by Cheree Alsop
Dr. Indley paused at the door. “What about the goblin?”
“I almost forgot!” Aleric hurried back to the table and picked up the pot. A glance inside showed the Dark fae still sleeping. He put the lid back on. “Just in case,” he said.
When they reached the hallway, they found Dartan waiting.
“I wasn’t sure how long you’d be,” he said. He smiled at Dr. Indley and gave her a half-bow. “Good to see you again, Marae.”
He fell in step beside them.
“Who bows anymore?” Aleric asked in an undertone.
“I do,” Dartan said. “It’s respectful.”
“It’s old-fashioned,” Aleric pointed out.
Dartan gave him a wry look. “I’m a vampire. I’m old-fashioned.”
Dr. Indley laughed. “He has a point.”
Aleric shook his head. “Not you, too.”
She shrugged. “I liked it.”
Aleric sighed and handed the pot to Dartan. “I got you a present.”
“You shouldn’t have,” Dartan replied. He lifted up the lid and a look of distaste crossed his face. “You really shouldn’t have.”
“I’ll help you get the goblin situated,” Dr. Indley offered.
“That would be great,” Dartan accepted. “Your knowledge of animal habitation and the basic necessities of life far surpass mine.” He winked at her. “Mostly because I consist solely on blood.” She laughed and he continued, “I’d appreciate any help I could get.”
He held out his arm and she slipped hers through his. He led the way down the hall to the D Wing. Aleric watched them go for a moment. There was a pang in his heart as though he was missing something in his life. He heard Dr. Indley laugh as he turned and walked in the other direction toward the Emergency Room. Aleric told himself he was happy for them. He pushed the doors open still caught up in thoughts of the strange pairing the vampire and the veterinarian made.
Aleric stared at the wide room in front of him. The curtains had been opened on many of the rooms. Nurses rushed back and forth from section to section, tending to patients who were in the throes of seizures.
Gregory rushed past. Aleric grabbed his shoulder. The orderly stopped short.
“What’s going on?” Aleric asked.
“Goblin bites,” Gregory replied breathlessly.
Aleric stared at the dozen beds with thrashing patients. “All of them?”
“All of them,” Gregory said. “We’re filled to capacity. I don’t know what we can do.”
Aleric held up the syringe. “Let’s test Lilian. We’ll go from there. Tell Dr. Worthen I’ll meet him in his daughter’s room.”
“Yes, Dr. Wolf,” Gregory replied.
Aleric made his way to Lilian’s room. It was quiet inside away from the chaos of the Emergency Room. The steady slow beeping of the heart monitor bothered him. He closed his eyes and concentrated, allowing the sounds of the E.R. to fade to the background. He heard the rhythmic filling of Lilian’s lungs, the quiet whisper of her breath. Beneath that, her heart was faint, fainter than it should have been. The beat was weak, the rush of blood through her veins sluggish. Worry filled Aleric; the poison was taking effect.
“Will it work?” Dr. Worthen asked as soon as he stepped through the door.
“If it’s the right goblin,” Aleric replied.
“What if it’s not?”
“No effect,” Aleric told him.
Dr. Worthen followed Aleric to the bed. Aleric carefully turned Lilian’s hand over. The bite had bled through the bandages; green poison colored the white gauze.
“I’ll have Nurse Eastwick change that,” Dr. Worthen said, his voice tight.
A glance at the doctor showed his eyes filled with unshed tears. He shook his head. “It’s different, you know?” He stopped talking for a moment, then said, “I’m not used to seeing my daughter in a hospital bed. It’s just not something you ever prepare for as a parent.”
Aleric cleaned the end of the needle with an alcohol swab. “With luck, this will work,” he said quietly. “All we have to do is a little test to be sure.” He slid the needle into her arm, just barely clearing the surface. With the smallest pressure possible, he injected a drop of the antidote beneath her skin. He withdrew the needle.
“Now what?” Dr. Worthen asked.
“Now we wait. If it works, we’ll see the green lines vanish and we know the antidote is the right one for her.”
Dr. Worthen and Aleric waited with bated breaths. Aleric willed the green lines streaking from the goblin bite up Lilian’s arm to fade away. He wanted her to open her blue eyes and give her a warm smile. It felt like the longest wait of his life.
Dr. Worthen broke the silence a few minutes later. “How soon is it supposed to take effect?”
“Immediately,” Aleric replied, his voice just above a whisper.
Dr. Worthen let out a small, disappointed breath Aleric’s keen ears picked up.
“I won’t give up, Doctor,” Aleric told him. “I promise.”
“I know you won’t,” Dr. Worthen replied without looking at him. The doctor’s gaze was on his daughter’s still face as though he couldn’t look away.
Aleric knew he wished for the antidote to work and for her to wake up. He wanted the exact same thing.
“I had to bring her to the E.R. once before, only once.” Dr. Worthen blinked quickly. “I was teaching her how to ride her bicycle without training wheels. She was nine; her bike was purple and had streamers from the handles. She was so excited to ride like a big girl.”
“She fell?” Aleric asked into the silence.
Dr. Worthen shook his head as if brought back from the memory. “Not at first. No. She rode the bike. She actually did it. I was running behind her holding onto the seat and I let go. She rode straight ahead, and when she realized I wasn’t helping her anymore, she looked back at me and gave me the biggest smile.” Dr. Worthen wiped away a tear. “It was the biggest smile I had ever seen on her little face. She was so proud of herself. I was so proud of her and she knew it. Then she hit a curb while she was still looking at me. She split her chin on the sidewalk.” He shook his head with a slight smile. “I brought her here, got her stitched up, and she was begging to ride her bike again the moment we got home.”
Aleric could see the small scar along Lilian’s chin. It was faint, noticeable only because he knew it was there, but to see it matched with Dr. Worthen’s story made his heart give a painful thump.
“Now here she is, in a coma and there’s nothing I can do about it,” Dr. Worthen concluded, his voice scratchy. “My medical training is worthless in the face of something like this. Do you know how frustrating that is?” He cleared his throat as if he wanted to say something else, then shook his head and remained silent.
“I can do something about it,” Aleric said. He handed Dr. Worthen the syringe.
“Where are you going?” the doctor asked.
“To catch more goblins,” Aleric told him. “Go test the rest of the patients. If it’s a match, inject the remainder of the serum. There’ll be enough to save a life.”
He had reached the door when Dr. Worthen asked the one question he had hoped to avoid. “Dr. Wolf, how do you know all this?”
Chapter Three
Aleric paused with a hand on the door. He was tempted to leave as though he hadn’t heard the question, but it was too late. He put his forehead against the door for a moment, took a steeling breath, and turned.
“Dr. Worthen, I don’t know how much you really want to know about my life. That question opens a whole jar of howling pixies.”
“I’m assuming that’s a bad thing,” Dr. Worthen replied. He indicated his daughter on the bed. “But the answer pertains to my daughter’s life. I would like to know.”
“That’s fair,” Aleric said. He crossed his arms and leaned one shoulder against the door. “There was a conflict in Drake City. An agreement between the vampires and the rest of the city was created so that vampires would s
top drinking fae blood and the fae wouldn’t have to be afraid of them. The vampires broke the agreement and the governor sent werewolves in to retaliate. I didn’t participate, but when vampires resolved the conflict and agreed to the Armistice again, they also proceeded to wipe out all werewolves in Blays. One of my good friends died in my arms. After that, I was lost.”
He paused to collect his thoughts. A glance at the doctor showed him patiently waiting for the answer. The sight of the syringe in his gloved hand reminded Aleric that others were waiting to be tested.
Aleric cleared his throat. “We can go into details later if you need them. After the trust you’ve given me here, I owe you whatever you want to know. For now, I’m hoping it’ll be enough to say that I sold myself as a mercenary. When I lost Sherian, I lost my humanity. Werewolves were hunted, so I needed protection. I got mixed up with bad people, learned dark arts,” he indicated the syringe, “And hopefully I can redeem myself by using what I learned to help others instead of hurt them.”
“Redemption,” Dr. Worthen said.
Aleric nodded without speaking.
Dr. Worthen crossed to Aleric and set a hand on the werewolf’s shoulder. He waited for the werewolf to look at him. When Aleric finally did, the older man’s gaze was one of strength. “Save Lilian, Aleric. Save her and find your redemption. When the Fae Rift happened, I treated both kinds of patients without letting it affect me. It was my own way of coping. Now, I can’t stay impartial. I’ve been thrust into this chaos alongside you. I’m trusting you with my daughter’s life. Find the goblin and help my little girl wake up again.”
Dr. Worthen’s stern front was gone. Instead, Aleric saw a father aching over the pain of his daughter. With everything the doctor had learned in both his education and the hands-on grind of the Emergency Room, he was helpless to save the most important person in his life.
“I will,” Aleric replied. “I won’t stop searching until I find her antidote; that, I promise.”
Dr. Worthen nodded. “I believe you.”
Aleric led the way through the door. “Test all the bite patients the same way I tested Lilian. If one of the victims shows a positive result, use the entire dose. Dr. Indley knows how to extract another one.” He paused, then said, “I’m sure Dartan will be glad to assist her while I’m goblin hunting.”
“I heard goblin hunting,” Dartan said, stepping around one of the partitions. “Count me in.
“I’ll leave you guys to it,” Dr. Worthen told him. “Good luck.”
“You as well,” Aleric replied. He realized Dartan was carrying a small gun with a long barrel. “What’s that?”
Dartan held up the object. “A mini tranquilizer gun, compliments of the beautiful and amazing Marae.” He grinned and spun in a circle, showing off the dark, long coat he wore. “She also brought this. She called it a trench coat, but I consider it more of a vampire death evader. I can now laugh at the power of the sunlight thanks to the gorgeous and intelligent Marae.”
“You’re too much,” Dr. Indley said from his other side.
“Oh, are you here?” Dartan replied. “I completely forgot.”
She gave him a serious look. “Be careful out there. From what I’ve seen, goblins are nothing to trifle with.”
“Dr. Wolf will be doing all the trifling,” Dartan replied. “I’m the sharpshooter.”
“Glad to hear it,” she told him. “I’ll keep an eye on the goblin. Looks like they can use all the help here they can get. “Also, you should put the gun away; waving it around in a hospital isn’t a good idea.”
“But I feel cool when I do it,” Dartan replied. He spun the gun around one finger and winked at her.
Dr. Indley rolled her eyes but couldn’t hide her smile. “I’ll see you guys later.” She walked back the way they had appeared.
“Is that what you do now?” Aleric asked. “Sharp shoot?”
“Definitely,” Dartan replied. He shoved the tranquilizer gun into the waistband of his scrub pants and gave Aleric a toothy grin. “Vampires have terrific aim. Remember when I saved you from that demon?”
Aleric nodded. “I remember you looked like you had tangled with a fire-breathing dragon.”
Dartan grinned. “And you looked like a rag doll hanging from that beast’s neck. Good times.”
Aleric motioned toward the doors. “Ready for more of them?”
Dartan took a step forward, then paused. “Is it far? I smell blood.”
“Far enough,” Aleric replied. “You should grab a bag for the road.”
He realized the vampire wasn’t listening to him any longer. Dartan’s attention was fully on the other end of the Emergency Room where the doors were hidden from view by the partitions that lined the small walkway to the D Wing hallway.
“You’d better go check on that before I do,” Dartan said.
Aleric noticed the vampire was griping the door handle closest to them so hard the metal was denting.
“Dartan, go back to the D Wing. I’ll come get you when I’m ready to go,” Aleric said, careful to keep his voice level.
Dartan took a step forward, his hand still on the door.
Aleric put a hand on the vampire’s chest. “Go to the D Wing,” he said, his voice louder. “I’ll bring you blood.”
He immediately regretted mentioned the liquid. The vampire let go of the handle and charged forward. Aleric shoved his shoulder into the vampire and pushed him back toward the doors. They fought there for a moment, strength against strength. Unfortunately, Aleric couldn’t win against a blood-hungry vampire and he knew it. His feet slid backwards. Even he could smell the blood that was driving the vampire on. Whatever was happening in the E.R., it was about to get a whole lot worse.
“Dr. Wolf!” Gregory called out.
Aleric glanced to his right in time to see the bag soaring through the air. He caught it and shoved it in Dartan’s face. The vampire’s head jerked back in surprise, he focused on the blood, and immediately sunk his fangs into it.
It took a moment for the sanity to return to the vampire’s gaze. He blinked and studied Aleric’s face past the bag. Aleric stood with his arms crossed, barring the way for the vampire to make it further into the Emergency Room.
When realization dawned on Dartan’s face, he lifted his head from the bag, careful not to let his fangs drip.
“I’m so sorry,” he said. “It hit fast. I wasn’t expecting it.”
“I know,” Aleric replied, his words short. “Go to the D Wing. I’ll be there in a minute.”
Dartan nodded. He reached the doors and paused with the closest one open.
“Aleric, I really am sorry.”
Aleric nodded. “I know.”
Dartan ducked through the doors.
Aleric stood watching the form of the vampire as he walked slowly down the hall toward the D Wing. Not for the first time, the werewolf wondered if having a vampire in the hospital was a terrible idea. No matter what Dartan contributed to the team, he was one bag of blood away from being a deadly hazard.
A shout made Aleric turn. He knew he needed to go hunt for goblins, but the scent of blood had filled the air to the point that even the humans would have a hard time not noticing it. He reached the main area and stopped short.
“What happened in here?” he asked.
A nurse paused in the act of scrubbing part of the blood that was on the floor, one of the white curtains, and up the wall on the other side.
“Suicide attempt,” she said.
Aleric looked at the splatters. “I don’t get it. Did the patient wait until getting here to do it?”
The nurse gave him an annoyed look. “What clued you in?” She turned back to her scrubbing.
“Well,” Aleric replied. “I guess the fact that if he had been bleeding when the EMTs picked him up, they would have bandaged the wounds. Also, the knife on the floor over there is a little suspicious.”
She followed his gaze to the weapon in the corner. The blade was bright with the
sheen of blood and small specks of red showed where it had hit the wall before it fell to the ground.
“That was sarcasm,” she said. “Of course he did it here.” She shook her head as though speaking to him was the last thing she wanted to do.
Several orderlies appeared with cleaners and mops. Aleric watched them for a moment, amazed by how quickly they cleaned the area as though they dealt with spilled blood all the time. He supposed at the hospital they actually did.
The nurse pointedly ignored him, going so far as to clean a spot of blood between his shoes without so much as telling him to move.
“Nurse Tarli?” Gregory asked, appearing from the sectioned rooms. “Dr. Worthen has requested your help.”
She rose to her feet muttering about inept mongrels and stalked to Gregory. Without a word, she tossed her bloody rag to him, not caring that almost hit him in the face before he caught it.
Gregory watched her until she was out of sight. He met Aleric’s gaze.
“She scares me.”
He nodded. “Me, too. Is she always so angry?”
Gregory and several of the other orderlies nodded. “Always,” Gregory told him. “You’d think it was the Fae Rift, but no. She’s always been like this.”
“Yeah, Dr. Wolf,” one of the other orderlies told him. “Don’t take her calling the cops on you as a personal attack. She would have done on it on any one of us if she had a reason.”
“She did call the police on me once,” a female orderly with thick brown hair said. “She thought I was stealing meds. Turns out it was one of the junkie patients. Thank goodness for security footage.”
“Yeah,” Gregory said. “I had to bail Therese out. It set us back on our ring fund.”
The orderly gave Gregory a warm smile. “I told you, Greggie, I don’t need an expensive ring. Anything will do if it means I get to marry you.”
Gregory grinned. “Isn’t she the best?”
“Seems like it,” Aleric replied.
Therese gave Aleric a beaming smile. “We’re glad you’re back, Dr. Wolf.”
“Thank you,” he replied, surprised by their friendliness. “Me, too. I’m going to find more goblins. Keep an eye on the bite victims, will you?”