Chapter 130

Joseph’s POV

I lay awake on the couch of Bernard’s house, staring up at the ceiling. It’s been a couple of hours since Bernard and Anna went to bed, and they allowed me to crash on the couch for the day. Once the sun started to go down, I went right back to the infirmary so I could be by Tessa’s side. I hated that I couldn’t be with her when she needed me the most.

I thought about her days in that hideout, being tortured and fed by that slimy vampire. She must have been so scared; she probably thought she was going to die.

I knew the only person I could truly blame for this was himself.

Was she ever going to forgive me for this?

I jumped when my phone started to ring beside me. When I looked at the caller ID I sat up quickly.

It was Connor.

“Connor,” I greeted, trying to keep my voice stable. “Did you get her?”

“Yeah, I got her,” Connor said, but he sounded a little annoyed as he spoke. “She’s pretty but loud.”

“What??” I heard Ruby’s voice in the background. “Did you just call me loud? What the hell do you expect? I found out that—”

Her voice got quieter, and I knew Connor was leaving whatever room he was in.

“We are in a motel right now and I’m waiting for the sun to go down. I’ll be there in a few hours. How’s Tessa?”

“No change in her condition,” I said, laying my head back down on the couch. “I’m at Bernard’s right now trying to rest. They made me eat too.”

“Good. You need to eat and stay healthy,” Connor said, sounding very much like Bernard.

“I know…” I muttered. “Can you just get here as soon as you can?”

“I will, but Joseph… you need to prepare yourself. There’s no guarantee that this is going to work. It’s just a theory Dr. Cornelia had.”

“I have to believe that it’s going to work,” I said through my teeth. “I’ll talk to you later.”

I hung up without another word.

The next few hours went by slowly. I couldn’t sleep a wink and by the time the sun was setting, I felt like a ghost of the person I used to be.

I didn’t wait for Anna or Bernard to wake. I got off the couch and went back to my house so I could quickly shower and change my clothing before going back to the infirmary.

“Any change?” I asked Dr. Cornelia as I got back to Tessa’s bedside.

He frowned and shook his head.

“No; but Elder Connor should be here soon with that human girl,” Dr. Cornelia said thoughtfully. “Hopefully her body won’t reject the blood.”

“Ruby is new to this vampire stuff. Let’s try not to freak her out when she’s here,” I said without looking at the doctor.

My eyes were fixed on Tessa’s pale face. The only indication that she was alive was the heartbeat I could vividly hear and the rise and fall of her chest. I ran my fingers down her thinned face; she had dark circles under her eyes and my heart broke for her.

The bandages on her face and body had just been changed; the doctor said she wouldn’t properly heal until she got that blood transfusion.

I took her hand in mine and lifted it to my lips, careful to not pull out any of the IVs that occupied her wrist.

Not before long, the doors to the infirmary were swinging open and Connor was rushing into the room with a very frightened Ruby trailing behind him. I jumped to my feet upon seeing them and Ruby completely froze when she saw me.

Her face was unreadable, but I knew she was probably feeling a lot of fear and confusion. Then, her eyes shifted to the bed that Tessa lay on which widened. She let out the breath of air I knew she was holding in her lungs and her entire body began to tremble uncontrollably.

“Holy fuck…” she breathed, barely audible for human ears, but for Vampires, it was like she had said it loudly and right next to them. “Tessa—”

“I know you are probably confused,” I said to her, trying to keep my voice calm but I felt like I was about to fall apart. “But Tessa needs your help…”

She couldn’t take her eyes off Tessa, and I couldn’t blame her.

“Ruby, this is Dr. Cornelia,” I said, gesturing for the doctor, but she wasn’t looking at him.

“Hello,” Dr. Cornelia said, stepping beside her. “Your friend here had suffered some major blood loss and she’s unable to heal properly without a transfusion.”

“W…what happened to her?” Ruby asked hoarsely. “Why is she bandaged like that? Why is she so pale…?”

“There was an accident,” I said, shame washing over me. “I wasn’t here to protect her. There’s no one to blame but myself.”

“I don’t understand…” Ruby said with tear-filled eyes as she looked up at me. “How did this happen, Professor?”

“There’s not a lot of time to explain,” Dr. Cornelia answered for me. “She’s already waited long enough. We need to do this now if we want to have any chance of saving her life.”

“I don’t get it; why do you need me? Why not use blood bags like a normal hospital?” She asked, glancing around at the scenery. “What is this place? Are you even a real doctor?”

“I assure you, I’m a better doctor than most humans,” Dr. Cornelia said with a frown. “This is the tribe infirmary. It’s better than most hospitals. We tried using blood bags, but her body rejected it. It made her sicker.”

“How do we even know if I’m her blood type?” Ruby asked, raising her brows. “I don’t even know her blood type.”

“Tessa has unique blood; it’s universal so any blood type will work,” Dr. Cornelia explained.

“If the blood bag didn’t work, what makes you think fresh blood will? What if it doesn’t work and it makes her even sicker?”

She was looking around at all of us at that point.

Dr. Cornelia gave her a gentle smile.

“One step at a time,” he said calmly. “We tackle one problem at a time. For right now, we are going to try everything we can. Including this blood transfusion.”

She looked uncertain, but I knew she wasn’t going to deny Tessa her blood.

“Okay…” she finally said, staring up at Dr. Cornelia through her unshed tears. “What do I have to do?”

“Follow me,” Dr. Cornelia said, smiling at her.

He gestured for the backroom, and she hesitantly followed him. I sighed in relief as I sat beside Tessa again and took her hand in mine.

“It’s going to be okay…” I whispered to her. “I don’t know if you can hear me… but hang in there just a little bit longer. It’ll be over soon…”

I felt a firm hand on my shoulder, and I looked up to see Connor standing behind me.

“It’s going to work,” he said gently. “It has to.”

I nodded at him.

“Thank you for going there to get her,” I said. “I seriously do owe you a lot.”

“I already added it to your debt,” Connor teased.

After a few minutes, Dr. Cornelia was walking out of the backroom with a blood bag and Ruby walked out after him. She looked a little unwell; like she was about to faint any moment. The blood bag was pretty big and he did take it from her quickly. She was probably feeling faint.

Connor noticed this too and rushed to her before I could say anything. She automatically leaned against him once he was beside her.

“Let’s sit you down,” he murmured to her.

She nodded and went with him to a chair on the other side of the room.

“Is she going to be okay?” Ruby asked breathlessly.

“You did well,” Connor said in return. “If she pulls through, we have you to thank for that.”

A faint smile appeared on her lips; she looked utterly exhausted.

“Hey doc, can we get her some juice or something?” Connor asked.

Dr. Cornelia had just finished hooking the blood bag to Tessa and I watched as the red blood began to fill the tube that was attached to her. It wouldn’t be long now before we find out if her body will accept or reject this blood transfusion.

If it rejected it, I’m not sure what we were going to do.

Dr. Cornelia went to the mini fridge near his desk and grabbed a juice box and some crackers for Ruby.

“Here, Miss Ruby. Drink and eat this,” he said, handing her the supplies. “You’ll feel better soon.”

She gave him a wary smile before taking a sip of the juice. Connor sat with her while I kept watch over Tessa, hoping and praying that her body accepted this blood.

After what felt like an eternity the blood bag was nearly empty as most of it was inside of Tessa’s body. If I wasn’t mistaken, it seemed as if her face had a bit more color to it.

Dr. Cornelia came over to take a look at her. He checked her vitals and jotted down some notes. Then a small smile appeared on his lips as he looked at me.

“It seems her body is accepting this blood,” he said fondly. “I believe Tessa is going to pull through after all. Now, we just have to wait and see if she wakes up.”