Nightwolf

“This must be weird,” I say quietly.

“It’s a little,” he says, looking around, knowing exactly what I meant. “But don’t think I haven’t encountered my share of the sick in my life. A lot of vampires end up working at hospitals, believe it or not.”

“So they can access all the blood.”

He makes a so-so movement with his hand. “Maybe some of that, but also because we’re generally removed from all of this, it can help them do their job better.”

“So, I’m guessing a vampire doctor completely lacks bedside manners.”

“No, it’s not that. We’re in tune with how people feel about death and illness. It’s more that we can put our own emotions and feelings aside and look for the logic. Then there’s the added bonus of us having been around so long that we’ve seen centuries of ailments. Doctors today get brief training in the form of medical school, and they often overlook certain areas. Vampires, on the other hand, have seen what works and what doesn’t through the ages, and through various means of medicine. Western, eastern, witchcraft. We pull from all of it.”

I look up at him, impressed. “Please tell me you know how to fix my mom.”

He gives me a sad smile. “I personally haven’t had a lot of experience with comas. But perhaps Solon has. You can ask him yourself.” He nods over my shoulder.

I look over to see Solon striding toward me. Though he’s looking as enigmatic and handsome as ever, he’s dressed in black jeans and a white t-shirt, a look I’d never seen on him before, like he just threw on his clothes and came here. Actually, judging by how messy his hair is, I’d say that’s exactly what happened. My heart warms thinking he would act that way for my mother.

“You made it,” he says, his piercing blue eyes looking between the both of us.

“How is she?” Wolf asks, and I’m both grateful he asked and scared. I wince, wishing I could plug my ears as Solon answers because I’m so afraid he’s going to tell me something bad.

“She’s stable,” Solon says, then looks to me. “Which is good. Very good. Now they can see what they need to do, and if it’s nothing, they will just let time takes its course.”

“Can I see her?” I ask.

He nods. “Yes. You can. Lenore is there now, trying to break the ICU nurses down into letting us in, but I doubt she’s being successful. I told her she couldn’t compel her way, not yet, not until you got here. Didn’t seem right.”

“Lenore is here?” I ask as we start following Solon across the foyer to the elevators.

“Of course,” Solon says. “Ezra is coming by later, too, once we’ve gotten the go-ahead to visit. We don’t want to overwhelm anyone.”

My heart swells again. I knew that my mother mattered to everyone in the house, but when you’re a human living among vampires, you often think you’re pushed off to the side. Not out of malice, but I’ve heard the way they talk about humans before, as if we’re some inferior species. And while that is probably true, it’s nice to know that they really care for my mother after all. She’s more than just a human, or the hired help.

We go in the elevator and down a level and Solon is leading us through a maze of hallways, past patients waiting outside EEG rooms and other scans, and past rows of empty stretchers outside Emergency. With each step I take, I feel more and more scared. I think adrenaline is mostly propelling me forward, plus that strange sense of being outside oneself, but every now and then Wolf puts his hand at my back to let me know that he’s there, to give me strength.

I’m not alone in this.

But, god, do I ever feel alone.

She’s my mother and she’s all I have and if I lose her…

I can’t lose her. I can’t.

I won’t.

Eventually, we get to the ICU, and Wolf and I wait outside the automatic doors as Solon strides inside. Through the doors I can see him beside Lenore, talking to a nurse behind a station in the middle of the room.

And right across from the station, in a slice between drawn curtains, I see my mother.

I don’t even see her face from here, the angle isn’t right, but I know it’s her, I can tell it’s her in the bed.

“Oh god,” I whisper, tears immediately spilling from my eyes, and I feel myself falling down to the floor.

Wolf is quick to catch me, arms going around my waist, hauling me up to my feet. I try to speak, to form words, but I can’t. I feel like my heart might give out, like I’m not strong enough to survive this. And I’m so fucking scared, more scared than I’ve ever been in my life.