by Cheree Alsop
His steps slowed when he rounded the corner of the street. People marched in circles near the Emergency Room entrance. Picket signs proclaimed ‘Werewolves are Deadly’, ‘Don’t Trust the Fae’, and ‘Drs should Heal not Kill’. Aleric wasn’t sure what to do. The picketers were protesting the body that had been found in the alley, yet Commissioner Oaks had said they would play down the death as a dog attack until further investigation. Aleric had a sneaking suspicion which officer had voiced the werewolf link to the media. He steeled himself and walked toward the fray.
“That’s him!” a woman shouted.
“That’s the werewolf!” another said.
They surrounded Aleric. Chanting of ‘Go back home, werewolf’, and ‘No fae doctors’, were said as they circled him. His heart thundered in his ears. The signs flashed past, their accusing statements bright and burning. After all he had been through, the affect was disorienting. Aleric willed his mind to focus. He walked forward, pushing his way through the fray. Someone bumped his shoulder with a sign. Aleric’s hands balled into fists. He gritted his teeth and shoved away the urge to fight. He kept moving until the glass doors slid aside with what sounded like a sigh of relief. The picketers fell back.
“Thank Fenrir,” Dartan said the moment Aleric walked through the doors. “It’s insane out there. You’d think you were the one who killed the human.”
The pungent scent of smoke filled Aleric’s nose. He followed it past the vampire.
“Where are they?”
“Operating Rooms Three, Four, and Five,” Dartan replied. “Except no operations are happening. Their instruments are melting as soon as Dr. Worthen tries anything. The little girl is throwing a fit because she wants to be with her mother, the father is unconscious, and Dr. Worthen is doing everything he can to save the mother’s arm. It’s a mess.” The vampire gave him a closer look. “You reek of blood. Normally I’d say that’s a good thing, but right now—”
“There’s no time,” Aleric replied.
He hurried into the scrub room, pulled on a clean set of scrubs, and washed his hands and arms the way Nurse Eastwick had taught him. He spent extra time ensuring that any blood from the bullet wound had been cleared away below the burlap bandage. At his reappearance, Dartan pulled the door open so he didn’t get his gloves dirty and led the way to O.R. Three. Aleric entered the room and paused just inside the door.
“I want my mommy!” The ifrit girl on the table was sitting up, her arms wrapped around her shoulders and her red wings drooping at her sides. Her knees were pulled up under her chin and she clutched one of her feet with her small hands. Large magma tears flowed down her red scaled face. When they hit the floor, steam rose from the singed tiles. Little black lumps showed where other tears had landed on the table.
“Dr. Worthen is taking care of your mommy,” Nurse Eastwick said. “He needs to help her get better before you can see her, and we need to help you feel better as well.”
Dr. Russell, one of the on-call doctors, gave her a hesitant smile. He kept a careful distance from the little girl. “I need to take an x-ray of your foot. Will you let me do that so I can help you?”
“No!” the little girl shrieked. “Don’t touch me! Mommy! Daddy!”
Aleric took a calming breath and stepped forward. “My name is Dr. Wolf. I’m a werewolf doctor here at the hospital. Want to see a magic trick?”
His words took the little girl by surprise. She stared at him, her blue eyes filled with pain and fear. To his relief, she gave a sniff and nodded.
“Can I borrow this?” he asked. He took the pen from Dr. Russell’s hand without waiting for the doctor to reply. He passed Nurse Eastwick, nodded at her surprised expression, and stopped a foot from the little girl. “Watch closely.” He held up the pen. “Here we have a pen. It’s a simple writing implement, used for making notes, drawing on paper and walls, and holding up nurses’ hair.” He winked at the ifrit. “They usually forget they have a pen in their hair and go looking all over the hospital for where they left it.”
She let out a little giggle.
Aleric held the pen in his right hand. “Now pay attention. When I cover it like this….” He slipped his left hand over it. “Now say the magic words.”
“I don’t know the magic words,” the girl said with a little hiccup.
“We’ll make some up,” Aleric told her. “What’s your name?”
“Starija,” she replied.
“Well, that’s a beautiful name,” Aleric said. “I think that’s one of our magic words. What do you think?”
She nodded, her eyes bright.
“Starija, Larija, Farija, make this pen disappear!” Aleric waved his hand, letting the pen fly out in Dr. Russell’s direction as he wiggled his fingers distractingly for the little girl.
To Dr. Russell’s credit, he grabbed the pen out of the air and put it back in his pocket before Starija could notice.
“And it’s gone!” Aleric said. He opened his hands and showed her that they were empty.
The little ifrit’s mouth opened in an O of surprise. “That was amazing!” she said. “Will you show me again?”
“I will,” Aleric promised. “But first I need to check on your mommy and daddy. Is that alright with you?”
She nodded.
“Starija, you’re a brave little girl. Do you think you can let my friend Dr. Russell check your foot? He just needs to take a quick picture of it to see why it’s hurting you. Would that be okay?”
She nodded again.
Aleric stepped back for Dr. Russell and Nurse Eastwick to take over. “Make sure you don’t use anything plastic for her. Keep her on metal only or your plastic will melt. Paper could possibly catch fire. I’d recommend against that as well.”
“Will do,” Dr. Russell said. “Thank you, Dr. Wolf.”
Aleric reached for the door.
“Dr. Wolf?”
He turned at the ifrit’s voice. “Yes, Starija?”
“Take good care of my mommy and daddy, okay?” Tears showed in the young girl’s eyes.
“I will,” Aleric promised. “And I’ll be back to check on you soon, alright? I’ll tell your parents how brave you’re being.”
She nodded. He pushed through the door and let it shut behind him.
“How is she?” Dartan asked.
“She’s scared but being brave,” Aleric replied. “Can you help Dr. Russell keep her happy? She responds to magic.”
“I don’t know any magic,” Dartan said, staring at him. “That’s for Drakathans.”
“Not dark magic,” Aleric replied, rolling his eyes. “Make up tricks. Hide a coin and pull it out of Nurse Eastwick’s ear.”
“Why would I do that?” the vampire asked with confusion in his voice.
Aleric shook his head. “Which room is her mother in?”
“Five,” Dartan replied. “The room smells like blood on fire. I can only imagine what that means.”
Aleric scrubbed again before he pushed into O.R. Five. The chaos that met his gaze told of why Dr. Russell and Nurse Eastwick were the only staff members with the young girl.
Dr. Worthen held metal instruments with melted gloves while Nurse Tarli attempted to put an I.V. in the ifrit woman’s good arm. Gregory and Therese, the newly engaged orderlies, held bags of blood and operating supplies, but didn’t move from their places near the far wall as though they were frozen in horror at the sight before them. Monitoring devices with charred probes and readers smoked next to the operating table.
The woman on the table was in bad shape. Her arm closest to Aleric had huge lacerations up and down it. Matching lacerations showed along her stomach and her closest leg. The floor and the table were covered in smoldering piles of molten blood. It showed on her blue torn dress made of the fireproof scales of a dragon like the rest of any ifrit’s wardrobe. Given the amount of blood he saw, Aleric knew the woman wouldn’t have long to live if he didn’t act quickly.
“You need fire,” Aleric said.
“Fire?” the doctor asked.
Aleric nodded. He hurried to the ifrit woman’s side. “You can’t use thread or anything else that will burn or melt. Ifrits live underground near the magma core. Water will kill them.” Nurse Tarli quickly took the I.V. away. “You need fire, heat to close her wounds before she bleeds to death,” Aleric concluded.
“I don’t know what we can use,” Dr. Worthen began.
“What did you use on my shoulder?” Aleric asked.
Dr. Worthen gave him an unreadable look before he admitted, “A blowtorch. Jaroff works on cars. He carries one in his toolbox.”
“Gregory, will you get it?” Aleric asked.
The orderly nodded and left the room at a run.
“How is the father doing?” Aleric questioned in the tense moments that followed.
“He came in unconscious. There’s trauma to the head,” Dr. Worthen replied. “Dr. Brooks is running him through diagnostics, but as I understand it, he is having trouble with the equipment because of the heat from the man’s body.”
“They’re ifrits,” Aleric said. He kept an eye on the door and his ears trained on the woman’s heartbeat. The sound was shallow and weakening by the second.
“That’s what Dartan said,” Dr. Worthen replied. “But I couldn’t remember the word.”
“I’ll start another file,” Therese told them both. “I’ll be sure to write ‘no water for ifrits’ on the list by the nurse’s station.”
“And no spicy food,” Aleric said. At the orderly’s surprised look, he shrugged. “They have a problem with indigestion. Mild foods only.”
“Good thing that’s all we serve here,” Therese replied.
The door flew open. “I had to track Jaroff down, but I finally got it,” Gregory announced. He held up a small hand-held device Aleric had never seen before.
“Thank you,” Dr. Worthen said. He took the blow torch. “Now what?”
“Use it like you would skin glue,” Aleric instructed. He followed the doctor to the table. “It’ll seal the edges together and stop the bleeding. Her body will heal if we can get her to the moonlight.”
“Dark fae,” Gregory said. At Aleric’s glance, he gave a tight smile. “I’m figuring it out.”
Aleric nodded. “Fire and moonlight. An ifrit’s best friends.” Her heartbeat stuttered. “We’re running out of time. Let’s do this.”
Dr. Worthen started the blow-torch. The small blue flame looked innocuous, but Aleric could feel the heat radiating from the device.
“Perfect. Now to pull her scales toward each other,” Aleric began. He picked up the forceps Therese held out on a tray and drew the edges of the first wound together.
“That’s not going to work,” Dr. Worthen warned.
Before he could even finish the sentence, Aleric felt the heat run up his hands and the metal began to collapse. He pulled the forceps away and stared at the twisted metal. The ifrit’s heart skipped another beat.
“The more serious her wounds, the higher her body temperature rises. We’ve got to work quickly,” he said. He set the forceps back on the tray and reached for the woman’s arm.
“What are you doing?” Dr. Worthen asked in alarm.
“There’s no time,” Aleric replied. “She’s losing blood too quickly. If you don’t seal these wounds, that child in the next room is going to be without a mother.” He remembered at the last moment to pull off his gloves. He set them on Therese’s tray beside the forceps. “Good thing I scrubbed up,” he said.
He grabbed the woman’s arm and held the wound together. Heat ran up his arms.
Dr. Worthen stared at him. “You’re insane!”
“I’m desperate to save a life,” Aleric replied, his voice tight with pain. “Hurry up.”
Dr. Worthen put the torch to the wound and pulled it slowly, carefully along the laceration. As soon as the wound was sealed, Aleric pulled his burning hands away. The cauterization held.
“Next,” Aleric said. He pulled the scales together.
Dr. Worthen gave him a searching look. At Aleric’s returned stare, the head physician put the torch to the wound.
The scent of burning flesh made Aleric’s stomach turn. The fact that it was his flesh made it even worse. He gripped wound after wound, holding them as his arms shook and sweat beaded on his brow. Gregory was quick with a rag to keep the drops from landing on the unconscious patient. The only time one did, a puff of steam rose from the moisture and the woman let out a moan of pain.
Aleric could no longer feel his hands, but they obeyed, holding the scales tightly together so that the torch could do its job. The ifrit’s body responded to the heat. By the time they finished sealing the last laceration across her thigh, those on her arm looked as though they were healing.
When Aleric lifted his hands, shaking and numb, the skin on his palms was a bubbling, melted mess. He took a step back from the table and would have fallen if Gregory hadn’t been there to help him to a chair.
“What now?” Dr. Worthen asked, his voice quiet.
Aleric listened for a moment. “Her heartbeat is stronger. Have her taken to the D Wing and set up near the windows. As soon as night falls, we need to have Dartan take down the boards so she can rest in the moonlight.”
“We’ll do it,” Gregory volunteered.
Aleric listened to them move the bed out of the door and down the hall. He couldn’t take his eyes from his hands. He was grateful he couldn’t feel the burns, but he knew as soon as they started healing that they were going to hurt an incredible amount.
Chapter Five
“Why do you have to be so self-sacrificing?”
Aleric looked up from his burned hands to Dr. Worthen’s unreadable gaze. “Would you believe I’m a masochist?”
“Not for a minute,” the doctor replied, his tone dry. “Come on. Let’s get those wrapped.”
“They’ll heal,” Aleric told him.
“They’ll get infected before they have the chance if you don’t take care of them,” Dr. Worthen replied. “Head to O.R. Seven. I’ll meet you there.”
“My favorite room,” Aleric said. At the doctor’s questioning look, he lifted a shoulder. “You really should just put my name on the door, I spend so much time getting fixed there.”
It was a while before the head physician entered. Aleric knew the doctor was checking on the other ifrits and was grateful. They both knew he would have insisted they be tended to before him anyway. He settled on his back on the operating table and attempted to find a comfortable way to rest his hands.
He couldn’t relax with them on his stomach or chest because of the pain and the squishiness that came from the burns made him nauseous. He tried turning his hands over and setting them at his sides, but his hands kept slipping off the edges of the table and the jolt to his arm and shoulder wasn’t appreciated. He settled for scooting down the table and resting them over his head. It looked ridiculous, he was sure, but he could pretend he was somewhat comfortable.
The door opened.
“You look ridiculous.”
“I feel it,” Aleric replied.
Dartan crossed to him. “Dr. Worthen told me what you did.”
Aleric looked away from the vampire’s too-knowing gaze. “You would have done it, too.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” Dartan replied. He gave Aleric’s hands a closer look. “That’s gross.”
“Said from a vampire. I should be thrilled to have caused such a visceral reaction in one of your dull-sensed race.”
“You should,” Dartan agreed. “I haven’t been grossed out in decades. Thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome.”
Dartan gave him a serious look. “I didn’t call you back here to do something like this.”
“Yes, you did,” Aleric replied. “You said, ‘They’re in bad shape and nobody
knows what to do’. I knew what to do, so I did it.”
Dartan crossed his arms in front of his chest. “We saw you on the television.”
“The reporters have been busy,” Aleric said, keeping his tone light. “I’m pretty sure that Channel Two reporter, Gayle, thinks I’m cute.”
Dartan let out a sigh. “You don’t want to be thought of as cute. You want to be handsome, sexy, desirable. Cute is like being friend-zoned.”
“You sure know a lot about it,” Aleric shot back. “Been friend-zoned often?”
“That’s beside the point,” Dartan told him. “You’re changing the subject. What were you doing in the Fallows?”
Aleric studied the wall near the door. It was blank and white, not much to look at, but better than seeing the expression on the vampire’s face when he said, “I tracked Lilian there. A clan called the Fervor was responsible for helping the gorgons when she was kidnapped.”
“Did you find her?”
Aleric shook his head. “I was close, but they turned on me.”
“The police are saying it’s the biggest mass list arrest they’ve had in years. You’re being touted as a hero.”
Aleric glanced at him. “You don’t approve?”
“I’m hoping it will chase away the rumors of werewolves killing people in the streets,” the vampire told him. “We could use fewer protestors.”
Aleric’s heart dropped. “There have been more victims?”
Dartan nodded. “Five, by the last count.”
Aleric fought back the urge to rub his face. The result given the shape of his hands would have been extremely nasty. “I can’t believe there’s that many.”
“Each body is missing the head.”
Aleric let out a slow breath. “What do you think that means?”
“That your Drakathan friends aren’t finished here,” Dartan replied. “They’re up to something.”
Aleric turned his gaze to the floor, his words quiet when he replied, “Maybe I should just let them find me in the hopes that they’ll leave Edge City alone.”
“You do that and I won’t stop until I’ve brought you back.”