Endless

The Downside to Being a Vampire | Ryan

Vince and I walked into the hospital in silence. Maybe I was an idiot to let a vampire in, but Vince didn't really seem all that hungry. In fact, the moment we entered the lobby, he dropped into a chair and flopped open a newspaper. He didn't breathe. Luckily, we weren't sharing the lobby with accident or shooting victims. I stopped and watched him.

"See something interesting?" I asked.

Vince's grip on the paper tightened. "This is stupid. I'll just go get food the normal way."

"But this is much easier for you."

"Not safe," he said, nervously checking around him. "I was a cop in this precinct. People here knew me."

"We came all this way. Let's at least try."

"I was hoping for a faster employee turnover."

I glimpsed a female doctor about the same time as we caught her attention. Dr. Hartley was a nice woman. Pretty. From what I'd been told, she had a wonderful bedside manner. She walked over, folding her arms. I felt her sadness and pain right through the buzzing coming from the rest of the hospital. It was numbing, crushing. How did she manage to get up every day?

"Morning," she said, smiling brightly, defiant to it all. That impressed me. "What do we have here?"

I glanced in Vince's direction. From the horrified vibes coming my way, he obviously knew the pretty doctor. He'd sunken even deeper in his seat, hiding more of himself behind the paper.

"He's anemic," I said. "Needs a transfusion, but he's afraid of needles."

Vince slid off his chair and marched back outside, making damn sure to keep his head down. He flipped up his jacket's collar to hide more of his face.

"Walks well for an anemic needing a transfusion," she said, lifting an eyebrow.

"Titanic willpower."

She gazed out through the glass doors. Vince stood there waiting for me. His hands were thrust deep into his pockets, and his head hung. Her pain shot up by leaps and bounds—so intense I almost experienced it myself.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

She shook herself. "Oh, yes. Yes." The bright smile returned, but her pain only settled back slightly. "He reminds me of someone I once...knew." Her gaze went back to Vince. "It...it's sort of like seeing a ghost. I know I should stop looking, but..."

Vince could probably hear us. His shoulders bunched up as if he'd been burned, then he walked out of sight. Dr. Hartley's posture sagged and she released a sad little laugh. "Sorry. You must think I'm insane."

No, not really. Obviously, Dr. Hartley knew Vince. He had definitely recognized her.

"No," I said, "similar things have happened to me." Although granted, the people haunting me usually were alive. "Let me go talk to him. Have a good day." I gave her a reassuring smile, then left her standing there in the lobby.

I had to walk three blocks before Vince stepped out of an alleyway ahead of me.

"Thanks for your offer," he said, "but I've gotten along just fine so far."

"Who is she?"

"No one." He started to walk away again.

I followed, trying my best to ignore the pain my body picked up from him. It was hard to do when it more than rivaled Dr. Hartley's. "Right. She was pretty torn up about seeing you."

"Like I said, it was a bad idea." His jaw clenched. "She's my wife. Or was. She married someone else three years after I died."

I winced. "I'm sorry."

"You know what they say. Being a vampire sucks." The smile he flashed my way wasn't real.

"Why did you let me take you to the hospital if you knew she'd be there?"

His fake smile dropped away. "Fucked if I know. Maybe I wanted a glimpse of her close up. Or maybe I thought she wasn't there today. Or..." He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. "One thing's for sure. I didn't expect her to walk right up to me."

Vince wasn't the only one risking a lot for a woman.

"So you're not going back there, are you?" I asked.

He shook his head. "Can't risk her spotting me again. I know her. At some point she'd walk up to me, trying to prove to herself that she's seeing things. And then, I'd have destroyed her life all over again."

"I'm truly sorry. I didn't know."

"It's okay," Vince said, patting my shoulder. "You couldn't have. You weren't here when I was alive. I better go get something for lunch. Give me your number, so I can call you when I'm done."

I recited my number and he keyed it into his phone.

Vince glanced back toward the hospital one more time as he returned his phone to his pocket. "Everything happens for a reason, right?"

I didn't have an answer to that, but then, he didn't seem to expect one. He released a sad chuckle and drifted into an alley. Once out of sight, he shot off in search of food. I turned back to the hospital.

Better to let everyone think I had no reason to go back home just yet.

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