Live With Your Blood || LingOrm

Chapter 43: Human Transformation

Professor Satorn's lab was a flurry of tension, everyone anxiously moving around Ling's unconscious form. She lay on the examination table, her face pale and still, her breathing almost imperceptible. Normally, they would know exactly what to do, but this time every method they'd tried had failed. Ling's eyes remained shut, her body still as if frozen in time.

Bow placed her fingers on Ling's pulse and then over her heart, frowning deeply. "It's strange," she muttered, "Her body system... it's behaving like a human. We need to get her to the hospital, or she won't make it."

Gulf tightened his grip on Ling's hand, his voice laced with dread. "And what are we supposed to say? That she was shot in some forest battle? This could open up a whole police investigation."

Mint turned to Professor Satorn, desperation creeping into her voice. "Professor, you must know some vampire doctor friends who could help us out, maybe they can keep this issue under wraps?"

Professor Satorn shook his head. "Blood is the greatest weakness of vampires. No vampire in their right mind would willingly work in a hospital where blood surrounds them constantly."

Bow's voice grew strained as she glanced at Ling. "We're running out of time, Prof. Ling's condition keeps deteriorating, and she's not healing on her own anymore."

The professor's eyes darted to the clock before landing back on Gulf. "Where's Saint? Is he close?"

At that moment, the lab door swung open, revealing Coach Saint, sweating and slightly disheveled, supporting Orm with an arm around his shoulders. Orm's head lolled slightly and her eyes fluttered.

"What have you done to her?" Bow asked before she and Mint immediately moved to help, taking Orm from Saint.

Saint exhaled in relief. "I don't have hypnosis ability, so I slipped a sleeping pill into her drink. It was the only way."

Gulf gave Saint a supportive pat on the shoulder. "You did good, Saint. Professor, it's time—we're running out of options."

Professor Satorn rolled a stretcher next to Ling and motioned Bow and Mint to lay Orm down beside her. He quickly prepared the necessary medical instruments, laying out tubes and syringes with practiced hands. "I think extracting 350 milliliters of Orm's blood will be enough," he said.

"I hope the serum containing Ling's blood that we secretly gave to Orm last time can help her antibodies return to normal," Gulf said with a hopeful expression.

Professor Satorn inserted a needle into Orm's arm with utmost precision, carefully drawing the blood into a sterile bag as the others looked on tensely. He then attached a transfusion line from the bag to Ling, who lay almost lifeless, her pallor unnervingly human.

The blood flowed gradually into Ling, and a hush fell over the room as they watched for any sign of change. Everyone was hoping for a miracle to happen.

"That serum in Orm's blood... it could restore Ling's body to normal, right?" Gulf's voice was barely above a whisper, his tone wavering with hope.

Professor Satorn nodded, his expression serious. "If this works, Ling's immune response should recognize Orm's antibodies as its own. But it also means," he added, a note of sorrow entering his voice, "that Ling's body may fully adapt to a human state. She may lose her vampiric strength... for good."

Bow's face was a mixture of relief and sadness as he glanced at the pale Ling. "If this means she'll live, then it's a sacrifice we're willing to make."

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Orm blinked her eyes open, adjusting to the dim, sterile glow of fluorescent lights above. The room was cold, lined with shelves of glass tubes, vials, and equipment. She looked around in confusion, noting the medical setup around her and realizing she was lying on a stretcher. The quiet hum of machines filled the room, their blinking lights casting shadows that danced eerily on the walls.