Forever and a Night_A Vampire Romance

by Lana Campbell

  Was she crazy?, Mia thought. “But what if you’d refused? Freaked out?”

  She smiled and glanced upward briefly, her expression contemplative. “Well, I suppose I would have never remembered the interview. I’m sure you realize by now, vampires can erase a human’s memory, control their thoughts. Maybe he sensed my love for my work and took a chance with me. Whatever the case, I’m glad for it.”

  Mia struggled to find the logic, but failed. “I remember what Dr. La Mond told me. Plus the memories of what happened to me are branded in my brain. They consume blood. That’s wrong.”

  Betty offered her an understanding smile. “These people who call themselves vampires because they need blood to survive, via transfusions or otherwise are just people. Different in many ways from humans, yet possessing traits and personalities that make them each as unique and individual as any person on earth. I’ve never met a bad one yet. I’m sorry you did. However, where Dr. La Mond is concerned, trust me, he is hands down one of the best doctors I’ve ever worked with in my life. I promise you, hon, he will take good care of you while you’re here.”

  There should have been an audience present to applaud that speech, but Mia wasn’t handing out any Oscars just yet. “Obviously, the general public is unaware of this blood disease these people have. How is that possible? Especially in this day and age?” And how in the world had a man like Nathan hidden this from the public eye? Generally, media and paparazzi followed him everywhere he went from what she knew of him. Why they hadn’t in New Orleans was a mystery.

  Betty gave her a sage smile. “The lives of these people are very difficult, steeped in secrecy because of what they must do to survive. As I said, they can control the mind of humans and erase their memories. Of course some of them have failed in that regard, which is why there are endless theories regarding the existence of vampires. Until I met Dr. La Mond, I too thought vampires were the stuff of myths and legends. So to sum up your question, I would have to say humans have witnessed vampires feeding, a very fearful thing which has colored them evil, but I assure you, by nature the majority of them are just as moral and decent as humans.”

  Mia stifled the urge to stick her finger in her mouth and gag. She had one thing right though. These vampires could control a person’s mind and obviously one of them controlled hers if she thought for a second someone who seduced a human with mind control and drank blood from them to be moral and decent.

  She was done playing vampire Jeopardy with the woman. Mia wanted to go home. “Where am I? I suspect I’m not in a regular hospital.”

  “No. This is Dr. La Mond’s private clinic. It’s a country lodge which houses mothers ready to birth. It’s a very large place. He lives here also. The third story has a nursery and eight maternity suites for moms and babies. The second story is his. The lower portion, which we’re in now, is a small hospital that functions in all capacities necessary to take care of his kind.”

  “Where is he? I want to talk to him. I want to go home.”

  Her expression was understanding, but firm. “Like any hospital, you will go home when your doctor releases you. Right now he’s in delivery. As soon as he’s free, I assure you he’ll be in here to consult with you. In the meantime, would you like to eat or take or shower?”

  Mia’s most prominent need was the bathroom. A shower would be nice too. She reached up and fingered her hair that was matted and crisp. Blood she suspected, then shivered. “I need to pee and yes I would like to bathe. I feel slimy.”

  The nurse smiled. “Then let’s get you to the bathroom, dear.”

  The clock on the wall across the room to the left of the TV read a bit after five in the afternoon. Mia had waited most of the day to see this blasted doctor. He might be a vampire but he was no different than any other doctor she’d ever encountered. They all kept you waiting until you were ready to pull your hair out, she thought. Remote in hand, she flipped through channels on the TV like a bored teen-ager. It was fruitless. She punched the off button. Nothing could hold her attention.

  Prior to her bath, Betty unhooked her from all her devices, including her IV line, but left the needle in her vein. She’d used the freedom to pace around her room today. She decided to do so again.

  One blessing beyond her bath had occurred. She’d been provided with some real clothes to wear, not one of those awful hospital gowns that left one’s rear flapping in the breeze. Several pair of decent jeans, shirts, shoes and under things had been placed in the dresser under the TV. Betty had been vague about their origin, but assured her they weren’t from Nathan, Julia or Dimitri. She hoped that to be true. If she discovered otherwise, she’d wrap her sheet around her like a toga before she’d wear anything brought to her from those people.

  There were no windows to look out, because Betty told her the hospital was underground. She shuddered. All of this was frickin’ creepy.

  She heard footsteps in the hall, heavy ones. Mia turned and faced the door, heart pounding. Seconds later it opened and Dr. La Mond walked in, wearing a lab coat and some blue scrub pants. His long blonde hair was tied back and there was no way to describe him other than hot. It was merely an observation, not intrigue. She’d found him attractive before she’d known he was a vampire, but now there was only one thing she wanted from the man—her freedom.

  He smiled. “You’re looking good. Betty told me you’re feeling better.”

  “I’m about to tear my hair out, I’m so insanely bored. When can I go home?”

  His expression sobered. “You aren’t quite ready for that, Mia. You’re going to need some physical therapy before you’ll be fit to face the world again.”

  Mia’s patience had expired hours ago, aided by him taking his own sweet time getting here. “I don’t need physical therapy. I feel just fine. In fact better than fine. Whatever you’ve been dosing me up with through that IV did the trick. I’m so antsy, I think I could run a ten mile marathon.”

  He smiled. “Pretty soon you probably could, but one step at a time. I have some treatments planned for you, but don’t worry, they won’t hurt and they will be very relaxed and informal. Give me about thirty minutes and I’ll be back to get you. I have a feeling you’ll enjoy the first one I have planned for you.”

  Her gaze narrowed with the brunt of her impatience. “Listen I’ve had it up to here—” She slashed a hand over the top of her head. “—with people feeding me innuendos and lies. Shoot straight, damn it.” He chuckled, the last thing she would have expected given her mood and attitude.

  “Fine. You’re going to have your evening meal outside with me. The purpose is sensory training. All of your senses are much more intense than before. You’ll need time to adjust to them. In here, you’ve been in a vacuum so to speak. The real world will be much different and you’ll need time to adjust. It’ll start to make more sense once you’re exposed. I know you’re frustrated, confused and, well, just plain pissed off. Who could blame you? Let me help you get through this. I know I’ve kept you waiting a long time, but I’ll be back shortly, I promise. Okay?”

  She huffed. “Like I have a choice?”

  He chuckled, then sauntered out the door.

  True to his word, about thirty minutes later, the doctor returned. He’d taken a shower. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail again, but a little damp and he smelled great, like apples and sandalwood, albeit a bit overpowering. Far better than all these hospital smells that had been assaulting her nose since she woke up, Mia thought.

  He was correct about one thing. Her senses were on steroids. She could smell everything, down to the polyurethane on the dresser, which was by no means a new piece judging from it’s slightly used condition. Oh, and that blasted heart monitor had nearly driven her batty prior to Betty unhooking it from her. The beeping sound had been so annoyingly loud, she’d wanted to take a sledgehammer to it.

  The doctor had changed into jeans, cowboy boots, and a t-shirt with a country/western band logo across the front that reminded her of one
Tiffany or Chelsie might wear because they both loved country music. Dannie abhorred it. She had a passion for pop and classical music and played one or the other so loud when she painted, neighbors would pound on the walls of her apartment.

  They took an elevator one floor up. When they exited into a hallway, she felt teleported into an entirely different world. The walls were oak color, rough hewn logs, decorated with prints of various hunting scenes, some with Pointer and Brittany dogs holding foul at bay, others with hunters shooting at quail or pheasant. She followed him through a large kitchen, not as big as Nathan’s, yet a well appointed chef’s one.

  He paused to open a drawer on a little oak curio table next to a door, pulled out two pair of sunglasses and handed her one. “You’ll need to wear these while outdoors in daylight. Don’t take them off for any reason.”

  She took them, then stared at him, not sure what to make of the stern edict. “Why?”

  “Throughout your physical therapy, I’ll be teaching you how your five senses differ from before your accident. You’re eyes will never be able to endure direct sunlight again. Failure to do so will feel like someone’s poured acid in them. You’ll always need to wear sunglasses specifically designed to protect our kind’s eyes.”

  Mia swallowed hard. The information scared her, but she appreciated the honesty and placed them on her face. She followed him out the door onto a wide, covered porch that ran the length of the building, a good two hundred and fifty feet she estimated, end to end. The exterior wall was log siding, much like she’d witnessed in the hallway, but weathered. Four, wood-slatted, porch swings hung from the rough beam rafters. Six sets of wrought iron, patio table and chairs with comfy-looking, southwestern designed cushions dotted the long space in between the swings. Beyond the porch was a nicely landscaped backyard, then acres and acres of bayou heaven.

  He led her to one of the tables where two plates of food and ice teas had been placed and pulled a chair out for her. “Have a seat, darlin’.”

  She obeyed, then nearly sprung out of it when the sound of bullfrogs croaking nearby made her ears ring. Added to that was some noisy bird creating all sorts of racket in a nearby tree. “Why is everything so loud?”

  The doctor sat down across from her and smiled. “Your hearing will be a little difficult for you to control at first. Everything will seem amplified, but you’ll quickly learn to concentrate on the specific sound, voice or noise you want to hear, then tune out the rest. Right now I want you to focus on me, my voice and our conversation. Do your best to ignore the other sounds. If you can’t, if they become too intense, we’ll go back inside.”

  Mia squeezed her eyes closed for a moment and tried to displace the sounds. Although they were aggravating, the scent of fried chicken, baked beans and pickled cucumbers, perked up her nose and took her mind away from the noise and slight pounding in her ears.

  She looked at her plate and her tummy rumbled. Betty brought her lunch shortly after her bath, but she’d just pushed the food around her the plate, too anxious to eat. When she looked up, Dr. La Mond shoved a forkful of beans into his mouth.

  He swallowed, then said, “Eat, darlin’. What are you waiting for?”

  Generally she said grace. Would it even matter? How did God view her now? She wanted to believe she simply had a disease, but the memories Nathan revealed to her that night were never far from her mind. She knew he’d done something to make her compliant when he bit her and drank her blood, but she remembered her own actions and they shamed her greatly. The thoughts robbed her appetite, but she sighed, then took a bite of the cucumber dish, knowing her body needed the nutrition.

  The flavors of vinegar, pickling spices and cucumber exploded in her mouth and she groaned. She took a bite of the beans next. Same result. As a chef, she could tell the ingredients in both dishes to be rather generic, but either hunger or something to do with this vampire thing made the food taste like ambrosia.

  “Good?” he asked.

  “Incredible. I guess I’m hungrier than I thought.”

  “Certainly. Betty told me you haven’t eaten much. However, it’s not just hunger, you’re taste buds have enhanced. Your sense of smell too. In fact, it will be your most prominent sense. In time it will serve you well in many ways. I know you’re a chef. Take both as a career benefit if you will.” He grinned, then dug into his piece of chicken.

  He had a point. A keen palate was critical to culinary creativity and she knew smell and taste were entwined when it came to enjoying food. However, Mia would have rather lost every taste bud in her mouth, than to have this cursed existence. She was not grateful in the least Nathan had saved her life. If what she had really was life.

  Mia had so many questions. “Can I ask you something?”

  “Of course,” Dr. La Mond replied and wiped his hands on his napkin.

  “What will happen to me if I don’t have human blood?”

  His face took on an combined air of compassion and earnest. “You will die. You can’t survive without blood any more than you could survive without air. However, as I already told you, it can be taken IV.”

  “If that’s true, why would anyone want to drink it?” Her appetite began to wane, thinking about such an abhorrent act, specifically the one Nathan had executed on her. She shuddered recalling those moments he’d forced her to drink his blood, which had been equally disgusting.

  “It’s instinctual for our kind and the taste is not unpleasant to us, quite the opposite. Think of it like this, a prey animal such as a cow eats grass, right?”

  Mia nodded. She understood what he was driving at, having worked on a farm most of her life. “So what your saying is a cow enjoys the taste of grass or grain, because it’s their necessary food source.”

  “Exactly. We wouldn’t exist if we didn’t enjoy the taste of blood. Blood transfusions, as I’m sure you realize, haven’t been around that long. Our species is almost as old as the human one. Every creature on the planet has evolutionary adaptations to equip them for survival, right?”

  “Yes. I get your point,” she replied in a dismal tone, then picked up her fork and began eating. She didn’t want to talk about this anymore. This blood issue seriously depressed her.

  Dr. La Mond returned to his meal and they were silent for some time. He finally broke it. “That dinner you made the other night was amazing. How long have you been a chef?”

  “Only four years. Although, I’ve always wanted to open my own restaurant someday, or maybe a catering business,” she confessed, glad for the innocuous subject change.

  “Why haven’t you?”

  “Money and a divorce. Prior to that, kids.” She shrugged. “Plus the desire to do it came late in life.” She took a sip of iced tea, then began picking at her chicken breast, popping little pieces in her mouth.

  “How many kids do you have?”

  “Three.” She expounded on each of them and their merits and life achievements. By the time she was done, their plates were clean. He asked questions intermittently about them and seemed interested, but Mia felt bad hogging the whole conversation. “You’re turn. Dish on your past.” She stared at him and took a drink of tea.

  He nodded once. “I’m a born vampire. I guess you realize there are both born ones and those turned like you?”

  Mia had too much on her mind to give thought to that, but remembering Julia was pregnant and had grown children, and he an OB/GYN—well of course. “Okay. Go ahead.”

  “I was born in 1917. My father is a doctor for our kind too. My mother, well, just an amazing woman. She wanted more children, but I was all she got. She spoiled me rotten.”

  “Oh my God. I must have heard you wrong. What year?”

  He smiled. “Sorry. I haven’t explained vampire lifespan yet. We live approximately seven times longer than humans. We get old and die, it just takes about five or six hundred years longer.”

  “Seriously? Why?” My God, Mia thought, what would it be like to live that long? Would she even want
to? Her life hadn’t always been an excellent adventure and this new one terrified her.

  “The answer to that is theoretical. None of our scientists know exactly why our bodies are stronger than humans. It’s believed humans once lived as long as us. If you believe in the Bible, you’ve probably read of humans who lived seven, eight hundred years or better. I’m not saying I believe that because there is no scientific proof.”

  Mia nodded. “Perhaps not, but I most definitely believe the Bible and I believe people did live that long once. Supposedly, God shortened our lifespan due to sin.”

  He shrugged. “Well, if that’s true, He didn’t shorten ours. Maybe He didn’t consider it necessary because there’s approximately one born vampire to every ninety four thousand born humans.”

  “Wow.” Mia was intrigued. She didn’t wish to be, but this was her life now. As much as she hated it, sticking her head in the sand wouldn’t make it go away.

  “Anyway, back to your question. The most prominent theory is based on our reproductive difficulties. Our females have roughly three hundred reproductive years, yet great difficulty conceiving. The average life-mated couple will have two to three children in a lifetime.

  The good news is you have a long life ahead of you and our kind don’t suffer the diseases of humans, nor can we contract any of their blood transmitted illnesses. We do have a few diseases of our own and of course we have mortal bodies so we can die from injuries, but physically we are much stronger than humans in most every way.”

  “How so?”

  “Speed. Agility. Strength. All of which are about ten times that of a human.” He paused to give attention to his glass of tea.