Extreme Medical Services Box Set Vol 1--3

by Jamie Davis

  “Well that is good news at least,” the ER nurse said. “I was wondering what we could find for you to do while you had this forced time off. I didn’t want you lying around all day eating Cheetos while you waited for me to come home.”

  “I don’t know; I think Cheeto dust is a good color on me.”

  “That is something no woman wants to hear from her man, Dean.”

  “I’m kidding!” he said, laughing. “I am glad I have something to do with my time, too. I’m not sure if it is legal since I’m suspended, but I don’t think my patients will be complaining to the medical board about it.”

  “Have you had the news on at all this morning?” Ashley asked him.

  “No, why?” He picked up the remote and put the local news station on the TV.

  “There have been two more attacks since last night,” Ashley replied. “Both were related to recent ambulance calls from Unusuals in the community. One was an assault on the person who called 911. A black SUV pulled up on the street, and a group of men jumped out and beat and kicked the caller until they were unconscious. They are in the ICU now. The second attack was another firebombing of a residence where the ambulance had just been. No one was home since everyone inside rode to the hospital in the ambulance with the patient, so there were no injuries, thank goodness.”

  “None of the Station U paramedics were hurt, were they?” Dean asked.

  “No, but everyone is a little jumpy this morning,” Ashley replied. “There were also more threats turned in to the local police and online announcements with links to web pages attempting to expose Unusuals in the community. Some people are starting to pay attention and ask uncomfortable questions.”

  Dean grabbed the remote and switched on the TV. A woman on the noon news was talking to another reporter on location somewhere within the city. They were covering the firebombing, as well as the assault in the daily report. This wasn’t the type of attention the Unusual community wanted. Dean knew it was going to have repercussions. Since the attacks seemed to be linked to the station U paramedics, it was likely their unique patients were going to stop calling them for help. They would go back to what they used to do in the past, and try to take care of their medical problems on their own. It was not good for anyone concerned.

  A groan from across the room distracted him from both the phone and the TV. Codi was waking up. He told Ashley he’d see her later and then crossed over to check on his patient. As he got there, she woke with a start, looking around in a panic.

  “Easy, Codi. Easy,” he said. He pushed the button on the heart monitor to cycle the vital signs again. “You’re safe. Celeste and I brought you here to my place since it was close and I was able to get you some fluids and blood to replace what you lost. How do you feel?”

  “I feel a little dizzy, woozy, like I’m not really awake,” Codi replied. “I guess I owe you a thank you?”

  “We can worry about that later,” Dean said. “Let me take your blood pressure and other vitals again and then maybe we can see about getting you back down to your room, Okay?”

  She nodded and Dean went about assessing her again. Her vitals were much better than when she had arrived. Once he had reviewed the readings, he unhooked her from the heart monitor and removed the blood pressure cuff and sensors. He took the IV out of her arm, applying a small adhesive bandage in its place, then checked the bandages he had put on her neck and shoulder. When he was done, he looked her over one more time.

  “Let’s sit you up slowly, and see how you feel. Then you can stand up and see how that feels. If you feel alright after that, I’ll walk with you back downstairs to your apartment.”

  Codi sat up and looked around the room. “This apartment is much nicer than mine downstairs. Maybe I could stay here a while longer?” She placed a hand on his knee and looked him in the eye.

  “I don’t think my girlfriend would like that too much, Codi. Let’s just get you settled back in your apartment. Maybe I can check in on you later to make sure you’re alright.”

  She sighed and nodded. He helped her stand up and then walked next to her, ready to support her if she started to fall. She was a little unsteady but able to walk on her own. Dean led the way to the door and took her to the elevator where she pushed the button for the third floor. When they got to her apartment, just the size of a small, poorly furnished hotel or single-person dorm room, he walked her inside and helped her sit on the bed.

  “I will be back close to dinner time and make sure you are still doing alright. My girlfriend is a nurse so she will probably want to check on you, too. In the meantime, you rest.” Dean waited until he was sure she understood, then he left and returned to his place upstairs.

  * * *

  ———

  * * *

  He stepped out of the elevator on his floor and saw Artur standing outside his door. The vampire lord had assumed a relaxed pose, leaning against the wall opposite Dean’s apartment door. He looked up as Dean approached.

  “I wanted to thank you for cleaning up my mess, Dean,” Artur crooned. “I thought she could make it on her own back down to her little dwelling below.” His grin grew broader. “Perhaps I was hungrier than I expected.”

  “Perhaps you should learn some self-control,” Dean quipped. He wasn’t in the mood to play games with this bloodthirsty monster. Dean had learned a lot about Unusuals, and he knew that, for the most part, they were just people, folks who wanted to live their lives like everyone in the human population. He also knew that every group had their bad apples. Artur was one of those bad apples from the Unusual barrel in Dean’s book.

  “Perhaps you should learn to respect your betters, young man. I think you should reconsider how you speak to me. I am not one to have as an enemy.” The grin was gone now. It had been replaced with a sneer.

  Dean glared at the vampire, meeting his eyes for a moment, then the paramedic turned away to open his door. Artur reached out and grabbed his arm, only to hiss in pain and draw away. Dean was surprised, but not as surprised as Artur was. The vampire stared at his hand for a moment, flexing his fingers as if testing them after getting a jolt from an ungrounded electrical appliance. He looked at Dean and then closed his eyes and inhaled deeply through his nose. Dean stood and watched, not sure what was going on. After thirty uncomfortable seconds, Artur opened his eyes, took a step back, and gave a brief nod to Dean. It was the kind of nod one fencer gave to another after a touch.

  “I had forgotten the Eldara and her involvement in this,” Artur said in an offhand manner. “Miss Moore and I have encountered each other before. I knew there was an Eldara Sister in the vicinity. I had not realized it was she who was your protector. This information changes the direction of things. I will have to come at this problem from a different direction.” The last part was not to Dean, but rather as if he were making mental notes aloud.

  “You know Ashley?” Dean asked, not sure what was happening. Was this vampire threatening Ashley in some way? “You stay away from her, Artur.”

  “She has nothing to fear from me, young man,” Artur laughed. “I have no desire to cross swords with her again, or her sister. Her insane sister is not in town, too, is she?” The vampire almost sounded concerned. When Dean returned a curious stare, Artur continued. “No, of course not. We’d all know if she were here. She is much more…direct, shall we say. Please pass my regards to Miss Moore. Perhaps we can arrange a meeting to discuss her purpose in being here. Let her know I will await her response.”

  Artur turned and hurried away around the corner to his rooms, leaving Dean standing in the hallway wondering what just happened. He looked at his arm where he still felt the steel grip of the vampire’s momentary grasp. Even though Artur had let go instantly, it had been intended as an attack based on the force applied by the vampire's grip. What had Ashley done to him that had the power to hurt the vampire lord? Dean turned and unlocked his door, going inside while still pondering what had happened. It had been a curious day all the way around.


  He was picking up the first aid supplies he had used to take care of Codi when his phone buzzed in his pocket. He pulled it out and glanced at the screen. It was Ashley. He answered with a swipe.

  “Dean, is everything alright?”

  “Yes, why?”

  “I sensed a — well, some sort of attack on you,” Ashley said. “Did something just happen?”

  Dean told her about his encounter with Artur and the vampire’s response when he grabbed Dean’s arm. He relayed the message from the vampire lord for a meeting and the strange comment about Ashley’s sister. That brought a surprised laugh from the other end of the phone.

  “I don’t think this is funny, Ash,” Dean said. “I get the idea that you and he have some animosity towards each other. He stopped short of threatening you, but I got the sense that he doesn’t like you very much.”

  “It’s not funny, Dean,” she replied. “At least not all of it. He’s right, though. If my sister were here, things would be a bit more interesting. Direct is a good way to describe the way she works. In any case, I’m in no danger. I’ve told you before; I can take care of myself. But Artur’s being here during this crisis cannot be a coincidence. I’m sure of it now, after this incident. He is mixed up with all of this in some way. I know it.”

  “What did you do to me that caused him to let go when he grabbed me? It was like he got a jolt of electricity or something.”

  “It is hard to describe. Because of our close physical relationship, my aura, for lack of a better explanation, extends partly to you,” Ashley explained. “There are some negative plane Unusuals who can have their energy drawn away when they come into contact with my aura if I choose it. Some of that power extends to you. If one of them touched you with the intent to cause you harm, they would encounter a jolt of pain. Understand, they can still continue to attack you if they choose to ignore the pain. It would not drain them the way my direct aura would. They can also use a surrogate to attack you, so don’t think this makes you invincible.”

  “I don’t think I’ll feel that way. My arm’s going to have a bruise where he grabbed me.”

  “Exactly, so you should be careful around Artur. Knowing you, you made a rude comment to him, and being who he is, he didn’t take kindly to it. Still, now that he knows I’m here, I don’t think he’ll take direct action like that again. But that is no reason to take any chances.”

  “Are you coming home soon?” Dean asked. He glanced at his watch. Her shift was over soon.

  “I am getting ready to leave. I just need to do my shift report and hand over my patients to the next nurse on duty. Why don’t you contact Brynne and see if she and James are available to catch up tonight? I think this situation with Artur requires us to look at this in a different way.”

  “Okay, I’ll shoot her a text,” Dean said. “See you when you get back.”

  He disconnected the call and went back to cleaning up the medical supplies and repacking the trauma bag Celeste had brought down. When he was finished, he texted his former paramedic partner about meeting upstairs in James’ penthouse later that evening. It was strange how his life had changed over the last two days. He’d been charged with a crime, suspended from his job, pissed off a visiting vampire lord, and discovered that his girlfriend, and apparently her sister, were badass enough to scare off said vampire lord. Just when he thought his life couldn’t get any more mixed up, it got even crazier.

  7

  Brynne responded to his text message almost immediately. She urged him to come up as soon as Ashley got back from the hospital and had a chance to change. James would order up some dinner for the four of them, and they could sit and eat while they discussed the day’s events. Brynne had been out all day in the ambulance responding to the attacks on the Unusual community while Dean was here, in what was supposed to be a haven, responding to attacks of a different sort.

  Ashley returned from the hospital and texted him from her apartment next door that she’d be ready in a half hour after she got a shower. He watched some of the evening local news and saw more reports of the attacks from earlier that day. The news anchorwoman even made a joke about the internet stories on monsters living among the people of Elk City. Dean shut it off. That was a sure sign that the attacks by The Cause were starting to have their desired effect. If the human population started wondering about what was going on with their weird neighbors, the Unusuals in the community might start getting exposed for real. Nobody in the Unusual community wanted that. They depended on their anonymity.

  He got up at a tap on his door and opened it to see Ashley standing there looking as beautiful as ever. She had changed from her ER scrubs into jeans and a loose-fitting blouse with a low-scooped neckline. His eyes lingered over the hint of cleavage there.

  “Hello to you, too, Dean,” Ashley said.

  “Sorry, Ash. I’m just amazed that a gorgeous woman like you picked a guy like me to hang out with.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Flattery will get you nowhere, at least not right now,” she replied with a wink. “We are expected upstairs, yes?”

  “Yes, but I will take a rain check on that ‘not right now,’ okay?” Dean proposed.

  “Perhaps, but let’s focus on the things at hand, shall we?” She held out a hand, and they walked together to the elevators and headed upstairs to the Penthouse level.

  Brynne had already opened the double doors to the Penthouse apartment when Dean and Ashley arrived off the elevator to the entry hall. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans as well, and had on a duty t-shirt with the Elk City EMS logo printed on the pocket. The t-shirt exposed her neckline, and Dean immediately noticed the double red pinprick dots there that showed where James had been feeding on her. It made him think back to the much more severe wounds on Codi he had cared for earlier. Was there a difference? Dean thought he had resolved his feelings about Brynne’s and James’ private arrangement, but the events from earlier in the day had brought them back to the surface.

  “Won’t you come in?” Brynne said. “How are you guys? Dean, I heard you had a productive day.”

  “Yeah, you could say that,” Dean said as he and Ashley walked into the spacious apartment that looked out over the city around them. “I heard that there were more attacks associated with the Station U ambulance calls?”

  “Yes,” Brynne replied. “It’s getting more and more dangerous. I am surprised by the speed with which things have ramped up, especially since they found Zach’s body. I would have thought The Cause would have slowed down with the loss of one of their own.”

  James came over to greet them and said, “That might be true if they thought we were responsible for his death. Since we know that is not the case, I have to assume they have made this all part of their plan, including his murder. In that case, it would not slow them down at all.” The vampire lord of Elk City led them to the dining area where the table was set and ready for dinner. They sat down, and as they removed the warming covers from the platters of food, Dean realized how hungry he was. He hadn’t eaten since breakfast. The incident with Codi and the run-in with Artur had distracted him from needed sustenance.

  They started filling their plates. Well, everyone except James, who sat back at the head of the table and drank from a white ceramic mug, setting it down on an electric warming plate between sips. Dean knew what was in the cup that needed to be kept warm. He preferred not to think about it. He returned his attention to his food and dug in. As the rest of them started eating, James broke the silence.

  “Dean, I wanted to thank you for caring for Codi today. I do not like it when my employees are harmed in the course of their work for me. I’m glad you were available to take care of her.”

  “It was your guest who caused the injury,” Dean said, finishing a bite of food. “I assume you had a discussion with Artur about this so that it won’t happen again?”

  James glanced at Brynne and Ashley, then looked his way and answered him. “It’s not quite that simple. I cannot issue ord
ers to Artur. He is my guest, not my vassal. Usually, a guest is more respectful of the hospitality of their host in our society. Artur, however, is more resistant to change than some others. He considers himself better than most of those he encounters.”

  “So there’s nothing you can do to keep it from happening again?” Dean asked in disbelief.

  “I have talked to him about it. He merely offered to compensate me for my trouble,” James said. “Honestly, I didn’t expect much more. Artur is much older than I, and I have no way to compel him to act differently.”

  “Maybe Ashley can do something,” Dean said. “She’s had dealings with him before.”

  James raised an eyebrow at this revelation. He looked at Ashley, and she waved a hand in front of her mouth while she finished a bite of food.

  “It has had more to do with my sister than it has with me,” she said. “We first ran into Artur during the Crimean War in the early 1850’s. I was assisting Florence Nightingale with her work in the British military hospitals. My sister happened to be there, too, where she always likes to be, near a battlefield.”

  “Wait, I thought all the Eldara Sisters were healers,” Dean asked. “Why wasn’t she helping you in the hospital?”

  Ashley smiled. “It’s a common mistake when I talk about my sister. The Eldara Sisters are the healers of the Eldara. It’s like a person having different types of jobs. The Eldara Sisters are our healers. It just so happens that I also have a twin sister. She’s about as far from a healer as you can get. She is what you might call a Battle Maiden.”

  Dean and James both laughed when Brynne nearly did a spit take while she was drinking her water. After she had finished coughing, she gasped, “Your sister is a Valkyrie?”

  Dean stopped laughing at Brynne and looked from Brynne to Ashley. “Seriously? A Valkyrie? The winged women of Norse legends who carry those who die heroically in battle on to Valhalla?”