Page 64 of The Dawning
Doc rubbed the back of his neck, settling his brown gaze on me. Trepidation was oozing off him as he approached, which gave me reason to pause. Dr. Damon Vieira was a vampire well known in our community for his intelligence, impeccable work ethic, benevolence, and nerves of steel. He hardly showed his true emotions to a patient, but when he did, they either conveyed bad news or that he wasn’t comfortable with a procedure. Doc liked to be a thousand percent sure before he tested any of his theories on us or anyone.
“Sam, are you ready?” Peter asked, approaching. “We’ll use this exam room. We’re all set up.” The scrawny man seemed confident, rolling his small shoulders back as he passed me and entered the room.
Jo pushed off the counter and trailed on Peter’s heels. “I’m eager to watch.” My sister’s curious mind would bode well when she officially became a doctor. Her studies weren’t quite done yet.
I blocked Doc’s pathway, peering down at him. “You’re nervous. Anything I should be worried about?”
He grinned. “Never let anyone tell you you’re not an empath. It’s a new procedure for me. But I agree with Peter. It should work. We need to get started. Afterward, Dr. Martin has the MRI room at the imaging center reserved for tomorrow afternoon. Like before, you’ll need to sneak out the south gate. The media are multiplying at the main one. I hope your father can do something about them.”
If anyone could quell the media, it was my old man.
Once Doc, Peter, Jo, and I were gathered in the room, I sat in one of those vitrectomy chairs—or in laymen’s terms, a kneeling chair.
Peter pulled on a pair of nitrile exam gloves. “I’m going to inject a small amount of sodium hydroxide into the base of your skull in the area just below where the chip is located. The chemical will dissolve the glass surrounding the chip, and in turn, the contents inside will break apart and flush into your bloodstream.”
Doc pinched the bridge of his nose. “You might feel like you’re burning from the inside out, but it won’t be as bad as if you had cobalt in you. The good news is—sodium hydroxide won’t kill you. The bad news is—it could damage some brain cells.”
Jo had her mouth slightly ajar, standing in my line of sight next to Peter. I didn’t need to feel her anxiety. Her expression said it all.
“Before we start,” Doc continued, “we’re going to hook up an IV containing your blood to help flush your system faster, and, at the same time, it should heal any damage to your internals, including your brain cells.”
“Hooyah!” I bit out the navy’s battle cry in a sarcastic way rather than what it was originally intended for—to build morale. “Let’s do this.”
Once the IV of blood was streaming through my veins, Peter primed the needle that had to be six inches in length. PTSD slapped me across the face, reminding me horrifically of the needles my uncle Patrick had used on me—and the one Carly had used more recently.
My fangs throbbed for release as anticipation scraped my nerves. I might live off the fear of my enemy but not off my own. Losing my loved ones was my number one fear. Coming in second was flying. Rounding out third was needles.
“One last thing,” Peter said. “Your occipital lobe that controls your vision resides in the back of your brain. It’s possible your vision could be compromised. Since you’re a vampire, it might only do temporary damage, like what happened to your hearing, which returned.”
I was able to hear again because the chip moved. He was about to use a chemical in my brain. That shit was completely different. “Wait one fucking second. You chose now to tell me this?” I eyed Doc. “That’s why you’re sweating?”
Doc donned a pair of exam gloves. “Sam, the chip is damaged, which means it can’t engage anymore. We could leave it in.”
Jo shook her head. “If I were you, I would remove it. You’ll have peace of mind, knowing that the chip won’t shift again.”
I was the one sweating now. “From the start, I’ve wanted to take it out regardless of whether it’s working or not. I should heal anyway, right?”
Doc bobbed his head. “You should, but there is always that chance you don’t. I know I sound unsure. That’s because I haven’t dealt with the vampire brain.”
It would suck the big one if I couldn’t see. Man, that would mean I couldn’t look into Layla’s dick-squeezing electric-blue eyes or see the birth of my kids. And I couldn’t be a Navy SEAL anymore. Missions would be a thing of the past. I had to stick to my guns. My gut had told me from the start to remove the fucker.
“Just do it,” I said.
The three of them nodded.
I planted my face in the padded headrest and closed my eyes. Then my sister gathered my hair off my neck and wrapped it with a band.
“You’ll feel a pinch,” Peter said from behind me.
Jo held my hand. I would prefer Layla’s, but I didn’t want her with me because we were trying to keep her stress free. As I waited for that pinch, I thought of how I would propose to her. It would definitely be on the beach and under the stars in Maine. Now, I just had to string the right words together. My stomach fluttered at the idea that I would make her my wife. Marriage had never been in my sights. Jo had that dream. As a kid, she couldn’t stop talking about how she would marry her Prince Charming.
“You know, Sam, one day I will marry a man who will never lay a hand on me.”She’d said that many times as we watched our foster dads beat the shit out of their significant others. My response had been,“I have no dreams of settling down.”She’d ribbed me about that, encouraging me to reconsider.
“Sam.” Jo’s light voice drew me out of the past. “It’s done.”
I sat up, opening my eyes, and my heart stopped. “I can’t see.”
No sooner than I said those three words, Layla’s voice filtered in, and I cringed. Did she hear me?
