Tainted Love

9 -The last werewolf

I quickly follow Nurse Aileen through the corridors to get to the Infirmary as fast as we can. I know Nurse Aileen used to be a vampire but now she is as human as I am, aside from the magic I possess, of course.

“What happened?” I ask her as we hurriedly cross the hall to the Infirmary.

“Kiki has gone into labor a couple of hours ago, but something has gone wrong” Nurse Aileen explains. “She is losing too much blood and she doesn’t have enough dilation to deliver. We will have to perform cesarian”

We finally reach the Infirmary, passing by an anxious soon-to-be father. Dr. Annette is already in her surgical gown, washing her hands profusely.

I notice neither Claus nor the guys are here anymore, but I try not to linger much on it as I have work to do right now.

“Good, you’re here” She tells me in her very British accent, barely looking at me. “The baby is in strain. We need to act fast”

Not needing to talk as I already know what to do, I move to check the vitals of the patient while Nurse Aileen helps Dr. Annette to get ready and gets ready for the surgery herself.

I note that everything else is in place for the surgery. They must have pondered if they would have managed to perform the surgery without me. They don’t really like to interrupt my classes unless it is absolutely necessary.

Nurse Aileen and Doctor Annette are the only staff currently working at the Infirmary. Nurse Aileen was already the nurse at the old Academy, being a vampire back then, and decided to stay with us afterward.

Unfortunately, it is not very easy to have more personnel to come to work here. There is a lack of time for them to train other people and Medical degrees are quite hard to obtain when most supernaturals don’t even exist to the outside world. I am one of those people who wishes to apply but can’t.

Kiki is looking pale and sweating quite a lot. She is a werewolf but even her improved healing and resistance to pain is not enough to get her through this unscathed. I know this isn’t her first child, so she knows what she is in for. However, the complications are quite serious.

Even with my limited knowledge on medicine, I can tell she needs a blood transfusion. I worry about the state of the baby too.

Dr. Annette gives me permission to apply the pre-prepared anesthesia to the patient and I do so, chanting a silent prayer to protect her and the baby.

I remain responsible for the monitoring of the patient during the surgery. I know the procedure is not long at all, but the stress of the situation makes it seem so. Adrenaline is pumping my veins as I administer drugs and set up a blood transfusion set, all the while praying to God to keep this mother and child alive long enough for us to save them.

I am aware of the importance of this birth too.

It is common knowledge nowadays that fewer and fewer werewolves are being born. That is most likely due to the fact that the younger generation of werewolves are simply not finding any mates and without mates, it’s not possible for them to conceive.

Also, since the incident that turned all vampires back into humans, no new werewolves were ever turned. The ability to do such a thing has simply disappeared along with the existence of vampires. I think Lady Naiya was one of the last werewolves to be turned.

It is hard to admit to such a thing, but the werewolf species is on the brink of extinction, and this is very likely one of the last werewolves to be born.

So, he has to survive. They both do.

After what felt like an eternity, Dr. Annette and Nurse Aileen manage to remove the baby from the mother’s womb, but he is not breathing.

Without even thinking, I reach out to take the baby and Dr. Annette trusts me enough that she hands him over to me.

Immediately, I feel my healing magic flow through the tips of my fingers as I try to revive the little creature in my arms. He is still bloodied but I ignore it as I rub my fingers on his chest.

“Breathe...” I plead, almost in a whisper as I continue to use my magic on the baby. “Breathe... Please...”

I press the full length of my hand to his chest and the warmness of my magic fills my chest and flows towards my hands, enveloping the baby in a warm light that seems to consume him for a second.

When the light fades, my heart stops when I hear a slight gasp and then a thundering baby cry echoes throughout the room.

We all take a sigh with relief, and I hand the baby over to Nurse Aileen so she can clean him.

My focus shifts to Kiki as she is not waking up from the temporary anesthesia and is still losing too much blood. Dr. Annette is still working on closing her up, so I press my hands to her chest to try to give her enough strength to surpass this.

“Your baby’s ok” I tell her, hoping she will hear me. “You have to be ok too. Your family is waiting for you”

I focus on my magic and try to sense what is wrong. Quickly enough, I notice that her placenta has ruptured and that is why she is losing so much blood. I know Dr. Annette has removed it all now and is controlling the bleeding but the amount of blood she has already lost is substantial.

The blood transfusion won’t be quick enough to help her but I’m afraid I won’t be able to help her much either. All I can do is help Dr. Annette to stop the bleeding and help her healing process go faster.

But she is so weak already...

Please, God, save this person... Help her recover so she can meet her child. Help me realize what I need to do to help her...

She finally stops bleeding, and her breathing slows down but I still press my hands on her chest, continuously infusing my magic on her. I am afraid that if I stop, she won’t make it.

After Dr. Annette finishes the surgery, she accesses the baby and the mother, declaring them both stable.

Kiki is still asleep, but Dr. Annette assures me she is merely resting and will wake up soon. I still have much to learn to be able to fully assess a patient like Dr. Annette.

Feeling exhausted, I sit on the ground while Nurse Aileen goes to talk to the father and present him with his new child.

I guess I used too much magic. I feel myself start to drift off to sleep while I rest on the cold floor. But I manage to perk up when Dr. Annette comes sit down next to me.

“You did well, Alana” She tells me, presenting me with a gentle smile after removing her mask.

“You really think so?” I ask, feeling self-conscious. If it weren’t for my powers, I wouldn’t have been able to help much at all. I don’t want to depend completely on my magic if I want to become a doctor one day.

“Of course” Dr. Annette says. “I’m sorry we had to interrupt your classes for this, but this is a good opportunity for me to tell you something”

I look curiously at her, waiting for her to tell me what it is.

“I have managed to reach the director from my university” She says. “I have told him about your talents and how you would become a great asset on their school and a bright doctor in the future”

I stare at her in awe as she says this.

“He decided to agree to take you in even if you don’t have all the required documentation” She says and I feel my heart ready to explode. “You may start frequenting the university at the start of the next semester”

I can’t keep my excitement in check anymore. I jump up in glee and let out a shout of contentment. Then, the excitement fades and gives way to existential dread.

“What if I’m not good enough?” I mumble. “They’ll be disappointed and surely will revoke my candidature!” I gasp. “What if I mess up and they find I’m only special because I can heal people with my magic?”

I feel two gentle hands on my shoulders and find myself face to face with Dr. Annette as she looks at me with an understanding look.

“You will do fine” She tells me. “I have faith in you. You are strong and determined and most important of all, you care about your patients and are willing to learn whatever is needed to care for them”

“Thank you, Doc...” I say. “But I’m not so sure... Maybe I need some more time to prepare to enter university”

“Nonsense” She says and sighs. “Have I ever told you why I decided to become a doctor?”

“Hum... No, I don’t think so...” I say.

“Well, you know I used to be a vampire, right?” She starts. “Although I wasn’t a vampire for long, it was enough for me to cause quite a mess...”

I can tell this story is not easy for her to tell so I listen quietly.

“I was out of control” She continues. “It happened during the Calamity when the world was still plagued by the undead. I was just a teenager living on my own in one of the few remaining cities”

“How were you turned?” I ask when I notice she is hesitating to continue the story.

“A man, he... I found him in an alley alone and... He was hurt, so I wanted to help him. But when I came closer to him, he suddenly grabbed me and bit me on my neck” She explains, quite nonchalantly.

I am shocked to hear this. She didn’t even get a warning for what happened to her.

“I didn’t know who he was at the time, and I didn’t have time to ask anything before he vanished right before my eyes” She continues. “It was only later that I realized that he was my mate”

“Your mate?” I ask, still shocked.

She simply nods and continues. “After he left, I was so confused and lost... And I suddenly felt so thirsty...”

I gulp, guessing what happened next.

“I went on a rampage over the whole city” She says. “I don’t know how many people I sucked dry before I collapsed. When I woke up, I was human again, but I never forgave myself for all the people I brutally murdered. It was a good thing all vampires were turned back only a few hours after I was turned. If that hadn’t happened, I would have killed many more...”

“You couldn’t control yourself” I tell her, trying to comfort her. “I learned that newly turned vampires have an increased need for fresh blood”

She smiles at me, her freckles growing more visible.

“It’s alright” She says. “That all happened a long time ago and I have made my peace with it. The point of this whole story is to say that that is why I decided to become a doctor. I wanted to make up for all the people I killed, so I started saving lives instead”

“And you became quite good at it” I compliment her sincerely.

She chuckles at my compliment and I smile, glad that I made her lighten up after that dreadful story. Dr. Annette is an amazing person and my role model.

“Anyway, what I meant to say with all this is that you can become a good doctor too” She says. “As long as your heart is in the right place and you manage to work hard for it, which I know you will”

“I will work super hard” I say and she smiles, pulling me closer for a hug.

“You will do great” She encourages. “Now, let's go check on this new mother. It’s time for her to wake up and meet her baby”

I nod and we get right back to work. She goes to check on Kiki and I go to see how the baby is doing, all the while thinking about Dr. Annette’s story.

How horrible it must have been to be turned into something completely different, with no idea of what is happening to her and then waking up only to find out she killed so many people... I can’t even imagine what she went through.