“I’m sorry,” Julien’s tone was soft, like a caress. “How long have you had to do this?”
“Over a decade. I was diagnosed just out of high school,” Luis admitted. That’d been a horrible time. All the tests and drugs and specialists. It’d taken a while to come to a diagnosis. What he had was rare, especially at his age.
“And how often do you treat it?”
“Twice a month, give or take,” Luis answered.
He heard the quick suck of Julien’s breath. “I’m so sorry,” Julien said.
So was he, but that was life. Luis kept those words in. Whenever he got maudlin about his condition, people tended to squirm.
Eventually Julien broke the silence with a gentle, “Almost done.”
Then the needle was being removed. A gauze pad pressed to his skin, and Luis almost collapsed in relief. A strong arm wrapped around him and Luis leaned into it.
“I’ve got you,” Julien said.
Luis took a shaky breath. “Thank you,” he said.
“You did so well,” Julien said, as if Luis had accomplished something great. “What is the aftercare for your treatment?”
Aftercare? Usually Luis just laid on his bed or floor and felt sorry for himself.
“Um, nothing really, just give me a minute to calm down and I’ll put everything away.”
“Oh, I can do that, don’t worry,” Julien said. “I meant more like, they usually give humans something sweet after a blood donation, would that help?”
For some reason, the offer made the corners of his eyes burn. He pinched them tight, breathing in and out. “I’m fine, I’ll be fine,” he said.
Julien hummed but didn’t move to do anything, just kept holding Luis, keeping him supported. He was so solid, so strong. Luis vaguely remembered Julien lifting him out of Eric’s car like he weighed nothing, that violet scent of his a calming balm.
Eventually, Luis made himself open his eyes and pull away. Julien let him go, but slowly.
He looked down, seeing the taped gauze in the crook of his arm. Julien started breaking down everything, putting it back in the kit. He left out the blood.
The blood bag was sealed and was sitting on the bedspread.
At home, Luis would have emptied it down the drain. It was of no use to him, and the quicker he could get rid of it, the less he had to think about it.
But sitting here, he couldn’t help but have new thoughts about its disposal.
He glanced up at Julien.
“Does the blood go in your kit as well? I wasn’t sure,” Julien said.
His mother would wring his neck if she knew what he was thinking about. This went against every rule and lecture she’d ever given him. Under no circumstances was he supposed tooffer his blood to a vampire.
But what would be the harm? The blood was already in the bag, so it wasn’t like he’d be letting a vampire bite him. Letting Julien have this blood could even be payment for his help.
“Luis?” Julien prompted when he’d been silent for too long.
“Do you want it?” He blurted.
At the same time, there was a knock at the door. “Is everything okay?” Karim asked from the other side.
Luis didn’t even look at the door. He was stuck watching Julien’s expression flicker between surprise and uncertainty.
“What?” Julien asked.
