Just North of Dead
"Eric, are you sure about this?" I frowned. I was staring out the windshield of a rented red Mustang as Eric drove me through the snowy night on a winding mountain road. Heat blasted through the vents, purely for my benefit. I sat as close to the dashboard as I could manage in my tight seatbelt. I was glad Eric had had the courtesy to buy me a pair of wool-lined black leather gloves, a white wool scarf, and a thick black wool coat before we'd even left Louisiana. I hate the cold. That's why I love the South.
On Sunday night, Eric and I had joined Bill and Pam on a trip to Denver, Colorado to attend a nightclub convention. See, vampires own a lot of nightclubs along with all night laundries and brothels, and even some 24 hour Walmarts from what I hear. Still, nightclubs are probably the most popular because you don't need a lot of human assistants. Bill had been sent out to peddle his computer program for the King of Louisiana, and I'd been given the ever exciting job of watching the coffins during the flight on Anubis Airlines, and picking up samples of new synthetic blood for Merlotte's bar. Of course, I didn't mind traveling. I was getting paid by Sam for doing work at the convention for him, and Eric was paying me for being his official traveling assistant. Of course, it helped that I was dating the boss. Denver is also the farthest I've ever been from Bon Temps. The only thing is, if I'd known I'd be seeing a blizzard, I might have offered to stay home. This was the only blizzard I'd ever seen, and I can't say I'm a big fan.
Eric whipped around a curve with a squeal of his tires. I just about screamed, and it was all I could do to hold in the sound. I careened my neck around to look at my driver. His eyes were wild, and his pale skin had the faintest glow. He'd tied his hair back from his face, and it hung around his shoulders in a fanned ponytail. His cheeks were still rosy from his last meal, and he looked about as alive as a centuries-dead vampire can look. Eric was really in his element out here in the dark winter night. The nights are longest in winter, before the solstice in December. My vampire had decided to spend this particularly long and cold night out of our vampire hotel. He'd suggested skiing, but I don't know how. Then he'd suggested sight-seeing. Figuring I could see sights from the inside of a piping-hot car, I agreed. I hadn't realized that Eric's idea of sight-seeing involved speeding through a blizzard on a mountain road.
"How could anybody stand to live here?" I balked, staring into a near white-out. Snow collected on the windshield wipers. Icicles clung to the back window. I hugged myself and tried to keep away from the passenger door.
"Actually, it reminds me a lot of Norway," Eric said thoughtfully. "Warmer…" I tried to imagine Eric dressed in animal skins and fur, his smooth blond hair tucked under a brass helmet, the Arctic darkness all around him. It made me both cold and strangely warm thinking about it. We took another sharp turn. I felt a wave of nausea gurgle in my throat.
"Eric, please slow down!" I squeaked in a pathetic voice. "I'm going to be sick." He snapped his head toward me. I looked at him for a moment, trying to look more pleading. A dark figure loomed into the corner of my eye and I glanced back at the road. I'd expected another car, maybe a truck.
"Deer!" I yelled, swallowing the vomit in my throat like a large pill. Eric swerved the wheel, not for the sake of the deer, but to avoid breaking the car. The whole vehicle spun, the tires screaming as we went around in circles. I was vaguely aware of my own petrified screaming, and I couldn't seem to stop. The car lurched off the road and down a steep, snowy embankment. I was still screaming when we crashed violently into a forest of broken trees halfway down the hillside. The windshield contorted as branches stabbed through it and into the car. One heavy branch rammed into Eric. I was screaming anew, my voice raw and gravely, terror-stricken. Eric grunted and slumped backward against the leather car seat. We abruptly halted and I was launched forward. My forehead and arms slammed into the dashboard. The world spun for a second and went black.
"Eric!" I yelped fearfully when I woke up. It was still very dark, and snow was falling into the car through the broken windshield. Eric was sprawled beside me, pinned to the seat by a massive tree branch jutting into his shoulder. Blood had seeped into his clean white shirt, and the material stuck to his pale grayish skin. His eyes were closed and he'd turned his head to one side, away from me. I looked around me as I regained some sense of realization. My head was throbbing like someone was beating me with a drum stick. My head felt damp and cold. Both of my wrists were sore, some of my fingers bloody and swollen. I tried to jostle around in my seat and had to bite my lip to keep from crying. Some of my fingers were probably broken. One of my arms was in agony.
"No time for that now," I said out loud. "Gotta wake Eric."
I reached over and shook his shoulders. No response. I shook him harder. Pain jumped through my fingers and I let out a breath between clenched teeth. Eric groaned but made no other sound or movement. I raised my hand and slapped him hard across the cheek. A yell escaped my throat, and I saw through glazed eyes that I'd left a bloody print on his face.
"Fuck!" Eric yowled. His eyes blazed fire at me.
"Eric! You're okay!" I whispered happily. I was cradling my hand against my chest. My eyes were wide open and full of tears.
"Sookie?" He blinked, taking a minute to remember where we were and what had happened. He frowned at me. "You're hurt."
"You're worse." I said.
"Yes." He said as he looked down at himself. "I need your help."
"What can I do?"
"Go outside. See if you can loosen the branch a bit." He looked at me in my wool coat and my thick ski pants. "I know that it is cold for you."
"It's okay," I said. I pushed open the door with my forearm and scrambled out into the snow. I held back any reaction to the pain. Eric had enough to worry about without worrying about me.
The snow was knee deep and I trudged through it, happy for the snug, insulated pants that Eric had bought when he'd planned to take me night skiing. I wrapped my arms around my waist and shoved my gloved hands in the opposite pockets. Even with all of my winter clothes, I was freezing cold. I had to extract my hands again when I reached the branch, and I almost regretted it. The wood was already covered in an inch of fresh snow. I grabbed it and yanked. Inside the car, Eric roared in pain. I yanked again, but the branch wouldn't budge.
"The window, Sookie," Eric growled through clenched teeth. "Break the window!"
I looked around me and picked up another frozen tree branch. It was heavy and difficult to carry with swollen wrists and a busted hand. Willing my limbs to work, I slammed the wood into the already cracked windshield. It shattered easily, and the branch impaling Eric dropped onto the dashboard. I dropped my weapon and yanked again on the offending branch, pulling it free with a sick sucking noise. Eric let out a great yell of pain. I rushed back through the snow, which really was more of a slow and graceless stomping, and scrambled back into my seat. Desperate to help him, I removed my scarf and clambered clumsily over his lap. I pressed the wool cloth to his freshly bleeding wound and bent my neck to his mouth. His fangs were already out.
"No, Sookie," he grunted. He pushed me away, but I refused to move. If he healed, he could get us back to safety. I couldn't do anything on my own. I didn't even have a cell phone.
"You have to do it!" I barked at him. I was crying again. I felt a little melodramatic.
"Sookie, it's nearly dawn. We won't make it, even if I do take it." He kissed my cheek. I knew he liked the taste of my tears.
"I'm scared," I admitted in a low whisper. I held my arm against my chest. My wrist had swollen up and it was colored shades of blue and purple. It hurt as badly as my fingers. Eric took my arm and cradled it in his hands. His thumbs probed the bones as gently as possible. Carefully, my vampire pushed my coat off my shoulders, and removed my arm from the sleeve. He took off my glove and set it aside.
"The wrist is broken," Eric said in a small gravely voice. "The ring finger and pinky as well." He moved his hand slowly up my arm and touched my shoulder. "Dislocated."
"What do we do?" I asked, looking into his eyes. He was looking back at me, but he was thinking too. He reached up to where I'd held the scarf to his shoulder. Grunting slightly with the effort, he tied the scarf into a loop and placed it over my head. Carefully, he slid my forearm into the bloody sling. I bit my lip but I was whimpering.
"Ssh," he said, kissing my cheeks. He helped me back into my coat, leaving one arm empty. When he'd zipped my coat, he looked around.
"Are there any blankets in the back, or in the trunk?"
I looked over his shoulder and saw an emergency kit sitting on the seat. Eric slid out from under me and stomped through the snow to the trunk while I emptied the kit out. When he trudged back, he was holding a plaid flannel blanket under his arm. It looked like one of Hoyt Fortenberry's favorite shirts.
"I need to ground before dawn," Eric said. His voice was stiff and emotionless. I was holding up a blanket from inside the kit. I looked over him at it.
"How long?" I whispered. I know I looked as worried as I felt.
"Half an hour until sunrise,"
"What do I do while you sleep?" I blinked. There was no point being all stiff upper lip. I was terrified of staying in the cold alone.
"Take the blankets into the backseat with you. Sit on the floor behind the front seat. Curl up in a ball. These…" he held up some plastic packages, "are called hot packs. Put them in your shoes and in your hands. They will keep you warm. You need to stay warm until the sunset. Then I can get you out of here."
Suddenly, Eric thrust out his arm to me. He held his wrist to my lips. His skin was gray and cold and clammy. He looked sick. I blinked and shook my head.
"You're weak," I said. I was still shaking my head. "I can't."
"Did I ask, Sookie?" He was being cruel on purpose. "Just do it."
"Eric…please…" I whined. What if he never woke up because I took too much?
Frustrated, Eric tried another approach. He knelt down in the snow so that he was face to face with me. His eyes had softened, and he regarded me with love. I could feel his love for me, as much as I knew he could feel my fear and pain and deep love for him.
"Sookie, my lover," he sighed and touched my cheek. "You can't take too much, but you need to stay warm and alive for me. My blood will keep you warm."
He pulled his hand away again and it into his wrist. Blood dribbled from the wound. He held it back out to me.
"Hurry, lover. Don't waste it." I couldn't deny him then. I took his arm in my hand and sucked a bit of the blood from him. It tasted metallic and sickly sweet. If he hadn't been so weak, he might have been aroused. I broke away quickly, and Eric licked the cut. I felt only a tiny bit warmer, a tiny bit stronger. My bones were still dislodged, broken.
"Be strong," he said, touching my cheek again.
"Eric," I murmured. The words were bubbling up in me and I couldn't stop them. Eric would have power over me if I said them, but right now I didn't care. In case I died, I wanted him to know. He looked into my eyes. He was the most beautiful creature I had ever known. "I…I love you."
His face softened, and his eyes became deep pools of shining blue. He placed both hands on my cheeks, and kissed me. His tongue pushed past my lips, and for a moment I forgot that he had to leave me. I forgot that I was cold and broken and had to spend my day in a broken car on a snowy hillside. I could feel his desire for me, his fear for my safety, his anxiety, and more than that, his love for me. He didn't even have to say it, but I was glad he did.
"I love you also, Sookie."
I watched him stand and walk down into the broken wood, and dig in the snow like a wild animal. I ached to help him. Instead, I crawled behind the driver's seat with the blankets and the emergency kit. I arranged the blankets around my front and legs. I shoved a couple of hot packs into my boots and one into my glove. I tucked myself against the door and tried to think about something warm and happy. My mind settled on Bon Temps in the summertime. This summer, I planned to help my roommate, Amelia, with the gardening. Of course, I also wanted to spend my days off on the lawn chair, reading magazines and improving my tan. It's my one vice, and I love it.
My thoughts wandered. Eric had told me he loved me. Of course, he'd pretty much admitted that when he'd stayed in my house to hide out from the witches, but that was different. He wasn't really Eric then. Now, he was really Eric, the Viking, the Sheriff of Area 5. He was one of the wealthiest, oldest vampires in the United States, and he didn't even like humans very much. First he'd blood-bonded himself to me to protect me from another vampire, and then he'd fallen in love with me. I'd loved a vampire once before, but Bill was nothing like Eric the Northman. Our relationship was completely different!
"He loves me," I said out loud through chapped lips. "He really loves me."
At some point, I fell asleep, shivering under the blankets. I dreamed that I was home in Bon Temps, and I was bringing Eric home to meet Gran. Gran was all a-twitter to meet Eric the Viking, and she'd even made salmon and potatoes from a recipe she'd found in a library book about Scandinavia. Eric tried his best to be conversational and human-like, which is fairly difficult for a vampire of his age group. He'd ended up watching us eat, and then taken me to my bedroom to make love to me over and over again.
"Sookie!" Eric was whispering against my ear as he nudged my cheek with his lips. I was getting cold, and I pulled at my quilt.
"Let me rest awhile," I giggled softly, touching his thigh beneath the quilt. His leg felt stiff and cold, and it had the texture of nylon ski pants.
"Wake up, Sookie!" Eric growled. I didn't want to wake up. I opened my eyes very slowly and only half-way. I felt cold, stiff, numb in most places. Where I wasn't numb, I was in pain. I wanted to go back to sleep immediately.
"Stay awake, lover. I'm getting us out of here." Eric said against my ear. He jostled me into his arms and pulled me against him. My lips were shivering and my teeth chattered. The wind whipped against my face and I tried to bury my face in Eric's shirt. It was wet and muddy.
"You're dirty,"
"We'll get cleaned up soon." He said. I could see lights behind his head.
"I dreamed you met my Gran."
"I haven't dreamed in a very long time."
"Do you miss it?"
"No."
I opened my eyes again inside a hospital room with green walls. I was wearing one of those awful hospital gowns with the open backs, and I was drowning in wool blankets. My toes and fingers were tingly, and my lips were so dry that it hurt to open my mouth. I looked down to see my arm in a cast up to mid-forearm. It was hot pink. I wasn't in any pain, and I wondered what kind of drugs they'd given me. The door to my left opened and Eric walked in. He'd changed clothes, from the muddy and bloody white shirt to a black Fangtasia tee shirt pulled over his muscular chest. He'd put on fitted blue jeans as well.
"Lover," he said gruffly and glided to my bedside. He kissed my forehead and then my cheek. He brushed strands of hair from my eyes.
"You said you love me," I whispered through my chapped lips. They stung.
"You said so as well," he replied, taking my good hand in his. He was looking down at my fingers. My skin had a ghastly red pallor.
"Did you mean it?" I wanted to make sure, even though I was certain I already knew. I'd been down this road with vampires before.
"Sookie," he said. I scooted over on the gurney and he sat beside me. I nodded to him, indicating that he should lie down beside me. He did. "I'm blood-bonded to you. I can feel you when you are close. I can feel and understand your emotions. You are a part of me."
"I can feel you too."
"I could not lie to you if I wished to, my lover." He stared straight into my eyes. He wasn't teasing me now, nor laughing. He was very serious. It was strange to see him serious but not angry. "I love you, Sookie Stackhouse."
"Eric?" I asked, nuzzling into his chest. He pulled me against him. He was feeling relieved and nervous, happy and worried. He was in love with me and he was scared to love me.
"Yes Sookie?"
"Why is it that I always get hurt when we go away together?"