Her attacker cried out in shocked horror and pulled his ax free, but it was too late. Rachel knew as she sagged back against the table, it had been a killing blow. She would bleed to death very quickly.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean..." The man shook his head in horror, then stumbled forward.
Despite herself, Rachel instinctively flinched away from his reaching hands. Regret and sadness covered his face.
"Let me help you. I want to help you. I really never meant to hurt you. Why didn't you stay out of the way? It's him I..."
The man's voice died abruptly as a familiar squeak reached Rachel's ears. She recognized the sound of the door to the hall opening, and guessed by the gasp that sounded--not to mention her attacker's expression--that she was right. The squeak sounded again and was followed by the tap of rushing footsteps in the hall.
"I am sorry," her attacker said as he turned a tortured expression back to her. "I really am. I never meant to hurt you. Help is on the way, but I have to go. Hang in there," he ordered as he stumbled away. "Whatever you do, don't die. I couldn't live with that."
Rachel stared after him, wanting to cry out, but she didn't have the strength. A moan from behind made her instinctively try to turn. She managed, but that was where her strength gave out. She found herself slumping over the explosion victim's face.
Blood, sweet and warm. Etienne sighed as he swallowed. It eased the agony cramping his body. He needed the nourishing fluid trickling into his mouth, and even his guilt at this woman taking the blow meant for him didn't stop his enjoyment of it. He needed her blood desperately and was grateful.
"Etienne!"
He recognized his mother's voice but couldn't seem to see where it was coming from. Then the warm body lying across him was suddenly lifted away, and he opened his eyes in protest to see his mother bending over him.
"Are you all right, son?" Worry crowded her face as she felt his cheek. "Give me one of those bags of blood, Bastien," she ordered. She turned back to Etienne. "Bastien insisted on stopping at the office on the way to pick some up. Thank God he did." She punctured the bag with one long fingernail, then held it over his open mouth. She did this with three bags before he felt strong enough to sit up.
Grimacing at the sight of his charred flesh peeling away and shedding all around him, Etienne swung his legs off the table and sat up of his own volition. He hadn't lost any blood in the explosion, but his body had used a lot to repair his flesh. A couple more bags and he would be fine. He accepted the next bag his mother handed him and chugged it. As she opened the last for him, Etienne spotted the woman Bastien knelt beside.
"Is she going to be all right?"
His older brother frowned and shook his head. "She's dying."
"She can't die. She saved my life." Etienne ignored the blood his mother held out and forced himself off the table.
"Sit down. You aren't strong enough yet," Marguerite said, her voice sharp.
"I'm fine." Etienne knelt beside the girl, ignoring his mother's muttered, "Sure you're fine. And 'Pokey isn't a real threat, this is all in fun.' Everything's all fun and games until someone gets an ax in the chest."
"Pudge, not Pokey," Etienne corrected, reaching out to check the dying girl's pulse. He recognized her from his last trip to the morgue. She was beautiful and just as pale now as she had been on his last visit--but that time her pallor had been caused by illness. This time she was suffering from blood loss. Etienne was very aware that some of her blood had gone down his throat. The woman had saved his life. He had been weak, but he had seen her leap between him and the ax Pudge wielded.
"I tried to stop the bleeding, but I'm afraid it's too late," Bastien said quietly. "Nothing can save her."
"One thing can," Etienne countered. He tried to roll up his sleeve. The brittle cloth broke away in his fingers, so he just ripped it off.
"What do you think you're doing? You can't turn her," his mother said.
"She saved my life," Etienne repeated.
"We have rules about these things. You can't turn people willy-nilly, and you can't do it without permission."
"I'm allowed to turn a life partner."
"Life partner!" His mother sounded excited rather than upset. Bastien looked worried.
"You don't even know this woman, Etienne," his brother pointed out. "What if you don't like her?"
"Then I won't have a life partner."
"You would give up a life partner for this woman?" Bastien asked.
Etienne paused, then simply nodded. "Without her, I wouldn't have life." He bent his head and bit himself on the wrist. Red liquid bubbled to the surface, and a moment later he took his teeth away and pressed his bleeding flesh to the dying girl's mouth.
"There, all we can do now is wait." Marguerite straightened and turned to her son. "Now we have to tend to you."