Page 56 of Born Wicked
I want to correct her. It wasn’t me. I really didn’t do anything in the end. But bringing up Sebastian in this moment doesn’t sound very enticing.
“I’m so damn glad you’re back,” I say, squeezing her hand. “Can you tell me how you’re feeling right now? I need to know what we’re dealing with.”
She groans again, and her eyes slide closed. “My stomach feels half rotten. My entire body hurts. Like, when I had a fever when I was still human. And I’m really, really thirsty.”
“Echo,” I say, calling her over. She stops at my side and drops the bag at her feet. She fishes out two bags, handing them directly to Elena.
“Wait a second,” Elena says, her brows furrowing as her eyes rip from the bagged blood to Mason. “Why don’t you smell like a meal? Mason, what happened?”
Mason gives a no big deal shrug. “Turns out even corporate billionaires can’t stand up to a semi-truck plowing them down.”
“What?” Elena barks in angry disbelief.
“It’s fine,” Mason says, that calming tone of his settling his twin sister. “It was going to happen soon enough.”
I leave the two of them to argue this out and walk down the aisle. Another vampire rips from slumber and vomits onto the side of the bed. Another pukes before they are even fully awake, and I have to roll them onto their side before they suffocate in it.
“Okay, this is enough for me,” Echo says. She hands me the bag of blood. “I’m out.”
“Thank you,” I say, and I hope she can tell how much I mean it.
She simply gives half a nod and walks out of the room.
Damn. I can’t blame her. I go to the windows and push them open, trying to get some fresh air flowing in before I lose it myself.
But it’s a miracle. One by one, the vampires wake. For too long, I was terrified that I’d never figure it out. That the damage done was irreversible. Yet here they are. Breathing and talking and sitting up.
“Okay,” I say after a very smelly yet exciting twenty minutes. “I think all of you are awake now.” I’m met with groans and weak-sounding questions. “I know you don’t feel so great right now. From what I understand, you can expect it to last a day or two. Considering this has never happened before, I can’t make any promises about the long-term effects. Dr. Roshan and I will be checking on all of you, doing some evaluations. I would love to have a follow-up with each of you in a few days here at the hospital, but if everything looks good, I think you’re all very anxious to go home.”
“What happened?” a woman asks. She’s shaking from head to toe, and it’s so unnatural to see a vampire look so vulnerable.
“It’s complicated,” I say, and my throat feels tight. I feel responsible for what’s happened to them. I didn’t do it, didn’t put all those toxins in the water supply, but Sebastian did, and he did it because he thought it was the only way to keep me safe.
“We need to have a meeting,” Elena says. There are dark circles under her eyes as if she hasn’t slept in a month. But she brings herself into a sitting position with Mason’s help. “All of you. Every supernatural in the city. What day of the week is it?”
“Tuesday,” Mason responds.
“Meet at the Nocturne on Saturday, an hour after sundown,” she says. She just awoke from death’s door, but she’s taking charge like she just woke from a catnap. “You’ll get your answers. But we also need to celebrate. This tried to take us out, but in the end, we will always prevail. Dress accordingly.”
A smirk crosses my lips, and I shake my head. Oh, Elena. She’s always looking for any excuse to dress up and throw a party.
These people deserve answers. Vampires don’t get sick, but these people all were, and now are, sick. If I were them, I’d want answers now, too. But it’s obvious no one feels up to the task of arguing. I walk down the aisle between the beds, checking on one patient and then the next. I go over their blood pressure, heart rate, temperature. Everything is a little off, but it all seems to be returning to normal.
“Anything you’re noticing to be concerned about?” I ask Dr. Roshan as I take an emptied blood bag from another patient.
“Nothing,” he says, his surprise reflected in his tone. “Everything seems to be returning to the way it should be.”
Thank the damn dark.
The cleaning crew comes in once everyone has had some blood to drink. Some of them have been out for two and a half months, they had to be thirsty as the Sahara. But no one seems to have a problem when two humans walk in with cleaning supplies and begin taking care of all the vomit.
“I think you’re good to go if you feel up to it,” I say to a woman. I loop my stethoscope around my neck and offer her a smile. “Everything is looking good to me. Just take it easy for a few days, okay?”
“Thanks, Dr. Doe,” she says with a weary smile.
Over the course of the next hour, each patient is examined by myself or Dr. Roshan. One by one, they each head out those doors. And it’s this feeling that I’ll never get over. Healing people, helping them gives me so much satisfaction, makes me see the value in myself. Those people might have lived the rest of their lives trapped in a coma. So, to watch them walk out on their own? To see them looking well on their way to being normal again? It feels pretty damn good.
“I need to go home,” Elena says as she stands, testing her balance. Immediately, Tabitha is by her side, wobbly knees, ashy face, and all. “I feel disgusting, and I can’t imagine how much work I have to catch up on. And the party to plan.”