Chapter 2
“Uh oh, a patient in labor?” Tiffany would’ve thought that to be a good thing, but based on the hard frown creasing Christian’s brow, it wasn’t so good for the patient Katie had mentioned.
“Where is she?” Christian demanded.
“Still in exam room three,” Katie replied, wringing her hands.
A moment later Christian bolted, the nurse after him.
Concerned, Tiffany followed them to the patient’s room, but stayed in the hall against the far wall to be out of the way. Common sense based on what little she knew of human medical practices’ privacy policies told her she should have walked away. When she saw the poor woman on the exam table bent over as she moaned hoarsely in pain and clutched her pregnant belly, Tiffany couldn’t bring herself to scat. Just like a car wreck scenario where you shouldn’t look, but couldn’t help but do so.
The lady’s life mate stood beside her, held her hand, stroked her cheek and murmured something near her ear. If possible, he looked more terrified than his wife.
“What’s wrong, Candice?”
“I think I’m in labor, Dr. La Mond. Oh God, it hurts,” she cried, her voice wracked with fear and pain. “She can’t come now. It’s too soon. Please tell me you hear her heartbeat.”
“Be calm, Candice, and breath.” To her husband he said, “You need to stay calm too, Donnie. Breath with her and connect to her mind. It’s gonna hurt like hell, but you need to begin to absorb her fear and pain.”
He nodded briskly then lowered his head and closed his eyes.
Tiffany watched, awestruck. His features contorted with an agony not his own, but his life mate’s—her real physical pain along with whatever fearful things she thought. Tiffany was well aware life mates shared each other’s thoughts and feelings, but she’d never witnessed anything as starkly real as a couple sharing every aspect, every nuance of labor. She felt a brief pang of guilt witnessing this private moment, but what she viewed was so surreal, so out of human realm, she felt glued in place.
Christian laid his hand on the lady’s stomach and bent his head forward. Tiffany wasn’t sure what he was doing. Given his vampire abilities, either listening for the baby’s heartbeat, praying or imparting some physic energy of his own to calm her. Probably all three. From the looks of her poor life mate, the guy needed a healthy dose of the latter two himself.
Christian’s back was to her so she couldn’t see his face, but when he stepped back from the lady and looked down, the action spoke volumes.
“The baby is in distress, Candice. Lay back I want to do another ultrasound.”
The trembling woman obeyed and hushed silence fell upon the gathering as Christian quickly executed the procedure.
“What’s going on? Is she okay?” the husband demanded as Christian stared at the ultrasound screen.
“I’m afraid not. I need to do a C-section immediately.”
“Oh, God. No! It’s too soon.” Candice cried.
“Candice, it’s necessary to save her life.”
“Why? Why is this happening?” The woman began to weep bitterly and her poor life-mate, well he just looked shell-shocked.
“Katie, get me a transport cart. We’re taking her to delivery now.” The nurse ran from the room immediately. He turned and looked at Tiffany, his expression at once surprised and relieved. “Go get Dr. Langston and tell him to meet me in deliver room one ASAP.”
“What? Who?” She felt her eyes bug because she hadn’t signed up for anything like this.
“Noah. Down the hall. Three doors on the left.” He pointed, then got back to business with the pregnant woman in vampire warp mode, telling the couple what he suspected was wrong with the baby and what intended to do as he gathered supplies for an IV and who knew what, out of drawers with such speed it made her head spin. Of course she’d seen vampires move like that, but their physical agility and speed still astounded her.
“Tiffany, go!” Christian hollered, glaring at her now with a troubling mix of fear and irritation.
She hesitated no more and took off like a shot. Finding the office with no problem, she opened the door and rushed inside. The doctor, seated behind a large, antique oak desk, jerked his head up and pinned her with an extraordinarily displeased look. Christian had been right, the guy was definitely older and anally challenged. He appeared mid-forties in human years. He had short, jet black hair with just a hint of grey and piercing cobalt blue eyes. She might have considered him good looking if not for that lemon sucking expression he sported.
“May I help you?” he asked in a very tight tone, that bore an English accent.
Tiffany realized she should have knocked, but protocol wasn’t high on her priority list right now, with that poor lady back there in the midst of agonizing labor.
“Sorry, I burst in like that. I’m Tiffany Peebles, your new computer geek. Listen, Christian has a patient who just went into labor. He told me to have you meet him in delivery room one, ASAP.”
His lips thinned even more if possible. “If you’re going to be working here, Miss Peebles, you should address him as Dr. La Mond. It’s professional and so is knocking before you enter one of our offices. Did he mention the patient’s name?”
Had the situation not been so serious, she probably wouldn’t have let his pompous attitude slide. Then again, he was her boss too and she’d best get used to it. She was working for the Man now. “It’s Mrs. Corrigan.”
“Mrs. Corrigan?” he echoed, his expression gaining concern. “That’s the patient he just met with. She’s not due for two months.”
Tiffany shook her head. “I don’t know anything about birthing babies, but that woman looked to be in full blown labor mode.”
He bolted to his feet and rounded the desk, muttering, ‘bloody hell’ beneath his breath. “Thank you, Miss Peebles. Tell Dr. La Mond, I’ll meet him there, straight away.”
She nodded once then ran back down the hallway. The doctor whizzed past her with vampire speed, then disappeared into a stairwell. Christian and Katie were already wheeling the lady into the elevator by the time she caught back up with them. “I found your partner. He said he’ll meet you there.”
Christian thanked her. The elevator doors closed and for several long moments Tiffany blinked at them, wondering what had caused the woman’s sudden onset of labor. What about the baby? Could a pre-mature vampire infant survive?
“Man,” she muttered, smoothing a palm over her head. She’d just received a crash course on the professional side of Christian’s life. Apparently, it wasn’t all cigars, bouquets of flowers and lauds for staff of an OB/GYN practice. Still if anyone could save that mother and baby, the doctor would be Christian La Mond.
His medical expertise far exceeded obstetrics for vampires or her mother and sister would have never survived Isabella’s horrible attacks all those years ago. Their spouses’ blood saved their lives and made them vampire, but without Christian’s surgical skills they both would have bled to death.
Tiffany heard footsteps coming down the hall and glanced to her left. A man approached her and she assumed by his blue scrubs he was a nurse or an aide. He stood about 5’9” or 10” with a husky build, his blonde hair shorn in a military-style cut. She knew instantly he was not vampire from his short stature as well as his brownish/hazel eyes, which she noticed last when he stopped beside her at the elevator and punched the down arrow button.
A vampire’s eyes, no matter the color were always brilliant, beautiful, widely dilated and in soft lighting or darkness they sort of glittered and beguiled. Christian once told her his kind’s strange eyes were an evolutionary adaptation to capture the attention of a human so they could enchant them and feed.
Or in Christian’s case, drive to insanity a sexually deprived human female with a doomed for failure crush on a drop dead gorgeous vampire.
So lost in thought she was, it took her a moment to respond when the man greeted her with a ‘Good morning.’
“Morning.” She held out her hand and smiled. “I’m Tiffany Peebles, the new IT Chris—Dr. La Mond hired.”
A big smile flashed across his friendly, but not particularly good looking features. Then again, since she held every male to Christian’s god like standards, who could compare?
“Blake Saunders.” He reached out and shook her hand. “Oh yeah. I’m thrilled to meet you. Everyone around here has been eagerly awaiting your arrival. Dr. La Mond told us you were one of the most skilled IT’s in the country. All of us can’t wait to see what this new system will be like and what it will do for the V clinic.”
Dang it, Christian. Why’d you go and talk me up like that? She was no Bill Gates or Peter Longman, the guy who’d perfected hologram technology in 2021. “I wouldn’t go that far, Blake. I think everyone will be pleased with what I come up with, but I wouldn’t be expecting miracles if I were you. I have a feeling it will be some time before the system I have in mind is up and running depending on how many patient files the clinic has. Despite today’s highly advanced computer technology, papers still need to be individually scanned into a program.”
“No one expects overnight changes. We’re all just glad they’re coming.”
He seemed sincere. She hoped she lived up to everyone’s expectations. Especially Christian’s.
“Were you waiting on the elevator?
She glanced around. “Uh, no. I was actually hunting the coffee pot. Chris—Dr. La Mond hasn’t had a chance to give me the official tour of the facility yet.”
He offered a sage smile. “The break room is just down the hall. Fourth door. As far as Dr. La Mond, rumors abound here, so you can refer to him in whatever way is comfortable. Nobody will mind. We all know he knows you personally somehow, just not in what context.”
Fishing for office fodder, was he? Maybe later. She was in no mood to talk to a stranger about how she met Christian. “Well, I’d best get cracking. It was nice meeting you Blake. I’ll be working in Christian’s office if anyone calls or needs me.”
She would take Blake’s advice and refer to him the way she always had. Pooh, on ol’ doc stick-in-the-mud and his haughty reprimand.
“It was nice meeting you too.”
With regret still lingering for the couple, she went back to Christian’s office, after hitting the break room for coffee. She didn’t even know where to begin in light of this disaster. She snooped through Christian’s desk drawers for a yellow legal pad, then sat in his chair to make a list of supplies which would be necessary to get this system up and running. Later she’d price stuff because right now her concentration was toast.
She tapped the end of her pen in the center of the tablet. That poor woman, she thought shaking her head. She closed her eyes and sent up a little prayer that Christian would save this woman and her baby, then went to work.
Some time later she heard a soft knock at the door and glanced up. Blake, stood in the open doorway. “Hey,” she greeted him.
“Hi. Tiffany, right?”
“Yeah. Or T.J., which is what my family calls me. I go by either.” Christian always referred to her as Tiffany saying it with a kind of a sexy drawl unless he was irritated, like earlier when he barked at her to get a move on.
Lord! She still pined over that poor lady. Tiffany knew there would be job hardships, but she’d never expected them to actually relate to patients.
“May I come in?” he asked, his expression curious, wary.
“Yes, of course. Sorry. I’ve got this list going. Neck deep in thought. That sort of thing, but please have a seat.” She gestured at the chair she’d taken earlier.
“I stopped by to see if there was anything you need. Katie had been assigned to get you office supplies, show you around a bit, but unfortunately she’s in surgery with Dr. La Mond.”
“Oh. Surgery?”
“Yes, a patient is having a c-section.”
She could tell by the grim lines pulling at the edge of his mouth, he knew the patient was Mrs. Corrigan and this wasn’t a planned, happy c-section. “You think she and the baby will be okay?”
He lifted his shoulders and sighed. “It’s hard to say. The baby is premature. Vampire premies are just as vulnerable as human ones when there are complications. The patient should be fine though. Until now she’s had a very healthy pregnancy, but then things like this can happen. Vampires might have some physical advantages over humans, but in a good deal of instances their bodies really are just as fragile as ours.”
“True that.” Physically vampires were much stronger than humans plus they had physic and telekinetic abilities, but they were still mammals. A bullet or a knife could kill a vampire just as easily as a human. The same probably rang true for pregnancy complications.
Tiffany swallowed hard, itching to ask more, but restrained herself. Her job didn’t entail hands on patient care or personal information relating to care. So she changed the subject. “There really isn’t anything I need at the moment, but I appreciate you asking. As long as there’s coffee in the break room pot I’m good.”
He nodded. “Do you live in New Orleans, or did you just move here?”
“I’ve lived here for a little over eleven years. I ran my own computer store during that time. I sold product as well as performed maintenance and tech support for customers. Of course I did installation and programming too. So how long have you worked here?”
“About four months.” He grinned. “I guess you’re wondering how I ended up working for a vampire practice. I’m wondering the same about you.”
The guy seemed determined to get her to open up. She supposed she should. Sharing a little personal information was completely natural in a work environment.
She chuckled and rolled the chair away from Christian’s desk, then entwined her fingers behind her head and leaned back. “Well that’s one very long story. Short version, Christian is pretty much extended kin to my family. We aren’t actually related, but he’s `Uncle Christian’ to my youngest siblings who are both born vampires.”
“You’re human, so I guess that must mean your mother was turned?”
“Yep. About twelve years ago. Freaky, huh? My mom the vampire! Wouldn’t that make one hell of a reality TV show?” She snickered, then added, “So what about you?”
He laughed, then dished. “I’m an RN. I worked for Dr. Langston’s mother in L.A. for about five years until she retired recently. She’s a very old vampire. So equating that to human years, she’s basically somewhere around social security age and rich as hell. She and her husband travel extensively now. Anyway when the practice closed Dr. Langston hired both me and Katie.”
“Interesting,” Tiffany mused. She’d known Katie Nettleson was human but not how she’d come to be a part of this very private practice. As for Dr. Langston, she had no idea what he was like yet, but he definitely seemed stuck up, which she suspected stemmed from a rich upbringing. His clothing appeared a bit outdated, yet his demeanor reeked of class and wealth, which would make sense. He was a partner of a very thriving medical practice. Tiffany knew Christian did quite well for himself. Hell, he was paying her six figures!
The phone on Christian’s desk began to ring. Startled, she bolted upright in her chair and stared at it, uncertain what to do. “Should we answer it or let it go to voicemail?”
“I’ll answer it. When it double rings like that it means it’s an in house call and I have a feeling it’s not for you or Dr. La Mond. The front desk knows I’m here on break. Blake picked up the receiver and punched a button. “Hello?” Several seconds later Blake’s expression darkened with concern. “Yes, Dr. La Mond. Sure. I understand. I’ll get the room ready immediately,” he said, then hung up the phone.
Curiosity compelled her to ask, “What did he say?”
His lips thinned momentarily, then he replied, “Dr. La Mond wants me to get a room ready for his c-section. Off the maternity ward. I’m afraid the baby didn’t make it.”
“Oh God,” Tiffany muttered, pressing her fingers to her lips. How awful for that couple. She couldn’t even imagine what Mrs. Corrigan must be feeling. Christian too. What a heavy responsibility for a doctor to know he or she had done everything possible to save a life, yet failed.
Blake stood, gave her a half-hearted smile then said, “It was nice meeting you, Tiffany. Sorry it occurred under such shitty circumstances.”
She said nothing as he left the room. The gravity of the situation had her thoughts a jumbled mess. After several minutes she considered going to the break room for another cup of coffee, but before she could do so, Christian burst into the room, spewing riotous curses under his breath.
He’d lost his lab coat and was now wearing jeans, cowboy boots and a solid black T-shirt. “Christian, I’m so sorry. I met Blake. He was in here when the phone rang. I heard.”
He spun toward her, his expression surprised. “Damn, I didn’t even realize you were over there.”
She stood and cautiously approached him. He looked furious and hurt and she felt for him. “Is there anything I can do?”
“Thank you, but no, Tiffany,” he said as he stalked over to a closet. Christian extracted a clean lab coat, shucked it on then strode out of the office without another word.
Tiffany’s heart ached for him, but she understood he needed time and space. She was a lot like him that way—one to lick wounds in privacy.