Queen of My Immortal Heart

Chapter 19: Luke

When the blackness cleared, Luke looked around. They were in a huge living room. It was decorated in a Tuscan style, with beautiful oil paintings on the tan colored walls and expensive rugs covering the gray flag stone floors. The furniture was plush and covered in rich brown leather. A huge fire place took up most of the far wall to the right. A piano and a chess board lined the left wall and large bay windows lined the back wall. A set of French doors, closed now, were next to the piano and led to another room. Probably the dining room, Luke guessed. “I have a spare room he can use upstairs.” Gabriel said, walking into the room from the foyer. Just beyond the door, Luke saw a huge set of stone stairs covered in another expensive carpet runner. Where had he taken Nicole, though? Luke wondered. “Thank you, Gabriel. How’s the Queen?” Ulrik asked, helping Luke to stand up from the chair the other demon had sat him in. He must have been woozy after the tracing and blood loss, because he didn’t even remember being sat in the chair. “I want to see Nicole.” Luke said, steadying himself and taking a step for the door. As soon as he put weight on his leg, he collapsed to the floor as pain shot through him. “Son, you should let the doctor see you first and tend to that wound. Then, you can see her.” Ulrik said, dropping down to Luke’s side and helping him to sit up. “No Father, I have to see her now.” Luke said sternly, but there was an edge of desperation in his voice. Ulrik signed. His son could be so stubborn sometimes. One look into his son's eyes, though, and Ulrik knew exactly why Luke was so desperate. After a pause, he nodded and smiled giving his son a soft pat on the back. “Gabriel, will you please trace Luke upstairs to the Queen’s room?” Ulrik asked, looking up to where he stood by the door. Gabriel moved to help Luke up off the floor. Once he had Luke on his feet, with his weight supported against his side, everything went black again. When his vision cleared, Luke looked around for a moment. They were in a large bedroom, which was just as lavishly decorated as the living room had been. There was a huge dresser on the left wall and a door that led to the private bathroom. On the right wall, another huge stone fireplace. In the center of the back wall stood a huge King size bed with four ceiling high posts carved in the shape of angels. Strange figures for a demon to have on their bed, Luke mused. Two large bay windows lined the bed on each side, the shutters now open to let in the fresh, cool night air. Next to the bed, a tall, slender man in a long white coat stood bent over a tiny form in the large bed. Luke limped over to the bed with Gabriel’s support and peered down at Nicole’s pale face. She looked so fragile and small, barely making a form underneath the large, blue velvet comforter. “Another patient when you‘re done, Dr. Blood-Raine.” Gabriel said, helping Luke sit down on the edge of the bed. The tall man turned around and Luke was surprised to see how young he looked, though that meant nothing with vampires. He was a decent looking man with clear blue eyes, short blond hair, and a strong jaw. He was not very muscular, instead his body was slender and trim. “Ah yes, Mr. Sangre's son. Luke, right? Doctor Christian Blood-Raine at your service.” the man said, offering his hand to Luke. Luke shook his hand and looked at Nicole again. “How is she, Doc?” Luke asked. “That blade did some serious damage,” Dr. Blood-Raine replied looking back to Nicole. “It sank clear down to the bone, fracturing her shoulder. That will mend in her death sleep, but the wound will not. I removed the dagger and stitched the wound, but because the knife was pure silver, it will not heal overnight like any other wound would. It will be a slow process for her just like it is for mortals. The worst part is the amount of blood she lost. If we do not get some in her soon, she will not survive.” he explained as he finished bandaging Nicole’s shoulder, worry heavy in his voice. “Then we need to get blood now. She can drink from me.” Luke said. He moved to get up, but was quickly stopped when pain shot down his leg from his wound. “We have blood on the way,” Dr. Blood-Raine said, resting his hands in Luke’s shoulders to hold him still. “Right now, you need to sit back and let me tend to your wound.” Luke used his arms and good leg to push himself back slowly against the headboard on the other side of the bed. It was a struggle and by the time he sat back against the pillows, his body was drenched in sweat from the effort and the pain. He walked around to Luke’s side of the bed and set down his tools and bag. “You will have to remove your jeans, Luke, so I can clean your wound. I can cut them if you want.” he said, digging in his bag for his scissors. “Just cut them, Doc.” Luke said, resting back against the headboard. He knew he would heal quickly, but the blade Lucard had cut him with was silver too and, as such, the pain was great and it took a little longer to heal. Silver wasn't deadly, like the Hollywood movie producers would have people believe. It just caused a serious allergic reaction and severe pain. Dr. Blood-Raine took out his shears and began to cut up Luke’s good leg to the hip. Then he cut up the other side, carefully peeling the fabric away from Luke’s wound. It still hurt like hell and Luke clenched his jaw until the doctor put the scissors down and had pulled the jeans away. Dr. Blood Rayne looked at the wound and gently poked around the edges, causing Luke to clench his fists to keep from yelling out in pain. “It’s not very deep at all,” he said, standing upright and grabbing a large piece of gauze and pouring iodine on it. “A few stitched will be needed in the middle, but other than that, it just needs to be cleaned and bandaged.” Luke knew this wasn’t going to be pleasant, but his father would kill him if he refused. Plus, he wouldn’t be able to take care of Nicole with a hurt leg. The Doctor pulled on pair of gloves and picked up the, now soaked, gauze. “This is going to sting a little, Luke. Please try not to kick or thrash around.” he said and applied the gauze to Luke’s wound. Luke growled in pain and grit his teeth. It burned like fire on his thigh and he wanted to tear the Doctor in half, even though he was only trying to help. “There, now I want you to drink this while I prepare my needle.” Doctor Blood-Raine said, setting the bloody gauze down and handing Luke a small bottle of whiskey. Luke looked at the bottle, then slowly took it from his hand. It had been a long time since he’d drank whiskey. It was great stuff, but it burned like hell going down. “It will take the edge off the pain and help you relax. I only have to lay about five stitches, but it will be better if you are relaxed anyway.” the Doctor explained. Luke nodded and took a large swig from the bottle. His face twisted as the amber liquid burned a path from his tongue to his belly. “Ah, strong stuff there, Doc.” Luke coughed, handing the bottle back to him. Almost instantly though, he began to feel his body relax and his head swim. He hadn’t eaten anything since the plane trip to Egypt to save Nicole. The whiskey was hitting him hard. Luke barely felt a thing as the doctor laid the five neat stitches in his leg. “There, all done. It looks much better than it did before. You probably won’t even have a scar.” Dr. Blood-Raine said, straightening and setting his tools on the little tray next to his bag on the bedside table. “Thanks Doc. Will you please check on Nicole once more? Her blood hasn’t arrived yet and I’m getting worried.” Luke said, his voice a little slurred as the whiskey sank into his body further. “Of course.” he replied and closed up his bag and walked back around to Nicole. He pulled out his stethoscope and listened carefully to Nicole’s heartbeat. He straightened and looked down at her, a look of worry crossing his face. “What is it, Doctor?” Luke asked, looking from him to Nicole. “Her heartbeat is very weak, Luke. If she doesn’t get blood soon, we will lose her.” he replied sadly. “No,” Luke whispered, his heart twisting painfully in his chest. He stared down at his beloved Nicole and felt tears sting his eyes. They had come too far; he just couldn’t lose her now. “She can drink from me.” Luke said quickly and raised his hand to nick his neck with one of his claws. The doctor stilled his hand with his own. “No Luke. You cannot do that. She needs more then you can offer her. Plus, with your injury, it’s too dangerous.” he said calmly. “I won’t let her die!” Luke shouted and shook off the doctor’s hand. He made a tiny cut to the side of his neck and leaned over Nicole so it was in line with her nose. As she breathed in, her tiny fangs extended into place and Luke pressed them to his neck. He felt her fangs sucking up his blood and felt a little relief. “Not too much, Luke. You can’t take it.” The doctor warned. Luke ignored him and continued to let Nicole drink his blood. “LUKE!” he shouted and tried to pull Luke from her. “NO!” Luke shouted back and pushed him away. “You may be willing to sit back and let her die without blood, but I won’t!” he cried. The doctor and Gabriel took a hold of Luke and pulled him away from Nicole and Gabriel quickly restrained him. Luke struggled to break free of his hold, but in his weakened state from the blood loss and the whiskey, he was no match for the demon. Nicole’s fangs slowly retracted back into place and Luke hung his head. He hadn’t given her enough. They had stopped him before he could give her more. She would die without more and Luke was too weak to fight them in order to give it to her. “We have blood on the way,” Christian said, pulling a needle and a vile of something from his bag. “She will be ok now. You must rest.” Luke felt the needle slide into his bicep and flinched as a stinging liquid was pushed into his muscle. Then, everything became foggy and his eyelids became heavy. “Sleep now, Luke.” he heard Dr. Blood-Raine say, although he sounded very far away. “When you wake up, everything will be fine. Just rest and let me do my job. I promise you I will do everything in my power to help Queen Nicoleta.” Luke slowly slipped into a deep black abyss. His final thought before he fell completely was if he awoke and Nicole was gone, he would rip that skinny doctor to shreds.