A/N: I am soooooooo sorry that it has taken so long to update. This was a really important chapter to me and it's kind of the turning point in the story. If you don't like it i'm sorry, I will work hard to improve, but I can't please everyone so I will do what I can. I hope you enjoy this one and please review, it is greatly appreciated. Oh! And for the record I am loving the reviews I have been getting, it's really great that you guys like what I'm doing and it gives me a lot of motivation to continue. thanks so much - Kam

Chapter 10: The Hospital

Celeste was not sure of what to do anymore. She thought about the situation from countless angles but still couldn't come to a logical conclusion. It wasn't like Malcolm to just take someone he was so fond of out. She knew that Margo was the best candidate when it came to killing, second to Celeste, which always pissed him off since he was always second and never in the spotlight. She thought about what Steadman said; she would have less than 48 hours to find Margo or to get out of Los Vegas which was a very short window. She took in a deep breath of fresh air as the tourists started to come out in their smutty clothes and their grungy outfits. She felt a cold breeze move with strange swiftness down her back and quickly looked over her shoulder, feeling a foreboding presence around her. She scanned the area with a keen precision; looking at every face, trying the find the distinct feature that would separate Margo from everyone else. In the far off darkness behind her, she felt him watching even though she could not see, but shrugged and continued back for the hotel.

Celeste knew that if Margo figured out she had discovered him he would have to take her out with much haste before she could do anything. So instead, she pretended not to notice. She took in another deep breath.

"I have less time than I thought." She laughed and bit her bottom lip. "Malcolm trained you well Margo . . . he trained you well." She glanced over her shoulder one last time, seeing a glimpse of the giant scar she left behind on Margo's face out of the corner of her eye.

***

"Where is Celeste?" Sookie said after half an hour of waiting in the lobby. She was agitated and frustrated that she was waiting for her; Eric called Sookie and Bill's room telling them to meet him in the lobby at nine instead of ten. It was a little past 9:30 and Sookie tapped her black Christian Dior platform pumps that Bill bought her last night as a gift. Sookie vehemently rejected it once she found out it was a $600 pair of shoes but Bill insisted saying that she deserved nothing but the best and that he it would make him feel better if she accepted his gift.

"I do not know." Replied Eric with the same aggravation but with a hint of curiosity. "When I woke up this evening she wasn't in the room."

"The two of you shared a room?" Sookie's voice came out more disgusted than she intended. The image of Celeste and Eric sharing the same bed crossed her mind and a tint of red appeared on her cheeks.

"Yes. It was very . . . interesting." Eric had a mixed expression of disappointment, frustration, agony, but also joy and delight. Sookie tapped her fingers on the arm rest of the leather seat in annoyance and suddenly stood up.

"I am going to the ladies room." She said before hastily going down the hall and then making a right towards the public bathrooms.

"Bill." Eric said, getting him immediate attention. "How do things fair between you and Sookie?" He looked in the direction Sookie went then to Bill.

"Things are fine." He said in his usual cautious tone whenever Eric spoke of Sookie. "And you and Celeste?"

"Have you thought about turning Sookie?" Eric evaded the question nonchalantly.

"I have no intention of turning her." His voice came off as a growl.

"That's a shame. She would make a beautiful addition to our society."

"You will not touch her Eric!" Bill replied.

"I will touch who I please. And if I want Sookie you cannot reject me of her."

"I will go to the Queen!"

"Try as you may Bill, there are always means to get what I want." Eric looked back in Sookie's direction and smirked. "But at the moment I do not want her. It was simply a thought."

"If not Sookie than who is it that you speak of?"

"Just someone who has been causing me a lot of trouble lately." Eric looked to the front door as it swung open and watched Celeste come in.

***

Eric could be seen clearly, sitting across from Bill with Sookie no where in sight. The glass doors swung open as Celeste stepped inside with confidence and a humility that Gandhi would find similar to his own. The sight of Eric cleared her thoughts of anything that had happened only an hour ago and of the danger she was putting herself and them in. The clip-clop of her heels against the floor emphasized her presence as she stepped closer to the two vampires, Bill finally looking at her for the first time that evening.

"What are you guys doing here?" She stopped in front of them, Eric to her left and Bill to her right creating a triangle.

"I woke up this evening and you were not by my side." Eric stated as if it would explain everything.

"Is that suppose to mean something?" Celeste challenged. She hated feeling like Eric owned her or had much more control over her than she thought. He treated her like a new house everyone wanted to buy, but only he could afford, as a result he was very protective of his house and boasts about it. Celeste did not like feeling like a house.

"You are not to leave without my permission." Eric stood up.

"So you own me now?" Celeste smirked. "Well, that is just news to me. Since when have I become your property?"

"I did not mean it in those terms."

"Of course you didn't. Now I just have to ask your permission for everything. Am I going to need your permission to wipe my ass when I go to the restroom?" Celeste placed her hands on her hips and jutted her head up in defiance.

"You are overreacting." He waved his hand nonchalantly and sat back down in his seat. Eric did not want to have an argument in front of Bill, it was rude and it put him in an awkward position. Without a second thought, Celeste was next to Eric in one quick stride and slapped him on the back of his head, his perfectly placed hair becoming jostled and messy immediately. He gave her the darkest look that he had ever given a woman and silently cursed in his native tongue.

"Never tell a woman, let alone me, that she is overreacting you idiot." She turned on her heel and went toward the elevator, pressing the up arrow and suddenly disappearing inside once the doors opened.

"Jag kommer att slita hennes röv sönder när vi kommer tillbaka. Hur vågar hon slog mig, dum fitta. Fuck." Eric cursed in his native tongue again, looking back at the elevator. He slapped his hand on the seat and excused himself from Bill. With his amazing speed he took the stairs and slammed through the hotel door in a fraction of a second. Celeste sat at the table, Vogue Magazine in hand, flipping through the pages. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Eric slammed the door.

"Excuse me?" She turned another page.

"You heard me. What the hell is your problem."

"I have no problem." She said with indifference.

"You have been acting different ever since we got here Celeste. I want to know what is wrong."

"Nothing." She flipped another page. Eric stepped in front of her in one long stride and tore the magazine from her hands, slamming it on the table. His face was close to hers, his anger slowly but surely showing on his face.

"Why are you acting this way?" He demanded. Celeste looked from the magazine to him.

"I was not finished with that."

"Damnit Celeste!" He pulled her chair out from the table and leaned against it, his weight being held by the arms of the chair. "Is it that time of the month? Is that it? Is that why you have been acting like such a bitch lately?"

Suddenly, a sound erupted in the room, reverberating through the walls. Silence followed as Celeste's chest heaved up and down. Eric touched the side of his face, feeling a momentary sting that immediately diminished. He looked at Celeste, noticing an unfamiliar hatred in her eyes that he had never seen before. Eric let in a deep breath, but did not budge. When Celeste did it again, a matching sound from before ringing throughout the room, he took in another deep breath and restrained himself. If it had been another he probably would have hit them back, but he knew he would regret it if he inflicted any pain on her.

"Fuck you Eric." Celeste shoved him aside and grabbed her purse before quickly exiting the suite, not even bothering to spare a second glance at him. Eric stood in the middle of the room for a minute, his hands clenched into large fists and his anger boiling over him like a volcano on the verge of eruption. He took another deep breath and went to the door, calling Celeste's name in the same rage as the door shut behind him and he dashed down the stairs again.

He reached the lobby and asked Bill if he saw Celeste. He told him she left and Eric briskly went outside, looking left and right for her. He found her with ease, her scent filling him.

"Celeste!" His voice was husky and filled with anger. She looked over her shoulder and saw him, then all at once, a shot exploded in the crowed of people. Pedestrians ducked to the ground, screaming and covering their heads, looking for the perpetrator. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. Celeste's pupils dilating, filling her eyes; her body slowly turning and falling at the same time, her purse loosening from her arm and slipping to the ground. "Celeste!" His own voice came out in a long loud burst. Her body fell to the ground and time sped up again. Eric dashed over the screaming people and collected Celeste's limp body in his arms. "Celeste! Celeste! Come on Celeste stay with me!" Eric watched as the light started to fade from her eyes, the light he loved seeing so much. He started to rock back and forth while he called her name; suddenly thinking, his fangs protruded and he bit his wrist roughly he placed his wrist to her lips and was prepared to let her drink, however, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't Eric." Eric looked at Bill, Sookie at his side. Eric knew that he was right. If he healed Celeste in front of all the humans it would give away the vampires ability to heal. Eric nodded. "Lets get her to a hospital." Bill said, taking Sookie in his arms and all of them hurriedly went to the nearest hospital.

***

Eric paced the waiting room, waiting for some word from the doctors, nurses, or anyone. It had been complete and utter chaos when they arrived at the hospital. Eric had never been to one, so he did not know what to do. He called for doctors and nurses and told them what happened, when they took her away on one of the beds he fought to go with her, hurting a few doctors in the process. Bill had to physically hold Eric so that Celeste could be treated.

"Eric please sit down." Sookie said after watching him. She had never seen him that way and it worried her. He said down obediently but couldn't help but move in anxiety and anticipation. He tapped his foot and his fingers beat against the armrests of the seat. Whenever a doctor in a white coat came by he would go to him or her and ask about Celeste, even if it wasn't her doctor.

"Eric what happened?" Bill asked, leaning forward and resting his elbows on his knees.

"I don't know." Eric chewed on his finger.

"What do you know?" Bill pushed.

"I don't know!" Eric exploded, jumping from his seat. "We got into a fight and she left! I went after her and then I heard a gun go off and watched her fall to the ground! What do you want me to tell you Compton?" At that moment a doctor came in. She was a woman with red hair, green eyes, a small round mouth, and fair skin. She was about five foot and the white coat she wore seemed one size to big for her. Her nametag read Dr. Jennings.

"Is Celeste Monroe's family here?" She asked looking at a clipboard. Bill and Sookie stood up and Eric darted at the woman.

"Is she alright? How is she?" Eric asked.

"Are you Miss. Monroe's husband?" Dr. Jennings asked.

"No. We're her friends. We brought her in."

"I see. Well I cannot disclose any information to you except her family." She put the clipboard under her arm.

"All of us are here on business." Eric said, calming himself down. "Her family is not with us."

"I understand. However, I must get in contact with her family. Do any of you have any information about them? A phone number perhaps?" Dr. Jennings insisted.

"No. We are here on business only. Can you please tell me how she is?" Eric pushed. Dr. Jennings let out a deep breath and looked at the clipboard again then at Eric.

"She is in critical condition. The bullet is to close to her spine for us to operate, even the slightest mistake could paralyze her from the waist down. She suffered from much blood lose, but we were able to stop it." Dr. Jennings took another deep breath. "We had to put her in a chemically induced coma to keep her from moving to much, if she moves around the bullet could shift closer to her spine then we would have no choice but to operate."

After a long moment of silence Eric spoke: "If you cannot operate, then what happens to Celeste?"

"Well, one of two things: we can either keep her in a coma until the wound heals or we can operate and risk her becoming paralyzed for the rest of her life."

"How long would it take for it to heal?"

"At this rate, a year. When the human body is in a coma the healing process takes much longer."

"Is there no other option?" Eric asked. Dr. Jennings led Eric to her office to speak in private. Once she closed the door she pulled down a curtain and sat down at her desk.

"There is one last option, and probably the only one that will not leave Miss. Monroe disabled."

"What is it?"

Dr. Jennings took a moment before answering. "Vampire blood. We have only used it a few times, in desperate situations. If you are desperate for Celeste to get better than we can provide vampire blood at a moderate price."

Eric tapped his fingers on the armrest. He was curious at how they obtained the blood, but was more worried for Celeste's well being. "You do not need to do that. I shall provide her with my own."

"Very well. I knew you were a vampire the moment I saw you. I will take a small amount and mix it with a chemical compound we use specifically for these kinds of situations." Dr. Jennings went over to a cabinet in her office and grabbed a needle and connected a small bottle to it, creating a capsule that would catch the blood.

"A chemical?" Eric asked skeptically.

"Yes. Once the blood finds the wound, it will immediately go into action to expel the bullet. However, we cannot risk the bullet being pushed out without it injuring her spine." She took Eric's arm and slowly pushed the needle into the artery in his arm, the bottle quickly filled. "The chemical dissolves the bullet while your blood heals her."

"What kind of chemical is it?"

"Sulfuric Acid."

***

Eric sat next to Celeste's bed. She looked so vulnerable and childish in the bed. He carefully grabbed her hand from the side of the bed and took it in his. Her skin was not warm and smooth like he had grown familiar with, it was rough and freezing cold. Her flesh was pale and corpselike. He wondered it that was what he looked liked when he slept. Eric gently rubbed her hand, the sound of the countless monitors beeping in the background. Even though Eric had never been in a hospital, he hated it. The white walls, beeping monitors, the oxygen tube going down Celeste's throat, the IV dripping into her vain. The hospital was a place of death to Eric, a tomb that humans visited many times after accidents, or where they would find their death bed.

Eric moved his chair closer to the bed and watched Celeste. Anger grew in him as he thought about what happened; who shot her, why they shot her, and what he would do once he found whoever it was. This also brought other thoughts. It was true, Celeste did act different once they arrived to Los Vegas. She became more distant and did not spend as much time with Eric, she would constantly disappear or her mind would be wandering. Eric knew that she was hiding something from him, but what he had no idea. He rested his head against the edge of the bed and closed his eyes.

***

"Bill, what happened?" Sookie asked, taking his hand in both of hers.

"I do not know." He replied honestly. Bill had gone over the event many times in his mind. The fight in the lobby, Celeste swiftly leaving, Eric urgently following behind, then hearing Eric call her name followed by a gun shot. He couldn't fit the pieces together, for all he knew Eric shot her, but he knew that was impossible. He started to think about what Sookie said to him before, how Celeste made her uncomfortable and she felt that she was hiding something. Bill was starting to feel the same; there was a lot more to Celeste than she was letting people know, and some of it was dangerous. Now that he thought about it, she never spoke of her past, and when she was asked she evaded the question or answered it half way without an explanation that would leave the asker even more confused.

***

Dr. Jennings gave Eric a few minutes with Celeste before giving Celeste her treatment. She grabbed her cell phone from her desk drawer and dialed a familiar number. The phone rang for a moment, then went strait to voicemail. She left a quick and discrete message that was cut off short when someone knocked on her door.

"Just a moment." She said, placing her phone back in the drawer. She quickly went to the door and opened it and was surprised the see the person she had just tried to call. "Malcolm. I just called you."

"I know." He said stepping in. Malcolm was a very appealing man. His light brown hair that was parted on one side but looked messy was the feature women loved most about him aside from his six rock hard abs. His square chiseled jaw, piercing dark eyes, five o' clock shadow, and beautiful smile was enough to send anyone off. In fact his harmless and carefree appearance, not to mention young age of twenty-six, deceived most people. Dr. Jennings closed the door behind him and locked it. Malcolm sat in her desk chair and Dr. Jennings leaned against the desk. "Bennie told me that she was here."

"How does he know?"

"He has people working here, just like I have you here." Malcolm grinned. "I can't have my men and women seeing just any doctor now can I?"

"I guess not."

"Besides. Her name would eventually get to me since her medical bill would be sent to me.""Celeste still works for you?"

"Yes. Even though she thinks she doesn't." His grin grew wider. "So she's here?"

"She is." Dr. Jennings replied.

"Well?"

"You will be happy to hear that she is not dead." She grinned. "However, from the wound I can tell that Margo had the complete intent of killing her."

"Shit. I knew it. I told him specifically not to kill her or to even try to."

"A simple shot of the shoulder would have sufficed."

"I cant rely on that son of a bitch for anything!" Malcolm cursed. He massaged his temples to relax himself. "Where is she?"

"In ICU. There is also something else you might want to know." Dr. Jennings leaned toward him. Malcolm looked at her with curiosity. "She brought a vampire with her. Two actually."

"She is befriending them now?"

"It seems that way. One of them in particular is very protective of her."

"Is that true?" Dr. Jennings nodded in affirmation. "Well then," Malcolm leaned back in the seat. "We must remind her of her place. Even though she is done with us that does not mean we are done with her." He smirked.

***

Eric sat up from Celeste as the door opened. Dr. Jennings entered the room with the vile of Eric's blood mixed with the sulfuric acid in hand.

"I am going to need you to leave now so I can perform the procedure." She said gently. She had the clipboard with her and set it down at the edge of the bed. The door opened against and a few nurses stepped in. Eric stood up, his hand still latched to Celeste's.

"How long is it going to take?"

"I do now know. It depends on how large the bullet is. The larger the bullet the more time it takes." Dr. Jennings checked the monitors and told one of the nurses to write a few things on the clipboard. "I need you to leave now Mr. Northman." She said looking over her shoulder. "I am sure you can find your way back to the waiting room." Eric was reluctant to leave, but did so anyway, no matter how much he wanted to be there. He opened the door and gave one long glance at Celeste before exiting.

***

Dr. Jennings drew all of the blinds as the nurses prepared her. Malcolm entered and went to Jennings. "Are you about to start?"

"Yes. We have to get her on her stomach first so we can put the blood on the wound."

"Fine. Do what you must. Just let me have a moment with her before you start."

"Of course." Dr. Jennings nodded and gestured for the nurses to leave. She was the last to exit, closing the door behind her. Malcolm was alone in the room with a catatonic Celeste. He ran his hand on the edge of the bed as he walked around it, stopping at the seat where Eric once sat. It had been a long time since he had last scene her, but she still looked the same, only on the verge of death. He gently ran the back of his hand against her cheek.

"I have been waiting so long for this." He said, moving her hair from her face.

* I am going to tear her ass to shreds when we get back. How dare she hit me, stupid cunt. Fuck.