Love Bites

As if coming out of a trance, Kayla dropped the kriss and looked first at Cory, then at Lily and started crying.

Cory was torn over who to go to first. His sister was traumatized and had just killed a man – no, a vampire – and his girlfriend who was bleeding and had, at a minimum, a very badly broken arm.

As if reading his mind, Lily pushed, Go free your sister, and then laid back on the ground, still cradling her arm.

Cory fought to stand up straight, ribs hurting, and moved to his sister’s side. She grabbed him, hugging him fiercely, still sobbing.

“You’re okay,” he told her. “It’s over.” He rubbed her back with one hand and down the back of her head with the other, trying to sooth her.

Like someone talking far away, he heard, “I’m okay, I’m okay,” in his head like a mantra.

“Kayla, I know you’re probably scared and confused right now, but we need to go. Lily needs a hospital and I want you checked out too. And I might need it too,” Cory told her.

She released him, still with a hitch in her breath, and he moved down to her feet to unbuckle them. Once she was free, Cory said, “Stay,” to her, bent down and picked up the kriss and held it out to her. Kayla shook her head vehemently, but Cory told her, “We have to take it. It killed him. You killed him. He’s done enough to us already and we can’t really explain all this. We’ll just get rid of it later. We can’t leave it here though.”

She reluctantly took it and since she had no shoes on, Cory picked her up gently under her back and knees, and she put an arm around his shoulders.

Carrying her was hard for him now, since he was still having problems breathing, and standing up straight, but there was glass and other debris on the ground, so he was insistent on carrying her to the car.

Walking slightly stooped over, he headed for Lily who was still laying motionless on her back with her arm laid over her chest at an odd angle. He would have been worried since she wasn’t moving and it looked like she wasn’t even breathing, but he heard the constant, low, mantra of I’m okay in his head.

Stopping where she lay, he said, “We’re okay. If you can hold on another few minutes, let me put Kayla in the car and I’ll be back for you. Just hold on.”

He started walking again and got to the inner door when the mantra in his head stopped, and when it did, he did too. Turning back, he called, “Lily! Let me know you’re okay.”

He considered putting Kayla down to go back and check on Lily when the voice in his head started again, but this time with, We’re okay.

Relieved, Cory pulled open the inner door and held it with his hip as he skuttled around it. Walking through the hall, he went outside and around the building to the car. In their rush they had left the doors open, so Cory managed to get the front passenger seat tipped forward so he could lay Kayla in the back seat.

Once settled, he told her, “I have to go get Lily, hang tough. I’ll be back in a couple of minutes.”

Kayla’s eyes were closed, but she nodded her understanding and Cory left to go back into the building.

Cory had lost Lily’s voice once outside, but she had told him her range was limited to about thirty feet. Back inside the hall he picked up her voice again, repeating, We’re okay. He passed through the inner door and thought to prop it open to make his exit easier.

Walking over to Lily, he squatted next to her, wincing in his own pain, and said, “We’re going now. I’m going to pick you up now and it’s probably going to hurt, okay?”

Lily finally opened her eyes, but they were glassy, and they closed again right away. Cory opted to pick her up from her right side, placing his hands under her shoulders and knees. He raised her slightly and rolled her towards him. Lily’s arm was already draped across her chest, so it barely moved as he lifted her.

Standing, he grunted in pain from his stomach and ribs, but knowing that Lily could hear him even though she was out of it, he triued to provide some levity to the situation. “Damn babe, I think you gained some weight. You’re heavy. You’re not getting fat on me, are you?”

Not moving or opening her eyes, he heard, You will pay for that remark my love, inside his head.

He grinned and said, “Now there’s the spunky girl I know and love. Let’s blow this joint, the smell and view sucks.” He left as quickly as he could, carrying her gently in his arms.

He returned to the car and Kayla helped recline the passenger seat, since he forgot on his earlier trip, and he set Lily down into it. Starting to stand and turn, he stopped and turned back around. Looking at the car’s ignition, he saw it was empty and said, “Damn. I need the keys.”

In his head he heard, Right front pocket, hopefully.

Cory bent back over and slid his hand into her pocket, but didn’t feel anything. He heard, More to the left, come into his head. Moving his hand to the left, he came to the edge of her pocket, which had moved down the side of her thigh. “Nope, still nothing,” he said.

Wiggle your fingers, came the voice again.

He did so, not knowing how this would help him find the keys when Lily’s voice in his head said, Ha! Technically you just copped a feel. You can tell your sister you got to third base.

He realized his fingers were no longer on her thigh exactly, and started to jerk his hand back, but stopped himself, not wanting to hurt her, so he slid his hand out of her pocket softly, dragging his fingers along the fabric of her pocket, up her thigh.

She shuddered and Cory saw goosebumps rise on her arms. A small smile appeared with a quirk of her lips.

“Two can play that game, my love,” he whispered. “Now, where are the keys?” he asked in a normal voice.

Left pocket. Swear, came the mental reply.

Cory figured it would be easier from the other side, so he pulled the seatbelt over Lily, making sure the shoulder strap was behind her head.

He had to drive safe, an accident wouldn’t be a good thing with Lily in half a seatbelt, his sister in none, and him with no license, in a car worth over a hundred thousand dollars.

He closed the door and went around to the other side and got in. Sliding his hand into Lily’s other pocket, he almost expected the keys not to be there, but his fingers found them right away. He pulled them out and heard, What, no touching this time? in his head. “Tart,” he replied.

Starting the car, he said, “It’s a little late now, but I assume you don’t have a problem with me driving?”

Lily’s response to him was, Everything mine is yours, just don’t wreak, all three of us are hurt enough as it is, followed by a little laugh, all inside his head.

“You sure you can’t read minds?” he asked, since she had just voiced the same concern as he thought. She didn’t answer him, but just smiled.

From the back seat, Kayla asked, “Who’s car is this?”

“Lily’s car,” Cory said. “Patience dear sister, I have so much to fill you in on.”

With as fast as the car was, Cory could have made it to the hospital in ten minutes or less, but it took over twenty because he drove slow and very carefully, avoiding potholes, dips, bumps, everything he could, and when he couldn’t, he slowed down to almost a crawl to go over or through them.

He also took his time to come up with a plausible story for their injuries, along with the drugging of the two girls for the hospital staff and the probable police reports that were going to accompany the stay. He quickly told the two girls the story he came up with so everyone would be telling the same story. “But if someone asks you something I didn’t cover, just tell them you don’t know or don’t remember because of the drugs or you were unconscious.”

Both girls replied with a simple, “Okay,” and he hoped they got it all.

They arrived at the hospital and Cory pulled into the ER bay and climbing out of the car, called for two gurneys to the nurses standing around. They were brought out right away, and both girls were placed gently on them.

He quickly told the ER staff Lily had been drugged and had the cut on her cheek, along with the obvious broken arm, but that was all he knew. There might be more, however. He told them Kayla had most likely been drugged as well and only had the four-inch incision down her arm, but otherwise he didn’t know if there was anything else wrong with her.

Holding his arm across his midsection unconsciously, the nurse asked him if he was hurt. He nodded, saying, “Stomach and ribs hurt. Having trouble catching my breath, but I’ll move the car and be right in.”

The nurse looked at him skeptically, but only said, “Hurry then.” When he came back in, they put him in the ER area between the two girls, so he could answer questions since he was the only one capable of answering at the moment.

As Cory was providing answers to a battery of personal questions about all three of them, Lily’s clothes were cut off her and she was given a physical examination. Cory heard her say, Now’s the time to peek and see me naked if you want, in his mind with a chuckle.

He replied with only, “Curtain.” The nurse asking him questions looked up at him with a puzzled look. “Sorry, it was nothing,” he said to her.

Kayla was subjected to the same, except since she was able to move, a nurse helped her remove the tissue paper thin gown and her bra, and both girls were put in hospital gowns.

Cory removed his own clothing while still answering questions and put on a gown of his own. After the staff got all of the information they needed, at least for now to treat them all three of them were sent for various x-rays and CAT scans to find out the extent of the injuries.

In what seemed like hours later, all three were returned to the ER. Cory was told that he would have few bruises and had two bruised and sprained ribs, which was why he was having trouble breathing, but he felt better after they wrapped him in an elastic bandage to compress the ribs. He would be released shortly, provided nothing else came up.

Kayla, he was told, had the incision on her arm, which Cory was told something was used to barely break the skin. He knew what did it. Cory had also told the staff discreetly about the sexual threats made against her, and since Kayla was in and out of consciousness, a female doctor did a quick non-invasive exam while she was unconscious at one point to make sure she wasn’t sexually assaulted.

The doctor didn’t go into detail but simply told Cory not to worry, that it didn’t appear that Kayla had been assaulted. It was decided to keep her at least overnight for observation due to the drug in her system. She had more than a normal dose and they didn’t want her to suffer any side effects at home. The nurse wrapped her arm after putting some antibiotic ointment on it and she was sent upstairs to a room.

Lily came back last, having taken the worst punishment. She had received more extensive x-rays and a complete CAT scan to assess her injuries. Determining her system had enough painkillers and sedatives in it, they set her arm while in x-ray to make sure both bones were set correctly, as both the ulna and radius were broken, and then put in a cast. The outside layer was pink; the doctor figuring it fit because she was a girl.

Her cheekbone was fractured but not broke enough to require surgery. It was simply cracked. The cut on top wasn’t too big, so they opted to use the medical version of superglue and two butterfly strips. She also had multiple contusions and a few sprained ribs but otherwise, nothing life threatening.

While waiting to be released, Lily was moved upstairs into the same room as Kayla, leaving Cory alone in the ER. With time to waste, he decided to bite the bullet and call his mom. Keeping it short, he assured his mom that both he and Kayla were okay, that Lily was hurt but would recover and their house was trashed.

Upset, but keeping calm because everyone was okay, his mom told him she would be there shortly. The doctors decided to release him not long after he hung up, so he got dressed and then went upstairs to sit with both girls.