Raven Savage.....

“Thank you,” he said sincerely. He walked off across the room, his head held low, his whole body language looking like that of someone who had just been thrown the entire weight of the world’s problems on his shoulders. Tabitha looked at him, only her eyes again expressing her immense sadness.

Tabitha tried to return the smiles and greetings of the various patients and colleagues she met on her way to the hospital director’s office. The plan she was formulating was crazy of course but there was no other choice. Lives were at stake here and if there was a slight chance she could save them, then by all means she would do exactly that. She composed herself as she neared her destination. Straightening her coat she took a deep breath, knocked once and opened the door.

The man inside looked up as she closed the door and their eyes clashed, hers a stunning green and his, a subtle grey. His eyes always seemed to have a mischievous twinkle, like he was up to something and one of these days they would all soon find out. She noticed that he had been running his hand through his chestnut brown hair again because it was all shaggy, a fond characteristic she liked of him. Even before he had turned her, she had always been attracted to him. They had married just a couple of months after the ‘embrace’. That had been almost a century ago although Alistair was much older than that. They had come to this town five years ago and had fit right in at the hospital as they had both been doctors some time in their past. Tabitha knew though that it would be time to pack up shop soon.

“You look worn out,” Alistair said. He got up and motioned her into his outstretched arms. He kissed the top of her head as she fit comfortably below his chin, sighing contentedly. “Tell me all about it,” he soothed.

“This world is full of crap,” she said. “I just practically had to tell a man out there that he had to choose between his wife and child because we cannot save them both. You should have seen the way he looked at me Alistair, like his whole world had just ended. He looked so miserable.” She dropped into the sofa in his office, exasperated. “I have never seen someone lose all hope of life like that.”

Alistair leaned back on the edge of his desk. He knew his wife too well and could read her thoughts like an open book. There was only one thing she wanted to do. “We can’t do it Tabs,” he said. “She’s pregnant.”

“I know,” Tabitha said, getting up and starting to pace. “But it’s the only way we can help her. She will lose a lot of blood once she goes into labour and I’m not sure she’s going to make it. If I can just slip her some of my blood then……”

Alistair shook his head, frowning. “It’s too dangerous. We do not know how it might affect the baby.”

“But we have to try something Alistair!” she cried. “We can’t just stand by and do nothing when we have the power to save her. She’s no more different than the others.”

“She is different, she’s pregnant. And you yourself said she could die during the actual pregnancy. That means you wouldn’t just be injecting your blood in her system, you would actually have to turn her to bring her back and I don’t have to remind you that that is a mistake we can’t afford to make.” He sighed deeply at her dejected look. He tried to hold her but she slapped away his hand, annoyed that he hadn’t seen her side of things. “Honey, I know you’re upset but be reasonable. We can’t help everybody out there. There are times when we just have to let go.”

“Fine,” she said. “But when all this is over, you’re the one who’s gonna have to go there and tell her husband why we couldn’t save his wife.” With that, she yanked the door open and stalked off down the hall.

Mr. Petersen looked at the cute tiny baby on the other side of the glass. He could see, without a doubt, that she was the most beautiful baby in the entire room. Just like her mother, he thought. He fought to control the tears that were on the cusp of flowing down his face.

Dr. Savage had returned earlier to break the bad news; his wife had died immediately after giving birth to the child. He had wept openly, unashamed as to who might be watching. He had lost his wife, his best friend and on the one hand had gained a daughter. But how cruel was nature to give him one gift and take the other away?

 

Why couldn’t he have both? How was he supposed to take care of everything and raise a child at the same time without his beloved Elaine? He had depended on her for everything, just as she had depended on him to take care of her but he had failed miserably and now she was gone. He would no longer wake up to her smiling face or hear her throwing curses at him because he trudged mud into the house. How on earth was he supposed to go on like this? His eyes filled with tears as he looked at his daughter again, her tiny eyes shut tight, oblivious to the pain being felt by her father. He held his hand to the glass and whispered, “I am sorry child, forgive me.”

 

Two days later, Tabitha was seated in the cafeteria, finishing off her milk and cookies while reading the funny papers. A nurse approached her with a letter in her hand.

 

“Dr. Savage?” she said.

 

“Oh hi Stella,” Tabitha answered. “How are you doing?”

 

“I’m fine thank you. Um a man just left this for you at the reception. He said he was a friend of someone called Mr. Petersen.”

 

A frown crossed Tabitha’s face as she took the letter. “Oh, okay. Thank you.” She tore the envelope open, wondering why a sudden feeling of dread came over her. Her feelings turned to horror when she read the letter. She read it through two more times before it sunk in; Mr. Petersen had committed suicide.

Alistair looked at his wife after he read the letter. “You realize this is a complication we did not need.”

 

“I know,” Tabitha said. “But we can’t do anything about it now, what’s done is done.”

 

“Tabs, there’s a lot more to this than you think. This is a human baby we’re talking about.”

“She has no one else Alistair. We are the only ones she has left.”

 

“Look I’m sure if we just wait and ask around, some relative is bound to come out of the closet and claim her. Frankly, it would be the best thing for everyone involved.”

 

“No,” Tabitha said firmly. “The letter clearly states that he wanted me, us to raise the child. Either there are no relatives or he doesn’t trust them enough to leave his daughter with.”

 

“Don’t be naïve. He didn’t know about us,” he said. “I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have been so quick to hand his daughter to the beautiful doctor if he had known she was a vampire. There are plenty of reasons why we can’t adopt her and you know them very well.”

 

“So what, that’s it? You’re just going to give up?”

 

“I never thought about giving in,” he said. “Social services can handle her case. We’ve done all we can for her.” He picked up the phone and started dialing. At super speed, Tabitha grabbed it from him, causing him to blink at her persistence. She had never before questioned his judgment, at least not in this way.

 

“I won’t let you do this!” She cried. “I won’t let you take her away from me.”

 

“Give me the phone Tabitha,” he said softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

 

She shook her head. I’m begging you Alistair, please don’t this.”

 

It was now his turn to move at that inhuman speed, pinning her to the wall as he bared his fangs at her. “You would jeopardize everything we have here because of her?” he asked.

She matched his gaze, not fazed by his aggression as she knew he would not harm her. “Now who’s being naïve?” she asked. “We’ve been doing that ever since we started using our blood to heal our patients and they were far less deserving than the child out there.”