinched back when he moved slightly, and his foot brushed against something cold and hard. Chains, it was the chains!
Probably seeing he was about to lose his shit again, Harlow grabbed the end of the chain sticking out of the covers near the edge of the bed and yanked it out, unhooking it from a post connected to the bed and tossing it against the wall. He did the same with the three others. “No more cuffs, no more restraints, Foxx.”
He nodded, biting his lips. His tears, that had begun to dry up, started flowing again.
“Ah, shit…don’t cry.” Harlow stood there looking like he was the one about to freak out now.
The door of the hospital room slammed open, causing Foxx to jump. His eyes widened as a woman in scrubs stormed in, followed by two police officers.
“You two are still here? Convenient, if nothing else, I suppose,” Harlow said with a snort.
Foxx frowned, not sure who any of them were, but his partner obviously knew them.
“Arrest him! He attacked and threatened Father Donovan!” the woman, who was obviously a nurse, cried, glaring. “He even has him restrained somewhere.”
Had she been in the room? He couldn’t really remember what happened after seeing the priest. Foxx couldn’t even recall when the chains on him had been removed.
When the officers didn’t move, and continued to stand there looking slightly unsure, she shrieked, “What are you doing?! Arrest him!”
“They won’t, Nurse Gladys. They don’t really have the authority unless the order comes from above them.” Harlow crossed his arms and sat down on the edge of Foxx’s bed. “I, on the other hand, have the authority to arrest anyone I catch in the act of actively harming any species of paranormal, outside of what could be classed as self-defense.”
“What…but you…” Gladys babbled.
“I attacked him when I caught him preaching over my strapped down, defenseless partner. He was unable to move or ward him off due to your fucked up policies here.”
Policies? He’d been strapped down due to policies? Foxx frowned. Those…chains…the cuffs…they’d had scripture on them. It hadn’t been burning him, but he could tell. It was the only reason Foxx hadn’t been able to break them himself. How would it ever be okay to use those things on someone who wasn’t even a criminal?!
“Since you two are here…” Harlow tossed something at the nearest cop. The man caught it, and he realized it was a wallet. “Grab the guy in the bathroom, and take him down to the station. I’ll send a group of hunters there to interrogate him tomorrow. They should have been here by now, but I’m guessing the weather has delayed them.”
“What?!” the nurse screeched.
“What… Did you actually think it was legal for a priest to come into the hospital room of a vampire patient and harm them? Not to mention, steal their private information. Maybe use your brain a bit.”
The officer on the left, who had blond hair, cleared his throat. “We’ll just…go get him then.”
The nurse stood there looking flabbergasted as the police grabbed the man from the bathroom and took him away. Foxx averted his eyes when they passed with the priest, not wanting to see him.
“He was just doing his job,” Gladys said, sounding lost.
