Eve fiddled with the veil hanging over her face. Visiting hours at the hospital were limited to a couple of hours during the day, unless you were family. No night visitors allowed. Eve knew that a substantial donation to the hospital - or to the right person - would waiver that rule for her, but she hated bribery. She’d used her money and her influence to get Rex preferential treatment, of course. But she wasn’t going to do it for her own benefit.
Through her gloves, she could feel the burn of sunlight, where the light squeezed in through tiny holes in the fabric. It felt like tiny needles constantly prikling her hands. The veil over her face was even thinner than the fabric of the gloves, the holes even larger. Through the five layers of sunscreen covering her, she could still feel her face melting like a wax candle.
“He’s awake,” the nurse said, beaming at her. “You can go in to see him now, if you want.”
Nurse Ravel was one of those rare humans who liked all unnaturals, whether vampires or werewolves. That was why Eve had pulled strings - and greased wheels - to have her assigned to Rex’s ward. Other nurses, she felt, might have been unkind to a werewolf. However, Nurse Ravel had responded to her new assignment by instantly becoming Eve’s greatest fan. Fond of all unnaturals, as she was, the nurse loved to see them all get along. And while Eve didn’t exactly get along with Rex’s family, the idea of a vampire visiting a sick werewolf in the hospital - daily no less - made Nurse Ravel giddy.
“Is he alone?” Eve asked. She’d run into Grandma Fidel a few times, and the elderly werewolf had almost tried to kill her. If Rolf hadn’t been there to remind her that Eve was paying for Rex’s hospital bills, there would have been one more werewolf in need of a hospital bed, and Eve might have needed a lawyer.
“The family’s all gone to dinner,” Nurse Ravel answered. “It’s just him and his fiancée now.”
Eve’s grip tightened on the bouquet she was carrying. She hadn't thought he’d have a fiancée. But now that she thought about it, of course he’d have one. Werewolves had that thing about fated mates, and that other thing about puppies. Hadn’t she complained for centuries that all werewolves were essentially puppy-making machines? Now that she thought about it, that was racist of her. But, at the same time, the Fidels proved that cliché to be perfectly true.
“Oh, I’m sure they won’t mind the interruption,” Nurse Ravel said, misunderstanding Eve’s reason for hesitating. “They’ve had enough time together today. He’s been awake for hours. And they’ll have all the time in the world to be alone together after the wedding. Mrs. Fidel said it would be in three months. Isn't it lovely?”
“Charming,” Eve said with her best smile. The stems of the freesias in her hand broke with a loud crack, and the whole bouquet flopped to one side, looking rather pathetic.
“Do you wish me to announce you?” Nurse Ravel asked, smiling just as brightly as before. “Just in case you don’t want to interrupt anything.”
“I’ll knock,” Eve said, heading for Rex’s private room. Her voice sounded strange to her, too cold, too hurt. How odd, she thought, to feel upset at a time like this. Her bodyguard was finally awake, finally better. As far as she knew, she had no reason to be upset at all. She knotted her eyebrows deep in thought, and the tug at her burned skin caused a sharp pain. Damned sunlight, she thought. Yes, that was it. That must have been what she was upset about.
The corridor was windowless, a pleasant respite from the horrible sunlight she’d endured. It was brightly lit by electric light, but that had no effect on her. As soon as she was away from the windows, her skin began to mend. Five steps later, she remembered her manners.
“Thank you,” she said over her shoulder.
Nurse Ravel’s smile was as bright as sunlight.
***
In the four hours since he’d been awake, Rex had received more visitors than he could count. Apart from Grandma Fidel and Rolf, there had been several cousins, several brothers, several sisters, several aunts and uncles, and, of course, his parents. All of them had gone through the same stages: first the joy at seeing him awake, then the outrage at not being recognized, then, finally, Rolf had managed to calm them down while Rex was trying to explain his amnesia. In the end, they were all too much for him, and he was relieved when they all went out for dinner. Relieved, that is, until his fiancée, Maria, announced that she was staying to keep him company. When the door closed behind the last of his relatives, Rex felt the room had become too small.
Maria looked uncomfortable, twisting her book in her hands. Of course this would be difficult for her, he thought, knowing that her own fiancé didn’t remember her in the least. Rex was mortified. In the past few hours, he had already made several blunders. He’d called one of his auns “Mother”, which caused some laughter, and called one of his great-aunts “Father”, which caused a great deal of snarling. But, at least, all of his relatives had seemed familiar to him, and their constant bickering had felt like home. There was nothing familiar about his fiancée, no shadow of a memory hiding at the edge of the veil that kept him from remembering everyone else. He felt guilty about it. He tried to remember the first time they’d met, their first date, the proposal, but every time he searched his memory, all he got was a terrible headache. And, all the while, all he could think was that this was all wrong. He couldn’t be engaged to her. An angel like her couldn’t have agreed to marry him. Him, of all werewolves! It didn’t feel right. And that thought, more than anything, made the guilt even worse.
“Are you tired?” Maria asked sweetly, keeping her eyes lowered. “Do you want me to let you rest? I can leave if you’d like.”
Rex felt he was being a monster. He must have acted so coldly to her, to the point of making her think he’d want her to go away. And yet, in spite of the guilt, he did want her to leave.
“No, no,” he said quickly. “It’s just... my family... that was a lot of family.”
Maria smiled.
“They are, yes. A lot of family.”
For a moment, her smile looked impish. Then she was back to her usual angelic self.
“But they are all lovely people,” she added quickly.
“I think so... yes, they must be lovely people,” Rex said.
“Do you remember anything at all?” Maria asked, suddenly looking at him intently. “About us? About the wedding?”
Rex shook his head. Wrong move. Pain flared up in his temples as soon as he moved his head, and he let out a whimper.
“You don’t have to go through with it,” Maria whispered, almost as if she were afraid someone could overhear her. “You can just tell them you’ve changed your mind. There’s still time.”
Rex felt his guilt was reaching new heights.
“No, no, of course I want to marry you!” he said quickly. Too quickly perhaps, because her eyes narrowed. For a moment, she looked more like a grand inquisitor than an angel. Then she smiled again and she was an angel once more.
“I’m so glad,” she said, her voice trembling just a little bit.
Rex breathed a sigh of relief. He felt he’d narrowly avoided hurting her feelings. It might have been just a trick of the light, but he was certain he’d seen the glitter of tears in her eyes. Yes, marrying her was the right thing to do, the only thing to do, even though he couldn’t remember her. He couldn’t hurt her feelings like this. She was such a sweet angel. He was certain he’d been so much in love.
The memory flashed through his brain for only an instant. Not a happy memory of Maria’s angelic face, but pain and fear, heartache and the terrifying thought of losing someone precious. Someone he’d gladly give his life for.
The sudden knock on the door tore him out of the memory before he could make any sense of it. The sound startled him, making him jump. Maria too gave a little start and turned towards the door. Before any of them could speak, the door opened.
Rex felt his stomach turn into a knot. There was a tall woman in the doorway, dressed in a long black dress, with her hands covered by black gloves and her face hidden by a thick black veil.
“Good evening, Mr. Fidel,” she said. “I see you’re awake.”
There was no way to see clearly through the veil, but Rex knew, he just knew, that she had sharp fangs protruding from under her upper lip.
“Vampire,” he gasped.
His first thought was that she was going to kill him. What else would a vampire be doing in a werewolf’s hospital room? He backed up against the pillows as much as he could, eyes wide with terror.
“Quite so,” the vampire said. She lay a bright bouquet of red and gold freesias on the nearest chair.
“I’m so sorry,” Maria said quickly. “Rex has amnesia. I’m sure if he remembered you—”
The vampire raised a hand to silence her, and Maria stopped talking and took a step back, closer to Rex.
“There is no need,” the vampire said. “I see Mr. Fidel will need plenty of time to recover.”
She sat a small basket of oranges next to the flowers.
“You needn’t hurry back to the office, Mr. Fidel,” she said coldly.
“Am I fired?” Rex asked. The words felt familiar.
“I cannot fire you, Mr. Fidel. It would give you cause to sue us,” she answered. “After all, you are our best diversity hire.”
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