Love Nip (6 page)

“Seriously, that’s all
you got? You push like a girl,” he teased and pushed back. It seemed like he barely touched him, but Ezra flew backwards onto the floor.

“Axle
, stop,” I yelled. Axle walked over and picked Ezra up by the shirt.

“Tell me what is going on with you. I can’t stand that something is wrong with you and you don’t want help. Do I have to beat t
he shit out of you to prove something is wrong?” Axle demanded.

“Axle, enough
,” Robert yelled, coming out of his office. Axle dropped Ezra, who fell back to the floor. I ran over to him and grabbed his arm; he was burning up.

“Tell them
,” I whispered to him. He jerked his arm away from me. He seemed so weak. I didn’t know if he could get up from the floor, he was still lying there. I stood up and faced Robert.

“I bit Ezra, and
it’s killing him,” I admitted. Everyone looked from me to Ezra in shock. No one said anything for a long time and I was becoming uncomfortable with the silence.

“You bit him?” Axle asked finally.

“Yes, he was over Saturday night and he started to feed on me. Something came over me and I bit him,” I explained. I was humiliated, but I had to suck up my pride and fight it.

Axle was fuming. He opened his mouth and then shut it. He ran his fingers through his hair.

“What did it feel like when he fed on you?” Robert asked me.

“I can’t hear this
,” Axle said and started walking to the door.

“It didn’t feel normal
,” I yelled at Axle. He turned to look at me. He was thinking that Ezra had caused me pleasure. I wasn’t sure why I cared what Axle thought, but I did.

“Axle
, this has nothing to do with you so shut up,” Ezra croaked. I gave him an anxious glance. He was holding his head in his hands staring at the floor. I felt horrible. I was embarrassing Ezra and killing any hope I ever had with him, but his life meant more to me than that. Axle walked over and sat down at his desk without saying a word; he still looked pissed. Gavin was quiet, watching everything go down.

“I felt power
; like I was soaking up strength from him. Then I couldn’t control myself and I bit into his neck. I didn’t mean to,” I said to Robert, fighting back tears with everything I had. He studied Ezra and walked over to him. He squatted next to him and pulled the collar of his shirt down. He searched his neck for the mark. It was still there. As soon as I saw it, I had to look away. I was so tense, afraid of what Robert would think.

“Let’s get you down
stairs, I want to run some tests on you. You need to stay here until I figure this out,” Robert explained to Ezra. He nodded and grabbed Robert’s hand as he helped him to his feet. I started to follow them out.

“Emily, stay here
,” Robert ordered. I figured for once I should probably listen. No one said anything as I walked back to my desk and sat down. I sighed and placed my head on my desk. Axle got up and walked out. I knew if he were going to see Ezra, Robert wouldn’t let him so I was glad for that. Gavin walked over to me and placed his hand on my shoulder.

“It’s going to be fine
, Emily. Ezra will get over this,” he said. I looked up at him and smiled. At least someone was being nice about the situation. I felt horrible about the situation and Axle wasn’t making it any better.

“Thanks
, Gavin. I appreciate you saying that,” I said as I patted his hand. He walked back over and sat at his desk. We waited for an hour in silence before Robert came back. I stood quickly and bumped my knee on my desk. Robert stopped in front of his office to speak.

“Ezra,
appears to be … human,” he stated. My mouth dropped open in shock. I had to sit back down to keep from falling over.

“You mean I turned him into a human?” I demand
ed. I didn’t think that was even possible.

“Yes, the blood work
and the test came back normal for human DNA. We gave him a blood transfusion, and he had an adverse reaction to the blood. He said he hasn’t been able to eat since … since this happened. And it seems as if he has caught the flu,” he stated, apparently uncomfortable with the situation.

“Can I see him?” I asked hopeful
ly. I really wanted to apologize to him yet again. I figured he wouldn’t want visitors so I was shocked when he answered.

“Actually yes, he was asking for you. He
is on the medical ward in room two,” he replied. I jumped up and started out. Axle was in the hall and I knew he heard everything. I walked past him and went straight into the elevator, exiting on the medical ward. It looked like they cut out a hallway at the hospital and stuck it in our building. I got to Ezra’s room and knocked. I heard coughing behind the door.

“Come in
,” Ezra croaked. I pushed the door open and walked in. The room was dark. Ezra was hooked up to an IV and had a heart monitor connected. I was in shock that he had a heartbeat.

“Is that new?” I asked as I pointed to his chest.

He looked down and smiled weakly. “Yes, it started yesterday.”

“Does it hurt?” I asked curiously
, praying he would say no.

“It feels amazing
,” he admitted as a tear fell down his cheek. I was going to lose it soon.

“I really am sorry
, Ezra. I didn’t realize—” I started, but he interrupted me.

“Emily, I should be the one
apologizing. I was freaking out about what was happening I didn’t take your feelings into consideration. I am sorry,” he said. I leaned in to hug him; he felt so delicate and looked miserable in the hospital bed.

“Well I’m sorry I told everyone
,” I apologized.

“Don’t be. Robert said if I would have waited any longer I could have died
,” he said, shaking his head slightly.

I put my hand over my mouth, upset to he
ar that I almost killed Ezra. “Does he know what’s wrong?” I asked.

“This is me turning into a human
.” I couldn’t believe that one bite from me could turn someone that was dead into a living being.

“Does he know how to fix it yet?” I asked.

Obviously uncomfortable, he looked away and coughed a few times. “I don’t know if I want him to fix it.”

“What will happen to you?”

“Well, if I survive the flu, I’ll be a normal human being. That’s what we are hoping,” he stated, a look of optimism on his face.

“So you’re going to risk your life to find out
,” I complained. I did not like this idea.

“Emi
ly, I’ve been a vampire for hundreds of years. I thought I had lived my life until I met you. I don’t want to feed on blood, I want to take you out to a restaurant and eat dinner with you. I want to sun bathe on the beach with you. It’s been so long since I have been able to cry and now I have these wet droplets coming out of my eyes. It feels amazing; it feels normal. I can live a real life now.” A tear ran down my cheek, he was giving up for me. He was risking his life for me. I didn’t like it.

“Yeah, and what if you die
? What are you giving up then?” I demanded. Furious, I got up and walked out. I knew I shouldn’t leave him like that, but I was so mad that he was doing this. I liked him better as the angry, grumpy vampire. Now, he was a scared little human boy. I got back upstairs and Robert called me into his office. I shut the door and sat down.

“Axle told me you did great on the case today. He said you had to do all of the talking
,” he boasted with a smile on his face. I couldn’t be proud I was still so upset about Ezra.

“You’re going to let him do this?” I demanded. His eyes fell to his desk in shame.

“Emily, it’s his life. His mind is made up. I have a replacement coming in tomorrow,” he said. At least he was honest.

“Wow
, Robert, you aren’t even going to wait till he is dead before you replace him. Nice,” I yelled and walked out, slamming the door. Gavin and Axle stared at me in shock. I stormed over, grabbed my things, and left.

Once
I got home, I slammed my things down on the table, dressed in some jogging pants, and pulled on a hoodie. Grabbing my iPod, I took off for the trail. I ran for hours. I ran the track until I saw Dee-Dee walking up. I stopped to talk. She waved as I slowed down. She had her camera around her neck again and was taking pictures of the trees.

“I’m beginning to think you’re spying on me
,” I joked. She smiled and took my picture.

“Sorry, you’re not my type
,” she replied, causing me to laugh. She made me feel at peace, and I was really hoping I could trust her so we could be friends. She reminded me so much of Kimmy.

“Can I ask w
hy are you taking pictures of trees?” I asked curiously.

“Because they are moving,”
she stated as she snapped another picture.

“Uh, yeah ok
ay,” I replied as I waited for more.

“I’m in a photography class right now
. We are learning how to take pictures of moving objects.” She laughed as she explained.

“Wow, that’s cool
! Photography, is that just a hobby or do you do it professionally?” I asked as we continued to walk the trail.

“
Sort of a hobby, I guess you could say.”

“Wow, you are horrible at conversation you know that?” I joked.

“My therapist says I need a hobby.”

“Can I ask why you have a therapist?”

“Court order. Long story short, I had a boyfriend who had a girlfriend and I kind of went psycho on them,” she explained.

“Gosh, sounds serious.”

“Not really. I filled his car with pickles and it may have caught fire somehow,” She replied as we got back to our apartment building.

“And her?” I asked
, scared to hear the answer.

“
Hers wasn’t so serious. I can’t even remember it’s been so long, but it had to do with a haircut, and her hair might also be a different color now.” She stopped at her stairs.

“What color is it now?” I asked.

“Blue.”

*
**
*

I got to work extra early the next day, want
ing to see Ezra before everyone got in. I knocked on his door before walking in. He was sleeping with the IV still attached to his arm. At least they had turned off his heart monitor and removed it. He looked so peaceful. I placed my hand to his forehead; he was burning up. I decided I didn’t want to wake him so I left. I walked into the hall, searching for a nurse or doctor, and found a girl sitting behind a desk wearing scrubs.

“Excuse me, are you Ezra’s nurse?” I asked
politely.

She stood.
“Yes, can I help you?”

“He is burning up, have you taken his temperature lately?”

“I’m sorry, the only person I am authorized to give information about Mr. Boyd is Mr. Sullivan,” she replied. I could tell she wasn’t sorry. I tapped on the desk and decided it wasn’t worth it to argue. Once I got back to the office, I found everyone at their desk. I was shocked to see an extra person sitting at Ezra’s desk.

“Excuse me, can I help you find something?” I asked.

“Nope,” she replied without looking up from the computer.

I felt heat rising up. Who did she think she was? “This is Ezra’s desk,” I replied with obvious annoyance in my voice.
Everyone’s eyes were on me, including hers.

“Well,
Ezra’s not here anymore, so now it’s my desk. I would appreciate if you would let me get back to work now,” she stated rudely. I could tell we wouldn’t be friends any time soon. I turned and walked straight into Roberts’s office and shut the door.

“Who’s the bimbo?” I demanded.

“Emily, that is Riley. She’s taking over till we decide what our next step is,” he replied, sighing.

“We had a deal
, Robert. Any person we hire has to be agreed upon by all of us. I didn’t know anything about this bisnatch joining our group. What about Kimmy? When are you going to let her come on?” I demanded, my voice rising and I didn’t care who heard our conversation.

“Emily, please calm down and let me explain
.”

“No, Robert. I know you are the big
, bad boss here, but this is bullshit. Ezra will get better and you are going to lose him. Are you going to be able to deal with that? We need him! Are you doing this to punish me?” I continued.

“
Emily, Riley is Ezra’s maker.”

Everyone
sat at their desk staring at their computer screen. Tension felt thick in the air. I stared at my screen until I couldn’t focus on the words before me. I have never been in shock before, but I was pretty sure that’s what was happening. After receiving the news of Ezra’s maker taking over his job I couldn’t speak. I left Robert’s office and staggered back to my desk. It took me a long time to remember how to breathe. My phone beeped, letting me know I had a text message. I pulled it out of my purse and looked at the message.