Page 63 of Wicked Bite
They scooped him up onto the gurney and wheeled him out of the room. Four other vampires in lab coats got the assistants to their feet and dragged them away. I turned back to Piper and brushed the hair back from her face. She was a mess. Dirt and blood were caked over her face and hands. Scratches marred her skin. I’d never seen the dress before, but it looked like something she’d stolen. Even that was nearly destroyed.
Doctor Stanbourn straightened his glasses and sucked in a deep breath. He was an older looking vampire. If he were human people would assume he was someone’s father. His sire changed him when he’d hit his late fifties, and though the change made him strong and fit, he still held some maturity in his face and grey streaks in his dark hair. The wrinkles around his eyes were nearly smoothed out from the change, but even so, he looked much older than the rest of us. My way of life wasn’t typical of other vampires. I was used to the violence and horrors that came with fighting and wars. The witches were a surprisingly vicious lot. Vampires like the good doctor lived a peaceful life, for the most part. Even feral vamps were easily subdued, especially by Sav and Jester. So this situation was new to him. They didn’t live in a world of monsters and villains.
“Does someone want to tell me why this feral creature was brought in?” The doctor pulled a small rolling station from the corner of the room.
On it sat his laptop and mouse along with other medical supplies. He stood in front of it and plucked wireless probes from the table, then placed them on her chest and down her arms. The technology would run a full diagnostic on Piper and send all of the data to his computer within moments.
I glanced at Sav, and he looked back at me. This was not a question I wanted to answer. “Doc, can you tell me why she’s so feral?”
“Any number of reasons. But mostly, the thirst wasn’t sated properly, and it drove her to madness. Whoever made this one was horribly irresponsible.”
I curled my hand into a fist at my side. This was all my fault. Her death. The atrocious start to her vampire life. All of it was my failing. I should’ve been there for her, and I wasn’t. Maybe Piper wasn’t wrong. Maybe her picker was broken, and I had just proven that tenfold. I wanted to be better. I wanted to prove to her that she could trust me and herself. And this was what I’d done to her. I’d taken her away from her life, her best friend, and everything she’d known.
“I agree.”
Sav growled at me. “It’s not true.”
“It is.” I glared at him. “It was irresponsible.”
“Your Majesty. Do you know this woman?” The doctor folded his hands and rested them on the table in front of him.
“She’s my—”
“Grayson, don’t.” Sav shook his head.
“She’s my progeny. I sired her.” I waited for him to say something, to chastise me for making such a monster. But Piper was no monster. I deserved all the yelling in the world at this point. I’d acted rashly, and these were the consequences.
His mouth dropped into a little O-shape and then he opened and closed it a few times like a fish out of water. He scrubbed his hand down his face. “But you left her.”
“She didn’t rise, you bloody ponce,” Sav snapped and began to roll his sleeves up.
I shook my head, stopping him.
The doctor’s brow furrowed. “What do you mean she didn’t rise?”
Just the thought of it made my stomach turn. “I waited for nearly three days, and she never rose. I waited. I waited next to her the whole time.”
“Hmm.” He turned to his computer and began to type up notes.
“Hmm, what?” Sav glared at him. “For a man with centuries of education, you lack the words required to explain the thoughts necessary to convey the information we need.”
“Much is unknown.” When we didn’t speak, the doctor glanced from him to me and back again. “We will have to keep her sedated until I can figure out how to clear her mind. She’s severely malnourished and physically roughed up. I can’t risk my staff working in such close proximity with her until her mind is right. She’s just too dangerous. From there, we will know more.”
He glanced down at the computer and his lips turned down in a frown. My stomach tightened. “What? What does that face mean?”
“Her physiology is off.” He pressed his lips together and sighed. “She might be very sick.”
“Might be?” My stomach twisted into anxious knots. How could I have bungled this up so badly?
“Her readings are all over the place. I’ve never seen anything like it. But at the same time, we are always learning new things about our species and its capabilities. I’ll only know when we wake her, and we can’t do that right now.” He shook his head and pushed his glasses farther up his nose.
“Why can’t we do that now?” I wanted her awake and lucid this instant. I had to know if I destroyed the little creature or if she could be saved. I’d do anything to save her.
He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. “We had a potion we used to clear the mind of the feral. A favor from a witch, and we used the last of it on another patient before she came in. There’s only so much modern technology can do for the supernatural. Sometimes it takes a bit of magic.”
Sav pressed his finger to his bottom lip. “So, it’s a witch who can make potions that you need?”
The doctor nodded. “It will take some time.”
