The Vampire Next Door (29 page)

“You might not want to answer it.”

She hesitated, then rolled her eyes. “Pshaw. Don’t be silly, Chad. I can handle Jules.”

“It’s not Jules. It’s Merry, your landlady.”

“Well, why wouldn’t I want to talk to Merry?” She strode to the door and opened it. “Why Merry, what a pleasant surprise. Were we makin’ too much noise? We was just havin’ a little gatherin’…”

“No, not at all,” Merry said. “I’m sorry to bother you—again, but I think I’m in labor for real this time.”

Sly rushed over. “The baby’s coming? Now?”

Gwyneth’s jaw dropped. “Goodness. Ain’t Jason home yet?”

“No, the blizzard hit Minnesota before he could get a flight out. Now it’s here, so even if he could take off, he couldn’t land.”

“Oh, dear. And Roz?”

“I didn’t call her. I don’t want her to drive all the way from Newton in this storm.”

By this time, Morgaine had joined them. “Merry, I can help you. I’ve been trained in midwifery.”

“You have? Awesome!”

“So, where do y’all want to do this? We can kick everyone out and use my apartment…”

Merry looked horrified. “No, goodness no! I already called a cab. I just wanted someone to go to the hospital with me… you know, in case something happens and I get a cab driver who doesn’t know how to deliver a baby.”

Sly stepped forward and took her hand. “Morgaine and I will both go to the hospital with you, sweetheart. Don’t worry about a thing. Now, let me get your bag.”

“Thanks, Gramps. It’s upstairs.” Merry winked at him, and he gave her as big a hug as he could around her belly.

“I’ll just grab my coat,” Morgaine said and hurried across the hall.

Gwyneth rushed after her. “Morgaine, wait.”

Morgaine stopped. “What is it?”

Gwyneth leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Talk to Merry about our little problem in the basement while you’re waiting with her.”

“Oh, Lord and Lady, Gwyneth. Now’s not the time.”

As Merry began her fourteenth hour of definite, genuine labor, she found it hurt less when she was positioned on her side. Or maybe it was the low back rub Morgaine was giving her that eased the pain. Sly sat on the opposite side and held her hand.

“How are you doing, honey?”

“I’m fine,” both women said at once. Then Morgaine let out a nervous giggle.

Merry suddenly realized Morgaine had been standing in one spot for a long time. “I’m sorry, Morgaine. You don’t need to keep massaging me if you’re getting tired.”

“I’m not.”

“Oh, thank goodness, because it feels really good.”

Sly chuckled. However, it was the kind of nervous noise that relieved an awkward moment.

He voiced what Merry had been hoping ever since her labor pains had sped up to every two minutes. “I’ll bet Jason will be here any minute.”

“Is it still snowing?” she asked.

“I doubt it,” Sly said. “It’s almost morning, and it began yesterday afternoon.”

Morgaine stopped massaging just long enough to stroll around the curtain to the window. Merry was glad the semi-private room had been the only one available when they checked in. Sharing her experience with someone else who was going through it had helped with sympathy. Her roommate had gone to the delivery room an hour earlier.

“It’s stopped,” Morgaine said.

“Finally! Maybe Jason’s plane has landed and he’ll get here in time for the birth. Although I’d feel kind of bad for the two of you having gone through all these hours of labor with me only to miss the grand finale.”

Morgaine returned to Merry’s side and resumed her low back massage. “Don’t worry about us, Merry. We’ll be in the waiting room if we can’t go in with you.”

“I can’t thank you both enough—” Another pain was coming. She began to moan, and concern filled Sly’s eyes. In some ways, he seemed more nervous than she was.

She squeezed his hand and knew that if Jason was here, he might
not
be holding her hand. He wasn’t allowed to do certain things that would risk his ability to pitch. She remembered him telling Roz that skydiving was strictly forbidden. But, she imagined him trying his hardest to make it to the hospital and bailing out over Boston General. He
could
shift into his falcon form and fly, after all.

At last, the contraction eased and she took a deep breath, relieved it was over—for a couple of minutes.

A nurse’s aide entered the room. “How are you doing, Mrs. Falco?”

“Okay,” she said, tentatively.

“Good. Be sure to use the buzzer if you need anything.”

When she left, Sly asked, “Do you know any of these nurses from working here?”

“No. I was in pediatrics. Nurses from different departments don’t usually get chummy unless they were friends before.”

Just then a stretcher holding her exhausted-looking roommate rolled in.

“Hey, Anna. How did it go?”

Her husband grinned. “We had a healthy baby girl.”

Anna snorted. “Yeah,
we
were in labor for six hours. I’m just glad it’s over.”

“Congratulations. I’m happy for you both.”

Morgaine seemed genuinely interested. “This is your second, right?

Anna nodded. “I don’t mean to be rude, folks, but I’ve got to take a nap.”

“Of course,” Merry said. “We’ll be quiet—unless I start screaming.”

Just then Jason sailed into the room. “Who’s screaming?”

“Jason!”

He rushed to her outstretched arms.

“Looks like I made it,” he said.

“Thank goodness. How’s your dad?”

“Much better.”

“Good. Sweetie, can you take over for Morgaine and rub my back with your non-pitching hand?”

“I’ll be glad to. Have you been at it a while, Morgaine?”

“About fifteen minutes.”

“More like forty-five,” Merry corrected. She imagined her friend didn’t want them to feel as if she’d been working too hard for too long.

“Thank you for taking such good care of my wife in my absence.” Jason rounded the bed and relieved Morgaine.

Another person entered the room. A different nurse this time. “I need to check to see how dilated you are,” she said. “Your husband can stay, but I think your visitors ought to leave for a few minutes.”

“That’s okay.” Sly smiled. “We’ll be nearby.”

“Maybe we should go to the waiting room at this point,” Morgaine said. “I have a feeling it won’t be much longer before she delivers.” She winked at Sly.

The nurse looked over at Morgaine. “Are you a nurse or a midwife?”

“I took some classes in midwifery.”

Merry was about to explain that Morgaine was her father’s girlfriend, but another contraction hit and the information seemed superfluous.

Jason paused. “Are you all right, honey?”

“Will be. Keep rubbing,” she said.

Jason returned to his task.

Sly reluctantly let go of Merry’s hand. “Good luck, sweetheart. Jason, be sure to let us know how she’s doing as soon as you can.”

“Will do.” He reached over her and shook Sly’s hand.

Morgaine closed her eyes briefly and murmured something just under her breath. When she opened them, she must have noticed a puzzled look on their faces.

“Just offering a prayer to the Goddess for the best possible outcome,” she said.

“Why? Is anything wrong,” Jason asked.

Morgaine quickly interjected, “No. Nothing at all. I just figured it wouldn’t hurt.”

Merry smiled at her. “That’s perfectly fine. In fact, all prayers and good wishes will be gratefully accepted.”

*   *   *   *

Sly walked Morgaine to the waiting room. A couple of other people were there reading, so he whispered to her. “Did you really say a prayer or were you doing a spell?”

“They’re pretty much the same thing.”

He took a seat, even though he felt more like pacing. Morgaine settled into the chair next to him.

Keeping his voice low, he continued. “You are so talented in magick, I imagine you could make good money at that alone, if you wanted to.”

“What are you saying?”

“I just think you could let Gwyneth take over the phone-sex business and you could become a full-time witch. You know… doing spells for people like you did for Mikhail.”

“First of all, witches aren’t supposed to sell their magick. We can charge money for tarot, palm, or tea-leaf readings, but when it comes to spells, we have to be asked. We can trade favors as I did with Mikhail, but anything else is against the Witches’ Rede.

“Why do you think there are no signs that say, ‘Spells R Us’? Magic is not to be used lightly, and it’s definitely not for fools. If you don’t know who you’re helping and what they’re up to, it can be very dangerous.”

Her voice took on a slightly hissed, higher pitch as she whispered. The other people looked up from their magazines.

“Hey, what’s the matter? I was giving you a compliment.”

She folded her arms and huffed. “I suppose.”

“Then why are you pouting?”

“I’m not pouting.”

There was that raised voice again. Something was bothering her.

“Morgaine, if you have something to say, just say it.”

“I could say the same to you,” she snapped.

“Shhh…” He looked over at the other visitors, but they continued reading, hopefully tuning out the argument. “Excuse me?”

Leaning toward him as if wanting to get her point across while she tried to keep her voice down, she said, “This
isn’t
about my magick, is it? It’s about my phone-sex business.”

He shrugged. “I just don’t understand why you’d continue doing that if you had another option.”

She narrowed her eyes. “Maybe I’m talented in more than one area.”

What was going on? Did she
like
talking dirty to strangers? Sly had been thinking of discussing marriage with her, but now he wasn’t so sure. He let out an exasperated breath.

Maybe she was just used to relying on this type of interaction to feel attractive to the opposite sex. Well, he’d have to let her know she didn’t have to. He’d more than fill that bill.

“Morgaine, I don’t want to fight. I love you.”

She sighed. “I know. I love you too. I suppose it’s normal to feel a little jealous of my customers.”

“Jealous? Don’t be ridiculous.” He laughed.

She jumped to her feet and began to walk away. Her eyes looked like storm clouds had just rolled in.

Uh-oh. That was the wrong reaction.
“Morgaine… honey.” He rose and strolled toward her. Then his head spun and the odd sensation of falling into a hole engulfed him.

*   *   *   *

“Sly! Oh, my Goddess.”
What happened?

He had been walking toward her when suddenly he’d swayed and sunk to the floor. The other people watched as she rushed over to him. One of them rose and joined her.

“Is he all right?”

The Vampire Vintage must have worn off
—
and it’s sunrise.
But how could she explain that to strangers? Before she could think of an explanation, the gentleman grabbed Sly’s wrist and checked for a pulse.

“Uh-oh. Your friend’s in trouble. I’ll stay with him. Go call a nurse.”

“No, you go. I’ll stay with him.”

The man looked puzzled, but he got up and strode out of the waiting room in the direction of the nurse’s station.

Now what? Thank the Goddess he hadn’t landed directly in the shaft of sunlight filtering through the windows, but he was near enough to make her nervous. She grabbed Sly’s arms and dragged his lifeless body toward the restroom.

The remaining woman rose. “I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to move someone after a fall.”

Stay out of it, lady,
Morgaine thought.
What do you know about vampirism?

A “code blue” was announced over the loudspeaker, and a nurse came running. She kneeled next to Sly, tilted his head back, and placed two fingers on one side of his neck. Another nurse joined her shortly, towing a large red cart. When she plopped a container with paddles onto the floor next to Sly’s lifeless body, Morgaine figured out what it was for
.

Oh, no. A defibrillator.
What would that do to him?

She had to think quickly, yet her mind was frozen. The nurse with the defibrillator had turned it on and was poised over Sly’s chest with paddles in hand.

At last Morgaine came up with something. “Stop! He’s a Christian Scientist. And he has a living will. He doesn’t want any medical treatment, even in an emergency.”

The nurse without the paddles had opened the cart and was retrieving something with a plastic mask and a large oblong balloon attached to it. She stared at her.

“But we might be able to save him. Don’t you want us to try?”

Yeah, they might be able to kill him too.
Morgaine bit her bottom lip. “I-I think he’d want us to respect his wishes.”

The nurses looked at each other openmouthed.

I could kick myself. We were so focused on Merry that I never thought about Sly’s condition. Dearest Goddess, please let Nathan be working in the morgue tonight.

*   *   *   *

Nathan Nourie flew to his workplace carrying a pillowcase containing a bottle of wine in his strong beak. Luckily, Sly had left in such a hurry, he hadn’t locked his door and Morgaine was able to direct Nathan to the briefcase holding the stuff Sly needed.