Blood Red

But would it be safe? Even forewarned and forearmed, with her cross and the somewhat smaller water pistol she’d stashed in her purse, could she really defeat what she could barely believed existed?

“Maybe I should take Heidi out for a bit and you should stay here,” Lauren suggested.

Mark stared at her, just short of scowling.

Okay, bad idea.

He looked at Heidi. His voice was firm, his eyes meeting hers. “Heidi, let me take you to dinner.”

“Okay.”

To Lauren’s amazement, Heidi rose as if she’d never disagreed. As if she thought it was the most natural thing in the world.

Mark set his hands on Lauren’s shoulders. “You stay here. And be careful.”

“This is a hospital. There’s a cop in the hall,” she reminded him.

“Be careful,” he repeated.

“Of course.”

What the hell could possibly happen to her in a hospital room?

“We won’t be long. Come on, Heidi,” Mark said.

Lauren nodded, picking up a magazine and dragging her chair nearer to Deanna’s bed. As soon as the other two left, she touched her friend’s forehead. Her skin seemed to be a normal temperature. She looked good, her breathing sounded even, and when Lauren rested two fingers on her pulse, it was beating regularly.

And still she slept like a princess awaiting her true love’s kiss, Lauren thought whimsically.

She rose for a minute and adjusted the television set. She flicked around between channels, aggravated as she came to one program after another that she didn’t want to see, even shows she usually found entertaining.

Finally, she decided on the Cartoon Network. Spongebob Squarepants fit the bill for the moment.

She was half listening to the TV and flipping through the pages of one of Heidi’s magazines when a nurse came in to check on Deanna. Lauren tensed, suspicious. Great. Was she going to start suspecting everybody now?

The nurse added a new bag to Deanna’s IV and assured Lauren that her friend was doing very well and with luck would come to soon. All the signs were right, and her red-cell count was rising nicely.

Lauren thanked her and tried to settle back and get comfortable once the nurse was gone.. She flipped a page, bored, worried.

What had she done?

Aggressive was actually an understatement when it came to describing her behavior earlier that night. But she couldn’t be sorry. She had forgotten time and place and all the horrors that had so suddenly entered her life. He had made her feel erotic, sensual, beautiful. As if she had known him forever, as if the world was perfectly right and normal. As if….

As if they hadn’t just battled the undead in an alley, as if one of her best friends wasn’t lying there in a coma. He seemed to be everything right in the world, the perfect man, a man with whom she could easily fall in love….

“Lauren.”

She nearly jumped from her chair, then looked over at the bed.

At first it didn’t appear as if Deanna had moved. But then she stretched, as if in discomfort. Her hands fluttered, moved to her throat.

Her eyes remained closed, but her lips moved. She was murmuring something. Lauren went over to her, leaning in close.

“Deanna, I’m here. What is it.”

“The fortune-teller.”

Lauren’s breath caught. “Deanna, I’m here. It’s all right,” she managed at last. “What about the fortune- teller?”

“The fortune-teller,” Deanna repeated.

Lauren took a seat on the bed, holding her friend’s hands, squeezing them with what she hoped felt like reassurance.

“It’s all right. She isn’t anywhere near us,” Lauren said.

“Danger,” Deanna mouthed.

Great.

Lauren looked around. The door to the hall was ajar. She could hear footsteps in the hall, along with volices. She heard the cop directing someone to another room.

There was no danger anywhere near.

“It’s all right,” she soothed. “Deanna, I’m here. It’s all right. We’re safe.”

Suddenly Deanna’s eyes opened wide, and she stared at Lauren. She even attempted a weak smile.

“Deanna?” Lauren said, feeling greatly relieved but still slightly chilled. And wary.