Page 97 of Love Heals
Chapter Thirty-Three
The next morning, Jared was dismissed from the care of the hospital. He was told to take it easy for a couple of days, but he'd never really been one to take it easy, so that advice went in one ear and out the other. He got the feeling that it stuck in Silas's brain, though. The vampire had spent the night with him, hidden in the bathroom when the doctor came to check up on Jared, and was now holding his hand tightly as they walked down the corridor.
There was one more stop Jared needed to make before he was ready to leave this place. He had to check up on his brother. He knew the rest of the family was doing fine, but Remy concerned him. The image of his younger brother on the ground still haunted his thoughts.
If only he could have done something more...
"You've done enough," Silas said as if he could read Jared's thoughts as they paused in front of the door to Remy's room. "You already landed yourself in the hospital trying to help your family."
"I know." But that didn't mean he liked it. Silas had explained to him about Puck's theory. What might have happened to their magical abilities... He didn't likethatany better. Shoving the thought aside, he put a hand on the door handle. "I'll check if the curtains are drawn."
Silas nodded. The hospital didn't have black-out curtains, but as long as Silas didn't have to spend much time in direct sunlight, he would be fine.
Pulling the door open, Jared entered his brother's room. It was a surprisingly nice room, better than the one where he'd spent his night. There was only one bed, and a TV hung on the wall opposite it, playing the news at a low volume. The curtains were drawn and the lights were on low.
Aldrich sat by the side of the bed, alternating between looking at the TV and studying Remy's sleeping form. Jared cleared his throat as he stepped in. Aldrich's gaze shot toward him.
"How's he doing?" he asked with a nod to his brother before motioning for Silas to come in too.
"He's..." Aldrich shrugged. "You mortals are too squishy."
Jared didn't know what to say in response to that, so he chose not to say anything at all as he moved closer to the bed. There was an oxygen mask on his brother's face and a drip connected to his arm, as well as a blood pressure cuff and something that looked oddly like a clothespin on one of his fingers. There was a monitor to the side of the bed too, but Jared barely had eyes for it, his attention focused on Remy’s face. The upper half of his little brother’s head was wrapped in bandages, and the sight broke Jared’s heart.
"He's got a few bruised ribs," Aldrich said. "Aside from the burns, and the smoke inhalation. The doctors are surprised, though, that he's not worse than he is. He probably owes that to you."
Jared nodded, even though he still wished he could have done more. Remy shouldn't have ended up here. He didn't deserve this.
But thinking like that wasn't going to get Jared anywhere. He had to focus on the here and now, so he looked at Aldrich again. "The doctors told you all that?"
Instead of giving a verbal response, Aldrich snapped his fingers. Suddenly, he wasn't looking at Aldrich anymore but at a nurse, dressed in blue hospital scrubs. She snapped her fingers, and now she was a doctor.
"I get your point," Jared said.
Aldrich dispelled the magic, returning back to his original form. If that was his original form.
"Look at that," Silas said, dragging Jared's attention away from the red-haired vampire and toward the TV. "That must be the results of the thunderstorm I told you about."
Images of fires and burned out buildings filled the screen, firefighters trying to put out the last of the flames or searching the rubble. Over it all played the voice of the newscaster, describing the mysterious fires that had broken out all over town the night before, almost simultaneously."Coincidence?"she asked."That's what we're expected to believe."
"They really didn't see the lightning strikes," Silas murmured next to Jared.
Jared reached for his hand and twined their fingers. "It's better if they don't know what happened."
"Wonder how many vamps died last night," Aldrich mused. "Probably not too many, though. That was a really crude attack, and at night too. Rookie move. They should have waited ‘til we were sleeping. Goes to show nobody really planned this."
"What's going to happen next?" Silas asked.
Aldrich waved his hand in a 'beats me' sort of manner. "Pissed off people on all sides. I can't tell you what's gonna happen, just that I don't want any part of it."
Jared's jaw clenched. "You're already involved."
"Maybe," Aldrich admitted. "I'm a traitor, so there's lots of vampires who think I should return to my grave..." He trailed off, his gaze finding Remy again. "I think I'll hang around for a little bit longer, though."
"Thank you," Jared made himself say. "For taking care of my brother." He'd never though he'd have to say those words to a vampire, but Aldrich clearly cared about Remy.
Aldrich gave a half-shrug. "He's a really good chef."
Jared wasn't fooled by Aldrich's words but left the vampire to his illusions. "Are you going to be staying here?"
