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**Shane**

All I can do is stare down at Claire who seems to be barely breathing, the drum is almost silent, da- da-dum. She's so pale, so dead looking. I did this. I think grimly, still in shock. There's two ragged holes in the side of her neck still weakly dripping blood. Suddenly, I hear a deep, satisfied sounding chuckle. I whirl towards it, snarling. It was him, Henry, this was his fault. I almost jump up to go after him, but then remember that I'm still holding Claire.

"Revenge is sweet, isn't it Collins?" Henry asks grinning madly. Then, he's gone in a flash. I jump up, surprised at how fast and fluid I move.

"Eve," I say quietly looking to where she is still huddled in the corner; tear streaks running through her ghost makeup. "Eve go and find Michael. I'm taking Claire to the hospital."

"It's too late boy," I hear someone say quietly and I turn to see Oliver, still chained, I had completely forgotten him. "Either let me turn her now or lose her forever."

"Shut the hell up!" I growl at him, and I know my eyes flash red.

"Fine, but then you may blame yourself for her death." He says face blank, eyes hard. I already do. I think with anguish looking back down at her. I start to walk out of the freezer.

"Wait Shane! Wait!" Eve says scrambling after me, seeming to have come out of her shock. "You're—you're a vamp now Shane! You'll die in the sun. You won't last a minute and Claire will die too."

"Then hurry the hell up and get me one of these asshole's coat." I say glaring down at her. I want to say Claire doesn't have time. Just let me die and be with her. But I know I can't. She runs off and returns in thirty seconds holding a long, black, leather, trench coat and a floppy black hat. She stands there helplessly a second, not seeming to know what to do.

"Shane," She says quietly, avoiding my eyes. "You have to put her down." No, no I can't ever let go of her again. And for a second, I don't. But then I comply, gently setting her on a table. I shove my arms through the coat sleeves and jam the hat on my head before carefully scooping her up again.

Then, I rush out into the day, vamp speed. It was amazing how fast I could go. And God the sun hurt. I could feel my skin bubbling and burning even with the stupid hat and coat. I can smell myself cooking.

I open the back door of the car and gingerly place Claire on the seat, buckling her in. Then, I hop in the passenger seat and, thanks to Michale's planning, I drive right off. And I can see through the windshield, clear as crystal.

When I get to the emergency room, they don't ask me to wait, they take one look at Claire and she whisked away. They don't say one word to me, there's no "She'll be okay," because we all know that that's never guaranteed in Morganville. So I sit there, numb, wondering how this had all happened so fast. How my life was over, at least as a human.

**Claire**

Claire opens her eyes to see a glaring, fluorescent light. She hears whispered voices and tries to turn her head towards them, but it hurts too much. She feels so weak and tries to remember what happened. Then it hits her, Shane was a vampire and that psycho had turned him and made him bite her.

She must make some sound because suddenly, there's a ton of people hovering over her. Michael, Eve, and Myrnin, but no Shane.

"Oh God Claire!" Eve squeals grabbing her hand, her makeup smeared all over her face. "We thought you were dead!"

"Where's Shane?" Claire croaks out and winces, her voice sounded awful like she'd swallowed glass.

"He-well he didn't think you'd want to see him." Eve says hesitantly.

"Of course I want to see him!" Claire says frowning. "Help me up Eve; I'm tired of laying down with everyone in my face."

"I do not think that is wise," Myrnin says quietly. "You were on death's door and he could still very well pay you a visit before the night is through. You are much too weak. Amelie was determined to turn you, but I managed to reason with her."

"Thank you," Claire says sincerely. "I don't think I could have dealt with that on top of Shane. Where is he?"

"Here," Claire hears him say softly from the doorway, a shadow falling over him so she can't see him clearly. "You sure you want to see me?"

"God, of course I do Shane!" Claire says desperate to see him. Eve grabs Michael's hand and tugs him out of the room. After another second, Myrnin gives her an indecipherable look before leaving too.

"How can you want to see me Claire? How can you want to see me after what I did?" He says voice hoarse, not leaving the doorway.

"Because I know that wasn't you Shane! You couldn't help it, please don't do this." She pleads.

"But it was me," Shane whispers, refusing to meet her eyes. "I am that now Claire, forever and I'm never going to be me again."

"Shane come here," She demands fiercely with such authority he comes forward slowly, looking surprised. "Sit," He does, as far from her as he can be, still avoiding her eyes. "Help me up." He hesitates and she gives him her fiercest glare which she knows isn't very intimidating. Gently, he puts his arms around her and sits her up against the pillows, holding her up. And good thing he did, she felt so light headed and floaty, like a breeze could knock her over.

She looks at him and mostly, he seems like the same Shane. His skin is vampire pale of course, and his eyes have a strange gleam in them. But he's still her Shane. She just needs to make him see it.

"How do you feel?" She asks quietly.

"Me?" Shane asks in disbelief. "You want to know how I feel?" He gives a laugh, and not a nice one, one that's bitter and full of contempt. "Claire I almost killed you!"

"But you didn't," Claire says steadily. "And you weren't yourself. I'm going to be fine."

"How can you forgive me Claire? How?"

"Because I love you," She replies simply giving him a smile. "Now, really Shane how do you feel?"

"Pretty weird," He says taking a deep breath. "Everything is crazy in focus. I feel super strong, fast. Powerful."

"So is that…good?" Shane gives a shaky laugh.

"I don't know if good is how I would describe it Claire, I hate it." Claire really didn't know how to respond to that, and it seemed, neither did Shane. They just sit there quietly a minute, thinking about the future, which didn't seem so far off now that Shane's would last forever.

"Shane can you just lie down with me? Please, I don't want to spend the night in the hospital alone." Shane turns to look at her, surprise clear in his dark eyes.

"You sure you're not afraid I'm going to eat you or something?" It almost sounds like the old Shane, but not quite, it a genuine question, he thinks that she's afraid of him, that she hates him, and it breaks Claire's heart.

"No Shane," Claire says quietly. "I trust you." Shane stares down at her for a long moment, and she stares right back, refusing to look away. Silently, Shane gets up and switches off the lights before climbing into the narrow hospital bed next to Claire, still as far away from her as possible. So she scoots over, snuggling next to him, resting her head on his chest. Shane stiffens, but after a minute, he places a gentle hand on her back. Claire falls asleep to the sound of him breathing, even though she can no longer hear the steady rhythm of his heart.