hm. not sure about this chapter. i like it, but this is the first time i've written anything like this. it probably sucks ass, but whatever. here you go!
btw, please don't review my story with some spam shit copy-paste crap. i don't care if the literate union is making people throw bitchfits. i'm probably going to have the more pornographic scenes on a separate site with a link to follow if you feel like reading them. i know some people are uncomfortable with lemons, and fanfiction dot net doesn't really like them, so i'll host them on a blogspot or something.
"I'm going to tie this rubber band around your arm, and I need you to squeeze the happy face until the eyes pop out," Izzy said as she handed the smiling ball to the little girl. They only used the happy face ball for their young patients. "So your name is Carlie? How old are you, Carlie?"
"I'm turning six in two weeks." Carlie eyed the butterfly needle. "Is it gonna hurt?"
Izzy sighed. She hated lying to patients. "Have you ever been pinched by someone when they just used their nails?" Carlie nodded. "It feels kinda like that. Not really hurting, just a pinch."
Carlie nodded. Izzy tied the rubber band around the girl's arm. She readied the needle and said, "Look at the picture and read that sentence over again. Every time you start over, let go of the face and squeeze it again."
Once Carlie squeezed the ball and started reading, Izzy pushed the needle into the crook of her elbow. The act of piercing the girl's skin made venom pool in her mouth. She swallowed the venom, feeling it burn down her parched throat.
"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." She let go and squeezed again. Izzy attached the tube to a vial. "I met one of Santa's helpers today." Release. Squeeze. "He was the mos' bea-u-tiful boy I'd ever saw'd." Release. Sqeeze.
"Is that right?" Izzy watched the blood fill the vial. "What did he say?"
Carlie looked to her mom, then back to Izzy. When she looked at the needle in her arm, she gasped and quickly looked back at the picture. Release. Squeeze. "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Release. Squeeze. "Well," she whispered, "he said he's here to make sure we're all being good for Christmas. He know'd I stole a poptart this morning." Release. Squeeze.
Izzy switched the vial out for another. Carlie's doctor had requested three different tests. "Really?"
"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." Release. Squeeze. "Yup. And he had the prettiest eyes. They looked like the candies my granma gives me whenever I see her." Carlie turned to her mother. "What kinda candies does granma give me when she visits?" Release. Squeeze.
"Butterscotch candies," Carlie's mom replied.
Izzy chewed lightly on her lip piercing. Carlie must have been talking about Edward. She detached the tube from the vial and replaced it with the third and final vial. "Did he have hair that looks kinda redish-brown?"
Carlie nodded. "Yea. It looked kinda like pennies, but lighter. Do you know him?" Release. Squeeze.
Izzy zoned out on the last vial as she watched the blood pour from the tube collecting at the bottom of the vial. She saw that Carlie had released and squeezed the ball again and she still hadn't answered. "Yes, I know him."
"Do all vampires and Santa helpers know each other?" Release. Squeeze.
Izzy let out a small laugh as she got out a cotton ball. "No, not all. But he's been a friend of mine for a while." It felt strange to be calling Edward a friend, but she supposed that that's what they were now: friends. She still wasn't sure if she liked being friends with him or not. She pressed the cotton ball to the crook of Carlie's elbow and pulled the needle out. Once the needle left the girl's skin, Izzy's throat began to burn despite the cigarette she'd smoked only fifteen minutes ago.
She taped the cotton down and put the three vials of blood in the refrigerator under the counter behind her. "Well, Carlie, you're all set! The results will be in and ready for you in a couple days." She pulled off her gloves and turned to Carlie's mother. "You should get a call from us in two or three days. Even if she does test positive, anemia is not unmanageable. Her lifestyle shouldn't have to change more than taking maybe a Flintstones vitamin every morning."
Carlie's mother gave Izzy a sad smile. "I just hope it's nothing more serious than that."
Carlie itched at the tape on her arm and looked up at her mom. "What else could it be, momma?"
Izzy leaned forward to whispered loud enough for Carlie and her mother to hear, "Well, it could be cooties!"
Carlie's eyes widened comically, then narrowed suspiciously. "Miss Teacher says there's no such thing!"
Izzy smiled and shrugged. "I don't know, Carlie. She might be right or she might be wrong."
"Come on, Carlie," the woman said as she ushered her daughter to the door. "I'm sure Miss Calaspy had lots of work to do."
Izzy waved at the two of them as they left, ignoring the burn in her throat and trying not to stare at the light pulse pumping through Carlie's neck.
As soon as they left, Izzy collapsed against the counter. Resisting the pull of blood was exhausting.
"You really do have a way with the young ones."
Izzy turned and saw Peggy entering the room, cocoa in hand. "Well, I've had my fair share of hospital visits in my lifetime. I remember how scary they can be."
Peggy blew over the surface of her cocoa to cool it. "You were in the hospital a lot?"
Izzy inhaled the scent of cocoa as it was carried on the air from when Peggy blew on it. "I used to be a bit of a klutz. Still am, I guess."
Peggy nodded understandingly and sipped her drink.
Izzy collected the next patient's information from the box and began preparing labels. She thought of Carlie and Edward and smiled at the thought of Edward talking to the small girl, telling her he was one of Santa's helpers. She almost stopped herself from smiling at the memory of him, remembering to not think of him in any way other than platonic liking.
Oh, stop fooling yourself. It's adorable and you know it.
Izzy felt the smile pull on the corners of her mouth. It is pretty cute, isn't it? She smiled fully to herself and returned to writing out the labels for the next patient. She had never seen Edward around children, nor had she ever really heard of him interacting with them ever.
She brought the newly written labels to her station. She pressed the button to the side of her station signaling to Samsie that she was ready for the next patient. She sighed and took a deep breath as she waited for yet another swimmer to get their blood tests.
Later that night, Izzy came back into the office to retrieve the jacket she'd left in there on purpose. Whenever Peggy's shift ended at the same time as hers, she would leave her jacket at her station so that she'd have a reason to go back in after Peggy left.
When she reached the room, she got the tingling sensation in the back of her neck she usually got from being followed. She turned around but saw no one. She listened carefully for the sound a heartbeat near her, possibly beating quicker than usual because the adrenalin being pumped into their system from sneaking around and following her. She heard no heartbeats anywhere near her, let alone the fast beat of someone sneaking around. She backed into the room and closed the door lightly. When she turned around, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she found someone waiting for her.
"Jesus, Edward!" Izzy automatically rested her hand on her chest as if to still her pounding heart.
She could see him trying to wipe the smile off his face to no avail. She had to concentrate on keeping her scowl, it was so hard not to smile when he was smiling so big.
"I didn't mean to frighten you. You'd think someone with vampire senses would have notice someone following them for five minutes."
Izzy ignored the laugh that seemed to seep its way into his words and tried not to laugh herself. "Well, you'd think a vampire wouldn't want to sneak up on another vampire when she's about to feed."
Edward's smile faded a smidge. "I didn't realize that that's why you came back. I thought you had left your jacket here."
Izzy pointed to the coat hanging in the corner of the room. "I did, but I left it here on purpose. I needed an excuse to come back."
Edward nodded but didn't say anything more.
"Why are you here again anyway?"
He ran a nervous hand the through his hair. "I wanted to spend time with you?" he said more like a question.
Izzy brushed off the comment, deciding not to dwell on it. She opened the refrigerator then closed it again and turned to Edward. "Well, I'm going to feed, so if you don't want to be around the blood, you might want to wait outside."
"I don't mind. I honestly don't like hospital blood, it won't arouse any more thirst in me than being in a school cafeteria does."
Izzy felt something in her stir when Edward said 'arouse' but she decided to press it down. "Are you sure?"
He nodded. "I hold no lust for bagged blood."
Again, at the word 'lust,' something stirred inside her, making venom pool on her tongue. She swallowed it and felt it burn down her throat. "Okay…"
She opened the refrigerator again and pulled out a bag. She felt nervous with Edward watching her, but her thirst was burning her and her need to drink deeply overruled her embarrassment.
She only ever let her instincts take over (aside from the incident the previous night) when she was feeding. Izzy pressed her thumbnail to the bag, cutting it like a blade. The smell of the wonderful blood wafted up. She didn't care that it was cold at this point, the vampire in her yearned for the luscious red beverage. For a moment, she was nervous again about letting her instincts take over again in the presence of Edward, but she ignored her own nervousness as if it were someone else's and drank deeply.
Izzy moaned with pleasure and gulped down the cool, thick drink. She felt the liquid put the fire in her throat out instantly. The feeling that stirred earlier rose again, more intense and more demanding. She opened her eyes, everything had a faint red tint to it. Still drinking, she looked at Edward, who was slowly walking towards her. She took in every feature of him from his clothes to his hair to his open mouth to his rapid short breaths.
When she felt the bag collapse of emptiness, she dropped it. She was still looking at Edward, warmth pooling at the bottom of her stomach that had nothing to do with the blood she'd consumed. Before she registered what was happening, she was on him, pressing him to the door. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she registered that she was growling. No, not growling, purring. She inhaled deeply the scent of blood still clinging to her lips and Edward, pressed to her.
She moaned one last time as she pressed her lips to his in a hungry, desperate, lust filled kiss.
Edward watched as she opened the bag with her nails with the practice of someone who'd been doing so for years. The smell of stale, sterile blood escaped the bag. Bella closed her eyes and lifted the bag to her lips. He watched the hunger and need flit across her face as she took her first swallow. She moaned, the sound sending heat waves to Edward that went straight to his groin. He breathed in shallow breaths, smelling Bella's arousal mingle with the stale blood.
Her eyes flicked open and locked on his. The same pull he'd felt the night before in Bella's living room was acting on him again, moving him almost against his will. He took a step forward. Edward thought back to when he would spend every night in her room. She was the most beautiful person on the face of the planet. Now, the same beauty possessed her, but with a new feral intensity. Her eyes pulsed brighter red with every swallow.
Even as she was drinking, her gaze never left his. He took another step towards her, feeling the pull deep inside himself. He felt as if gravity had shifted. Bella was pulling him to her without even knowing the effect she was having on him. He felt a hunger so strong for her, stronger than he'd felt in years. The only thing he could compare it to was the hunger he'd felt for her blood on her first day at Forks High.
Soon the bag was empty. She dropped the bag without really noticing. She had a small amount of blood still on her lips, he could see the glint of venom on her teeth. Edward felt himself harden at the sight of the hunger in her eyes.
He took another step towards her and she was on him, pushing him against the door behind him with the strength of a recently fed vampire. Her hands were gripping his shoulders, every part of her body was pressing against his. His erection pressed almost painfully against her. A soft vibration passed through her and he heard a light purr. Her nose was skimming his neck, smelling his scent and no doubt his arousal. She raised herself against his body, pressing into his erection as she did so, and locked eyes with his once again. With one last look in his eyes, she pressed her lips to his in a kiss.
He gasped and felt Bella's tongue pass through his lips. The taste of her mouth was intoxicating. Edward gripped her waist and leaned forward over her. His tongue battled hers for dominance over the kiss. Venom collected in his mouth and mixed with the taste of Bella's own venom and the blood still clinging to her lips and mouth.
He moaned and pushed against her, walking forward until her back was pressed to the countertop. He pressed her back over the counter and continued to devour her mouth. She lifted one leg to wrap around his waist. Edward put his hands under her thighs and lifted her onto the counter. Bella wrapped her legs around his waist and pressed herself to his erection, eliciting a moan of pleasure from Edward. He moved one hand from her thigh to her hair and tugged lightly. His teeth caught onto the stud in her lip, tugging it upward.
Her legs tightened around him and she leaned over him, taking dominance over the kiss again. He stepped back, tilting his head up. She moved her lips from his mouth to his neck, her teeth scraping lightly over his neck. Edward let out a shuddering breath. He moaned as her teeth lightly pressed to his marble skin, her lips clinging to his neck.
She inhaled sharply and tilted over him further to get batter access to his neck. To balance, Edward took another step backwards, accidentally stepping on the empty blood bag.
Suddenly, the world was spinning. The ground came up to meet them.
Edward cried out as he felt a tear in his neck when they hit the ground. The breath, however not needed, was knocked out of the both of them. Bella took in a shuddering breath against his neck. When she pushed herself up, Edward saw a look of total and complete terror.