Page 9 of Graced
“Rhyne!Don’t forget, it’s your turn to go get the next batch of bags!”Nash reminded him.
“I did it last time, remember?When it wasyourtime to go!”he called out.He sensed the man leaving.Sadly, Nash’s absence didn’t last.
“Hey, Rhyne?Welsh can’t do it.He’s working overtime this month, remember?And I can’t, either.I’m pulling a double.”
Rhyne didn’t try to hide his groan.“All right.I’ll go get ‘em.But you guys are gonna owe me!”
“Whatever.”No thanks.Just an acknowledgment and departure.
This time the footsteps faded into the distance, followed by the sound of the kitchen door slamming.There was the low growl of the single garage door opening before it repeated to signal its closing, leaving Rhyne to enjoy the blissful silence in their wake.
He was about to slip back to sleep when this time nature intervened.Mouthing a profanity, he opened his eyes and threw back the covers.
He stared, slack-jawed and on the verge of passing out, at his room’s multi-gray hues.
“What?No.No!”
He whipped his head around, searching for a glimmer of color, but he already knew his little miracle had ended.The world had reverted back to blacks and whites and multitudes of grays, the way it had been before he’d been given the gift of human eyesight.
Rhyne closed his eyes, squeezed them tightly, and opened them again.The world remained dull and colorless.Dejected, he dropped his face into his hands.“It was a treasure while it lasted, old man.There’s no way you’ll be able to regain it.”He raised his head.“Unless you find out whose blood it was.”
He stared at the curtained window.Would it be possible?
His gaze dropped to the nightstand where he’d stored the used blood bag.Sitting up on the edge of the mattress, he retrieved it from the drawer and stared at the label adhered to it.
AB Rh NEGATIVE
Collected two months ago according to the date stamp at the nearby Harbor County Hospital.
“He’s a local.”That little tidbit of information was heartening.
There were other words and symbols printed on the label that he neither recognized nor understood, including those bar code things.But he knew who could read them.
“They have to know who donated this.If it turns out there’s something wrong with the blood, there has to be a way for the donation center to track down the donor.Maybe to let them know they need to see a doctor, or to tell them they can’t donate anymore.That they’ve been barred or banned until whatever was wrong with them is resolved.”
Letting out a long sigh, Rhyne considered his options.Should he attempt to find those blood donors and try again?See if ingesting that blood restored his sight a second time?
“What if I do, but lightning doesn’t strike twice?What if this time was a fluke?A one and done?”It wouldn’t be the first time Fate had cruelly teased him like this.And as long as he lived, it wouldn’t be the last.
Common sense told him to drop the issue, but another part of him, that part which had once been human, longed for a repeat.And to keep repeating if need be.
An old saying among his kind saidFollow the blood.Its exact interpretation was left up to the individual, and depended on the circumstances.In Rhyne’s case, he’d follow the blood bag.
“But first things first.Norris goes to work in the afternoon.I’m going to have to wait until later to contact him and let him know what I need for him to do.That leaves me with trying to hunt down that asshole who tried to rob me.”
Getting up from the bed, he took care of his immediate needs, dressed, and ate a quick breakfast before heading out.He knew it was a long shot, but what other choice did he have?
“If it’s a combination of both bloods, I need to find that guy.”
And then what?
He stopped his bike and placed both feet on the pavement as he considered his options.“Okay.So I find the guy, and his blood brings my color vision back.What do I do then?Ask him nicely if he’d donate a quart for a sawbuck?”
Rhyne found himself facing a different problem.“Apparently, this ability only lasts for a few days.What happens when I run out of his blood?See if he’d donate every month, and continue paying him for it?”
He knew exactly what many of his kind would do.They’d imprison the man and bleed him.Keep him alive but captive for as long as they could in order to keep their supply fresh.It was a dehumanizing and barbaric tactic that Rhyne refused to participate in.
He wrinkled his nose in disgust.The idea of drinking that man’s toxic mess made him seriously reconsider for a split-second whether it would be worth it to see in color again.
