Enlightening Bloom(40)

“Wait. This will kill her.” Doc speaks up.

Amelia turns, placing her hand on his shoulder. “No, it won’t.”

“That’ll be too much blood loss. Too quickly.” He argues.

Her voice brokering no argument, Amelia says. “She’ll survive. As soon as you’ve drained enough of her own blood you’ll start a transfusion with the donor blood. She’ll be weak for several days, but she will survive.”

Rubbing his temples, Doc asks. “Where did you even get donor blood?”

Amelia pulls his hands away from his head, and points at Rose. “Right there’s our donor.”

Rose’s eye get huge, but she doesn’t protest. Doc looks at her then back at Amelia. “Are you sure she’s a match?”

Without hesitation. “Yes.”

“This is insane.” He states.

“You’ll do it.” She states in return.

“Hell.” He shakes his head. “Fine. I’ll do it.”

Amelia claps her hands, again. “Great.” She grabs the pajamas out of Bonnie’s hands and holds them out to me. “Go get changed so we can get started.”



****************************



“Are you sure about this?” Doc whispers. He’s sitting in a chair beside the lounge chair I’m spread out on. A needle in his hand is hovering over my arm. He’s still not comfortable doing this. I don’t blame him. I’m nervous, too. It’s my life on the line. But I nod anyways. “Yes.”

“Okay.” With that he sticks the needle into my vein. I don’t watch while he takes all the steps, but it’s not long before I see blood flowing into the tube attached to the needle. He moves away from me, and over to the other lounge chair where Rose is sitting in much the same position. He repeats the needle process with her, and then stands up. “Now, we wait.”

“How long will it take?” Pike asks. He’s sitting beside me holding my free hand.

“Around an hour and that’s pushing it. I’m going to monitor closely to make sure we don’t take more than she needs to survive. As soon as I can, I’ll start the transfusion with Rose’s blood. But I have to warn you, again, this is dangerous.”

Pike nods in understanding. This is testing his limits. I’m at risk, and I’m doing it to myself. Even if Amelia’s certain I’ll be fine it’s still not a position he wants me in. “Tennessee, I’ll be fine.”

“You better. I swear after we make it through this, and the stupid shit your brother is dragging to our door, I’m locking us in our suite and not answering the door for at least a month.”

“That plan works for me.”

“Good to know, Darlin’. Though I’m going to do it whether you like it or not. But it’ll be easier since you agree.”





Chapter 25 – Pike



“Bloom. Bloom.” I keep calling her name, but she’s not responding. Doc comes over to check her vitals. He makes some adjustments to the machine that’s taking her blood, and then explains. “She passed out from the blood loss. Surprisingly her vitals are still strong. It’s about time to start the transfusion. I’d say ten minutes until we stop taking and start giving.”

I let out the breath I was holding and nod. She’s going to be okay. I have to keep reminding myself of that. She better be okay. If she’s not I’m going to kill an old lady who lied. I really don’t want to kill an old lady. I bring Bloom’s hand to my mouth and kiss it. “You’ll survive this.”

“She’s going to be fine.” Tucker says, clapping my shoulder. I nod. “I’m going to go check on the training. I’ll be right back up.” He doesn’t wait for a response, because he’s smart enough to know he won’t be getting one.

“Want to come with me?” He asks Bonnie. She shakes her head no. He leans down, kisses her forehead, and then takes off. She stands and tells the room. “I can’t sit here any longer. I’m going to make cookies. She’ll need the sugar when she wakes up.”

“Chocolate chip are her favorite.” I tell her.

“Then chocolate chip it is.” She responds. She walks to the kitchen, giving my shoulder a squeeze as she passes me.

“We’ll help.” Amelia calls, pulling Forrest with her after Bonnie.

I’m left to the silence. Rose is sitting up on the lounger, nursing a glass of orange juice, her eyes keep darting to her daughter. “Just say it.” I growl.

She startles at my words, almost losing hold of her drink. She sets it down, comes over to Bloom’s lounger, and gets on her knees. She reaches out to push hair off Bloom’s face. I stop myself from growling. “I’m sorry she’s going through this.”