Page 20 of Patrick’s Seduction (Scanguards Vampires #19)

20

P atrick watched closely as Buffy began to examine Fallon. He was concerned. It was evident that Fallon was sick, and he could only guess that it had something to do with the attack from the previous night. Had the doctors at UCSF missed something? Or was she reacting to the medications they’d prescribed her?

“Are you taking any meds right now?” Buffy asked.

Patrick answered in her stead, “They gave her painkillers and antibiotics. Anything else, Fallon?”

Fallon took a breath. “Just oral contraceptives.”

“Are you allergic to penicillin?” Buffy asked.

“No.”

“Okay. I don’t think you’re reacting to any of the meds you’re on. I need to run a few tests,” Buffy explained. “I’ll draw some blood. You’re okay with that?”

“Yes.”

While Buffy prepared the tools for drawing blood, Patrick remained standing next to the gurney, stroking Fallon’s arm gently. He caught Lydia’s gaze on him. There was no surprise in Lydia’s eyes at seeing the tender gesture. He was certain that Lydia had already recognized his scent on Fallon, realizing that they’d been intimate. He didn’t care that she knew. He didn’t need to justify his actions to anybody. Besides, Lydia was no stranger to instant hook-ups and one-night stands. Not that what he and Fallon had was a one-night stand. At least he hoped it wasn’t. He felt something more than just sexual attraction. He was genuinely concerned about her well-being, and not just because she was a client. He couldn’t bear the thought of Fallon being in pain.

When Buffy began drawing Fallon’s blood from the vein inside her elbow, Patrick could smell her blood more intensely and felt his throat tighten at the thought of tasting her blood. He pushed his need down, knowing he couldn’t allow exposing himself for what he was. He couldn’t afford to frighten her. Despite the fact that they’d had sex, he was still a stranger to her, and he had no reason to believe that she trusted him sufficiently to accept his vampire side.

When Buffy pressed gauze over the puncture wound the needle had left, and bandaged it, he caught her eye.

“Fallon, I’ll give you something that’ll make you feel better,” she said, and motioned to Patrick. “Patrick, give me a hand with it, will you?”

He recognized that Buffy wanted to talk privately and nodded. “Fallon, I’ll be right back. Lydia will be by your side for a minute, okay?”

“Okay,” Fallon said.

He and Buffy walked to one of the private examination rooms and entered. He shut the door behind them.

“Do you know what’s wrong with her?” Patrick asked instantly.

“No idea. All her vitals are fine. Actually, not just fine, but excellent. I need to run some tests on her blood, but that’ll take time. But she’s clearly in pain. You need to give her your blood.”

He nodded. He’d expected as much. Vampire blood was a cure-all for humans. In fact, years earlier, the staff at Scanguards’ medical center had cured a stage four cancer patient with infusions of vampire blood.

“How do you want me to give it to her? She can’t know what it is.”

“I’ll disguise it in cough syrup. It’s sweet enough so she won’t taste that it’s blood.”

“Alright.”

It took only a few moments for Buffy to pour cough medicine into a small cup and for Patrick to drip an almost equal amount of blood from his finger into it. Buffy stirred it and nodded.

“Ready.”

Fallon still lay on the gurney, Lydia by her side. When he and Buffy approached, Lydia cast a knowing look at the little plastic cup in Buffy’s hand. She knew why he’d disappeared with Buffy: so that Fallon wouldn’t know that she was being given vampire blood to help her heal.

“Fallon, let me help you sit up.” Patrick reached around her and pulled her up to a sitting position.

In his arms, she still felt feverish.

“This is a tonic that’ll help you feel better in a few minutes,” Buffy said, and put the cup to her lips.

Fallon’s eyes were open now. They looked bloodshot, and for a second, Patrick wished he’d put even more of his blood into the cup to eradicate whatever was causing this.

Without a word, Fallon drank the liquid and swallowed it, gagging and scrunching up her face in disgust.

“Yuck, that’s sweet,” she commented.

Good. That meant she hadn’t picked up on the metallic taste of the blood.

“It should work pretty fast,” Buffy commented. “I suggest you rest now.”

She lifted her head to look at Buffy. “Do you know what’s wrong with me?”

“Not yet, but I’m running blood tests. In the next 12 to 24 hours, we should know what’s happening with you. In the meantime, this tonic will temporarily dull the symptoms you described. All you can do now is rest and wait.” Buffy turned to him. “Patrick, you can take her home. I’ll call you when I’ve got the results.”

“Alright,” Patrick said. “Thank you, Buffy.”

“Yes, thank you, doctor,” Fallon added.

“I’ll take you home myself,” Patrick said, then looked at Lydia. “Take the rest of the night off. I’ll stay with Fallon at the house. I’ll need you to take over mid-morning.”

“No problem,” Lydia replied. “Just text me when you want me back at the house.”

“Will do.”

When Fallon tried to get off the gurney, Patrick stopped her.

“You’re not wearing any shoes. Stay on the bed until I get you to my car.”

By the time he reached the parking garage and his designated spot close to the elevators, Fallon’s face had taken on a more natural color, and the feverish look was waning. His blood was doing its job, healing her from the inside and getting her body’s functions back to an even keel. When they sat in the car, he could hear her heart beat at a slower tempo than when she’d arrived with Lydia.

As he merged into light after-midnight traffic, he reached for Fallon’s hand and squeezed it. He gave her a sideways look, and it appeared that she finally took in her surroundings again. In fact, it almost looked like she only now realized that she was wearing only a bathrobe over a T-shirt, no shoes, no shorts, her shapely legs exposed under the short robe.

He navigated the car through almost deserted side streets until they reached his parents’ home in Nob Hill, where he parked the car in the garage. He wasn’t going to return to the office tonight. His colleagues were following any leads they could during the remainder of the night, and he would take care of other issues in the morning. But for now, even he needed a few hours of sleep. It had been a long and eventful day.

“You must be tired,” he said to Fallon as he led her into the house.

“I was. I guess I am. I feel better… But my T-shirt is soaked with sweat.”

“Let’s go upstairs. I’ll give you one of mine to sleep in so you’ll be comfortable.”

“Thank you.”

Fallon looked stable enough to walk up the stairs without his assistance, and he was happy to see that she was feeling better. He opened the door to his room, and entered, intent on fetching a T-shirt for Fallon, when his gaze fell onto the bed.

It was unmade—somebody had slept in it.

He looked over his shoulder at Fallon.

“You slept here?”

She cast him a slow smile. “You said I could if I wanted to…”

“I’m glad you did.” He reached for her hand, and she stepped closer. “Do you want to sleep here, with me, or would you rather stay in the guestroom so you can rest?”

“Can’t I stay here?” She smiled at him now.

He slung his arm around her waist and pulled her closer. “Of course you can, though Buffy said you need rest.” And he wasn’t sure how much rest she would get if they slept in the same bed.

“This doctor, Buffy, she works for Scanguards?”

He nodded.

“So, technically, she works for you, right?”

“Yes, why?” He had no idea where she was going with this.

“So, you could override her orders, can’t you?”

When he realized what she meant, he chuckled. “I could, but she’s the doctor.”

“Does that mean you won’t let me sleep here?”

He pressed his forehead to hers and noticed that the temperature of her skin was back to normal. “Do you really think I can say no to you?”

“Oh God, I hope not.”

Unable to resist the temptation, he captured her lips with his and kissed her tenderly, while he undid the belt of her bathrobe and tunneled underneath it to explore her luscious curves. When he touched the damp T-shirt, he released her slowly.

“Let me get you a clean T-shirt first, and then we both need to sleep.” He met her gaze. “Together, in my bed.” With a smirk, he added, “Doctor’s orders.”