After handing a pack of new bed socks to the vampire, Head Nurse Cassie decided to check on the other vampire. She couldn’t remember which one Will the elf had said was being discharged tonight, but the second vampire looked in worse shape. As she entered the room, he was laying in the bed, with the blue woolen blanket folded down to his stomach and his head propped up on pillows. He was looking out of the window with sad, almost empty eyes.
‘Hello,’ Cassie said and grabbed the clipboard notes.
The vampire didn’t reply.
She reminded herself of his name, Princes Luton from what was now Denmark. He had been found almost died in a car park three nights ago. He had been attacked by werewolves or shape shifters or something else with huge teeth and lots of dark fur.
‘How are you feeling?’ Cassie asked.
‘Fine,’ he replied sadly.
Seeing that he had only been checked less then ten minutes ago, she put the clipboard back and crossed the window. Outside the wind was blowing a small tree and some bushes that formed a small garden in between the hospital buildings. The sky was very dark blue almost black color with a touch of white dotted stars.
Cassie opened the window and felt the wind on her fur. She heard the vampire take in a deep breath. He sighed the breath out deeply then took another one. She turned back and saw he had shut his eyes.
‘If you are feeling better later, you could possible go out in a wheelchair,’ Cassie told him.
‘Maybe…’ he said.
‘Let me know if you need anything. Your blood is coming soon.’
The vampire mumbled a thanks.
Cassie left him, closing the door behind her and went to check on everyone else which as the rest of the patients were settling down to sleep, was quick and easy. Going back to the desk, she found Harriet Hippo on the phone and the other nurses getting on with other tasks.
Sinking into the other chair, she thought about phoning the doctors’ office and seeing when the vampire doc who was scheduled to visit the ward might be due. Picking up the other phone, she thought it might be a bit pointless as no one ever knew, but still…Cassie dialed and waited.
When the office receptionist picked the phone up, she put her question in, but just as she had thought, no one knew the answer and of course if there was an emergency it might change things. There were only three vampire doctors on tonight and two were doing the ward rounds.
‘Is it an emergency?’ the receptionist asked in a clip tone.
‘Not really,’ Cassie said,’how many do the docs have to see?’
‘About thirty are on the list,’ came the reply, ‘of course, they’re not all vampires. There are some half-vampires, two owls, a boogie man, three shadow figures, some ghosts -‘
‘That’s fine, thanks,’ Cassie cut in and hung up.
‘So, you don’t think the Prince is very good either?’ Fenchie spoke out.
Cassie opened her mouth, ready to tell the nurse gnome off for over hearing, then decided there was no point.
‘He’s lost a lot of blood though,’ Pepper chipped in, her arms full of supplies.
‘Yes, well,’ Cassie finally got in, ‘I think he might be depressed. Compared to the Lord, he doesn’t seem to be recovering mentally.’
The buzzer for the door rang and Cassie answered it with a quick hello.
‘Food delivery,’ came a man’s tried voice back over the intercom.
Cassie buzzed him in and a few seconds later heard the wheels of a trolley along the floor. She stood up and watched the man knocked on the door of the first vampire then let himself in. Leaving her nurses to their duties, Cassie followed the delivery man in. Stopping in the doorway, she watched the Lord receiving his breakfast and quickly drinking it from the bag.
‘I’ll come with you to the next one,’ Cassie said and got a grunt from the seemingly human delivery guy.
Heading down the doors and opening the one to the Prince’s room, Cassie was glad to see him still in bed. There had been too many nights with different patients were they had left via an open window. Taking the blood from the human, Cassie set up the drip.
‘Unless you feel you can drink it?’ she asked.
The vampire shook his head.
Hooking him up, she left wondering what the doctor would say when they got here.
The Story Files 