Midnight Alley: Shane's Point of View (A Morganville Vampires Fanfic)

Chapter Seven

“Hospital waits are bad ones. The fact that they all happen to pretty much all of us, sooner or later, doesn’t make them any less hideous.”                           -Jim Butcher 

Chapter Seven 

I woke up groggily. As I took in my surroundings I immediately knew that I hadn’t died. If I had died, and heaven existed, it wouldn’t be at the Morganville hospital and absent of Claire. I glanced around. Wow, it was the whole bit. I had a bandage around my abdomen and there countless tubes all connected somewhere to my body. How long was I out? Not long, hopefully. The room was standard hospital issue and luckily I was alone in the room. I tried to turn my head and groaned when pain shot through me. Fuck. Okay, survey of injuries. I got stabbed in the gut, I got hit by a baseball bat in the head, and I had fell to the ground a couple times. All in all my whole body was pretty fucking sore. Just then a nurse entered the room with a clipboard, humming. She walked to the foot of my bed and glanced up at me. She yelped and stopped humming then looked me over. “Oh. You’re up. Sorry.” I rolled my eyes. The nurse was young, maybe twenty-four, and was small and petite. She was blue-eyed and blond and was hidden in the scrubs she wore. She smiled at me and when I grunted in response, she frowned. 

“How long do I have to be here?” I asked. 

“Mr. Collins do you remember what happened to you?” she asked, ignoring my question. 

“Yeah. Some drunken-asshole came followed me from a party I had just been at and hit me in the head with a baseball bat. I kicked his ass and then I had to take on Jason, who had a fuckin knife. The sick bastard stabbed me. How long do I have to be here?” 

“Very good, Mr. Collins. I’m afraid you’re going to be here a couple weeks. Your condition was critical when you came in and we had to perform surgery on your stomach wound. You also have severe bruising all over your body and that hit to head caused a concussion. You’re in ICU,” she explained in a monotone voice. Cool and professional. A couple weeks? ICU? Surgery? Well, that’s just great. “Other than that, how do you feel Mr. Collins?”

I scowled at her, “Peachy.”

She took a deep breath and shook her head, “Mr. Collins you’ve been out for about two days. You’re friends had been waiting, but I believe they went home. I can go check, if you’d like.” She raised her head at me and lifted a brow in question. I nodded. She walked to my side and started doing a routinely check-up with me grumbling the whole time. She acted like she couldn’t hear me. “Great. I’ll be right back Mr. Collins.” 

I watched her leave then closed my eyes momentarily and wondered if Eve and Claire were still here. Or, fuck, what if Michael was here? Worse; what if no one was here? That would sting. My eyes flew open as the door knob rattled. Claire stepped in the room and closed the door behind her. I quickly did a once over of her body and was satisfied to see absolutely no injuries. Well, at least I hadn’t completely failed. She was dressed in fresh clothing and her hair was still slightly wet around her shoulders from a shower. She looked up at me and her eyes went wide as she took in my weakened state. She looked horrified. Yeah, just the look you want to see on your girlfriends face when she checks you out. I grunted and closed my eyes, “Yeah, well. I’m not dead; that’s something. One of those in the house is enough.” I opened my eyes and glanced at her again. Her eyes softened and she walked over to my side of the bed and sat down in a chair. She tentatively reached out and placed her hand on my bruised and scraped one. I sighed. God her warmth felt good. I flipped my hand over and intertwined our fingers. “You’re all right?” I asked, just to make sure. 

“Yeah,” she nodded. “Jason ran away, after.” Good. Bastard deserved to be scared. “Eve’s okay, too. She was here while you were in surgery; she just went home to change clothes. She’ll be back.” I nodded. Truthfully I was grateful it was just Claire. 

“Yeah, I guess the diva dress might have been a little much around here,” I tried to joke. She didn’t laugh and I turned my head, which hurt, to look her in the eyes. “Claire. Really. You’re okay?”

“I’m fine. Except that I’m scared for you,” she whispered. I sighed. It was like her to worry about me. Then again, what am I doing? 

“I’m okay.” As long as you’re okay. 

She rolled her eyes, “Except for the stab wound and all the internal bleeding? Yeah, sure, tough guy.” Her voice quivered and I knew she was gonna cry, but for some reason she tried not to. And to be honest, that was good, because I didn’t want to cry either. I tried to shrug but pain shot through me and I grimaced. A machine next to me beeped and I instantly felt the pain ease. 

“That’s better. Man, they give you the good stuff in ICU. Remind me to always get seriously wounded from now on. That minor injury stuff isn’t fun,” I joked. I kept trying to ease up her stress, but it wasn’t working, and talking was making me tired. She got up and leaned over me, brushing her fingertips along my lips. 

“Shhhh,” she said. “Rest, okay? Save it for somebody who isn’t me. It’s okay to be scared. It’s okay to be hurt, Shane. With me, it’s okay.” 

Her words shot through me like a lightening bolt and for the first time in a very long time, I might cry. And for the first time ever, I wasn’t afraid. Tears slowly rolled down my cheeks. “Damn,” I whispered. “Sorry. I just-I felt it all going away, I felt you going away, I tried-I thought he was going to hurt you and there was nothing I could do about it-” I babbled. 

“I know,” she said softly. She leaned forward more, closing the distance between our lips, and kissed me gently. I felt a spark of something. Something familiar, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Before I could think about it anymore, she pulled away. “I know,” she said once more. She stayed standing there, just being close, while I cried myself to sleep. She didn’t judge me or get impatient with me. She just stood there and stared at me like I was the most beautiful and fragile thing in her world. And with that, I fell into a peaceful slumber. 

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Okay, so I know you guys didn't reach the quota for the last chapter, but I figured with the complications of it being private and stuff that I would go ahead and post this chapter. 

5 comments and 7 votes until I post the next chapter. 

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Sydney4285