Will was covered in bandages. The blood-cleanse potion had prevented the vampiric disease from taking hold, as well as stopped the wounds from festering, but they still hurt like hell. Other than dozens of punctures and small tears, the doctor had told him that he was in good health. He hadn’t even lost that much blood.
Tiny and Janice, though, were another story altogether. The big warrior had only suffered a few claw wounds, but his body had been covered in bruises. Still he had insisted that he was fit enough to leave. Doctor Morris had other ideas, however.
“Your friend will have to stay for a week or two. Most don’t realize how serious blunt-force trauma can be. By tomorrow most of his body will be black and blue and his kidneys will struggle to deal with all the blood being reabsorbed and broken down. That’s on top of the fact that his kidneys were also injured by the blows he received.”
“But he’ll be all right, won’t he?” asked Will.
The doctor stared at his desk for a moment, then answered, “Maybe. It’s hard to say for sure. We’ll be forcing him to drink as much as possible to help his kidneys work, but there’s a strong possibility that they’ll fail. If that happens…”
Will knew quite well what that would mean, but he held onto hope. Doctor Morris knew a considerable amount that he did not and there might be magical means that Will had never heard about. “Is there a way to save him if that happens?”
Doctor Morris grimaced. “There are forbidden procedures, but I’ll have no part of murdering innocents to harvest their kidneys. Aside from that, you’ll have to hope for the best.”
“What about a regeneration potion?”
“If you have one, give it to him now, or the girl. Either one could desperately use it,” said the doctor.
“How bad is Janice’s wound?” He already knew it wouldn’t be good, but he hoped perhaps it might not be as terrible as it had seemed.
“I managed to save most of the cheek so I could reattach it to cover the wound. The muscle is ruined and of course, her eye is gone. She won’t be able to move most of that side of her face after it heals. She will probably also have considerable difficulty drinking and speaking since she lost most of the lower lip. Her life isn’t in danger, but it will be difficult living normally after this. Her nose was ruined as well. I had to stretch the skin from the right side to cover as much of the wound as I could, so it won’t look…well, you understand.”
Will’s vision blurred, and he covered his face with his hands. Despite what Tiny had said, he still blamed himself. Then he asked, “You said a regeneration potion would help, right?”
“If you have one, yes,” said Doctor Morris. “But it needs to be given within a few days or it won’t work properly.”
“Why?”
“It regenerates flesh, but it doesn’t remove scars or revive dead tissue,” said the doctor. “If Mister Shaw’s kidneys die, the potion won’t revive necrotic tissue. Miss Edelman’s condition is less dangerous, but the same principle applies. If her wound heals as it is, the potion won’t reverse that. It has to be given while the body still remembers its proper form. Once it has healed, that will be what it considers its proper form.”
Will nodded as the gears began to turn in his head.
The doctor went on, “I’ll need to report all of this to the proper authorities. If there truly are undead monsters roaming the streets, the king will need to be informed.”
“He knows already,” said Will bitterly. “But I have the address of the warehouse for him.”
“You can tell him yourself,” said Doctor Morris. “You’ll have to stay here until the king’s men arrive to question everyone.”
Will gave the doctor a hard look. “Do you really think you can keep me here?”
“That’s my job.”
“Your job is to take care of patients,” countered Will. “I will be leaving in a few minutes, to try and obtain the potions my friends need. If you want to help them, you’ll stay out of my way.”
“If I actually believed you could do that, I’d be tempted to let you,” admitted the doctor. “But I know quite well there’s no possible way you could—”
“Do either of my friends need any further treatment from you tonight?” asked Will suddenly.
The doctor stared at him oddly. “No, my assistants will handle the dressing changes in the morning. For now, they’re sleeping. I administered a strong sedative so—” His words cut off as Will’s source-link spell connected, and a moment later he was paralyzed and his connection to his source was blocked.
With that done, Will took his time constructing a sleep spell, and once it had taken hold, he released the source-link. He stood and summoned a spare tunic from the limnthal. It felt strange wearing normal clothes without his brigandine vest under it, but he had lost the armor at the warehouse.
He left the office and waved to the nurses and other personnel that glanced at him on his way out. None of them tried to stop him, thankfully. Once he was outside, he recovered Tailtiu’s body from the bushes he had hidden it in. Cradling her in his arms, he began the walk home.
As he went, he couldn’t help but consider how much he had changed. Just a year previously he would have been nervous as hell to carry a dead body across the campus. Now it hardly bothered him at all. He figured anyone that saw him would figure it was simply an unconscious person, and as unusual as that might be, he doubted anyone would have the balls to challenge him about it.
In one sense it was a good thing, but it also reminded him of Dennis Spry. No one would challenge him either, and because of that he did terrible things to whoever he pleased. Will had no intention of becoming like that, but it made him acutely aware of how his current status could easily be abused.
He received a fresh surprise when he got home. The front door had been torn from its hinges and now lay on its side beside the gaping doorway. The claw marks made it obvious what had happened, and Will’s blood began to boil anew. They came to take their vengeance, he realized, and then he felt a sudden surge of panic. Blake!
For a moment he remained still, unsure what to do. He still held Tailtiu in his arms and he didn’t want to face yet another battle while carrying a dead body, but he also didn’t want to leave her outside, exposed to anyone who happened by. If the vampires found her, they might well steal the body simply to drain the last of her vital fluids.
A voice saved him from the decision. “William? Is that you?” It was Blake, and as Will focused on the darkened doorway, he saw the manservant lean out from the parlor room, a crossbow in his hands.
“Yes! Are you all right?”
“Mostly,” said the older man. “It’s safe to come in. They were gone before I got back.”