“You hear about the other guy they brought back here from the situation in lockup tonight—the one this fella tried to use as a wrecking ball? He’s busted up real bad.”
The female exhaled a sharp grunt. “Oh, I heard about him all right. Severed spinal column, total paralysis from the neck down. Poetic justice, if you ask me.”
“What do you mean?”
More gum-snapping and a whiff of peppermint as she leaned in to inspect one of Chase’s chest wounds. “Before I came here, I used to work midnights over at Mass General. Admitted his wife to the ER more than once after he worked her over, then had an apparent attack of conscience and brought her in to be patched up. He always had some kind of excuse, like she ran into a wall or split her head open while she was cleaning. You won’t see me crying that a guy like him is gonna spend the rest of his life flat on his ass, eating baby food and pissing in a bag.”
“No shit.” The male nurse blew out a low chuckle. “They don’t say karma’s a bitch for nothing.”
“And so am I when I haven’t had a cigarette in more than two hours,” she said, chomping even harder on her gum. “Can you finish up here while I run down and have a quick smoke?”
“Yeah, sure. I’m almost done. Just need to prep a little nightcap for Mr., ah …” A pause as he looked up the name. “For Mr. Chase here. Something to take the edge off, after that suicide-by-lead-poisoning attempt he made tonight in the lineup room.”
Nurse Doublemint stripped off her latex gloves with a violent snap that felt like a thunderclap in Chase’s head. “You’re a doll, Mike. Be sure to turn the lights off when you’re done in here, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Get outta here already. I got you covered.”
Chase listened to the padding of the nurse’s crepe-soled shoes as she left the room. The door settled closed with a whispered
snick
. Chase’s senses began to bang with the impulse to act, to seize this chance and feed.
He peered through the slit of his parted eyelids. The male nurse was turned away, unwrapping a thin clear tube from a small plastic IV bag. He was a sizable man, as his voice had indicated—tall and strong, with thick shoulders bulking underneath his sky blue scrubs.
“All right, Mr. Chase. Got a bag of nighty-night for you here.” He hung the bag on one of the hooked IV poles next to the bed, then leaned over Chase to pick up his left arm and attach the end of the tube to a readied line. “I promise you, this is some real good shit …”
Chase’s eyes were fully open now.
“Jesus Christ!” The man’s body jerked in alarm as he tried to leap back from the bed.
He didn’t get far. Chase clamped his hand around the back of the human’s neck and brought him down in a sudden burst of coiled power. It was all he had in him, but it was enough.
With the man’s hoarse shouts muffled against the blanket at his chest, Chase sank his fangs into the human’s neck.
He drank quickly, deeply, gulp after gulp. The coppery blood hit his parched tongue like fire, igniting his body’s depleted cells and fueling his senses. It was an instantaneous flood of strengthand power—the very thing that made it so addictive. He couldn’t think about that now. Only one thing mattered, and that was getting out of this place.
The temptation to gorge himself was as powerful as it would be to any junkie, but as soon as Chase felt his power peak, he swept his tongue over the punctures and sealed the wound closed. The man was limp now, dazed from the feeding. To be safe, Chase placed the flat of his palm against the human’s forehead, trancing him into a swift, heavy drowse. Chase pushed his heavy bulk off him with his free arm. The cuff on his other broke loose under a combination of mental command and sheer Breed strength.
Naked but for his many bandages, Chase sat up and began pulling the tubes and lines out of his arms. He freed himself of the tangle of medical apparatus, then
The female exhaled a sharp grunt. “Oh, I heard about him all right. Severed spinal column, total paralysis from the neck down. Poetic justice, if you ask me.”
“What do you mean?”
More gum-snapping and a whiff of peppermint as she leaned in to inspect one of Chase’s chest wounds. “Before I came here, I used to work midnights over at Mass General. Admitted his wife to the ER more than once after he worked her over, then had an apparent attack of conscience and brought her in to be patched up. He always had some kind of excuse, like she ran into a wall or split her head open while she was cleaning. You won’t see me crying that a guy like him is gonna spend the rest of his life flat on his ass, eating baby food and pissing in a bag.”
“No shit.” The male nurse blew out a low chuckle. “They don’t say karma’s a bitch for nothing.”
“And so am I when I haven’t had a cigarette in more than two hours,” she said, chomping even harder on her gum. “Can you finish up here while I run down and have a quick smoke?”
“Yeah, sure. I’m almost done. Just need to prep a little nightcap for Mr., ah …” A pause as he looked up the name. “For Mr. Chase here. Something to take the edge off, after that suicide-by-lead-poisoning attempt he made tonight in the lineup room.”
Nurse Doublemint stripped off her latex gloves with a violent snap that felt like a thunderclap in Chase’s head. “You’re a doll, Mike. Be sure to turn the lights off when you’re done in here, okay?”
“Yeah, yeah. Get outta here already. I got you covered.”
Chase listened to the padding of the nurse’s crepe-soled shoes as she left the room. The door settled closed with a whispered
snick
. Chase’s senses began to bang with the impulse to act, to seize this chance and feed.
He peered through the slit of his parted eyelids. The male nurse was turned away, unwrapping a thin clear tube from a small plastic IV bag. He was a sizable man, as his voice had indicated—tall and strong, with thick shoulders bulking underneath his sky blue scrubs.
“All right, Mr. Chase. Got a bag of nighty-night for you here.” He hung the bag on one of the hooked IV poles next to the bed, then leaned over Chase to pick up his left arm and attach the end of the tube to a readied line. “I promise you, this is some real good shit …”
Chase’s eyes were fully open now.
“Jesus Christ!” The man’s body jerked in alarm as he tried to leap back from the bed.
He didn’t get far. Chase clamped his hand around the back of the human’s neck and brought him down in a sudden burst of coiled power. It was all he had in him, but it was enough.
With the man’s hoarse shouts muffled against the blanket at his chest, Chase sank his fangs into the human’s neck.
He drank quickly, deeply, gulp after gulp. The coppery blood hit his parched tongue like fire, igniting his body’s depleted cells and fueling his senses. It was an instantaneous flood of strengthand power—the very thing that made it so addictive. He couldn’t think about that now. Only one thing mattered, and that was getting out of this place.
The temptation to gorge himself was as powerful as it would be to any junkie, but as soon as Chase felt his power peak, he swept his tongue over the punctures and sealed the wound closed. The man was limp now, dazed from the feeding. To be safe, Chase placed the flat of his palm against the human’s forehead, trancing him into a swift, heavy drowse. Chase pushed his heavy bulk off him with his free arm. The cuff on his other broke loose under a combination of mental command and sheer Breed strength.
Naked but for his many bandages, Chase sat up and began pulling the tubes and lines out of his arms. He freed himself of the tangle of medical apparatus, then
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