For the past week, Lauren had been working almost day and night trying to test for possible solutions. She did come up with at least two better treatments, but so far no cure. Instead of wasting more time, she had opted to stay at the farm, too, despite Bo's protests.
Bo drove up that first night, packed for two trips in case she had to leave before going back to the clubhouse. Lauren was surprised that her wife had accepted that final mission from the Morrigan. What surprised her even more was that Bo went to Evony looking for company at all. Bo had finally told her about refusing the Dark Fae leader's offer, and Lauren wasn't sure how to react. Evony was a leanan sidhe; bad things happened when they were rejected. When she was first brought into the fae world, Lauren was surprised that she wasn't killed for refusing to join the Dark Fae, but in all fairness, each leader was given two days each to convince her. She hadn't refused the Morrigan everything she offered.
Lauren was excited that Bo had turned the woman down, but she was jealous that the offer was made at all. It was strange to think of a past lover making a pass at your current lover. Lauren knew firsthand how persuasive and pleasurable the Morrigan could be, and there was no doubt that Bo's succubus powers could read that. She was impressed that Bo had that much willpower. There were a few times during her servitude, long before Bo and especially at the beginning after Emily, that Lauren wished the offer had been made to her again. She could admit now how lonely she had been to even consider that a possibility.
As much as the two of them tried to make love, there was always a desperate need that ruined their concentration. Still, any sex with Bo gave her a renewed focus and concentration. It just wasn't in the extremely high doses that making love gave them. Lauren wished she could somehow bottle that glowy focus; it was the perfect cure for the blood fever. Okay, so she was projecting. She had made a mental note to do more research on that possibility, so she had spent some time the past few days trying to find a way to make that happen. She was desperate for answers, she knew, but even the most insane ideas sometimes turned out good results. Knowing where not to look was just as important as knowing where to look.
Lauren cried silently inside, only letting Bo know through their bond and her energy-reading skills how distraught she felt about her wife leaving that morning to go back to work. Bo had to recruit a boraro and an afreet for this latest mission. The thought that whatever Bo was doing was dangerous enough to need any backup, when she hadn't needed it before, made her a little worried exactly what the mission was. She had spent some of the week helping Bo translate the Hebrew tomes, but all she could help her with was the Battle of Elasa and the Chai Crystal's power and where it was rumored to be located. Lauren was worried about her wife's newest tomb raiding expedition, but she bit her tongue, knowing Bo would not be swayed. Besides, the succubus needed to stay active. She needed to move around and have a mission. Bo did not do idle well. At least she would have backup this time.
Lauren didn't like any of the names on the list Evony had provided, but she did send Bo after an actress named Sadie who was over in the city promoting her new movie. One of the Dark Fae patients she had, Ryan Lambert, was bragging about a party he went to with the woman. She had no real idea who the woman was, but his enthusiasm on the topic seemed to suggest she was extremely well known. Lauren only chuckled slightly when Bo called at lunch to say she gave a movie star a hickey and now she had her own personal genie.
Bo was on her way back, and the afreet had to stay with them, so Lauren had called Gram to set up a guest room in the wing where her family stayed when they visited. Well, they didn't stay anymore. When they had family dinners, Lauren would make sure she was busy in the lab or with Bo in the city those nights. Lauren respected their fae needs to feed on family, so she decided to make herself scarce instead of starting a war within her own family. This was one time she avoided something and didn't feel bad about doing it. She was excited that Maureen had made arrangements to come visit sooner this year, though.
Lauren walked into Exam Room 3, curious why Janelle mentioned there was a patient but returning with no chart to give her. The human nurse just said that the super hot guy in 3 was here to talk about the blood fever, but he had no symptoms. Naturally curious, Lauren walked in and did not let her shock register that Dyson was sitting on the exam table, his legs dangling off the side.
"Dyson." Lauren walked in and placed her computer tablet on the small workspace. It was more out of habit than any actual need to do this. She wished she hadn't laid it down, giving her something to keep her hands busy with instead of burying them in her pockets. This scene looked too familiar to her. Even if they had come to a truce, Lauren still expected him to start calling her names any moment now. She held her head higher and stiffer than normal. It was not a warm, welcoming doctorly gaze she sent his way. "I wondered when you would appear. Are you showing any symptoms?"
"None, actually. Well, none that really call for warning bells. I've not had a sick day since before you were born." He gripped the side of the table between his legs, bringing attention to his genital area. It was no doubt a practiced move that worked on several ladies. Lauren steeled her jaw, knowing the reason he was here was because this move had probably worked on Bo. "I'm a wolf. We don't get sick."
"Well, the blood fever is a little stronger than your common cold or wolf shifter immunities. Let me examine you, just to be safe. We wouldn't want you to just randomly die off because you were too stubborn to let me help you." She genuinely meant her concern, and he must have noticed too, as he began unbuttoning his shirt and nodded his head. Lauren moved to prepare to start the exam, as she pulled the stethoscope from around her neck. "Janelle mentioned you came to see me about the blood fever. I am assuming you didn't actually come here for this. Bo says she's been trying to get you to come here for some time now."
"You'd be right in that assumption." Dyson lifted his chin higher and looked extremely uncomfortable and stiff when Lauren started to listen to his heartbeat from several angles. When finished, she put the stethoscope back around her neck and started to feel more confident in their interaction now that she had some movement, power, and control over the situation.
"Are you sure you're not experiencing any symptoms?" Lauren grabbed the otoscope from the wall as she carefully pulled on his pinna to get a look inside of his left ear. She continued with his right ear in the same fashion before replacing the device back on the wall and grabbing the ophthalmoscope from the set. She examined his eyes as she resumed their conversation, not surprised when they shifted to wolf from the light. "I'm not seeing anything alarming, but Bo mentioned that you've been extremely tired."
"Bo said that, huh?" Dyson smirked, and Lauren chose to ignore the knowing glint she saw in his eyes.
"Guess she was worried about you. And we're close. She knows she can talk to me." Lauren felt silly for needing to explain her relationship. Of course they were close, and of course Dyson knew this. He had witnessed it himself dozens of times. Still, it was strangely exhilarating to feel like she had the upper hand in their encounter.
"Yeah, I'm tired, but it's Bo's fault."
"Why is that?" Lauren took a deep breath, knowing it was because of the blood fever that Bo had given him.
"Well, if you guys are that close, then just ask her." Since they had more than likely engaged in coitus a number of times, Dyson may have a higher concentration of the fever in his system. He was the only fae who had repeated direct contact with Bo in that sense, so she had no way of knowing. Still, he appeared fine. As a doctor, Lauren had to admit his wolf health was impressive. She had always appreciated the beauty of fae biology; his was no exception despite her dislike of him as a person. "Actually, it's why I'm here."
"Oh?" Lauren pulled the bloodwork kit from the cabinets above the small workspace and sink. Ever since the blood fever, they had started keeping them prepared in here before every new patient.
"Bo mentioned this thing could be passed on to our other partners after her." Dyson held out his arm and didn't even flinch like most patients when Lauren extracted blood. "Ciara's been sick, but she's more stubborn than I am about doctors."
"I noticed she didn't look well the other day, when I was at the Dal." Lauren remembered seeing the woman sitting by herself while Hale and Dyson played billiards. She liked Ciara; she should have said hello to her and been social before getting down to business. Her workaholic personality and constant need to find answers had made her go to Trick first, though. There was no doubt she would have been sociable afterwards had he not dropped such a major bomb. That was two weeks ago, and Lauren felt guilty for not approaching Ciara sooner. "If she won't come to me, would you like me to go to her?"
"Can you give me some of the treatment to take home? I'm not kidding when I say Ciara will be stubborn until her last breath." Dyson had obviously believed the fairy would get better, but now that they had answers about the cause, fae were skeptical that she could find a cure. They still considered her finding that cure in the Congo, for something similar to this, as an anomaly. Dyson was no exception and had said as much to her on numerous occasions throughout the years. Granted, he had been somewhat nice and less scowly towards her this past year.
"Of course." Lauren actually had no problem sending Dyson home with the treatment for Ciara. She did trust him to take care of the other woman. "You should take it yourself. Even though you're not showing them now, I have observed that those who catch it before the symptoms get too invasive have a better chance of survival."
"I appreciate your concern." Dyson was such a stoic character, but Lauren could hear the truth behind his words. "How is Bo? Does this thing affect her at all?"
"It doesn't even show as an abnormality in her blood, which is the amazing thing." Lauren had done more tests than she could write in her budget on Bo's blood alone. "It's the same blood results it has been since the Dark's doctors took samples three years ago."
"Are we sure she's the cause? Why put her under such guilt and scrutiny if you are not sure?" Dyson narrowed his eyes; he seemed defensive suddenly.
"I am 100% certain she's the cause." Lauren had wanted that uncertainty. Even though her rational mind had stayed on course that Bo was the cause, the emotional part of her had held onto that small bit of uncertainty. "I hate this as much, if not more, as you do. I hate seeing Bo blame herself for things that she didn't do." Lauren rolled her eyes when she saw Dyson's eyebrow arched. "Well, not her fault that the blood fever happened; she thinks it's her burden because she did...have sex and feed. I think it's actually set her back to thinking she's a monster."
"You're concerned she'll do something insane again; like when she attacked your family." Dyson took a deep breath. "She asked me about the Chai Crystal. Would you like me to go with her to Ramallah?"
"You should take care of Ciara." Lauren was actually surprised that she wanted to be selfish and say yes.
"How about we make a trade?" Dyson looked a little too happy about that, as he finally put his shirt back on. Lauren sensed there was a stronger meaning behind his words. "You're a doctor; you can take care of Ciara better than I can right now. You're stuck here trying to find this cure, and I can take care of Bo better than you can."
"I would be happy to help Ciara, and I am confident enough with my relationship to admit that I would like Bo to have more backup, even if it is you." Lauren did not like his unspoken suggestions. "You can protect her and bring her muscle while she's in Ramallah, so if you go with her, I will not argue, but do not for one second think that you can ever take better care of her. Just suggesting it makes you more of an ass at this point. She's mine, Dyson." Lauren lifted her left hand to bring attention to her wedding band. He didn't even look at it, neither of them breaking eye contact, but she could tell he knew her meaning. "Alright. You can help her, and I'll help Ciara. On one condition: that afterwards, you and I finally have that talk and you let me explain myself. We need to figure out a way to get past this. If not for ourselves, then for Bo."
"Deal." Dyson stiffened, but Lauren knew he agreed. They had sat down again at her birthday party this past year, more because Kenzi had forced them to sit down, but there were too many hurt feelings and history to really make much progress. They didn't even really talk about Emily too much; it seemed to be a sore topic for both of them. "I'll get Ciara and have her here in a few hours, no matter how much she fusses. She trusts you. If any doctor can get her to see that she's dying, it's you."
"You can bring her in the morning, if you want. I'll send home the treatment with you. Bo already left this morning to gather her backup, but I can sense she's on her way back here now. She already has an afreet; she'll be looking for a boraro next."
"A boraro?" Dyson seemed more amused by this fact than the inquisitiveness his tone suggested. Lauren had never treated a boraro, but she had read about them. "I actually know one; ran into him while processing a fae kill by the docks. Bo can work with him. He's good at what he does and will do whatever it takes. He flies below the radar, though, so I doubt Bo would find him on her own."
"The Morrigan actually gave her a list."
"Wait, she's working for the Morrigan?" Dyson looked like he wanted to rip his shirt off and beat his chest in frustration. "She's working for the Dark. I can't help her if she's working for the Dark."
"Oh." Lauren hadn't really considered this. Before, it would have been one of the first things on her mind. Now, she seemed so ingrained in her residual neutrality, working on both clans, that she had somehow forgotten fae politics for a second. It felt strange not to immediately consider the political elements behind her request. "I'll still help Ciara."
"Thank you." Dyson seemed to be going through every emotion at once, trying to fight them from showing in his expression. "I'll still get Bo in contact with Woods. He's Dark Fae, so he can help her without trouble."
"Of course." Lauren took a deep breath, quietly observing the man in front of her.
"I know it's not easy for you to help me, Lauren, so if you help Ciara get through this, I owe you that last talk." Dyson finally stood from the exam table. Lauren took this as her cue to show him to the exit. She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, surprising them both.
"I will do my best." Lauren did not want to make any promises she wasn't sure she could keep. She knew she would try, but she knew that making promises made a psychological delivery of hope to the other party. If she made a promise to help Ciara and the woman died, then Dyson would be even worse to deal with than he already was. "I'll get you that treatment and drop off your blood work. I'll let you know the results when you bring Ciara in the morning."
"Lauren, if I could go with Bo, I would. If this were any of her neutral or free lance cases, I wouldn't hesitate." Dyson looked apologetic. Lauren just nodded before leaving him in the room while she went back to the lab. Once she dropped off the blood work, she prepared the treatment for Ciara before sending it with Janelle to give to Dyson. The doctor felt drained all of a sudden; anytime she had a one-on-one conversation with the wolf, she seemed to exert more energy than necessary.
Kenzi was already upstairs in the loft office, sitting on the couch and going over the family files Lauren had her pull from the cabin earlier this week. Since she was already so preoccupied with the blood fever research, Lauren had delegated the family research to Kenzi. Alexie was napping in the pack and play Lauren had set up in here after he was born.
"Hey, doc. Heard there was a hot, hot wolf man in 3. Dyson, huh?" Kenzi sent a concerned glance when Lauren nodded. "Everything okay?"
"We'll know if he has it after I run some tests on his blood to confirm. He doesn't seem to be showing any symptoms." Lauren came to sit in the oversized plush chair across from the young girl.
"I meant you. Are you okay? I know you're still not Dyson's biggest fan." Kenzi leaned back into the couch and stretched her arms above her head, abandoning the file she had on the coffee table. Again, Lauren just nodded. They stayed silent for a minute before Kenzi let out a deep breath. "Did you see the entry before Trick's last one; the one about you two? He wrote about his granddaughter, Isabeau, back in 2006."
"It's not unreasonable to think he would know he had a granddaughter." Lauren leaned forward, resting her forearms against her knees and tucking her hands together between them. "Trick may not have known Bo directly, but he knew she existed. It only makes sense that he would write that she find happiness and family."
"Yeah, but he must have known she was running a lot. He must have tracked her kill patterns, because he also wrote that she needed to find someone to save her life, to help her understand and learn about her fae powers." Kenzi wasn't telling her anything she hadn't already read in the blood journal. There were only two entries past the approximate time when Lauren suspected Aiofe was held captive. Both were about his granddaughter. "Didn't you say life was exchanged for life? If he wrote about Bo finding someone to save her life, then couldn't that be what caused the blood epidemic in 2006? The one in the Congo? The place where you just happened to be? You, being the person that wound up mated with Bo, initially saving her life and helping her understand her powers several times over the past two years?"
"Are you hinting that I was that someone who Trick wrote about?" Lauren leaned over to pull the open book towards her, reading the passage in that old fae language. She had written the translations out for Kenzi and Bo, so they would know what Trick wrote directly instead of just word of mouth.
"I mean, think about it, the outbreak just happened to start when you were in the Congo? It could have happened anywhere according to your notes on the thing, and it was also exactly how you came into the fae world. When Bo met you, she seemed to find a real purpose. I had never seen her that focused or confident in who she was before. You gave her what she needed, and she was ready for it. I think that's why it hurt her that much more when you abandoned her like you did at the beginning. Then, she magically wakes up and forgives you one day? And you return the favor by helping her with her mom. You saved her life." Kenzi made sense, and if Lauren had not been so focused on other things, she would have at least seen the correlation between the Congo epidemic and the year of the journal entry.
"I'm not discounting your hypothesis, Kenzi, but there is no real way of testing the validity. It seems insane." Lauren leaned back away from the book, deciding to slip out of her dress shoes.
"Well, you and Bo are both crazy. I say that's proof enough." Kenzi smirked. Lauren had learned to love that smirk instead of backing away from it cautiously. "I've also observed something that I'm surprised you missed."
"I know. I need to sleep more regularly. Thank you for at least forcing me to eat and take breaks." Lauren smiled warmly at the young girl. She had honestly become a really close friend the past year, for which they both seemed to be happy. It was an odd couple situation, but Lauren could admit she loved Kenzi like the sister-in-law she really was. Her own sister-in-law, Roger's wife Katherine, had been Nadia's best friend in college. Roger must have known she was fae back when they were all undergrads, but Nadia had not known and neither did Lauren. Regardless, it was through Katherine that Lauren had met Nadia. She rarely talked to her brother on campus, but they were forced to double date a few times because of their girlfriends. When Kat married Roger the summer after their junior year (Lauren had just graduated with a double major and was getting ready for med school), she stopped talking to Nadia. Lauren had always suspected it was one reason why Nadia had left her.
"Did you know my period ended the other day?" Kenzi seemed to be amused and happy about this event. Ever since Alexie was born, Kenzi had been getting more cramps than she used to; she must be proud because she didn't have them this time.
"No cramps?" Lauren leaned forward, habitually returning to doctor mode.
"Hell yes, cramps. I just know where you stash the good stuff and didn't want to bother you." Kenzi scooted to the other side of the couch, sitting closer to Lauren and making really strong eye contact. "I ended my period, we're on the same cycle, you've not started yet… See where I'm going with this?"
"Oh." Lauren let her mind focus back to the present. "Oh! No, surely…I mean, the body does strange things when overly stressed."
"Uh-huh, and I had a virgin birth." Kenzi genuinely smiled, and Lauren could sense the girl's excitement at the prospect. "When did you go off the meds?"
"About six or seven weeks ago." Lauren was not this slow. She could tell Kenzi believed she was pregnant, and it was a possibility normally, but given the situation with Trick's writing, if Lauren really was pregnant, that meant that she and Bo were really ready. Maybe that was why she was so nonchalant about the idea.
"And we know Bo's been giving it to you like one of those windup toys that don't take much to get them moving. You got the lady parts; she's got the succubus mojo."
"Trick's writing, though. We lost a baby once without knowing it."
"Bo felt it; if you're honest with yourself, you felt it, too. Besides, Trick's writing said you wouldn't have a baby until you were ready." Kenzi smiled again, looking down at the sleeping Alexie. Lauren followed the gaze, smiling at the slumbering baby. "Lie all you want, but you two are ready. I can see it in Bo's eyes."
"We may be ready, but there's still a lot we need to talk about before we have children." Lauren looked down at her body, curious to experience the changes she would feel and notice once she was pregnant. "I figured it would take more time."
"See the previous comment about Bo giving it to you all the time. She loves you; she loves you long time." Kenzi chuckled at herself, but Lauren was still trying to process so she didn't find the humor. "I know from experience babies don't always happen when you plan them. At least you two have a little more warning and preparation."
"We don't know that I'm really pregnant. Like I said, it could be just the stress." Lauren played with the ring on her finger. She would be lying if she said she didn't want to be. She had just learned never to get her hopes up, especially about this and especially now.
"Well, then get on with the tests. Bo texted a bit ago; she's on her way home." Kenzi only confirmed what Lauren already felt. "She said she tried to call you, but there was no answer. You left your phone up here, by the way."
"I'll call her back." Lauren slipped her dress loafers back on before moving to her desk to grab her phone.
"You need to go ace that test, Doc. Bo needs some good news right now. So do you." Kenzi didn't move, just sending that knowing smirk at her. Lauren tucked her phone in the empty case attached to her belt before smiling and walking downstairs.
