The sound of a medical cot trundled its way towards the ward and both Elijah and Sariyah leapt from their seats to peer through the open door. Blonde bob nurse was pulling it from the front with Dr Farris steadying it from the side and smiling pleasantly at the pair. Elijah’s eyes, however, snapped straight to the body in the bed.
Eyes closed, lips ever so slightly parted, skin two shades lighter than her usual bronze tone, black curls splayed against the pillow… She looked ill, but feverish ill, not recently fell from the heavens onto marble like a dramatic recreation of a renaissance painting ill. But then that was what they needed to be worried about, wasn’t it? The internal injuries were what they had to fear. She was breathing though, and her heart was beating. She was still in there.
The hospital bed entered the room and was wheeled into the only empty bay of the three on the ward and the cousins followed it like a pair of puppy dogs looking for their owner.
“Well?” Sariyah whispered, much to Elijah’s relief, he was too nervous to ask but he desperately wanted to know.
“From the front she looks good, huh?” The good doctor said as he shuffled through his notes and scans distractedly, “The back of her, however, looks like Picasso’s Blue Nude.”
“Her brain?” Elijah finally managed to gasp out.
“Oh, yes.” Dr Farris held up a large scan gingerly, “See here, CT scan, surprisingly it shows no bleeding or fracture.” he dumped it on the bed to pull out a second scan which looked, to Elijah at least, almost exactly the same except that it was slightly larger. “And this one? MRI. Her brain tissue looks pretty okay.”
“Pretty okay?”
“She’s a very lucky lady.” He nodded to himself, sifting the scans into an order he deemed appropriate and sliding it into the plastic box hanging from the end of the bed, “Her back is severely bruised and she will most likely need some spinal adjustment from a chiropractor when the inflammation and soreness recedes - especially for her neck - and I have no doubt she will have a rather nasty concussion.” he waved over blonde bob nurse who scurried to his side.
“How nasty?” Elijah asked hesitantly.
“Oh, a grade three for sure. She’s unconscious.” Dr Farris raised his eyebrows with a look that was clearly accusing Elijah of being a grade three moron, “Did you not see how far she fell?” he muttered to the nurse a list of machines he wanted moved and attached and how he wanted hem set up.
“I did,” Elijah began, “but I mean what does nasty mean in terms of her health?”
“Well, we’ll be watching out for vomiting, dizziness, amnesia, light or noise sensitivity, a slur in her speech… there are a lot of symptoms.” He said offhandedly, “Of course, this is all assuming she actually wakes up, she could slip into a coma!” he ticked a few boxes on more forms handed to him by nurse number two who had darted into the curtained off area, barely glancing at Elijah as he doddled.
“Thank you, doctor.” Sariyah growled through gritted teeth.
“Either way, we’re not going to know until she does wake up, so until then I shall leave her under Julie’s watchful eye.” At the mention of her name, the human nurse began attaching monitoring apparatus to Lucia’s body via various wires. “You may stay with her if you please but please try not to get in my staff’s way.”
“You’re leaving?” Elijah asked incredulously.
“There is nothing I can do until she wakes up, she has no broken bones for me to set or bleeding for me to halt. I will return for hourly checks or when she wakes up, whichever comes first.”
And with that, the good doctor waddled away with nurse number two scurrying behind him.
“So, we gonna do this in shifts?” Sariyah was managing to keep her voice surprisingly upbeat, perhaps she had read more into what the doctor had said than Elijah had.
“What?” He asked quietly.
“Watching over her, are we doing it in shifts?”
“We’re immortal, we only sleep if we want to and we can have blood bags brought to us. Why do we need shifts?” He said slowly, knowing his expression must radiate pure confusion at her suggestion. “Also, I think she’d much prefer to see you upon waking than me.” His tone was becoming anxious now, speeding up. “She actually likes you and would want your comfort, I’m here for purely selfish reasons I-”
“You need to stop dithering.” Sariyah interrupted with raised brows and a set lip. “She’s not going to appreciate seeing either of us with the amount of pain she’s going to be in when she wakes up-”
“-If.” He mumbled.
Sariyah’s expression was hard, “Don’t.” she said firmly.
“So we both get to stay?” He asked hopefully.
She nodded and stood up, much to Elijah’s confusion.
“First though, I’m grabbing a book or three to settle in with.” Her face had softened, she was looking at him with sympathy that he wasn’t sure if he appreciated or not. “I got the feeling that Dr Farris wasn’t expecting a speedy awakening.” Elijah had had the same feeling and it made his stomach twist into painful knots, was this what humans felt when they were starving? “You think you can hold down the fort for five?” She added, hands on slim hips.
“Y-yeah.” He nodded with little enthusiasm. “Of course.”
“I’ll grab you a couple too.”
“Thanks.” He mumbled, watching her stride away purposefully.
He was grateful, he just didn’t know how much it would help when he was worrying, what if he was completely invested in a study on the structure of the brain and how it is affected by adolescent traumatic stress and she simply slipped away right beside him. His attention needed to be on Lucia. With that thought his eyes drifted to her. The blankets were still rising and falling, that was what mattered, right? Even if no other body part seemed to be moving, he could hear her heart beating.
Hurried footsteps cut into the silence and Elijah instantly sat up straighter to peer out into the hallway. A member of their human housekeeping staff was power-walking towards him, his eyes shifting left and right nervously and his hands shaking.
“Can I help you?” He asked in the hopes of stopping the shifty man before he made it into the room.
This did nothing to halt him though and he barrelled in at the same speed until he was just inches from touching Elijah’s arm with his hip.
“I needed to speak to you in private, sir.” The man whispered. His whole body seemed to be revving up like a lawn-mower, trembling from shoes to wispy hair.
“Regarding?”
The mouse-like man nodded in Lucia’s direction and Elijah swung the blue dividing curtain around their bay. The man winced nervously at the air rushing past him. Elijah dropped back into his seat again.
“I just… It’s…” His hands were tying themselves together like a pair of unruly shoelaces and it was beginning to irk him. “I heard that she fell…” He finally managed to mumble.
“Is that it?” Elijah snapped.
“I was in the upstairs dining room at the time, sir.” The man continued, “and I didn’t hear the sound of a body hitting the stairs…” his eyebrows raised in implication and Elijah nodded him along with a hard squint, “but I did hear raised voices… it sounded like arguing.” the man bit his lip and watched Elijah’s face carefully.
“Arguing between who?”
“I don’t know for sure, sir, I figured it was none of my business and that it wouldn’t be taken very well if I tried to stick my nose out to look.” The man continued to speak at lowest possible volume for a human, “I was rather sure it was women, though.” the word ‘women’ he barely managed to squeak out.
“Do you remember anything else?”
The man gave a sheepish look as he replied, “I heard a loud thump sound after the arguing finished,” before Elijah could interrupt with more questions he continued hurriedly, “but again, I didn’t want to get involved.” the man shook his greasy hair with an alarmed expression. “As it is, I would greatly appreciate it if you didn’t tell anyone that I told you even this, sir.” He added carefully.
Elijah squeezed his hands into fists - who was this servant man to tell him who he could and could not speak to? He managed to growl, “Why, may I ask?” with a tight jaw.
“I don’t want to end up like her.” The man whispered, his eyes darted to Lucia’s face.
Elijah’s anger at the small man swept out of him in one breath, like a wave had crashed into his face and knocked all of his frustration out instantly. A droplet or two of guilt lingered though.
“You have my word,” He said solemnly, “but I want yours that you share this information with no one else.” he put his hand out and the man shook it weakly.
“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir.”
The curtain parted and he was gone, marching away just as he had arrived: nervously and sweatily.
~
When Sariyah returned she announced she had sent one of their human assistants to let the rest of the family know what had happened. Elijah nodded, more to himself than to her. He wasn’t angry with her, but he was frustrated that he hadn’t been able to reveal the news himself, he was hoping it might reveal who, if anyone, was involved. He had been lingering on the conversation with that mousy man since he left, running through all sorts of ridiculous possibilities…
From her quizzical look, he thought Sariyah could tell something was off but she didn’t question him when he excused himself to speak to the good doctor.
~
“Dr Farris, could I have a moment of your time?” He asked as he slid himself into the doctor’s private office, pushing the door shut with a click behind him. The room was overflowing with papers, books and graphs. Doctor Farris wasn’t a fan of new-age technology, it seemed.
“My goodness,” Dr Farris exclaimed with little enthusiasm, “you managed to pry yourself from your beloved’s bedside?” he sat back in his wheelie chair and shifted a little to get comfortable.
“I need to ask you something gravely serious, sir.”
“Of course, son, go ahead.”
“Lucia’s injuries,” Elijah paused for a moment, listening for extra ears in the hallway, “from what you’ve seen, do they coincide with the explanation that she fell down the stairs?” he wondered for a brief second if he would regret asking.
“I’m very glad you asked,” Dr Farris replied, his expression slipping into a solemn frown that didn’t suit him, “I had been hesitant to broach the topic with you so soon.” he finally looked Elijah fully in the eyes, holding his gaze firmly.“The short answer is no.”
Elijah’s mind was racing. He didn’t know if this was the answer he wanted or not.
“And the long answer?” He finally managed to breath out.
Dr Farris sat up straighter and rested his elbows on his knees in preparation for his oncoming speech, “All of her damage is spread across one side of her body as though she either fell straight down like a plank of wood, which isn’t possible as there’s no way she could launch herself that far, deliberately or accidentally, or hurtled from the top like a sled flat on her back, and that would be very unlikely as she would have to have been unconscious prior to the slide.”
“Right.” Elijah offered, unsure what to add but not wanting Dr Farris to stop.
“You see,” Dr Farris continued, “humans are frightfully good at this flailing thing they do when they’re in danger. Also, when humans fall down stairs they tend to either slip back onto their bottoms and bruise their thighs and arms but with very little distance managed because of the arms and thighs acting as door stops… or they trip, stumble and end up rolling in some form or another, which would leave bruises all over the limbs where they attempt to slow their descent. And yet only her head and back are lumpy and bruised.”
“It’s possible she fell head-first?”
“Not with that level of damage, that staircase is very long and not very steep, she could have easily halted her fall by the midway point.”
“So, there’s no way it was an accident?”
“The only way I could fathom her doing this much damage, to only two areas of her body, on these stairs, by herself, would be if she were attempting to ‘surf’ down the bannister, as the kids call it, and lost control of her speed. But she would have had to have been going very fast.”
“Thank you so much, Dr Farris, I appreciate your input greatly.” Elijah pushed himself off from the wall beside the door and added, “What I would appreciate just a little more though would be if you could keep what we have discussed to yourself for the time being.” with a tight smile.
“Of course, Elijah,” Dr Farris nodded, his expression turning grandfatherly and almost warm, “as far as I am concerned, Miss Martinez took a terrible tumble.” he returned to his work and Elijah nodded to himself before excusing himself from the cramped and paper-filled office.
~
Elijah ran through every member of the household, anyone who would have any reason to enter their home, anyone with access to enter their home… He could rule out no one… On that train of thought his eyes slid to Sariyah’s small form curled up on her plastic chair.
He had known his cousin since she married into the family decades ago, they had been close for most of that time… But was it possible she had a mean streak? She had gotten so close to Lucia so quickly… She had known something had happened almost immediately… She had informed the family as soon as possible… And now she was hovering by her bedside - waiting for a chance to finish the job?
But he couldn’t for the life of him put a motive to her name, she had no reason to do this except manic spite. Unless she simply wanted to cause Lucia incredible physical pain for the sake of it, there was no explanation. She gained nothing from injuring her, nothing from killing her, nothing from interrupting his marriage.
He was being crazy. Suspecting the one person in this house who he could he believed genuinely cared for his betrothed’s well-being. Well, besides him… maybe his father… although Elijah didn’t like to think about how quickly his father could replace her with another young, dark-haired human for a measly twenty grand.
But someone had hurt her, and odds were that it was a member of his family. The ratio of family members to staff in the house was very skewed.
It was going to be a long wait with such awful thoughts swirling around his brain like a whirlpool… He glanced at Lucia’s soft features for the hundredth time that hour… She was strong and stubborn, she would wake up…
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