Flutter (My Blood Approves #3)(67)

“Maybe, but our fingernails are more like claws,” Milo said absently. “It’s a weapon we have, so why not use it?”

It wasn’t until he said something that I looked down at my own nails. Before I had turned, I had bit them all the time, but I lost the urge. They were longer than I had them before, but I hadn’t really thought about them being stronger. I tested one out on my arm and winced.

Milo and Bobby continued talking, getting more flirty and lovey, so I tuned them out. Milo had gotten awfully freaked and possessive because Jonathan had bit Bobby, and he hadn’t even drank his blood. It surprised me because Milo had never been the possessive type, but I suppose that had nothing to do with who he was as a person. It was all part of being a vampire, but I had never gone through it because nobody else had bitten Jack since we’d been together.

Or at least that I know of. I had no idea what he was doing now. For all I know, someone could be biting him. Lots of someones could, or he could be biting lots of people. He could be doing anything, and I had no idea when or if he would ever be back.

After Milo finished getting Bobby cleaned up, they went back up to his room so they could change out of their costumes, and Milo needed to wash off all his makeup. Ezra and Mae were still up in Peter’s room with Jane, so I sat on the steps and waited for someone to tell me what was going on. The night seemed to drag on forever, but finally, Ezra descended the stairs towards me.

“How is she?” I got up but held onto the wall, bracing myself for bad news.

“I don’t know,” Ezra shook his head. “She’s been doing this for too long. Part of the reason her bite looked so terrible was because she had scar tissue building up. He had to gnaw through it to get to her veins.”

“Oh my gosh!” I gasped, feeling disgusted.

“But the good news is that she hadn’t lost as much blood as I’d originally thought.” He gave me a weak smile. “I didn’t give her any blood, although we did give her IV fluids.”

“You have IV fluids just lying about?” I asked with a raised eyebrow.

“In a houseful of vampires and the occasional human, someone is going to lose too much blood eventually, and its best to be prepared,” he said. “Your friend is resting now, but only time will tell how well she will do. Mae is giving her vitamins and plenty of water, and that’s the best we can do.”

“Why didn’t you give her a transfusion? Wouldn’t that have fixed her right up?” I asked.

“No. Like I said, she’s been doing this too long,” he said. “Her blood wouldn’t mix or coagulate right with fresh blood. She has too much vampire saliva in her, messing with her body. That might actually be to her benefit. Our saliva can be very helpful in the healing process, and the only thing that has been keeping her alive the past few days is how much she has in her system.”

“So the fact that she’s getting bit too often is killing her and saving her life?” I looked at him dubiously.

“So it would seem,” he sighed. “You can go up and see her if you like, but she’s unconscious.”

“Unconscious like sleeping or unconscious like coma?”

“Only time will tell,” Ezra said

“Really?” I had been asking more as a lark, but if there was a possibility that she could be comatose, it didn’t seem right that we were just keeping her in an upstairs bedroom. “Shouldn’t we get her to the hospital or something?”

“If I thought there was anything they could do for her that we couldn’t, I would’ve already taken her there. She just needs to rest and rebuild her blood.”

“No offense, but you’re not a doctor. How can you possibly know? If she’s dying, they can put her on life support,” I said.

“She’s not dying, not yet, but if you think she would be better suited at a hospital, or she would be happier living out the rest of her existence on life support, I will take her there,” he said, not unkindly. “But I have spent most of the past 300 years trying to keep the human victims of vampires alive. I doubt highly that anybody at the hospital can make that same claim, but yes, they do have more advanced medical equipment than I do.”

“I understand.” I looked down at the steps. “As long as she’s stable now, I say we leave her here. But I reserve the right to take to her the hospital if her condition worsens.”

“You’ve always had that right, whether it worsened or not.” Ezra touched my shoulder, trying to comfort me and alleviate my shame. “Why don’t you go see her?”

I argued with him just to avoid seeing her. Ezra would always do what was best for everyone, and I knew that. If he couldn’t take care of Jane here, he wouldn’t have brought her back.

But I didn’t want to see her, knowing how sick and frail she looked. Jane had often been superficial and a bitch, but she was always powerful. She carried herself with purpose, and the last thing she’d ever want anyone to see is her being weak and small.

Slowly, I pushed open the door to Peter’s room. In his huge bed, Jane looked even smaller. Mae sat next to her, monitoring her pulse and blood pressure, all by ear and touch. Jane was just a thin little line down the center of the bed. Her arms lay over the covers, and they were nothing but skin and bone.

Her normally manicured nails were broken and chipped. A bandage covered the bite mark on her neck, so at least I didn’t have to see that again. She kept her hair short, but her roots were showing. Jane wasn’t even making time for hair appointments anymore.