Blueblood: A Dark Southern Aristocracy - 31. A Near Loss Opens Eyes

As I said in the beginning when we saw Stan and Mark were close, it was none of our business. The relationship was working for them. Should we have stirred the pot? “Should we have done that?” I asked Colin after we disconnected the computer link.

Colin grinned. “Those two apparently have been dancing around each other for years. They need to stop dancing. Either say something or move on.” He hugged me closer in the chair we shared. “Remember when you asked me why I trusted you in the beginning? I said I had a feeling?” He pointed to the screen that now had the screen saver on now. “I don’t see how anyone could have missed that! But they did. Mark is afraid to upset Stan because of something in Stan’s past that made Stan mentally fragile. Stan, whose confidence is only behind a computer screen, his nose was so far into books he couldn’t see what’s right in front of him.” He chuckled. “Stan was right, he is too smart…about that.”

“Maybe he is afraid to see it.” I wondered.

Colin nodded. “I think so. Stan is afraid of rejection, but he didn’t object because he was straight, no, but afraid Mark is straight and would hate him if he knew the truth.”

“I just know nobody should be alone.” I shrugged. “I just hope we’re not pushing them into something they’ll regret.”

Colin chuckled. “Regret love and being loved? I don’t think so.”

Even with Stan’s amazing program narrowing down the search, there were a few names that were flagged. We spent the next few nights searching the areas that were hot spots in Charleston. The problem was we didn’t know what to look for. I told Colin this vampire had been around much longer than he had been and knew to cover his tracks well. Charleston was old but very popular. There were the night clubs and restaurants that were busy. People didn’t feel unsafe when they walked the streets at night. As loathe as I am to admit it, we had neighborhoods that were…less comforting at night.

“We’re not thinking like a vampire,” Colin concluded one night as we walked through a rough part of town. “As violent as some of these gang members and common criminals are…there are a lot of deaths because of disputes and whatever.”

“So, what are we not looking for?” I asked.

“Who is the person undocumented that no one would miss?” Colin asked. “It’s the same in Manhattan. The drunk in the alleys, the drug users…but one group of people is notorious about coming in and leaving without anyone knowing. One of them could disappear and no one would notice.”

I nodded. “The Homeless.” I held up a tablet I was using. “But these hot spots don’t show the areas where the homeless usually stay in Charleston.”

Colin smiled. “But!” He said dramatically. “…don't forget what a homeless person does.”

I shrugged. “They panhandle.” I thought about it more. “And look through garbage cans.”

Colin nodded. “Look at these hot spots. They are near restaurants and other businesses. They might not be popular restaurants or even in the trendy places in the better parts of town, but they’re there. A homeless person would frequent the area in hunt of food, cans and whatever they can find.”

“The other problem is you can’t sense a vampire until he’s near you.” I frowned. “We need Alex.”

“We’ll call him,” Colin said grimly. “The thing is…this vampire would have to be aware that he can’t just bite and let someone go. The victim would become a vampire if allowed to live. This new vampire has to feed, thus creating another one would be an additional problem for them. If he did turn another person, they would also be feeding on others, diminishing his own food supplies.”

“But you were one, too,” I said. “Then Gabriella.”

Colin nodded. “But we were no threat here. We fed on the game and the occasional livestock. Not people.”

“And Brett?”

“You were right. We don’t know that Brett was turned by this vampire. There were other towns. It could have been any one of those.” Colin said. “There are far more vampires than George and I even imagined.”

“So, we give up for now?”

Colin frowned. “I don’t see any other choice.”

I grinned. “We can at least find out what’s happening between Mark and Stan!”

We flew back to Manhattan. Alex was doing well locating other vampires in Manhattan. His talent for tracking and the ability to sniff them out was paying off. Things between Gabriella and Alex were moving forward and they were a couple, but Stan had not spoken with Mark yet. He was more conscious of Mark when Mark was around watching Mark more, telling me he was thinking about it, but lacked the courage to say anything yet. I just let it go. When Stan got the courage to say something, he would.

Shelly, Chuck, and Mark were patrolling at night. They did fieldwork during the day, conducting interviews with the families of the missing, talking with the families of the unexplained deaths. Alex had managed to ferret out four new vampires. These vampires were the hunter kind and nothing human left and we ended them. We tripled our patrols when Colin and I were in Manhattan. Mark and Alex were a team, Shelly and Chuck were a team and Colin and I were a team. Those shows on TV only showed you the action on the cop shows. That made you watch the program, but it was grueling with all the downtime when patrolling. George was working on a device that could pick up the smell of a vampire. The problem was it picked up George, Alex, Colin, Gabriella, Burke and me as well. Only Alex seemed to be able to smell a difference between a serum taking vampire and a real vampire.

One night, Colin and I were wrapping it up for the night. We were on our way back to VUN when we got a call.

Looking at my phone, I saw Alex come up on the ID. “Hi, Alex.”

“Mark was attacked!” Alex said in a hurry. “He’s hurt really badly. Who do I call? 911?”

“He wasn’t bitten, was he?” I asked feeling dread in my gut.

“No! This was a biker guy. He is a vampire, but a recent turn. The disflavor kept Mark from getting bitten, but he was hurt in the struggle.”

I looked at Colin. “Stan has the ability to locate them by the phone signal?”

Colin nodded. “But under no circumstances is he to go to a regular hospital! I’ll call George. He’s a walking trauma unit.” He said opening his phone and called George.

“How bad is Mark?” I asked.

“Very,” Alex said. “He could bleed to death or even grow worse! He could die!”

“We’ll be there!” I said to the phone. “Don’t tell Stan!”

There was a pause. “Because they are involved?” Mark had told Colin and me about how he felt about Stan. Stan had not even told Mark how he felt toward Mark, but Alex knew?

Caught off guard, I just let it slide. “They’re close friends. It could be a problem for Stan to deal with it. Did you get the vampire?”

“He got away!” Alex said nearly hopelessly.

“We’ll get him later!” Using my tablet I got their exact location. “We’re on our way. I’ll call Shelly and Chuck.”

It was a good thing I did, Shelly and Chuck weren’t far away from them. We had a little drive, but with it being night there wasn’t too much traffic.

“George should be there,” Colin told me.

When we arrived, Shelly was confronting a couple of New York Police.

“What’s going on?” One officer demanded walking toward where Mark was lying as he bled.

Shelly pulled her badge out. Chuck got his badge out as well. “FBI. Agent Vargas and this is Agent Slaughter. This man…” she pointed to Mark. “…was confronting a possible contagion spreading terrorist. He’s an agent, too. If you don’t want to be contaminated, let those that know what to do, do their job.” The police saw the badges and heard contagion and backed away.

That’s when George came up in a van along with two others and hurried over to Mark.

“He needs a hospital,” Alex said again to us, but mostly George.

“Alex, please,” George said trying to work. “I’ve been a practicing doctor for over sixty years in one form or another. Give me a moment.” He had everything needed. He got the IV going and stabilized Mark and had the two with him load him on a gurney and in the van in less than ten minutes. “We’re taking him to VUN. The disflavor in his system would cause alarms if they don’t know what it is in a regular hospital.”

“Will he be okay?” I asked.

“I need my lab and I need more time,” George said. “I’ll get him back and see.”

“We’re right behind you. Does Stan know?” Colin asked.

George frowned. “I don’t think he knows its Mark, but he knows there was trouble. He needs to know.” He looked at us. “He needs to be told gently.” He said it knowing telling Stan was not like telling a professional partner. There were other emotions involved.

Again, George seemed to know about Mark and Stan being in a potential relationship also!

“Does everyone know they’re in love, but Stan?” I groaned. “We’ll tell Stan,” I said pulling Colin toward the car.

We drove quickly back to the VUN and went up to the room the agents were using. Stan stood from the computer and looked concerned as we came in.

“Who was hurt?” He asked fearing who it might be.

“Mark is being treated,” I answered. “George is with him now. He was alive when I saw him last, but is being cared for now.”

Now, Stan sat hard. “Mark?” He said in a near whisper. “George is bringing him here.”

“George is a very, very good doctor,” Colin assured coming over to Stan. “There is no better doctor I know of.” He put a hand on Stan’s shoulder.

Stan nodded as he processed what he’d been told. “But he…he wasn’t…” He looked at me. “Was he bitten?”

I smiled and shook my head. “No.” I came over and took Stan’s arm. “We’ll go to the lab and wait.”

These few hours were agonizing for me. I could only imagine what Stan was feeling. He sat very still. That was very unnerving to me. It wasn’t natural. He wasn’t pacing or looking anxiously at the door of the lab where George was working. In many ways, he seemed not to be there except in body. His eyes were vacant. I was suspecting it was shocking. Colin drank coffee. I never drank coffee at night, but I would have to be up a few hours more, so I did.

At last the doors opened and George came out with a grim smile. He’d even put on a fresh scrub shirt so Stan wouldn’t see blood. “Okay. He’s alive. The next twenty-four hours will tell the tale. He has a pretty bad head trauma and lacerations. He was stabbed with a pretty nasty knife. I’ve stopped the bleeding. We just have to wait. He’s in the process of waking up as I’ve talked to him just before coming out here.”

Stan nodded and got up, but he was heading back toward the elevator. “I’ll be with the computer.”

George looked surprised at me and Colin. He looked at Stan. “Don’t you want to see him?” George asked. “This isn’t a regular hospital. I’m not restricting visitation as they do. Aren’t you going to at least see him?”

Stan stopped but didn’t turn around. “Why?”

“Because he loves you,” George said simply stated the obvious to him. “Your presence here could be the key to helping him recover faster. He needs his loved ones here. That's you.”

Stan turned. “Who told you that?” It was almost an accusation.

George looked surprised again. “No one told me. It was so obvious! The very first day, I saw it. So did everyone else. You love him, don’t you?”

Stan wavered a little. “I do, but I never even told him!” He said angrily pointing toward Mark. “How can I do it now? Will he hear me?”

George came over to Stan. “I know he will.” He put an arm around Stan’s shoulder. “A person, even in a coma can hear. He’s not, he’s regaining consciousness. He loves you, Stan. I know you love him. I wasn’t kidding. You being there will make a difference.” George looked at Colin and me. “You saw it, didn’t you?”

“Bigger than a billboard.” I nodded.

Colin nodded. “I will even tell you, though I didn’t want to because I wanted you two to talk first. Mark is in love with you. He said so. He was worried about you and whether you could handle it. Something in your past was telling him to take it slow. He loves you as is in, he's in love with you.”

Stan was now crying. “I didn’t know.” He shrugged. “I just thought he was being a friend when he helped me out.”

“That’s what love is,” I said getting up. “Colin and I are best friends. We’re married, but we are friends first. The fact that Mark was your friend is important, but it doesn’t have to stop there. Two souls touching in love is so much more!” I looked at his face as he was crying softly. “Is the fact that he’s a man, bother you?”

Stan was still having trouble with the idea until I asked if it bothered that Mark was a man that loved him. “What!? No! But I never…you’ve seen him! He’s gorgeous! I never thought he could feel something for me! He was a jock! Jocks don’t like me.”

“Well, this one does!” I said with a sad smile.

“You can speculate all you want,” George said pushing Stan slowly to the door of the lab. “But, Mark needs you, Stan. Now.”

Stan nodded. “Right, right.” He was moving on his own now. “I’ll just…sit there.”

“And talk to him,” George said again. “Tell him what he means to you. If you’re going to be with him, let him know you’re there! Don’t just sit!”

Stan looked uncertain about going in.

I took Stan’s hand. “I’ll go with you if you like.”

Stan nodded squeezing my hand. “Please.”

Going in the lab, George had set it up for doing the surgery, but Mark was still on the table where he’d been worked on. It was not a bed but was larger than most operating room beds hospitals used. There were IV tubes and wires going to monitors that showed all his vital signs. A portion of his dark hair had been shaved, but there was a bandage over that. Bruising was now seen on his face. I looked for a chair for Stan to sit in. I stood off to the side, ready to be there if Stan needed me.

Stan took a deep breath and walked over to his bedside. “Oh, Mark…I am so sorry.” He took Mark’s right hand. “I can’t lose you, Mark. I love you! Don’t leave me.” He said as the tears came now freer. “No, that’s not enough. It’s not the whole truth.” He shook his head. “I’m in love with you, Mark. I’ll die if you don’t get better.” He started sobbing a little more. “I was an idiot. You loved me and I didn’t see it? Everyone else saw it, but me! I may have a good IQ, but I’m stupid when it comes to feelings. You’re my best friend, Mark. I love you. I am in love with you! I want to be with you as long as we live. Don’t leave me.” He pleaded kissing the fingers of Mark’s right hand. “Please get better. I promise to love you back. Please give me a chance. Give us a chance.” He sat holding the hand next to his heart and rested his head on the side of the bed.

I grinned as Mark’s head moved slightly. “Do you mean it?” Mark’s voice came thick, rough and scratchy, but I heard it. So, did Stan.

Stan jumped up. “You’re awake!”

Mark tried a weak smile. “Barely, did you mean it?”

“Yes! I mean it!” Stan declared as now there were tears of joy. “I love you, Mark.” He said leaning over kissing Mark gently on the lips. “I love you.”

Mark nodded slightly but smiled. “I love you, too.” He lifted the hand that Stan had and wiped some of the tears with a finger. “It’ll be okay. You’ll see.”

Stan nodded, kissing the fingers again. “I’ll be right here. I won’t leave you, I swear.” He reached up and smoothed some hair on Mark’s forehead. “But you need to rest. You’ve taken care of me all this time, now I’m taking care of you.” He said kissing the fingers again. “I’ll be here.” He assured. “You just rest.”

Mark nodded and drifted off to sleep again.

I walked over touching Stan’s shoulder. “I’ll go see my husband if you don’t mind.” I patted his shoulder. “I think you’re good.”

Stan nodded, but kissed the fingers again, content to wait.