How had he managed to completely take over the conversation, the negotiations, the entire room? So much so that I was eager to be away from his company. It wasn't that he was grumpy, I had seen him grumpy, even angry at the 'pathetic breather' patrons of the bar but this was different. I guess it was because I hadn't experienced this side of Eric that I was more nervous. He was prickly and changeable and made me feel like I was walking on eggshells. Thinking about it more, the few occasions that I had seen his interaction with Pam, the more I realised it was also curt, and brief, with Pam not making any waves i.e. no scathing remarks or teasing.
I wracked my brain to think about what had happened recently that could explain this behaviour but knew I was missing something. I also knew that if Eric wanted to keep it to himself no one would find out.
I took a deep breath and headed out of the back door. The club was quiet now, the bar being shut at this hour of the morning, as well as the staff having closed it down ready for the next evening of trade. So I clearly heard the screech of tyres from out front and stopped in my tracks to hear what would happen next.
I don't know why but I immediately had an image of a truck full of religious nuts arriving and burning the bar down. I had seen a lot of that kind of thing on the news of late: The Fellowship of the Sun certainly liked to get on TV and preach. Then again, maybe I was on edge because Eric was on edge – did the blood work like that? Anyway, for whatever reason, my heart thumped into overdrive and I turned to look at the door to the bar at the other end of the corridor. Eric must have also been curious as he appeared outside of the office door, blocking my view completely. He quickly seemed to relax though and walked at human speed into the main bar just as I heard someone shout "Eric".
I lingered, my curiosity overcoming my fear; Eric didn't seem too concerned about it but it was Eric; the king of 'putting up a front so no one knows what I'm thinking'. I wanted to leave him to it but wanted to know what was happening as well.
Then I heard a woman screaming and ran to the door. I knew that scream.
"Sookie?"
I ran through the door and almost straight into the back of Eric who was looking at the scene in front of us. Bill was slowly lowering Sookie onto one of the low leather couches. My eyes were drawn to the deep red colour of her back and, as I focused I realised it was her blood and skin and flesh that I could see through the tatters of her shirt. I gasped and my hands shot over my mouth in shock at the sight. It was the most gruesome thing I had ever seen. And I'd had a vampire explode over me…
She writhed on the coach, whimpering and twitching, and making things seep out of the wounds that I really didn't think should seep out of someone's body. I watched as she gave a particular jagged movement and whimpered. This made me move forward to her and try and get her attention.
"Sookie? Can you hear me?" I brushed her hair out of her face and saw her foaming at the mouth. I resisted the urge to pull away, but made sure I didn't touch it. She looked almost green. "Sookie?"
"Bill?" she choked, and Bill was at my side in an instant.
"I'm here Sookie" he said.
She looked up at him and seemed so very small and fragile, not the Sookie that I had come to know at all. I looked over at Eric who was staring at the scene, while his phone was to his ear. It was obvious when whoever it was picked up as a fake smile went on his face and he spoke a greeting in an all too smooth a manner.
"Dear Doctor, I'm glad to hear you're still breathing" I heard an angry, high pitched voice say something that sounded like profanity. Eric just laughed and continued "You are required at the bar. Get here as soon as possible" I heard another tirade and then nothing.
"Are they coming?" I asked, if not I would call an ambulance straightaway, whether Bill wanted me to or not. Why had he not taken her straight to the hospital in the first place?
"Yes" Eric answered, coming closer and looking down at Sookie, me, then Bill.
With the way they looked at each other they could have been having a whole telepathic conversation, but I didn't care. I needed to do what I could to help Sookie.
I got up and ran to the bar, got a clean cloth and filled a jug with warm water and came back.
"She's so cold" I said wiping her forehead, taking away what looked like dirt in her hair, and wiping her mouth of the disturbing foam. Once done I moved to the side and looked at her back, even though I didn't want to. The remains of her white shirt were soaked and torn to almost shreds. She had three tears down her back which I (while trying to remain calm and not be sick) noted looked like claw marks. There was a lot of blood and also clear and yellowish liquid coming from the wound which made me think there was so much more to this than just a mauling.
I wanted to find out what happened to her, but figured that could wait, I needed to do something, like take her shirt off and clean the wound, but should I move her?
I was suddenly so scared of doing the wrong thing I couldn't move.
Luckily I didn't have to make that decision as the front door to the bar opened to reveal the smallest person I had ever seen. She was about 3 foot tall, with a long blonde ponytail but dressed in what had to be kiddie sized hospital scrubs.
"Dr Ludwig" Eric nodded
Dr Ludwig steadfastly ignored the greeting and the nod and headed straight for Sookie. She simply looked at her and then turned on me. As I was kneeling down, she was able to at look me in the eye.
"What have you done to her?"
"I didn't do anything!" I said, mortified that she could think that I had done anything close to hurting Sookie like this.
"No, dear God" she exclaimed, rolling her eyes "What have you given her? What have you done to her?" she said, clarifying by pointing to the cloth and bowl of cooling water.
"She was cold so I used warm water to wash her face and wipe her mouth-"
"Her mouth?"
"Yes" then I cottoned on, such a dumbass that I was "she was foaming at the mouth. I wiped it away"
I watched the doctor take the cloth and bring it to her nose to sniff. She then looked down at Sookie who seemed to be almost unconscious. The doctor bent down and put a finger in Sookie's mouth, bringing the digit out covered in cloudy saliva. While she pinched the liquid between her fingers she asked "Anything else?"
"No. I was about to take her top off but didn't know whether to move her or not"
"Good" she moved round to look at the wounds, carefully peeling away bits of cloth and hair. God it made me wince to watch.
I'm not sure if it was just the movement, or pain, or the presence of another mind that woke Sookie up, but she quietly asked "What kind of Doctor are you?"
"The healing kind." she said shortly, almost rude. "I'm Dr Ludwig, what's your name?"
Dr Ludwig poked into Sookie's back, making her squeal and also making a new flow of clear gloop run out of the wound. Calming down Sookie spoke up "Sookie Stackhouse. Am I dying?"
"Yes"
I know there was honest but where was the bedside manner?
"No" Bill practically shouted this "she cannot die. You will save her."
Dr Ludwig took it in her stride "Back off vampire and let me do my job."
I moved back to Sookie's head and held her hand, she quickly increased her grip on me and I tried to think calming things. Probably completely unsuccessfully.
"Forgive him" Eric chimed in from his vantage point a few steps away "Bill is abnormally attached to this human." I look over at Eric, scowling and wondering at the same time why it was so abnormal. Eric was staring at the bloody wounds on Sookie's back. Big surprise there.
"Well, we don't have a lot of choices, she's been poisoned." I swallowed, and wondered how the hell she had been poisoned by scratches. What is like a werewolf bite? Was she turning into something else? My mind was reeling with all the possibilities I knew nothing about. I looked up at Bill, and then Eric, who was now looking at right at me. "Ever heard of komodo dragons?" Dr Ludwig continued as she poked into Sookie again. Her response was another moan of pain and tightening her grip on my hand, hurting me. How much vampire blood had she had? "Their mouths are teaming with bacteria. After one has bitten you it will track you for hours, days; just waiting for the toxins to slowly eat away at your nerves system 'til you're good and helpless then it will devour you alive"
"I was scratched by a dragon?" Sookie asked. I was about to frown at the idea but realised I had no idea if dragons actually existed. I glanced up at Eric who rolled his eyes at me and gave a short shake of his head.
Well I didn't know!
I went back to wiping Sookie's forehead again with the cloth while Dr Ludwig answered Sookie's question, and continued to examine her with sometimes gentle, sometimes probing fingers. "No, but this poison is way more efficient. I don't think I've seen it before but it's hard to tell without further testing and we don't have that kind of time." She straightened up over Sookie, apparently having made a decision on a course of action. "Give us some privacy; I need to remove her clothing. You" she said to me "stay and assist me."
I looked up at Bill who, through his utterly pained expression, nodded his consent, so I remained knelt by Sookie's head, holding her strangely strong hand while Eric rose from his chair.
Bill crouched down close to Sookie, who suddenly looked a hell of a lot more scared. "I will be just outside, I am so sorry"
It looked like she was about to respond but she started to cough instead of speak. White foam spurted out of her mouth and she gripped my hands tighter, making me hiss with the sting of her nails.
"We're running out of time Mr Compton." Dr Ludwig said over the noise. She wasn't even paying attention to Sookie; she was looking through her bag, pulling out vials of different coloured liquids.
Bill retreated and once he was out of the door the Doctor set the vials down and plucked out a pair of lethal looking scissors. Seriously, they almost looked comically big her her small hands. She took the blades to the bottom of Sookie's shirt and started to snip the material, peeling it open as she went. When she got to the bottom of the first scratch she stopped, and started to gently lift away the material. I couldn't look away though I really wanted to; the material was sticking to Sookie's skin where the blood and goo had dried, in other places it lifted up semi scabbed over areas and others it lifted away easily, dripping so soaking in the disgusting fluids.
When she had successfully snipped through the Sookie's collar she addressed me again "lift her up under her arms and I'll get her shirt." I glanced at Sookie and then back at Dr Ludwig, who somehow managed to look even more severe "Now Missy"
Her shout shocked me into action and I gently shook my hands out of Sookie's death grip, and pushed under her shoulders. She moaned and twitched against me but nothing drastic. I didn't think that would last when I hoisted her up though.
"On three" Dr Ludwig said, positioning herself close to my side, and ready to reach round to get the shirt away from Sookie's body. "Three!"
I lifted Sookie up as smoothly and as fast as I could, keeping her torso lifted and held against me. She felt like a dead weight against me which was even more frightening than if she was struggling.
I felt her shirt slip from between us but we had to get her bra off too which meant some shuffling around. I felt my hands slip from under Sookie and just had to say "Just cut it!"
Dr Ludwig retrieved the scissors and did as she was told (somehow I felt that was a rare occurrence) and gave me the ok to lower Sookie back down. I did just that, but had to regain my grip somehow, so (and completely without thinking) I jerked Sookie up and repositioned my hand.
Stupid stupid stupid
"For fuck's sake!" the Doctor shouted at me, though she couldn't make me feel worse than I did.
The motion woke Sookie up and she shrieked in my arms, spasming and almost falling away from me. I held her tighter, bringing her face close to mine, giving me a clear as day view of her eyes rolling back in her head, the strange milky drool coming out of her mouth.
Then she coughed in my face, spitting globs of saliva and foam over my cheeks, chin, and lips. I practically dropped her and fell away from her, wiping my face and spitting out what had gone in my mouth. It was incredibly bitter and somehow felt hot on my skin.
I looked up, while still scrubbing my face with my hands to see Dr Ludwig turn away from me and pour a vile of liquid onto one of the gauges in Sookie's back. The result held me motionless in shock; she may have well have poured molten metal onto her
Sookie screamed and tensed up in what I could only guess was agony. When that subsided she started thrashing around.
I wanted to move to help but I couldn't.
Luckily Bill was back in a flash. "What are you doing to her?" he demanded.
"Hold her down, or let her die, it's your choice" the Doctor replied, getting another vial and opening it.
Bill took my place in front of Sookie and held her arms down to keep her as still as possible and flat against the couch.
I could only watch with horror as vial after vial was poured into and over Sookie.
It made me feel dizzy just to think about the pain.
"Alex?"
Eric was crouched in front of me. When had he gotten there? Stupid speedy vampires.
Then he moved again, becoming out of focus. No, wait; that wasn't right. He was still crouched on the ground looking down on me. Why was I lying down?
"Doctor" I heard Eric say
"She ingested the poison but she can wait."
I had definitely heard that right and began to panic. How would the doctor treat me when I didn't have any cuts? How was she going to get the poison out? Horrible images of a gruesome operation swirled around my head and I knew I was hyperventilating.
I saw a shadow loom over me and heard a familiar voice whisper "Be calm" which I thought, considering the circumstances, was about the stupidest thing I had ever heard.
How could I be calm when I was dying?
Hope you liked.
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