Twenty-Six

The Second Confrontation

"What happened to me, Doc?" Sookie asked Dr. Wilson as he checked her condition later in the night. It was ten o'clock in the evening, the last check up before patients' bedtime. Nobody was there anymore because Dr. Wilson didn't allow anybody to stay in her room. She needed rest, period. If they wanted to wait for Sookie, they could use other places, but not her room.

"To be honest with you, Sook, I don't know." Dr. Wilson listened to her heartbeat. "You were collapsed, just like that. We did the x-rays and checked your blood but we couldn't find anything. I am astonished that even now you are actually…healthy, perfectly healthy. You might experience some shock but it's normal. After experiencing such a heavy trauma as that, your body needs time to adjust itself."

Did it mean the loss of her telepathic ability was only temporary? On second thought, did she really want to have it back? Sometimes Sookie thought it was like having an irritating neighbour, who liked to play music loudly in the middle of the night. Of course she would complain that her neighbour bothered her sleep, but when her neighbour moved out, she would feel awkward with the new quietness. Just because she didn't get used to it…yet.

Would she get used to it, not being able to hear somebody else's thoughts? She wondered.

"You know what, Sook. You're such a lucky woman." Dr. Wilson said. "I know luck is not exactly the right word." He continued quickly when he saw Sookie lifted her eyebrows. "But you have such a wonderful family and friends. Your brother wanted to stay here the whole time. If Arlene hadn't forced him to go, he would've stayed here and neglected everything else. He felt somehow responsible with what happened to you. He thought he was the reason for your heart attack."

"That's ridiculous."

"That's what I said to him too." He smiled. "Mr. Reynolds was also here all the times."

Mr. Reynolds…? Ah, he meant Lafayette. Sookie could imagine how Lafayette would react. He would go all sassy and tell him to check on his "Mr. Reynolds" before he even had the idea to put the label 'mister' in front of his name. Ms. Reynolds he still could accept, but Mr. Reynolds? Out of the question.

"You're smiling. That's a spirit!"

"Well, Sookie. If your condition stays like this in a week you will be able to leave the hospital…with one condition, you must have a lot of rest and not go to work. Call me if Arlene gives you a problem with that."

"Do I know you from somewhere, Doc? You sound like you and Arlene know each other very well."

"You don't remember, do you? I was the student who rented a room at Arlene's place, and helped her with her night school." He gave the word 'helped' a special emphasis and his eyes were brighter when he said it.

It must have been around twenty years ago. Arlene was just starting taking classes at the night school. She worked in the day as a waitress and went to school at night. Sookie remembered she also rented out her rooms. Dr. Wilson must have been one of those people who rented the rooms.

"Sir, the Patients' visiting hours are over. You may not…" Sookie heard the nurse's voice. But then, "Yes, Sir."

"Here he comes." Dr. Wilson said, putting his clipboard under his arm. "It's my time to go."

"Who comes?"

"A gentleman who always visits you after the visiting hours. Every night the same problem." He said. "Have a nice sleep, Sookie."

"Good night, Doc."

Dr. Wilson left her room. He stopped at the door and it looked like he was talking to somebody but then he continued walking.

"Good evening, Sukeh."

It was Bill. Even when she couldn't see his face yet, she recognized the twang. Besides, nobody called her "Sukeh", and if anyone did, she would smack his or her face. With Bill, it was different. She called him 'Statue Bill", well, somehow she would make an exception.

And he was not alone.

Chow was with him. Something was weird about Chow. Could it be that his face was paler?

"What's wrong, Chow? Is everything okay?"

Chow took a chair and sat down. "Not so, Ms. Sookie." He said. His voice was somber. Had he cried? "It's Ms. Pam."

Sookie tried to sit but she couldn't. She was still too weak. "What happened?"

"Godric and Pam locked themselves in the vault on the basement for three days." Bill was the one who answered.

"Northman Mansion's basement?"

"No. At Pam's. We heard Pam screaming and screaming for three days but nobody dared to open it. Godric gave a specific order; we have to keep the door locked. We had to ignore any noise that we would hear from inside. Otherwise, he wouldn't guarantee our safety.

It was like a nightmare for the rest of us. We all know that Pam is a strong vampire and she wouldn't have screamed like that unless she had been in a great deal of pain. We heard how she begged us to kill her and end her agony. She begged, ordered, and even seduced us so that she got what she wanted. She also tried to get Chow to open the door. Chow had almost done it; I believe he would have done it, if he hadn't heard Godric's voice. I had never heard the elders raised their voices before. It was like coming from a huge animal, groaning and growling; and it sounded like it was coming from deep below. I will be honest with you; I was scared too.

None of us could sleep. It was worst during the day because we have to fight with our own misery of being not able to sleep. The heat of the day hurt us and burnt our flesh. All we could do was hearing how Pam crying and screaming. We ourselves couldn't move, otherwise the sunlight would have cut our flesh. For young vampires like Chow, it would mean suicide. Godric's voice was like a lullaby to us – kept us calm and sleepy but clearly not for Pam. She continued screaming and hitting the door asked to be let out.

On the third day, we couldn't hear any sound anymore and this evening, Godric had opened the door. He had his blood coming out from his eyes, nose, and ears, and Pam was lying on the floor in a blood bath. He was very weak, barely alive. We had to feed them a lot because without fresh blood they would have died."

"And Eric? What happened to Eric?"

"We don't know. Eric had locked himself in his vault and nobody could open it. We can't ask Godric to do it because he is still weak and he needs some rest."

"Aude…what happened to her?"

Bill didn't answer, neither did Chow. They looked at each other but not a single word was spoken.

"Bill? Chow?"

"We don't know."

"None of you went to Leclerq and tried find out?"

They shook their heads.

"I have to leave the hospital." Sookie tried to get up but she couldn't move. "I have to go to the Leclerq. I can't stay!"

"I heard that you should stay here for a week." Bill said.

"No, I can't. I must go to Leclerq and find out about Aude!"

"You don't have to." Bill said. "You can leave tomorrow, if you want to. But…" he looked at Sookie. He put his hands in front of his mouth, as if he tried to stop himself from talking.

"But what?"

He took a deep breath. Sookie thought that was very odd. Vampires didn't breathe, why was he acting as if he did? "You will have to drink either my blood, or his."

Chow looked at Bill. "That's not what the Boss said." He said.

"What? He said that Sookie may not drink from any other?"

"No but he said I should keep her away from danger."

"Do you think I would put her in danger?"

"Guys…hello? Can I make up my own mind?"

Both of them looked at her. Sookie could see Chow's fangs were out. Obviously, he was taking Eric's order seriously and he wouldn't let anybody touch her.

"Chow, I don't think that Bill will put me in danger."

"Thank you." Bill said.

"You think so, Ms. Sookie?"

"Yes, Chow."

Chow's fangs clicked back in.

"You can choose between his or my blood." Bill said again. "But you must know, the older we are, the stronger we will be. And I am older than Chow."

"That's true." said Chow.

"I'll drink Bill's blood, then." Sookie said. Oh, Eric will not like it, but what shall do? I have to get out of here. If Bill's blood can heal me faster, then the better it is.

Bill opened the cuff of his sleeve, rolled it up, and then bit his wrist. Carefully he put his wrist in front of Sookie's mouth.

When his blood ran down inside her throat, Sookie felt as if she was back in her childhood when her mother was still alive. They used to buy ice cream at Joe's ice-cream shop in summertime. That shop was abandoned since some years ago following the death of Joe and nobody wanted to continue his ice cream business. There was a very special ice cream, which she liked so much. It was a mixture between chocolate and coconut with many sprinkles on it. Bill's blood tasted like that and smelt like that too. She thought it would have been more like Eric's. Obviously, every vampire's blood tasted different.

"Thank you." Sookie said when she finished.

Bill rolled down his shirt. "Now sleep. We will pick you up tomorrow night."

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