Newborn

PART TWENTY

My question seemed to throw a spanner in the mix, because the argument stopped immediately. Noah gave Darien a flat look, which required no words, and then he told him to "sort it out" before continuing inside.

Originally, my Maker had told me to "stay put" like I was a dog. Only I refused to be held on his invisible leash and demanded that I go with him. He was going to check every hospital in the Sydney district, and I made a deal with him, telling him that I would give up the location if he promised not to kill Troy. He leered in response, but we both knew that we couldn't afford to lose any more time. As we drove toward the heart of the city, my mind swirled around their argument.

"So, is it like . . . a monthly thing?" I wondered.

"What?" He took one glance at me and sighed. "Really? You're still on about that?"

"Well, it's kind of important. Don't you think?"

"No, not really."

"It's just that I would have thought there was something wrong with me."

"There is something wrong with you," he insisted, eyes caught on the road. "Out of all the information you were just handed, that's what you take away." Darien sparked up another cigarette. Clearly, he was a chain smoker. "No, it's not a monthly thing."

"So . . . yearly?" I made a face.

"Never," he said, in a tone that was slightly degrading. "We just don't need to."

"Wow." I chewed on my lip. "Why don't we need to?"

"You ask more questions than a two-year-old, you know that?" he snapped, his patience clearly growing thin. He exhaled thick clouds of smoke. "We don't need to because of vampire anatomy. Humans have bowel movements because they eat and digest food, and we live off blood, so we just don't need to. End of discussion."

"What if we ate human food?" I asked.

He turned to look at me like that was the stupidest question he had ever heard and wouldn't even justify it by wasting his breath.

"Okay, well, do we urinate?"

Darien mumbled, "It's going to be a long drive," before turning on the radio full blast and ignoring my existence.

*****

We checked the hospitals closest to the location where I had attacked Troy but had no luck. Apparently, today was a public holiday and therefore all the hospitals were over-crowded and understaffed. Eventually, a nurse checked the system and told us his location.

When we arrived there, however, we were welcomed by a waiting room full of humans. Some coughed, while others threw up, and then there were some that looked half-dead as they sat on a chair surrounded by snotty tissues.

"This is exactly why I despise humans, they're disgusting creatures, so full of mucus and bacteria." Darien sidestepped past a two-year-old with a bump on her head. She looked up at him and smiled, but he just glared in response and continued toward the reception desk. "Hi, we're looking for a Troy . . ." his words faded out as he subtly turned toward me and muttered, "What's his last name?"

"Hiscock..." I whispered.

His eyebrows came together. "For real?"

I shrugged in response.

Darien turned back toward the counter, and with the most serious expression he could manage, he cleared his throat and said, "Hiscock, Troy Hiscock."

"Ah, yes." The receptionist smiled. She was a middle-aged woman, with a few streaks of grey lining her blonde hair. Personally, I think she would have smiled at anything Darien said to her. "He came in a few hours ago. He's in the emergency room, bed number twelve."