Nine-Tailed Love Story

Learn and Do Better

After letting off some steam, running around the forest for hours, Seb finally went back to his apartment. He walked in, shoulders slumped, still down after the events earlier.

But as he slumped down on the couch, he pressed the back of his head against the backrest and noticed a familiar scent lingering around him.

“What are you doing here, Daisy?” Seb spoke, and then the lights in his apartment turned on.

Daisy was standing against the wall. She then pulled away and bowed her head.

“I am here to report,” she answered.

Seb did not respond and just sat there. Daisy heaved a deep breath and started.

“The rogue’s body was disposed of as well as the cabin and the tunnel, or any trace of them.”

Seb nodded, and then he opened his eyes and looked at Daisy.

“How about the girl and…” Seb trailed as he was once again reminded of what happened to the baby.

He momentarily closed his eyes and took a deep breath before continuing.

“And the baby,”

“The girl was taken to the nearest hospital. We left her in the care of a social worker under us. We came up with a story of finding her unconscious on the side of the road.” She paused and looked down at her hand.

“What you did for her, healing her and everything, made up for the story cover,” she continued, and Seb nodded.

Then he went still as he thought of the baby he tried to save.

“And the baby?” he asked.

“We uhm… we buried her in the forest where the sunshine hits first.” She answered.

Seb closed his eyes and once again leaned his head back.

“She… It was a girl,” he mumbled, and then a soft cry escaped his lips.

Daisy almost took a step closer, but she stopped herself.

“It was not your fault, Doc. You did everything you could. It was the rogue’s fault,” she spoke.

Seb then leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees with his hands against his palms. Daisy knew he needed his space, so she bowed her head and headed out through the window.

*************************************.

The next day, Seb went to work, but he still couldn’t get what happened out of his mind.

“Hey, Seb. Are you okay?” Jude spoke.

Seb looked at him and smiled.

“Yeah. Just thinking about my charting,” he replied.

“Are you sure?” Iris asked.

Seb nodded.

“Yeah. I’m good.”

His colleagues shrugged their shoulders, not really convinced by what he said. The rest of their shift went on, and they did their jobs well. Even when Seb’s mind was plagued by what happened, he still made sure to do his job properly.

After his shift, he immediately came back to his apartment. He just opened the lights when his phone started ringing. He dropped his bag onto the couch and pulled out his phone from his pocket.

He saw his father calling him. He immediately answered it as he made his way to the kitchen.

“Dad,”

‘Seb, how are you?’

He heard his father ask from the other line.

“Good. I just got back from my shift. Why? What’s up?” Seb replied, grabbing a beer from his fridge.

He opened the can, and then his father spoke.

‘I heard what happened from Zack,’

When Seb heard what his father said, he paused, the can of beer halfway into his mouth. He put the beer down and let out a sigh.

“I’m fine, Dad,” he told him.

‘I know, but I know the baby is your first loss,’ Creon said.

Seb sighed again and went to sit at the counter. He propped his elbows on the counter while holding his phone away from his ear as he took several deep breaths. After that, he brought his phone close to his ear.

“I failed, Dad,” he blurted.

‘I know it is hard. The scenario will keep replaying in your head, and it will make you think about what you should have done to achieve a different outcome. But Seb…’

Creon paused.

‘You cannot save everyone,’ he said, and Seb was taken aback by what his father said.

“If that is the case, then what is the use of being a doctor, of being a healer? I lost the baby, Dad. She could have had a wonderful life, but I didn’t get to give her that,” Seb reasoned.

‘I understand what you mean. But trust me, things like this happen, but that doesn't mean you will be losing patients for the rest of your career. You can always learn from it and do better next time.’ Creon told him.

‘You might have lost the baby you delivered, but you did all you could to save her. You did not kill her, but the rogue who stopped you from doing your job. And you saved that girl’s life. You gave her the chance to have a future. Don’t dwell on it so much, just learn from it.’

Seb was quiet for a moment, pondering what he had heard from his father. Creon also remained quiet for a moment, giving his son a moment. But when something came up from his side, he let out a sigh.

‘I have a meeting that I have to get to right now, but Seb, think about what I told you and remember that your mom and I will always be here for you,’ Creon said.

Seb lowered his head, nodding it.

“Yes, Dad. Thank you,” he replied.

‘Alright. Be sure to come home during your break.’

Creon said.

“Will do,”

After their conversation, Seb let out a loud sigh and grabbed the can of beer that had been sitting on the counter. He chugged down its contents before tossing the empty can into the trash bin. Then he got up and went to his room to shower.

***********************************.

A few days after the incident, Seb decided to heed his father’s advice. He buried himself in learning, did his work diligently, which made his chief resident. Like his siblings, he slowly gained recognition from his superiors that he couldn’t choose which specialization to pursue.

“Still haven’t made a decision?”

Iris asked Seb when they were in the hospital’s cafeteria during their break. The other residents are also with them. Seb smiled as he sipped his coffee.

“Not yet,” he answered.

“Well, if several attendings are offering fellowship, then I also won’t be able to choose either,” Cooper said.

“Choose whatever you think is easier,” Rose said, yawning.

“I am not in a hurry,” Seb said, and then his colleagues shrugged and soon, one by one, yawned.

“I really hate night shift,” Adrian whined.

“Well, you wanted to be a doctor, so deal with it,” Iris retorted, and the others chuckled.

Then, in the middle of their laughter, their phones started beeping. They all pulled out their phones, and those who received a message all furrowed their eyebrows while those who didn’t looked at them, confused.

“What’s wrong?” Adrian asked.

“Did you not get a message?” Seb asked, and Adrian shook his head.

“Me too,” Iris chimed in.

“There are three incoming trauma cases in the ER, and we are called there,” Rose answered, getting up from her seat.

“Well, good luck with that. We’ll just follow up with our charting,” Adrian said, sipping his coffee.

“Alright, let’s go,” Seb spoke as he got up.

Jude and Cooper also stood up and followed Seb and Rose as they left the cafeteria.

When they got to the ER, they grabbed the disposable gown and gloves, put them on as they waited by the entrance with the attending. Soon, three ambulances came, and the patients were wheeled into the ER.

“What happened?”

The attending asked the paramedics as he looked at the patients on the gurneys.

“A man attacked these people while walking down the sidewalk. The onlookers said the man bit them all in the neck,” the paramedic answered, and the attending removed the gauze on the patient’s neck to check the bite.

It was deep, and the blood was gushing. Seb froze when he saw the patient’s injury.

“The wounds are packed, and we gave the necessary meds on the way here, but their vitals are slowly dropping.”

“The jugular was nicked,” the attending mumbled, and then he started barking orders on where to put the patients and resident assignments.

Seb was placed with the patient who came in first. The patient was a woman in her thirties, and she looked like she was athletic. The nurses placed an oxygen canula and an IV in the patient, as Seb removed the gauze covering her wound. Seb’s eyes widened when he saw the injury.

The bite was not like any normal bite, but something he only sees on those that were bitten by feral vampires. He checked the bite and noticed that the jugular was also nicked, and the reason she wasn’t bleeding out was that her blood had already been taken by the attacker.

Seb gritted his teeth as he started patching up the wound. Then the attending came in and started checking the patient, and then the wound. The attending frowned as he checked the wound properly.

“How can a sane person do this?” Liza, the ER nurse assisting, asked as she adjusted the light.

“Well, no sane person can do this. Probably some psycho. Now I hang a bag of O, and I need all the labs back asap,” the attending replied, and Liza nodded, doing what she was told to do.

Then the attending looked at Seb.

“What do you think we should do now?” he asked.

“Clean up the wound and close it up. She lost a lot of blood, so I believe one bag wouldn’t be enough, and –“

Seb didn’t get to finish what he was saying when the cardiac monitor started beeping.

“She’s crashing,”

Everyone in the room panicked. Seb jumped in and started chest compressions as the attending ordered a dose of Epi. As they try to revive the patient, the other patients next to them started crashing as well, and the beeping of the machine has echoed around the ER.

Minutes later, the beeping stopped as none of them was able to save the patients. All three trauma patients were pronounced dead. Seb sighed as he removed his gloves and gown before going out of the trauma room. He knew that there was no way of saving the patients based on the severity of the bite.

But that wasn’t what got Seb worried. Since the patients were bitten by a feral vampire, they will turn in a few hours. Now that they died in the hospital, they will be brought to the morgue, and Seb thought that while they are there, he needs to make sure that they stay dead, or they will have a big problem.

Seb was about to follow the orderlies to the morgue when his attending called him and assigned him to another trauma patient, and assigned Rose and Liza to go to the morgue instead.

Seb was uneasy while tending to his patients. He was worried that his colleagues were with the corpses, and within a few hours or maybe minutes, depending on how much venom the feral vampire injected into the victims, they would turn, and his colleagues’ lives would be in danger.

“Seb, are you okay?” Cooper asked as he saw Seb by the station, looking worried.

Seb then turned to Cooper.

“Can you cover up with my patients. I need to go to the morgue.” He told him.

Cooper looked at him with a confused expression and asked.

“Why?”

“I need to check on the patients we lost,” Seb answered.

“Again, why? Rose and Liza are there with them, making sure everything is in order. Seb, the living needed you more than the dead,” Cooper told him.

Seb let out a sigh of frustration and looked at his colleague intently.

“I know. That’s why I need to get there to save Rose and Liza,” he reasoned, but Cooper looked unconvinced.

Seb knew that Cooper would not understand him, so he decided to tell him.

“What if I tell you that those patients who died from those massive bites on their necks were caused by a vampire, and any time now they will turn? Rose and Liza are in danger the more they spend time there in the morgue with those corpses,” he said, and Cooper stared at him for a few seconds before bursting into a fit of laughter.

“That is hilarious, Seb. I think you are just tired from taking long shifts. You need to sleep. Fine, I will cover for you and get some sleep in the lounge,” Cooper said, taking the charts from Seb.

Seb sighed.

“I am telling the truth, but thanks anyway,” he said, and then he rushed towards the direction of the morgue.

Cooper shook his head while chuckling, watching Seb run out of the ED.