Suburban Vampire: A Tale of the Human Condition -- With Vampires

Chapter 4

"Hi there, Doctor," Jack said. "How's it going tonight?"

"Uh, fine," Sammy replied, upset at himself for having been caught. "Fine. I'm just about to get back to work, so—"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Doc. No need to rush off."

"What do you want?"

"Oh, me? I want that lab coat. It's a nice lab coat. And your ID badge and swipe card. Oh, and while you're at it, I'm gonna need your blood as well. All of it."

Jack moved with blinding speed. Since he did not want to create a telltale stain on the doctor's white coat, he wrapped his arm around the doctor's neck, grabbed Guraj's chin with his free hand, and snapped his neck. He removed Guraj's lab coat from the lifeless corpse, as the good doctor wouldn't be needing it any longer. Then Jack fed. Three tasty meals in one night. Jack was beside himself with vampiric glee.

***

"Nurse! Check those leads!" the physician commanded, confused as to why the heart and blood pressure monitors were unresponsive when their formerly deceased patient was clearly alive.

"I did! They look fine!" the nurse said.

"Check them again. Someone, get this man some oxygen!"

In the renewed storm of activity, no one even noticed a new presence in the Emergency Room. He was wearing a white coat and carrying an ID badge, so obviously he was a medical professional. Even if no one had seen him before. Even if the last name on the badge betrayed the owner's origins as being in the subcontinent of India, while the man currently holding the badge had a much lighter shade of skin than most hailing from that part of the world. Jack walked right up to Scott as he gasped for air, put his arm around Scott's shoulders, and whispered this mystical incantation into his ear: "Come up with a heartbeat now, or we're going to have a problem."

Scott was not sure how, but it did the trick. The heart monitor finally came back to life. His breathing calmed as the hyperactivity around him continued.

"Ah, there we go," the lead physician said. "What the hell was up with that?"

"A couple leads came loose, but they're fine now," Jack replied.

"Impossible!" one of the nurses spat. "I checked those leads! They were all connected!"

"Well, darlin', you missed one."

"Okay, okay, you guys," the lead doctor said. "Heads back in the game. Looks like his heart rate and BP are coming back to normal. Oxygen level's looking better, too. Let's get that plasma drip restarted, and get some meds on standby. By the way, thanks; uh, what's your name, Doctor?"

But no one was there to answer. Jack had stealthily slipped out, once again noticed by no one.

***

The next day, Scott was moved to a recovery room. Exhausted by the ordeal he'd just been through, he fell into a deep sleep. Later in the afternoon, he stirred in the hospital bed. He looked over to see a beaming, silver-haired lady, dressed colorfully yet conservatively in a bright flowered long-sleeve blouse and sky-blue pants.

"Awake yet?" Irene Campbell asked.

"Oh, hi, Mom," Scott responded.

She held back tears. Irene Campbell was a much stronger woman than her slight build revealed; raised up in poverty, she had worked hard for her family. As a retired nurse herself, she had worked long hours in hospitals and care centers until finally encroaching age caught up with her, along with the realization that she could no longer continue caring for everyone other than herself. However, when Scott's marriage failed, she could not deny herself from helping and allowed him to move home, a home recently made lonely by the death of her husband of many years. She always told Scott that she was thankful he was there because he was such an enormous help. She was sorry that Scott had gone through his own struggles, of course, but did like having someone around the house who was tall enough to change the lightbulbs. When she had received word of his accident, she had dropped everything and rushed to the hospital. I can't lose my boy, she had prayed, begging God to save her son's life. Her prayers were answered, just as she knew they would be. Or so she thought.