Sofia could smell blood, she had never hated the smell more.

“Jackie,” she pleaded.

Jackie’s breath was shallow and fast. Her hands pressed to her abdomen where the torn metal had cut into her.

“Don’t you dare fucking die,” Sofia demanded, a command that was somewhat out of Jackie’s hands.

Jackie laughed. “D-Desperation doesn’t look good on you.”

Sofia didn’t reply, instead, she did her best to brush the shattered glass away despite being only slightly impaled. She was pinned down, like a vampire staked in its coffin.

“Fuck,” she growled, struggling to bend the metal. She was strong, freakishly so, but she still needed leverage.

People were crying and yelling. Phones were ringing, smoke still filled the bus. It was chaos. So sirens yet though, they were on their own.

With a twist, Sofia snapped the piece off. Leaving it embedded in her as she forced herself to her feet. Now free she had the momentum to swing, her fist punching through the now vertical roof of the bus even as her wrist popped and broke.

With a growl of determination, she tore the metal further, prying a hole she could climb through. The people at the back of the bus had an emergency escape. Sofia simply lacked the patience.

She carefully picked Jackie despite her pained gasp. She knew moving people could make things worse but she would be damned if she left her in the smoking bus.

She emerged onto the hill the bus had rolled down. A crowd was gathering up at the railing that had torn free.

Sofia gently set Jackie down before pulling off her glasses. She made eye contact with several people in the crowd. “Call 911!” She demanded. They all complied.

She could practically feel the siphoned adrenaline in her body. Had she been this strong all along? Or had she simply never had a reason not to hold back?

“Jackie?” She asked, her voice wavering as she crouched over her roommate. Ex-roommate? Technically they didn’t live together anymore. It wasn’t the fucking time for this.

“I’m fine,” Jackie hissed.

“Now you sound like me. Except you don’t heal like I do,” Sofia scoffed, pulling off her hoodie and bundling it into a ball before pressing it to Jackie’s injury.

“You!” She barked, pointing at a man in the crowd. “Come, now!” She didn’t even need to use her eyes. He hurried over nervously. Thankfully humans were simple creatures, desperate to obey some kind of authority in chaos.

She practically dragged him to Jackie and pressed his hands over the hoodie. “If this isn’t painful you’re doing it wrong. Keep pressure on the wound until emergency shows up. If she bleeds out I will find you and will kill you,” she snapped at him. She didn’t have the self-restraint to hide her teeth nor the time to properly mesmerize him.

He nodded, his heartbeat pounding faster than some of the people in the actual crash. Coward.

She pressed her lips to Jackie’s forehead. “Hold tight, I’m gonna try and get others out.”

“My hero,” Jackie smiled, the fact she was able to maintain a playful tone was a relief. “Also uh…” Jackie trailed off, pointing to the piece of metal impairing Sofia. She had forgotten about it.

Sofia slid it out of herself with a sickening wet sound. The man raised a hand to his mouth to cover a gag before putting it back in a panic before she had a chance to hurt him.

With one last glance at Jackie, she stood and marched back towards the bus. Stupid fucking bus right and stupid fucking human fragility. Why couldn’t they just have one fucking evening where everything worked out just fine?!

As much as she wanted to focus on who exactly was responsible for this, frustratingly, helping the other victims was more important.

Thankfully she channeled her anger into breaking open the emergency exit that was apparently jammed. It couldn’t even complete its one and only purpose.

Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

By the time she was helping people climb out of the wreckage, she could hear sirens in the distance. Quite frankly an amazingly quick response time. Others had probably called 911 too.

She glanced back at Jackie who seemed to be yelling at the man about something. Satisfied that she would be alright she entered the bus. Plenty of people remained, some injured, some trying to help.

The damage was worse around the middle of the bus where the transport truck had dented it. A woman was pinned similarly to how she had been. That was beyond Sofia’s ability to help. Despite her hysterical crying, she would probably be fine. Maybe not if she kept trying to free herself like that…

“Hey, emergency is almost here. Breathe, stop struggling, you're just making it worse,” Sofia ordered sternly. The woman continued to cry but she listened. She could get used to this, she didn’t even need magic eyes.

Sofia took a deep breath. Her agitation was at an all-time high and she was being… a dick. She crouched down beside her. “Can you wiggle your toes?” She asked more gently.

“I-I think so.”

“Okay, good. That means your spine isn't damaged. Just try to stay calm. I know it’s scary, but you’ll be ok,” Sofia promised as reassuringly as she could.

The woman nodded tearily and Sofia continued. She had no idea if any of that was true, but it sounded accurate and people had definitely survived worse.

She found the only two casualties, plus the apparent father who was lost in despair. A woman and a young boy, the road railing from outside had sprung through the window and killed them.

The father was bleeding from a leg wound but honestly, Sofia had no idea what to say to even begin to reassure him. And she had been away from Jackie too long. The experts could handle it from here.

She ducked out of the bus as she saw paramedics jogging down the hill. Police lights illuminated the highway as a fire engine blared. Satisfied she had done her part to be a Good Samaritan she hurried back over to Jackie.

Sofia shooed the man away and dropped down to apply pressure herself.

“How are you feeling?” Sofia asked. “Seriously.”

“Cold,” Jackie admitted. “I’m w-well into shock. I b-barley feel a thing. Don’t worry.”

Sofia didn’t feel better, but at least Jackie wasn’t in pain.

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

“Your girlfriend is very lucky Ms. Ortíz, her injuries are mild all things considered,” the doctor informed Sofia, as if Jackie wasn’t lying in the hospital bed between them.

She couldn't help but feel a little flustered at the term girlfriend. She was pretty sure a slight make-out session on top of a corpse did not girlfriends make. But she certainly wasn’t opposed to the title.

Now was really not the fucking time. She glanced down at Jackie who was sleeping peacefully thanks to a cocktail of drugs. “What next?” She asked before glancing up at the doctor. She somehow felt exhausted, getting Jackie to the hospital and then pacing while Jackie went in for surgery, as minor as it was, was hell.

“Well… assuming nothing unexpected comes up she’ll be right as rain in a few weeks. I’d like to keep her here for a few more days just to make sure recovery is going well,” the doctor continued. Sofia wasn’t entirely sure she liked him but he seemed competent enough.

Sofia nodded.

“Now, I really do need to contact her parents. Or your parents for that matter. An adult. You both have been through something incredibly harrowing and need support,” the doctor added. He was probably right, it didn’t make her like him anymore.

“I don’t know her mother’s number. Her dad is… dead,” Sofia offered neutrally. “I’ll call my mom,” she added just to appease him.

Really she had to do that anyway. The bus should have arrived hours ago. Her mother had already sent her half a million texts which she had replied to. But she was putting off calling because one of them was going to drive down here to make sure she was okay. Then, she would be dealing with the whole blindness of sunlight problem when she had no capacity for it.

The hospital room was already getting too bright for her. She had no idea where her parasol or her luggage was. Without her things and now somewhere entirely unfamiliar she had no idea what to do about the sun.

Currently the best she had come up with was just hiding under the bed.

She needed someone to turn to, but the someone she always turned to was injured and asleep. Would recover in weeks. Their perfect plan had been utterly shattered.

For a moment she had been worried she was going to have to turn Jackie. She had considered the idea more than she had ever wanted to while waiting for her surgery to be completed.

Eloise may have been… bad but she had been right. Sofia could manage vampirism in one way or another. Even as a human Jackie needed to be reigned in.

Sofia could barely handle herself and Jackie would lose herself in it. The blood, the power. It would be bad for her. In movies and books, the human love interest always gets turned at the end. But this was real life, Sofia would somehow have to come to terms with letting her go if it came down to it.

What was the saying? If you love something, let it go. Vampirism would corrupt Jackie entirely. Because she would love it too much.

The doctor left them and Sofia returned to her seat at Jackie’s side.

Jackie groaned sleepily and turned to face Sofia. “His haircut is horrible,” she muttered.

Sofia failed to hold back a snort.

“I’m sorry, this has ruined everything,” Jackie offered.

“The fuck did you do?” Sofia frowned. “Got injured?”

Jackie shrugged, then grimaced. She glanced towards the window, where the rising sun was steadily illuminating the room. “You should get going, it’s getting light.”

“I’ll hide under the bed, maybe in the bathroom,” Sofia replied, she couldn’t bring herself to be too worried about it.

She was fed enough that she could be in a lit room, she might not see much but as long as she avoided direct sunbeams she didn’t burn.

“Here,” Sofia said, slicing into her wrist with a fang before holding up to Jackie’s lips.

Jackie didn’t hesitate to press Sofia’s wrist to her mouth and begin to drink. She let out a sound of satisfaction as Sofia relaxed at the sensation.

It wasn’t sex but it was intimate. It… well it bonded them. Sofia closed her eyes and just let herself focus on the feeling. The stress seemed to melt away, if she had a heartbeat she liked to imagine they would have synced up.

When her wrist had healed and the sunlight began to burn her she reluctantly rose.

“Just closed the blinds,” Jackie protested. “I’ll sleep better in the dark with you watching over me.”

Sofia smiled but shook her head. “Get some rest, I’ll be back in a bit.”

Jackie pouted but gave her a little wave that was quickly swallowed up by a yawn.

Sofia stepped into the hallway and headed for the bathroom. She hadn’t been in a public bathroom since dying, she had no need, she was also very proud of not making the stupid decision to do as she entered.

The hospital as a whole reeked of sterility. The bathroom was no different… except for all the other smells. Still, the lack of natural light was a relief.

She pulled out her phone. She could only put off calling her parents for so long. The truth about the accident would be fine, everything else… she was suddenly going to need to get really good at improvising.

Fuck she hated lying. Plus her mother was somehow a walking lie detector.

Her mother answered immediately. Sofia winced, “Hola, Mamá. Yes, we’re both ok.”