Blood & Roses: Warriors of the Krieger (11 page)

“No ma’am, this is her blood. Go…I’m fine.
You just worry about getting Ms. Harwood patched up.” I gave her a
gentle push toward the door.

The doctor working over her was an old friend
of mine. Dr. Combs had patched me up more times than I could count
over the years. I had no worry about his ability to take care of
Charity. I moved up closer to the opening of the curtain to watch
them work over her.

Someone had cut away her clothes and she was
laying on the hospital gurney completely unclothed. Part of me
wanted to protest and ask that all of the men be removed from her
presence, but I knew this was their job. I bit my lip in
frustration.

Dr. Combs stepped back from the commotion and
removed his gloves. He tossed them in the receptacle beside the
curtain, and walked toward me. The look on his face did not give me
a good feeling about what he was here to say.

“Master Dragus,” he sighed. “She is stable,
but has lost a lot of blood. Her injuries are severe and may take
days to heal. We will need to give her some transfusions, but I
don’t know how much it will take before she wakes up. I would like
to keep her sedated for a few days to allow the bones to heal.”

“I will call her maker. Ms. Lydia and I will
give her the transfusions. She needs something stronger than human
blood. Right?” I asked hoping I was right.

“Yes, Master. Your blood and her makers will
speed the healing process along just fine, but I still want her
sedated for a while. When she does wake up, she will be in pain.
Then I will prescribe a lower amount of Morphine to help.” The
doctor patted my shoulder on his way out to the nurse’s station
where he signed the orders for Charity’s care.

A nurse came up from behind and tapped on my
shoulder. “Master Dragus?”

“Yes,” I turned to see the same nurse as
before handing me a sheet of paper detailing the information on
Charity. “Please look over her information and make sure it is
right. We will be moving her up to room 1408 in a few minutes. Dr.
Combs told me you would be giving her the transfusion?”

“Yes, ma’am,” I sighed. “I need to call her
maker and have her meet me here. I will be in the room in a few
minutes.” The nurse simply nodded and we walked back into the room
with Charity.

The covers had been pulled up over her naked
body and the bloody clothes had been removed. I placed my hand on
top of hers and squeezed gently.

I dialed the office and found that Bastian
was already there waiting on my call.

“How is she?” His voice sounded strained and
then he paused as he waited for me to answer.

“She’s stable for now. I need you to text me
the number to Lydia Duncan immediately. I don’t think I will be
back in tonight. Call me with any updates.” My voice cracked as I
tried to remain calm, but that just wasn’t happening.

“Yes sir, Dragus. I’m sending the number
now.” I thanked him and flipped my cell closed. Instantly I heard
the chime, notifying me of an incoming text. I copied the number
and pressed send.

Lydia answered on the second ring,
“Hello?”

“Ms. Duncan. This is
Krieger
Dragus.”

“Oh! What can I do for you sir?” she sounded
confused.

“It’s Charity. She’s been hurt. I need you to
come over to Port Royal Regional. She’s going to need blood,” I
said.

“Oh! Charity! What…Why…What happened?” she
stuttered. I heard the panic and tried to calm her down.

“She’s stable. I will explain everything when
you get here. I can have a
Krieger
come and pick you up if
you need someone to drive you.”

“No, no. I can drive. Give me a few minutes,”
she cried.

I sat there for a while, holding Charity’s
hand. I felt the presence of another of my kind and I turned to see
Lydia coming into the room. Her eyes were already slightly bloody
with tears and her face was masked with frustration. She reached
over and grabbed my arm.

“How is she?” Lydia growled at me like a
mother cat protecting her young.

“She’s about to be moved to a room,” I
sighed. “She was attacked by a Lycan tonight and was thrown into
the table on the back porch. It impaled two of the legs into her
body, one nearly missing her heart.”

“Did it bite her?” Lydia looked at me
pleading for her friend. I patted her arm and shook my head. She
started to collapse but I steadied her before she fell.

“Come, we need to be there when they get her
into the room. She’s going to need a transfusion. They are going to
keep her sedated for a few days. I don’t know if she will be able
to take our blood or if we are going to have to have it drawn.” I
pointed toward the elevators and followed Lydia down the hall.

On the way up to the room, I explain
everything that happened tonight. From Adam controlling Charity’s
body to the overgrown Lycanthrope that slammed into her, throwing
her onto the porch. Lydia was not very happy with Adam Castillo at
the moment, and neither was I.

“That sorry son of a bitch hybrid,” she
snarled. “He was using her. Wasn’t he?”

“I honestly do not know. He acted like she
was the only one who could help him. He actually thinks there is a
cure, but he may be too far gone for anything to help him.” I
watched as the elevator noted that we had arrived at the fourth
floor. Lydia and I stepped out and followed the signs to room
1408.

Charity had already been brought up from the
emergency room through the back elevators. Nurses were busy setting
her up on a Morphine drip. Lydia and I waited patiently in the
corner as they worked over Charity’s limp body.

I watched carefully as her chest would rise
and fall with each breath. I counted each one and was grateful she
was able to breathe the normal 8 times a minute, but the sound
horrified me. I could hear the blood gurgling in her lungs as she
struggled to breathe. A nurse placed an oxygen mask over her face
and turned the dial on the wall. The sound of air rushing out of
the tubes made a small hissing sound.

Lydia stood beside me and cried quietly to
herself. I placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked up at me,
trying to smile.

The nurse cleared her throat to get out
attention, “Are you Ms. Harwood’s maker?” Lydia stepped forward and
nodded.

“We need to see if she is coherent enough to
accept your blood. Could you try for us?” The nurse stepped away as
Lydia moved around the chair sitting beside the bed.

Lydia unrolled her sleeve and used her fangs
to bite into the vein on her wrist. The nurse removed the mask and
stepped aside. My eyes bulged as Lydia climbed in the bed with
Charity, like a mother with a child, and placed her wrist to
Charity’s lips. Lydia whispered to her encouraging her to feed.

“Char, please baby. Take my blood. Hurry up
before it closes honey.” Lydia’s eyes widened when Charity’s mouth
opened and wrapped weakly around her wrist. The sound of Charity
feeding was weak and light as a whisper when she swallowed.

The nurse smiled, “This is a very good
sign.”

I stepped over to the end of the bed. “It
doesn’t sound like she’s taking enough,” I turned toward the nurse
looking for answers. Lydia nodded echoing my concern.

“Anything she can get down is good. The
Morphine is making her body more relaxed so she won’t feed as she
would if she was awake. Dr. Combs wants her sedated because if she
was wake up, the pain would be so intense she wouldn’t be able to
feed at all.” The nurse turned to Lydia and watched as she pulled
away from Charity. “Oh dear, she’s a mess. Let me get a wash
cloth.”

Charity’s chin was covered in blood. What
little blood she took from Lydia seemed to have drained out of her
mouth.

“Master Dragus,” the nurse turned toward me
after she had wiped Charity’s chin. “Do you want to try?”

“Of course,” I whispered. After removing my
coat, I sat down on the edge of the bed, trying my best not to
jostle her. The nurse handed me a clean wash cloth and I used my
own fangs to break open the vein. I immediately pressed it to her
lips.

Charity opened her mouth just enough to allow
the blood to trickle inside. We laughed when she let out a slight
moan and tried to latch onto my wrist. She was extremely weak and
didn’t make a good connection, but at least she was swallowing a
little better. I used my other hand to brush away the hair from her
face. When I would touch her, her pulls on my wrist would increase,
but only slightly.

“She likes your touch,” the nurse whispered.
“Keep doing whatever you’re doing.”

I nodded and continued to brush my hand
lightly over her forehead. She moaned softly a few more times
before my wound closed. She didn’t make quite as much of a mess
with me as she did Lydia, but I still used the cloth to wipe away
the blood from her chin.

The nurse stepped out leaving us alone with
Charity. I leaned forward and placed my elbows on my knees, then
rested my chin on my hands.

Lydia pulled over a stool and sat down beside
me. “Have they found Adam yet?”

“I have no idea.
Krieger
Ashby is in
charge and I haven’t heard from him yet,” I sighed. “I’m sorry
Lydia. I tried to protect her and I failed.”

Lydia leaned over and wrapped her small arm
around my shoulder and sighed, “Charity is rather hard headed and
does what she wants to do. It could have been much worse. You did
very well with her. So, don’t beat yourself up over this.” She
pointed to Charity laying there comatose.

I laughed lightly, “She is strong willed.
Isn’t she?”

“You have no idea,” she laughed. Lydia stood
up and patted my arm again. “It’s getting late. I will be back as
soon as I can after sunset. Please call me if you need
anything.”

“I will and thank you.” Lydia nodded and left
out of the room leaving us alone.

Charity was so peaceful in her sleep. Her
pouty lips were relaxed and slightly parted. I touched her cheek
with the back of my hand and she turned her head slightly then
flinched.

I immediately pressed the button for the
nurse.

“Nurse’s station,” the voice whispered.

“She’s in pain. Get someone in here now!” I
demanded. If they didn’t come in here right this second I would go
ballistic. The fear of her being uncomfortable sent a sharp,
tingling pain up my spine.

Luck was with them, a nurse entered the room
in a rush, “What’s wrong?”

“She flinched,” I growled. “I thought she was
given Morphine.”

“Here’s what we’re going to do,” she spoke
calmly, after a long sigh. “I’m going to add something where you
can administer an extra dose if she seems to be in pain. You can
only do it once every fifteen to twenty minutes.”

“That would be helpful,” I sighed. “I’m sorry
for yelling. I just don’t want her in pain.”

“Yes sir, Master Dragus. We understand.” She
smiled politely and left the room.

Another nurse entered the room with a little
white cord with a red button attached to it. It reminded me of
those buzzers you see on that show Jeopardy. They showed me how to
use it and explained that they were on their way home and the human
nurses would be taking over until sunset.

I thanked them and returned to Charity’s
side. Her face had relaxed with the extra dose of medicine. The sun
was just a few minutes from rising when I heard her take her last
breath until sunset. This was typical with our daily death. I,
being a
Krieger
could stay up longer, but by no means could
I walk in the sun. With that thought, I slipped off my boots and
laid down on the small couch by the far wall and let my death take
me until night fall.

I awoke about an hour before sunset and found
two human nurses bathing Charity before she woke for the evening.
They had small pink tubs filled with hot soapy water. One nurse was
washing and the other was lifting her leg up. They both stiffened
when I stood up from my makeshift bed.

“Good evening, Master Dragus,” they greeted
me in unison.

“Evening,” I smiled. “Do you need my help?” I
pointed to the bed where Charity lay still in her death.

They looked at me stunned; like they would
never expect a
Krieger
to do dirty work. I ignored their
shocked faces and walked over to the bed.

“Yes, we wanted to get this done before she
awakes for the evening. If we bump her now, she won’t hurt,” the
smaller nurse said. In fact, they were both small and I don’t see
how they could even lift someone half Charity’s size without help.
“Could you sit her up so we can clean the wound on her back?”

“Gladly,” I smiled at them. I reached over
and slid my arms under hers and raised her up as carefully as I
could. The nurses worked quickly to clean the wound and wash her
back.

The other nurse was a small middle aged human
and she unfolded a sheet while the other removed the tubs from the
side of the bed. “Can you lift her completely so I can put clean
sheets on her bed?”

This was a little harder than it looked. I
had to hook my arm behind her knees and behind her neck without
hitting the tubes or the wounds. I didn’t want to jar her leg,
possibly breaking it again. They assured me it would be okay.

As soon as we were done and the nurses left,
I heard her take her first ragged breath of the evening. I sighed
and tucked the fresh blanket around her waist. She didn’t move when
I tried to speak to her, “Charity? Can you hear me?”

I bit into my wrist and placed it up to her
lips. She opened her mouth and took my vein with a little more
strength than the night before. I straightened a few curls that had
fallen across her face as we bathed her. She moaned softly before
she stopped feeding from my wrist. The wound closed up and I
debated whether or not to try again.

“Good evening,” Lydia whispered from the
other side of the door. She must have been outside the room, giving
us some privacy.