The Last Keeper (11 page)

When I came around, it felt as if only a few moments had passed, but no matter how long I was out, it was long enough. Long enough for the vampire to flee and for my wounds to heal around the glass in my back. Whoever the vampire was, seeing me must have confused him enough to make a run for it.

   
With the glass embedded where it was, I wouldn’t be able to get it out by myself. Helen would be upset I had put myself in this situation, but I wouldn’t allow the vampire to kill the woman.

Unless he already has.
 

The thought made me grimace.

Forcing one step in front of the other, I went back into the building. Each step hurt more than the last, but I had to check.
 

I was relieved to find the woman unconscious on the floor, the shallow bite mark already fully healed, her breathing slow and steady.
 

It took a great physical effort on my part to hoist the woman’s dead weight into my arms. I knew the address where I’d seen the vampire leaving. It would take me a while to get there. Being home before dawn had gone out of the window the same moment I had.

The trip to the woman’s house was a long and agonising one. The two distinct breaks in my ribs would take a while to heal, a day at least, and that was causing me some trouble. Scaling the wall to get the unconscious woman back in her bed was near impossible. Instead, I had to pick the lock and sneak through her house, room by room until I found the one I was looking for. There was only a woman I thought to be her mother in the other bedroom. She was sound asleep, and I managed to get out without waking her. She wouldn’t know I’d been there, and her daughter would think she’d had a nightmare, a very vivid nightmare—if she remembered anything at all.

There were few people on the streets this early, and I managed to avoid the few I saw. When I reached my door, however, I realised I couldn’t unlock it. In the state I was in, I couldn’t reach the key hanging in the porch.

“Damn it.” I reached for the doorbell instead.

Waiting on the doorstep for someone to find me wasn’t an option. If I passed out—I was feeling distinctly light-headed—and I ended up at the hospital . . . that would be very bad.
 

“Coming,” Helen called when I rang the bell for a second time. “If that’s Ray, then he needs to learn to tell time.”

Her footsteps on the carpet were almost as loud as her grumbling.
 

“Serenity?” she asked as she opened the door. “Oh God! Sam!”

“I’m fine.”
 

“Like hell you are! What happened?” She helped me into the house. “Jayne, can you get the medical kit, please?”

“Vampire, window, ground,” I answered. “Honestly, I’m fine.”

“No, you are clearly not. You are white as a sheet, and I can feel the glass sticking out of your back.”

Seconds later, a very flustered, half dressed and half asleep Sam came charging down the stairs.
 

“Really, I walked back here. I’m fine,” I tried to tell them, but I was going nowhere on my own.

“From the way you’re standing, I’d guess at least one broken rib. So, no, you are not
fine,
” he said, carefully linking his arm around my waist.

“Two, actually. At least.” He accidentally moved a shard in my back, making me wince and hiss.
 

“Two. If we can’t fix them here then a trip to the hospital may be needed,” he said, sounding concerned.

“It’s only my ribs. No punctured lung and no internal bleeding. I just need someone to get this glass out.” I was deposited at the kitchen table, sitting the wrong way on one of the chairs.

“Jayne, would you take your breakfast to the dining room this morning?” Helen said when Jayne returned with the medical kit and a light dress.

“Yes, Mother,” she answered. “Feel better, Aunt Sere.”

The medical kit was one that had been collected over the years, and contained everything ever needed. Any injury that didn’t require surgery, Helen had the supplies to treat.
 

“Can you take your shirt off?”
 

“It’s not as bad as it seems.”
 

“Take your shirt off and we’ll see.”

The sound of broken glass falling to the floor accompanied the removal of my shirt, and I felt a few smaller pieces dislodge in the process. It was a start, but there was far more glass decorating my back and neck, and some in my arms, as well.
 

“What happened?” Helen asked, looking over my injuries.

“I was checking the area round Ray’s house. Spotted a vampire taking a woman. She was unconscious, but she was pregnant. I couldn’t let him kill her. I don’t think she knew.” I braced myself for the pain as Helen picked up a scalpel.

When my wounds healed around something, I
felt
it. Every part of it. The width of the object, the depth, and even the texture. In order to remove it, it either had to be pulled or cut out. Pulling it out was far more painful than having a scalpel slice through my skin.
 

“You always were too kind for your own good. You know we don’t get involved like that.” She paused. “But I’m glad you did.”

“There was no walking away. I just couldn’t.”
 

“I know. Now, this is going to hurt. A lot. You look as if you have the entire window in here.”

When she removed the first piece, I gasped. “I think I do.”

The worst part, and the hardest, was that I needed to calm myself in order for Helen to work. If I didn’t, it would hurt twice as much. Forcing the muscles in my back to relax, I lowered my head and hoped it would be over soon.
 

I tried to concentrate on the thud of glass hitting the towel on the wooden table. The soft fabric muffled the noise, making it sound as if someone was knocking on a door in the distance.
 

The fresh wounds healed quickly but not before staining my back red. She didn’t stop to clean up; she would do that once she was finished.
 

Helen was almost done when the doorbell rang. Jayne called out that she would answer it.

“What time is it?” I asked, wondering who was calling this early.

“Eight o’clock.”
 

“What? I must have been out longer than I thought.”
 

“You were
unconscious?
” Helen half-screamed. “Just how high was this window?”

“Fourth story, and I fell with the vampire on top of me.” Then I realised who would be calling at eight in the morning. “Ray!”

“No you don’t.” Helen forced me to stay when I tried to stand. “You’re going nowhere until I’m finished.”

“May I at least put something on?”
 

“I’m almost done, Serenity. Then you can see him as if this never happened.”

Her plan held some merit. I’d be fine in a couple of minutes, and if he saw me like this, he would worry. If
I
saw me like this, I would, too. The fact I was obviously unconscious far longer than I thought was already a concern.
 

“And after I’m done with your back, I want to take a look at your head. Make sure there’s no permanent damage.” There was a smile in her voice, and I knew she was only joking.

But our plans of greeting Ray
after
my back was clean and free of glass didn’t turn out how I’d expected.
 

“Serenity?” Ray’s worried voice sounded from the doorway as the last piece of glass hit the towel. “What happened?”

I turned my head slightly to see him standing in the doorway, wide eyed. Jayne must have returned to the dining room.
 

“I’m fine. Really, I don’t see why everyone is so worried.” I was growing tired of it.

“There’s so much blood,” he whispered.

“Be thankful you didn’t see her when she got home,” Helen told him.

“May I
please
put my dress on?” I was well aware I was half-naked.
 

“Just a second. I need to clean your back.” She walked around me to the kitchen sink.

Glancing behind me again, I saw Ray still standing awkwardly in the doorway, his face as red as my back. His eyes weren’t full of disgust or fear at the blood; they were full of concern.
 

“Honestly, Ray, I’ll be fine.” I offered him a small smile.

He met my gaze but looked away quickly.
 

Sitting half-naked in any given room in the house wasn’t a new state for me. Be it a piece of wood wedged into my leg or badly broken bones, it had all been done before in one form or another.
 

“Ray, she really is fine,” Helen told him, when she returned with the cloth and a bowl of warm water. “Watch.”

She ran the cloth down my back, ringing it out into the bowl. Repeating the process, she ran it down my back again and again. Then over my arms and up to my neck. Before long the water was cloudy, dirt from the glass and red from my blood mixing into a muddy brown.
 

“See? She heals quicker than you can imagine. Why don’t you go into the dining room whilst we finish up?”

There were shuffling footsteps as Ray retreated.

“Now, how about we look at these ribs?”
 

“Thank you,” I told her, not talking about my ribs.

“Not to worry, dear. You are, perhaps, somewhat blasé about your injuries. Though I think a demonstration could have been executed a little better.” She chuckled.

“I wasn’t going for a demonstration.” I sucked in a pained breath as she prodded my side.

“You were right about there being two broken ones,” she said. “Let’s get them taped up.”
 

She would have made an excellent nurse had she chosen to become one. Instead she insisted she was where she was needed, especially after the last time my ribs were broken.
 

A couple of minutes more and I was done, giving me chance to pull on the light dress Jayne had brought down with the medical kit. I needed a good soak in the tub, but it could wait until Ray had gone. There was some explaining I needed to do first. And an apology wouldn’t be amiss, either.

“Ray,” I said, standing in the dining room doorway. “Would you like some breakfast?”

“I’m not sure I can handle anything to eat right now.” He smiled, just a touch.

“Come sit with me in my study?”
 

With a nod, he rose and silently followed me. There were two deep couches in there, making it my favourite room for reading. I took one, expecting him to take the other. I was surprised when he sat next to me.

“Are you sure you’re fine?” His eyes were still wide. “There was a lot of blood.”

“Apart from two broken ribs, which will be healed by tomorrow morning, I’m fine.”
 

“How did it happen? Was it vampires?” There wasn’t even a pause before the word
vampires.

“It was a vampire, yes. I was trying to save a woman, and he caught me unawares. When I awoke, he was gone, but the woman was alive.” I patted his hand gently. “He caught me off guard and charged, sending us through a fourth-story window. Helen had to cut the glass out of my back because I healed around it before I got home.”

“Are you sure you’re fine?” he asked again, running his hand over my arm.

“Really, I am. Broken bones take the longest to heal, but flesh wounds close up relatively quickly. Would it bother you if I said I’ve had worse injuries?”
 

“No. I’m just concerned. When I saw you in the kitchen with all that blood down your back, it scared me. I thought I might lose you.” He glanced down, whispering his words.
 

“As your heart beats, so will mine. When
your
heart sleeps, so will mine,” I said with utter confidence. “Ray, there’s nothing anyone or anything can do that would mean you losing me. I’m here to stay until your time is up.”

He smiled, but he was still squinting a little. I was used to having Helen worry, and even Jayne on the rare occasion, but having Ray anxious for me touched me. With Ray it was different. He wanted to protect me, to care for me, though I was the one meant to protect and care for him.

“Now, I rather fancy some breakfast.” I took his free hand. “Would you join me?”

“I’d like that.”

We ate breakfast in the dining room. I assumed Ray didn’t want to be back in the kitchen so soon.
 

There was a slight pull on my ribs when I took a deep breath. They were healing nicely, and I’d be back to normal before dawn. But I wouldn’t be going out tonight, not if Helen had anything to say about it.
 

After breakfast, Ray and I went to my study. I showed him some of our records, the ones I happened to be updating at the time. He hovered not out of interest over what I was showing him; he was hovering because he was still worried about me.
 

“Ray, honestly, I’ll be perfectly fine by dawn.” I’d been talking to him for five minutes straight without a hint of acknowledgement.

“I know,” he whispered, suddenly looking embarrassed.
 

Oh! He wasn’t thinking about the injuries I’d sustained. The blush in his cheeks told me exactly what was running through his mind.
 

I’d been half naked when he walked into the kitchen.
 

“Ray, please don’t be embarrassed.” I set my book aside. “You couldn’t help but look. I understand that. And if it helps . . . I have every intention of letting you see much more at some point.” My cheeks heated up.
 

“It was wrong of me to stare as I did.”
 

“Regardless, you and I are together now, so seeing such things are normal, eventually. Or so I’m told.”

After we got that embarrassing conversation out of the way, Helen called to say lunch was ready. I hadn’t realised the day was passing so quickly. Just after lunch, Ray said he was due home. He’d promised to do some errands for his mother, as she had her own to run. I offered to walk him home, but he refused, as I knew he would. I wasn’t overly worried about him walking alone. It was a gloriously sunny day, despite the chilly start, and most vampires would be hiding in the safety of their homes.