“That is a possibility. When you leave, can you lock the door?”
“I’ll help you, Finn.”
“I don’t need help. I’m fine. I’m used to it.”
“You’re used to your house that has things to help you. How are you planning on getting from the bench to the shower?”
“Hop and roll. One or the other, maybe a bit of both.”
He stares at me and I sigh loudly.
“Can you lock the door?”
“Sure.”
I hate taking my prostheses off in front of people. Especially people that I need to look good in front of. And when I have to do it, it makes me feel this strange irritation or embarrassment. I don’t like having to rely on others, and I don’t want them looking down at me or thinking I’m weak.
But I take my clothes off, then remove my leg and then my arm before setting them on the bench.
“Stop that,” Brooks says as he walks up to me.
“What?”
“Looking like that. You get this look about you, and I can tell you’re just degrading yourself.”
“I am not!” I say, but we both know it’s a lie.
“There aren’t too many people who can do what you do after what happened to you. You should be proud of yourself. And thrilled you’re not in a wheelchair.”
I ignore him because I don’t feel too proud as I have him help me over to the shower. Then he gets me a chair, which he sets under the showerhead and tosses a towel over.
“Need anything?”
“No, I’m fine.”
“Alright. I’ll just finish cleaning up as you wash off. The prostheses really seem to be working well for you. I can hear that your gait is slightly off, but not enough I even notice it unless I’m looking for it.”
“Yeah? I always wondered if the vampires could tell,” I say as I grab some shampoo and scrub at the dried blood.
“I doubt it. When you can hear things better or notice things more, you stop noticing the normal things, you know? It’s just background noise. Otherwise, it’d be too much. Like do you walk around and notice every footstep or every leaf rustle unless you’re purposely paying attention?”
I rinse the shampoo away and do it again in case I’ve missed anything. “I guess that makes sense.”
“Do they still cause you trouble?”
I look down at the permanent cap on my leg that the prosthesis attaches to. “Not really. My leg starts aching if I’m on it too long, but besides that, they’re pretty good. Watson has it made so that intense pressure or a hard impact makes the prosthesis release instead of tearing the cap. He says that I’m the most difficult person he has to keep them in tip-top shape for since I’m hard on them, but I think he’s kind of proud of how well they hold up. He did get a little angry with me the other day when I used one to crack a man across the face.”
“I bet.”
“He, no joke, made me sign a paper that said, ‘I will not use my prostheses like a baseball bat to apprehend criminals.’”
Brooks snorts. “I doubt you’ll listen.”
“I signed it ‘Love, Mickey Mouse,’ and he wasn’t too impressed, but he loves me,” I say as I shut the water off.
Brooks comes over with a towel and hands it to me. After taking it, I dry off and he helps me back to the bench where I make sure the caps are completely dry before reattaching the prostheses. Then I get dressed before realizing I don’t have my gloves.
“Gloves?”
“They’re covered in blood.”
“Shit. I’ll just… stick my hand in my pocket until I can get to my car. And whose clothes are these? A giant’s?”
“No, they’re just normal people’s clothes.”
I snort. “Definitely a giant.”
We finish up and head down to a meeting room where quite a few members of the department join us. I sit toward the front as Church gets up and goes over everything that happened and we discuss what the setup means. I talk some about how I felt like it was done with the hopes that the vampires would attack innocent citizens.
Once the meeting has finished, Church looks over at me. “Hayes, a minute.”
I nod and close up my notebook that I’d been jotting things down in. Hopefully, we’ll be able to talk with the human unit who took over soon and get more information so we can move forward with the case. “What’s up?” I ask as I stand and walk over to him. He reaches out and gently tips my head to the side before pushing the collar of my shirt back.
“I bit you.”
“No, you didn’t. It was barely a nick.”
“I can see it. I don’t know why I lost control like that. I’ve never… I’ve been in worse situations than that. It doesn’t make sense why I attacked you. But… I apologize.”
“It’s fine. You didn’t actually bite me, alright? I could have tranqed you if I really thought I was in danger.”
“You should have.”
I lift up a finger. “Wait a minute. I know how you can make it up to me.”
He looks so dejected that I’m almost positive he’ll agree. “How’s that?”
“You take me on a date.”
All signs of dejection and sadness are gone as his eyes narrow. “Excuse me? Clearly, I heard you wrong.”
“Of course not! You have superior hearing, remember? Remember you telling me how much better it is than mine?”
“Then maybe you stuttered.”
“I didn’t! I was actually class president in the third grade because of my wonderful ability to give speeches and how much I talked.”
His eyes narrow even more. “I’m done speaking with you.”
“So… like… six or seven tonight? I lead a lonely life, so I’m ready whenever.”
“Absolutely not. You are a human.”
“Ew, gross! A human!” I make a show of shuddering. “So what?”
“There’s a reason why humans and vampires should never be together. Do you know how many relationships between them end in blood?”
“Honestly? I’d probably end up stabbing a human partner at some point anyway, so it’s probably good that you’re a vampire,” I say. “You’ll heal much faster! All I’m seeing are positives so far!”
“I’m not talking about the human hurting someone. I’m talking about a vampire hurting… you know what? I’m positive you know what I’m talking about.”
I smile my best smile at him so he’s aware that I’m the perfect person just for him.
“No.”
“It’s just a date. Fine, we’ll call it a dinner. Not even a date. Friends go out to dinner.”
“I don’t want to be your friend either.”
“Really? That’s weird. You’re already my only friend.”
“You’re like a really annoying dog that wants attention, and I just want to stick you in a crate on the other side of the house.”
“Ooh, puppy play. Now, I’ve never done it, but I’m willing to learn about it.”
He pushes past me.
“Oh, my neck! The pain! The absolute pain! I was bitten by a vampire!” I shout.