Dan blinked but didn't respond. He only threaded the needle and stitched up the wound with only a few stitches. As he was doing it, he could feel her skin getting colder. He covered the wound with a dressing and said, "You're going into shock."

He took a mylar emergency blanket from his kit and said, "Lift your hips up slightly." Dina did and he slid the blanket underneath her. Then he leaned over her so he could tuck it around her shoulders while keeping her arm free.

That's when Dina opened her eyes. And leaning over her was one of the most gorgeous guys she had ever seen. Dirty blond hair, green eyes, five o'clock shadow. And he smelled nice too.

But so what. She was his patient so that meant it would be unethical for him to sleep with assuming he even thought she was remotely attractive after seeing her in this disheveled state. Assuming he wasn't gay. Eh, he was probably gay.

"I'm not gay, I'm bi, not that's any of your business," Dan said. "And almost dying doesn't give you a pass to stereotype me like that."

Dina frowned. "Were you talking to me?" she said.

"You're the only one I heard saying that I was gay. Men are allowed to wear pink shirts without people thinking they're gay. It's 2030 for Chrissake, you'd think people would get that by now."

"I didn't say that . . . out loud," Dina said.

"You did."

Dina would have gone beet red if she'd had enough blood in her body. "I'm sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean that. It's not because of your shirt. I like your shirt."

It was a pale pink dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up that perfectly complimented his coloring and somehow managed to stay clean while his pants were smudged with blood.

"Dina's not prejudiced, I promise," Sam said.

"Thanks, Sam," Dina. "Now give me permission to die of embarrassment."

"No, you're not dying," Sam said.

Dan concurred. "Nobody's dying on my watch."

Dina closed her eyes again. A few tears leaked out of the corners. She was pathetic.

"It'll just be a few more minutes. Don't put any pressure on this leg for twenty-four hours. If you need to go to the bathroom, have someone help you. Don't hop or crawl. And don't get the stitches wet."

Dina shuddered, remembering her vertigo days.

"Are you okay?" Dan asked.

"Fine," Dina said weakly.

"After this, I'll burn the vamps' bodies," Jun said. "You guys should go home."

"Thank you, Jun," Sam said. "For everything. You and Dan, thank you both so much."

Jun muttered something inaudible.

"Just doing my job, ma'am," Dan responded. "But you're welcome."

"You're a paramedic in real life?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I work for the fire department. Learned it as a medic in the army. I've seen worse than this in the Middle East. I've seen Hunters much worse than this."

"Thank you again, really."

"I'll come with you to monitor her condition for a few hours. Also, both of you need to drink a lot of water over the next couple of days."

"Yes, sir," Sam said with a jaunty grin. She was about to mock salute him when she realized that it was the arm with the needle in it.

Finally an hour had passed. Dan took the needles out of their arms and put them in a special medical waste pouch. He gathered up his kit and tossed it into the back of Dina's truck. He helped Jun load the vamps' bodies into his truck and Jun drove away. Then Dan helped Dina into the back seat of her truck and got in next to her. He held her so she wouldn't fall on the floor in case they stopped short. Dina kept her eyes closed for the whole trip.

Once back at her building, Dan carried Dina into her apartment and laid her softly on her bed. Dina thought hysterically that being carried over the threshold was what newlyweds did in the olden days. Did people even do that anymore? Not that she'd ever find out.

Dan directed Sam to get a glass of water for Dina and to drink one herself. In a moment she brought it back and Dan helped Dina drink it. She spilled half of it on herself and fell back against the pillow wishing she would have died.

Sam took off Dina's shoes and had to cut the remains of her pants off her.

Dan sat down on the chair by Dina's desk. "I'll be here right. Dina, if you need anything, call out."

"I sleep on the pull-out couch in the living room," Sam said. "If she has to go to the bathroom or something, come wake me up."

"You need to sleep too. I can handle it."

"Okay, thanks," Sam said and went back to make up her bed. It wasn't that late but she felt exhausted, physically and emotionally.

As soon as the door closed, Dina sat up and let the mylar blanket fall to her waist. She pulled off her shirt and unhooked her bra, tossing them into the corner.

"Don't I have nice boobs?" she demanded.

Dan looked for less than a split second, then got up and pulled the blanket back over her torso.

"You don't even think I have nice boobs," Dina sobbed.

Dan sat down on the bed and took her into his arms. "You have very nice boobs," he said.

"Do you mean it?" Dina said.

"Of course I do, but listen, I understand how you're feeling, it's totally normal to want to reaffirm life after you've almost died, but that's all this is. If I did anything, I'd be taking advantage of you and you'd be angry about it tomorrow."

Dina laughed. "You don't know me at all. I'd only be angry if you were crap in bed. You can touch my boobs if you want."

"Please don't do this," Dan said. "How do you feel? Does your leg hurt or do you want a painkiller?"

"I'm fine-" Dina started, then a wave of vertigo overcame her. She quickly lay back down and pushed her pillow to the side so she could be as flat as possible.

"Do you have a bowl or a bucket in case you need to throw up?"

"I'm not going to throw up," Dina said. She pulled her pillow over head. "I'm done."

Dan tugged the pillow off her face. "You could suffocate like that."

"That's fine," Dina said.

"I told you nobody's dying on my watch."

"Then go away."

"Dina, are you a danger to yourself?"

"I don't have the energy to be a danger to myself. If my pillow happens to smother me, well, that's just how it goes."

"I want you to start seeing a therapist after your leg heals a bit."

"What am I supposed to tell a therapist? 'My dad was killed by a monster. My mom was killed by a demon. I almost died fighting a vampire and I probably will someday, if not soon, but eventually.' Yeah, that would go over well."

"Then talk to another Hunter. They'll understand."

"Whatever. I'm going to sleep now."

Dan turned off the overhead light by flicking the lightswitch by the door. Dina could hear him moving around in the dark and in a moment she felt his weight on the bed. He nudged her onto her side, and he spooned her gently, his bare chest against her bare back, his arm just under her breasts. He was so warm. He pulled a blanket over them both.

"Thank you," Dina whispered.

Dan didn't reply.

Dina lay there feeling pathetic but also strangely good. Dan wasn't particularly tall but he was nicely muscled. She could feel the strength in his arms and the hardness of his chest. If he wouldn't have sex with her, then when she was feeling better she'd swipe right a million times until she found another guy who looked as much like him as possible.

Like that beautiful bitch Scarlett O'Hara said, tomorrow is another day.

Before Dina drifted off, she thought about her life. About her knitting and her wine and her bath bombs and her friends and her little apartment and her shotgun and her truck. And she thought, as long as her truck had gas, she could carry on.

FADE TO BLACK