Spell Checked (21 page)

~~~***~~~

It would be hours before Mae came out of surgery.  Beck sat patiently in the waiting room with Aidan and Meredith.  His mind was running a marathon trying to process the whole situation.

Aidan sat next to Meredith on a couch. “How is the shoulder feeling, Mere?” he asked, trying to make small talk.

“It hurts like hell, but the painkillers are taking the edge off.”  Meredith leaned back against Aidan’s chest.  He gently put his arm around her, being careful not to touch her injured shoulder.

“I wish I was better at healing; maybe Alexis can help when she gets here,” he offered.

Beck got up and started to pace the floor.  “She should have been able to heal herself by now.  What could be taking the surgeons so long?”  He stopped, took a deep breath and ran his hands through his hair.  “I will kill whoever did this,” he stated stoically as an eerie calm set upon him.  “Where is the damn nurse?” he yelled, his emotions resuming control.

Aidan walked over to him and put his hand on Beck’s shoulder.  “Alexis will find out who did this, you need to stay calm before they throw you out of here.”  Aidan sat Beck down next to Meredith.  She held his hand, reminding him he was not alone.

The door opened, one of the doctors walked in and Beck jumped up to meet him.  “How is she?”

“Both of the bullets went all the way through her cranium cleanly.  The only thing we could do was remove the bone fragments and try to keep pressure off the brain from the swelling.  She is in the ICU in a drug-induced coma until we feel it’s safe for her to wake up.  Her vitals seem to be holding steady for now.  It’s a miracle she’s even alive.”

Beck nervously exhaled, like he had been holding his breath during the entire time the doctor spoke. “May I see her?”

“I was just headed that way if you care to follow me,” the doctor answered, gesturing towards the door.

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to take Meredith to your townhouse so she can rest,” said Aidan

“Thanks for staying with me,” Beck said to Meredith before he turned towards the door and followed the doctor.

Beck’s heart dropped when he saw Mae, she was almost unrecognizable.  Her eyes were black where the blood had pooled under the skin from the trauma.  Her long, beautiful, brown hair was all gone and replaced with what seemed to be yards of gauze wrapped around her head.  There were tubes and wires everywhere.  Beck stood in the doorway, motionless watching the doctor check everything carefully.

“It’s okay to go in and sit next to her,” one of the ICU nurses said from behind him.

He sat in the chair next to the bed clasping her cold lifeless hand.  Anger built up inside of him once more as the nurse and doctor walked out.  They were alone and the room was dark, save an emergency light in the bathroom.  He was emotionally drained.  Their argument from the night before was the last thing he said to her and it terrified him that she might pass without forgiving him.

The tears he fought to hold back began to flow as a quiet voice invaded his mind…
Paris
.  It whispered several times before he looked up and saw the ghostly image of Helen floating in front of him.  It was as if she were made of sheer light, irradiating the room in her soft glow.  It was the face of the woman he first fell in love with thousands of years ago but in a more ethereal form.  “Helen, what are you doing outside Mae’s body?”  He was nervous talking to her, wondering if she were aware of his betrayal and love for Mae.

She smiled, “My dearest Paris,” using the name she had known him by when they first met.  “My time here is short and I have come to say goodbye.”

“Helen, what do you mean ‘good-bye’?  You promised that this time we would be together forever.”  All of his feelings for Helen came rushing in like a rogue wave, engulfing him.

“I have spent too many years toiling over my own existence, Paris.  Every time I returned to a new body, part of my soul would disappear into theirs…I no longer choose to live this way despite the curse from Aphrodite.  It is time for me to walk into the light and continue my journey.”

“You cannot leave me Helen, I need you,” Beck pleaded with her.

“What of Mae?  Is she nothing to you?”

Beck sat silently, unable to truthfully answer the question.

“She is your soul mate Beck,” Helen added, using his current name.  “I have been witness to all that binds you together…She is everything I could never be to you.  You have lived, laughed, and loved more in the last few months with her, than we have in our eternity and I am glad you have finally found true happiness.  It has given me the courage to do what I should have done in the beginning.”

“I love you, Helen,” was all he could think to say.

“I know,” she smiled as she faded into the brightness that illuminated behind her.

Helen was now gone and regardless of the weight that was lifted off his shoulders it still pained him to let her go.  He laid his head on Mae’s chest and sobbed to the sound of Mae’s beating heart.

~~~***~~~

Alexis crept quietly through the door of Mae’s ICU room.  Beck appeared to be asleep lying across Mae’s chest until the sound of the door closing startled him and he sat back up in his chair.  He looked almost as hellish as Mae, his eyes red and swollen from crying and lack of sleep.  His usual ridged proper demeanor was now reduced to an exhausted man slumped over in his chair as she walked up to him.

She took his hand in hers and placed three bullets in it.  “They are silver-plated, I took them off a poor farmer so enthralled with a compulsion spell that he had no idea what he had done.  She’s lucky they went straight through; otherwise she would be dead already.  Meredith contacted one of the doctors, a warlock, who told her they are going to start chelation therapy on her soon to remove all the silver from her system.  They are also in the process of gathering other witches to make a healing circle to speed up the healing process.”

Beck realized the gravity of Mae’s situation; silver was caustic to both vampires and witches.  The punishment for making use of it was an automatic death sentence by law in both penal codes. “Do you know who is responsible yet?”

Alexis sighed and leaned against the edge of the bed next to Beck.  “Beck, it was more than just an attack on Mae.  Your research lab has been burnt to the ground and all the files and backups were erased.  Howard is responsible for both, but I believe there is someone on the Council that is pulling the puppet strings.”

Beck exploded, “Howard? Howard did all this?”  He jumped up from the chair and grabbed his coat.  For many years he had trusted Howard, never having had reason not to.

Alexis stood at the door blocking his passage.  “He is not here, Beck.  He left for London hours ago, so have Aidan and Meredith.  She called an emergency Council meeting for tomorrow, but you need to be here with Mae for now.”  She gripped his arms hard, trying to break the trance that had overtaken him.

He sat back down in the chair and put his face in his hands, restraining his anger for Mae’s sake.  Alexis let out a deep breath, relieved he had calmed down, if only for the moment.  They would all have to endure his anger soon enough, but now was not the time. The plan was to keep Beck from doing something that he would later regret and to allow the Witches Council a chance to vindicate the situation.  Howard was a dead man either way.  Alexis put her hand on Beck’s shoulder and he looked up. 

“She was wearing the bug necklace you had made for her and smiling when we left the shop.  It seemed like you were forgiven long before the gifts…I think she just wanted to make a point before she let you know,” Alexis confided to him, hoping to ease his guilt.

Beck smiled slightly and sighed, “I hope you are right.  I love her and it is breaking my heart not knowing,” clasping Mae’s hand tighter in his.

The doctor entered interrupting their conversation.  “Hello, I’m Dr. Thomas,” he said, reaching out to shake Beck’s hand.

Alexis raised an eyebrow, sizing up the handsome, young doctor in front of her.  “Aren’t you a little young to be a doctor?” she inquired.

He leaned over and whispered, “I’m one hundred and sixty-two but don’t tell the other doctors, they think I’m some sort of med school genius,” he laughed.  “I am going to start the chelation treatment right now.  Hopefully we can go in and heal her right afterwards.”

It was obvious the warlock doctor was flirting.  Alexis smiled at him while he hung the bag of chelation fluid and reconnected the IV tubes to it.  “So, Dr. Thomas is there a good place around here to grab some lunch?” she chirped back in an effort to get the doctor’s attention.

“I was just headed down to the cafeteria for lunch if you’d like to join me.  The food is not the best, but it’s not too bad.”

Alexis stopped and looked back as she was leaving. “Beck, are you going to be okay?  You look like you could use a good meal, why don’t you come with us?”  she asked, looking at all the cracker wrappers on the nightstand.  It was obvious he had not eaten a meal since yesterday.

“No, you two go and enjoy your lunch.  I will get something later.”  Beck was waiting for her to leave.  He had business to take care of and didn’t need Alexis’ interference.  As soon as she was gone, he stepped outside and turned his cell phone back on.  It had been off since yesterday evening and there were a ton of messages and voicemails that needed to be answered.  His first call would be to Greg, his head of research at the lab.

“Greg, how bad is it?  Please tell me no one was hurt,” he choked, feeling as if the world were falling down around him.

“When we couldn’t get hold of you, we thought you’d been shot too.  Everyone is okay, but the lab is still burning and there’s little that can be salvaged.  Howard also reformatted the backup hard drives at the data center, rendering them useless.  Your IT people are doing everything they can to salvage even the tiniest piece of information,” Greg relayed.

“I will be at the lab in about thirty minutes.  Have everyone gather in the parking lot so we can discuss employment options while the new lab is being built.”  Beck knew this would be the foremost concern on their minds.

“Yes sir, they will appreciate you coming to talk with them….Sorry to hear about your fiancé; let me know if you need anything,” he sincerely offered.

Beck’s next call was to Aidan.  He was angry with his friend for leaving without telling him.  He sat down on a concrete bench under a large shade tree in a small park just outside the hospital.  The phone rang several times and then went to voice mail.  “Aidan…pick up your damn phone before I go there and personally kick your ass!”  He waited a couple of minutes for Aidan to call.

“I see you have turned your phone back on…How is Mae?” he asked.

“She is stable but not healing thanks to the silver plate on the bullets.  I cannot stay here doing nothing, so I am going to fly out to London first thing in the morning.  I should be at Heathrow by six and your ass better be there to pick me up,” he demanded, anger infusing his voice.

“No need to get snarky Beck, we did what we thought was best.  I am tracking Howard, Meredith is preparing for the Council meeting.  You need to be with Mae right now not on an angry rampage in search of Howard or trying to influence the Council,” Aidan attempted to reason with him.

“Six o’clock Aidan, you are not going to talk me out of it,” Beck repeated, adamant about his decision to go to London.

“Fine…But, you are going to follow my rules when you get here.  I can’t have you here messing up our plans to flush out the others who are responsible.”

Beck let out a deep breath, he didn’t like agreeing to Aidan’s terms, but it looked like it was the only way to accomplish what needed to be done.  “Okay, I give you my word.  I will do whatever you say; just let me do something useful or I will go crazy sitting in this hospital doing nothing for much longer.”

“I understand, my old friend; we are here for you.”

“Thank you Aidan.  I need to get to the lab, I will call you again later…Bye.”  Beck hung-up the phone and walked to his car.

~~~***~~~

The fire department just finished putting out the last of the embers and were rolling up their hoses when Beck arrived.  He stood in the parking lot staring at the charred remains of what was left of his lab.  A small crowd of employees gathered around him.

“I know this is a major blow to our research, but believe me when I say we are like the Phoenix, ready to rise from the ashes.  I have complete faith that we all have it in us to continue our research despite any hindrance of the past trying to prevent us.  You are among the brightest in your fields and I hope you will stay onboard while we rebuild what is sure to be the future of medicine.”  He paused to the sound of clapping and cheering.  “My downtown office building will be our temporary home until we can rebuild and I will make arrangements with some of the local universities for lab usage.  For now, Dr. Lowman will be in charge of gathering any and all information you can remember about your projects.  I also will need a list of all equipment required to move forward.  Are there any questions for me?”  He paused for a moment allowing time for his people to ask.  “If not, I leave you in the capable hands of Dr. Lowman.”  He motioned for Dr. Lowman to follow him for a private chat.

“Greg, I know it is a lot to ask, but I trust you can handle things for the next few weeks without me.  I am promoting you to temporary executive status during the interim period of the rebuild and I will double your salary.  Please say you will accept…I do not trust anyone else to do this for me.”

Greg let out a deep breath, “How can I say no to that?  I would be honored to take on the challenge.”

“Fantastic!  Call me at any time if you have questions.  My assistant, Monica will be at your beck and call if you need help.  I have made arrangements for office space already, so all you need to do is show up and start assigning jobs.”  Beck stood by his car as he finished his conversation with Dr. Lowman.  He had a lot to do before he left, but was relieved to know his research team would be in Greg’s capable hands.

“I just hope I can be the same rock for this company that you’ve been.”

Beck opened the car door and got in.  “I know you will be that and more.”

Upon returning to the hospital, Beck was given the third degree from Alexis for leaving.  He reminded her that he did not take orders from her or anyone else for that matter, which left her angry with him.  He sat in the chair next to the bed and placed his hand on top of Mae’s hand.  Warmth returned to her, giving him hope that she would recover.

“Alexis, I hope you are not angry with me still.  I am leaving for London first thing in the morning and I need you to stay here and guard Mae.”

Alexis moved to where Beck sat and clasped his free hand. “I promise to guard her with my life.  When I went to lunch, it was not to flirt with Dr. McHottie.  I was digging for information about the witches in the healing circle.  I plan to wipe their memories clean of Mae’s unusual parentage and get her out of here as soon as possible for her own safety.  Until then, you need to hire some security.”

“That is a good idea.  I shall make some calls and get armed guards here as soon as possible.  But, you are right.  She will be safer at my house than she is here.  We just need for her to get well enough to move her.  Has anyone from the Council been by to talk to you about the shooting?”

“No. But, Meredith took down my statement before she and Aidan left for London.  I don’t trust some of the council members, so I’m glad not to see any of them.”

Beck let go of Alexis’ hand and looked at Mae.  “I do not trust them either except for Meredith and right now I do not even trust my own kind where Mae is concerned.  I fear we may have to go into hiding.”

Alexis sat at the foot of the bed.  “I hope it doesn’t come down to that.  Your medical research is too important for you to just abandon it and go underground.”  She took a good look at Beck, his exhaustion becoming evident.  “When was the last time you ate or slept?” she pried.

He let go of Mae’s hand and leaned back in the chair.  “That is not important right now,” he responded, selflessly.

“You need to feed, I can feel it.  Look, it won’t do us any good if you’re too tired to think straight.  If you don’t go and feed I will give you a transfusion before you can make it out of the ICU…I can be very persuasive, it’s my gift,” she reminded him.

“You know your powers will not work on me, so do not make empty threats,” he cautioned.

“My powers don’t have to work on you, silly man, when they work on everyone else around you.”  She got up from the bed and walked to where he sat.  She leaned over, kissing the top of his head and whispered, “O positive or AB negative?”

He was too tired to argue with her and bagged blood would work as well as drinking fresh. “O positive will be fine, but I will just take it from the bag minus the transfusion,” he told her, too tired to continue arguing.

Alexis came back carrying a bag of blood and tossed it to him.  “You’re in luck.  I found a bag of one hundred percent human, O positive blood in the bank.  Promise me you will go home and take a nap after you feed, you look like hell.”

“Fine...But stop mother-henning me, it does not suit you at all,” Beck retorted, sinking his fangs into the bag.