Chapter 2 – Stay with me

Claire woke suddenly in the middle of the night, her eyes snapped open, she was breathing heavily and her face and arms were damp with a cold sweat. Shane's arm tightened around her as he shifted in his sleep, oblivious to Claire's distress in his dormant state. It took Claire a moment to pinpoint what had woken her, there was the same sick feeling in the pit of her stomach that she had been feeling the day before. She moaned and curled up, silently willing for the sick feeling to go away. Shane stirred again in his sleep, this time waking.

"Morning, you." She turned in the circle of his arms to face him. She was met with his trade mark half-awake smile that melted her heart every time.

"Hey." She nuzzled her face into the crook of his neck. Shane slid his hand up from her waist, over her shoulder and up to her chin; he tipped it up with one finger and kissed her softly on her lips. It was like electricity flowing through her veins, it made her feel awake and alive. She wanted Shane to never take his lips of hers, but he did, way too soon for Claire's liking. He seemed to somehow sense this, and dipped his head to kiss her again, this time stronger and more passionately. Suddenly, Claire pulled back, placing her palm flat against Shane's bare chest. "Hold that thought." She slid out of bed and ran out of his bedroom, heading for the bathroom.

It didn't take Shane a long while to follow, but when he finally reached the bathroom, Claire's back was to him as she threw up violently into the toilet. Shane silently padded over to her, gathering up her hair in a make-shift ponytail in his hand, pulling it gently away from her face. With his free hand he rubbed her back comfortingly. "My morning breath isn't that bad, is it?" When she finished vomiting, he knelt down beside her, still with her hair in his hands. She pulled a hair tie from her wrist and Shane took it without even giving her the option of doing it herself. He shuffled around so he was directly behind her, he finger-combed her hair into a proper ponytail and wrapped the tie around it. To Claire's surprise, he was rather good at tying up a girl's hair. He reached up to the sink and pulled down a plastic cup of water before handing it to her. Shane stood up as she washed the foul taste out of her mouth and took several gulps of the cool water. She flushed the toilet, closed the lid and pulled herself up to sit on it. Shane turned back to face her with a damp wash cloth. He knelt down again once more and carefully dabbed her face with the cloth.

"Sorry…" She whispered, looking down at her stubby fingernails.

"Hey…" Shane said; his voice soft and calm, "Look at me…" When she didn't he repeated, "Look at me, Claire."

She did.

"It's not your fault, you're sick, so don't you even dare apologise… Okay?" His voice was so gentle; she just wanted to bury her head into his chest and never have to worry about being sick again. She nodded in response and kissed the top of her head as he stood up. "Brush your teeth and stuff. I'll go and make you breakfast." Claire smiled bravely and used the toilet, showered and brushed her teeth twice, to banish the vulgar taste in her mouth. She looked in the mirror, about to head downstairs when she felt a dizzy wave of nausea overcome her. Her vision went blurry then back into moderate focus. She bit her lip and swiftly left the bathroom, one hand over her stomach. On her way down the stairs, she was greeted with the scent of bacon and scrambled eggs, which would have delighted her on any other day, but today it only added to her nausea. "Shane…" She whimpered helplessly. "Shane…Help…" Shane burst through the kitchen door with a spatula in his hand.

"Claire?" He asked; his voice full of panic. "What's wrong?"

Before she could even think of a reply, she collapsed completely. Shane dropped the spatula and ran over to her, catching her by her shoulders before her head could hit the floor. He cradled her in his lap and screamed for help. "Michael! Eve! Call an ambulance!"

Both their housemates opened their bedroom doors and looked over the balcony at Shane and Claire. "Oh my God!" Eve shrieked. By then Michael was already down the stairs, he'd grabbed the phone from the holster and was knelt by Shane.

"Hello? 911? Yeah, we need an ambulance. Now." He paused. "The Glass House." He hung up and dashed upstairs at vampire speed. And returned wearing jeans and a polo shirt. He threw Shane a plain grey T-shirt. "Eve's getting dressed. And you can't go to the hospital like that."

Shane's POV

The next hour passed in a haze of events. The ambulance arrived and Claire was bundled in. Only one of us was allowed to travel with her, and of course, as her boyfriend, everyone agreed that I should. Eve and Michael went in Michael's vampire tinted sedan and said they would meet me there. I was told to wait in the waiting room while Claire was being poked and prodded to find out what was wrong with her. I paced the hall with my hands laced behind my head, horrible things kept swirling through my head. Maybe Claire's dying. What if that can't find out what's wrong with her? I can't lose her. I won't. As soon at the nurse came out, I immediately tensed up, silently praying that she wouldn't come out and tell me that my Claire had died. "You can some through now." She said, smiling comfortingly at me. I breathed an audible sigh of relief and followed her to Claire's room.

When I opened the door I was met with the scent of more vomit. Claire was looking pale and fragile and she'd been hooked up to dozens of machines. "Hey." I said. "How are you feeling?" I pulled up a chair and sat down, entwining my fingers with Claire's.

"Not good. I hate hospitals... You know that." Her voice was so quiet and broken, it made me want to cry. She sighed and looked deeply into my eyes. Her own were half-lidded with tiredness. "Sorry I scared you..."

"Apology accepted." I chuckled a little. "I'm just glad you're alive. Do they know what's wrong with you?"

Claire shook her head slightly. "I over-heard one of the doctors say something about a stomach virus. Maybe cause by food poisoning."

"Who the hell poisoned you?!"

"Not that kind of poisoning, Shane. Just... off food."

My eyes widened. "It was my chili, wasn't it?"

Claire shook her head drowsily. "No, no. Remember, I got ill before you made me chili."

"Oh... yeah..." Her eyelids fluttered and her head lolled to one side. "No... Claire... Don't fall asleep..."

"Still... here..." She managed to say, though we both knew she wouldn't be for long.

"Claire...Please..." I begged, putting a hand on her cheek. Tears spilled out of my eyes and silently hit the floor. "Stay with me..." But she was already asleep.

Thank you to the person who gave me inspiration, you know who you are. It was a great idea, so thank you. I hope this lives up to your expectations? Sorry if it sucks. :) As always R+R. Thank you! xoxox