Sookie Stackhouse looked around Fangtasia in amazement. The whole place had been transformed and looked more like a vampire cliché than she would have thought Eric would countenance. But then, it was one of the few holidays that vampires actually celebrated so she guessed she shouldn't have been surprised.
She started slightly when Bill appeared at her elbow.
"What are you doing here?" he asked, somehow making the question sound surprised, pleased and accusing.
She squared her shoulders slightly, "I don't have to explain myself to you," she told him defensively. There was a short pause before she shrugged, "Eric invited me," she said simply.
Bill's eyes narrowed, "Why?"
"Pam seems to think it's because my telepathy makes me special," she replied smoothly, looking around.
"Of course," Bill responded, sounding a trifle disbelieving.
Sookie wasn't entirely sure how she should take his comment and changed the subject, "Where is our elusive host anyway?"
Bill shrugged, taking a sip of his Tru Blood as he looked around the room, "I have no idea. Probably going to make some grand entrance," he added bitterly.
Sookie smiled a little before she caught sight of someone familiar out of the corner of her eye. She was surprised when that person turned out to be Dr. Ludwig, who quickly disappeared down the stairs to the basement.
"What's she doing here?" Sookie asked, more to herself than her companion as she began to follow her, suddenly concerned that something might be wrong.
"Sookie, you can't go down there," Bill counselled, grabbing her wrist before she had gone too far.
"You have lost the right to give me orders, Bill Compton," she informed him icily, "you can come with me or stay up here, but you can't stop me."
Bill released her with a long suffering sigh before following her down to the basement. He was so busy grumbling to himself and admiring Sookie that he almost crashed into her when she came to an abrupt stop at the foot of the stairs.
Surprised he followed her gaze to see Eric sitting in a pool of blood, cradling a comatose Pam in his arms. Dr. Ludwig stood nearby, searching through her medical bag.
"Pam," Sookie gasped, moving instinctively forward to check on her.
She checked when Eric snarled at her, fangs bared. In the same moment Bill moved defensively to her side, but he needn't have bothered, Eric had no intention of moving. He contented himself with glaring at them both and clutching Pam closer to his chest.
"Don't touch her," he growled, "no one touches her."
"That's going to make it difficult for me to examine her," Dr. Ludwig commented tartly, coming over to join him.
Eric shot her a glare but relaxed his hold on Pam, allowing her better access to examine her. "This would be easier if you let her go," Dr. Ludwig continued.
Eric's only response was a snarl.
"I'll take that as a 'no,'" Dr. Ludwig commented drily as she continued to examine Pam.
Sookie watched the examination in morbid fascination, "What happened?" she asked before she could stop herself.
Eric shot her an irritated glance, "I don't know," he said shortly.
"How-" Sookie began but Eric cut her off.
"She was down here on her own, I don't know what happened. All I know is that I found her down here, vomiting up blood and then she passed out, does that satisfy your curiosity?" he demanded.
Sookie nodded, sensing that it would not be wise to upset Eric any more than he already was. He gave her a curt nod before turning his attention back to Dr. Ludwig, watching her anxiously.
If the situation wasn't so dire Sookie was sure she would have been touched by his concern.
"Well?" he demanded once Dr. Ludwig had finished.
"Silver poisoning," Dr. Ludwig said decisively. "She seems to have ingested some," she continued before Eric could respond, she picked up the open bottle of Tru Blood and sniffed it. "This would appear to be the culprit," she added.
"Will she recover?" Eric demanded.
"She should, but it will take some time. She's very lucky," Dr. Ludwig continued, "there's enough silver in here to kill her, if she'd had more than what she did, she'd be dead," she concluded bluntly.
Sookie noticed Eric wince at the word 'dead' and tighten his hold on Pam.
"You should be able to move her, but don't expect her to regain consciousness tonight. She will be very weak for a few days and may not be able to keep anything down," Dr. Ludwig informed Eric in her best professional tone, "be patient and make sure she gets lots of rest," she advised and was gone.
Bill and Sookie turned to Eric, but he was already gone.
Sookie looked down at where he and Pam had been and noticed that the hem of her dress was soaked in blood. "Why is it I always end up with blood on me whenever I come to this place?" she asked, breaking the tension in the room.
Bill smiled half-heartedly and offered her his arm to escort her back upstairs.
"Pam will be all right won't she?" Sookie asked, taking his arm.
"You know Pam, she's too stubborn to die," Bill reassured her as they re-joined the party.