Blood & Roses: Warriors of the Krieger (12 page)

“Evening,” I stood up to give her room to
stand next to Charity. Lydia’s eyes welled up with tears as she
took Charity’s hand.

Lydia reached into her bag and pulled out a
pair of pajamas and placed them on the bedside table. “How is
she?”

I told her about the Morphine pump and showed
her how to use it. I needed to go back to the office and catch up
on some work. Lydia told me to take my time, but I intended to be
back here well before sunrise.

Once I arrived back at the station, the first
thing I did was to call the local florist and order two dozen white
and red roses to be sent to the hospital. Next, I found Ashby in
his office, knee deep in paperwork. He hung his head over a stack
of folders; each one requiring his attention.

“You looked swamped,” I laughed. He looked up
over the stack of paperwork and grimaced.

“How is she?” he asked, concerned.

“She’s stable, but they are keeping her
sedated for a few days. I came in to see if you needed me for
anything.” He handed me a folder for new recruits needing approval
for our program.

While I reviewed the applicants, I told Ashby
about Charity’s injuries. He was relieved that she would be okay.
But now I needed to get back to the matter at hand.

“Has there been any word on Adam?” I
asked.

“Nope, he seems to have a way of evading us,”
he paused. “We found two more victims last night. They were
homeless men camped out on the other side of the river.”

“We need to step up patrols even more. Maybe
take some of the senior recruits out for some footwork. It’ll do
them good.” Kill two birds with one stone.

“Sounds good,” Ashby sighed. “We need all the
help we can get.”

“Alright I’m going back over to the hospital.
Call me if you need anything.” I grabbed my jacket and headed for
the hospital.

I knocked lightly on the door and let myself
in. Lydia was standing over Charity wiping away blood from her
chin. “How is she?” I asked as I walked around the foot of her bed
to stand on the other side.

“She seems better. They took her down for an
x-ray and the doctor will be in tomorrow to let us know what the
results are,” she sighed. “I really need to be going. Are you going
to be here for the rest of the night?”

“Yes, I’m staying. Go ahead and deal with
your affairs. I will call you with any updates from the doctors.” I
watched as Lydia leaned over and kissed the top of Charity’s head.
The friendship between those two was mesmerizing, almost like they
were sisters. I could understand their connection. I feel that way
about my brethren.

After she left, I settled in to stay with
her. Hopefully her ribs and leg have healed enough that they can
take her off the Morphine soon. I would feel much better when I see
her eyes open.

Chapter 7

Dragus

On the third night, Dr. Combs came in shortly
after sunset to check on Charity, “Looks like we can back off on
her Morphine.”

“When will she wake up?” I begged.

“It could be as early as tomorrow evening. It
will take some time for the medicine to leave her body. If she
wakes up in pain, just buzz the nurses and they will bring her a
shot. She will probably be sore, but I’m hoping most of the pain
will be gone.”

“Thank you doctor,” I stood up and shook his
hand. He signed her chart and left the room. After the nurses
removed the tubes, I sat on the edge of the bed and opened the vein
on my wrist.

Charity had been accepting blood from me and
Lydia with a little more force the past two nights. She remained
fairly peaceful; except for the few times she would wince and start
to whine from the pain. After I would press the plunger on the
pump, it only took a few seconds for the medicine to settle her.
But now there was no way to settle her pain immediately. Those
nurses better be on their toes, or I will have their heads on a
platter; if they don’t get her sedated quickly.

I spent the rest of the night watching her
every move, looking for any sign of distress.

Charity

The sound of footsteps woke me from my
deathly stupor. My natural instincts told me it was well into the
early morning just before dawn. I tried to open my eyes but I was
just too tired. Knuckles brushed my cheek and for a split second I
stiffened, until my senses recognized it was Dragus. I still felt
like there had been a metal table rammed straight through my body,
but the pain wasn’t as sharp. Instead of feeling like I had been
stabbed, I felt like I had been hit by a freaking big rig. This was
a good sign; I was healing, slowly of course. These wounds wouldn’t
kill me, but it would take a long time to repair my mangled body.
I’m just thankful the table broke my fall, instead of the wooden
deck. Catch my drift?

“I hurt,” it came out more like a jumble of
mush. When I talked, the pain in my chest flared and I bit down on
my lip.

“Shh,
mi amado
,” Dragus whispered. I
heard a beep and a voice came over an intercom.

“Nurses’ station,” the voice whispered.

“Ms. Harwood needs pain medicine now,” Dragus
demanded. The nurse gave him a “Yes sir” and then there was
silence.

I turned my head toward the sound of his
voice and opened my eyes. The lights above where I was laying were
shining bright. I winched from the burning in my eyes and groaned,
“Too bright.”

I heard the sound of a switch and very
carefully pried my eyes open. Dragus was draped protectively over
the side of my bed. He looked me over, checking my bandages,
touching my forehead. His eyes held a deep burning pain combined
with worry.

“Where…am I?” I whispered. It was hard to
talk because my throat was on fire; I was parched.

“You’re at Sacred Heart hospital. You were in
bad shape, but I’ve had the best doctors tending to you.” His voice
was strained and I wondered how long I had been here. “You’ve been
here four days. Lydia has been by every day, helping me feed
you.”

“Four days!” I squeaked and then flinched.
Dragus spoke soothing words in a language I didn’t recognize as he
stroked my cheek. Four days was a long time to be out of it. What
happened to Adam? Did anyone get hurt? Wait! How did Dragus read my
mind?

“Sorry, my lady,” he shrugged. “You have a
lot of my blood in you. I can pick up some of your thoughts and I
could even find you if you were a needle in a haystack, if needed.”
He laughed, but it was all wrong; like he was struggling to make
the sound fit into the situation.

The nurse arrived with a syringe full of pain
killers. Morphine is the one, and only, human medicine that will
work in our bodies. Don’t ask why, because I don’t really care at
this point. After the injection, she gave me stern warning to stay
put and to let myself rest. The doctor had cut back on the amount
of Morphine I was to be given, since I was now out of danger. She
instructed Dragus to feed me and slipped out the door.

He raised his wrist and I wrapped my pale
fingers around his forearm. His left hand remained on my forehead
as I bit into his vein. Just like before the taste of power and
strength assaulted me. I moaned at the taste and Dragus stroked my
cheek, whispering to me again in what I assumed as his native
tongue. The sound was so mesmerizing; I couldn’t help but look into
his eyes.

There were faint black rings under his eyes,
like he had been up too long. He looked weak, like he hadn’t feed
in a few days. I sensed his worry, and felt bad for his unnecessary
stress. He shouldn’t be worried about my injuries; they wouldn’t
kill me.

I released his wrist and breathed a sigh of
relief. My vision was a little hazy as I looked around, trying to
make out what was going on around me. The pain dulled in my leg,
but I didn’t know if it was the Morphine working, or the warrior’s
blood.

Of course, warrior blood was the strongest,
your maker’s was next, and human blood was the most common.
Vampires who are mated get their blood from their significant
others. Human blood was still needed occasionally.

“How are you feeling,
mi amado
?” he
whispered.

“I’m sore,” I admitted. “I think one of those
tanker trucks ran over me a few times.”

“You need to rest. We will talk at sunset.”
Sunrise was close and I wondered if Dragus would have enough time
to get home. I searched the room and found a cot to my left. The
sheets were in disarray, like someone had been staying there.
Dragus cleared his throat and whispered, “I’ve been staying here.”
I smiled and yawned.

The pull of death was upon me. Dragus kissed
the top of my head and walked around the hospital bed. He settled
into the cot and I closed my eyes. But I had to ask him something.
“Dragus? What does ‘
mi amado
’ mean?”

Just before I slipped under I heard him
whisper, “My angel.”

“Hm, that’s Spanish; I could have sworn you
were Romanian.” I giggled.

“I am,” he whispered as I felt the pull of
dead on my body.

Friday evening I woke up in pain. The
morphine had worn off in the night and now that I was alive again,
the pain returned. And it returned with vengeance. My lungs were
better but my ribs still hurt like hell. My vision had greatly
improved from the night before. I pressed the button for the
nurses’ station and politely told her to get in there now.

It wasn’t long before I was in the land of
the floating clouds. The pain was all but vanished. Life was good,
except I was thirsty.

Dragus was gone and I was just about to buzz
the nurse again, when Lydia popped her head in the room. “Hi,” she
whispered.

“Hi,” I said, a little too enthusiastically.
That was the morphine talking. Lydia smiled and came into the room.
She tossed her Coach purse on the cot and sat in the chair next to
my bed.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Like a metal table was rammed through my
body,” I laughed. She nodded and immediately rolled up the sleeve
of her shirt, then offered me her wrist. I took her offering and
watched her eyes well up with tears, as I greedily drank from her
vein. When I sighed she whispered, “S’okay, Charity. I’m just so
happy you’re okay.”

I released her wrist and grabbed her up into
a hug, “I’m so sorry.”

Lydia immediately dropped her hold and looked
sternly into my eyes, “This is not your fault; don’t you dare take
the blame on this one, sweetie. You should blame that damn hybrid!”
I flinched back. Her eyes had fire in them; they had turned red.
She was not happy.

“The only person I’m going to blame is
whoever flung my ass two hundred yards and impaled me on my patio
furniture.”

“Well, too late. Dragus killed the fiend.
From what they have told me, one of the Lycanthropes broke away
from Adam and slammed into you, then all hell broke loose.” I
reached up and wiped one stray bloody tear from her cheek.

“I saw some of what happened. Did they catch
Adam?” I hoped the
Krieger
had found him. He promised he
would be back and I’m pretty sure that is something I did not want
to deal with again.

“No. He got away before the fight was over.
The
Krieger
are out tracking him,” she said.

I’ve seen it first hand, how the Lycans can
get out of control. I did not want Dragus or the other
Krieger
out in the woods looking for them in the dark. It
was just too dangerous. One bite and they would become like Adam;
lost, scared and changing into something we all feared. What if we
could find the cure? Lydia was on my side, she could help.

“First, I need your help. We have to find a
cure. Adam thinks there is something that can be done. I just can’t
let him suffer.” I studied her expression to see if she would
cave.

Lydia’s face became saddened, “Charity, there
may be no cure, honey.” She walked into the bathroom and got a
washcloth from the rack. After dousing it with cold tap water she
returned to my bedside and placed it on my forehead. “There is
nothing we can do for him. He may be too far gone.”

“The hell there’s not!” I yelled and then
gasped from the pain in my lungs. Lydia wiped my face off with the
cloth. The pain had me sweating bullets and my stylish hospital
gown was covered.

“You need to worry about healing,” she
scolded me. “The
Krieger
will take care of the
Lycanthropes.”

“I promised I would help Adam. Lydia, you
have to help me.” I felt myself starting to panic at the thought of
no one helping Adam. I couldn’t just let him become a hybrid, or
let him get killed over something that wasn’t his fault. That poor
man was scared and lost, with no one to help him.

She pegged me with a warning glare, “If you
don’t calm down, I’m going to give you an illusion of being on a
beach somewhere. One that you won’t even realize is faked.”

Lydia had this odd way of making someone see
an illusion of whatever she created. It’s her ‘special’ ability.
She’s done it before, just because I thought it was neat. That was
in the beginning, when we first met. Now, if she did it, I would
consider it an invasion. “So help me, Lydia. If you do that, I will
never forgive you.”

“Char, you need to calm down,” she patted my
head. “Dragus will kill me if he finds out you were getting
stressed. The doctor told us you need to stay somewhat sedated
until you’re healed. If you don’t relax, they’re going to give you
another shot.”

“Okay, I will try. But no illusions, okay?”
She nodded. I lifted my hand up and wiped sweat off of my brow.
Lydia reached into the bedside table and pulled out some clean
pajamas. After she helped me into a pair of my favorite lime green
pajama set that she brought from my house, she continued reassuring
me about the
Krieger’s
intentions.