Chapter Three

Later that Evening

I was able to score a few pouches of blood to feed both Billy and myself. At his neonatal stage he needed copious amounts if he was to survive. As is the reason his wounds didn't heal so quickly was because of the lack of blood. What I wanted to know was why his sire wanted to bite him after he had all ready been turned. Did she know what she was doing to begin with? Why didn't she just ask permission to embrace Romasky? With the Tremere gone the population was definitely smaller. The prince wouldn't have minded would he?

Billy fell asleep and I stayed with him under the pretense that I was his family. Visiting hours were over long ago, but a subtle suggestion could make even any nurse, doctor or security guard make an exception. Peter brought me my backpack and I sat by the window reading my paper back copy of Macbeth. When I was done with that I spent an hour and a half studying for my biology final. Alyson loaned me her notes from last semester and they helped to clarify some of the really complicated stuff. It didn't take long for me to grow tired of that, so I left the room and went down to the cafeteria.

There were no cooks for the night but a clerk was at the register. A refrigerated display case was set up with milk, juice, water, pre-made sandwiches, salads, and deserts. I picked up a container of chocolate pudding and a bottle of flavored water. It had been a while since I was a patient in the hospital, so I wasn't sure what they'd allow Billy to eat. I bought him a bottle of water anyway, thinking it wouldn't make him worse and returned to the room. I hadn't sat down more than a few minutes when a doctor came in. He seemed frustrated and there were dark circles under his eyes. I was prepared for a hard time and tensed up.

"I'm sorry to bother you," he said, softly. "But one of the nurses told me you could help me."

"What can I do?" I asked, lowering my guard.

"There's a patient of mine who's having a hard time falling asleep. He's nine years old and due for high risky surgery Friday, and we've been trying to ease his fears as much as possible."

Without a word I went into my back pack and pulled out my deck of playing cards, the one I used for magic tricks. The doctor had a grateful look on his face as he asked me to follow him.

The children's ward was divided into three sections. Two wards held thirteen children between the ages of 5 and 12. Ward A was where the boy slept, and it was there that the doctor led me to one of the beds at the far end. The curtain was pulled but you could see the silhouette of the nurse from the lamp on the nightstand.

I recognized the nurse right away and she mouthed a silent thank you to me as the doctor pulled back the curtain. The boy was lying down against the pillow, eyes wide open. He wore navy blue pajamas with some white dragon from Yu-Gi-Oh on the side pocket. A round head of short brown hair crowned his head like a halo, and he had brown eyes that saw the world through a depressed slump.

The nurse held out her hands so he could see and began speaking sign language. "Corey, this is Simon. He goes to school in Lyndonville. Would you mind if he sat with you for a little bit?"

Corey looked at me with an indifferent glance. I didn't waste any time.

"Hello Corey. How are you doing?" I asked, signing perfectly. "I hear you aren't getting any sleep. You know what I like to do when I can't get to dreamland?"

I pulled out the playing cards and began shuffling them. I began with the traditional shuffle and then I went with a few of the typical theatrics done by magicians. Raising the deck and letting the cards "fly" from one hand to the other. Then I selected the top ten from the deck and spread them out, holding them out to Corey.

"Pick a card, any card," I said, while the nurse signed for me.

The corners of his mouth were beginning to lift as he selected a card.

"Okay, show it to nurse Maggie but don't show it to me."

Corey showed the card to her and she nodded. Then I asked him to place it back in the hand and I shuffled the deck again. I cut the deck in half and showed it to him.

"Was that your card?" I asked.

The nurse signed and Corey shook his head.

"It wasn't? Are you sure?"

Corey gave me a full grin this time, like he had gotten the better of me. I made a show of looking for his card, patting my pockets, looking through the night stand, and checking the doctor's coat lab coat pockets, arousing giggles from the boy who had been afraid and upset just a short time ago.

"Well, I guess the card just went missing." I said, scratching my chin. Then I went back to Corey's side. "Wait a minute…I know where it is now."

Then, I reached behind Corey's ear and "pulled" a card from behind his ear. It was the ace of spades. Corey's mouth hung open and he looked to the nurse, who was just as surprised.

"You were hiding it behind your ear this whole time."

Corey laughed so much he was beginning to exhaust himself. I fiddled with the cards as I said good night, and not long after he nodded off.

"We really appreciate that," Maggie said, hugging me once.

"Anytime," I said.

The doctor walked with me as I returned to Billy's room.

"You know if you could stop by a few more times this week I'd be more than grateful," he said. "We don't want Corey spending the week worried about the surgery, and seeing his spirits lifted makes me more optimistic."

"You've got it," I replied, sincerely. "I only hope his parents are all right with it."

"I'll explain it to them if they have concerns. And I'd be more than happy to give you a letter of recommendation to go in your portfolio."

I left the doctor with the promise that I'd return. When I returned to Billy's room I was surprised to find someone else in there with him. A girl with long dark hair dressed in a tight black shirt, a brown duster, and black jeans. Her eyes changed color briefly as she stood between me and Billy.

"I didn't expect you to make it this easy," I commented, trying to sound tougher than I was, "Although, from what I've seen, thinking ahead obviously isn't your strong point."

"Here's how it works," the girl said. "You let me take Billy out of here. I let you live."

"Pfft, someone's been watching too many movies. Let me tell you how it works, you face my professor and if our primogen's feeling generous you don't get your head lopped off for breaking the Prince's rules."

She advanced on me slowly. "How's your prince gonna find out if you get killed?"

"Trust me; you don't want to go there."

I saw a red panic button to my left. She stopped as she saw me seeing it.

"Don't do this," she begged. "You and I, we're the same clan, Toreador. We should be looking after each other."

"I agree. But you're endangering the other members of our clan, and if I let you get away with it I'd be no worse than you."

We heard footsteps coming towards the room. The door opened and I looked up, but when the nurse came in a bird flew out the window.

"Is everything okay?" the nurse asked, noticing I was troubled.

"Yes, I'm fine," I lied, looking back at Billy, who was sound asleep. "Billy was having a nightmare. But he's fine now."

He checked Billy's vitals and left the room. I went to the window and scanned the roof of the hospital, the grounds, and the street below. Nothing. I looked back at Billy.

"Well," I said. "At least you're one of us."