“What do you mean, in most cases?”
“Given that we’re stronger and faster and all, it may take more than a single gunshot or stabbing.”
“So what you’re saying is the person doing the killing has to use a bit more effort and ingenuity?”
“And be faster.Lots faster.”Rhyne chuckled.“You’d be shocked how fast we can move.”
“Well, how are you against modern day medicine?”
The question confounded him for a moment.Seeing Rhyne’s confusion, Norris smiled and nodded as he indicated the hospital behind him.“In there we got over a thousand ways to kill a person.Or, in this case, a vampire.You know nothing about what’s available, do you?”
Rhyne had to admit the man was correct.“During my lifetime, medicine has undergone drastic changes.The only thing that’s remained constant is that there’s always blood available.That’s all we care about.”
Reaching out, Norris patted him on the arm.“Go home, Rhyne.I’m staying here to finish my shift, but I’ll surely keep my eyes and ears open just in case Welsh or Nash show up.Better yet, you got my phone number.If they’re gone by the time you get home, call me.I can spend the night here if I have to.”
“Are you sure?”
“Positive.”
“What about Grace?I don’t have her phone number, but she has mine.”
“Does Welsh know what type of car she drives?”Norris inquired.
Rhyne snorted.“I don’t know what type of car she drives, either.”
“Well, I don’t have her phone number, either, but I do know she drives a dark red Eagle.Like candy apple red.”
“Lot of good that’ll do me, since I can tell colors anymore.”
Norris sighed.“Tell you what.I’ll stay here until she arrives in the morning for work.I’ll leave a note over in admissions, and I’ll send her an email telling her to get in touch with me ASAP.I’ll tell her it’s a Code Blue so she knows it’s an emergency, okay?”
“Are you sure you’re going to be safe?”Rhyne insisted.
“If you can’t be safe in a hospital, what’s left?”Norris quipped.“I’ll also arm myself with a couple of things, just in case.”
Patting the man’s back, Rhyne nodded.“All right.But do this.Call me in the morning after you let Grace know what’s up.Please.”
“I will,” Norris promised.“I’ll call you either way.”
Rhyne hesitated.“Either way?”
“Whether or not I was able to tell her,” Norris clarified.
The man’s oath gave Rhyne a sense of relief.“Appreciate it, Norris.Thanks.”He turned to leave when he stumbled slightly.His left foot slid off the edge of the curb, and he almost fell.Norris’s last-second grab prevented him from taking a header.
“Hey, man!You all right?What’s wrong?”
Grimacing, Rhyne confessed.“My body’s reminding me I haven’t had my daily intake today yet.”
The concern on Norris’s face was genuine.“Are you going to be able to make it home okay?”
“Yeah.I’ll make it.”
Releasing him, Norris took a step back and held up a finger.“Hold on.Wait right there.”Almost as an afterthought, he pointed to the curb.“Sit down before you fall down again.”
Doing as he was told, Rhyne watched the young man disappear inside the hospital.While he waited, he took a deep breath, noting the usual smells of gas fumes and the rotting garbage in the dumpster at the far end of the parking lot.He had no way of knowing how long the lab tech was gone, and that bothered him since he was good at estimating time.
The crack of a door opening alerted him to someone exiting via the emergency room entrance.Norris hurried over to him.
