damned_institute | Nightshift 47: Stairwell by Nurse's Station 1-B

[From here.]

His fingers were sticky with his own (stolen) blood when he tested the wound with tentative pressure. It hurt like hell. Edward imagined it was akin to getting his arm ripped off, except that could be reattached and wouldn't be oozing a coagulated mixture of blood and venom. The bandages had actually began to fray from the venom.

What a wonderful night.

Stopping on the first stair, he looked up at the sucking black stairwell ahead of him. It was troubling how such a human weapon had nearly incapacitated him. If his organs still functioned, he was want to say the bowie knife's wound would have killed him. It was simply too large a blade to miss all of his internals; he was lucky it hadn't cracked a rib.

Complaining isn't defeating the stairwell. Think about Bella.

He took one step up, gasped, and dropped the flashlight a second time to catch himself on the wall. His rushed breaths were short - maybe one of his lungs was collapsing. Not nearly a necessity anymore, but definitely not something he wanted to worry about. And if did that now, it would stay collapsed. Forever.

Shit.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

As Bella got closer, she saw how bad off Edward really was. Leaning against a wall, panting for breath ... terror flooded her, and she gripped tightly onto the medical kit, moving towards him quickly.

"Edward, what are you doing?" she cried out, moving up the stairs so she could stand in front of him and block his path (not that she was a very good wall, but still.) "You should be in your room!"

The scent of blood hit her again, and a wave of nausea flooded her entire body. She had been able to stomach it that night out of necessity, but now ...

Breathing in a sharp breath, Bella looked down at Edward with her face pale and pleading. "Please, Edward. Let's go back to your room. I'll help you."

When she came from behind him, his mind was already quick to chastise him - idiot, stupid, fool vampire. He was worse than just humans; humans, at least, were used to their senses. He couldn't operate with such weak smell, touch, sight. It was crippling. His lack of empathy, at least, could be overlooked at just being cold. He could have missed her, she could have been hurt or bleeding or dying and he never would have found her -

If it had been anyone else who had asked that particular question, his scathing reply would have been quick and just that: scathing. Instead, he simply responded with, "Looking for you." Did she really think he would be content to wait for her? If that was the case, she really didn't know him that well.

Though, the reverse could also be said to be true.

He spotted the first aid kit immediately when he lifted his eyes to look at her. He would have held a hand out for it if he could spare one, but instead he stuck out his elbow and waved it a bit. The stairwell was dark, but his fallen light was bright enough to illuminate her legs. "Do you have bandages? I'm bleeding again. And back up, so you don't faint on top of me."

Of course he had come looking for her. Bella frowned as he spoke, shaking her head. "I didn't mean to take so long, I wanted to at least get to you before you got far ..."

But why was he even in this staircase? She hadn't even gone that way. Were his senses really that skewed ?

"I know, I can tell," Bella told Edward calmly when he told her he was bleeding - she could smell that coppery salt smell in the air, and it made her stomach clench and her throat close up, but she knew she ad to keep going. If not, who knew what would happen to him? Bending down, she grasped onto his flashlight and held it out to him, waiting for him to take it.

He had hurt himself because of her. Of course. Guilt surged through her entire body, lighting her on fire - and not in the pleasant way, either. Her entire body ached for him.

That was why, when he shook his elbow at her she simply reached out and moved next to him, shoving the medical kit under her arm for a moment so she could reach out and grasp onto his arm and carefully wrap it around her shoulders, making it so that she would be his crutch. "Lean on me. I can take it," she told him, hoping that she didn't fall over in the process of practically dragging him back to his room. She was a lot smaller than Edward (who stood a foot taller than her.), so she didn't know how much she could take ... but god be damned if she didn't try her hardest.

Biting back his skepticism, he did as he was told. Though he only rested a small percentage of his weight on her, it did help; the pressure came off the wound as soon as he stood up moderately straight. This position would only need to be held for a moment, anyway. She was so warm.

He slipped his empty hand (placing the flashlight on the ground to free himself) to get the medical kit, placing it next to the flashlight and rifling through the box. Even if he was angry with her, he had to admit... she had been successful. It was a lot more than he had seen other patients with. His Bella: ever resourceful.

His height was an advantage only that he could do this without bending his stomach. He did step down once to ease the difference between their heights, putting less pressure on the girl's shoulders. Luckily, he was quite deft with his hands - he unraveled the old, brown-stained bandage with as much grace as he could muster, fisting the hand wrapped around Bella whenever his other hand strayed too close to the wound. It was surprisingly tender, but the bleeding had clotted somewhat. He unrolled the new bandage, bringing it around once and pinning it between his and Bella's hips so he could pull it all the way around his back. It was awkward, slow work, but it happened. Edward didn't feel much better when it was over (in fact, the movements had not aided his pain at all), but it had needed to be done.

Now... to get back. The vampire couldn't easily lean on Bella, and she couldn't easily handle his weight, determined glint in her eye or no. It would be a slow trek, but he was sure he could handle it. "I'm fine now," he told her, slinking back from her to lean against the wall. "I can still walk; it's not that bad."

Taking a step downwards without her help proved his point. The blood loss may have made him dizzy (which, surprisingly, amused him quite a bit) but as soon as he was moving, it would become easier. And the sooner they were safe, the less mental strength he would waste on panicking.

She could not believe that he was doing the entire thing all by himself. She didn't even have time to interject - that she could help him, that she could do it - due to the shock of his persistence to do it himself, and before she knew it he was done and bandaged up. "Edward, I could have helped you," she told him, feeling somewhat annoyed that he didn't even ask for her help this time, or even expect her to help. He just ... did it.

Bella let out a dejected sigh, watching as he moved away from her and back to the wall. Was he so upset with her that he didn't even want to ask for her assistance?

Augh.

"Are you seriously that angry at me that you don't want me to help you?" she grumbled, crossing her arms under her breasts as she diverted her gaze away from him. Honestly, it hurt that he didn't even bother to ... whatever, she was over it.

"Fine," Bella told Edward, holding her hands up in a mock defeat. "That's still not going to stop me from helping you though, you know."

And to prove her point, she moved down the stairs next to him and grasped onto his arm, clinging onto it tightly with her own arms as she carefully moved down the stairs.

They could talk in his room.

Nightshift 47: Stairwell by Nurse's Station 1-B

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject