Ever After

by Heather McBride

  I worried when Will did not answer. He was just staring at my hand. I knew he was waiting for me to move it, but I had tried and tried and I just couldn’t do it. I feared he was going to run himself in to the ground on purpose and not recover since he thought I was gone already.

  “William, you must look after yourself now. In your weak state, you must take. I didn’t know Corrine as long as I would have liked, but I do know she wouldn’t have wanted you to do this to yourself. I spoke often with her, those long hours when we first started her treatments.” Doc pleaded.

  “She spoke of you and how if this did not work, that she wanted Doc and I to make sure you went on and lived a happy life.” Pratt pulled up a chair and sat next to William now. “Honor her by being strong, and going on. You know in your heart she would have wanted you to do that.” He said softly.

  “Pratt’s right Will, Corrine always told me to look after you if she could not make it through all this. I think you know that already, don’t you? You know how she felt.” I wanted Will to reply to their pleas.

  I knew he knew what I had wanted for him. I had told him several times to go on for me, if I did not make it. I had told him if I died, I wanted him to live on for me and be happy. The crappy part was though I was pretty certain I was not technically dead right now. I mean I wasn’t a ghost. I couldn’t do cool stuff like float around unseen and haunt people.

  I was stuck in my own body, which was useless and tomb like. I kind of didn’t want him to leave me for to ling incase I did figure out how to move a finger or something. I knew he would notice the tinniest movement, than he would know I was still here.

  “I’ll try,” was all he said.

  “Go on down and eat something, it’s been too long. I will meet you later to look at that cut.” Doc sounded relieved Will had spoken to him this time.

  Will got up and kissed my forehead before he left the room. I heard him whisper to me “I will be right back love”, very softly. Doc and Pratt got busy discussing how and what to look for, before they began to examine me. I felt like a science experiment gone bad, laying there as they talked.

  “Lydia and Emma will attend to her, and get her cleaned up. Poor thing was lost out in that damned woods for hours.” Doc said sadly.

  “Yes I know. Sayann spoke to me earlier about what they had to go through. She tried to care for Corrine as best she could. I thanked her for trying to help, but she could not have done much more, when Corrine needed the serum all along to stay strong.” Pratt said. “She is a kind girl. I do think she will fit in well with the coven. You have accepted her have you not?”

  “Oh yes, she has a pure heart, and I seen no problems with her becoming a Follower at all. Lydia and Emma are going over the guide lines with her, and she seems to be accepting the code with no problem.” Pratt’s cell phone rang breaking their conversation.

  “Hold on Doc, its Xavier he has been researching Corrine’s symptoms, he may have a remedy for us I hope.” Pratt answered, his voice was tense.

  I could hear him move closer to the window to get a better signal. I heard the pauses as Pratt listened to this Xavier guy, he was talking a lot, and I hoped it was good news. Doc came over and cleaned off the gruesome bite Todd had given me. I could smell the alcohol; it burned my nose as he wiped it on the open wound.

  I knew by all laws of nature it should have stung like a you know what, but as usual, I felt absolutely nothing at all. When he finished he placed a clean bandage on and looked my arms over for any more wounds, gently. I was glad he cleaned my neck. I hated the idea of anything related to Todd still on my skin.

  “You have to come out of this Corrine, he needs you.” Doc whispered to me. Did he know I wasn’t dead why had he spoken to me. I had to think he had a sense I was not gone, despite the whole lack of heart beat thing going on.

  “Xavier you’re a genius, when can you be here?” Pratt’s voice boomed. It scared the hell out of me, and Doc too as he dropped the box of gauze pads he had in his hand to the floor.

  “I will do just as you said, and bring the root with you, make sure to hide it or customs will take it. Very good indeed, call me when your flight takes off.” He chuckled slightly, I wondered why, as he snapped his cell shut.

  “What did he say?” Doc asked, but Pratt ignored him at first, he came over to me and began to move my arms and touch my neck.

  “Look here, no joint stiffness at all. Doc, how could we not have noticed that? Corrine is human enough that if she were truly dead, she would be stiff as a board by now, no question about it!”

  “My God, yes you are right!” Doc gasped in shock. “I never thought to check for that, with Will and all the other things going on.”

  “Xavier is an expert in failed changes, and vampire deaths. He has made it his life’s work to study such phenomenon. I knew if anyone could help us he would.” Pratt was digging in the drawer next to my bed. “We need to start a fluid IV right now; she will be dehydrated severely in a few more hours.”

  “Is this Xavier one of your coven?” Doc asked as he helped prepare my arm for the lines.

  “No, he belongs to the Irish coven known as the McClain’s they are a small but very old coven of Followers, who live on the coast of Ireland. I met Xavier by chance in the mid seventeenth century. He was known as a medicine man or wizard; some called him in that time. He took me under his wing, and taught me much of what I know now.” Pratt carefully picked up my wrist and began to start the IV.

  “Is he coming here than?’

  “Yes, he and some of the elders of his coven. They seem to have had some issues with your brother as well.” Pratt sighed.

  “What? They live in Ireland; Leo doesn’t go there… that I know of.” Doc seemed shocked.

  “Well he’s been bashing about Europe it seems, and he ran into some of the McClain half bloods, five to be exact.” Pratt sounded mad now. I didn’t have to guess what he was going to tell Doc next.

  “Don’t tell me.” Doc frowned.

  “Yes, he had them hunted down, and he and his traveling group feasted on them. One of the victims was Xavier’s, child Marian. It seems she and her friends from the coven were on holiday, in London, and they ran into Leo’s group. It went downhill from there as you may well guess.” I was sick at the thought, that Leo had killed all of those Followers. I knew now why Doc and the coven were so protective over William. Half bloods were always at risk of being killed by a full blood, as their blood was so desirable.

  “That sounds like Leo; I just had no idea he had been going overseas lately. I think we may have a very dangerous problem here with him. I hate to think he was ever my brother. I could never have imagined he would be as he is today.”

  “I know Doc; we will deal with him and his coven shortly. Xavier will be here later tomorrow, and we can call a meeting of the elders to discuss, how to handle this all.”

  “Now back to Corrine, what has he recommended for us to do for her?” He was getting anxious.

  “Well, let me explain. The serum has a strength that stays in the human system for about four days after the last full dose. This puts Corrine, one day away from the serum being completely out of her body. It acts as a sort of preservation to the human cells, so she is somewhat protected till it fully wears off.”

  “So where does that leave her as we speak?”

  “Alive Doc, she is not dead, but a deep comatose like sleep, which was induced by the venom. The serum blocked the venom from fully absorbing into her cells, and it sent her into a deep sleep. Corrine appears to anyone who would look at her to be deceased, but she is not.”

  “Pratt, you’re kidding me, but we checked her over. How can this be, she has no pulse!” Doc argued he was clearly confused by Pratt’s news.

  “That’s exactly what’s supposed to happen. The serum is protecting her from the invading organism, which in this case is the venom. The only thing is when the serums last bit wears off, she will die within minutes.” Pratt put a blood pressure cuff
on to my right arm as he continued to talk to Doc. “Her heart is beating but so slowly, our own super hearing and human medical devices cannot detect it. The beats are just enough to keep her heart muscle from stopping.”

  “I will get Libby and Sayann up here we need some extra hands don’t we?”

  “Yes, we have much to do for Corrine, and it does involve a very dangerous procedure we absolutely must do in the next hour or so.” Pratt warned, I did not like his tone at all, it sounded like it was something really bad. “I need a heart monitor and two units of o positive as soon as possible.”

  The room became a whirlwind of activities, as Doc and Pratt hooked me up to monitors, and IV’s. Sayann and Libby bustled around getting me cleaned up. I still had about a ton of lovely leaves and mud on me from the woods. I wanted to hug this guy called Xavier; he had been the one to tell Pratt how to save me.

  If what he said was true, they would be able to save me, and I would be with William again and that’s all I wanted. In minutes, Doc was back with the blood units and the heart monitor. Sayann hooked me up to the blood unit. I trusted her, she was the only reason I was here now. If she had not helped me, escape I would no doubt be dead, or on the menu for Leo very soon. I just hoped I could get a chance to thank her for all she did.

  “Two iv lines are in, and look good Doc.” Her voice was very confident and professional. “What can I do for you next?”

  “Take her temperature, we need to track it very carefully, she got to cold I the woods. I need you o start a chart. I heard then the very faint unsteady sound of the heart monitor picking up weak intermittent beats. It had been a flat line at first, which scared me to death.

  “Dr.Pratt?” Sayann seemed disturbed at the very odd readings it gave out.

  “It’s ok; she will be getting regular readings very shortly. Her body is in a form of hibernation of sorts, as she comes out of it she will have a steady heart rate.”

  “Oh ok than. It’s just very strange.” She said softly, adjusting the IV lines to my arm. “I do hope we can save her, she was so kind to me even when she was so sick and weak. I was amazed at how she cared about my story and me at that time being the enemy basically.”

  “That’s Corrine’s nature, we have all come to love and care about her here. William I fear will not let himself live if we fail to save her. I just have a very bad feeling he will lose what’s left of his mind I don’t think he can go on without her.” Doc said sadly.

  “He will not.” Pratt's voice cut in, his tone was very matter of fact.

  “What’s that Pratt?”

  “I have seen it; you know my ability to see into the future. It comes and goes, but as we were in the woods earlier, I saw it clear as day. I looked into Williams eyes as he knelt there in the rain and mud un aware of any of us there, he could only see Corrine, and that to him she had died in his arms. If we save her we will in turn save him.” He took a deep breath.

  “Tell us what you saw then.”

  “William will die only hours after she does and he will take his own life. I cannot give you details, but I do know Lydia will be the one to find him. I saw her crying at his grave site, which is all I can tell you.”

  “No, we can’t let that happen. He is everything to her. Pratt do what you must but keep her alive damn it.”

  “I fully intend to Doc, do not worry.” I heard Pratt unwrap a needle, and I wondered what he was going to do with it. I soon found out.

  “The next thing we must do is give her and injection of serum.” Pratt announced.

  “Very well, here’s the vial from my office.” Doc picked up my limp arm and wiped it with an alcohol pad to prepare me for the shot.

  “No Doc, we have to do it in another place, not her arm.” I really did not like how he said that at all. I heard Libby take a sharp breath, obviously guessing where I needed the shot.

  “I am not following you here Pratt; where else would we do it then?” Doc asked.

  “It has to be injected directly into the heart muscle; it is the only way to bring it out of its dormancy. If we do it any other way she will never wake, she will not die, but she will never be as she was. I believe the term they use today is a vegetable.” I wanted to choke. A veggie, just what Sara had thought I was last year, but now it really was possible?

  “Uh forgive me for questioning you Dr.Pratt but that sounds really dangerous, considering Corrine is still half human. Is it not possible she might bleed to death, or go into cardiac arrest?” Sayann asked timidly.

  “Yes, it is a possibility, and a risk. There is no other way to do it though; Xavier was very clear on that when we spoke. The heart needs to be jolted back up to speed, or she will remain comatose indefinitely.” I knew it now, it was either they stuck a needle into my heart or I have to stay like this forever. I had no say, seeing as I could not talk or even move. I had to trust Doc and Pratt would not screw this up and really kill me.

  “I don’t like it Pratt, it sounds experimental, did this Xavier ever attempt this with any of his patients before?” Doc sounded very uneasy now.

  “Yes he has preformed it two times, and one was successful, the other was not, I will not lie to you about that. I do not see as we have a choice though, especially with her human illness still trying to kill her. The serum only has hours left, and she will die. If we try this it is very likely it will work and she will live and go on to complete the change.”

  “Then we must do it, we just have to make sure William knows nothing about it, he would never let us do what we are about to do to Corrine.” Doc went to the door and locked it. “Sayann make sure Will does not come in, call Roth if you must. We are short on time, and can’t have him coming in here causing problems, he is in a bad way mentally he is very un stable.”

  “I will do my best Doc.” I cringed as I heard a knock on the door, and I knew it was Will.

  “Doc it’s me why is the door locked?” He asked.

  “Hang on I will be there in a minute.” Doc yelled to him. “Pratt, we are going to have to tell him, he will break down the door if we try to keep him out!” I knew Doc was right, Will was highly irrational right now, and capable of about anything to protect me.

  “I know, I just got a glimpse, he can, and will rip the door off the hinges, if we refuse to let him in, he thinks we are doing something to Corrine that we should not be.” Pratt warned.

  “Ok we had better let him in, but we have to be careful how we explain what we are about to do. If he thinks it will not work, or hurt her he will not let us near her!” Doc went to the door and unlocked it, slowly opening it. I could see Will now. He had showered, and had on a black T-shirt, and jeans. His hair was still damp. He scanned the room and stopped his eyes locked on me and the new IV lines and heart monitor.

  “What is this, what’s going on here?” He snapped coming quickly to my side. He stroked my hair gently as he eyed the heart monitor suspiciously.

  Chapter 32

  Dangerous procedure

  “William, she is not dead. I spoke with my friend Xavier and he told me what we have to do to get Corrine out of all this. I know you are upset, and I understand but you have to hear us out on this ok?” Pratt asked cautiously.

  “She’s alive.” Will gasped in shock. He bent over wrapped his arms around me hugging me. “How can you be sure? How does this Xavier know all this?”

  “He has spent his life studying failed changes and causes of death in vampires. I know him and I trust him fully to advise us on Corrine’s condition Will.”

  “Has she spoken or moved?”

  “No, and she will not if we don’t treat her heart right away. I know exactly what must be done, but you may not like it Will.”

  “Well what is it?” He looked up at Pratt, who seemed uneasy telling him about plunging a long needle into the only thing that kept me alive, my heart.

  “It’s not too complicated, but there are risks. I know it is going to sound barbaric to you, but hear me out.”

  “W
hat then, just tell me?” Will was getting impatient now.

  “I was just telling Doc that Corrine’s heart is basically dormant right now. It is still beating but barely, just enough to keep her alive. It needs to have a jump-start if you will something to get it going. I will need to inject serum directly into the heart muscle to do that.” Silence filled the room. I waited for Will to lose it, to protest such a dangerous thing.

  “No, you can’t do that, it is insane. I am no doctor, but I know she is still over half human, and could easily bleed to death .You are not experimenting on her I will not allow it!”

  “Will, you do not understand Pratt. If we do not try this Corrine will die in a few hours. The serum left in her system will wear off, and her body will shut down. If we give her this injection, yes there is a possibility it may fail, but if it does not she will live and recover and be with you!” Doc placed both hands on Will’s shoulders and looked him dead in the eyes. “Are you going to take that chance, are you going to deny her that William?”