A Special Gift

by Alice Brown

  “Okay, Mrs. Goodberry,” Kevin stated softly as he put his hands out in front of him in a soothing gesture. He stood, as if he were going to walk away from her, but had pulled a tranquilizer needle out of his pocket. As he walked past her, he circled around from behind and quietly jabbed the needle into her arm. He remained standing behind her so he could catch her when she fell.

  “Do we really want to take her upstairs with all the other injuries?” Kate asked her brother. “Chances are she is going to upset everyone up there when she comes to.”

  “Erica, can Dr. Carlson borrow your earpiece for a moment?” Kevin requested.

  Dr. Carlson was on the earpiece a moment later. “What do you have, Kevin?”

  “Mrs. Goodberry. She seems relatively unharmed, except she doesn’t know who she is, where she is, nor does she recognize anyone. Is it possible for a vampire to get amnesia?” Kevin inquired.

  “Well, I have always stated that anything is possible. Although if she does, I think she might be the first I’ve ever heard of,” the elderly doctor replied.

  “We ended up giving her a tranquilizer to calm her down. She will be out of it for about thirty minutes; I’m just not sure what to do with her when she wakes up,” Kevin said.

  “If I was at the hospital, I would strap her down until I knew she wasn’t a danger to herself or others,” Dr. Carlson replied.

  Marshall cleared his throat to get Kevin’s attention. “What about the interrogation room?”

  “Dr. Carlson, we have a room up there that has a table with straps she won’t be able to break. We use it for our interrogation room, but I think it might serve the same purpose,” Kevin told the doctor.

  “Okay, get her on up here while she is still out of it, boys,” Dr. Carlson replied.

  Kevin and Marshall decided to take a break from digging and carry her up themselves. She was a bit of a large woman, and Marshall came along in case they needed the extra manpower to raise the elevator.

  Marshall let Kevin take care of getting their patient strapped down. He hooked a right to take him straight to the front of the office, and was shocked at the chaotic scene that greeted him. He looked around for a moment, trying to spot Stephanie. She was lying on the cold, dirty floor, with only an old blanket draped over her. Erica was sitting next to her, wiping her face with a damp rag. He noticed the beads of sweat on her forehead.

  As he took a quick glance around, he realized none of the patients had it any better. There were no beds, so everyone was just taking a spot on the floor. Marshall sat down next to Erica. “Has she come around at all yet?” he asked.

  “Not really, she has mumbled a few things, but she’s not very coherent yet.”

  “Why is she sweating? Is she sick?”

  “No, I think it’s because she is in so much pain. She has no strength, and my guess is the vamp blood is not strong enough to do any good and help heal her.” She stopped for just a second to wipe the sweat away from her daughter’s brow.

  “I think if I could get her home, turn down the air conditioner, and get her some fresh blood, I think we would see most of these injuries heal themselves,” Erica continued. She frowned as she placed her hand on Marshall’s arm. “Something else you need to know. She keeps crying out for Pop Atkins. I think she is dreaming, but she keeps saying in her dreams that he is gone.”

  Marshall slowly nodded his head. He’d had a gut feeling that first set of bones they came across right next to Stephanie belonged to Pop Atkins. Stephanie started waking up a little, and he leaned in closer to hear what she said.

  “I am so sorry, Pop Atkins, please don’t leave me. No, no, please take me, not him! I can’t breathe, it’s so dark, I can’t see anything, there are no sounds; no, I’m not ready to die,” she mumbled.

  Marshall placed his face directly in front of hers and whispered to her, “You are not dead, my love. And you had better hurry up and wake up, so I know you are okay.” He allowed their lips to touch briefly as he watched her eyes flutter open.

  “My Marshall,” she groaned, just like she had when she was a child, only this time it was laced with pain.

  “I’ve always been yours, love. How are you feeling? Are you in a lot of pain?”

  “I don’t know. My head hurts, dizzy. Can’t talk right now. I’m sorry.” Her eyes drifted shut, and she was pulled back under a heavy healing sleep.

  “I still say her own bed, blood, raw red meat, and maybe a pickle will have her feeling better in no time,” Erica stated. “I just don’t know what they are planning on doing about her leg. It looks fairly crushed.” She pulled the blanket off the bad leg for Marshall to see the damage.

  “I don’t know if vamp blood alone will fix that. Is that the only thing stopping you from taking her home?” he questioned Erica.

  “Yes, the other injuries will definitely heal on their own. I think the problem with her leg is that they can’t fix it without the equipment and supplies. So, if that is the case, I think I am better off taking her home anyway.”

  “Have you mentioned this to Dr. Carlson?” Marshall inquired.

  “No, he has his hands full, and things seem to be getting worse instead of better. There are a good number of patients that just need rest; if we could clear them out of here, it would give him room to work on those who really need it,” she observed.

  “Are you suggesting we take all the patients who are not seriously injured over to your place?” Marshall verified. He knew Erica had a heart of gold, but, looking around him, he didn’t see how it was possible for her to take care of all of those vamps.

  “Yes, we’re going to have more injured coming in, Marshall. We are out of room here, never mind the fact that we have no beds, cots, nothing! At least the vamps who are not seriously injured could be resting comfortably at my house,” she replied firmly.

  She was making a valid point. Not too many more bodies were going to fit in this office. Marshall glanced back down to see Stephanie’s eyes flutter open again. She seemed to recognize her mother. In a hoarse whisper, she stated one word, “Thirsty.”

  Erica immediately started wiping her face with the damp cloth as she responded, “I know, sweetie.” Erica glanced over to Marshall. “Do you all have any blood left down there? We have no more left up here.”

  “I’ve got something better.” He brought his wrist up to his mouth and slashed a two inch gash for her. Bringing it directly to her mouth, he placed his wrist over her lips and ordered, “Suck.”

  She immediately sucked in two big mouthfuls, moaning as she swallowed each one. He was embarrassed that her sucking immediately turned him on; she was injured, and her mother was sitting right next to him, but his dick wasn’t listening to logic. After the second moan, Erica excused herself to rinse out her cloth rag. He let her take another mouthful before pulling his arm away from her and sealing up the wound. She lay on the floor motionless with her eyes closed, but he was fairly sure she was awake. He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “I love you, baby. You need to worry about getting better so you can plan our wedding.”

  He dug out the tiny vials of emergency blood stashed on his weapon belt. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. He handed them to Erica when she returned. “Here, this is all that I have, but if you need it for someone, don’t hesitate to use them.”

  She looked down at the small vials as if they were liquid gold. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  He tried to reach Rosetta on the earpiece. “Did you have any luck getting in touch with Davidrick? We are going to need a large supply of blood over here quickly.” Stephanie wasn’t the only one needing blood. From the looks of things, most of the patients needed at least a pint.

  “Yes, we should have some en route now. He is having Jordan deliver what he has, but she is having a hard time getting through the city. Hopefully, she will be here soon,” Rosetta responded.

  “Thanks, Rosetta,” Marshall replied. “You might tell Davidrick we are going to need another batch or two ju
st as quickly as he can get his hands on some. With this many injured, whatever gets brought in will go fast.”

  Kevin came over to check on Erica and Stephanie. He knelt down beside Erica, hugging her. “How is she doing?” he asked.

  “She hasn’t fully come around yet; she is starting to, but just in small spurts,” Erica replied. “Kevin, have you all found Mr. Atkins yet?” The look in Erica’s eyes was one of pure torture.

  “No, he is one of the three remaining elderly we still have unaccounted for,” Kevin answered.

  “Stephanie keeps talking in her sleep and asking for him one minute, then starts saying, ‘No, don’t die on me.’ I have a feeling he didn’t make it, Kevin.”

  “We found the remains of someone very near where Stephanie was found, but we didn’t know who it was,” Kevin said sadly. “God, I wish it hadn’t been him. He has been a part of my life for so long,” Kevin whispered, but could not continue. He just sat there for a moment, holding Erica tightly.

  Stephanie’s eyes started fluttering open again, and she spotted Kevin holding her mom. “Dad?” she called out, as she tried weakly to lift her hand toward him.

  Kevin immediately grabbed her hand as he moved to face her. “I’m here, baby. I’m here.”

  “Dad, I’ve never been more scared or lonely. I didn’t think you would find me in time,” Stephanie whispered.

  “We refused to give up until we did find you,” Kevin responded as he gently ran his thumb over her forehead. “You are going to be okay, just try to get some rest.” He watched her eyelids flutter shut as she was once again pulled under.

  Everyone thought that she was back asleep, so her question a moment later surprised all three vampires kneeling around her. “What happened? What caused everything to fall?” The questions came out in a hoarse, slurred whisper, and they all knew she would be asleep in a moment.

  “An earthquake. A big one,” Kevin answered her.

  She shook her head slightly. “Grandpa told me a long time ago one would hit, and it would be big. I guess his prediction came true.” The last few words had just barely been audible, and they knew she was back under.

  Erica reached for her husband’s arm. “Kevin, I want her home. There is nothing they can do for her here; at least if I take her at home, she will be in her own surroundings and I can get her cooled off. That alone should help get her strength back up, which will speed up the healing process. Besides, a lot of others here are not that badly injured, but they have nowhere else to go. If we clear them out, it will leave room for those who need the care the most.”

  “Okay, let me go find Dr. Carlson and Dr. Weathers,” Kevin replied, standing and giving Erica a sad smile as he patted her hand.

  Kevin had the two doctors trailing behind him when he returned just a few minutes later. Dr. Carlson knelt down to check on Stephanie, moved the blanket to look at her injured leg, frowned, and then looked up at Kevin. “Okay, here is the problem. There isn’t a lot we can do with these half-vamp kids when they become injured. Their vampire blood usually takes care of most of the healing. She is so weak right now that I don’t see where her vampire blood is kicking in at all. This leg would be a lot better off in a splint, but I simply don’t have the supplies available to make one right now. I do agree with Erica though, if you could get her body cooled down enough and get some blood in her, we might see a turnaround. I can send her home with a few painkillers; I don’t have very many, and I am trying to ration them out as our injured come in. But, we are supposed to be getting two trucks in loaded with medical supplies, so hopefully I’ll be able to get more. As for taking on some of the other non-critical cases, Erica, I appreciate your offer. I just don’t want to see you overburdened,” he finished, pinching the bridge of his nose. Anyone could see the old doctor had been run ragged all day.

  “Let’s try this. If you have an extra earpiece so Erica can stay in touch with me, then I’ll allow for some of our non-critical cases to be moved over to your house. I’ll also send the nurse that came up with the Texas group. She’s very efficient; I think she will be of great assistance, Erica. I have heard we have two more doctors and three or four nurses on the way, and as soon as they arrive, that will help matters out tremendously,” Dr. Carlson said. Numerous elderly and half-vamp children were non-critical. Kevin went back underground and rounded up ten volunteers to help move these patients.

  By nightfall, most of the elderly had been transferred over to Rosetta and Charles’s house. Jennifer and Elizabeth were there to help out those in need. The half-vamp children were all at Kevin and Erica’s house, and parents started arriving almost as soon as they had the children settled. Most of the men immediately volunteered their services underground, while the women stayed with Erica and Nurse Amy to help the injured children.

  The Atlanta group arrived around midnight and by six o’clock the following morning everyone had been accounted for. A total of fifteen of their own had been lost, including two children, three elderly, one human mother-to-be, three half-vamp babies, three half-vamp toddlers, one full-blooded vampire, and two half-vamp adults.

  The entire search and rescue group, including all VCTF members, most of the CW team, the Texas group, and the Atlanta group, piled into Kevin’s house that morning after everyone was accounted for. The Atlanta group had brought a good supply of blood with them, and two trucks were due in later that day bringing more volunteers, medical supplies and medicines, basic need items, and more blood. Marshall walked into Kevin’s living room that morning, and like most everyone else before him, found a place on the floor and crashed. A few at a time were able to use the walk-in freezer Kevin had installed at the back of Erica’s office several years ago, and several more were also being sent over to use the deep freeze in Charles’s office.

  By mid-afternoon, the two trucks had arrived along with the group from Philadelphia. Dr. Carlson and Dr. Weathers both took much-needed breaks to recuperate. They now had four doctors and five nurses to care for the injured.

  The team stayed down for the remainder of the day. All of the volunteers had gone to their limits and beyond to dig out those buried, and had drained themselves in the process. Most of the workers needed fresh blood, extremely cool temperatures, a cold shower, and some clean clothing. The VCTF and the CW team members all had an extra uniform stored at the office, so those guys were in luck with that. Erica went to Kevin’s closet and started pulling out clothes by the armful for all of the other volunteers. She said it was the least she could do.

  Marshall was up next for the freezer when Erica came downstairs carrying Stephanie. She still looked somewhat out of it, but he assumed Erica was keeping her drugged on painkillers.

  Erica looked over to Marshall and stated, “She needs to get into that freezer. Will you take her in with you?”

  “Of course I will,” he replied as he walked over and plucked her out of her mother’s arms.

  He looked down into the face he loved. “Is she showing any improvement yet?” He had been exhausted when he first arrived and had nose-dived onto the floor, passing out. Now that he’d had a bit of rest, and all of their loved ones had been accounted for, his first and only responsibility was to Stephanie.

  “A little, but not much. Hey, now that everyone is back up from underground, do you think someone could make a splint for her leg? Dr. Carlson said yesterday it would help her heal.”

  “I am sure we could,” Marshall replied, but didn’t get any further. Four others behind him immediately piped in with, “Don’t worry, by the time Marshall gets out of the freezer with her, we will have one made.”

  Erica turned to them with a smile. “Thank you, gentlemen.”

  Isaac, Nicholas, and Scott had just walked out of the office from their turn in the deep freeze. Marshall carried Stephanie with him over to the office door. Calling over his shoulder to Erica, he stated, “I’ll have her back out in about forty-five minutes.”

  He walked into the freezer and sat down on the floor, prop
ping Stephanie up against his body. She started to wake up after about twenty minutes, shaking her head slightly as if trying to piece everything together.

  Marshall gently rubbed her arm in a soothing up and down motion. “You are okay, baby. We are in your parents’ walk-in freezer trying to lower your body temperature. It should help you feel better.” He stopped and brushed the hair back from her face. “You know I am not going to let anything happen to you,” he said softly.

  She laid her head against his chest as a very small smile crossed over her lips. “My Marshall” she whispered softly.

  “Yes, love. I’m here.”

  “I feel weird, and thirsty,” she croaked as she attempted to clear the fog from her head.

  Spotting a couple of bags of blood on a nearby shelf, Marshall snatched one. It wasn’t completely frozen, and he figured the coolness of it just might help her out. As he prepared to open it, Stephanie frowned and gave a slight shake of her head.

  “You feel weird because you are on pain medication,” Marshall spoke slowly to her. “But you will feel better if you drink this.” He started to open the bag, and she shook her head in denial once again.

  “No strength, maybe later,” and her eyes fluttered shut once more.

  “Stephanie, come on, baby, you need to get some of this down you,” Marshall said, exasperated. Then a thought hit him. He put the bag down and brought his wrist up to his mouth so his fangs could open a vein. “Open up, baby,” he asked as he placed his dripping wrist over her lips. As soon as the first few drops hit her tongue, her lips sealed around the gash, and she sucked down the life-giving fluid.

  Damn, he knew he shouldn’t be getting turned on, but try telling that to his stubborn dick, who had jumped for joy the moment Stephanie’s mouth latched onto his wrist. Well, the stubborn guy was just going to have to wait; there was nothing else to be done at the moment.