by Mandy Lee
"Amor vincit omnia." B said, dropping a kiss on the tip of Mara's nose.
"Love conquers all." Mara smiled. "It sure does."
The End
Coming Soon...
The hospital was bustling — long weekends seemed to be like a magnet for every type of accident imaginable. Alex rubbed his tired eyes as he made his way through the crowded emergency room toward the break room. A twenty-four hour shift and two back to back surgeries was a lot for anyone to handle, even a vampire. The last couple of hours had been gruelling…he hadn’t fed since before he’d gone on shift and the scent of his patient’s blood had kept him perilously on edge. He glanced down at his watch and realized it was almost six o’clock in the evening. He’d lost track of time at some point early that morning, moving from one emergency to another.
Alex pushed through the door to the lounge and broke into a wide smile. She was standing with her back to him, reaching into her locker to grab a stethoscope, her unruly red curls scraped into a messy bun.
“What’s kickin’ little chicken?”
Mara flicked her locker shut and turned to face him. “Weirdo,” she said and stuck her tongue out.
“You know it.” He replied with a cheeky wink.
They’d been best friends for the better part of three centuries. It had been Alex and Mara against the world until recently, when Mara had met and fallen for Baal. Alex was surprised given B’s womanizing history, but he actually liked the guy and was genuinely happy that they’d found each other. He knew that B would lay down his life for Mara — and she deserved no less. She’s always credited Alex for saving her when she’d been a young feral vampire, but what she didn’t fully comprehend was that Alex had always felt that she had saved him. Mara had given him a purpose, someone to live for that needed him as much as he needed her.
Mara laughed and walked over, grabbing Alex in a bone-crushing hug. “I missed you.” She mumbled into his neck.
Alex swallowed past the lump that had magically appeared in his throat. “I missed you too.” He hugged her back.
Mara reluctantly released her hold on him and stepped back — her eyes swimming in pinkish tears. “Sorry.” She mumbled as she dashed her eyes with the back of her hand. “I’m still getting used to everything changing…I’m really happy with B, but not seeing you every day was…” She trailed off.
Alex knew exactly how she was feeling. “Vampires, we can live forever, but we’re not great with change,” he whispered to her.
Mara chuckled. “Yup, we get a bit set in our ways don’t we?”
“Speaking of set in our ways…you managed to tear yourself away from B to come back to work?” Alex asked with a teasing smirk.
Mara rolled her eyes at him. “Much as we would both have loved to lock ourselves away for a while…life goes on. There’s still a lot of danger out there for the angels, and I’m far more useful here saving lives than hanging out at the house worrying about him all day.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re back,” Alex said, reaching out to give her upper arm a friendly squeeze. “I’m also glad you’ve got someone that makes you happy.”
Mara smiled at him. “You’ll find someone too Alex. I know you will.” She turned and walked toward the refrigerator in the corner of the break room, reached in, and grabbed a juice box, tossing it toward him. Alex caught it and looked at her with a raised eyebrow.
“Drink up. You look like death warmed over.” She joked as she stabbed the straw into her own drink.
“Awww, that’s so sweet of you.” Alex teased. “No wonder I have such a healthy level of self-confidence.”
Mara shrugged innocently. “What are friends for?”
He really was lonely, Alex thought as he drank from the type O juice box. Now that Mara had a life outside of their friendship and the hospital it was really hitting home. He’d always wanted that kind of love, but his life had felt full enough these past centuries that he’d managed to push that desire aside.
“Penny for them,” Mara said, pulling Alex out of his head.
“Sorry?” he asked.
“Your thoughts, penny for them.” She repeated.
“Oh, ah…”
Just as Alex began to speak the lounge door opened and Dr. Mark Miller, the psychiatric attending physician walked in looking frazzled.
“Hey guys,” he said, heading over to the coffee maker with his travel mug at the ready. “Nice to see you back from your leave Mara.”
“Thanks.” She replied. “Everything ok? You look like you’re having a rough shift.”
Dr. Miller let out a long sigh. “An old patient of mine just got transferred back to me from another hospital. They’d been working on some new therapies that I hoped would be helpful, but if anything she’s gotten worse than the last time I saw her.”
Alex shook his head sadly. “It must be frustrating.”
“It really is.” Dr. Miller ran a hand through his hair. “She’s a young woman with a whole life to live, but she’s been locked in this psychosis since adolescence. She seems to have far fewer moments of lucidity than ever before…I’m afraid we’ll never find a drug cocktail that will work.”
“That’s awful,” Alex said.
Dr. Miller nodded. “And the worst part is that if we ever do find a way to help her, will she ever be able to acclimate to reality after spending half her life dealing with all these visual and auditory hallucinations?” He shook his head. “It makes me really wonder if we’re helping her or hurting her.”
Not for the first time, Alex was glad he’d chosen a far more mechanical field of medicine to practice. He loved diagnosing and being able to fix a problem. Though psychiatry had made huge strides that he had witnessed firsthand, there was no way he was equipped as a person to deal with the challenges inherent to the field.
“I wish there was something we could do to help,” Alex said earnestly.
“So do I.” Dr. Miller muttered. “Anyhow, I’ve got to head back up. I’ll see you guys around.” He headed back out the door.
“Damn,” Mara said, turning back to Alex. “It really makes you appreciate pinning bones back together, and repairing ruptured organs.”
“No kidding,” Alex said shaking his head sadly. “Anyhow my dear, I’m heading home to charge my legs and have a good meal.”
“The new prosthetics are still working out for you? You still owe me that race you know,” Mara said with a cheeky smile.
Alex reached down and pulled up the hem of his scrub pants a bit revealing his titanium lower leg. “They’re a lot lighter than my last pair, so I think I’ll be able to beat you now…watch your back.” He winked at Mara and dropped his pant leg back down and headed over to his locker, tossing in his lab coat and stethoscope. He flicked his locker door shut with a click and headed toward the door. “I’m off for a couple of days, are you on shift toward the end of the week?”
Just then the pager attached to Mara’s waist went off. She glanced down quickly to read the message. “Yup, I’m in all week. 911 for me, gotta head straight to the OR.” She grabbed Alex in a quick hug and gave him a quick peck on the cheek before disappearing through the door.
“And she’s off.” Alex chuckled as he prepared to head home for some much needed R&R. Little did he know, his life was about to change forever….
About The Author
Mandy Lee
Office worker by day, writer by night! Mandy Lee has a passion for all things paranormal and sci-fi. She spends her nights typing away with a metric ton of coffee to keep her going, and watching more Star Trek than is probably healthy.
Books In This Series
Dark Angels
Dark Angels: Lucifer (Book 1)
In a world of fallen angels, charismatic demons, and a boy band loving Devil, anything is possible. A rag-tag team of angels, demons, and witches come together in an unlikely alliance to save the human realm from destruction. Lucifer has spent centuries keeping everyone at a distance while an unstoppable
darkness consumes his soul. Will a beautiful captive wind up being his salvation, or will they both be consumed by the ultimate evil before their quest is done…
Books By This Author
Dark Angels: Lucifer
In a world of fallen angels, charismatic demons, and a boy band loving Devil, anything is possible. A rag-tag team of angels, demons, and witches come together in an unlikely alliance to save the human realm from destruction. Lucifer has spent centuries keeping everyone at a distance while an unstoppable darkness consumes his soul. Will a beautiful captive wind up being his salvation, or will they both be consumed by the ultimate evil before their quest is done…
Dark Angels: Fallen