Dark Experiments

by Lana Campbell

  His gaze slid her way and a ghost of a smile tipped the corners of his mouth. “Thanks.”

  With a heavy sigh he reclined into the couch. “Noah was on call last night. He had two deliveries. Both of the babies were stillborn.”

  Tiffany gasped. Oh God! No wonder he was such a hot mess. “I’m so sorry, Christian. That’s outrageous. Do you know what happened?”

  He shook his head. “Noah and I ran tests. Most are still pending. We’ve had three stillborns in the last two days. That’s just too coincidental for my head to wrap around.”

  Fear and understanding began to mount inside her gut, twisting it into a tight, heavy knot. She didn’t even want to fathom what she suspected he meant. “If this isn’t coincidence, what could it be?”

  He shook his head again. “I have no idea. It might be coincidence or something else entirely.” He broke off and glanced away.

  “Like what?”

  “Never mind. Hopefully it’s just a series of horrible events.”

  “But if it isn’t?”

  He swallowed hard and pinned her with a hard look. “Then our practice and patients could be in grave danger.”

  * * *

  After a quick shower, Christian returned to the V clinic lab to see if the results were back from the tests he’d ordered on Asa’s patient, Mrs. Taylor and her deceased child, or the ones Noah had ordered on his own patient and stillborn. When he walked in, he found Noah bent over a microscope and went to where he worked. “Anything?”

  Noah glanced up at him with a sick, tight expression and Christian felt another pang of dread. The emotion had been eating a hole in his stomach all night. “What is it?”

  Noah nodded. “I’ve isolated something very strange in both the mothers’ and babies’ blood work, something I’ve never witnessed before with the blood of our kind. It appears to be hemolysis. Look and see if you agree. Many of the red blood cells have ruptured from fluid. There’s also strange clumping. The symptoms are very indicative of the disease from a vivo source.”

  Christian rushed over to look. “How can that be?” he muttered, then blinked and studied the slide more carefully. “It does look like hemolysis.” He straightened and glared at Noah. “This makes no sense. Hemolysis is a human disorder. Vampires are naturally immune even in cases of poisoning.”

  “This is the case.”

  “What do you mean this is the case?”

  “Poison. Arsenic and cyanide.”

  “What? How?” Christian couldn’t believe that. He just couldn’t believe it.

  Noah lifted his hands, conveying confusion. “I don’t know. Right now I’m concerned with their health. As you said our kind are immune to those poisons. An evolutionary blessing as you know. In this case they weren’t and now they present for hemolysis. Why?”

  Christian’s thoughts honed on what he knew of the diseased. “Well, hemolysis is the rupture of erythrocytes with release of hemoglobin into the plasma, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “And some microbes form substances called hemolysins with the specific action of destroying red blood cells. Intravenous administration of a hypotonic solution or plain distilled water could also destroy red blood cells by causing them to fill with fluid until their membranes rupture, which we can rule out since we know what caused this.”

  “Yes, all the clues point to what would appear not only an intentional poisoning, but one that would leave no room for error. At least in a human or vampire fetus. The tox screen was positive for extremely high levels of arsenic and potassium chlorate.”

  “Son of a bitch! The only reason we don’t have dead mothers on our hands is because they’re vampire, but it explains why they each miscarried.”

  “I believe I know where you’re going with this.”

  “I’m certain you do. Our kind has special blood anti-bodies that attack such poisons.” Scientist of their kind believed that fact was due to millenniums of ingesting tainted human blood, thus the reason their species had developed such anti-bodies against both substances poisonous to humans and human born virus and all their other communicable illnesses.

  Noah picked up on his line of thinking. “Exactly. Unfortunately, vampire fetuses and infants do not possess their own antibodies to combat most poisons, deadly drugs and viruses. They receive some antibodies from the mother, but in some cases when a mother is an older vampire, her antibodies fail either herself, the fetus or both.”

  “Which explains these three spontaneous abortions, Noah. Both Candice Corrigan, and these two other patients who aborted, were well over two hundred years of age. Tell me if I’m not right.”

  Noah scratched his chin. “It would appear you are correct. Sadly.”

  Sad didn’t even begin to describe Christian’s mood or the situation.

  Prior to modern medicine and transfusions, far more miscarriages occurred in their women due to the fetus’s inability to combat deadly toxins or diseases. The primary reason OB’s discouraged older pregnant females from feeding directly from humans was tainted blood and the effects on the fetus.

  “Did you ask the patients if they’d fed naturally at some point recently?” Christian asked Noah since he’d been studying their charts.

  “Yes and each responded negative for natural feeding. They all drink units or take daily transfusions from reputable vampire blood banks, who we know do thorough testing on each and every unit. They each took one here the day of their check up and were all administered a vitamin booster too, which leads to the natural conclusion, something they ingested or received here is how they came in contact with those deadly poisons.”

  That possibility made his stomach sour. “If this is intentional, who would do such a thing? And why?”

  “I couldn’t imagine.”

  Christian shot him a hard look. “Yeah, it’s too chilling to imagine.”

  Noah slipped his hands into the pockets of his lab coat and sighed. “Indeed. You were just viewing the mother’s sample. Asa’s patient. The fetuses’ samples are at deadly levels obviously. I took the liberty of running tox screens on Mrs. Corrigan and her stillborn. I’m afraid the results were the same on mother and child.”

  He’d assumed that already based on Noah’s findings. This situation was catastrophic. Christian felt numb, unable to wrap his mind around the possibility someone did this on purpose. Try as he might he couldn’t fathom how it could have been accidental. “How are the mothers?”

  “Despondent of course. All three complained of feeling depressed, exhausted and nauseous, lack of appetite, some joint pain. They each seem to be experiencing depression of senses, smell, hearing and taste, which obviously must be a result of the toxin cocktail. Add to that their postpartum state. Mrs. Corrigan seems to be suffering the worst. Her eye color is dull and skin tone a bit ashen. All of these symptoms point to the poisons.”

  “I’d venture to say there isn’t a vampire on the planet who feeds naturally that hasn’t at some point ingested blood with substances which could cause hemolysis, but it’s not a vampire abnormality. Did anything else pop up as odd in their blood work?” And can you think of any way they could have come in contact with all of those substances accidentally?”

  Noah shook his head. “Nothing else in their blood work raises a brow. And I’ve tried to imagine an accidental method of ingestion but I can think of nothing logical with poisons such as arsenic and potassium chloride in their blood. I did however consider blood as a source.”

  “Impossible. Units are tested thoroughly prior to sale.”

  He nodded. “I know, but we have plenty here which could have been tampered with or the vitamin regime for that matter. I plan to test both supplies we have on hand. My feeling is these three patients were singled out for some reason. Then again I could be wrong. This could be far more widespread than our V clinic.”

  Christian studied his partner’s tired, worry-worn features and offered a single nod. Noah knew as well as he they would have to send the samples to th
e Vampire Center of Disease Control located in Brunswick.

  The Brunswick VCDC was one of only three vampire research facilities in the world which could provide them answers if they were dealing with, God forbid, an attempted vampire genocide. It wouldn’t be the first or last time humans sought to destroy their kind. But to use pregnant women was an absolute unthinkable evil.

  Finally, Christian said, “I guess we send off the samples with a STAT request.”

  Noah snorted. “Every request to the VCDC is a rush request. We will get no preference. In the meantime, I’m afraid we’re on our own. We might not be able to solve this mystery overnight, but at least we’re armed with knowledge. My suggestion would be to draw blood from every patient from this point on and monitor them closely so we can discover a common denominator.”

  That seemed like sound advice. “Alright, we’ll do that. To your other point though, we already know the common denominator, Noah. Our clinic. All three of these infected patients live thousands of miles apart.”

  “Possibly we are the source but not necessarily. We can’t be rash in our assumptions either way, rather pragmatic.”

  Being pragmatic was Noah’s strong suit. The man was a hundred and fifty some years older than he and very good at thinking logically when rubber met the road. Generally, Christian was too, but answers were needed. Too many babies had died and too many mothers and fathers were grieving the losses of precious children.

  He’d chosen obstetrics because it was generally a happy field of medicine. The fertility drug he and Asa discovered had been a life altering blessing for so many couples desiring children. Christian felt he’d been making a difference in people’s lives. Now, he felt as if the life of every patient who entered this place was at risk and he had no idea how to protect them.

  “Fair enough, Noah. We’ll draw blood on every patient and newborn, but we test the samples ourselves and we keep this information to ourselves. Nothing about this goes into the patients’ charts.”

  Noah’s piercing blue eyes widened. “I suspect I know your thoughts. I don’t want to even conceive of the notion, but under the circumstances, I agree, extreme caution is warranted.”

  Christian just nodded because he didn’t want to verbalize what they were both thinking--that someone working inside the clinic could have intentionally poisoned these women. It was a heinous notion, but by far the most logical one.

  The next part of the nightmare facing them would be providing answers to their patients. “Have you spoken with either patient yet this morning?” Both mothers had been so distraught last night Noah had ordered a sleep med. A sensible call for both their mental and physical health. He’d done the same for Mrs. Corrigan.

  “Yes. I simply conveyed their losses as an act of God. Christian, we can’t tell anyone what we’ve discovered just yet.”

  “I agree all lab results remains between us and Asa. But I don’t like keeping patients waiting for answers, Noah. It’s unethical.”

  Noah’s brows furrowed. “You’re right, they deserve to know the truth. We might even be able to figure out a common denominator we haven’t considered by questioning them. I just wanted to wait until I spoke with you before I told them our findings. I suggest we do this together given the gravity of what we believe befell them. However, since we don’t know how they each ended up with those toxins in their system I suggest we keep our hypotheses to ourselves until we discover something solid.”

  Christian’s cell began to chime. He pulled it out of his lab coat and frowned. “It’s Katie. I’m sure she’s calling to remind me of my first appointment.” He answered it. Indeed she was and he was late. “I have to go. We’ll speak to the patients this afternoon when we do rounds if that’s alright with you.”

  “That will be fine.” Noah’s features clouded with a concern. “Then we are agreed this remains between us and Asa?”

  “Of course.” Christian’s brows furrowed because there should be no need for him to question his loyalty to the V clinic. “What are you driving at?”

  He cleared his throat, then fixed Christian with a pointed look. “It’s not uncommon to want to share professional difficulties with family or friends. In this instance, it would not be wise.”

  That caused the light bulb over his head to glow. He referred to Tiffany and he didn’t like what he inferred. “As I said, this remains between us.” It hadn’t, but what went on between him and Tiffany was personal and none of Noah’s business.

  “Good. I know you have some sort of affinity for the human woman you hired to update our patient filing system. Females, especially humans, can be very loose tongued. You told me she was a daughter of a close friend, but I suspect she is more than that based on the fact her scent has clung to you since the day she arrived here.”

  Shit, but the man was tromping on some frayed nerves. “So?”

  Noah’s lips thinned, then he exhaled sharply. “I know this isn’t any of my business, but she doesn’t seem the caliber of female someone of your station should consort with romantically. Of course we all consort with human females if we are not life mated. But she is an employee, Christian and you’ve never been one to breech ethics.”

  The bastard could be so tediously judgmental and such a stickler for rules. He shot him a fierce look, then said, “You’re right. My relationship with Tiffany isn’t any of your business, Noah.”

  He lifted his hands in a defensive gesture. “I know that and I’m not telling you what to do, but we have enough troubles without the wagging tongues of staff members.”

  Tongues were just going to have to wag. Tiffany was his and Christian was no actor. He couldn’t pretend she meant nothing to him. However, Noah had a point. “Tiffany is special to me and that’s all I’m going to say. And for your information, she is precisely the sort of woman I choose to consort with and will in the future. This is your first and last warning. If you ever say anything derogatory about her character again, you’ll be visiting a vampire dentist for a new set of fangs.” With that he stormed out of the lab.

  No one talked disrespectfully about his woman! He didn’t care how rude or ordinary she came across to other people. He knew the real her and she was brilliant. She just happened to possess a tongue that only a mother or a life mate could love.

  Chapter 7

  Tiffany arrived over an hour late to work. Normally, that would never happen, but she hadn’t been able to bring herself to leave Christian. He’d been so angry and despondent. His patient losses were affecting her far more deeply than she could have ever imagined. It killed her to see Christian hurting and to imagine the pain of those poor parents. When he finally excused himself to take a shower, she’d reluctantly left to do the same.

  She dropped her backpack in her office, then headed for the coffee maker. When she entered the break room Blake stood in front of the microwave which hummed as it heated something. “Morning,” she greeted then walked passed him toward the coffee pot.

  “Good morning to you. Just getting in?” He flashed her a friendly smile, edged with a little curiosity.

  Man, working in an office situation again was going to take some getting used to, Tiffany thought as she poured herself a cup. She didn’t mind punching a clock proverbially speaking, but she’d always found the whole office socializing thing tedious back before she’d had her own store. “Yeah. I decided to start at home because ya’ll don’t have wifi yet.”

  That was a bit of a fib, but she had checked emails for some of the places she’d contacted yesterday for software.

  He nodded and gave her an exasperated roll of his eyes. “I know. It’s crazy that it’s taken the doctors this long to do this. Strangely, there isn’t a medical device or machine in the building they can’t use, and all of them have cell phones, but for some reason none of them give much thought to the benefit of communication technology for the clinic.”

  Tiffany chuckled. “So I’ve seen. I think Christian can use a computer and isn’t ignorant on how to look
up information on the internet. Noah seems to be a different story.” She’d only been in his office that one time, but she had noticed every wall had bookshelves packed to the ceiling with books and medical journals. She couldn’t imagine that man’s number of medical degrees or his chronological age.

  “You’re right on both accounts.” The microwave dinged and he pulled out a cup with the tail of a tea bag hanging over the edge.

  Obviously, not all vampires rolled with the times, but Christian did. Funny, she knew Christian was a hundred and twelve, knew how slowly vampires aged, but he just didn’t act like a guy who was over a hundred years old. He looked and acted like a guy in his mid thirties who smelled incredible. Waking up in his bed this morning had been totally hot. Partially because his yummy scent had been all over the bedding, but also because she’d imagined him lying in it next to her all spooned up to her backside.

  She groaned. Thoughts like that were counter-productive to her stance and she seriously needed to curtail them. Christian’s flirtations were close to undoing her resolve to keep things on a friendship basis. She didn’t need her own wayward thoughts clouding matters.

  “You seem a little distracted. Did you have another date with Dr. La Mond last night?”

  Tiffany felt her eyes bulge and choked on her sip of coffee. The nurse wore a knowing grin. Apparently, Katie had been blabbing about the bite marks on her neck, which today were hardly visible. Tiffany didn’t want to imagine what he and others thought. Respectable vampires didn’t go around biting their employees and certainly not one as moral and ethical as Christian. So naturally, everyone would assume they were sexually involved.

  “I’m sorry. I guess that was a bit nosy.” He sat the cup on the counter, then dumped in a couple of sweetener packets.

  It was nosy, but there was no reason to get all up in his shit about it. She had to work with the guy. “It’s like I told both you and Katie, Christian and I are just good friends. We aren’t dating.”