Chapter 20
As Merry began her fourteenth hour of definite, genuine labor, she found it hurt less when positioned on her side. Or maybe it was the low back rub Morgaine was giving her that eased the pain. Sly sat on the opposite side and held her hand.
“How are you doing, honey?”
“I’m fine,” both women said at once. Then Morgaine let out a nervous giggle.
Merry suddenly realized Morgaine had been standing in one spot for a long time. “I’m sorry, Morgaine. You don’t need to keep massaging me, if you’re getting tired.”
“I’m not.”
“Oh, thank goodness, because it feels really good.”
Sly chuckled. However, it was the kind of nervous noise that relieved an awkward moment.
Sly voiced what she had been hoping for ever since her labor pains sped up. “I’ll bet Jason will be here any minute.”
“Is it still snowing?” she asked.
“I doubt it,” Sly said. It’s almost morning, and it began yesterday afternoon.
Morgaine stopped massaging just long enough to stroll around the curtain to the window. Merry was glad the semi-private room was the only one available when they checked in. Sharing her experience with someone else who went through it would help with sympathy. Her roommate had gone to the delivery room an hour ago.
“It’s stopped,” Morgaine said.
“Finally! Maybe Jason’s plane has landed, and he’ll get here in time for the birth. Although I’d feel kind of bad for the two of you going through all these hours of labor with me only to miss the grand finale.”
Morgaine returned to her side and resumed her low back massage. “Don’t worry about us, Merry. We’ll be in the waiting room, if we can’t go in with you.”
“I can’t thank you both enough—” Another pain was coming. She began to moan. Concern filled Sly’s eyes. In some ways, he seemed more nervous than she was.
She squeezed his hand and knew that if Jason were here, he might not be holding her hand. He wasn’t allowed to do certain things that would risk his ability to pitch. She remembered his telling Roz that skydiving was strictly forbidden. But she imagined him trying his hardest to make it to the hospital and bailing out over Boston General. He could shift into his falcon form and fly, after all.
At last, the contraction eased, and she took a deep breath, relieved it was over—for a couple of minutes.
A nurse’s aide entered the room. “How are you doing, Mrs. Falco?”
“Okay,” she said, tentatively.
“Good. Be sure to use the buzzer if you need anything.”
When she left, Sly asked, “Do you know any of these nurses from working here?”
“No. I was in pediatrics. Nurses from different departments don’t usually get chummy unless they were friends before.”
Just then a stretcher holding her exhausted looking roommate rolled in.
“Hey, Anna, how did it go?”
Her husband grinned. “We had a healthy baby girl.”
Anna snorted. “Yeah, we were in labor for six hours. I’m just glad it’s over.”
“Congratulations. I’m happy for you both.”
Morgaine seemed genuinely interested. “This is your second, right?
Anna nodded. “I don’t mean to be rude, folks, but I’ve got to take a nap.”
“Of course,” Merry said. “We’ll be quiet—unless I start screaming.”
Just then Jason sailed into the room. “Who’s screaming?”
“Jason!”
He rushed to her outstretched arms.
“Looks like I made it,” he said.
“Thank goodness. How’s your dad?”
“Much better.”
“Good. Sweetie, can you take over for Morgaine and rub my back with your non pitching hand?”
“I’ll be glad to. Have you been at it a while, Morgaine?”
“About fifteen minutes.”
“More like forty-five,” Merry corrected. She imagined her friend didn’t want them to feel as if she’d been working too hard for too long.
“Thank you for taking such good care of my wife in my absence.” Jason rounded the bed and relieved Morgaine.
Another person entered the room. A different nurse this time. “I need to check to see how dilated you are,” she said. “Your husband can stay, but I think your visitors ought to leave for a few minutes.”
“That’s okay.” Sly smiled. “We’ll be nearby.”
“Maybe we should go to the waiting room at this point,” Morgaine said. “I have a feeling it won’t be much longer before she delivers.” She winked at Sly.
The nurse looked over at Morgaine. “Are you a nurse or a midwife?”
“I took some classes in midwifery.”
Merry was about to explain that Morgaine was her father’s girlfriend, but another contraction hit, and it seemed superfluous.
Jason paused. “Are you all right, honey?”
“Will be. Keep rubbing,” she said.
Jason returned to his task.
Sly reluctantly let go of her hand. “Good luck, sweetheart. Jason, be sure to let us know how she’s doing as soon as you can.”
“Will do.” He reached over her and shook Sly’s hand.
Morgaine closed her eyes briefly and murmured something just under her breath. When she opened them, she must have noticed a puzzled look on their faces.
“Just offering a prayer for the best possible outcome,” she said.
“Why? Is anything wrong,” Jason asked.
Morgaine quickly interjected, “No! Nothing at all. I just figured it wouldn’t hurt.”
Merry smiled at her. “That’s perfectly fine. In fact, all prayers and good wishes will be gratefully accepted.”
Sly walked Morgaine to the waiting room. A couple of other people were there, reading, so he whispered to her. “Did you really say a prayer or were you doing a spell?”
“They’re pretty much the same thing.”
He took a seat, even though he felt more like pacing. Morgaine settled into the chair next to him.
Keeping his voice low, he continued. “You are so talented in magic. I imagine you could make good money at that alone, if you wanted to.”
“What are you saying?”
“I just think you could let Gwyneth take over the phone sex business and you could become a full-time witch. You know...doing spells for people like you did for Mikhail.”
“First of all, witches aren’t supposed to sell their magic. We can charge money for tarot, palm, or tea leaf readings, but when it comes to spells, we have to be asked. We can trade favors as I did with Mikhail.” Her voice took on a slightly hissed, higher pitch as she whispered. “Why do you think there are no signs that say, ‘Spells R Us’? Magic is not to be used lightly, and it’s definitely not for fools. If you don’t know who you’re helping and what they’re up to, it can be very dangerous.”
The other people in the waiting room looked up from their magazines.
“Hey, what’s the matter? I was giving you a compliment,” Sly said.
She folded her arms and huffed. “I suppose.”
“Then why are you pouting?”
“I’m not pouting.”
There was that raised whisper again. Something was bothering her.
“Morgaine, if you have something to say, just say it.”
“I could say the same to you,” she snapped.
“Shhh...” He looked over at the other visitors, but they continued reading, hopefully tuning them out. “Excuse me?”
Leaning toward him as if wanting to get her point across while she tried to keep her voice down, she said, “This isn’t about my magic, is it? It’s about my phone sex business.”
He shrugged. “I just don’t understand why you’d continue doing that if you had another option.”
She narrowed her eyes. “Maybe I’m talented in more than one area.”
What was going on? Did she like talking dirty to strangers? Sly had been thinking of discussing marriage with her, but now he wasn’t so sure. He let out an exasperated breath.
Maybe she was just used to relying on this type of interaction to feel attractive to the opposite sex. Well, he’d have to let her know she didn’t have to. He’d more than fill that bill.
“Morgaine, I don’t want to fight. I love you.”
She sighed. “I know. I love you too. I suppose it’s normal to feel a little jealous of my customers.”
“Jealous?Don’t be ridiculous.” He laughed.
She jumped to her feet and strode away from him. Her eyes looked like storm clouds had just rolled in.
Uh-oh. That was the wrong reaction.“Morgaine...honey.” He rose and strolled toward her. Then his head spun and the odd sensation of falling into a hole engulfed him.
“Sly! Oh, my Goddess.” What happened?
He had been walking toward her and suddenly he swayed and sank to the floor. The other people watched as she rushed over to him. One of them rose and joined her.
“Is he all right?”
The Vampire Vintage must have worn off—and it’s sunrise. But how could she explain that to strangers?
Before she could think of an explanation, the gentleman said, “I’m an EMT. He grabbed Sly’s wrist and checked for a pulse.
“Uh-oh. Your friend’s in trouble. I’ll stay with him. Go call a nurse.”
“No, you go. I’ll stay with him.”
The man looked puzzled but got up and strode out of the waiting room in the direction of the nurse’s station.
Now what? Thank the Goddess he hadn’t landed directly in the shaft of sunlight filtering through the windows, but he was near enough to make her nervous. She grabbed Sly’s arms and dragged his lifeless body toward the restroom.
The remaining woman rose. “I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to move someone after a fall.”
Stay out of it, lady,she thought. What do you know about vampirism?
A code blue was announced over the loudspeaker and a nurse came running. She kneeled next to him, tilted his head back, and placed two fingers on one side of his neck. Another nurse joined her shortly, towing a large red cart. When she plopped a container with paddles onto the floor next to Sly, Morgaine figured out what it was for.
Oh, no. A defibrillator.What would that do to him?
She had to think quickly, yet her mind was frozen. The nurse with the defibrillator had turned it on and was poised over his chest with paddles in hand.
At last Morgaine came up with something. “Stop! He’s a Christian Scientist. And he has a living will. He doesn’t want any medical treatment, even in an emergency.”
The nurse without the paddles had opened the cart and was retrieving something with a plastic mask and large oblong balloon attached to it. She stared at her.
“But we might be able to save him. Don’t you want us to try?”
Yeah, they might be able to kill him too. She bit her bottom lip. “I—I think he’d want us to respect his wishes.”
The nurses looked at each other open-mouthed.
I could kick myself. We were so focused on Merry, I never thought about Sly’s condition. Dearest Goddess, please let Nathan be working in the morgue tonight.
Nathan Nourie flew to his workplace carrying a pillowcase containing a bottle of wine in his strong beak. Luckily Sly had left in such a hurry, he hadn’t locked his door and Morgaine was able to direct Nathan to the briefcase holding the stuff they needed.
Never had he thought his job as a morgue attendant would help save someone. Least of all a friend. It occurred to him that for the first time in a long time, he had friends—not just acquaintances. Sly was someone he’d plow through snowy sidewalks for. And he knew Sly or Morgaine would do the same for him. And Gwyneth… Just thinking about her made him smile.
He had to shift into human form and dress quickly. Fortunately, he had found a spot outside the hospital where he could keep a change of clothes. There were the inevitable days he overslept and had to literally fly to work to get there on time.
Nathan dug his clothing out of their hidey-hole and hopped into his black pants. He struggled into his shirt and ran toward the entrance, still buttoning.
Morgaine had sounded frantic. As he skidded around the corridor, he hoped he’d arrived in time to prevent the daytime attendant from doing any damage. He strong-armed the door to the morgue and strode inside.
Morgaine was draped over a sheet-covered body, wailing. The attendant seemed perturbed and was trying to pry her hands off the gurney.
“Stop,” Nathan ordered.
They both looked up at him, open-mouthed. Morgaine’s cheeks were streaked with real tears. She wasn’t just acting.
Oh, no. Am I too late?
Morgaine gazed at the ceiling and said, “Thank the Goddess!”
“Nathan? What are you doing here?” the attendant asked.
“Taking over.” Nathan grabbed a pair of latex gloves on his way to the supply cabinet. He gathered what he’d need to infuse the wine intravenously. On his way to the hospital, he’d realized that would be the only way to get some of it into Sly’s system.
The other attendant scowled at him. “What the hell are you up to?”
“Saving this man’s life.” Nathan pushed him aside and peeled back the sheet.
Sly lay there immobile and pale. Nathan worked quickly, before the other attendant could call anyone or interfere. Fortunately, he didn’t move. He simply stared at Nathan as if he’d lost his mind. Perhaps he had. How would he explain this later?
There was no time to worry about that. He shoved Sly’s sleeve up, located his large medial vein in the crook of his arm. He quickly took a syringe with the longest, thickest needle he could find and stuck it right through the cork. Then he drew the syringe full of wine and injected it directly into Sly’s vein.
Nothing happened for a few seconds. Just as he was beginning to despair, Sly sat up and opened his eyes.
The other attendant reeled backward. “Jesus Christ!”
Sly blinked a few times and looked around. Then he glanced down at his body and the sheet covering him from the waist down. He yanked the sheet up over his bare feet and saw the toe tag. “Fan-fucking-tastic.”
He slid off the gurney and walked toward the frightened attendant.
“What the hell are you, man? A zombie?”
Sly held his gaze for a moment and the guy’s jaw went slack. “You did not see a body on that gurney. You did not see a woman or one of your coworkers here this morning. Everything is as it should be on this quiet morning in the hospital morgue.”
He ripped off the toe tag and turned toward Nathan. “Now, where are my shoes?”
Nathan pointed at what amounted to a laundry hamper. Sly walked over to it, fished out his shoes and put them on.
“Thanks Nathan. Morgaine, I assume you were responsible for calling him, so I owe you a debt of gratitude too.”
She burst into tears and hugged him. Then she rushed to Nathan and hugged him too. He gave her a few awkward pats on her back.
“There, there.” Isn’t that what people were supposed to say after a crisis? What else should he say? “Everything’s all right now.”
“Thank you,” she whimpered. “Thank you so much. I’ll never forget this.”
“Please don’t get mushy.” He didn’t know what to do with that. He had never saved anyone before. It felt pretty good though. Damn good, in fact.