Those next two seconds passed in slow motion. I heard the scuff of claws behind me as Chris in his fury sprung to end my life. I looked through tears into Nate's surprised, browning eyes.

I squeezed my eyes tight and prepared for the impact of teeth, but before I could register what happened, Nate rolled on top of me with newfound speed. The weight of the wolf pressed Nate closer to me as the jaws of the beast clamped around Nate's neck. I turned my eyes away as Chris tore off a chunk of flesh accompanied by a loud snap. Nate's cold blood flowed onto my hair and clothing. The body above me went limp, and Chris backed away.

I closed my eyes, sobs choked up in my throat. I thought he was gone but I didn't want to see the proof. He wasn't moving, I felt no pulse or heartbeat. Thinking to myself, 'does he normally have a heartbeat?'

I struggled to remember.

The weight of Nate was lifted off of me, and panicking, my eyes shot open and I reached for him. Above me stood Chris, human and nude, save for a pair of boxers he managed to pull on quickly. He was holding Nate in his arms.

"LET HIM GO." I demanded, nearly screaming.

"We have to help the wounds close," Chris responded calmly, his face inscrutable, "and then he may have a chance."

I stumbled as I pushed myself upward, and followed Chris to his room.

"Get the medical supplies," instructed Chris. I obeyed, fuming, but too anxious to do anything else. In the bathroom, I grabbed everything I could fit in my shaking arms and returned to Chris.

He stood over Nate with a knife positioned in his hands. Chris sliced into his own wrist before I could react. As blood began to gradually seep from the incision, Chris pressed his wrist against Nate's mouth.

"Treat open injuries with some sort of antiseptic. Then use the gauze and medical tape to pull the wounds together. That's the best we can do," he remained where he was, propping Nate up to let his blood slowly flow down the vampire's throat. Nate was not reacting to the blood that was should have been giving him power, no movement, no sudden healing.

"Are you sure that...?" I was choked up and couldn't finish my thought out loud.

"That he's alive? He's not," Chris declared bluntly, "In reality, he wasn't alive before. Not in the way humans are. The blood that vampires drink keeps their dead bodies functioning. Without it, brain activity ceases and they decay into a corpse. But he's not gone yet; his body can still be coaxed into waking back up, even with a broken neck. It's just a matter of supplying enough blood and lowering the amount of energy required to heal the injuries. He probably won't recover his consciousness immediately though."

I nodded, my frantic brain not fully comprehending anything but, 'he's not gone yet.'