Free Vampire Blood by Kathryn Meyer Griffith

nod and hopeless eyes, I should have been. I really should have been. Now it’s too late.
    That had been mom’s dream.
    A pity, she would have made a damn good nurse. Blood never bothered her, and she was always watching those doctor shows on TV.
    Jenny finished making the coffee and collected the newspaper from the front yard. As she walked into her dad’s bedroom to say good-bye, she could hear the coffee perking cheerfully.
    “Okay. Coffee’s making, Dad. Here’s the paper.” She laid the tightly rolled bundle on his bed. “Still have those bites on your neck,” she observed, surprised.
    He gingerly touched them, as if they hurt, but all he said was, “Been having the darndest nightmares lately. Pain, too.”
    “Nightmares?”
    “Yeah.” Her father looked embarrassed mentioning it. “Awful nightmares. About this huge, ferocious panther. It jumps on me and,” he hesitated, “bites me over and over. The worse thing about it is that, I swear, it hurts.”
    Jenny frowned, feeling helpless. She’d never heard her father talk about dreams before. Only that he never dreamed. Never.
    “They’re just dreams, that’s all, Dad.”
    He looked up at her with a haunted glaze to his eyes.
    “You rest then,” she said soothingly, touching his arm. “I’ll call you tonight to see if you need anything.”
    “Sure, honey, if you want.” There was a feeble rustling as he rubbed his eyes. His face was so sunburned, it made hers ache just to look at it.
    Maybe that was part of the reason he was feeling so poorly. A bad burn could drain a person. Give them fever. Uneasy sleep, maybe?
    “Need some lotion on that face,” she told him. “Got a real bad burn there.” Darn, if she’d go and get the lotion for him, too, and put it on his face as if he were a child. Like Mom would have done.
    “Got some around here someplace. In the medicine cabinet or maybe in the bathroom pantry,” her dad said, hinting, “but I don’t feel up to tearing the house apart to find it.”
    Jenny ignored him. He had to start learning to take care of himself sooner or later.
    “Ah, I’ll remember where I put it eventually.”
    “I’m sure you will.” She flashed him an encouraging grin.
    “Don’t push yourself too hard today, Jenny. Supposed to be another scorcher. Say hi to that no-account brother of yours with the ponytail, okay?”
    “I will. See ya later.” Jenny left quietly, locking the door behind her like a good girl.
    Outside, the sun was shining, and though it was hotter than when she’d arrived, it was a lovely day.
    Except for her father’s mysterious lethargy, she found she was happier than she’d been in a long time. It was amazing. She took a deep breath, studying the grounds and the old farmhouse that she’d grown up in, and smiled wide. The smell of lush flowers perfumed the air. Mom’s roses.
    Ah, no matter what, it was good to be home. She headed towards her car.
    She drove into town, feeling strange without her dad chattering away beside her.
    She wanted to keep busy, so she wouldn’t think about Samantha so far away, and how much she missed her and wanted to see her and the baby, but couldn’t.
    In town, she ran her five-year-old silver and black Escort through the car wash first. Her car was a mud ball, and she couldn’t stand looking at it any longer. She shoved in the coins and sprayed the car down with soapy water. After the machine gobbled up more of her coins, she rinsed her car, and drove away content.
    Sometimes little things could make a person happy.
    She discovered she wasn’t really hungry, and went on to the Albers’ house to continue the paint scraping. Today she wore shorts and was glad of it.
    She tore into her work and let her mind float free. As a gentle breeze cooled her face, she thought that maybe today, or tomorrow, something wonderful could happen. Would happen.
    She found herself softly humming an old Beatles song.
    She’d just finished the section in the back when Maude