Chapter 16
Warning
While he’d been trying to talk some sense to Welsh, an ugly possibility had occurred to him. A thought that became the real reason why he had to leave the house and go straight back to the hospital.
He’d regained his color vision after cleaning out that blood bag of AB negative. Welsh had licked a droplet from her hand. An ounce or two versus a few molecules. Rhyne’s vision had reverted back to black and white after three days, but what if Welsh’s changed in less time?
What if the amount of blood consumed determined how long the change would be in effect?
If his hypothesis held true, that meant Welsh’s sight could change back at any moment. Which was why it was of utmost importance he get Grace to someplace safe as soon as possible.
Rushing into the emergency room again, Rhyne discovered the same woman sitting inside the small office. She looked up when he approached her but didn’t speak until he stopped on the other side of the glass partition.
“Yes? Do you need to see Mr. Burch again?”
Rhyne filed the last name to memory. “Yes. It’s urgent.”
She eyed his mussed appearance. His flushed face and the way he was out of breath from having pedaled the entire distance at breakneck speed. Not questioning his intent, she got back on the phone.
“Please tell Norris his visitor’s back. He says it’s urgent.”
“Tell him to meet me at the emergency room entrance,” Rhyne asked.
“He needs to meet with him at the emergency room entrance,” the nurse repeated. Rhyne heard a voice on the other end tell her he’d pass the word as soon as Norris got back from drawing blood from a patient. She nodded before hanging up.
“He’s with a patient at the moment, but he should be down shortly, if you want to take a seat in the waiting room.”
“Thanks. I’ll wait for him outside.”
First, however, he returned to the water fountain and took several large swallows of the cold water.
His head was beginning to pound, the first sign telling him he hadn’t had his daily intake of blood.
If he didn’t find some soon, the next step would be muscle weakness, followed by a thirst that would rapidly morph into rage.
He didn’t want to think about the end stages. He’d been there, and he’d sworn to himself it would never happen again.
“Hold on, old man. Maybe later. Right now you have a more pressing matter to take care of.”
It was nearly twenty minutes later when Norris exited the hospital where he found Rhyne sitting on the curb with his head in his hands.
“What’s up?” The man already knew something had either happened, or was about to happen, and he was making it clear he wasn’t happy about being caught in the middle of it.
Rhyne got to his feet. There was no time to mince words. “I’m pretty sure Welsh is going to make his move either tonight or early tomorrow morning.”
Norris’s eyes widened. “You mean to kidnap Miss Lockhart? Why?”
“He’s called another nest and bragged about his new vision. He’s invited them down to have a ‘taste.’ Which means he’s going to have to have a sample ready for them.”
“A nest? Is that what you call a group of you? A nest? How many of you are there?”
“Here in town, there’s just the three of us. Me, Welsh, and Nash. We have to keep the groups small so as not to draw attention. But listen.” Rhyne took a deep breath. “Norris, I just had another awful thought.”
“Oh, God.”
“My vision reverted back three days after I cleaned out that blood bag. Welsh only had a drop, barely a drop of her blood.”
“What are you thinking? That his vision might change back sooner than three days?”
Rhyne nodded. “Exactly. It’s only a hypothesis. But if I’m right, his vision is about to change at any time now. That’s why I have to get to Grace and take her someplace that’s safe. So do you.”
“Me? Why do I have to get Miss Lockhart?”
“No! I mean you have to find safe place to hole up.”
“Why?”
“You’re our go-between. Welsh might come to you and demand to know where he can find Grace. Where she lives and all.”
“I don’t have access to the personnel files,” Norris objected. “Those are over in HR, and it’s locked this time of night.”
“That won’t stop Welsh,” Rhyne insisted. “You gotta get out of here. Now.”
Amazingly, Norris stood his ground. “No way. Uh-uh. I have a job I busted my butt to get, and I like what I’m doing. I work with a bunch of great people, several of who’ve become good, close friends. I’m not risking losing all that because you have a hypothesis.”
Rhyne was about to press the issue when Norris continued.
“You told me that whatever can kill people like me can kill people like you, correct?”
“In most cases, yes,” Rhyne concurred.
“What do you mean, in most cases?”
“Given that we’re stronger and faster and all, it may take more than a single gunshot or stabbing.”
“So what you’re saying is the person doing the killing has to use a bit more effort and ingenuity?”
“And be faster. Lots faster.” Rhyne chuckled. “You’d be shocked how fast we can move.”
“Well, how are you against modern day medicine?”
The question confounded him for a moment. Seeing Rhyne’s confusion, Norris smiled and nodded as he indicated the hospital behind him. “In there we got over a thousand ways to kill a person. Or, in this case, a vampire. You know nothing about what’s available, do you?”
Rhyne had to admit the man was correct. “During my lifetime, medicine has undergone drastic changes. The only thing that’s remained constant is that there’s always blood available. That’s all we care about.”
Reaching out, Norris patted him on the arm.
“Go home, Rhyne. I’m staying here to finish my shift, but I’ll surely keep my eyes and ears open just in case Welsh or Nash show up.
Better yet, you got my phone number. If they’re gone by the time you get home, call me.
I can spend the night here if I have to. ”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“What about Grace? I don’t have her phone number, but she has mine.”
“Does Welsh know what type of car she drives?” Norris inquired.
Rhyne snorted. “I don’t know what type of car she drives, either.”
“Well, I don’t have her phone number, either, but I do know she drives a dark red Eagle. Like candy apple red.”
“Lot of good that’ll do me, since I can tell colors anymore.”
Norris sighed. “Tell you what. I’ll stay here until she arrives in the morning for work. I’ll leave a note over in admissions, and I’ll send her an email telling her to get in touch with me ASAP. I’ll tell her it’s a Code Blue so she knows it’s an emergency, okay?”
“Are you sure you’re going to be safe?” Rhyne insisted.
“If you can’t be safe in a hospital, what’s left?” Norris quipped. “I’ll also arm myself with a couple of things, just in case.”
Patting the man’s back, Rhyne nodded. “All right. But do this. Call me in the morning after you let Grace know what’s up. Please.”
“I will,” Norris promised. “I’ll call you either way.”
Rhyne hesitated. “Either way?”
“Whether or not I was able to tell her,” Norris clarified.
The man’s oath gave Rhyne a sense of relief. “Appreciate it, Norris. Thanks.” He turned to leave when he stumbled slightly. His left foot slid off the edge of the curb, and he almost fell. Norris’s last-second grab prevented him from taking a header.
“Hey, man! You all right? What’s wrong?”
Grimacing, Rhyne confessed. “My body’s reminding me I haven’t had my daily intake today yet.”
The concern on Norris’s face was genuine. “Are you going to be able to make it home okay?”
“Yeah. I’ll make it.”
Releasing him, Norris took a step back and held up a finger. “Hold on. Wait right there.” Almost as an afterthought, he pointed to the curb. “Sit down before you fall down again.”
Doing as he was told, Rhyne watched the young man disappear inside the hospital.
While he waited, he took a deep breath, noting the usual smells of gas fumes and the rotting garbage in the dumpster at the far end of the parking lot.
He had no way of knowing how long the lab tech was gone, and that bothered him since he was good at estimating time.
The crack of a door opening alerted him to someone exiting via the emergency room entrance. Norris hurried over to him.
“Come on. Let’s get you back on your feet.”
Rhyne felt something being pressed against his abdomen. Reaching down, he took whatever was being held there and slid it inside his button-down shirt as he slowly stood with Norris’s help.
“Drink it after you leave here. Don’t let anyone see you, or it could be both our butts. Understand?”
Rhyne gave him both a small smile and a nod. “Thanks.”
“I gotta get back to work. Talk to you later, okay?” Norris asked with a thumbs-up sign. “One way or another, right?”
“Right.” Rhyne returned the sign.
This time, when Norris hurried back inside, Rhyne went to find where he’d stashed his bicycle in the bushes against one unlit side of the building. Although he couldn’t see any security cameras in this location, he wasn’t going to take any chances and walked his bike to the intersection.
He was halfway down the block when he finally stopped and pulled out what Norris had slipped him.
He wasn’t surprised to find it was a vial.
It was a small, thin one, and contained what he knew had to be blood.
Unscrewing the cap, he held the tube to his lips and let the contents flow into his mouth.
Cold and salty, it coated his tongue with its life-giving essence, and Rhyne let the liquid ease into his throat before swallowing.
His brain fog dissipated almost like magic, giving him the clarity he desperately needed.
Smacking his lips, Rhyne started to suck out the remainder when he suddenly recognized the taste and realized whose blood he was drinking.
Norris had drawn a tiny amount from the AB negative bag still in storage. Grace’s blood. Not so much that it would be noticed, but enough to give Rhyne the strength he required.
He stood there underneath the streetlamp and stared at the little tube resting in his palm. There were no markings on the barrel, no identifying labels, but he knew the taste of her. He smacked his lips, letting the aroma waft up into his sinus cavities, and he reveled in her scent.
A truck drove by, dangerously close to jumping the curb and onto the sidewalk where he stood.
Someone reeking of alcohol shouted at him from the passenger side window as they went by when another car coming from the cross street sped by, going way faster than the posted speed limit.
Screeching tires and a thunderous crash sounded when the second vehicle t-boned the truck in the middle of the intersection, sending debris flying in all directions.
Rhyne glanced up at the traffic light and noticed the truck with the drunk guy had run the red.
He blinked.
The truck had run the red light.
As he stared at the signal, the red light went dark and the green one appeared.
Red.
Green.
He could see in color again.
This time Rhyne allowed himself to give a shout for joy. Jumping onto his bike, he continued on his way home.