Blood Land, J.R. Lawson [electric book reader .txt] 📗

 THE SUN WAS barely over the horizon when Kale walked toward the double doors of the hospital. He wore sunglasses to cover his red eyes along with his normal black jeans and a dark navy blue shirt.  He wasn’t, however, wearing his usual black coat this time.  He was, though, thinking of many different things as he walked.  Namely how Nora was doing after all that had happened.  He had seen the nurse bring her into the hospital last night which allowed him some level of relief and that did permit him to get a good amount of hunting in as well but he couldn’t help also ponder about how somewhat helpless he felt then when he knew he was going to transform into his hellion form.  He had been in that form in front of Nora before, but now that he had tasted her blood, it was a completely different experience and he wondered if he would have the willpower to resist if he ever faced this situation again.  These thoughts that buzzed inside his head were part of the intent that had him going into the hospital at this moment.

Once he reached the doors and entered, he approached the desk at the lobby and just simply cleared his throat to get the nurse’s attention that was there.  It seemed to have worked because she looked up in acknowledgement.

“I’m here to see a Nora Wells.  Can you tell me what room she’s in?” He asked in a somewhat hushed tone so as to not attract any attention to himself.

“Yes, I can,” The nurse now answered as she stepped out from behind her desk. “Actually, can you come here a second I want to talk to you.”

Kale looked around him a bit nervously before hesitantly answering, “Um..yeah sure.”

Once the two of them were away from the lobby in a small nearby hallway, the nurse began to speak in a hushed voice, “Look, the reason I asked to talk to you is because I recognized you.  I don’t know if you know, but I’m the one who brought Nora in last night.”

Kale nodded. “I know.  I saw you.”

“Well, I just wanted to tell you, I know what you are and I thought it was really brave of you to leave her like that even though I could tell you didn’t want to.”

Kale looked away from her nervously but also with a slight bit of impatience. “Yeah...look no offense but can we not talk about this?  I just really need you to take me to her...”

“Oh, yes of course.  I didn’t mean to ramble on or anything.  I’m not going to tell anyone what you are either,” the nurse then reassured him, “But I do just have one question I want to ask you.”

Kale sighed in almost a frustrated way before responding, “What is it?”

“What are you to her?  I saw what you did and I could tell how much you seemed to want to protect her.  And I just….need to know.”

Kale sighed again and thought for a second or two before he decided to finally answer her question, “I’m….her brother,” he lied.

The nurse looked at him in a slightly puzzled manner after hearing his answer but then just nodded, “O.k.” she seemed to accept his response. “Come this way, I’ll take you to Nora’s room.”

After walking through a few hallways, Kale and the nurse finally made it to Nora’s room.  They both entered; Kale in front and the nurse following behind.  Kale stopped as he reached the side of Nora’s bed and noticed she was asleep there.  He then removed his sunglasses and turned to look at the nurse. “How is she?” he asked.

“She’s doing fine.  Got her stitches last night.  She’s pretty tuckered out, though, as you can see.  But there were no problems and the doctor says she should be able to leave sometime today.  She’ll just have to stay off of her foot for a while for the stitches to heal.”

Kale nodded at the information given him by the nurse but just kept staring at Nora’s sleeping image that was next to him.  It was silent in the room for a few seconds before the nurse seemed to recognize the uneasiness that surrounded them.  “Well,” she then said breaking the almost awkward silence, “I’ll just leave you.”  She then began to head for the door.

“Hey, one thing before you go,” Kale then said, grabbing her attention suddenly and causing her to turn around.

“Yes?”

“This phone,” Kale asked, motioning to the phone on the side table next to the hospital bed, “Can you dial out on it?”

The nurse nodded, “Yes, you can.”

“O.k. thanks.”

Then with that, the nurse finally left and as soon as Kale watched her leave he picked up the earpiece of the phone next to him and began to dial a number.  After waiting for a few rings on the other line, whoever it was he was trying to contact answered.

“Hello?” Kale asked.  He paused a few seconds while the other individual responded to him.  “Look, I don’t know if you remember me or not, but I need you to meet me.  I need to talk to you about some things.  It’s about Nora.”

***

Kale only had to wait about an hour before he heard a knock on Nora’s hospital room door. “Come in,” he answered in a somewhat soft shout, so as not to wake Nora who was still sleeping in her bed.

The door opened slowly and in came Amy Davis, wearing a pink sweater and jeans, her long black hair falling around her shoulders and contrasting against her pale vampiric skin.  She looked nervous as she entered, her hands tucked into her back jean pockets as she walked up to Nora’s bedside.

“I’m glad you came,” Kale now said as he stood up from the chair he had been sitting in.

“Look, let’s just get one thing straight before I hear anything you have to say,” Amy suddenly bluntly stated, “I don’t know you very well.  And I don’t know what relationship you have going on with Nora or why. What I do know is that I seem to be here with you while Nora is, for some reason, in a hospital bed and I have every intention of finding out what your deal is.  You are going to tell me everything that is going on before I even decide to help you with whatever it is you need from me.”

Kale just gently nodded, “Agreed.  I fully intend to tell you everything that’s going on.  You need to know actually.  And I hope that after you hear everything, you’ll understand why I’m going to ask this favor of you.  It’s a serious thing to ask, I know, but I hope after you hear me out, you’ll agree to it.”

It only took about half an hour for Kale to finally tell Amy about everything that had taken place between him and Nora up to this point.  And after she spent some time crying over her son Will’s death and absorbing everything else, she finally seemed able to compose herself enough to ponder what had been told to her.

“So, now that you’ve heard it all, hopefully I don’t have to explain to you why I need Nora to be safe.” Kale now concluded.

“Yes, I know why,” Amy responded in a slightly bitter tone, “It’s so that you don’t die.  And you can stick it to this...Dagon person for some revenge.”

“That’s only part of it,” Kale somewhat ashamedly admitted, “But I’ve come to a realization, especially after last night, that I can’t completely protect her all alone.  I need help.  And I can’t let Dagon get her.  It’s not just personal; it has to do with her.  I can’t let that happen to her.  Even if it comes to the possibility that I don’t come out of this alive...I need to be sure she’ll still be o.k.  That she could still make it.  Last night caused me to really recognize this.  And so I really need your help.”

Amy took a few seconds to look Kale in the eyes and really study him.  She could see the sincerity in his face and even though she didn’t really know him, she felt she could trust that his concern for Nora was a real one. “O.k. look,” she then began, “I came here because I felt like I owed you something because you were the one who told me about my husband dying, which was something I will always appreciate.  But, even though I’m almost completely sure that you are being honest with me, I’m still somewhat skeptical. Only because I don’t fully understand what part you play in all of this.”

Kale hung his head a bit as he listened to Amy speak.

“However,” Amy then continued, causing him to briefly look up for a moment, “I will hear you out.  And whatever it is that you need for me to do, I’ll do it.  But only because I’m doing it for Nora.  And Nora alone.  She’s practically a daughter to me and I’ll always do what I need to for her to be safe.”

Kale then nodded. “I understand,” he then started, “Well, here’s what I need from you...”

***

Nora’s eyes fluttered a bit as she now began to open them.  The bright sun now shown through the window to her left and after sitting up slightly and looking around a bit, trying to adjust her eyes to the brightness, she finally deduced that she was still in her hospital bed form the night before.  It was only a second later that she heard the sound of the door to her room open and someone enter.  She turned to see who it was and a touch of happiness filled her when she noticed it was Kale who had just come in.

“Kale,” she gladly acknowledged, “You’re o.k.”

Kale walked across the room and took his seat in the chair next to her bed. “Me?” he then asked, “If anyone should be asked if they’re o.k. it’s you.”

Nora smiled softly at him. “I’m fine.  All stitched up.”

“Yeah I heard.  And according to the doctor, you should get those stitches out today before you leave too.  All good as new.”

Nora now looked at Kale with a very baffled expression on her face.

“You look confused,” Kale deduced, “Why?’

“I’m confused because, how could I be able to get my stitches out today?  Doesn’t take a few days to heal?  Are you sure the doctor said that?”

“Yeah,” Kale assured her, “He just came in to check on you a second ago.  You were asleep.  He said you’re foot was actually healing faster than expected and he couldn’t believe it but you should be able to get your stitches out before you leave today.”

Nora now stared at Kale with squinted eyes in a very disapproving way.

“What?!” Kale defensively asked.

“You healed me didn’t you?!” Nora now found herself accusing, raising her voice slightly.

“No, I didn’t!” Kale rebutted.

“Don’t lie to me.  I told you I didn’t want you doing that to me again!”

“I’m telling the truth.  I didn’t heal you!”

“Then why did my foot heal so fast?”

“I don’t know!” Kale continued to argue, “Maybe it’s the Vinculum.  I told you before, I’ve never performed this bond on a human.  I don’t know what side effects there are.”

Nora now sighed in a sort of self-calming way.  She looked