Taking the Leap

Chapter 32

~Achilles~

"I'm surprised you're still here." Klara said to me in the cafeteria of the hospital. She was speaking to me between sips of her blood packet, and eating away at her Cesar salad that had way too much dressing on it. Sure, at first glance she looked like Xander with the brown skin, freckles, green eyes, along with similar features but there were so many more differences. Klara was lighter than Xander by a shade or two, her freckles were barely there and they didn't smile the same way. Klara barely smiled at all, just a quick upturn of her lips whereas Xander grinned so easily. Being around her made me miss Xander even more.

Klara continued chewing obnoxiously on a crouton and I made sure not to make eye contact with her too familiar green eyes. "Lots of vamps don't stick around when their partner goes into regeneration. It's too painful. And yet, here you are, visiting everyday for the past month. My brother is prone to infatuation as much as he doesn't want to admit it. But, maybe you're not as bad as I thought you were. I mean, sure, you seem nice." Klara shrugged. "You have that whole rugged good looks thing going for you," and here she hesitated. "Maybe you are nice."

Nearly everyday was like this with Klara, her expecting me to disappoint her or let Xander down and yet what seemed to bother her was that I was as dedicated as I said I was. She was strange, and complicated but I couldn't dislike her, not with those eyes, anyways. I let out a dry laugh. "Maybe I am nice, but, honestly Klara, I don't see how anyone could see their partner in a coma and just leave. I'm not that kind of guy. If anything, you're nothing like I expected."

The past month had shown me that Klara was, simply put, a ferocious vampire. She fought tooth and nail for everything she wanted and so she got it. The first week after Xander's collapse, I'd been useless, unable to think, or even function without him. But, Klara had been eerily composed. She organized his mortgage payments, investments, charities, talking to Huntington U to establish some kind of extended leave, spoke with the Galatrickiton composition team all while keeping Xander's parents calm. She'd  managed to do all that while securing a month by month condo lease across the street from the hospital, and organizing consultations from the best vampire regeneration doctors to see Xander.

She was leaps and bounds more efficient than I was. I had been there when she was making her calls and keeping things organized but my mind was constantly fixed on the past few days with Xander before his collapse. Stuck on when everything had been perfect.

It was only after all the dust had settled that I saw that careful composure buckle at the seams. Maybe it was when her voice broke when she talked to Xander during her visits, or the way her eyes sometimes glazed over when we visited Xander's apartment to clean things up.

The cafeteria of the hospital was normally pretty quiet, most other patients had blood transfusions or blood rejection issues but Xander's family and I were there every day without fail.

I got up from my seat to throw away my mostly uneaten food. Everything here was so incredibly bland, and my turkey melt tasted like cardboard. "I think I'm going to visit Xander and I'll see you tomorrow."

Klara nodded, but then said something softly, "All this time, and I never asked how the two of you met."

I hesitated, sitting back down, and rubbing the back of my neck awkwardly. "It's kind of embarrassing."

"Oh?" Klara's tone warmed with interest, the small smile appearing and disappearing just as fast.

"A bar," I whispered, "well, more like a gay bar."