Thirst (19 page)

“Cassie, are you okay?” Michael asked frantically.

“W—What?” Cassie asked sluggishly. She was completely wasted.

“What did you give her?” Michael asked.

“I—I don’t know, man—she took it herself.”

“Took what?”

“I don’t know—A speedball.”

“A speedball? She’s fifteen!” Michael yelled.

“She said she was eighteen, man.”

Michael pushed the hair off his sister’s face. “Can you hear me, Cass?”

Cassie nodded ‘yes’ in her lethargic state.

“I’m going to take you and your friend to the hospital, okay? You’re having an overdose.”

Cassie nodded yes again. “M—Michael?”

“What?” Michael asked, leaning in closer to his sister, placing his ear next to her dry lips.

“I don’t want to die,” she said.

Michael wrapped a blanked around his sister and then prepared to lift her up. “Don’t worry, Cass. You’ll be fine. You’re safe now.”

“Hey man—what in the fuck? We weren’t done yet.”

Michael turned away from his sister, towards the biker.

“What? Do you think you’re tough shit or somethin’?” the biker asked as he pulled out a switchblade.

Michael fearlessly took a step towards the biker, who responded by raising his weapon. In the blink of an eye, Michael swatted the blade out of the biker’s hand and grabbed him by the throat. Before the biker could process what was happening, Michael slammed him into the hard ground below.

Then, he started to work away at his face with his tightly clenched fist—powerful blow after powerful blow. Michael shattered every bone in the young biker’s face. He knocked out half of his teeth, split his lip in countless places, and left him with two swollen-shut eyes.

Michael would have killed the man had three other men not entered to pull him away.

Michael pulled himself up to his feet, taking a deep breath in to calm his insatiable rage. The three men quickly went to the bleeding, broken and beaten biker’s aid.

Michael turned to his sister and picked her up. Keeping her naked body wrapped tightly in the warm blanket, Michael began to carry her away from the rough and tumble party. In the hallway, he slung her over his shoulder, and helped Vanessa up with his free arm. Carefully he led both of the girls away from the nasty party.

The party went silent as Michael carried both girls past the dance floor. The heads of the dancers and the bikers alike all stopped and turned towards Michael, whose fists were bloodied and bruised.

“Somebody call an ambulance!” someone called from upstairs.

Michael made no eye contact with anyone on his way out.

CHAPTER SEVENTY-THREE

EMERGENCY

Back sore and eyes heavy, Connor had been sitting on the same cheap plastic chair in the hallway outside of his mother’s room for nearly five hours. He had practically finished reading the entirety of A Tale of Two Cities, and he was nearly finished his weekend homework.

Despite his exhaustion and muscle soreness, he was proud of himself. For the first time in his life, he was actually ahead of his schoolwork. For once in his life, he felt as though he could do more than just shoot a puck. It was refreshing—and he owed it all to Wade’s persistence and patience.

For the first time in over a year, Connor could actually see himself playing hockey again. There was a light at the end of the tunnel—and the tunnel was not as long as he had originally thought.

Fantasizing about it, Connor began to doze off.

The hospital was unusually quiet that night. Only the occasional footsteps from a passing nurse cut the hum of the fluorescent ceiling lights above.

“Mr. Knight?” a female nurse said, pulling Connor out of his near-slumber.

Connor looked over at the nurse. She looked young—almost too young to be a working nurse. She had round cheeks and a cute little mole above the side of her lip. Her hair was long and dirty blonde—tied into a long ponytail. Her scrubs—the smallest the hospital had—were a bit too big for her petite body, which did not help her excessively young appearance. She was your classic girl-next-door.

“Yeah?” Connor asked, his eyes fighting to remain open.

“You’re welcome to stay here, but I imagine your mom would feel much better if you were at home, comfortable in your own bed.”

“Oh—I don’t mind,” replied Connor.

“Are you sure? Can I get you anything?”

“I’m okay, thank you.”

The nurse smiled and then walked away. Connor looked back down at his book, and continued to read, getting even further ahead of his coursework.

A couple of minutes later, the nurse returned with a clean pillow and a blanket.

“Here,” she said. “At least put this to use.”

“Thanks,” Connor said, accepting the gift.

“Your mom is doing well—I just checked on her vitals a few minutes ago. She should be okay to leave in a couple of days.”

“Great. Thank you so much.”

“I think it’s sweet that you’re staying here for your mom.”

Connor smiled. “I really don’t mind. She would do the same for me,” he replied.

The nurse laughed. “Sorry to keep bugging you—I’m not used to the hospital being this quiet.”

“I’m sure it’s a welcomed change.”

The nurse smiled. “You don’t remember me, do you, Connor?”

Connor stared at the nurse. “Sorry—Do we know each other?”

“Yeah—Well, sort of. We went to elementary school together.”

Connor stared at the girl for a moment longer.

“It’s okay—We never talked or anything. I don’t even think we were ever in the same class. My name’s Ava.”

Connor thought for a moment. His mind was too exhausted to place the name.

Ding Dong!

“Nurse May—Please report to the emergency ward. Nurse May, to the emergency ward,” a woman announced over the intercom. 

“That’s me,” Ava said. “I’ve got to go! It was nice talking to you.”

“I remember you—You were on the volleyball team,” Connor said.

“That’s right!” Ava smiled as she made her way down the hall, towards the emergency ward.

Connor looked back down at his book. He only had a few chapters left. He considered putting it away for the night, but he knew that with another hour, he could finish the whole thing outright. He did, after all, have the next day off work and school.

If he was going to accomplish such a task, he was going to need a coffee.

Connor brought himself to his feet. A nurse was hurrying down the hallway to the emergency ward.

“Excuse me,” Connor said to the nurse.

“Yes?”

“Is there a coffee machine around here somewhere?” Connor asked.

“There’s one at the emergency entrance. It’s a vending machine, so you’ll need some change. I think its two dollars for a big cup. The coffee is terrible—just a warning.”

“Okay—Thank you,” Connor laughed.

The nurse continued to hurry towards the emergency ward. Connor reached into his pockets and pulled out a handful of change. He began to walk towards the coffee vending machine.

“I’m losing a pulse! Where’s that IV!” someone yelled from around the corner.

Connor stopped and listened for a moment. A crowd of paramedics, nurses, and doctors were hustling down the hall, huddled around a squeaky stretcher.

“Where are we with those vitals?” a doctor said.

“Um,” Connor could hear Ava reply. “The heart rate is low—dangerously low. He’s losing a lot of blood! Pressure is dropping fast.”

Suddenly, the whole medical caravan came barreling around the corner, past Connor. One nurse was trying to set up an IV while two paramedics quickly led the stretcher down the hall. A doctor followed closely behind, attempting to assess the severity of the victim’s neck wound with a sonograph, and Ava had her gloved and bloodied hands pressed firmly down on the gushing abrasion.

On the stretched was Wade Fenner. His body was soaked in his own blood, and there was a large bite wound on his neck. He looked unconscious. The frantic medical team could do nothing to bring him back to consciousness.

“Stay with us, Mr. Fenner!” the doctor yelled. “There’s some serious internal bleeding in the throat. We’re going to need a tracheostomy, stat!”

Connor watched as the frantic caravan whipped around the corner and out of sight, leaving a trail of the dying teacher’s blood behind.

Connor was frozen, unsure of how to react. A heavy lump grew in his throat and his heart sank into his stomach.
What did Wade do to deserve this?
Connor wondered.

“Please,” a female voice cried from the hospital’s reception. “I need to see him. Let me see him.”

Connor approached the voice, the crying woman. Around the corner, he saw her—

Laura Fenner was being held back by two male nurses, trying desperately to push past to see her dying husband, who had just been rushed to the operating room.

“Mrs. Fenner, please. You can’t go into the operating ward. Let the doctors handle this.”

“Let me see my husband!” she cried.

The nurses continued to fight the crying wife. Wade’s blood was all over the floor from his frantic entrance.

Connor looked at Laura, eyes wide. Until now, the ‘Vampire Murders’ had been nothing but news headlines. Now, they were real, close to home. The victims were real, with families, friends, and jobs—lives.

Laura broke free from the male nurses and ran down the hallway, screaming and crying. She did not get far before being caught and held back.

Connor had completely forgotten why he had left his chair to begin with. He had not even noticed that he had dropped his handful of change somewhere on the hospital floor.

Standing by the door was a young toddler, only three years old, wearing a baggy onesie. In her hands was a stuffed bunny that she held tightly against her little body.