by Nelson, Dara
I bent down to him. “Wow, you are such a brave boy,” I said and he turned and beamed at me, his tears and pain instantly vanishing. I stood and handed Sophia to Carmela, smiling. “She’s a beautiful baby.” I stepped back and felt Matt’s hand as he placed it in mine.
The rest of the day flew by, and I loved every second of it. Everyone in the village was taking full advantage of not having to travel hours to see a doctor. When I finally left at eight that night and made my way to our room, I was exhausted and beaming. Matt was waiting for me, arms wide, a smile on his face, but with sadness in his eyes that I saw immediately. I took my favorite place in his arms then asked, “What’s wrong?”
“Oh, you caught that, did you?” he said. “I should’ve known you would.” I looked up at him as he went on. “I’m just sorry that I took that away from you,” he said.
“Took what away from me?” I said, completely confused.
“Sarah, if you had stayed human, you could have had more children someday. I feel awful that I took that away from you.”
I smiled at him. “Matt, the only person I would ever want to have a child with is you, and since that was never a possibility, you didn’t take anything away from me. I have no regrets for becoming what I am today, no regrets at all.”
“You’re sure?” he whispered.
“Positive,” I said as I leaned in to kiss him, slowly moving my hands down his back and pressing him into me. It wasn’t long before his body was responding, and I groaned as I felt his swollen excitement pressing into me. Keeping my lips locked on his, my tongue playing with his, I leaned away and fumbled with the buttons on my blouse, as he pulled his shirt off. I groaned as his hand pressed into my lower back and pulled me tight to him, his other hand gently playing with my nipple. He always seemed to know the exact right places to touch on me. I instantly knew that I wanted to connect with him on every level right now, something I hadn’t done since all this Carlos business began, something I was afraid to do, until now. We worked our way out of the rest of our clothes and he moved to pick me up, to press me against the wall. Just before he did, though, I joined our scars – our matching scars given to us by a chief in a Peruvian tribe that were part of the process to turn me into a vampire and which allowed us to feel everything the other was feeling when they touched – and then I connected my mind to his. He knew everything I was thinking, everything I was feeling. I could hide nothing when we were like this. He hesitated for a brief second and stared at me, a little shocked and maybe even a little leery. But he quickly understood. His mouth crushed down on mine and the waves of ecstasy began crashing instantly and we both rode them all the way till dawn.
Chapter Four
The next few weeks were a blur of hectic days in the clinic, routine cabinet meetings and romantic nights with Matt. Carmela came back again with Juan and Sophia, this time for Sophia’s check up and shots – so Juan and I played with the toys in the waiting room while his mom and Sophia were seeing the doctor. I bonded with every child that came through our doors; they all knew me by name. I didn’t think I could ever be around kids again without feeling overwhelmingly sad, but they showed me that I could.
Our first emergency came two months after we’d opened. A young woman, Maria, was hemorrhaging from what we found out was a tumor in her uterus. David performed an emergency hysterectomy at two o’clock in the morning. I was there when they wheeled her in to the operating room and I was there when they brought her out. My gut feeling told me that I needed to be there. I stayed with her all night because I wanted to be there when she woke up. I didn’t want her to be alone when she got the devastating news. And devastating it was. She was twenty-four years old and engaged to be married. Her fiancé was working in another town. When he received word from his family members of what happened, he sent a telegram telling her that the wedding was off. He said he couldn’t marry someone who couldn’t give him a son. I clutched that telegram in my hand, seething at him and grieving for her.
I was there when she woke the next morning. I held her hand while David gave her the news and tears began silently falling from her eyes. I stayed and tried to get her to talk to me, but right now she was shut down. I was there when she whispered to me, “He left me, didn’t he?” I nodded and held her hand as she read the telegram. I was there as it fluttered to the floor and she shut down again. And I was there for her recovery, talking to her even though she said nothing back, trying to find something, anything that she could grab on to and use to pull herself back.
On the third morning, I walked into her room and threw open the curtains, allowing the sun to stream into the room. “The doctor says you need to get up and move around, so today you and I are going for a walk.”
“No Sarah,” she mumbled, rolling away from me.
I placed my hand on her arm. “Yes, Maria.” She rolled her head back and looked at me. Realizing that I would win in the end – I am a vampire, after all, a very strong vampire – she nodded her head and slowly sat up. I held her arm and helped her up. We strolled down the hall and out into the courtyard. I could feel the fresh air and sunshine revive her and her steps quickened. We watched a group of young kids playing basketball on the court that we had recently put in for the villagers then we wandered over to the waterfall and sat on the bench for a while. She was too quiet so I turned and looked at her. She had tears streaming down her face.
“I have nothing, Sarah. What am I supposed to do now? My entire life has been geared toward becoming a wife and mother. That’s gone now. So, I ask you, what am I supposed to do?”
I had already given this some thought. I had a strong feeling that it was important that she stay around, so I was prepared to answer her question. “Live here,” I said, “work in the clinic, maybe become a nurse.”
She just stared at me, her mouth opening several times to say something, but then closing as she changed her mind. Finally she said, “What if that’s not enough?”
I squeezed her hand tight. “Then we’ll think of something else, together.”
She stared at the waterfall for a few minutes, thinking, then, finally, she nodded her head and I smiled. “Let’s go find you a room, okay?” I said.
She nodded. “Okay.”
We walked back inside and down the hall to the security room. As we entered, Derek, Matt’s new security assistant, stood up. “Good morning, Miss Sarah. Nice to see you,” he said.
“Good morning, Derek. It’s nice to see you too. Is he available?” I said as I thumbed toward Matt’s open door.
A familiar voice that made my heart swell said, “For you, always, my love.”
I turned toward him stranding in the doorway and beamed, wondering how did he always make me feel so good?
I walked over and gave him a quick kiss, then turned. “Matt, this is Maria. Maria, this is Matt.” She walked over and shook his hand.
“It’s nice to meet you Maria,” he said.
She blushed slightly (yeah, he has the same effect on me, I thought). “You too,” she whispered.
“Maria’s going to be staying with us for a while. She’s going to be working in the clinic with me. What rooms are vacant right now?” I said.
“Step into my office,” he said. “Let’s take a look.”
He motioned for Maria to sit on one of the chairs on the far side of his desk, but he held firmly to my hand, keeping me next to him. My eyes met his and I smiled. He pointed to the computer screen. “Looks like there are five open right now; three in the east wing, and two in the south.”
The south wing is where our room is located, and I wanted to be near her in case she had… difficulties. One was at the far end of the hall, the other was across the hall from Carlos’ room, which was next to ours, that one would work. “Let’s put her in one-eighteen,” I said.
“Sounds great,” Matt said, jumping up and ushering Maria toward the door while I stared at him, completely confused. He looked at me and went on, “Derek here can give you the key, and i
f you don’t mind waiting here with him, I have another matter that I need to discuss with Sarah. It’ll only take a minute. It’s that security issue that we were discussing earlier, Sarah,” he said, thoroughly confusing me. ‘Security issue, what friggin’ security issue?’ I thought to him as Maria said, “Certainly,” and walked out. Matt closed the door, wrapped me in his arms and crushed his mouth down on mine, all while thinking ‘The issue where I have to secure you in my arms before I go insane.’ It was another one of those kisses, the kind that overflowed my heart, made my knees weak, made me too stupid to speak and made me hunger for more. I would never get used to these kisses, but I was learning how to deal with them. My entire body was pulsing with desire, the fire beginning to reach the out of control point. My hands began to move down his body toward the front of his pants… and that’s when he knew he had to stop… this time.
He grabbed my wrists and smiled at me. “Later, my sweet,” he said and I nodded. I knew better now than to try to speak after these kisses. I laid my head on his chest as I tried to slow my breathing. He was panting too and I smiled as I felt the other reactions his body had. Finally, after a few minutes, he whispered, “Ready?”
“Think so,” I barely mumbled.
He opened the door, saying to me as we walked out, “So, I’ll print out the specs on the new camera system and we can go over them at the next cabinet meeting, okay?”
“Okay,” I said through gritted teeth, it was still difficult to talk.
“Nice to have met you Maria,” he said as he waved to her.
“You too,” she said.
He kissed me on the cheek and gave my elbow a squeeze, “See you in a little while, honey.”
I nodded and Maria and I headed out into the hall. She kept glancing at me out of the corner of her eye. Finally, I had to ask, “What is it, Maria?”
“Sorry, but I just couldn’t help wondering. What does it feel like to be loved that much?”
I hesitated slightly, smiling. “It’s amazing, wonderful and overwhelming,” I said, “and I really hope it never changes.”
“There really isn’t a new security camera system, is there? He just needed a minute alone with you, right?” she said.
I stared at her for a second then smiled, “You’re right, no new camera system. But how did you know?”
She smiled. “Trust me. A woman knows. And with him, it’s easy to see.”
Of course she would know, I thought as we came to her door. I turned around and pointed to the door down the hall. “That’s my room, there. And this one across from you is our best friend Carlos’ room. He’s away right now, but he should be back soon. He’s a lot of fun, you’ll like him,” I said, trying not to sound as sad as I felt.
I showed her around her room then had to get her back to her room in the clinic. David hadn’t released her yet. Before I left her that evening, I told her I’d be back at nine the next morning. As I walked out her door, she said, “Sarah?” I turned and saw her smiling at me. There was still sadness in her eyes, but at least she was smiling. “Thank you, for everything,” she said.
I smiled at her. “Sleep well, Maria. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“Good night, Sarah.”
As I walked down the hall, I linked with Matt. ‘Hungry?’ I thought.
‘For you? Starving,’ he thought and I smiled.
‘Meet me in the kitchen?’ I thought.
‘The kitchen? Aren’t you worried that people will see us in there?’
I laughed, startling one of the guards. “Sorry, Jason,” I said.
“Not a problem, Miss Sarah,” he said.
‘Now you’ve got me scaring the guards. Do I need to restrain you?’ I thought.
‘Please?’ he thought, then he turned and grinned at me as I walked in the kitchen and I went straight into his arms.
“I love you so much,” I whispered.
“I love you too,” he said. “Now, let’s eat so we can talk more about this restraining business,” he said as his eyes sparkled when he grinned at me.
I grabbed one of the pints that he had already heated from the microwave. Grinning as I drank, I dropped the empty bag in the trash and said, “Baby, this is going to hurt so good.” I grabbed his wrist, led him down the hall to our room, and spent the next few hours showing him exactly what I meant.
Chapter Five
Present Day
I was thinking about Maria now, as I snuggled into Matt on the plane. She’d been with us for over ten months now and she was an angel. Everyone loved her. And she loved everyone she met. She was great with the kids, great in the recovery rooms, and a fast learner. She was even allowed to be in the operating rooms to help with surgeries. She would be holding down the fort now, while I was gone, and that made me smile. I knew everything would be okay there. What I didn’t know was if everything would be okay where I was going.
We had another few hours before we landed in South Africa, then more time securing a boat that could get us to the area where the ship went down. Of course we’d have to do that in total darkness, there were other ships out there still investigating what happened. But I couldn’t wait until they were gone. He was down there somewhere. I knew it. I felt it. Down on the ocean floor, terrified, weak, lacking the strength to swim, dying. I had to find him. We both did. I could feel Matt’s tension as he held my hand, which didn’t surprise me at all. He still wasn’t sure. But I was. He told me I couldn’t be sure until I saw him again, but I knew without a doubt that he was wrong. I was going to find my best friend and I was doing it with the man I loved, the only man I wanted. I was more sure of this than I was that we’d actually find him, at least I hoped I was. The ocean floor is endless. The currents could have moved him miles already. It’s not like he had a locator beacon on him. His heartbeat was all we’d be able to use to try to find him, and right now that was probably slow and weak. A small sob escaped from me, and Matt squeezed my hand tighter and kissed my forehead, “We’ll find him, Sarah, we have to.”
“I love you,” I whispered.
“I know, Sarah. And I love you,” he said.
We were flying commercial. David and Cameron were standing by in New York with Stefan, ready to bring his private jet to South Africa to bring Carlos home after we found him, but that could take days, weeks, months even, and they couldn’t be hanging around in South Africa for that long, especially if we weren’t telling the authorities what we were doing there. Omoruyi – one of the vampires who had helped us on our dangerous journey to discover how to transform me into a vampire (vampires weren’t allowed to know then – that was one of the ways the Elders held power over everyone) – was waiting for us at the airport, and he had a boat ready for us. He had captured one of the pirates and “interrogated” him (meaning drained him) so he had a good idea of where the boat had been when it went down. I felt the altitude shift in the plane and I sat up straight and squeezed Matt’s hand tighter. Being in first class allowed us to get to customs faster, but it still took a while to get through. I tried my hardest to not appear anxious, but I’m sure they noticed it somewhat, as did Matt, who I heard say to the agents, “She’s afraid of flying.” They nodded and appeared satisfied with that explanation.
They stamped our passports and handed them to us, “Enjoy your visit here,” they said.
We retrieved our bags and found Omoruyi. “Hello, my friends,” he said. “I’m sorry that it’s these unfortunate circumstances that have brought us together again.”
“So are we, Omoruyi. So are we,” Matt said as he shook his hand.
We got into the car he had waiting and made the drive down to the waterfront. He had a lot of fishing gear on board, in case we were stopped by anyone, so we could tell them we were on a fishing trip. We headed out late afternoon, along with several other fishing charters. Omoruyi already had the coordinates programmed into the on-board computer, and as soon as darkness fell, we killed the lights and quietly moved off on our own. We reached our first s
earch grid at midnight. Matt and I donned wet suits, only to protect our skin from the damaging effects of salt water, and masks. Air tanks wouldn’t be necessary, we could both not breathe for as long as necessary, and besides, we might be going deeper than the tanks could. We tied a line between the two of us, at Matt’s insistence, and then tied another line to the middle of that. This second line we would bring down from the boat, as a guide to getting us back. The complete silence, or lack of his heartbeat, screamed at me. “Ready?” Matt said. I nodded, Matt took my hand and we dropped into the water. Without having air in our lungs, we dropped toward the bottom easily. Matt’s soothing voice was soon in my head. ‘Relax, Sarah,’ he thought, ‘We need to hear his heart, not yours.’
‘Sorry,’ I thought, ‘I’ll try.’
I closed my eyes, gripped my hand firmly in his, and allowed him to lead us down while I tried to relax. When I next opened my eyes, I could see shapes on the bottom coming into view. Ship parts, the stern of the ship. ‘Let’s look inside first,’ Matt thought.
‘Okay,’ I thought. Matt tied the rope from above onto the railing. He pried open a door and we moved inside, careful not to catch the rope that was linking us together on anything. It took us a few minutes of searching, but we found the room that Carlos had been in, recognizing it instantly. I saw the broken mirror pieces floating inside, and saw the hole in the fuselage that he had gone through. I followed Matt through the hole and we began searching. I knew in my heart that we wouldn’t find him here, that would be too easy, but we still searched.
