Chapter 15 – December Sickness Part 2
~~~~December 30 1880~~~~
Helen sighed as she stared out the window; a thick sheet of rain marring the London skyline. This winter had been perfectly dreary. It had rained and blown more than it had snowed, what little snow was left was either patches of ice, or a puddle of slush. It remained blistering cold though, making it just that more unpleasant.
"Helen, stop looking out the bleak window, it's doing nothing for your mood," said John from the settee, the fire crackling behind him.
"You're right, I shouldn't, the weather is just as grim as I feel," she sighed.
"Come, sit by me, I assure you I am much pleasant company than the rain," he said in a light tone.
"That may be true, but I don't feel like being in good company right now, a ray of sunshine like you shouldn't waste it's time with a grey cloud like me," she half-heartedly chuckled.
"Ah, nonsense, come," he patted the space on the settee beside him.
She sighed and walked over, gingerly sitting down, smoothing the skirts of her dress down as she got comfortable.
"You look better already," he smiled at her.
"I still feel the same," she said almost sadly.
"Because of Nikola?" John muttered almost bitterly. "Seriously Helen, does your smile only grace itself on your features for him?"
Helen stared at him, slightly shocked at his sudden change in tone.
"What are you getting at? I am concerned for him, he is a close friend, we have been unable to find a viable cure for his condition, and he grows increasingly violent! So forgive me if I'm not singing 'My Bonnie Lies Over The Ocean,' I would be just upset if it were any of you! How dare you accuse me of favoritism!" she stood up glaring at him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you, please sit back down," he said calmly, taking her hand.
She relented and sat back down.
"Has there been any light shed on his condition? Any reason why the blood affected him this way?" he said after a moment.
"From what father can tell he is a vampire, well, part vampire anyway," she said looking at him a bit more softly.
"Wouldn't we all be vampires then?" he asked, noting that the source blood had come from pure blood vampires.
"Father believes that Nikola had the vampire genes to begin with, they were just dormant. That's what the blood does, it unlocks latent abnormal abilities, some that present themselves almost immediately, some that become present over time," Helen looked at her hands as she spoke.
"So you might actually have something in there," he half-joked.
Helen chose to ignore that statement.
"James believes that we can still Nikola's rampant bloodlust if we can manage to concoct a serum of some sort to suppress it, we've had no luck so far, unfortunately. Nigel's helping," she sighed and put a hand on her temple and leaned on the arm of the settee.
"Is it because of this that you're so gloomy today, Helen?" he asked gently.
"Of course it is. A friend of mine is fighting to control a monster, and there is nothing I can do to help him, he's sometimes so riled up he doesn't even recognize me, it's that damn bloodlust, it's driving him crazy. I'm afraid…I'm afraid by the time we have a working serum, he won't be Nikola anymore," she bit her lip and looked away; maybe to shield her face from any tears he might see.
"Helen, you and James will find a cure, I'm sure of it, and Nikola will be back to his normal, pestulant self in no time," he put a hand gently on top of hers.
"You make it all sound so easy, but it's not," she mumbled, wrapping her fingers around his strong hand.
"It won't be a walk in the park, but I know you can do it," he said with a small smile.
"Helen," said James as he came into the study.
"Yes, James, what is it?" she asked removing her hand from Johns.
"I believe I've found the answer, we were going at it from the wrong angle, we were trying to suppress his craving like one would suppress an appetite, but what if it's not a physical craving," James took her hand and helped her to her feet.
"What are you talking about?" she asked.
"I want to open him up, I believe his transformation unlocked more than just a pair of fangs and some claws. I've been reading up on your father's book about vampire physiology, they had a structure, an organ, a second stomach if you will, or maybe more like a liver or a kidney that aided in their need for blood, the nutrients in blood, maybe the high iron content, I don't know for sure. It's small, no bigger than the gall bladder, an appendage to the stomach," James led Helen out of the room and down to his as he spoke, John only a step behind, listening intently.
"You want to cut Nikola open to look for this appendage?" Helen asked wide-eyed.
"I want to do a biopsy, cut a small sample of tissue to examine it, if I can understand what it does then we can create a serum to prevent it, if it's iron he needs then we can develop a medication with a high iron content, of course if that's the case we may have to fix his diet, but I need that tissue sample Helen," he said looking at her seriously.
"How safe is the procedure?" she asked.
"For a normal human it would probably be very high risk, but from the rapid regeneration and healing capabilities he shows, for him it would be as safe as dental work, that's why I suggested it," said James in complete confidence.
"How do you expect us to keep him unconscious for that long?" Helen sighed, she was still very much in doubt.
"Our dear friend Nigel and I have been developing an anesthetic, similar to what had knocked him out beforehand, just a little stronger," he said proudly.
"And how do you plan to inject it in him? He won't sit still long enough for you to talk with him, let alone drive a syringe full of anesthetic!" she groaned exasperated.
"Yes, we're going to have to hold him down, and you're going to have to shoot him, but I promise it will all be worth it in the end," Helen looked at her friend, and at John.
"Ok, I will assist you in the biopsy, I won't have it any other way," she said adamantly.
"Of course, I'll have the operation room prepped, John I could use your help in restraining Nikola, he's going to resist quite frightfully, be prepared for a beating," James rushes out of the lab.
"You make it sound so inviting," said John as his friend ran out the door, he turned to Helen and smiled.
"Didn't I tell you that you'd find a way," he grinned even wider.
"I didn't, it was James," she said matter-of-factly, "But you were right, thank you."
Helen sighed.
"I should get ready, I'll meet you down in the isolation cells with the others," she exited the room walking at a normal pace until she had felt far enough away.
She stopped and let herself feel a sigh of relief, let her emotions from the past weeks wash over her.
She was both relieved and scared of what was about to come, relieved that after weeks of failure a ray of hope has emerged, scared that it may be a false hope, and that she'd forever have to look into those blood-black dead eyes, and see nothing in return.
She remembered how hard it was to pull the trigger on him the first time, how hard it was not to will herself away when Christmas Day arrived, and she had spent it watching him rage against the walls of his cage.
She had done many surgeries, and assisted many times for her father, even performed a couple of her own on some of the creatures in her father's keep, but she didn't know if she would be able to make it through this one.
She sighed and made her way down to the cells, to quickly get one look at Nikola, before the others arrived.
He was resting, sleeping on a pile of stuff he had thrown on the floor, no more than a mass of blankets and bedpans. His breathing was ragged but steady, his hair was wild and unkempt, and most of his clothes had been ripped or torn and thrown into the heap. The window to the observation deck was cracked in several places where he had slammed against it during one of his rages.
His face was turned from her and all she saw was the lean and spiny curvature of his back and the slight rise as his rib cage expanded and deflated with each breath. Even though he was sleeping his breath still sounded odd and unnatural, like his voice had been in the alley.
She wanted the old Nikola back, her Nikola, the human-phobic, compulsive, arrogant, obnoxious man she had grown to love.
In all her years of causing trouble and mayhem with the Serbian, she had never dreamt that they would end up in trouble such as this. Real trouble.
~~~~Later~~~~
"AGGHHHH!"
Helen tried to hold herself together watching her dear friend struggle and fight as James, Nigel, and John worked to hold him down and restrain him to the gurney.
"RELEASE ME!" screamed Nikola.
He bared his fangs and his eyes, black dead orbs, staring with hatred and hunger at her.
"Please Nikola, we only want to help you, let us!" she bit back her tears.
"AGGHH!" he screamed again as he tried to claw at John.
John growled angrily and grabbed his arm and brought it back violently, Nigel jumped to strap the restraints on.
They proceeded to help James and pull down Nikola's other arm and strap it down tightly.
Nikola growled and kicked violently trying to pull away and burst free of the tight bonds.
They grabbed his legs and pulled them down as well to restrain him then moved away quickly as Helen raised the pistol to his chest and fired.
He stopped jerking and struggling and went limp.
Helen put down the weapon and walked over to Nikola's limp body and stroked his hair gently.
"Nice shot, Helen," said James, taking a breath.
"It's a strong sedative in bullet form," said Nigel as she pulled the bullet out of his chest and the wound instantly healed, "Something I developed for easy sedation."
"Well it won't really work on us mortals, unless you are refining a method to inject the sedative without having to shoot a bloody hole in them," stated John.
"It would prove to be quite useful on those creatures who don't willingly accept treatment," said James.
Helen ignored the scientific minds buzzing about behind her and just stared sadly at Nikola, still smoothing down his hair.
"Give me the anesthetic James," she said holding out her hand. He handed her a syringe which she immediately injected into his forearm.
His head immediately jerked and his eyes blazed open, making Helen jump away from him.
The black orbs slowly faded into the blue-grey eyes that she had come to know and love.
He sighed a little drugged-like and looked at her.
"Helen?" he choked out.
"Yes Nikola," she went up and stroked his face.
"Mid-term exam tomorrow, don't be late," he said before closing his eyes and slipping into unconsciousness.