“Yes,” I agreed. “And she’s woken up.”
“Oh. Oh! We need to check on her then.” The male nurse stood up, but his badge caught on the edge of the desk yanking him back down.
The older nurse patted his back and pushed an enormous plastic cup of iced liquid that was colored an alarming shade of neon yellow at him. “I’ll handle it.” She stood up and met my gaze. “Thank you for letting us know—are you her family?”
I laughed. “No—not hardly. But I did bring her in, and I’m very vested in her care.”
The male nurse nodded. “Understood. We will do our best to make sure she heals up and remains comfortable.” He reached for his cup and missed.
“Nick, you need to take a day off.” The older woman put the cup directly in the male nurse’s hands, then nodded to me. “I assure you Jade O’Neil is in great hands. She’ll be just fine.”
Their promises were nice enough, but I studied the trio and considered using my pheromones just to be certain.
But taking over the emergency room as I had was…notdeeplyillegal, but definitely over the line. I didn’t care much about legal repercussions, but Jade would—
Wait, wait. Am I truly so far gone that I’m fretting over her feelings?
The no-longer-a-giggler put her hand over her heart. “You don’t have to worry about a thing, sir. We’ll take great care of your girlfriend.”
“Girlfriend?” I repeated the word, which tasted as foreign as it sounded.
The not-a-giggler nodded. “I think it’s so romantic that you’ve got the whole star-crossed lovers thing going on—since you’re a vampire and she’s a vampire slayer.”
The male nurse jumped. “He’s a what?”
“Vampire—he’s got the red eyes,” the not-a-giggler said. “And Lucia is right, Nick. You’ve gotta take a day off—the lack of sleep is getting to you. You’re usually sharper than I am.”
I was still processing the assumption of our relationship—which had happened before. But those assumptions had been for Jade and Connor.
This nurse thoughtIwas involved with aslayer.
But is that guess so far off, given everything I did tonight for her?
I couldn’t tell if that was disgusting, disappointing, or fine, and I didn’t want to think it over to find out, so instead I offered the nurses a smile.
“Thank you so much,” I said, oozing goodwill. “I deeply appreciate the care you’ve given her.” I winked, then made myescape, striding away before I could hear anything more, which seemed to be a common action for me currently.
I focused on my goal—to get out of the sterile smelling surroundings where it felt like the walls were closing in and retreat outside. Josh and that other Drake vampire were still hanging about. I’d find them and get a ride… somewhere.
My concentration kept the intrusive thoughts at bay, so I was left in peace as I trotted down the stairs and traced a path through the large building.
I prowled through the front doors—which opened automatically—and didn’t let myself relax until the chilly night air surrounded me.
The sky had faded from inky black to a sort of dirty gray color—lightening at the first hint of sunrise.
When I exhaled, my breath turned into a silvery puff. The street in front of the hospital was quiet—my breathing was the only noise. Streetlights marked a sidewalk that wrapped around the hospital to the parking lot behind it.
I followed the sidewalk—I needed to, as the Drake vampires were kicking up their heels in the parking lot—but my mind was now free to ponder what I’d been avoiding.
What now?
My holiday was quite obviously over and in comparing Killian Drake to his siblings, it was obvious that despite his questionable choice at having a One, he was still of sound mind. (Or sounder than his siblings, anyway.)
Staying around Magiford was just going to invite headaches. However… there was still Jade to think about.
I turned around to glance back at the hospital. Jade’s room overlooked the parking lot, so I wasn’t yet on the right side of the building.
There—I was thinking of Jade, a human, again.
