Just a Bite

by Charlie Tran

  "Sorry about that." He set the girl down on the other empty seat to his side and passed her a small cardboard-style baby book. She gladly took it, babbling at the bright colored pictures inside.

  "I mean it, it's no big deal."

  "I don't think I've seen you here before. First time?" he asked, looking me over. His eyes zoned in on my neck as if he was looking for something. I subconsciously touched the side of my throat as he did. Was he thinking about drinking my blood so blatantly? I've only been drained once before, and it hurt like hell.

  "Yeah, it is."

  "Well Doctor Geoffrey is a godsend, you'll like him. He helped to deliver my baby."

  "Oh wow, really? Here at the office?"

  "No, before he established this place. We're lucky to have him around."

  "It seems like it was forever ago," the administrator said from behind the desk. I hadn't even realized he was paying attention to the conversation as he proceeded to type away at the keyboard. His eyes never strayed from the computer screen.

  "Were you there too?" I asked as I moved back to my seat next to Liam, who remained quiet in the discussion.

  "No, but Geoffrey is my mate." His left hand continued to type as the right briefly lifted up, his index finger running a line across his neck and the two shallow holes that seemed permanently scarred into his flesh.

  "Did he do that to you?" I was surprised! Geoffrey must have bit him pretty deep to leave scars like that.

  "It's a mate mark," Liam mumbled under his breath.

  "Oh." Was that why the other guy was looking at my throat? "Is that a normal thing?"

  The two guys laughed, and even Liam chuckled a bit. Did I say something stupid? I didn't want to start spiraling into my own self-doubt again, but it was hard not to. Were they laughing at me or just at what I said? Did they all think I was dumb like James?

  "He looks confused, Eric," Claire's father said. The human behind the desk, Eric, tapped a small bell. Something I'd never seen before in a doctor's office. That seemed like something you'd do in a hotel to call for assistance.

  "Doctor Geoffrey can explain it better than we can, Duke."

  "Come with me please." The doctor popped his head out from around the corner of the hallway beside us. I jumped at how suddenly he appeared.

  "Hi," I gave him a wave as I got up. Liam stood as well, following the doctor and I as we moved to an exam room to the left. There were only four doors in the hallway, and one was a restroom. This place really was tiny. Given the size of this small vampire-dominated town, I shouldn't have been so surprised.

  "So what brings you here today? Please, take a seat." Doctor Geoffrey motioned to the exam table in the center of the room, and Liam took to the small stool in the cramped corner next to me, still sitting defensively.

  "He needs a checkup. He's pregnant, and we need to know exactly how far along he is."

  "You've never gotten checked this whole time? Not even a sonogram?"

  I shook my head to the doctor's question and felt embarrassed as he gave a rather sympathetic look.

  "Have you ever been pregnant before?"

  Again, I shook my head.

  "It's not an issue, don't worry. I'm not so much worried about the baby as I am about you. Babies with vampirism, even in the womb, are very resilient. It's more draining on the host than the child."

  The host? He made it sound as if it was draining me of my vitality or something!

  "Lay down on the table for me, I'm going to have my nurse pull some equipment in, and then we'll take your blood for testing as well."

  "I hate needles."

  "He hates needles."

  Liam and I shared a glance as we both spoke up simultaneously. How did he remember that about me? I remember having to get another round of booster shot around 16 years old. He tried to console me when I came back to school with a huge bruise on my arm, but his brother found it hilarious how teary-eyed I got when I talked about it.

  "We'll try to take it easy on him," Doctor Geoffrey attempted to reassure me, but it didn't help that much. He left the room for a moment and I tried to calm myself down by taking deep breaths. Only when I felt the cold of Liam's hand on mine did I really feel at ease.

  "It'll be fine. We gotta make sure you and the baby are doing okay. I'll be here for you," Liam smiled. The guarded persona he had adopted before totally melted away.

  "Thank you. I wish I wasn't such a baby about these things. Sorry."

  "Don't apologize. There's no need for it. Just keep breathing and it'll be fine."

  After a few minutes, both Geoffrey and his mate Eric entered the exam room, this time with machines on rolling carts. I didn't know exactly what each thing was used for, but it was making me nervous. As if it was slowly starting to really sink in that I was pregnant and going to pop any week now. They placed them next to me. At first, I didn't want to show them my stomach, but after just a bit of coercing from Liam and Eric I allowed it. The gel Geoffrey used was extremely cold, and felt disgusting as he smeared it across my stomach. The pressure he used with his tool to see inside of my belly was uncomfortable as well.

  But then we finally were able to see inside with the ultrasound device. On the screen was the shape of a humanoid, their hands and legs tucked in. There was no doubt about it, not that I had any doubts. But it was finally confirmed when I saw it. My baby...

  And then my other baby.

  "Looks like we have twins!" Eric said happily as he pointed to the screen where another head came into view.

  My eyes widened, and I squeezed Liam's hand for dear life.

  "Are you serious?!" I exclaimed.

  "Yep, you both are going to be proud fathers of two. How exciting!"

  I made a face at Eric's statement, but all Liam did was smile.

  "Uh, he's not..."

  "I can't wait until they arrive," Liam grinned toothily.

  Why was he taking up for their mistake? He wasn't the father, his brother was. Yet his lie was oddly... comforting.

  "All right, Eric is going to continue to take some photos for you to bring home. Did you want to know their sex?"

  "No, I'd rather it be a surprise," I said quickly.

  "That's fine, just get your arm out for me and I'll go ahead and take your blood for sample in the meanwhile so we can get it out of the way."

  If it was possible to squeeze Liam's hand any tighter, I certainly did. And he didn't seem to have any complaints about it, returning my squeeze, though much gentler. The prick of the needle wasn't as bad as the thought of it coming, nor was it any worse than the tightness of the band he tied around my bicep to plump my veins up. But it still caused me to well up with tears. Thankfully it was over in a matter of seconds.

  "There we go, that was fast, wasn't it?" Doctor Geoffrey laughed as he cleaned my tiny wound with an alcohol swab before slapping a band-aid onto it.

  "How long until we get results?" I asked.

  "Right now, actually," Geoffrey replied as he raised the needle high above him. I watched in horror as he opened his mouth, slowly dripping the blood he'd taken from me and letting it land onto his tongue.

  His eyes closed in focus, tasting my blood and rolling it over his tongue as if he was using a mouth wash. After a minute or two, he seemed satisfied with whatever conclusion he had come up with and swallowed.

  "Everything seems to be in good order. But you're pretty low on iron. I'm going to have to recommend a supplement to keep it up."

  "Low on iron? Can he just eat something to help instead of taking pills?" Liam piped up on my behalf. I did hate having to swallow medication...

  "Certainly. But just remember that your iron intake is going to need to be double of what is typical for a human. Not only because you're carrying vampiric children, but you have two of them in you. It'll be more difficult to get such an amount without supplements. You must be vigilant and stay on top of your diet."

  "I'll get these photos for you and then we'll send you on your way. We'll go ahe
ad and set up dates for your next follow up and for the birth," Eric said.

  "How does this even work?" I asked, "How does a vampire even get a human pregnant?"

  "Well, I have a few pamphlets I've made for further details. But the basics are, when you're bitten during intercourse, it changes the physiology of a human. It doesn't necessarily create a womb like a human female would have. But instead, in addition to the, ahem, secretions of the male, it produces a fluid filled sac for the baby to grow in. It sits behind the organs instead of on top, so the birth can be dangerous."

  I thought I was going to faint, and he must have noticed my pallid complexion because he was quick to reassure me it would be fine.

  "I've delivered so many children, and every one of them was a success. Even twins. There's no problem here."

  "O-okay." I felt so woozy as I sat up from the exam table. Simply glad that the whole thing was over with. I didn't want to hear more about it, and it made me feel queasy thinking that my organs were being smushed. But this is where I was at, and there was no going back.

  "I think we'll schedule the birth for about 5 weeks out. If it doesn't happen close to that time, we may need to induce labor. If you keep your iron up, I doubt that will be necessary however. I'll leave your charts for Eric to go over the smaller details, and he'll schedule your follow up."

  "Thanks doctor, I'll watch out for him." Liam flexed his hand, trying to get me to release it. I hadn't realized how tightly I was squashing it, but I left red marks all across his palm. At least the worst was over, now. Doctor Geoffrey put a few of my fears to rest about giving birth, but I didn't even want to think about the actual process. Being cut open, covered in blood. The pain associated with that. And even falling deeper into my spiral of doubt, one question rang out.

  Would Liam be there with me when it happened?

  Chapter 5

  Liam

  "You need to eat more," I told Oliver as he pushed his plate away and rested a hand to his stomach.

  "I can't. I'm so full. If I take one more bite I'm gonna explode."

  "Then you'll need to take an iron supplement."

  I already knew since the doctor had told him a few days ago that he would need a boost in iron that this was going to be a difficult thing to deal with. Even if he hated swallowing pills, there was no way Oliver could stuff himself with enough iron-rich foods that he'd be getting what he needed.

  "I'll eat the rest later. Just give me like an hour or so to rest and digest."

  He barely had anything, though. Only taking around five bites of the meat I'd brought. Mostly he filled up on the small side dish of vegetables instead. This wasn't going to work out, but I wasn't going to exactly force him to take the medicine. But maybe I could persuade him.

  "Fine. But you have to finish it. Just remember what the doctor said, got it?"

  "Yes, sir," Oliver replied sarcastically. He pulled his chair out from the table and went back to the mess of newspapers I'd spread out around the living room floor to protect the carpet. In between his meals he was carving up some of the pumpkins we'd purchased. There were gourd innards spread out all over the place.

  "When are we going to the festival?" he asked again as I followed him into the living room, though I felt fine with just sitting on the couch and watching him deftly carve tiny, precise designs into his jack-o-lanterns.

  "If you take some iron supplements we can go the day before it's over. That's the biggest day, anyway. Fireworks and all that stuff."

  "Don't make me, come on. You promised we could go."

  "I did, and now I'm promising we can go if you stay healthy. You make me worry so much, you know."

  Oliver fell silent, staring into the hollowed out gourd for a long moment. The small flimsy blades in his hands dropped to the side, and his brows furrowed as if he was concentrating on something.

  "Umm… is there a bug in your pumpkin?" I joked, but he didn't seem to hear what I was saying. He was completely zoned out, and his shoulders began to lift and fall faster, and faster, matching the pace of his quickening breath.

  "Oliver, are you okay?" I stood up from the couch to get closer to him. I was hesitant to touch him as I didn't know what was going on, but finally I placed a hand on his shoulder to try and comfort him. "Oliver?"

  His chest was heaving so quickly, his breathing shallow but fast paced as he breathed in and out, his entire body lifting up before falling, like he was floating on each breath. Like he was struggling to breathe.

  "Oliver!" I yelled, unsure of where this panic attack was coming from. I'd seen him have a couple before, but I couldn't tell what was triggering this from him. He didn't reply, but snapped out of his daze to look up at me pitifully. I knelt to swoop my arms underneath his knees, leaning him back against my chest to pick him up and quickly take him to my bedroom. I sprawled him out onto the bed and took a seat on the opposite side.

  The only thing I knew I could do was cover him up with a throw blanket once he began to shiver. Other than that, I was at a loss. And he wouldn't tell me what was going on with him. Not yet. And I wouldn't push it unless he wanted to discuss it.

  "I'm going to go clean up the living room, alright? Just take as much time as you need and relax."

  Just as I moved to stand, I could feel the tips of his fingers brush against my wrist.

  "Please, don't. Stay with me."

  I swallowed hard, torn on what to do. He wanted me to stay, but at the same time, I didn't want to be overbearing and make things worse.

  "I don't know if that's a good idea."

  "Liam. Please," his brows upturned, and I just couldn't say no to that face of his, and his large, sad eyes.

  "Fine," I sighed, crawling into bed next to him and rolled onto my side to face him, though I didn't get underneath the blanket with him.

  "Just hold me for a minute," he pleaded, and I obliged. Slowly, awkwardly, I moved a hand around him, above his stomach, to pull his chest closer towards me. Both of his arms wrapped around mine.

  "Remember to breath," I advised him, watching as the heaving in his chest eventually began to slow down. I thought he would hyperventilate. But just as suddenly as his panic attack came on, he began to relax again.

  OLIVER

  * * *

  I rubbed at my eyes, noticing just a bit of light peeking through the blinds and curtains of the windows. I didn't remember how long I'd been asleep, but as I tried to sit up, the heaviness of Liam's arm prevented me from doing so. He'd stayed with me this whole time, and was fast asleep at my side, too.

  I was glad he stayed. His face looked so peaceful, so non-threatening. So human as his breath blew the bit of hair in his face with each exhale.

  'You make me worry so much.'

  His words triggered that spiraling pattern of self-loathing. He was just trying to be kind, he couldn't have meant it. Even thinking about what he said was making my teeth begin to chatter as my nerves started to work up again.

  'No one will ever care about you.' 'I don't know why I bother keeping you around.'

  I could hear James' voice ring in my head. It scared me how clearly it resonated in my memories, and it scared me that Liam acted like he genuinely cared, genuinely wanted the best for me. I didn't deserve it.

  "Mm, you're awake?" he yawned and began to rub the sleep from his eyes.

  "Just woke up not long before you did, but the sun's coming up."

  "So we should go back to sleep, or I should, anyway." Another yawn as he started to sit up, propping his weight onto his elbows as his head tilted to the side with a small smile. "Feeling better?"

  "Yes. Thanks to you."

  Those nerves were starting to creep back in. But not in the usual gut wrenching way. It felt more like a swarm of butterflies were released inside my stomach. Or was that the baby?

  "I'm glad I could help. Remember to eat the rest of your food." He lifted himself up into a push-up position, crawling onto his knees.

  "Where are you going?"

&n
bsp; "To sleep on the couch. Be as loud as you want, I sleep like the dead," He winked, laughing at his own pun. But I didn't want him to go.

  'No one else is going to want you.'

  But what if James' brother did?

  'You're so huge it's disgusting.'

  "Oliver, you all right? You look like you're zoning out again." He snapped his fingers in front of my face, trying to snap me out of a daze. But I wasn't going there again, I wasn't going to have another episode.

  Maybe I didn't deserve him. Maybe what James always said was right.

  But what if he was wrong?

  "Don't... go. Not yet," I mumbled, receiving a confused look from Liam in response.

  "Excuse me?"

  "Stay here, in bed."

  "I'll sleep in here if you want some alone time, then." Liam was so dense!

  "With me."

  "What?"

  I sighed, and did as he did to me at the pumpkin patch, reaching out to him and placing a hand behind his head. I didn't move in slowly, instead quickly locking lips with him. I kissed him. I kissed Liam with all the passion and fervor that I had until I broke it for air.

  Panting, I waited for his reaction. His eyes were widened in shock, but he didn't do anything back outright. Didn't pull me back in for a kiss, didn't say any comforting words. He just stared.

  Fuck.

  "Maybe James was right..." I whispered to myself. "I'm sorry."

  "Oliver, I... don't want to make you feel like you owe me something." Liam pulled away, resting onto his knees as I leaned back onto the bed, covering my burning hot face with a pillow, ashamed.

  "Just forget it."

  "Hey, listen to me for once instead of shutting yourself off." Liam grabbed the pillow and effectively ripped it out of my hands, tossing it onto the floor. "You don't owe me anything. Not your love, not your friendship, not your body. I don't want you to try and do something just because you feel like it's the only way you can pay be back for being nice. I'm not shitty, and I'm not a scumbag."