Chapter Nineteen

With the third blood exchange over, Jon told Richie they should try to get some sleep, but he knew he wouldn’t sleep a wink until Mac regained consciousness. He watched Richie get settled into the other bed, then laid down with Mac, cradling her gently in his arms. Jon was worried about how much pain she was dealing with while she was out of it. Rubbing his cheek against her hair, he slipped into her mind. A wave of her pain hit him immediately, but he refused to pull away from it, hoping instead to help alleviate some of it.

Moglie mia, can you hear me? he asked softly.

Even the voice in her head was weak, when she answered, It hurts, Jon.

I know, bambina, he told her gently, but listen to me closely, I’m going to tell you how to make it ease up some.

Jon didn’t tell her that she had new powers as a newly changed vampire, but he began to explain to her how to use her mind to divide the pain and explained that he would shoulder the worst of it on himself, that he could do it as long as their minds were joined.

Just don’t break the link, Dallas, he cautioned, because then you’ll be hit with the full force of it again.

Jon, don’t do this, she told him, it hurts too bad. I can’t imagine even putting part of it off on you.

I can handle it, moglie mia, Jon replied, besides, I can’t bear for you to go through this alone.

Am I dying then? she asked.

No, bambina, he told her, you are healing.

Where am I?

We are in a motel in El Paso, he answered.

Where’s Caleb?

I don’t know, he replied, wincing slightly when he took the bigger part of her pain into himself. When I left him he was injured, but I came running when you called out to me.

Mac felt her pain lessen immediately. It’s working, Jon.

Of course it is, bambina, he told her, gritting his teeth against the pain. Now rest, if you can, he ordered gently. You’ll be fine in the morning.

Holding her close, he laid there for a long time as her dreams played like movies in his head courtesy of the link. He saw all the gruesome details of the accident as she relived them in her dreams, as well as the events that had unfolded while Caleb had her. He now knew that she had intended to re-enter that warehouse and try to help him, and he smiled in spite of the pain at her courage. She was certainly one of a kind. He could see the light in her that would balance his darkness in years to come. Now, if only they could survive this latest problem. And, he didn’t try to deceive himself, there would be a problem over this latest turn of events, but he knew in his heart that somehow they would get past it. That she would forgive him. At least, he hoped she’d forgive him.

Shouldering the biggest part of her pain for several hours, Jon lay there unable to sleep. When the sun finally rose, the pain was gone, and he knew that she was entirely healed and the change was complete. He dozed off to sleep then, knowing he would need a few hours of sleep to be able to deal with the explosion of Mac’s temper that was surely coming.

Richie’s concerned voice woke him a couple of hours later. "How’s she doing?"

Jon barely cracked his eyes in acknowledgment of Richie’s question. "She’s fine."

"Glad to hear it," Richie told him. "I was heading out for coffee. I’ll be back in a few."

"Could you get her a Dr. Pepper?" Jon asked.

"Sure," Richie answered, as the door closed behind him. The guitarist really didn’t want to be anywhere around when Mac woke up and realized what Jon had done.

When Richie was gone, Jon pulled Mac tighter against him. "Mac, wake up tesoro mia."

Jon watched as groggily she rubbed at her eyes and stretched. Raising up on one elbow, he bent slightly to gently kiss her forehead, "How’re you feeling?" he asked huskily.

"Surprisingly, I feel great," she answered, opening her eyes. "You’d never know I got hit by a car last night."

Jon looked down into her light blue eyes, so like his own and realized he would miss those turbulent green eyes. That was something he hadn’t thought about before he made the quick decision to change her.

"What is it, Jon?" she asked, when she noticed the sadness in his eyes.

"Nothing of importance," he answered her.

She accepted that answer for now, but later she would find out what was bothering him. "I really expected to either be dead or wake up in a hospital this morning," she told him.

"Richie suggested a hospital," he replied, "but I knew we didn’t have time to get you to one."

Her stomach twisted in response to that statement. She had a sinking feeling that she knew exactly what he meant by that, but she had to ask anyway. "Jon, what do you mean by ‘didn’t have time’?"

"When our minds were linked, I could feel your spirit and energy drifting away," he answered.

"Are you saying that I was dying?" she asked, dreading the answer.

"Yeah," he replied softly.

"What did you do, Jon?" she questioned, although she was afraid she already knew the answer.

Jon looked into her eyes and saw the knowledge there. "You know what I did," he answered softly.

"No," she said harshly, "you knew I didn’t want to be a vampire."

Richie walked back into the room with coffee cups in hand, and a cold Dr. Pepper from the soda machine. The room was charged with tension and he almost turned back around and left again.

"I brought caffeine," he announced. Then after seeing the regret on his friend’s face and the fury on Mac’s, he asked, "So, is it conniption time, now?"