Minda

by ChandaK562

The sequel to Unexpected Consequences deal's with Nick's cousin Minda and a killer stalking the hospital where she works.

Minda

This story takes place between parts 10 and 11 of "Unexpected Consequences"

"What do we have here?" Minda Reynolds said as she came into the trama room.

"Car hit a fire hydrant. No damage to the car but the hydrant sure is a mess." the paramedic said. "Forty-three year old male complaining of shoulder pain. No other signs of injury. Sixteen year old girl with a suspected fracture of the left fibula. No other visible injuries."

"Okay." Minda said as she hurried over to the girl. "Hi! I'm Dr. Reynolds. What's your name?"

"Kathy Baker. Please, you can't tell my mother that I was driving or she'll kill me!"

"What happened?" Minda said as she started to examine the girl's leg. "Let me guess. You were practicing to get your license."

"Yeah. All of my friends already have theirs but Mom freaks when I even mention wanting to drive! Dad's been letting me practice behind her back. You can't let her find out that I was driving! She'll kill me!"

"We'll see what we can do to avoid that. Do you have pain anywhere but in your leg?"

"No! I didn't even hurt my leg in the accident! I barely grazed that fire hydrant but when it broke off and the water started gushing everywhere...."

"It was all my fault." Mr. Baker said. "I didn't want my wife to kill me for letting her practice driving so I decided to climb over the seat and change places with her. We got a bit tangled up though and.... Well, you can see what happened. Is there some way that you could avoid telling my wife that, though? If she finds out what happened, she'll kill both of us!"

"I'll try to avoid mentioning that then. It seems like your injuries are pretty much minor. I'm going to need an x-ray of that leg and I'd also like one of your shoulder, Mr. Baker, to see if you have a fracture or simply a pulled muscle."

"Dr. Reynolds," a nurse said as she came hurrying in. "Mrs. Baker is here."

"Is that the yelling I'm hearing? Carol, will you have someone from radiology get x-rays of Mr. Baker's shoulder and Kathy's leg, please? I'll go and deal with Mrs. Baker."

"Loud, wasn't she?" Carol said when Minda came back into the treatment area thirty minutes later.

"My uncle's club is quiet by comparison. Did radiology get those x-rays?"

"Yes. Here they are."

"Well, Mr, Baker has a definite dislocted shoulder," Minda said as she stuck the x-rays on the board to view them, "and his daughter has a hairline fracture of the left fibula. Put in a call to the doctor who is on for orthopedics consults tonight see if they would care to come down. I'd like to get a cast on that leg as soon as possible and get Mr. Baker's shoulder back in place."

"That would be Dr. Henderson." Carol said as she headed to the phone.

"Good. I've always worked well with him. I'll just go tell the Bakers what's going on and.... Wait a minute. Carol, where's Helen?"

"I don't know, Doctor Reynolds. I haven't seen her since she left for her break and that's been well over an hour ago."

"I guess I better go find her. It isn't like Helen to be late getting back from her break."

Minda had just started towards the waiting room when she heard a scream.

"Joe, what is it?" Minda said as she ran up to the ragged looking old man who was staring in shock at the bathroom doors.

"Blood! There's blood coming from under the door!!"

"What?" Minda said as she pushed the door to the ladies' room open and then quickly slammed it. "Carol, call the police! I'm afraid that I just found Helen!"

"What do we have here?" Nick said as he came into the emergency room.

"One of the ER nurses, Helen Anders, was shot at least five times in the ladies room." Tracy said as she came over looking sort of green. "A Doctor Minda Reynolds found the body. Nick, isn't she your cousin?"

"Yeah. Where is she?"

"Over there waiting for someone to take her statement." Tracy said as she pointed to Minda who was sitting in a corner of the lobby sucking a red liquid from a sports bottle.

"Hello, Minda." Nick said as he came over to her. "Can you tell me what happened her tonight? Tracy, I'll get Minda's statement. Why don't you go see what Nat's found?"

"Nick, I think you better go talk to the coroner yourself. i'm sure your partner can take my statement. Go on." she said as she pushed him towards the ladies' room and hissed under her breath. "Nick, if that kid has to see that body one more time I'm afraid that she's going to faint!"

"Well, okay. Tracy, you can get the statement then. I need to talk to Nat anyway." Nick said as he hurried off.

"Why don't you come back to the doctor's lounge, Detective Vetter?" Minda said as she stood up. "It's much more comfortable and quieter than the waiting room."

"That's fine." Tracy said as she followed Minda out of the waiting room. "Listen, I'm normally not that squeemish around bodies but that one was just so...."

"It's okay. You should have seen me on my first day in medical school. I had to leave the room to throw up twice and I was perfectly used to the sight of blood. Here. Have a Gatorade. It's the best thing for a queesy stomach. Now what do you need to know?" Minda said as she handed Tracy a drink and settled down onto the couch.

"First of all, how did you know the victim?"

"I've been the ER physician for the night shift for two years now. Helen has been the head ER nurse on the night shift as long as I've been here. She was a good friend. She just had a baby a few months ago and she has two little girls as well. I can't understand why anyone would want to hurt her!"

"Could you tell me when you found the body?"

"It was about ten. Like I said, Helen had just had a baby a few months ago. She had just came back to work last week. She was wanting to keep breastfeeding her baby so I worked out an arrangement where she could take a break at about nine to go to the hospital daycare to look after him. When she left on her break tonight, she never came back. I had just started to look for her when Joe, one of the homeless people who come in here at night sometimes, started screaming about blood coming from under the ladies' room door. When I saw what had happened, I called the police."

"Is the arrangement that you had with Mrs. Anders a typical practice of the hospital?"

"No, but Helen was the best ER nurse that I had ever worked with. She was also one of my best friends. I have the same sun sensitivity as my cousin and Helen helped my a lot during the summer when the sun came up before I could get home. I knew that she wanted to do what she felt was best for her son and I was willing to work with her. She came in about thirty minutes early and took care of my leftover paperwork and I gave her the time she needed to tend her son."

"Did you hear any shots fired or notice anything unusual tonight?"

"I'm afraid that I didn't. I checked with the daycare operators after I called the police and they said that Helen left there at about 9:25 so it would have had to have happened shortly after she left. Around that time, a teenage girl and her dad had just been brought in. Her father had been letting her practice to get her license behind his wife's back and the car accidently hit a fire hydrant. It wasn't a bad accident but when the wife showed up things got a little crazy. With the noise that that woman was making I wouldn't have noticed a gunshot."

"Do you know of anyone who would want to hurt Mrs. Anders?"

"No! Helen was a wonderful person! She never hurt a fly! No one had a reason to want her dead!"

"How was her relationship with her husband?"

"Helen and Jim could have won a contest for being happily married. I'm the godmother to David, their new baby, so I should know."

"She hadn't had any trouble with a coworker?"

"No. Helen just got back from maternity leave last week. She didn't have the time to get in any disagreements with anyone. Anyway, everyone loved Helen! You should have seen the baby shower that we through for her before she left. Besides, everyone in the ER was accounted for at the time of the murder. I can't understand how this could have happened!"

"You have no idea what a possible motive could be then?"

"No. Helen was wonderful! No one would have hurt her!"

"Tracy, Nat's finished and she needs to talk to me," Nick said as he came into the lounge, "so why don't you handle talking to the family?"

"Uh, Nick, I really don't...."

"I'll go with you, Detective." Minda said as she stood up. "Jim's going to need to have a friend there when you tell him. Just let me pick up the baby so that someone else doesn't have to do it later."

"I'll go with you to do that since I'll need to talk to the daycare operator anyway." Tracy said as they started out the door.

"Minda, wait a minute." Nick said as he snagged his cousin. "Have you talked to Janette lately? How is she?"

"She's better, Nick, and I have a feeling that she'll need to talk to you soon." Minda said as she followed Tracy out.

"This is the part of my job that I really hate!" Tracy said as she stood on the doorstep of the Anders' house waiting for someone to answer the door.

"I know." Minda said as she adjusted the baby in her arms. "I wish that I could tell you that it gets easier with time but it doesn't. I've done it for nearly five years and every time I wind up crying afterwards."

"Minda?" Jim Anders said as he opened the door. "What are you doing here? Is something wrong?"

"Jim, can we come in?" Minda said. "I have something that I have to tell you."

"What's happened?" he said as held the door open and the two women stepped into the tiny kitchen. "Why do you have the baby? Where's Helen?"

"Jim, please sit down. Are the girls asleep?" Minda said as she put the baby in his swing and started it up.

"Yes. What's happened?! Minda, where's Helen?!"

"Jim, something happened at the hospital tonight. When Helen took her break to feed the baby, she never came back. I found here in the bathroom. Jim, I'm sooo sorry. She was dead."

"NO!!!"

"Jim, I'm sorry." Minda whispered as she hugged him. "By the time we found her there was nothing that could have been done. She was shot five times."

"NO!! This can't be happening!!! She can't be.... Helen!!!!"

"Aunt Minda," a dark haired little girl said as she came padding into the kitchen in her pajamas with a younger girl with fine blonde hair behind her. "what's going on? Why's Daddy crying?"

"Polly, take your sister and go back to your room. I'll be in to talk to you in a few minutes." Minda said and the two girls scurried off. "Jim, I know this is a bad time but Detective Vetter needs to ask you some questions."

"No! No, not now!"

"Jim, I know will be hard but you really need to talk to her. We need your help so we can find whoever did this to Helen before he hurts someone else. Do you think that you can help us stop him?"

"What do you need to know?" he said as he turned towards Tracy. "If I can help find out who did this to Helen then.... Minda, will you talk to the girls?"

"I'll call Helen's sisters and then I'll tell them." Minda said as she hurried into the living room.

A few minutes later she came into the bedroom to find the two little girls sitting on the bed holding each other and sniffling. "Girls, is it okay if I talk to you for a little while?"

"Aunt Minda, what's going on?" Polly, the older girl, said. "Why's Daddy crying? Where's Mommy?"

"Polly, Lucy," Minda said as she sat down on the bed and pulled both girls into her lap, "do you remember when you asked me a long time ago where my mommy was and I told you how she had went to heaven? Well, something happened tonight when your mom was at work. A bad person hurt her and now your mommy has gone to heaven to be with my mommy."

"Mommy's dead?" Polly whispered as she and her sister started to cry.

"I'm afraid so, baby." Minda whispered as she hugged them and started to cry herself. "She went to be with my mommy and my little sisters in heaven. You don't have to worry about her because my mommy will look after her and I'll look after you. I promise that I'll never leave you. It's going to be okay."

**********

"Are you okay?" Tracy said as she glanced over at Minda who was sitting in the passenger seat of the car. "Are you sure that you want me to take you home? Couldn't I take you to Nick's or some other relative's?"

"I'll be fine." Minda whispered. "It just hurts so bad!"

"I could hear some of what you were telling the kids. When did your mother die?"

"When I was eighteen. She was shot along with my two little sisters, my father and my grandparents. Nick's uncle found me right after that and took me in. I call him my father now. There's my house right there."

"Nice." Tracy said as she pulled up in front of the two story Victorian house. "Do you live here alone?"

"Yes. I have cousins that visit sometimes, though. Come in." She said as she held the door open.

"This is really nice!" Tracy said as she looked around the living room. "I was expecting to see a house like Nick's loft but this.... I like it! It has that lived in look. I don't meen to talk about him, but if I hadn't had to pick Nick up at the loft a few times I would have never believed that he actually lived there. Who are the pictures of?"

"My cousins." Minda said as she secured the blinds just as the sun started to rise. "I'm sorry about this but with my...."

"I understand. That's strange that you have the same condition as Nick though and you aren't even blood relatives."

"No really. You see, my adoptive father has the same condition, too. Since he has experience dealing with it, when he found out that I had it he decided that he would be the best person to look after me."

"Oh. Who's this?" Tracy said as she pointed to one of the pictures.

"My cousin, Divia. She's one of the biggest brats in the world but I love her. I think she's in Switzerland with my father right now but she's an independent little thing so I'm not sure. She makes a habit of dropping in from time to time to annoy my uncle."

"Sounds like an interesting family. Is this...."

"That's me with Helen and the kids on the day that David was christened. I'm Jewish but Helen wanted me to be the godmother so badly that she talked the priest into agreeing to it as long as a promised not to try to convert the baby to Judism or anything. Helen arranged to have the service after sunset just so I could be there. We were so happy that night. Why did have to happen to her?" Minda whispered as she started to sob.

"Minda, is there someone that I can call to stay with you? You don't need to be alone right now and.... What?" she said as she heard a noise behind her.

"Uncle Lucien!" Minda cried as she flung herself sobbing into her uncle's arms.

"Minda, what is going on here?" LaCroix said as he stared down at her.

"I'll just show myself out. Will you please take care of her?" Tracy said as she headed towards the door leaving, LaCroix to tend to his sobbing niece.

"Minda, what is going on here?" LaCroix said as he stared down at the vampire who was sobbing in his arms. "Was that Nicholas's partner that just left?"

"Yes." Minda whispered as she tried and failed to pull herself together. "Something happened at work tonight. A friend of mine was shot and killed."

"A mortal, I assume."

"One of my ER nurses, Helen Anders."

"Mortals die, Minda. Does it really matter when? Has Nicholas given you his mortal longings as he did Janette?"

"No," Minda said as she pulled away from him and dropped down onto the couch, "and mortal longings aren't the only thing Nick gave Janette. Trust me, Uncle Lucien. I have absolutely no desire to become mortal. After some of the things that I've seen in the ER that is absolutely the last thing that I would ever want to do. But do you really value them so little, Uncle Lucien? The mortals, I mean?"

"Compared to us they are nothing. Why does it matter if one dies?"

"That's where I disagree with you. Come to think of it, that's where I disagree with Nick, too. We're really no different than the mortals except we live a whole lot longer. We have the same feelings, the same motavations, the same hopes. Love, hate, good and evil are in all of us. Mortals just have a shorter time to experience those things. Why shouldn't we grieve when their short time is over?"

"If you grieve for every mortal that dies, you'll go insane. We must stay above them to survive."

"But if we can't feel hurt then we can't allow ourselves to feel anything else either. What reason do we have to live if we can't feel? That isn't life, it's just existance. We need the mortals with their short lives to remind us that we have to feel. Besides, she was my friend and she didn't deserve to die the way that she did. Haven't you ever lost someone that you cared about, Uncle Lucien?"

"Minda...."

"It wasn't fair, Uncle Lucien! She was such a wonderful person! She didn't deserve to die! Not now anyway! She deserved to live and raise her children and to hold her grandchildren! Why did someone have to come in and take that away from her?! It isn't fair!" she cried as she started to sob again.

"Minda, tell me about her." LaCroix said as he gathered his sobbing niece up.

*******

"Where?" Minda murmmered as she opened her eyes and glanced around in confusion before she recognized the soft blue walls of her bedroom.

"Now how did I get up here?" she thought as she headed to the closet to find a robe. "The last thing I remember was talking to Uncle Lucien about Helen and.... I guess I fell asleep and he brough me up here. Well, at least he found my nightshirt. I wounder what time it is?"

Minda finally managed to find her blue silk robe and headed downstairs wondering what time it was. She heard voices as she reached the top of the stairs.

"Detective.... Vetter, is it? I'm afraid that my niece cannot talk to you at the moment. She's still upset about what happened last night."

"I figured that she was. That's why I dropped by. I just wanted to make sure that she was okay after last night."

"I'm fine." Minda said as she hurried down the steps. "Oh great! Is it already sunset? I'm supposed to be at work! Uncle Lucien, why didn't you wake me?"

"Your superior has already called. I told them that you were ill and would not be in to work tonight."

"Oh. Thanks, Uncle Lucien. I really didn't feel like try to go in but with my job I pretty much have to. Thank you for coming by to check on me." she told Tracy. "Do you have any leads on who killed Helen yet?"

"Not yet. It's a priority case, though. Something is bound to turn up soon. I just thought I would stop by on my way in to see if you were okay. Is your uncle going to stay with you tonight or...."

"I'll be fine, Tracy. Thanks for coming by to see about me. It means a lot." Minda said.

"Well, if you're sure that you're okay." Tracy said as she headed for her car. I'll call you when we find something."

"That girl makes Alma and Urs look like geniuses!" LaCroix grumbled as Minda shut the door.

"Uncle, be nice. She's not really stupid. She's just young and unsure of herself." Minda said as they went into the living room. "You were young once. Surely you remember what it feels like."

"I was never that young." LaCroix said as he started to sit down and then quikly jumped back up. "What is THIS? Could I ask why you're knitting a pair of baby booties?"

"Because your son couldn't control his hormones." Minda murmmered to herself as she took the knitting needles with the a tiny pink bootie dangling from the end from her uncle. "They're for a friend. Uncle Lucien, I want to think you for staying with me today and listening to me ramble on. I needed someone to talk to about Helen and...."

"Your phone is ringing." LaCroix said, cutting off Minda's string of praise.

"Hello." Minda said as she reached over and picked it up. "Andrea? I was just meaning to call. How's Jim? I see. I figured that he would be like that. How are the girls and the baby? Oh. Do you want me to come over and talk to them later? I know how important it was for me to have someone who had gone through the same thing to talk to after my mother died. Okay. Uh, huh. All right. I understand. I'll take care of it. Tell the girls that I love them and I'll be over to see them soon."

"Uncle Lucien, that was Helen's sister." Minda said as she hung up. "Helen's husband has just about had a nervous breakdown and between trying to help him and looking after Helen's kids as well as her own, Andrea hasn't had a chance to see to the funeral arrangements. She wants me to take care of it. Will you come with me?"

"To a funeral parlor? Why don't you ask your cousin? He should be used to places like that after associating with his little mortal pet for six years. Besides, I have a radio program to broadcast."

"Uncle Lucien, you can torment Nick another night. I NEED you! The second I walk into that funeral home I'm going to break down and I need someone who can be stong enough to help me get through it. Please?"

"I suppose I could spare a little time. Couldn't you just have a funeral pyre for your friend? They're much easier to handle."

"They're also illegal in this country." Minda said as she headed upstairs to change. "I'll be back in a minute."

"Is that the end of it?" LaCroix asked Minda as the priest finished his prayer and people started to move away from the gravesite as quickly as they could. Even with floodlights brightening things, no one seemed to be eager to spend anymore time than they had to in a cemetery at night.

"Yes." Minda said as she shifted Lucy on her hip. "Let me just take the girls to their father and then we can head over to the wake."

"Wake? You didn't mention a wake."

"I have to go for a little while, Uncle Lucien. Andrea, what's wrong?" Minda said as Helen's sister came running over with a frantic look on her face.

"Minda, there's a problem with Jim." she whispered so that the girls wouldn't hear her. "I was just trying to get him in the car when he collapsed! Could you come and...."

"Uncle Lucien, watch the girls." Minda said as she shoved Lucy into his arms. "Polly, Lucy, stay right here with my uncle. I'll be right back."

"Minda!" LaCroix called as she hurried away and the two little girls clung sobbing to him. "Now I remember why I stayed away with my army so much when Divia was a child. How do you remove these things?"

************

"This suit will never come clean, you know." LaCroix muttered as he pulled the car out of the cemetary. "Those creatures sniffled all over it and they must have had peanut butter on their grubby little fingers because my pants are sticky!"

"Uncle Lucien, they're just little kids! They were upset and tired! What did you expect?" Minda said as she stared sadly out the window. "At least Jim was okay. He was just weak because he hadn't eaten all day."

"Minda," LaCroix said as he stared at his niece who looked like she was about to burst into tears, "I'm.... Do you want me to have Nicholas come to the wake? He's more comfortable with these mortal rituals."

"No, I don't want Nick!" Minda said as she started to cry. "I want you! I need you to help me get through this thing without falling apart because I'm not strong enough to make it on my own! Please, Uncle Lucien! Don't leave me now."

"If it's what you want, I'll stay."

"Thanks. Oh, speaking of Nick, could you swing by the hospital on the way to the wake? There are some brochures that I've been meaning to give to you to hand out in the club ever since I found out why Janette was so sick for a few months. Now is good a time as any to get them."

"Alright." LaCroix said as he turned the car and a few minutes later pulled into the hospital parking lot. "How is Janette anyway?"

"Better. She should be over what she got from Nick in about five months if everything goes well. The brochures are in the storeroom." Minda said as she led him into the ER.

"What sort of brochures are they?" LaCroix said as Minda went into the storeroom and started searching for the brochures.

"Brochures on how to prevent pregnancy. Now where...."

"Pregnancy? Why would you want to distribute brochures on pregnancy at the Raven? That's the last thing our kind have to worry about."

"Don't be so sure about that. Ah, ha! I found them and.... Oh, my.... Uncle Lucien, go call Nick!"

"Minda, what...." he said as she came stumbling out of the closet clutching a box and fell trembling into his arms.

"Call Nick! There's been another murder! Jake Hutz, the resident that works in the ER, is in there! Someone shot him!"

"Where is he?" Nick muttered as he flipped through the stations on the radio. "It's been four days! Where is he?"

"Where is who? Nick, watch out for that bus!" Tracy screamed as she ducked down in her seat and uttered another prayer that she would live to get to the scene of the latest homicide. If she had her way, her partner wouldn't live much beyond that.

"My father!" Nick said as he swirved around the bus. "He hasn't been tormenting me on the radio for the last four nights! Where is he?"

"Nick, isn't you're father dead? Get your eyes back on the road!"

"He's still around. My aim was off. Now where is he?" Nick said as he started to fiddle with the radio again.

"Nick, forget about your father and pay attention to where we're going! You just missed the hospital turnoff! Turn around! Nick I didn't mean turn around in the middle of the street! Watch out for that station wagon!"

A little while later Tracy came into the hospital moaning and clutching her head.

"Tracy, what happened to you?" Natalie said. "Where's Nick?"

"My idiot partner is out in the car playing with his radio! When he comes in would you please tell him that I'm having a doctor examine me? I think I have a concussion!"

A few minutes later Nick came wondering in. "Nat, have you seen Tracy? She jumped out of the Caddy before I even had a chance to park and went running inside."

"She went to find a doctor. She said something about thinking that she had concussion. Nick, what happened?"

"Natalie, you won't believe this but LaCroix is missing! He hasn't been tormenting me over the radio like he usually does for the last few days! He's missing!"

"No, he isn't. He's standing right over there."

"What?" Nick said as he hurried across the room. "LaCroix, what are you doing here? Where have been for the last few days? You haven't been tormenting me on the radio! Where have you been?"

"At a funeral. No, Nicholas, don't worry about your cousin. The girl's only found two of her friends and co-workers dead in the last week. I'm sure that she'll be feeling much better sometime soon, sometime in the next century, that is."

"What? Oh, Minda." He said as he looked at his cousin who was sitting staring blankly at a wall. "Minda, could you tell me what happened? Isn't that dress that you have on one of Janette's?"

"Yes." Minda said as she absentmindedly brushed the soft velvet dress. "It didn't fit anymore and by the time that she would have been able to get it on, it would have probably been out of style anyway so she gave it to me. What do you need to know?"

"First of all, how did you know the victim?"

"Jake Hutz was an resident who was specializing in ER medicine. He worked the night shift with me."

"How did you find the body?"

"Uncle Lucien was taking me to Helen's wake. He's been really nice about helping me with the funeral these last few days. I was upset and I really didn't want to go so I asked him to stop here to pick up some brochures that I had on preventing pregnancy to pass out at the club. I thought that if I took a little time to calm down, I would be able to handle the wake. I was looking for the brochures when I found the body."

"Brochures on preventing pregnancy? Why would anyone at the club need those?"

"Well, if you'd read one then maybe Janette wouldn't have to be getting a new wardrobe now." Minda muttered

"What? Well, do you know anyone who might have a grudge against Dr. Hutz?"

"No. He just came here a month ago from a hospital in Montreal. His fiancee was transfered. They were going to get married in a few months and he figured that it would be easier to relocate now rather than wait and have to do it on top of making wedding plans and finding a job. He was a wonderful man and a fine doctor. No one would have a reason to kill him!"

"Well, apparently someone did. I'm going to find Tracy and see if Natalie's found anything."

"Nick, please. You have to find out who's doing this before he kills anymore of my friends!" Minda cried.

"Why is this happening, Uncle Lucien?" Minda whispered as Nick hurried away. "First Helen and now Jake. Why? They never hurt anyone! Why did they have to die?"

"Minda,..." LaCroix said as she grabbed hold of him and started to cry. "Minda, stop that! Do you want people to.... Let me take you home. Nicholas can take care of the situation here. I'm sure that he doesn't need us."

"Home? Yes. Please take me home! I don't want to have to stay in this awful place one minute longer! Please take me home!" Minda sobbed as he helped her to her feet.

"Minda, are you okay?" Tracy said as she came out of an examining room. "No! I just want to get out of here! Uncle Lucien, please take me home!"

"I'll look after her, Detective." LaCroix said as he wrapped a protective arm around Minda.

"Good. I don't think that she needs to be alone right now especially since it looks like we may have a serial killer with a serious grudge against hospital workers here. Is there somewhere that you could take here other than her house? If this killer really is after night shift workers then he or she may know where she lives and try to go after her."

"I'll take care of my niece. She can stay with me."

"Good. Oh, have you seen my lunatic partner anywhere? Honestly! I thought that I got a concussion on the ride over with him but the doctor said that it was just a bad bump. He kept flicking through the radio trying to find his father instead of paying attention to the road. Utterly insane and.... Wait a minute. You wouldn't happen to be the father that he was looking for would you?"

"Yes. Detective, I'm afraid that we really must be going."

"Okay. I'll let you know if we find anything. Oh, sorry about what I said about Nick. I'm sure that he isn't really insane. I mean, they wouldn't let him be a cop if he acted that wierd all the time. Would they?"

**********

"Here. You can have my bed for the day." LaCroix said as he led Minda into the rooms in the back of the Raven. "I'll take the couch. Why don't you lay down and try to rest? I have to go and see how the club has been running in my absence."

"No!" Minda cried as she grabbed his arm. "Don't go! Please! Uncle Lucien, please stay with me! I want to feel safe for just a little while! Please!"

"Alright. Lay down."

"Do you promise that you'll stay?"

"You have my word. Go to sleep, child."

************

"What?" LaCroix said as he opened his eyes and sat on the small couch that he had brought into the bedroom. "What is that noise?"

"Nien. Nien. Mutter! Vater! Nien! Nien! Nien! Mutter! Vater! Nien! Nien! Nien!" Minda cried as she moaned and clawed the comforter. "Nien!!!"

"So this is what Divia meant when she talked about a banshee scream." LaCroix said as he hurried over to the bed. "Minda? Minda, wake up! Wake up! You're having a nightmare! Minda?"

"Nien!!!" Minda screamed as she abruptly awoke and threw herself into her uncle's arms. "The soldiers! Uncle Lucien, I saw the soldiers!!"

"It was just a dream." LaCroix said as he stroked her hair. "The soldiers are dead. Your father killed them for you. Remember? It was just a dream."

"It felt so real! I could feel their hands ripping at my.... I have to take a bath!" she cried as she fled into the bathroom.

"Are you feeling better?" LaCroix said when Minda came out of the bathroom nearly an hour later.

"Yeah. It was just so vivid though! I thought for a moment that I was really back there living through that horror!"

"With the things that have happened in the last week, it isn't unexpected for your nightmares to return. Perhaps you should go back to stay with your father until Nicholas solves this case."

"Running away from my nightmares doesn't help them. Believe me, I've tried. According to this pop psycology book that Divia showed me one time, my nightmares are triggered by a sense of helplessness. About the only thing that can stp them is to take control and tackle the problem head-on. When the sun goes down I'm going to go to work and...."

"In your state, do you think that's wise?"

"It wouldn't be if I was actually planning on working. I'm going to visit the records department and see if I can get the charts on every patient that's been in the ER over the last few weeks. Maybe I can find something that will lead to the murderer."

"Uncle Lucien, you didn't have to go to the hospital with me to pick up all of these files. I could have managed on my own." Minda said as she balenced a box on one hip and fumbled for her housekeys with her free hand.

"And what if your murderer should happen to select you as his next target?" LaCroix said as Minda finally got the door open and he staggered in with a stack of ten boxes. "Where do you need these?"

"The library will be fine. What would it matter if the murderer decided to go after me? Unless he decided to use a wooden stake. I'd be fine and maybe we would actually be able to stop him before he hurt someone else."

"Minda, if this person came after you," LaCroix said as he deposited the boxes on the floor, "the community would be in danger of exposure. If you have any plans for using yourself as some sort of bait...."

"Uncle Lucien, I'm not that stupid! Vampire or not, I still have a strong aversion to being shot, stabbed or any other number of unpleasant things that I've seen in the emergency room. I'm certainly not going to put out the welcome mat for this nut but if he decides to go after me, it certainly would end things. I wouldn't worry about my exposing the community, either. I'm a *much* better hypnotist than Nicky."

"I can't think of a vampire that's worse." LaCroix said as they moved into the kitchen. "When are Nicholas and his partner due to arrive?"

"At the end of their shift." Minda said as she pulled pitcher of orange juice and a bottle of blood out and begin to mix them in a glass. "I figured that it would take a while to get the files so I told them to wait until then. Nick can spend the rest of the day here when we're done. Would you like some of this?"

"How *can* you drink that? It's almost worse than cow!"

"Uncle, you were well off when you were a mortal and you could have things like fruit when you wanted them. Of course, you don't see the sense in them now. You've already had your fair share but I haven't. My family wasn't able to afford a lot of fruit when I was mortal so now that I'm a vampire and can afford them do you think I'm going to pass it up? It's actually really good when you get used to it."

"Do you have to drink it from a juice glass, especially a juice glass with those revolting suns on it? At least you could use a wine glass like a proper vampire!"

"Uncle Lucien, when I drink blood laced wine I drink it from a wine glass. When I drink blood laced juice, I drink it from a juice glass. Never let it be said that I don't use glasses properly. Could you hand me that cantalope on the counter?"

"Why do you have so much food about?" LaCroix said as he passed the melon to her. "Your refrigerator is packed full of it."

"Sometimes I have friends from work over. I have to offer them something and I need the fruits for my juice. Fresh squeezed is so much better. Oh, great. They're here. Uncle Lucien, could you finish slicing this for me?" Minda said as she hurried to get the door.

"Hi." Tracy said as Minda opened the door. "Nick will be here soon. He had to finish some paperwork that was due about two weeks ago. It would have been done two weeks ago too if he would keep his mind on his work for five minutes instead of spacing out all the time. Oh, how are you feeling? I guess that I should ask after I just stood here badmouthing your cousin."

"I'm better. Well, not really better, but I'm not going to fall apart again like I did at the hospital. Right now my focus is on finding whoever is doing this and stopping them. The files are in the library." Minda said as she lead her down the hall.

"Whoa! That's a lot of paper to go through!" Tracy said as she stared at the boxes covering the floor.

"Those are the charts for ever patient that's been treated in the ER during the two weeks before Helen's.... before it happened. Unfortunately we've been extremely busy lately."

"I can tell." Tracy said as she sat down in a chair and started to poke through a box. "Did you handle all of these cases?"

"Most of them, at least at first. I don't have much of a social life outside of my friends in the ER so I spend a lot of my time working." "No boyfriend?"

"No. I had a bad experience with some men once. I'm not ready to have a relationship yet."

"Oh. Is that a tattoo?"

"What?" Minda said as she glanced down at her arm and pulled at her shirtsleave. "Oh, yeah, it is. I normally keep it covered though. Those men that I had the bad experience with put it there. Ugly isn't it?"

"Why would someone tattoo numbers on your arm? Why don't you have it removed?"

"That's what my brother and I have been telling her for years." LaCroix said as he came in with a tray full of cantalope slices and juice glass filled with some sort of purple stuff.

"I keep it as a reminder of what happened so that I'll be able to stop it from happening to someone else. Trying my breakfast choice, Uncle?" she whispered as she took the tray from him.

"It might not be too bad. This is what my wine was a little yeast and about a hundred years ago after all."

"That's the spirit. Who knows? You might decide that you like the stuff. Do you want to stay for the day? Maybe you could help some with this? You're the oldest of all of us after all. You might see something that we might miss."

"I suppose I should stay. If this is left left up to Nicholas to deal with your murderer will be long dead before he finds him."

"Uncle Lucien, I thought that Nick was your favorite child!"

"He's also my densest." LaCroix muttered as Minda carried the tray over to Tracy.

"Would you like some cantalope slices while we're waiting for my cousin?"

"Thanks. So how long have you been a doctor?" Tracy said as she started to eat one of the slices.

"A few years. I was planning to start my practice in Europe but things didn't work out well so I came here. How long have you been a cop?"

"Two or three years. The worst part of of the job is the fact that my dad's the commissioner. Sometimes, I feel like I'm never going to be able to prove myself enough to get past that."

"That was my problem in Europe. My birth father was a doctor before he died in this really closeknit Jewish community. When I went there to practice I wasn't able to get beyond people relating to me like they did my father. They were treating me like I was the same person as my father and it was extremely frustrating. Have you ever though about moving to another city?"

"Moving?"

"That's what I had to do. I was getting so frustrated trying to live up to the memory of my father that I wasn't able to enjoy practicing medicine. That's when I decided to come here. I had family here so the move wasn't so bad and I could enjoy my work again. It's one option for a situation like that, anyway."

"I've never really thought about leaving before but now that you've mentioned it.... I mean I like being a cop but.... How hard was it to leave everthing that you've known your whole life?"

"Hard! I was lucky that I had family in Toronto I think I wouldn't have been able to do it. Oh, there's the phone. I'll be right back." Minda said as she hopped up and hurried out.

"Hello?" Minda said as she hurried into the living room and grabbed the phone. "Janette! Hi! How are you? I was meaning to call to thank you for the clothes but I've had a few problems at work. How's your.... condition? Uh, Janette, people in your state do tend to put on a little weight. It's perfectly normal and I hate to tell you this but you're going to put on more before it's over. Janette, don't cry! It isn't that bad! It'll come off again once.... Janette, it really isn't that much more weight anyway. You'll only gain another 25 or 30 pounds, tops. Janette, no, you're not going to look like a fat blob for the next five months. If I know you, you'll turn your condition into the latest fashion trend. What's got you so down anyway? Your accounts are frozen?! When did you find out that.... Wait. Let me rephrase that. How much had you spent on new clothes before you realized that you didn't have any money to cover the bills when they arrived? You spent *how* much?!! That is definately not good. Do you want me to talk to Feliks Twist? Maybe he can fix things for you. Okay. Yes, I'll call right away. The second the sun goes down. I promise! Don't worry. We'll get it straightened out."

Just then the front door came open and Nick darted in looking slightly singed.

"Oh, Janette, the cause of it all just came strolling in the door. Do you want to talk to him? Maybe he could help you with your financial troubles."

"Janette?" Nick said as he darted into the living room and tried to grab the phone from Minda, knocking her to the floor and then falling on top of her. "Let me talk to her! Janette, I'm sorry!"

"Nein!! Get away! Get away from me!!" Minda said as she shoved him and he went flying across the room.

"What is going on in here?" LaCroix said as he came storming in with Tracy right behind him. "Minda?"

"He was trying to get the phone," Minda murmered, "and he fell on top of me. For a minute I thought it was one of the.... He scared me and I hit him. Nick, I'm sorry if I hurt you. I just don't like people jumping on me!"

"Minda, you don't owe him any apologies. Nicholas, I've warned you to play nicely with your cousin. Do I have to put you on a leash to make you do it?"

"Minda, I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking." Nick said as he picked himself up. "I just really need to talk to.... Is she still on the phone?"

"Consider not talking to whoever it is you wish to speak to punishment for upseting your cousin. Besides, your partner was just telling me about how distracted you've been of late and how you're work has been suffering. Really, Nicholas. I thought you treasured your job too much for that."

"I've just been a little distracted. Would you let me have the phone?"

"No! Now go into the library and start checking those files. Maybe this will teach you not to be so distracted and to think before you act in the future."

"Go on, Nick." Minda said. "I really don't think that she's ready to talk to you anyway."

"But.... Oh, all right." Nick grumbled as he followed Tracy out.

"Hello?" LaCroix said as she picked up the phone. "Janette? How are you? No, that noise was nothing serious. Just Nicholas proving once again that he only has one functioning braincell. He fell on Minda trying to get the phone. You *would* think he would remember what happened the last time he did something like that. Have you recovered from the mortal longings Nicholas infected you with yet? I see. Yes. Good-bye."

"Minda," LaCroix said as they headed for the library, "Janette said something about some sort of condition that she was suffering from. Something Nicholas is responsible for, I believe. What condition is she talking about?"

"One that she's got to tell you about. Don't worry, Uncle. You'll find out soon enough."

"Minda, what did you do, pull a year's worth of files?" Nick said as Minda and LaCroix came into the library.

"We've been busy lately." Minda said as she dropped into a chair and picked up a file.

"Oviously." Tracy said as she scanned a report. "So, anyone have any idea what we're supposed to be looking for? These things aren't labled with their potential as a motive for homicide or anything."

"Look for a young child who died suddenly, probably in a car crash or a fire." LaCroix said. "Most likely the person responsible for the accident died in it as well, leading the parent to transfer the blame to the nearest people, the emergency room staff."

"That would work." Tracy said. "Parents pin all of their hopes on their kids. Losing a child all of a sudden might very well make someone.... It's probably an only child that we're looking for then."

"In all likelihood. A single parent, as well."

"Probably widowed soon after the child was born. His parents likely died years ago. All he had was the child."

"The parents were most likely abusive and cold. His hatred of them was bound up at the same time with guilt for that feeling. He's only had one or two relationships in his life and even then he didn't allow himself to become to close. The child was the closest thing to love that he allowed himself but at the same time he felt that he didn't deserve to be happy and that he wasn't capable of being the parent he should be. The child's death probably convinced him that that feeling was true and these murders are his way of dealing with that."

"I think I understand what you mean. He thinks that if he kills the people who he feels caused the death of his child, then he will have made up for his percived failures as a father. If that's the case, then the death might not have happened immediately. It could have happened days later and the parent blamed the ER for it. We should focus our attention on the three days before the first murder. That's most likely when the child died. He wouldn't have had the opportunity to kill anyone before the funeral but his anger probably built the entire time. The first murder was probably less than twenty-four hours after the funeral."

"Excuse me," Nick said as he stared in shock at his father and his partner, who had suddenly developed a brain, "but don't you want my opinion on this?"

"Not really." LaCroix said.

"But it's my homicide! Not yours!"

"You must excuse my son, Detective Vetter. I'm afraid that he was dropped on his head frequently as a child. It dulled his wits a bit. Sometimes he can't grasp even the simplest things. Take the time that I left a note asking him to sleep in another room for the day because my brother and his family were visiting for example."

"You left a note that told me to sleep with Janette! You didn't tell me that you gave away my room!"

"Nicholas half of the roof was leaking. Where did you expect me to put the guests?"

"You could have explained things better. I thought that you just wanted me to sleep with Janette again."

"Nicholas, if Janette desires you as a lover, she is more than capable of leading you to her bed without assistance from me. You should have at least looked before you climbed into bed. You terrified your poor cousin when you rolled over on her."

"I didn't know she was there! I just wanted to go to sleep! I had no more than settled into my nice comfortable bed when these awful shrieks started and I got tossed out. Then that demon daughter of yours pounced on me! Why don't you put that kid on a leash? She nearly crushed me!"

"Nick, Divia just a tiny little thing. She couldn't actually crush you. All she did was scare you." Minda said. "At least we finally got everything straightened out eventually."

"After that little monster bit me! The marks didn't fade for days!"

"Maybe the marks didn't but your memory did. You didn't even mention it at dinner that night. You were busy carrying on with Janette." Minda said.

"Minda, how is Janette, anyway? What did she have that you thought she got from me?"

"She was nausous for about three months. Isis was afraid that she might actually starve for a while but eventually things got better. She's sure that you're the one that gave her what made her so sick, though."

"How could I be responsible? I haven't been sick!"

"Males don't get sick from what Janette has. It really doesn't seem very fair but that's the way that biology goes."

"She's okay now, isn't she? I mean, whatever she had is over with, isn't it?"

"Actually, it won't be over with for another five months. I doubt that she'll be as sick as she was in the beginning, though."

"Another five...." Tracy murmered as an idea started to form in her head. "That's a long time to be sick! Gee! These reports sure are boring. Mr. LaCroix why don't you tell me some more things about my partner? Maybe it would make this reading easier."

"It would be my pleasure, Detective Vetter." LaCroix said as Nick moaned and sank down in his seat.

"Your father's very nice, Nick." Tracy said as they left the house hours later.

"Nice isn't quiet the word I would use." Nick muttered.

"Well, I like him. Uh, Nick, I want to ask you something. Was that Janette person that your father kept talking about the one that we investigated for murder about four months ago?"

"Yeah. The problem's been taken care of, Tracy. I promise. Nothing else is going to happen in connection with that case."

"Did you sleep with her?"

"What?!"

"Did you sleep with her during the murder investigation?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"Curiousity. You did, didn't you?"

"Yes! Yes, I did! Does that make you happy to know? Janette and I made mad passionate love in the backseat of Natalie Lambert's car! Are you happy?!"

"Did you use any protection?"

"Protection? What's that?"

"Your father wasn't exagerating about you being dropped on your head as a child, was he? We can stop at the pharmacy on the way to the station and I'll explain all about protection. Although, it is a bit too late to find out about it."

"She escaped *again*? How did that happen? I thought after last time Inga was going to put that child on a leash? A turnip truck? She hid in a turnip truck? Her escape plans are getting nuttier all the time, Dad. Do you want me to warn Uncle Lucien that she's loose again? Okay. I'll tell him. Bye, Dad." Minda said as Tracy came hurrying into the emergency room. "Hi, Tracy. How's the investigation going?"

"Do you know how many potential murders have passed through this emergency room in a two week time span? Out of all of those files, I have a list of 219 suspects. They don't all match the profile your uncle and I came up with, of course, but I have to check them all anyway just to be sure. I've spent the last two days checking out people and I"m not even halfway through this list! To make matters worse, Nick isn't helping me at all! He's just sitting at his desk making long distance calls trying to find that friend of his, Janette! Captain Reese is going to kill him when he finds out! If I don't kill him first, that is!"

"What did you say he's been doing?" Minda said as she led Tracy to the lounge. "We can sit in here and talk. We aren't busy tonight."

"I suppose it was my fault. I did bring up his friend and I guess that was what made him decide to try to find her. He's spent the last two nights calling places in Paris trying to track her down. Uh, you know where she is, don't you? Do you think that you could tell Nick? If he puts one more long distance call on the precenct phone bill, Captain Reese will kill him!"

"Yeah, I know where Janette is but I really don't think she wants me to tell Nick. I have a feeling that she's going to call him on her own sooner or later though. In the meantime, I'll talk to him and see if I can convince him to stop making his calls when he's supposed to be working. Hopefully, he'll listen. Now, if you'll excuse me for a minute, I've got to call my uncle. My cousin, Divia, ran off again and my dad thinks that she's going to show up here." Minda said as she reached for the phone.

"Good luck trying to explain anything to Nick. I was in the drug store with him for two hours trying to explain what protection is. I still don't think he understands. Not that it will do much good for him to find out about protection now. His friend's already pregnant, isn't she?"

"How did you find that out?" Minda said as she dropped the phone in shock.

"It wasn't hard after hearing you talk to Nick about what was wrong with her. He doesn't know yet, does he? I'm assuming that the baby is his."

"Yes, it is and, no, Janette hasn't tolk him yet. I'm afraid the circumstances that led up to this pregnancy were a tad unusual to say the least. She's going to tell him soon, though. You won't mention it to him, will you? He and Janette are going to have a lot of things to work out when he gets the news. If he finds out before Janette can tell him, it will make the whole matter ten times worse."

"I guess that I could...." Tracy started to say just as they heard screams from the emergency room.

"Not again!" Minda said as they ran in just as a woman bust through the ER doors.

"The ambulance!" she cried. "Someone just shot the driver of the ambulance!"

"No! Not again!" Minda said as she and Tracy headed out into the parking lot.

"What happened here?" Captain Reese said as he came into the emergency room. "Don't tell me our killer struck again?!" "I'm afraid so, Captain." Tracy said. "An ambulence crew was bringing in a patient who fell off of his roof. Apparently the killer was waiting for them in the parking lot, shot the driver as he pulled in and then shot the two attendents in the back. The patient's wife was in front with the driver and jumped out when the first shot hit. She didn't see anything though. I got to the scene a minute after the shooting at most but I didn't find anything. I have officers from forensics going over everything with a fine tooth comb but I doubt they'll find anything either. Have you seen Nick anywhere?"

"He's outside talking on his cellular phone. He said he had an important lead."

"I'm sure he does and I'm sure that it isn't related to this case either! I'll be right back." Tracy said as she stormed out. "Nick!! Do you think maybe you could spare some time from your hectic personal life to... I don't know, solve a homicide? Give me that phone!"

"Minda, will you watch this for me?" Tracy said as she came back in. "Now maybe your cousin will remember what he's being paid to do! How's Mr. Schlept?"

"Fine. He came around about about five minutes ago and started demanding to know what the score was. He managed to fall off of his roof and get away with nothing more than a few bruises and a lecture on how getting a clear picture of the hockey game isn't worth breaking your neck for. Unfortunately, he didn't see anything that would help your case."

"Too bad. Were you able to calm down his wife?"

"Only with the help of strong drugs. I'll let you know when you can talk to her."

"Fine. Can you tell me who I would need to at the ambulance company to get access to their records? Maybe I can link this crew to some of the people on my suspect list. It might help narrow things down a bit."

"Talk to James Stewart. He's the head of the ambulance service. He'll get what you need. Hi, Nick."

"Hello." Nick said as he came in and made a beeline for the phone on the nurse's desk, pushing one of the nurses out of the way to get to it. "Excuse me. I have to make an important call. Hello, Amanda? It's Nick. I'm sorry that I got cut off before. Yes, I'm aware that it's morning in Paris. You were still in bed? Sorry about that. Amanda, I was just wanting to know if you might have seen Janette anywhere. I'm trying to find her and... Why are you laughing?"

"Nick?!!" Tracy called. "We have three people dead over here. A serial killer is running loose. Do you think maybe you could spare a little time to help catch him, seeing as you are a homicide detective and all?"

"Just a minute. Amanda, why are you laughing? No, I don't know what I've done. Would you care to tell me? Amanda, do you know where Janette is?"

"NEVER MIND! Please don't let me interupt you! I'll just go solve this on my own! Did you know that your son is a lunatic?" Tracy said as she stormed out the door and ran into LaCroix who was hurrying into the hospital.

"What has he done this time?" LaCroix muttered as he went through the door. "I really should have just bought the puppy."

"Minda, what is going on here?" LaCroix said as he came into the emergency room. "I got a call from the hospital but when I picked up, no one was there."

"It happened again, Uncle Lucien. An ambulance crew got killed as they were coming into the parking lot. Three people, three good people were shot and killed in under a minute! When is this going to stop?!"

"If your killer has his way, not until this hospital is a barren wasteland. Minda, perhaps you should leave here for a time. With this killer on the loose there is a chance that you may be exposed." LaCroix said as the moved to a far corner of the waiting room where they couldn't be overheard, not that there was anyone in the waiting room to overhear them anyway. When the news of the shooting had reached the waiting patients all of them either made miraculous recoveries or decided that they weren't feeling so bad that they couldn't wait until the next day for a doctor's appointment and fled.

"And if I leave there's an excellent chance that you won't be able to find a doctor anywhere in this hospital. At least this lunatic can't hurt me unless he comes after me with a stake or something."

"If you're attacked in public..."

"That isn't likely to happen. So far he's only attacked people in isolated places like the parking lot or the restrooms when he's fairly sure no one will see him. If he comes after me, I'm doubt there will be any witnesses. Maybe I'll be able to stop him."

"Minda, I still think it would be wise for you to leave for a while. The community would be in grave danger if..."

"Uncle Lucien, I'm going to be careful. I would never jeopordize everyone but I can't leave. After tonight, there's going to be a wholesale panic among the staff. Someone has to stay to keep things in order. Wait a minute. Is Nick still on the phone?"

"He seems to be. Why?" LaCroix said as he glanced over at Nick who was begging Amanda to stop laughing and tell him where Janette was.

"Oh, great!! Can you get him off the phone? The hospital director will kill me if he finds a charge for a call to Paris on the phone bill!"

"I'll see what I can do." LaCroix said as he headed over to Nick.

"Excuse me." he said as he snatched the phone from Nick. "Hello? Amanda? Amanda, stop laughing! What did he say that was so funny? Why is that... Never mind! He won't be troubling you anymore. Go back to bed. Nicholas, we need to have a long talk."

Meanwhile, Minda was drifting around the waiting room straightening the mess left by the mass exodus of patients when one of the nurses came over and shoved a piece of paper at her.

"Here. It's my resignation! I quit as of tonight!"

"Carol, you can't quit! I need you! Next to Helen, you're the best ER nurse in the hospital!"

"And if I don't get out of here, I'll be next to Helen in the morgue too! I'm sorry, Doctor Reynolds, but I just can't stay! I don't want to die!"

"Here you go." an orderly said as he came up and handed her a piece of paper. "I quit!"

"Rob, you can't quit! You have a morgage to pay! You've complained before about how high it is! How will you pay it without your job?"

"How will I pay it if I'm dead? I quit!"

"Me too!" a x-ray technician said. "I'm not staying in this place a second longer!"

"Joan, be sensible! You have six kids and your husband's out of work with a bad back! How will you pay your bills?"

"How will the bills be paid if I'm dead? I'm sorry, Doctor Reynolds. I just can't stay!"

"Uncle Lucien, HHHEEELLLPPP!!" Minda cried as a horde of hospital workers decended upon her waving resignations.

"Nicholas, I'll talk to you later. Go to work!" LaCroix said as he headed for the throng of mortals. "Now, people, I'm sure that I can put your fears to rest. Just listen very closely to me ."

*********

"Are they gone?" Minda said as she huddled under the nurse's desk.

"I think so." LaCroix said as he peered over the edge of the desk and saw that the ER was deserted except for Nick, who was on the phone again.

"Who would believe that we couldn't wammy a single one of them. How did that happen anyway? They couldn't all be resistors." Minda said as LaCroix helped her to her feet.

"It's rare but sometimes a case of mass hysteria can prove impossible for anyone, even an ancient vampire, to deal with. At least we escaped being trampled."

"That's one good thing anyway. The bad thing is that I don't have a staff anymore. Uncle Lucien, watch the desk for me while I see if I can find someone who hasn't heard about what happened tonight and might be willing to work. If anyone comes in who isn't dying, suggest that they might want to wait and see their doctor tommorrow."

"Minda, am not a ...."

"Uncle Lucien, please help me out here! Just watch the desk for a little while. Oh, and see if you can get Nick off of the phone again. The hospital director, if he hasn't turned in his resignation already, is going to kill me when he gets the phone bill." Minda said as she hurried off.

"Vachon, come on." Tracy hissed as she stood in the parking lot beside the police station trying to persuade one very reluctant vampire to help her out. "It's not like I'm asking a big favor from you."

"Oh, no. You're not asking a big favor at all. You just want me to break into the police evidence room and lose a little evidence for you. What's this all about anyway?"

"What this is about is I'm trying to correct a few of my nutty partner's little errors in judgement!"

"You're trying to correct *Nick's* errors?! That could take a while. A very very long while."

"I know! Believe me, I know! Vachon, please help me out on this! I would do it myself but if I got caught tampering with evidence.... If anyone catches you, you can always whammy them."

"Tracy, why do you want this evidence to disappear so badly anyway? What's the case about and how did Nick goof it up?"

"Well, it happened about four months ago. One of Nick's old girlfriends came back to town and shot this guy named Mario LaRoche."

"Old girlfriend? Does this old girlfriend have long black hair, really pale skin and a French accent by any chance?"

"Yes. Do you know her?"

"Only by reputation. Now why would she *shoot* someone? Go on."

"Anyway, when I found out that this woman was Nick's friend I pulled back on my investigation and Nick promised that he had handled the situation so I let the whole thing drop. Now I find out that my partner's idea of handling the situation involves a night of lovemaking in the back seat of Natalie Lambert's car outside a crime scene. I also found out that for some reason, it appears that my idiot partner has never heard of protection before in his life."

"Protection? What's protection?"

"Not again! Was I elected to provide a sex education to the entire city and no one told me?! Protection is what you use if you want to have sex but you don't want to wind up having a baby as a result."

"Oh. Why would Nick need to worry about that?"

"Vachon! If Nick is going to make out with someone in the back seat of a car he should be a little cautious! Expecially considering that that idiot acts like a five year old most of the time! I don't know what he's going to do about the situation he's gotten himself into! Really I should let him deal with this himself but I figure that it isn't fair that an innocent baby should have to suffer because its father only has one functioning brain cell."

"Wait a minute. Baby? How does a baby come into this?"

"Vachon!! Nick and his friend made out in the back seat of Natalie's car without any sort of protection! What do you think happened?"

"I don't know. What?"

"Nick got his friend pregnant!"

"He did? How?"

"I can only assume in the traditional way. It wasn't as if I looked in the car to see what he was up to!"

"Tracy, are you sure that Jan... Nick's friend is *pregnant*? Where did you hear it anyway?"

"Nick's cousin told me."

"Nick's cousin Minda?"

"Yes. Nick doesn't know yet though, so don't tell him."

"Minda *would* know if it was *true*, I guess. Hey, Tracy, if I make this evidence disappear for you would you care to explain a little more of this protection stuff to me?"

"Sure. Drop by my place before sunrise and I'll see what I can do. Right now I've got to see if I can manage to solve this homicide before anymore people get killed. See you later!" Tracy called as she headed into the station.

"Yeah. See you!" Vachon said. "Whoa. Nick's going to be a daddy. I wonder if this means I can get away with calling LaCroix grandpa?"

**********

"What in the world?" Tracy said as she headed for the Captain's office only to get her foot tangled in a phone wire and come crashing to the floor. "Nick, why do you have all of the station's phones on your desk?"

"Tracy, watch where you're going! You nearly disconnected me!" Nick said as he juggled the phones trying to talk into all of them at once.

"Captain, what is he doing?" Tracy said as she untangled herself and headed for the Captain's office.

"I haven't the vaguest idea. He showed up about an hour ago, snatched all of the phones and said he was investigating a hot lead. He won't give anyone their phone back. I've already had to send Hutchins home. He tripped on the cords and threw out his back. I don't know what we're going to do. I'm thinking of calling in the SWAT team to get our phones back. I can't run a department like this!"

"Try calling Nick's dad. Maybe he can get him off of the phone. I think I may have finally got a lead on the hospital serial killer. One of the people on my list of possible suspects, Ken Gladston, seemed really suspicious. I'm going to go see Nick's cousin and see if she can tell me a little more about him. Maybe he's the one."

"Sure. Be careful." Captain Reese said as Tracy hurried out, dodging the phone cords this time. "Knight, I'm giving you one more warning! Give back the phones this minute!!"

"Minda, could I talk to you a minute?" a doctor said as he hurried into the emergency room.

"Oh, no! Don't tell me that you're quiting too, Jeff! I've spent the last two days trying to find a doctor to help me out. You're the only doctor left! Everyone else developed sudden illness, had a relative die all of a sudden requiring their presence out of town for an indefinite period or decided to take early retirement. There's no one else! I had to call a hospital in Alberta to find nurses to work here! No one else would come! If you leave, we're going to have to shut down!"

"Minda, I don't want to be run off by this," Jeff said as the walked to the ambulance loading doors and looked out at the almost deserted parking lot, "but I can't help but be afraid. My wife's pressuring me to leave and in a way I think she may have the right idea. Our daughter is graduating this year and our son is getting married. I don't want to miss any of that! Minda, I'm sorry but..."

"Jeff, can't you give it a few more days? I'm sure that the police will come up with something soon!"

"Minda, I'm sorry but I just..."

"Jeff, look out!" Minda screamed as she jerked him to the floor as two shots came flying through the window.

"Oh,Jeff!" Minda said as she pressed her hands against his shoulder to try to stop the bleeding. "Your wife is going to kill me!"

"Tell me about it." he groaned. "How bad is it?"

"Not bad. It looks like a clean shot." she said as she helped him to his feet. "Come in the back so I can get a better look at it. Would someone call the police?"

********

"What's going on?" Tracy said as she came into the ER. "Minda? Where is everybody?"

"Tracy?" Minda said as she came out of the treatment room. "That was fast."

"What was fast? What's going on?"

"You didn't get a call that the killer hit again?"

"No! I stopped by to ask you a question about a suspect. What happened?"

"Someone fired two shots through the ambulance bay doors at Dr. Jeff Hemming and I. Luckily, I heard something and jerked Jeff down. The bullet just grazed his shoulder. I stitched it up. He'll be fine."

"Did you see anything?"

"No. I just heard a noise right before the first shot. It sounded like someone pulling the trigger on a gun. Luckily, I was able to pull Jeff down in time."

"You heard someone pulling the trigger and you still had time to move?!"

"Gunshots panic me and I can move faster than you think. You said you were coming over to ask me about a suspect. Do you have a lead?"

"Maybe. Do you rememeber a man named Ken Gladston? He was the father of a little girl who was in a hit and run accident. I think her name was Alli."

"Gladston? Yes, I think I remember. She was about five. She was out riding her new bike and a car came up onto the sidewalk and hit her. She had a massive head injury. There was nothing that could be done. We sent her to the OR but the damage was so bad that it was really a waste of time. She lingered for a few days in a coma before she died. I remember her because her father was so freaked out when they brought her in. Apparently his wife died a couple of years ago and Alli was all he had left. Oh my... he did it, didn't he? He's the one who killed everyone!"

"I think so. I'm going to call this in. Are you okay?"

"It fits. It all fits. Helen was the nurse on duty that night. Jake was there and so was Jeff. Jeff normally doesn't work here but when I heard over the radio how bad the accident was I called him in. And the ambulance crew that got killed, they were the same crew that brought her in."

"Are you the only person connected to this girl that he hasn't went after yet?"

"Except for the surgeon and the people in ICU, yes. He must have thought that we could have done something more for Alli but there was nothing to be done! Nothing! We did all we could! She was just hurt too bad!"

"I'm sure you did. Unfortunately this killer doesn't know that." Tracy said as she hung up the phone and started to dial another number. "I can't believe this! Nick still has all of the lines tied up! I'm going to have to call another precinct to get backup! Your cousin really is crazy! Do you know that? Hello? Is this the 15th precenct? Could I speak to Captain Rogers please? Yes? Captain Rogers, this is Detective Tracy Vetter, I'm at the hospital... Yes, the hospital where everyone in the ER has been getting killed. There was another shooting tonight and... Yes, I know that this case isn't in your precinct! Yes, I tried to call my captain but all of the lines are tied up! Yes, I do know how to use a telephone! Listen Mister, I have a serious situation over here! I have a hot crime scene that needs to be secured and you can just get some black and whites over here or I'll have you up on charges so fast....! Thank you!!"

"What is it with these people?" Tracy said as she slammed down the phone. "Why do the assume that just because the commisioner is my father it means I'm an incompitent idiot? They don't assume that about Nick and in his case it's true! Minda, they're going to send some officers over shortly. Why don't you see if you can find someone to cover for you and I'll take you home as soon as the scene is secured."

*******

"Detective Vetter, I think I found something." One of the black and white officers from the 15th precinct said as he came over with a piece of paper in an evidence bag. "It looks like a picture."

"Let me have it." Tracy said as she took the picture from him and hurried back inside. "Minda, do you recognize this picture?"

"It's her. It's Alli." Minda murmered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Her face was really messed up when they brought her in but I remember that she had curly brown hair like my baby sister. My sister. They clubbed her in the face after...."

"Come on." Minda said as she wrapped her arms around her and led her towards the door. "Let me take you home. Officer, would you please have a warrant put out for a Ken Gladston? Call Captain Reese too and tell him that I'm running Doctor Reynolds home? I'll be back into the precinct after I get someone to stay with her."

"Minda, are you okay?" Tracy said as she turned onto Minda's street. "This guy is going to be caught soon and you won't have to worry about him any more. It's all going to be over and you won't have to be afraid."

"I'm not afraid." Minda said as she turned from staring out the window to face Tracy "I was just thinking about Ken Gladston. Part of me hates him for what he's done. Five people, five good people are dead because of him. They were my friends! They didn't deserve to die! They didn't.... Then another part of me actually feels sorry for him because I know how he feels. He had everything taken away from him in one night. I know how it feels to loose everyone you care about. My parents, my little sisters, my grandparents. I lost them all in one night, too. He's just trying to find a way to make the pain stop. I understand him. I know what he's feeling and that scares me a little. To understand madness so well, don't you have to be a little mad yourself?"

"You're not crazy!" Tracy said as she pulled into the driveway. "Minda, I promise you that you aren't crazy. Just because you've been in the same place as this guy doesn't mean that you're nuts like him. You were able to move beyond it. He wasn't. That makes all of the difference in the world. Now come in with me. Do you think your uncle would come over? I don't want to leave you here alone."

"Maybe." Minda said as the headed up the walk to the front door.

"Good. I'll call him for you. I would suggest calling Nick but I have a feeling he would be a hinderance instead of a help. Besides, I'm sure you don't want a six figure phone bill. What is that noise?!"

"The guy that lives behind me must be having another party." Minda said as she dug around in her purse for her keys which seemed to have migrated to the very bottom of the bag.

"Well, I'm going to go have a talk with Mr. Backyard Neighbor. His little pary is disturbing the peace!" Tracy said as she turned around and started to head down the porch stairs.

"Tracy, don't bother. He *likes* it when the cops show up. He says it isn't a good party unless the cops have been there at least a dozen times." Minda said as she finally found her key and unlocked the door just as she heard a noise coming from the shadows of the porch.

"Tracy, get down!!" Minda cried as she dove at Tracy just as the gun went off.

"Tracy, are you.... Oh, Tracy!" Minda murmered as she stared at the hole in the young detective's chest and saw blood rapidly pumping out, forming dark pools on the white porch.

"Mr. Gladston? Mr. Gladston, I know you're up there. Would you please put the gun down? It's Doctor Reynolds! I want to talk to you."

"You let her die!" Ken Gladston said as he stepped into view with a maniac look on his face and a unnatural gleam in his pale blue eyes. "You let my little girl die! Why did let her die?! She was all I had!!"

"I know. Believe me, I know. Put the gun down."

"NO!! You let my daughter die!! You have to die!" he said as he pointed the gun at her.

"Why do I have to die? Why did anyone that you killed have to die? It didn't bring Alli back and it oviously didn't make you feel better because you kept on killing. Put the gun down! I know what you're going through and believe me, this isn't the way to handle it."

"How can you know what I'm going through? Alli was all I had!!"

"I understand that. I do understand how you're feeling, though. I lost my parents, my little sisters and my grandparents along with a lot of good friends in one night. I know how you feel but what you're doing isn't the answer. It doesn't solve the problem. It just makes things worse. Put down the gun. "

"I loved her so much!" he cried as he dropped the gun and fell to the floor weaping.

"I know you did." Minda said as she walked over to him. " Now I want you do go into the house, go to the basement and stay there. The police will be here shortly. Don't pick up any weapons or try to struggle. Do you understand? "

"Yes." he said as he drifted into the house in a daze.

"Oh, Tracy!" Minda said as she walked over the the crumpled detective who was gasping for air and picked her up. "This should have been your choice, not something that was done to you. I hope you understand."

Pain. There was pain and... cold? Why was she so cold?

"Tracy? Tracy, wake up!"

Who was that? The voice seemed vaguely familiar. Oh, it was Nick's cousin, what's her name. Now what did she want?

"Tracy, wake up! Wake up, child. Tracy, you have to wake up now! I'm sure that I did this right! Tracy!"

"Cold. Why am I so cold?" Tracy murmured as she stirred on the couch and then curled into a ball as the first hunger pains hit her. "Hungry! I'm so hungry! Why am I so hungry?"

"Tracy, drink this." Minda said as she pressed a glass into her hands. "Drink it. It'll make you feel better."

"What is it?" Tracy said as she looked down at the glass.

"I'll explain it all latter. Just drink it."

"What's wrong with me?" Tracy said as she glupped down the drink. "Everything looks so funny! It looks.... red?"

"Don't gulp your food, dear. It will make you sick. Tracy, I don't have time to explain everything to you. I'm sure that my neighbors called the cops. I want you to keep your head down and your eyes closed. Don't say anything. Let me do the talking. I'll take care of everything."

"Minda, what's wrong with me? I feel so strange!" Tracy said as they heard cars pull up outside.

"I'll explain later. Just keep your eyes closed and let me do the talking!" Minda said as she headed for the door.

"Knight, get off of that phone and get out of the car!" Captain Reese yelled as Minda opened the door. "KNIGHT! Oh, excuse me, ma'am, but your idiot cousin... We received a report that there was a shooting here. What happened?"

"Nick, stop harrassing Amanda and get off of the phone! What happened? Well, Captain, Tracy brought me home after the shooting at the hospital and we found a suprise guest on my front porch. Mr. Gladston fired one shot and then I guess he changed his mind about what he's doing because he dropped the gun. He's locked in the basement. I don't think he'll give you any trouble."

"Go get him." Captain Reese said to two of the uniformed officers. "Where's Tracy?"

"In the living room. The bullet went right by her head. I think she's a little dazed."

"Oh great! I'll put in a call for an ambulance."

"Captain, I can reassure you that there's no need for an ambulance. The bullet didn't hit her. It just went right by her. It didn't hurt her. It just shocked her a little."

"Are you sure?" Captain Reese said as he stepped into the living room and looked at Tracy, who was sitting on the couch with her knees pulled up to her chest and with her eyes closed. "She really doesn't look good. If anything happens to her, her father will have my head on a platter. I really think that I should call...."

"Captain, I swear that she's okay! I'm an emergency room doctor! I know about these things! She'll be fine! She can even spend the night here if she wants. I'll be happy to watch her."

"I'm not sure." Captain Reese said as he went over to Tracy and touched her face. "She's really cold. She might be in shock or something. I really think that I need to run her to the emergency room. Tracy, can you get up? I think you need to go to the emergency room. Tracy, talk to me."

"Captain, she's really okay!" Minda said as she hurried over to the couch. "She's just a little dazed, that's all. I'll take care of her."

"I really think that she better be checked out." Captain Reese said. "Come on, Tracy. We'll just go down to the emergency room and...."

"Captain Reese, there is need to take Tracy to the emergency room. She will be just fine. The bullet missed her. She's just a little dazed. Now why don't you get your officers and take Mr. Gladston down to the station to do whatever it is you do with prisoners. I'll take care of Tracy. " Minda said.

"I'll just take Mr. Gladston downtown for booking. I'm sure you can take care of Tracy. Thank you for your cooperation, Dr. Reynolds." Captain Reese said as he went out in a daze.

"Tracy, it's okay." Minda said as she wrapped her arms around her. "I know that you feel really wierd right now but I'm going to help you. You're going to be okay. As a matter of fact, you're going to be better than you ever were before."

"Minda, where do you keep your phone?" Nick said as he came into the living room. "I'm having a problem with mine. Whenever I say hello I get cut off."

"Nick?" Tracy said as she looked up. "Nick, I feel really wierd."

"That's nice, Tracy, but the world doesn't revolve around you and your problems. You should think about other people like me for once. I have a very serious problem! Minda, can I borrow your phone?"

"Nick, you've lost what little grip on reality you had haven't you?" Minda said as she stared at him. "Leave the phone alone! Do you need to be locked up in the psychiatric ward again?"

"Do they have phones there?" Nick said as he started to search the room for a phone. "Tracy, move! You might be sitting on the phone! .... Wait a minute! Tracy? Minda, you didn't! How could you do this to me?!"

"Nick, I didn't do anything to you." Minda said. "Why don't you go back to the station? There are plenty of phones there."

"Captain Reese threatened to kill me if I took all of the phones again. Minda, how could you?!"

"Nick, it was either that or death. I figured that this was the better choice. Not everyone feels the same way that you do about being a vampire, you know."

"How could you? She's...she's... perky! How could you make her a vampire?!"

"Vampire?" Tracy said as she looked at Minda and Nick in confusion. "What's going on here? What did you do to me?"

"Tracy, why don't you come with me?" Nick said. "I'll take care of you."

"Nick, keep AWAY from my fledgling! Don't you think you've goofed up enough fledglings over the years? You kill all of yours except for that girl, Serena, who's just as strange as you and who's currently amusing herself by sleeping with guys on rooftops. I'm not even going to discuss what you did to Janette. Stay away from my fledgling! I can take care of her just fine without any of your interferance."

"Minda, what's going on?!" Tracy cried. "If you're going to argue with Nick about which one of you is going to have the responsibility of taking care of me, don't you think that you should tell me what's going on first?"

"Tracy, do you remember what happened on the porch tonight?" Minda said as she sat down beside her and motioned to Nick to at least move away from her if he wasn't going to leave.

"Yes. Well, I think I remember it anyway."

"What do you remember?" Minda asked.

"There was a loud noise. A loud noise.... and pain." Tracy said as she touched her chest. "Right there. My chest hurt like it was on fire and then.... Then I was in here and I was hungry. So hungry! You gave me something to drink and.... What's wrong with me? Minda, what did you do?"

"Tracy, Gladston shot you. You were dying. Trust me on that one. I've seen enough chest wounds over the years to know. I didn't have any choice. I had to bring you across. You're a vampire, Tracy."

"A vampire? I'm a vampire? You're a vampire?" Tracy said as she stood and drifted over to the fireplace.

"Yes. Tracy, I'm sorry that this had to happen like this. Becoming one of us should have been your choice. There wasn't another option though. Tracy?"

"Nick, you're a vampire too, aren't you? You're a very very stupid vampire!" Tracy said as she advanced on him, clutching the fireplace poker.

"Sort of. Tracy, what are you going to do with that poker?"

"You're a vampire!" Tracy said as she whacked him in the head. "You JERK! Why din't you tell me?! You knew that I knew about Vachon! JERK!!! How could you do this? Did you think it was funny to watch me tiptoeing around when we had a case connected to vampires thinking that I had to protect you?! I bet you thought it was funny din't you? I was a big joke, wasn't I? "

"Tracy, dear, try not to whack him so hard." Minda said. "You might knock what remains of his brains loose. Heaven knows that he can't afford to loose what little brain he has left."

"I worried about you!! Remember when you got shot? I was scared to death!! I thought that you were going to die and it would be my fault somehow! Why didn't you tell me? You could have trusted me! JERK!! I'll bet that you had a great time laughing about me with your little vampire friends! 'Stupid little Tracy doesn't have a clue! "

"Get out!" Tracy screamed as she chased him towards the door. "Lousy No-good lying vampire!!! "

"Get out!!" She shouted as she whacked him once more in the head for good measure as he ran out of the door and disappeared into the night.

Then she collapsed in the doorway in tears.