THE MOMENT
Flynn grew more concerned the longer he had to wait. He had time to study the white lobby with subtle red accents, and his notion of what he was doing there started to fill with doubt. He was in need of cash, and the only thing he had left of any value was his own blood. As desperate as he was, he was savvy enough to shop around once he discovered there were plenty of centers willing to take his plasma. Unfortunately, he quickly learned the going rate was more or less standardized. Then, he tried one last call to a place called 'Sharp Medical Services', and he was astounded at the offer.
It was easily in the territory of 'too good to be true', but he planned to make a day of it. He would visit them first, and if things went in a direction he didn't like, he knew he could walk out and still visit another place. But, as time passed, he found himself more and more willing to walk out, and he hadn't even talked to anyone except the clerk to check in. There was a lot that didn't seem to add up in his mind.
Every other place he called, trying to sell his blood to kept him on hold for minutes at a time. Whenever he did get someone, it always sounded busy in the background, and driving by a few of the businesses confirmed their parking lots were always full. But, he was the only patient in the small white lobby. The size was another interesting aspect to note; he felt more like he was in the home of a private practice than a medical building. The lobby he was waiting in was as tight as the front room of a mid-sized home, but the clean white sterility did seem to make it appear bigger. The phone wasn't ringing incessantly, and all in all, he almost felt like he was in a different world completely. It was quiet and pleasant; and that was worrisome.
"This way, Mr. Graham," a polite, lovely nurse opened a door in the wall that he hadn't realized was there. It opened inward, and a dark-haired nurse encouraged Flynn to follow her. He instantly corrected his assumptions about the size of the business once he stepped into the hallway. It seemed to stretch on for hundreds of yards further than the building he walked into was. It was a long, narrow white hall with red doors dotting either side.
"The Doctor will be right with you," she guided him into a nearby red door, and he found a waiting room the same size as the lobby he was just in.
"Th.. thank you," Flynn nodded through his mild confusion. She'd brought him to a waiting room for the doctor, but there was only a single chair. It was a red leather recliner, which would look out of place in any medical setting. But, it was even stranger that that was the only furniture in the room. There was no examination table, nor any sign of anything remotely medical. Not even any informational diagrams on the clean white walls. He sat down in the chair and began practicing his excuse to leave. He could've left then and there, but the only reason he had was his unease.
He didn't have to wait long before a single knock sounded, then the door pushed open. Two men walked in, and only one of them was obviously a doctor. The other was obviously a vampire, and that was a minor shock.
"Mr. Flynn Graham, hello. I can tell you're surprised," the doctor chuckled. "It's our new direct-from-donor method," he said. Flynn went pale instantly, and the doctor chuckled with a shake of his head. "No, they're not going to turn you, just hold still...," the doctor moved slowly and deliberately around Flynn and the vampire remained still in front of him.
"WAIT!" Flynn yelled and tensed his body as the doctor arrived behind him.
"Mr. Graham, this is a medical office, you don't need to yell," the doctor said quietly. "We only act on your consent. What is it?" he asked. Flynn struggled to find an answer because if it wasn't obvious to the doctor, he didn't know how to explain it.
"Isn't it... unsanitary to get his saliva all over my wound that he's about to make..?" The doctor seemed proud of following medical procedures, and he hoped maybe that would get through to him.
"What?" the vampire tilted his head at Flynn, and the doctor chuckled.
"There's no wound, no saliva involved...," the doctor said quietly and with a hint of judgment. "Do you think he's going to bite your neck?" he asked.
"YES!" Flynn nodded. "That's how vampires work! What am I supposed to think??"
"I think someone's been watching too much TV," the vampire shared a chuckle with the doctor. "He did say I wasn't going to turn you, didn't he? If I were going to turn you, maybe I'd consider taking a bite," he said.
"Regardless of what you may think, this is a professional establishment. Sharp Medical Services follows all necessary rules and regulations. IF the procedure involved that kind of contact, you would have been well aware of it by now. And, you need to watch your assumptions a little closer. Just because you meet a vampire doesn't mean they're going to suck your blood."
"That's literally what I'm here for!" Flynn said.
"No, it's not," the doctor shook his head with a smile. "That's just the story you put together when you saw a vampire. What you're literally here for is to donate your blood. That's what you signed off on, and that donation is all we took. The reason we pay so well is because our methods are a bit strange."
"And what does that mean!?" Flynn asked. "You said it's a 'direct from donor' method. Is it strange because he's going to suck it out of me?"
"I guess…," the vampire sighed as he raised his hand in front of Flynn. "If you want to get technical, I did suck it out of you. But, you're far too focused on the worst interpretations of everything possible. I began as soon as the doctor asked you to hold still, and I was done before you asked me to wait," he said. He made deliberately slow gesture around the chair with one hand, then he showed off a perfectly red sphere of blood hovering in his other hand. "You were distracted and didn't even feel a thing. Now I bet you think I'm going to drink this, just because I'm a vampire," he smiled.
"Aren't you?"
"I've just pulled your blood out without you even noticing," the vampire shrugged. "I'm researching blood magic, and it has nothing to do with consuming it. I don't know if you're aware, but where I'm from, vampires are common. Blood is sold in convenience stores. I don't need this for sustenance. Maybe try to assume fewer things going forward. It just serves to make an ass out of you."