Blood of the Rainbow (29 page)

“There shouldn’t be any problems with you going to the normal funeral, but if you want to go to the final resting place ceremony afterwards, I’m afraid we’d have to clear that through the Council.”

“Jared, I doubt they will let her attend that.”

“Well, if she can’t go, neither am I. Granddad would understand.”

“No, Jared,” Sara said. “It’s all right. I’ll just stay here at the house, and read until you get back. I really think you should be there. It’s your Grandfather, and you should be there to support your family.”

Jared kissed Sara’s forehead. “Sara – you
are
family. At least you are to me.”

“And me,” Nadine said, smiling and patting Sara’s hand.

“We can discuss this some more when we get finished at Dave’s,” Jared said. “We better leave. I said we’d be there in half an hour, and his office is at least a twenty-minute drive.”

Jared held out his hand. Sara sighed, looked at it for a few seconds before taking it, and standing to leave. “Mother, do you mind if we – ah – if we borrow the Merck?” Jared asked a little embarrassed. He hadn’t had to ask to borrow his parent’s car since he moved to Louisiana.

“Of course not,” Nadine responded. “Keys are on the rack where they always are. I don’t drive that much anymore, and your father prefers the Ram, so use it as much as you need to.”

Jared kissed his mother on the cheek. “Thanks Mom. We won’t be long.”

------------

Thanks to Jared’s driving and knowing his way around, they made it to Dave’s office with time to spare. “Sara, are you feeling all right? Honey, you’re looking a little pale.”

“I’m fine, Jared. I just don’t like doctors and needles, especially needles. Isn’t there any other way of getting blood, than through needles?”

Jared grinned. “Well, there is one other way, but you wouldn’t let me bite you last night.”

Sara furrowed her brow and glared at him. “That’s
not
funny!”

Jared held the door open for Sara, who was seriously thinking about making a run for it, but she knew it wouldn’t do her any good. Jared would just chase her down. Sara kept taking deep breaths, but her knees were still shaking, and a fresh batch of butterflies had just taken flight in her stomach.

They walked up to the desk. The receptionist was busy writing something on a patient’s file.

Jared cleared his throat. “Excuse me. Could you tell Dave we’re here please?”

The receptionist didn’t look up. “Do you have an appointment?”

Jared chuckled. “Do I need one?”

“I’m afraid you do. The doctor is all booked up, and he only sees patients who have an appointment. Are you a regular patient?”

Jared laughed. “Actually, I wouldn’t let that sorry SOB give my horse an enema.”

She jerked her head up and furrowed her brow, annoyed. “Excuse me?” Her tone raised an octave. “Jared? Jared Thundercloud. You coyote, what are you doing down in these parts? I thought you ran off to Cajun country.”

Jared laughed. “I did, but my Granddad had another stroke and lapsed into a coma this time. He passed away a couple of days ago.”

“Oh, Jared, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. I’ve been out of town for a couple of days, visiting my sister in LA.”

“Thanks, Mandy, I appreciate that. Listen, could you let Dave know we’re here? He promised to run a couple of tests for me.”

Mandy eyed Sara suspiciously and grinned. She picked up the phone. “Yeah, go on back. I’ll let him know you’re coming.”

Jared smiled. “Thanks Mandy.”

Sara furrowed her brow, slightly jealous. “You know her?”

Jared held the door open for Sara. “Yeah….”

Jared put his hand at the small of her back and guided her to an office at the end of the hall. He looked at Sara, smiled, and tapped on the door with his knuckles.

Seconds later the door opened. “Jared, it’s good to see you, man. I’m so sorry about your granddad. It’s confirmed. I have to speak at the convention, so I won’t be at the funeral.”

Jared smiled. “Like I told you on the phone. I understand. Congratulations, by the way.”

“Thanks, but if you’d stayed, it would have been you accepting this award.”

“Yeah – well,” Jared smiled at Sara. “I had my reasons.”

“And I assume this dream on your arm would be the reason?”

“Sara Foster – David Whitefeather. Dave is an old medical student buddy.”

Dave scoffed, and raised an eyebrow. “Buddy? Lifesaver would be a better word. I had to nursemaid this guy through the first year of residency. Did he tell you he used to faint at the sight of a needle?”

Jared cleared his throat nervously.

Sara raised an eyebrow and grinned wryly at Jared. “Oh is that so?”

“Yeah… well… that was a long time ago.” Jared was embarrassed, although, with his copper skin, it was hard to tell.

Dave shook Sara’s hand. “Sara, it’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m looking forward to seeing you at the convention.”

Sara furrowed her brow. “How did you…?”

Jared sighed. “Myra – she’s let everyone she knows hear the CD I sent her.”

“Oh,” Sara replied.

Dave motioned to two chairs in front of his desk. “Please, have a seat. So, Jared, you said on the phone that someone gave Sara acid?”

“Yeah.”

“What happened to her? What symptoms did she have?”

“She was seeing all kinds of interesting things, vampires, werewolves, monster trees.”

Dave laughed. “Hmm. Those monster trees can be a bit scary. Vampires, werewolves - no problem.”

Sara narrowed her eyes and glared at Dave. He and Jared were apparently having fun at her expense. “I can assure you, at the time, it was not a laughing matter!”

Jared and Dave laughed. “I’m sorry Sara. I just couldn’t resist that. So do you want to do this in here or in the lab?”

Sara chuckled anxiously. “Actually, I’d rather not do it at all, but if I must, in here is fine. Labs make me nervous.”

Dave stood. “Fine, that’s not a problem. Let me just get the supplies. I’ll be right back.” he said, walking toward the door.

Sara sighed. “Oh, by all means, take your time. I’m in no hurry.”

Dave smiled. “Jared, you might better sit on her. She looks like a runner.”

Jared stifled a laugh.

Sara drummed her fingernails on the arm of the chair. She would do anything to get rid of the nervous energy and panic building in the pit of her stomach. She honestly
did
hate needles.

Dave came back in and handed Sara a urine specimen cup. “You can use my bathroom,” he motioned with his head. “I assume you know how to use it.”

Sara took the cup, sighed and rolled her eyes. Her tone sarcastic. “Yes, I’ve used a bathroom before – on a rare occasion.”

Jared laughed.

Dave sighed in exasperation. “Smarty Pants! Just pop the cup in the window, and the lab tech will get it.”

------------

Sara left the room, but she could still hear them talking.

“
I must say, this is a huge improvement over the last lady friend you had
.
This one has a sense of humor.
”

“
Yeah, I know. I’m not letting her get away either
.”

“
So, she’s the girl, then?
”

“
Without a doubt
.”

“
So why isn’t there a ring on her finger?
”

“
I don’t know, man. I guess because I haven’t got up the nerve to ask her, considering we’ve known each other a little under two months?
”

Dave whistled. “
That’s not a long time. Maybe proposing is not a good idea.
”

“
Oh, I have no doubts, Dave. I know she’s the one. I just don’t want to… you know… mess up and scare her away.
”

“
I hear you man
.”

Sara finished up and went back in Dave’s office. She sat back down in her chair dreading what was coming next, and giving another thought to making a run for it.

------------

Dave tapped his index finger on the blood kit on his desk. “So, Jared, do you want me to do this, or would you rather do it yourself?”

Jared looked at Sara with sympathetic eyes. “It’s your choice Angel. I’ll do it if you want me to, or you can let Dave do it.”

Sara took a deep breath and sighed. “I’d rather you did it.”

“Sure,” Jared smiled.

Dave slid the kit to Jared. “All right then. I’ll just step outside, and see if my evening appointment is still on.” He patted Sara’s shoulder as he left the room.

Jared ripped the kit open, and took out the tourniquet. “Which arm?”

Sara closed her eyes for a few seconds and clenched her teeth. “It doesn’t matter. Just get it over with.”

Jared brushed his hand over Sara’s cheek and put the tourniquet on her left arm. “I won’t hurt you.” He rubbed the alcohol swab over the bend of her arm. “Make a fist and hold it.”

Sara turned her head, drew in a deep breath, and waited for the sting.

Jared put the needle cap between his teeth and pulled it off. “I love you,” he whispered.

Sara smiled but kept her head turned, and her eyes shut tight. Still, she waited… nothing happened. “Are you going to do it or what?” She was getting impatient.

Jared loosed the tourniquet, put a cotton ball over the wound, and bent her arm up. “Done.”

Sara turned her head, looking at her arm, surprised. “What? I didn’t feel anything.”

Jared leaned down and kissed the top of her head. “I said I wouldn’t hurt you.” He sat in the chair beside her, holding her hand.

“How did you do that? It normally at least stings.”

Jared squeezed her hand. “Yeah, well, I knew if I said I loved you, you’d forget about everything else.”

“You cheat!” Sara teased.

Jared laughed. “Hey – it worked.”

There was a light tap on the door. Dave stuck his head in. “So is it over? Have you drained her? Were you greedy, or did you save some for me?”

Sara rolled her eyes, her tone sarcastic. “Yes, he has, and I’m awfully thirsty,” she grinned. “Would you like to be my first snack?”

Jared laughed and handed Dave the three vials of blood.

“You… ah… said you wanted to get the results as soon as possible. Do you want to wait, or would you rather go do something in town, and then come back. It will take at least half an hour to an hour to run the tests. You’re welcome to come in the lab with me, while the tests are being done, but Sara mentioned labs made her nervous. I didn’t think you would want to leave her by herself that long.”

“How about it, Sara? You feel like walking around for a while. We can get some coffee and a donut and go down to the park or the bookstore.”

Oh God no! Not the bookstore. Anything but that!
Sara answered quickly. Perhaps too quickly. “The park sounds nice!”

Jared eyed her suspiciously and stood. “Ok, Dave. I guess we’ll see you in about an hour.”

------------

Hand in hand, Jared and Sara left the doctor’s office, and started walking. There was a gentle breeze blowing, and although the sun was out, there was enough cloud coverage to keep it from being overbearingly hot. This was fun. It felt nice, and natural. Sara enjoyed doing simple things with Jared. She felt alive just being next to him. She smiled.

Jared stopped walking, and studied Sara’s eyes, not saying a word. “What is it?”

Jared shook his head. “I’m not sure. I guess I’m still trying to figure you out. You’re a mystery to me – you always have been.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well… I don’t know… there’s just something about you. Everything about you reeks of life and light. Your smile makes me think of sunshine and rainbows, and your eyes… they’re so beautiful, they remind me of deep amber, the way the rods catch the sunlight, and the way you look at me.”

Sara felt self-conscious. She wasn’t used to all these compliments. “You have an odd way of talking about something so simple.”

Jared laughed, and they started walking again. “There is
nothing
simple about you. You’re so complex - sometimes it scares me. I thought I had you figured out. Then I see another side of you - like yesterday - and I realize I don’t know you at all.”

“Well,
if
you keep me around, eventually you’ll either figure me out or give up. There’s only one thing you need to remember. I’m yours.”

Jared grinned. “Well, you can bet I’m going to keep you around. That’s not a possibility – it’s a necessity of life.”

Sara laughed.

“So where do you want to go first? Do you want coffee and a donut?”

“Yeah, sure.”

Jared smiled. “Come on; let’s make a quick stop at the bookstore.”

“No!” Sara answered too quickly again. “I mean, surely there’s a better place we could go than a bookstore.”

Jared sighed. His mood changed. He got quieter. “That’s twice you’ve done that.”

Shit! He’s on to me
. She cleared her throat nervously. “Done what?” Sara glanced at the ice cream parlor, a few feet away. An idea struck her. “Hey, I’ve changed my mind. I think I’d rather have something I haven’t had in a long time.” She gingerly tried to steer the conversation in a safer direction.

“What’s that?”

“A large cherry malt. Made extra thick, extra strong and with extra cherries. I haven’t had one of those since I was in junior high. Is there some place we can get one?”

Jared raised an eyebrow, and dubiously stared at Sara. “You want a
malt
? Why, what’s brought this on?”

 “I don’t know. It’s a semi-hot day. I guess I’m just feeling a little nostalgic. Maybe it was the visit to your friend’s office,” Sara prattled on a mile a minute. She should have known better. “If I was good, Mother used to take me for ice cream after I went to see the doctor.”

“Really?”

“Yes,
really
. Do you think I’ve been a good girl?” Sara batted her lashes, pouring on the seduction and charm. If there was anything she could distract Jared with, it was charm.

Jared eyed her for a long while, trying to decide if she was serious. Finally he laughed. “All right. One extra strong, extra thick, extra cherry malt coming up.”

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