The Days Fly

by C. L. Quinn

  Shrugging, Sarah’s smile didn’t convey the joy within.

  “It would be nice to think so.”

  “Do, then. Mies was meant to come here, to you, and this little imp…” Tamesine touched Zia’s nose with a fingertip. “She was destined to be exactly here, exactly now. I’m so pleased that it all worked out well for you and that you could stay here to birth her. But Sarah, you need to consider bringing her home to France. We can protect all of you.”

  “Give me some time.” Sarah watched the baby reach for one of Tamesine’s long blonde curls, now giggling because the springy thing evaded her. “Um, I have decided to have you do a conversion.”

  “I had no doubt. You need to be here to see what mischief this one gets into, and you can’t do that in the only 40 or 50 years you would have if you remained human. It must have been a hard decision to make.”

  “No. I’d already given up on any semblance of a normal life when I knew about her. Then, as you said, I wouldn’t want to miss a second of her life. Once I held her in my arms, there was no choice but that one. Just, maybe not immediately.”

  “You must take your time. Nothing is urgent now.”

  David entered from the bedroom he and Cherise had shared while they were here. “We’re ready.”

  “Okay. Koen’s jet is too.” Park turned to Sarah. “You know…”

  “Yes, I do. If I need anything at all, I’ll call right away.”

  “Even me or David,” Cherise said as she entered the room. “We are closer.”

  “Thank you. The best godparents ever.”

  “Family,” Tamesine elaborated. She kissed the baby on the tummy and handed her over to her mother.

  Park walked up behind Zia and sniffed her hair. “I love the smell of a baby’s hair. My son still has that new child smell and I think I freak him out a little when I hover. Having nearly lost him, I do that too much. Bas reminds me every once in a while.”

  Tamesine brushed Park’s bright red hair back. “You’ll always hover, I think. We all do. That’s why they rebel when they’re teenagers. They need to grow up and we need them to stay small.” She looked around the apartment. “Where are your co-parents?”

  “They’re shopping. We’re kind of out of food.”

  “Yeah, that happens with a house full of vampires. Goodbye, Sarah, little Zia.” David carried his and Cherise’s luggage out of the apartment.

  Cherise hugged Zia and Sarah next, but stepped back with a serious expression. “I feel something in this child, Sarah, and I don’t know what it is. She is healthy, that’s not it, but my sensation may have something to do with her unique nature. You’ve embarked on a special journey, chérie. Zia’s fine, really, but if you sense anything unusual, anything out of the ordinary, or have any concerns, call me or Park immediately.”

  “That I promise. This is all new to me, too. I already feel like I’m out of my element.”

  “You will be an excellent, loving mother. Doesn’t mean that you won’t screw up, we all do. Luckily, this is a pretty durable kid. Goodbye, my friend.” Park was the last to hug Sarah as she entered the stairwell.

  Once they were gone, Sarah stood at the opening of her apartment, the baby curled into her arms, and couldn’t move. She could do this, she knew it, and yet there was suddenly a feeling of dread. Afraid that she would transfer that feeling to Zia, she smiled down at her. “Come on, sweetie.”

  Closing the door, she lifted Zia up to look at her, now dressed in a white onesie with a giraffe on the front that Cherise had brought.

  “Hungry?”

  Fifteen

  Sarah had just finished dressing a nasty wound that should never have happened. Sometimes, often, she wished that she had first blood skills and could teach some of these shitty parents the lessons that they deserved.

  The boy was eight, and had a long gash on his shoulder because his father happened to have a shovel in his hands when his son accidently dumped a wheelbarrow filled with soil as he tried to move it. Daddy hit the boy with the pointed end of the shovel, tearing open the tender skin beneath an un-protective thin tee shirt. Now, while she assured the timid boy that he had done nothing wrong, Sarah really wanted a shot at Daddy Dearest with that shovel.

  “There you go, Lance. Just keep that clean, okay? Is your mother coming here?”

  His pale blonde hair bounced as he nodded. “Yeah, she should be here in a few minutes.”

  “Okay. Wait here.”

  She went back into the waiting room where Lance’s father sat reared back in a chair watching a sports program on the wall-mounted television.

  “Mr. Spencer.”

  He had the decency to stand. “Yeah. The kid okay?”

  “He’s fine. That gash is deep and is going to need quite some time to heal. We’ll need to watch for infection.”

  “Yeah, well…”

  “Listen to me. What you did constitutes abuse in my book and if I ever see something like that again from you, I am going to come to your house and do the same fucking thing to you. You understand?”

  “Hey, look, lady…”

  “I don’t give a shit about anything you have to say other than I’m an asshole and I’m sorry.”

  “I’ll get your job, bitch…”

  “Ooh, look at me all scared and everything. And if you want it, you can have my job. That way, I don’t get the pleasure of meeting people like you. Be good to that boy.”

  She walked back to the desk and apprised one of the nurses. “Jane, will you call me when Lance’s mother arrives?”

  After getting Jane’s promise, Sarah walked towards the back of the corridor, her phone at her ear.

  “Hi, how’s everything going?”

  “Very well. She likes your breast milk whether you’re at the other end or not,” Naji answered. “She’s slept most of the night.”

  “Good. I guess I’ve turned into one of those mothers who has to check in five times an hour.”

  “I guess you have. We’re fine, love. How’s the job?”

  “First time back in two months, but it’s like I never left. It’s been fun at times and frustrating at times. Welcome to life in the E.R.”

  “You’ll get back into it. Nikolai is sleeping, poor guy.”

  “He hasn’t been getting much rest. I need to look at our schedule.”

  “We have a new baby, Sarah. Nobody’s getting much rest. That’s okay, she’ll be in college before we know it.”

  “Bite your tongue, wench! All right, I won’t bug you again. I’ll see you in about three hours.”

  She was still smiling when she clicked off the call and a voice behind her startled her.

  “That’s a pretty amazing smile.”

  Leo. Sarah turned and her stomach jumped a little. Damn, he was still incredibly handsome. No other human male had ever turned her on like he had. Still did. No, stop, it isn’t going to happen.

  “Hi, Leo. Yeah, I’m the woman now that everyone runs from in case she pulls out a wallet full of baby photos.”

  “You look happy.”

  “I am.” Pausing, she searched his face and thought that he looked tired. “How are you?”

  “Good. Good. Missing the friendship we’d started.”

  “Ah, Leo, so do I. I was a woman who had her exact life planned out. You were a part of that plan. But we both know that life doesn’t take orders, does it? I don’t regret my daughter, I am grateful every moment for her, but I do regret that we got derailed.”

  “Perhaps we can put things back on track.”

  No, that she couldn’t do, no matter how much she would like it. How could she delicately turn him down again?

  “Leo…”

  He put his hands up at her hesitation. “I get it, I’m not pushing. Could we at least go back to working together without the awkwardness?”

  “That, I would love. Yes, please.”

  He smiled and melted her resolve a little bit. Maybe someday? Even Sarah didn’t rule out the possibility that she
might love again someday.

  They parted with safe comments and she hurried back to see if Lance’s mother had arrived. She had, and Sarah put the idea in her mind that she needed to keep an eye on her husband. She could see in the woman’s eyes that she understood and an unspoken agreement was made.

  The rest of the night went quietly, Sarah feeling overtired and ready to get home to see Zia, to hold her, to smell her, and then to crash until morning. These second shifts were tough, leaving no real day and no real night to appreciate.

  About half an hour before she was due to head home, her cell phone chimed. There were no patients waiting at that point, so she slid it out of her pocket. Naji. She smiled.

  “Hey, Naj…” Sarah began casually.

  “Sarah, you need to get home. Something’s going on with the baby.”

  “What? What’s going on?” Sarah paused long enough to call out to Jane.

  “I have an emergency at home, Jane, I have to go!”

  Jane gave her an understanding nod.

  Sarah grabbed her bag and headed for the door. “Naji, what’s happening?”

  “I don’t know. She’s kind of…listless, all the sudden. I finished bathing her and she had a bottle, but when I picked her up to put her in her crib, she went limp, kind of like she fainted, only she’s conscious.” Naji sounded panicked. “Sarah, I don’t know what to do!”

  “Where’s Nikolai?”

  “He went to the museum because they had a late shipment of artifacts coming in. Sarah…”

  “Naj, calm down. I’m on my way home right now. Answer me, she’s still breathing okay, right?”

  “Yeah, she seems to be.”

  “Okay, just lay her on the sofa and stay with her. I’m going to call Park right away. Just be there for her, Naj.”

  “Of course, but hurry. I’m scared, Sarah.”

  “It’s all right.”

  It had to be! Quickly redialing, aware that in France, Park would be asleep, Sarah knew there was no choice.

  A deep male voice answered.

  “Bas, it’s Sarah. I need to speak to Park immediately.”

  Bas got it right away and handed the phone to his mate. Sarah heard a sigh and then Park answered.

  “Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

  “It’s Zia. I went back to work tonight because everything was going so well. Naji called a few moments ago and said that she just went catatonic suddenly. She isn’t in respiratory distress, but Naji says she can’t rouse her.”

  “And to date there have been no problems? No flags?”

  “None.”

  “All right. Get home and call me as soon as you arrive. Sarah, try not to worry. She’s first blood, remember the history.”

  Sarah hung up without responding.

  Because she did remember the history. Recent history. Things were changing, even for the first bloods.

  Nothing was black and white anymore. First bloods had always thought that they were immune to any disease, but this past winter had shown them that there was a time in the past, and then this year, when a virus had the ability to wipe the vampires off the earth forever. It nearly had.

  So Park reminding her that her baby was a vampire and would be okay because of that, didn’t bring the reassurance she thought it would. All Sarah needed now was to get home and help her child.

  Naji kept her hand on Zia’s belly, taking a breath with each one that the child drew, terrified that it would stop, and knew that if it did, she had no idea what to do to help her. She’d had no medical training of any kind, ever, so she prayed, prayed, that Sarah would get home as soon as possible.

  She moved her other hand to Zia’s forehead. Was she warm? Did the baby have a fever? One thing that she had noticed earlier today was that the baby’s coloring was off, a little too pale this afternoon, but she hadn’t thought that it meant anything. Was that a critical mistake?

  The door burst open and Sarah raced through, stopped by nothing until she dropped onto her knees and looked at her two week old daughter.

  “Naj, how’s she doing?”

  “No change. Sarah, I need to tell you that I noticed she looked pale this afternoon. I didn’t mention it because I didn’t think it was important, but now I think it was a symptom and if I’d just told you…”

  “Slow down, slow down. This isn’t your fault. She’s sick, but I think it’s much bigger than that. I’m afraid that it has to do with her father, and if that’s the case, only first blood vampires can help her. Let me get a baseline for Park. Will you go get the thermometer and my med kit?”

  Once Naji left, Sarah leaned closer, running her finger around the baby’s chin.

  “Hey, little lady, what are you doing? Hmmm?”

  She could tell by the warmth of Zia’s skin and the slight moisture that her temperature was up, and Naji was right…her color was poor.

  Sarah’s heart ached at even the thought that her baby was ill. She dialed Park.

  “Hey, I’m home, she’s still unresponsive. Her eyes are open, but she isn’t reacting to my voice or any stimulus. Respiration appears normal but her color is pale and I think that her temperature is high. Naji’s getting my med kit now.”

  “I’m actually preparing to board Koen’s plane.”

  “Park it’s fully daytime there!”

  “Yeah, I can tell by that big bright thing in the sky,” Park teased. “But I’m hoping that with minimal exposure, I can get to the jet without too much trouble. I don’t want to wait for sundown.”

  “Just be careful.”

  “Sarah, we need to get some vampire blood into her again, but this time I’m sending Olivia. As fourth generation, her blood may have more potent properties and give Zia a fighting chance against whatever the hell is happening. She’s coming from Seattle so she’ll be there in about 5 hours. Just make sure that we have samples before and after she feeds Zia. We’re going to need that lab at your hospital tonight.”

  “That won’t be a problem. I’ll take all the samples and have everything ready. Park, what do I do if she stops…”

  Sarah couldn’t say it.

  “I don’t have an answer. Obviously, use your medical training just as if she were human. Other than that, for now, we don’t know why she’s ill. I’m sorry, Sarah, I wish I could help more.”

  Sarah had been trying to keep it together, work this problem like she would for any patient, but this wasn’t any patient, it was her child.

  “Just get here,” she finally said on a sob.

  “I will, honey.” Park’s voice was full of emotion too as she rang off.

  Sarah wiped the pooling tears when Naji returned. “Thanks. Now, we get to work.”

  Sarah took all the samples and readings for Park to use in her diagnosis before she lay down with Zia on her bed. She didn’t sleep, but she curled up next to her unmoving baby, a hand on her chest just as Naji had done earlier, the other holding her close.

  What worried Sarah most was that she couldn’t feel her anymore. Until now, Zia would touch her mind, send her thoughts to her mother, but now there was nothing at all. That precious connection was gone.

  Closing her eyes, Sarah squeezed them tight to push out the tears that lingered. “Oh, Mies, we need you.”

  Only the sound of the curtains lifting on the breeze from open balcony doors answered.

  Naji touched Sarah’s shoulder. “Sarah, Olivia’s here.”

  Sarah startled awake, shocked that she’d fallen asleep. She pushed upright and looked Zia over, relieved that she seemed no worse, sad to see that she was no better.

  “Thank God,” she whispered, grateful that the baby still breathed. She’d been terrified that she might not be. Bundling her gently into her arms, she slid off the bed.

  “Sarah, darling,” Olivia said, coming up to kiss her on the cheek. “This is your little sweetheart? Come, let’s do this right away and help her feel better.”

  Seating herself on the sofa, Olivia pulled a silver dagger with an ornat
e handle out of a small bag. She slit her wrist and drained hot red blood into a glass. Naji transferred the blood to a baby bottle, screwed on a nipple with the hole enlarged, and handed the bottle to Sarah.

  “Thank you, ladies.” Sarah turned to Zia. “I don’t know how I’m going to get this down you. I hate to consider having to do a transfusion.”

  “That won’t be necessary. Just get some on her tongue, Sarah. You know what it can do.”

  After only a brief hesitation, Sarah held Zia’s mouth open and tipped the bottle up to drip several drops of Olivia’s blood onto her tongue.

  All three women focused on Zia, eyes unmoving.

  Within moments, the baby began to cough. Her eyes opened and she coughed louder.

  “She’s weak, but she’s responding,” Sarah said, relief almost overwhelming as she repeated the dose of Olivia’s vampire blood. Each small dose improved the child.

  Once she’d taken in the entire four ounces that Olivia had drained, her cheeks pink, her eyes clear, she was alert, and in the dead silence of the apartment, her gurgle of glee seemed to bounce off the walls.

  “Oh, God,” Sarah murmured.

  Abruptly, she surged from her seat while Olivia held Zia. She pushed out onto the balcony and sucked in the night air. Now, with her baby okay, at least for the moment, suddenly Sarah couldn’t breathe. She began to hyperventilate and, although she knew that she was, she couldn’t stop it.

  A hand on her wrist was familiar, a soft impression from Olivia almost instantly calmed her runaway respiration and pounding heartbeats.

  “She’s okay.”

  “For now,” Sarah amended. “But thank you. I can’t ever convey the depth of my gratitude for what you’ve done for us.”

  “I saved a precious child, and that is a gift to me. What good are the tricks and magics I can do if I cannot do something good with them?”

  “I’ve always felt that same way.”

  “I’m still a new first blood, as you know. You helped me when I needed it and I am honored to have the chance to return the favor. She’s beautiful, your daughter.”