by Gina Kincade
She stopped on her way to the hospital bed, “You are aware that we are going to have to tell Dr. Morgan about this scene, right? And if we tell him about this one we might as well tell him about the first fight with William, which we haven’t discussed with the Director yet.”
Wyatt nodded, “Yes, I’m aware. He’s not going to like hearing about either of these fights. The two with William and the almost one with Rosa, Alfred and Deanna.”
Aleah shook her head, “No he isn’t. But back to business. We’ll worry about everything else when we cross that bridge.”
Aleah approached the patient and saw that he was sleeping. She looked at the machine that periodically checked his heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen. Everything looked normal for a vampire’s vitals. She checked his saline drip and noticed that it was the lowest level hospital staff had every administered. Since the specialists were flying blind where a vampire patient was concerning she supposed everything was on the up and up. She had no way of knowing until the Director arrived to speak with the patient.
She set her collection box on the foot of the bed, trying to wake the vampire, “Excuse me, Mr. Crabtree, but I need to gather a few blood samples from you for Dr. Morgan. Do you mind?”
The patient opened his eyes a slit, “By all means, gather what samples you need but I can’t promise collecting my blood is going to be easy. My body is technically dead so I’m not sure how fast the blood pumps through my veins.”
Aleah nodded in acknowledgement, “That is one of the many reasons we need to collect some samples. Isn’t it funny how almost everything comes down to blood?”
The vampire gave her a grin, flashing his fangs, “Yes, yes it is. Go ahead and collect your samples, Dr…. I’m sorry. I didn’t catch your name.”
The Hematologist gave the vampire a genuine smile, “Dr. Macleod, Mr. Crabtree. My specialty happens to be in blood so you are in very good hands.”
The patient looked over at Wyatt standing at the foot of the bed, “And do you need any samples?”
The male shifter shook his head, “No, sir. Not yet anyway. I’m the Endocrinologist so if the blood doesn’t give us any answers then I’m sure I will be taking my own samples of tissues to study.”
Mr. Crabtree grimaced, “Well that certainly sounds like it’s going to be a barrel of laughs doesn’t it?”
Wyatt nodded, “It most assuredly does. But I promise you, Mr. Crabtree, that I am one of the last resorts. Let’s let Dr. Macleod get her blood samples and see if we can find out why you’re abdomen is burning.”
The patient nodded and held out his arm, “Sample away, pretty doctor.”
Aleah smiled at him as she tied the elastic tubing around his upper arm, “Can you pump your fist for me a few times? See if we can get the blood pumping in your veins?”
The vampire did what was asked as Aleah tapped on the vein, trying to wake it up, “Ah there it is. Let’s see how many vials we can collect.”
When the blood finally started flowing it wasn’t really a flow but more like a sluggish oil leak. The blood was thick and dark red, causing Aleah to think that they would be lucky to get a full vial of blood. She was curious to see what his test results were going to show when it came to his complete chemistry panel and CBC, not to mention his Fibrinogen levels, Hemoglobin A1C, DHEA, PSA, Homocysteine, C-Reactive Protein, TSH, Testosterone and Estradiol. All of these tests were the most important blood tests to run, but on a vampire what the results would be was anyone’s guess.
As she watched the thick fluid run slowly down the tube of the syringe to the vial she had a thought, “Do vampires drink water?”
The vampire slowly moved his gaze from the thick, dark blood running into the vial to the doctor drawing the blood, “We can eat and drink anything humans can. It just takes longer to work itself through our bodies. Why do you ask?”
She nodded, filing all of the information away for later viewing, "I was just curious to see if your blood might flow a little faster if we were to give you a glass of water. I need at least five vials of your blood to conduct the proper blood tests to make sure there isn't anything too terribly serious going on with you."
Mr. Crabtree nodded, deep in thought, “Well I suppose it won’t hurt to try. How big of a glass are we talking here?”
Aleah pulled the syringe out and made her way over to the sink in the room, picking up one of the paper cups. “One of these? Maybe two tops.”
The patient nodded, “All right. I’m willing to give it a try.”
Wyatt watched the interaction between the vampire and his lover, she wasn’t kidding when she said that she was damn good at her job. Now I’m wondering myself if the water trick will work.
The Hematologist and patient continued discussing what might and might not work to get his blood to flow faster as Wyatt stood at the end of the bed and watched, hoping she would be able to get the five full vials of blood that she needed.
Chapter Eight
Aleah pulled the last vial out of the syringe and shook it, looking at the patient, "I can't believe it worked. And it looks like normal blood instead of red motor oil. Oh, uh, no offense."
The vampire chuckled, "None taken, sweetheart."
Wyatt laughed with the patient and walked over to his lover, "Were you able to get enough blood for all your tests, sweets?"
She nodded, "I did, actually."
Aleah turned back to the vampire, "Are you comfortable, Mr. Crabtree? Is there anything we can get you before we leave?"
The patient shook his head, "I just want to get some sleep, if that's all right."
The Endocrinologist smiled, "Sure thing, Mr. Crabtree. Would you like us to shut off the lights on our way out?"
The vampire nodded, "That would be great, thanks."
Aleah and Wyatt walked together to the door, the collection box with the vials of blood between them.
Wyatt made sure to turn down the lights so that their patient could get some sleep, "Do you think you'll be able to run all the normal blood panels?"
The Hematologist shrugged, "I'm not sure. But this is the first time I have ever had the chance to do blood panels on a vampire."
They passed the conference room and saw Deanna, Rosa and Alfred deep in conversation. William was sitting in the Director's chair, seeming to ignore the whole situation. The three specialists stopped talking and watched the couple walk past the windows. The glare that Deanna gave Aleah as she walked by let the female shifter know that the Immunologist wasn't done with her argument. Aleah shook her head; she didn't have time to deal with the petty jealousy of her co-workers.
As the two shifters walked by the staff lounge on their way to the elevators, Wyatt opened the door and pulled Aleah into the room with him.
"What the Hell, Wyatt?" Aleah exclaimed as he closed and locked the door behind her.
Wyatt gave her a crooked grin and pinned her to the door, crushing her mouth with his. He licked her lips, waiting until she opened her mouth for him then stroked her tongue with his own.
He broke off the kiss and stepped back, "I just thought you might want to release some of that tension before going to the lab to run those tests."
Aleah gave him a goofy grin, "While that sounds like absolute bliss, we really need to get these samples down to the lab and start running those tests. We still have three angry and bitter co-workers to deal with and who knows what William is planning."
The male shifter gave her a lazy grin, "You have a point. All right, let's get the blood samples down to the lab so you can start the blood panels, then we can have some fun. I found a room that would work for us down in the basement."
She laughed, "When did you have time to scout out a room for our play time, lover?"
Wyatt laughed with her, "You know me, sweets. I can always find a place to spend some quality time with you."
Aleah pushed him further back, reaching behind her to open the door, "Let's get downstairs and start the blood panels. Maybe see if Dr. Morgan ha
s some advice to give us before we come back here to deal with our disgruntled coworkers."
The Endocrinologist smiled and followed her out of the door, "That sounds like a plan."
The two of them approached the elevators and Wyatt pushed the button, watching as the numbers counting up, "Do you think the Director will have any sound advice or is it going to be more of the same 'do what you have to but make sure you don't tell them what we are doing down here' stuff?"
She sighed and leaned against the wall, "Oh I'm sure it's going to be more of the same but I plan on telling him about the confrontation we had in front of the patient so I'm hoping he'll be more understanding."
The elevator dinged and the doors slid open, "What makes you think he'll understand?"
As the doors closed behind them and the car began to move, Aleah turned to look at her lover, "Nothing really. I'm just hoping that he has gone through something like this and will remember that when I tell him what happened. I never said he would actually be helpful, but he needs to know about the confrontation with William and the other specialists. He needs to know that there is strife amongst his employees and, no matter what else he may be, he is going to have to act like the boss and make a judgement call. Hopefully one for the better."
She sighed again as Wyatt took her into his arms, "He has to see reason, doesn't he? You agree that it makes sense to bring the other members of the team into the research, don't you? I mean he is the one who said that we would be doing the research, from the very beginning I might add, so why doesn't he just bring them up to speed already? It's not like we're the only ones who know how important this research is. And he did pick some of the brightest specialists in their fields so it only makes sense to have them conducting the research they are good at. Blood is a start but it isn't everything."
Wyatt kissed the top of her head as the elevator car came to a stop and the doors slid open, "So approach him with that, sweets. Leave your emotions here in this elevator and approach him with logic. That way you can be sure that he sees reason."
Aleah nodded, pulled away and picked up the collections box, "You're right. Let's go get these tests run and then we can talk with the Director."
They exited the elevator heading in the direction of the lab. As they entered the room, they noticed that Dr. Morgan wasn't there. Aleah made her way to the Micro hematocrit Centrifuge and pulled the vials of blood out of her collection box, placing two of the five vials inside and starting it up.
"I wonder if he headed upstairs to check on the patient," Aleah thought out loud as she set up a blood smear film to check for antibodies.
Wyatt walked over to her, "It's possible but I thought he had said you were to collect the blood samples and bring them down here so that he could help you run the tests."
She nodded, "That's what he said but he's not here, is he? It's okay; I've been doing blood tests for a long while now so I think I can go it alone."
Aleah took her blood smear film over to the microscope and looked at it.
Nothing looked out of place, but she had no way of knowing if that was a normal smear for a vampire, Damn it, Dr. Morgan. Where are you?
The male shifter came up behind her and began to massage her shoulders, "I'm sure he'll turn up, sweets. Anything out of the ordinary?"
She was about to answer him when the muted ding of the Micro hematocrit Centrifuge machine interrupted her. She pushed away from the microscope and made her way to the machine. Pulling out the two vials she looked at the blood with astonishment. Though the blood smear seemed normal these samples were less than.
"Wyatt, come take a look at these," Aleah said as she closed the lid to the machine.
The male shifter made his way to where she was standing and looked at the vials she held out.
Taking one in his hand he turned it over and asked, "What does this mean?"
Aleah shook her head, "I don't know. Now would be a good time for Dr. Morgan to make an appearance."
"Did I hear someone ask for me?" The Director replied as he breezed into the room as if he had been there all along.
The couple whirled around in surprise, "Dr. Morgan!"
It was said simultaneously and the Director smiled at them. He had his own secrets that he was protecting and thought it was funny that he had scared the two specialists.
Aleah was the first one to recover, "Come look at these blood samples, Dr. Morgan. Something seems off."
The Director chuckled as he made his way over and took the vial she was holding out, "Of course something is off, my dear. This is a blood sample from a vampire. Their tests aren't going to come out normal no matter what you might have thought. Did you get a blood smear?"
She nodded and led him to the microscope, "It's under the microscope already, Director. But it seems fine."
Dr. Morgan took a look of the sample and muttered under his breath, "It does indeed. That is odd."
He turned away from the microscope, "We need more samples. Do you think you can collect some?"
Aleah nodded, "But these vials weren't easy to get. His blood is extremely thick; almost like motor oil, and dark. I had to have him drink water just to get the blood to loosen up so I could collect these."
The Director nodded, "Yes that sounds about right. Well we will just hold off on that and get him down to X-ray. Let's get a CAT scan and an MRI and see what the results of those tell us."
The couple nodded and moved to the doorway.
Aleah stopped and turned back to the doctor, "Before we can order those, Wyatt and I need to speak with you about something that happened."
The Director let out a frustrated breath, "And that is?"
The female shifter looked to her lover for help. He nodded encouragement and leaned against the wall, not saying a word.
Way to be supportive, Wyatt, she thought as she turned back to the Director.
She moved a little further into the room, standing in front of her boss, "There have been a few confrontations today. Earlier, before Wyatt and I joined you down here to meet Mr. Crabtree, William confronted me and Dr. Masterson. He was upset for his own personal reasons but what it really comes down to is the fact that I didn't choose to sleep with him."
Dr. Morgan nodded, "But you did choose to sleep with Dr. Masterson here. So I can understand his frustrations."
Aleah shook her head, "It was like that, Dr. Morgan. I have never found William attractive. In fact the shifter makes my skin crawl. I don't know what it is about him but there is something wrong. He's missing a few parts to be a well-put together building and I never would have chosen to sleep with him. The fact of the matter is this, Wyatt and I were instantly attracted to each other; there is something there on a deeper level. And we literally just started sleeping together."
She rushed to add, "But that won't compromise our integrity when it comes to this research or our work."
The Director held up his hand and narrowed his eyes, "That is neither here nor there, Aleah. I understand that you can't choose your attraction, especially as a shifter, but one of the major rules in any hospital is no fraternization, and the two of you have broken that rule. Now that is bound to happen with people who are working so closely together and you're adults so I'm not going to tell you what you can and can't do. I'm not the father of either one of you. Was that confrontation resolved?"
Aleah shook her head, "It was on our end but I believe William isn't quite as willing to let it go as we are."
Dr. Morgan nodded his head, "And the other confrontation? What was that about?"
Wyatt pushed off the wall and stood behind the female shifter with his hand on her shoulder, "That one was between Aleah, Deanna, Rosa and Alfred, er Doctors Bates, Devlin and Barstow. It was about the special treatment they perceive she is receiving from you with all of the disappearing she does and being called away. It wasn't very pretty."
Dr. Morgan turned his attention back to Aleah, "And what did you tell your disgruntled coworkers, my dear?"
&n
bsp; Aleah hated it when he trained that look on her, it always made her feel as if she had done something wrong but her voice didn't waver when she answered him, "I didn't tell them anything. I informed them that if they want to have that discussion it was best to have it in the conference room away from the patient because that's where the confrontation started. The patient took it all in stride but it was still very unprofessional of Deanna, I mean Dr. Bates, to air out all of our dirty laundry in front of him. The three of them are waiting in the conference room for Wyatt and me to return from running tests on our patient. What would you like me to tell them?"
The Director pursed his lips and tapped them with his right forefinger, "Hmmm, well if Mr. Crabtree is any indication of the future we are looking forward to you might be right in filling them about what has been happening down here."
He clapped his hands together, "I tell you what, I'll leave it up to your discretion as to what exactly you want to tell them, but I do expect all of you to be filing down here in the next few hours."
The Director gave her a wink, "Go on back upstairs and talk with your disgruntled coworkers and I'll see you in a little while."
As they were walking out of the lab the Director called them back, "Dr. Masterson, I've worked with a lot of shifters before but I've never had the pleasure of working on a Gharial. As with Aleah, being the Servaline Genet that she is, I'm looking forward to running the necessary tests on you."
Chapter Nine
Aleah followed Wyatt down a poorly lit, dank hallway, "Where is this room, lover?"
He chuckled, "Always so impatient, sweets. I love it! It's just a little further. Keep following me."
The female shifter rolled her eyes, "Wyatt, I'm not being impatient, we just have don't have a lot of time."
Wyatt stopped and looked behind him, "I'm well aware of how much time we have, sweets. Are you telling me that you are more anxious to get back to our co-workers than you are of releasing some of your tension?"
Aleah tilted her head to the side, pretending to think about what he had just said, "Of course not, lover. By all means, lead on."