Chapter 8
Christian watched Tiffany breathe, so grateful he and Noah had been able to revive her, yet so terrified she might code again at any moment. His eyes darted between her, the vitals monitor and the doors of her suite repeatedly while he waited for Noah to get back with her test results.
“Come on, Noah,” he muttered, then reached up and caressed Tiffany’s forehead again for about the hundredth time. He’d never been so soul sick in his life, realizing he’d nearly lost her and that he still could.
He’d begun hemodialysis, a standard treatment for certain poisons and he’d intubated her after she’d coded to keep her breathing. As a preventative measure in case his fears were warranted, he had her on oxygen. He’d also administered hydroxocobalamin an antidote for cyanide poisoning and was in the process of giving her a transfusion.
Test results aside Christian knew she’d been poisoned. He had no definitive proof yet, but it stood to reason because the majority of her symptoms pointed to acute arsenic and cyanide poisoning. Levels as high as those found in his patients would be deadly to any human. He prayed he was wrong, but his gut knew what Noah would find so he was taking no chances. He was doing everything possible for a human poisoning victim, but depending on the levels she’d ingested it might not be enough.
“For God’s sakes come on, Noah.”
“Damn it, Tiffany, open your mind to me. I need in there. I need to see what’s going on inside your body.” He took hold of her hand and squeezed, pushed his way into her mind, but there were no thoughts. Nothing but quiet darkness. The waiting, the worry felt like a coiled spring so tight in his middle, if it exploded, Christian feared what he might do or tear up.
If this was an intentional poisoning, why Tiffany? Who would want to kill her? Blake came to mind because they’d had words today, but why would he spill the fact they’d argued if he was behind this and the other poisonings? It would only draw suspicion.
The sliding door to the ICU suite opened and Noah entered wearing a very grim expression. “I’m afraid, you were correct. Her tox screen revealed arsenic. Based on her symptoms, I’m sure cyanide is an additional culprit. I’m so sorry, Christian, but the level in her system would be fatal for any human. I know you’re doing all you can but I’m afraid it’s useless at this point.”
Christian glared at him as his words sank into his mind like poison themselves. They had a homicidal epidemic in their midst and his Tiffany had just become the latest victim.
Noah glanced at her bed then sighed resolutely. “I think you should call her family straight away. Hopefully they’ll be able to get here in time.”
Christian’s own heart nearly stopped after Noah’s words and the devastating reality of them. He was saying she was on the brink of death and although he knew his partner was right, Christian refused to accept that fact. There had to be something, some other form of treatment she would respond to.
A world without Tiffany? It made no sense. He wouldn’t accept that. He couldn’t.
He turned and stared at her sweet, beautiful face which was now frighteningly pale while he racked his brain for answers. None were forthcoming thanks to the fog of fear swirling around in his head.
Noah was right. Those poisons in high doses would have already begun shutting down many of her vital organs. She’d already gone into cardiac arrest. Everything he presently did for her was useless. Unless—
The answer dawned on him with the intensity of a religious experience. But it was a radical one. Christian didn’t give the repercussions of what he was about to do a moment of negative consideration. He wouldn’t let her die. He rushed across the room and began rifling through the cabinets and drawers that held IV supplies.
“What are you doing?” Noah demanded.
Christian shot him a cursory glance, then proceeded to start an IV on himself.
Proficient at the task, he had the needle in the bend of his left arm in seconds and began drawing his blood, which he intended to give to Tiffany as soon as he had a full unit.
Noah strode over to him and took the plastic bag out of his hand filling with blood. “I know what you’re thinking. Good God man, are you insane? What you’re planning to do is completely unethical. Unless she’s given you her permission at some point to turn her, you can’t do this. Turning is not a method of treatment for a human, even when death is imminent.”
Christian snatched the bag out of his hand. “It is when the human is your life mate. Now back off.”
Noah’s eyes widened with surprise. “I had no idea.”
“Yeah, well neither does she yet, but you know as well as I, no mated vampire or one on the brink is going to stand by and let his or her mate die over ethics. Now you can either help, or get out.”
Noah slipped his hands into the pockets of his lab coat and frowned. “Well congratulations I suppose. However, I hate to continually be the bearer of bad news, but Christian this will most likely backfire.” He glanced at Tiffany. “You know these chemical toxins are far more destructive to the human body. A turning is a violent physical affair. Even healthy humans sometimes perish.”
Christian knew that, but he was out of options. “She’s not responding to anything I’ve tried. Unless you can come up with a better course of treatment in the next few minutes, help me prepare her for a turning.”
Noah’s gaze slid over him with concern. “Very well. Considering the severity of her condition, I would strongly advice we induce a coma. Since she’s your life mate, I understand it must be your blood, but we need to accelerate the turning, which means she’ll need multiple units rapidly, which frankly you appear a bit lean on. You’ll need a transfusion yourself.”
Christian wasn’t thinking about his own wellbeing at the moment, yet he knew Noah had a point. He couldn’t help Tiffany if he couldn’t function. “Fine. We’ll get to that in a bit. For now, just get the process started.” He unhooked the first bag of blood, shoved it at Noah and started filling another.
* * *
Exhaustion and worry had soaked into every cell of Christian’s being. He sat in a chair beside Tiffany’s bed, holding her hand, holding onto consciousness by a thread. His need for sleep was a screaming demon in his mind and body, but until Tiffany opened her eyes, his existence would be nothing but her, this room and fear. Lots and lots of fear.
She was twelve hours into turning and her condition was marginally better, but still critical. It terrified him Noah could have been right when he said this procedure might be more than her body could take. A turning caused the human body to undergo radical internal changes. The antigens in vampire blood when introduced into the human body caused every cell to morph into the cell of a vampire altering DNA.
Because the human body would recognize the antigens as foreign, an immune response would occur producing antibodies to combat the attacking antigens, causing fever, extreme pain and misery for the person if they were conscience. Tiffany would feel nothing. She was still in a medically induced coma and for sanity’s sake, Christian had to believed his blood would win and she would live.
Normally, a healthy human came through a turning just fine. Despite Noah’s cautionary comments, rarely did a human perish unless they had a serious medical issue, such as heart, liver or kidney problems, a hidden DVT or the like. These days any respectable vampire doctor who conducted a turning for a vampire/human couple ran extensive testing on the human prior to the procedure to make sure they were a viable candidate.
Christian hadn’t the luxury of time to conduct testing on Tiffany, yet he’d known when he’d made the decision many of her internal organs were compromised. His choice to turn her should rectify that problem. His vampire blood cells would replace and repair her damaged organs and tissues and ultimately all her organs should revive. He hoped. It could just as easily go the other way depending on how close her kidneys had been to shutting down. Also the status of her liver at the time he’d initiated the turning concerned him greatly. Then there was the source of her internal bleeding. He couldn’t allow himself to ponder that one at all.
Never in his career had he made a medical decision as scary as the one he’d made for Tiffany. If it backfired…
He couldn’t finish that thought.
Christian leaned forward in his chair and rested his forearms on his knees, laced his fingers in prayer fashion, then sent another to a God he’d ignored for a very long time until recently. No particular reason. He’d just lived and breathed his practice for years. Decades. Hopefully God wouldn’t hold that against him and would bring Tiffany through this crisis whole and healthy. He’d taken selfish detours here and there on life’s journey and lost sight of his faith. This decision he’d made for Tiffany might have been a fatal one, costing her life and his eternal soul because if she died he’d never forgive himself or God for taking her from him.
He stared at Tiffany and forced himself to see her alive and well, far past this crisis. What would she be like vampire? A force to be reckoned with for sure, but alive. She would undergo substantial physical changes, but she would still be Tiffany on the inside. Over time she would eventually grow in height, attain more muscle mass. Vampires were simply larger mammals. Born or turned. It didn’t matter.
In the brain a new gland would evolve, the V-thalamus adjacent to the hypothalamus, which by the end of her turning would be small and functional for survival, but would grow and develop further over time for enhanced physical strength and physic and telekinetic functions.
The V-thalamus was a physical marvel with many purposes. It was responsible for their venom and in males a second source of testosterone. It also produced specific chemicals which fired into the right hemisphere of the brain giving vampires those unique mental abilities to enchant humans, move objects and mind speak to a life mate or a vampire to whom that person was blood bonded.
If God and luck was with him, soon she would be vampire, but she’d never be human again. In fact she’d be a dead human right now if he hadn’t turned her. Presently, her body combated two sets of poisons—the ones which had taken her human life and his blood. By introducing his blood into her system he’d infected her with the disease their kind termed vampire myelodysplasia which all vampires suffered.
However, his kind’s blood condition was far more complicated than the myelodysplasia humans suffered which affected the reproduction of red and white blood cells and platelets. Vampires didn’t have a spleen. Well, they had one, but it was shriveled and useless, much like an appendix. Since the spleen was an organ which helped generate red blood cells, basically the vampire body needed the pure source of their sire species to assist in regenerating their own blood cells.
Her white cell count had sky rocketed in an effort to combat his blood. He leaned forward, took hold of her hot little hand and squeezed. Her fever had raged to nearly a hundred and six, but thankfully the ice baths he and Noah had given her had kept it at around a hundred and one for the last eight hours.
Fever was normal for a turning and wouldn’t have worried Christian if this were just a normal turning. Fear pumped inside him like an off shore oil rig. If this didn’t work, if his blood caused her to die, Christian knew his own life would be over.
His gaze shot up when he heard the door slide open. It was Noah. He glanced at Tiffany, then offered a tired smile. Christian returned one in kind. His partner had been right beside him through this entire disaster which had started four days ago with Mrs. Corrigan’s still birth. Sometimes the guy could be a real snob, but his dedication to their patients and practice was beyond reproach. He couldn’t have survived this past week without him.
“Her parents and siblings have arrived. I had no idea her mother was Mia Davenport.”
He seemed impressed. Of course he’d recognized Mia and Nathan too. Because of Nathan’s wealth, they were celebrity status. The paparazzi followed them like hound dogs. Christian didn’t envy their life because a vampires needed to be one of secrecy and theirs could never be. They hid who they were from the world as did most famous vampires, but he couldn’t imagine it an easy endeavor.
“Yes, Tiffany is one of Mia Davenport’s daughters from her human marriage. I’ve known Mia for many years. She’s a beautiful person who raised some pretty amazing women.” He stared at Tiffany who strongly resembled her mother, not just physically, but in spirit. He was counting on that strong, fiery spirit to bring her back to him.
“I see. Mrs. Davenport appears to be a very gentile lady. I am so very sorry for anything I may have said untoward regarding Miss Peebles. I had no way to know she was your life mate.”
He stood and faced Noah. “I appreciate that, Noah. Where are they?”
“Upstairs in the waiting room at the front of the clinic. I didn’t want to bring them here until you were prepared to meet with them.”
Christian’s gut knotted as he glanced over his shoulder at Tiffany. No one looked good during a turning. The sight of her would shock the family, especially her mother. Although Mia had gone through a turning herself and her other daughter Danielle as well, wouldn’t matter when she saw Tiffany and learned she was far from out of the woods. “I’ll go talk with them. Please stay with her until I get back.”
“Of course.”
Christian hated this part of his job. The fact this patient was Tiffany compounded his loathing for what he was about to do. As soon as he entered the little waiting room they all stood and viewed him with varying expressions of fearful anticipation.
Mia approached him. “Where is she, Christian? How is she? When can we see her?”
“In a minute. Everyone please sit so I can explain.” He gestured for them to take a seat, took one himself then got to the heart of the matter. “Tiffany was poisoned.”
The news caused gasps from Chelsie and Danielle, a curse from Nathan, but Mia just gaped at him with shock and disbelief.
He’d refused to tell Mia anything about Tiffany over the phone. He felt the kind of news he needed to deliver should be done in person. He’d merely told her Tiffany was very ill and she needed to get here ASAP.
“How the hell did this happen?” Nathan demanded.
Christian shook his head. “I don’t have a clue, nor have I had time to figure out the hows. Trust me. My partners and I are working around the clock to find out. She seems to be doing marginally better, but Tiffany’s condition is still listed as critical and her prognosis is dicey. I’m so very sorry.”
Mia glanced at Nathan then began to cry. He tried to pull her into his arms, but she pushed away and bolted to her feet, her expression fierce, determined. “I refuse to accept that. She will pull through. I want to see her right now Christian.”
He nodded, understanding her angst. “There are a couple things you need to know first. Noah, my partner and I had to induce a coma due to the severity of her condition and the treatment we chose. She’s on life support and when you see her, all of it will seem a bit frightening, but the measures were necessary.” He swallowed hard, loathing what he had to say next. “Mia, the treatment I chose was very radical and I’m not even sure it will save her.”
“Dear God, what did you do Christian?”
“I turned her. Rather, I’m attempting to.”
That news garnered more gasps of shock and “Oh-my-gods” from the family.
“I estimate the turning to be about a quarter complete, which means she’ll have a couple more days ahead of her. The medically induced coma will keep her from suffering any pain. If she comes out of this she’ll remember nothing prior to coming here.”
Chelsie leaned forward and adjusted her glasses. “What was the poison Christian?”
“It was a cocktail, Chelsie. When time allows I’ll get into details. Right now keeping Tiffany alive is all I have time to think about because a turning is a very vile affair.”
Nathan stood and fixed him with a pointed look. “Whose blood did you use?”
Christian returned a look in kind because Nathan already knew the answer to that question. What he really asked is why. “Mine of course and because she needed it if she were to have a prayer of survival.”
Mia glanced up at her husband, then back at him and lifted her chin. “Then I thank you for the sacrifice. I know you care about her and I also know you’d lay your life down for me or any one of my children. I have no doubt you’re doing all you can, but rest assured she will survive. I’ve been praying non-stop since you called and God has assured me she will live.”
Christian blinked at her, absolutely stymied by the woman’s monumental faith. He knew from experience she had a direct line to the Man upstairs. “Well, Darlin’, I reckon if anyone could get a prayer answered it would be you and I’m believing with you. Come on. Let me take all of you to her.”
Christian opened the door to Tiffany’s room, stood back while they filed in, then followed. Silently, all family members, Mia, Nathan, her sisters Chelsie and Danielle along with her husband Dominic encircled her bed. The grief and worry they all shared felt literally palpable, a mate to his own.
While they did so, Noah had stepped out of the way. “Call if you need me.”
Christian nodded then watched him leave.
Mia turned to him, tears swimming in her eyes. “Oh, God, Christian. She doesn’t even look alive. And all this stuff…” She broke off and gestured toward the equipment which monitored Tiffany’s vitals and kept her alive. The suctioning sound of the mechanical ventilator filled the room. He was used to it. They weren’t and hearing it probably sounded very scary coupled with how lifeless she looked.
He went to Mia and took her hand. “Darlin’, I warned you. Please trust me. All of this is necessary and I’m doing everything I know to do.” He looked behind her at Chelsie who stared at him with big, round brown eyes behind her thick glasses. The newbie doctor appeared the most frightened of them all because she’d seen enough to know her sister’s condition was very tenuous.
The girl adjusted her glasses and approached him. “Whether you choose to hire me or not, Christian, I intend to help here and I won’t take no for an answer. I can tell by looking at you that you’ve gone without sleep for days. You need some relief. Give me a project. Anything.”
He returned a warm smile. “There isn’t much you can do at the moment but be here for your sister. Trust me, if we get in a pinch, I won’t hesitate to take you up on that offer.”
She nodded, tears swimming in her eyes like everyone else’s in the room.
Mia gazed at Nathan in the way of life mates and Christian knew they mind spoke. When they finished, Mia took hold of Tiffany’s hand. Nathan approached him, then hitched his head toward the door.
Getting his meaning, Christian nodded and exited the suite. Nathan followed.
Once they were alone in the hallway Nathan said, “Is there anything else you can think of that might save her? A specialist of our kind? Further transfusions. We’ll all donate. Mia can’t lose her. It would destroy her. I know she’s believing in a miracle, but if there’s anything I can do to help that miracle along, I will.”
Christian understood where he was coming from. Nathan wanted to spare his life mate the trauma of losing a child. “Nathan, everything that can be done, I’m doing for her. I took an extreme risk turning her, but it really was her only chance for survival. The poisons were destroying her human body and she would have been dead in a matter of hours. My hope by giving her my blood had been to kill off the sick infected cells which had been in the process of shutting down her kidneys and other vital organs. I don’t generally think this way, but Mia’s prayers, all of our prayers are probably Tiffany’s best line of defense right now. They seem to be helping because she is holding her own presently.”
Nathan shook his head, propped a hand on his hip and stared at the floor for a few seconds. “I don’t know how the hell this happened, but I guarantee you I’ll get to the bottom of it, if it’s the last thing I do. I realize Tiffany’s health is paramount at the moment, but when you have time to spare we’re going to talk. Whoever did this to her will die a slow miserable death. You have my word on that.”
Christian let out a derisive snort. “You’ll have to stand in line for that one, buddy. If I get ahold of the bastard who did this… Well, trust me they’ll be begging for death before I finish with them.”
Nathan’s face wreathed with a tired smile. “Fair enough. Just do whatever you must to save her.”
Christian reached up and scratched his temple. “Trust me, I am. If I could think of anything more to do, I’d be doing it. I’d lay down my life for her. She means everything to me.”
Nathan stared at him for a few seconds with a calculating look. “Well, I’ll be damned. Tiffany is your life mate.”