Page 16 of Born Chaos

“Are you accusing me of poisoning my own husband?” she asks. Her face swiftly changes from devastated to furious.

“We’re simply trying to get answers about what happened to him,” Sebastian continues. “We’re going to run tests. We’ll do blood cultures, a contrast scan. We’ll get answers. But for now, until we know what’s wrong, we’re treating his symptoms.”

“Why isn’t he conscious?” she asks, looking back down at him.

“He’s slipped into a coma,” I explain. “He’s unresponsive to stimuli. If I had to guess, I’d say it was due to a lack of oxygen. Comas can last anywhere from a few hours to a much longer length of time.”

And this breaks her. A sob rips from her lips, and her tears splash down to his chest as she looks back down at him. “Patrick, you have to wake up. I can’t raise this baby alone.”

Oh. I’ve neverseenthis before. Every Born vampire in the world is the result of a human mother and a vampire father. I’m a product of that, as are Sebastian, Roman, Elena.

But I’ve never actually met a human woman who fell pregnant by a vampire.

“We’re doing everything we can,” Sebastian reassures the woman. “Try to rest. We will keep you updated as we learn any new information.”

She doesn’t respond, but I know she heard us. So, we draw some blood samples and then step out of the room. I pull my new phone from my pocket and dial Sigrid. When she answers, I ask her to come down to the hospital.

“How long will it take to get the results back on that bloodwork?” I ask, trying to stay focused on the situation at hand.

“A few hours,” Sebastian replies. “We’re understaffed in that department, or it would be quicker.”

I simply give a nod, and Sebastian doesn’t linger. He heads off to the lab with the samples.

For now, there’s nothing more I can do for Patrick. He’s breathing thanks to the ventilator. His vitals are being monitored. So, until we have some answers, all I can do is be on hand if anything changes. All I can do is keep working.

A woman brings in a child with a spiking fever. I treat her and move on to another patient who somehow managed to stab themselves in the thigh with a pen. At least there’s variety tonight.

And when Sigrid arrives, Sebastian and I both talk to her.

She doesn’t know of any gifted in the city who could do this to a vampire. And there aren’t any gifted who reside here who she doesn’t know about.

It makes me nervous. It makes my stomach twist.

Archer King had all kinds of gifts he used against the residents of Chicago. He could do all kinds of terrible things.

Are we looking at someone like that?

“Juliet, are you alright?” Sigrid says when the discussion is over. “You’re awfully quiet today.”

My eyes want to automatically flick to Sebastian, but the very last thing I want is to bring anyone else into our drama. It’s bad enough that, once again, Roman is the only one who knows what’s really going on.

“I’m just tired,” I say. “I think I need to eat something and then sleep for two whole weeks.”

“I hope you get some rest, my dear,” she says, her tone so genuine, as she wraps her arms around me. “And congratulations, by the way. I saw the announcement yesterday on the news.”

I can’t offer a true thanks, so all she gets is a grunt of acknowledgement.

“Please, call me if you learn anything new that I need to worry about,” she says, looking over at Sebastian.

“I will,” he reassures her.

Sebastian’s phone beeps as she walks away. “Bloodwork is done.”

We head straight to the lab.

Patrick’s bloodwork looks like a nightmare compared to a human. But for a vampire, it’s very nearly average.

“His carbon dioxide levels are high,” the tech explains. “And his vitamin D is elevated. But other than that, everything looks normal to me.”

---