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“Come on.Let’s get you back on your feet.”
Rhyne felt something being pressed against his abdomen.Reaching down, he took whatever was being held there and slid it inside his button-down shirt as he slowly stood with Norris’s help.
“Drink it after you leave here.Don’t let anyone see you, or it could be both our butts.Understand?”
Rhyne gave him both a small smile and a nod.“Thanks.”
“I gotta get back to work.Talk to you later, okay?”Norris asked with a thumbs-up sign.“One way or another, right?”
“Right.”Rhyne returned the sign.
This time, when Norris hurried back inside, Rhyne went to find where he’d stashed his bicycle in the bushes against one unlit side of the building.Although he couldn’t see any security cameras in this location, he wasn’t going to take any chances and walked his bike to the intersection.
He was halfway down the block when he finally stopped and pulled out what Norris had slipped him.He wasn’t surprised to find it was a vial.It was a small, thin one, and contained what he knew had to be blood.Unscrewing the cap, he held the tube to his lips and let the contents flow into his mouth.
Cold and salty, it coated his tongue with its life-giving essence, and Rhyne let the liquid ease into his throat before swallowing.His brain fog dissipated almost like magic, giving him the clarity he desperately needed.Smacking his lips, Rhyne started to suck out the remainder when he suddenly recognized the taste and realized whose blood he was drinking.
Norris had drawn a tiny amount from the AB negative bag still in storage.Grace’s blood.Not so much that it would be noticed, but enough to give Rhyne the strength he required.
He stood there underneath the streetlamp and stared at the little tube resting in his palm.There were no markings on the barrel, no identifying labels, but he knew the taste of her.He smacked his lips, letting the aroma waft up into his sinus cavities, and he reveled in her scent.
A truck drove by, dangerously close to jumping the curb and onto the sidewalk where he stood.Someone reeking of alcohol shouted at him from the passenger side window as they went by when another car coming from the cross street sped by, going way faster than the posted speed limit.Screeching tires and a thunderous crash sounded when the second vehicle t-boned the truck in the middle of the intersection, sending debris flying in all directions.
Rhyne glanced up at the traffic light and noticed the truck with the drunk guy had run the red.
He blinked.
The truck had run the red light.
As he stared at the signal, the red light went dark and the green one appeared.
Red.
Green.
He could see in color again.
This time Rhyne allowed himself to give a shout for joy.Jumping onto his bike, he continued on his way home.
CHAPTER17
Change
His roommates were home when he got back.Regardless, he slept fitfully.When morning came, and he heard them getting ready to go to work, instead of burrowing deeper underneath the covers, Rhyne got up and went into the kitchen to fix himself some breakfast.
Presently, he heard Welsh’s familiar trod approaching.Not sensing anything alarming, Rhyne assumed the color change hadn’t occurred yet.
Yet.
The suspense from waiting was almost becoming unbearable.
The man grunted when he spotted Rhyne sitting at the table with a bowl of corn flakes.
“What are you doing up so early?”
“Just felt like getting up.Is that a crime?”Rhyne quipped.
Welsh grinned as he tugged on the sleeve of his shirt.“Know what color this is?”
