“I’ll do that, Mr. Feehan. We’ll see you there as soon as we can.”
He looked up to see Ella in the doorway of her bedroom, phone clamped to her ear. “It’s Feehan. He left a message. He wants us to meet him at the hospital.” She pouted. “So much for our day off.”
Vadim shut his cell phone and put it back in his pocket. “How soon can you be ready to go?”
“Give me five minutes.” She checked her cell. “There’s a ferry leaving at ten, if we hurry. Where did you put my coat?”
“In the closet with mine.”
She turned a slow circle. “Which closet?”
“The one by the front door, where you are supposed to hang things.”
“Really?” She wandered over to it and opened it. “I always wondered what it was for.”
She tossed him his coat and suit jacket and retrieved her own. “I’ll just be a minute.”
In less than ten, they were walking down the hill toward the ferry, which had just docked. A stream of tourists poured from the gangplank, their eager faces scanning the small town and exclaiming at the views back across the bay. Getting through them made Vadim feel like a lone salmon fighting to swim upstream against the current.
They made it just in time and headed for the top desk. He would never tire of the view or the experience of approaching a great city by water. It was the first place he’d ever considered putting down roots. He glanced down at Ella in her blue and orange knitted hat, denim jacket and pink ripped jeans. But maybe it wasn’t the place. Maybe it was her. His grandmother might have meddled in his life simply to force him back to Otherworld, but she’d started a whole chain of events he didn’t even dare contemplate. He had no doubt that less benign forces would soon be on his tail, demanding his return. But now he had a mate to fight for and a reason to live.
He slowly shook his head. He was not going back willingly. They’d have to come and get him, and even in this realm, his powers still trumped most of theirs. With one snap of his fingers he could annihilate the entire city that lay before him. He smiled as they approached the pier. Let them come. He’d be more than ready.
“Hey, Jose. This is a colleague of mine, Vadim Morosov. Jose’s the charge nurse on this floor.” Ella waited as they exchanged pleasantries. “Is our boss here yet?”
“Mr. Feehan?” Jose pointed at the closed door of the hospital administrator’s office. “He’s in there.”
“Cool. We’ll go and join him. Thanks, Jose.”
He winked at her and she winked back before knocking on the door, Vadim right behind her. The hospital was its usual busy self, the hallways as crowded as the subway one minute and just as empty the next. She sensed Vadim strengthen his shields and did the same. You never knew what crazy magical shit lingered in a place like this.
Feehan opened the door and ushered them in.
“You found each other, then?”
“We did. What’s up, boss?”
“I’m not quite sure.” Mr. Feehan glanced at the petite blonde female sitting behind the desk. “Ms. Phelps, this is Ella Walsh and her partner, Vadim Morosov. When necessary, Ms. Phelps acts as a liaison between the hospital staff and the university. Perhaps you should tell them exactly what happened.”
“I’ll certainly try.” Ms. Phelps gave them a distracted smile. “Brad Dailey, one of our second-year medical students, didn’t show up for class this morning. As it was a scheduled test day, his professor contacted student- support services to follow up on him. This student has missed quite a lot of school this year, and Dr. Blinz wasn’t happy about it. He wanted to make sure Brad received an official warning.”
“So what happened?”
“One of the junior administrators called his apartment. Eventually Brad picked up and started screaming incoherently into the phone. The administrator alerted the emergency services, and they went to check on him. When the police forced their way into his apartment, they found Brad in the bathroom trying to rip his face off.” She shuddered. “At first the paramedics assumed he’d taken some kind of drug that hadn’t agreed with him, but after he was sedated and brought here, the doctors realized that wasn’t the case.”
“So what do you think is going on?” Ella asked.
“As I was just telling Mr. Feehan, I have no idea. The poor boy can barely form a sentence. The staff has run every test they can think of, and nothing abnormal is showing up. In these cases, we normally contact you.” She looked helplessly at Vadim. “I do so hope you can help him.”
“We’ll certainly do our best, Ms. Phelps.” Vadim said. “Is Mr. Dailey capable of speaking to us yet?”
“I believe so. He’s been restrained for his own safety, but the medication should be wearing off by now. Not that you’ll get much sense out of him. He’s just babbling.”
“What’s he saying?” Ella turned off her cell phone and stuck it back in her pocket.
“Something about that not being him in the mirror. A classic hallucinogenic drug response, but he’s not testing positive for anything at all.”
“Maybe there’s something new on the street. Do you remember the frozen addicts?” Feehan glanced at Ella. “No? You’re probably all too young, but in 1982 in Santa Clara County, right down the street from here, some addicts took a new substance called MPTP that brought on the symptoms of Parkinson’s and literally paralyzed them overnight.”
Ms. Phelps nodded. “That’s a possibility we are aware of, but until we can confirm anything, we’d still like you to take a look at him.”
“Morosov and I would be glad to help, wouldn’t we?” Ella raised her eyebrows at Vadim, who was still smiling at Ms. Phelps. “Can you show us to Mr. Dailey’s room?”
“Sure.” She rose to her feet. “I’ll make certain you aren’t disturbed.”
When Ella came out of the office, Jose handed over her white coat. “Here you go, babe. Are you free for dinner tonight?”
“Sorry, no.” She patted his arm. “But thanks for asking.”
“Ella’s busy.” Vadim added and placed his hand in the small of her back to usher her along. He didn’t say anything else, but she sensed both his sudden alertness and a hint of his magical power wafting around.
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Ms. Phelps stopped at the last door in the hallway. “Mr. Dailey is in here. I’ll ask the nurse to step out of the room, but she’ll be outside if you need her. If you require more urgent medical assistance, just press the red panic button.”
“Will do.” Ella went in first, nodding at the nurse as she passed her in the doorway. Brad Dailey was strapped to a gurney on the far side of the room. His face was bandaged like a mummy’s, and his terrified gaze darted around the space, fixing avidly on Ella as she approached.
She sat on the side of the bed and took his shaking hand in hers. A hint of residual Otherworld magic trickled through her senses. “Hey. I’m Ella Walsh, and this is Morosov. Can you try and tell us what’s wrong?”
His chest heaved and he started to struggle against his restraints, his hands turning into claws. Vadim came up beside her.
“It’s all right, Mr. Dailey. We just want to help you. Take a deep breath and tell us what’s wrong.”
Ella shivered as she felt Vadim push some kind of calming magic through her and into Brad. Whatever it was, it seemed to be having the right effect, as he slowly relaxed against the gurney and his breathing evened out.
