Vampires were petrifying and bloodthirsty beasts.  

All the tales his vampire hunter sister, Vesper had shared around the dinner table with her partner came rushing back to Leo as he froze in the hallway.  Ruthless bloodsuckers who ripped the throats out of their victims.  Bite wounds that never properly healed. And most frightening of all, being drained dry of every ounce of blood, left as nothing but a forgotten corpse after they satiated their bloodthirst. He clenched his wand tightly in his trembling hand as he wavered where he stood.

If that vampire killed him, Leo knew Vespera and her husband would hunt him down and slit his throat with pure silver.  Detective or not.

Times like that ill-fated morning really tested him beyond what he’d ever expected when he took that oath and became a doctor to save lives. Even if it might cost his own.  Leo inhaled a sharp breath and forced his legs to carry him the rest of the way down the hallway.  Before entering the room, he made a swift detour into the other room where he stored fresh, although frozen, containers of blood he kept in stock for the dhampir kids and babies he treated.  

Rather than scare himself into hiding in his office, Leo prayed the Goddesses would look after him before he plunged into the room where he left the vampire detective.  He looked like a frazzled cat ready to pounce on anyone who neared him.  Crimson irises widened the moment Leo stepped into the room, holding up the container of fresh blood like it were a peace offering.

For a vampire, the detective had rather youthful features. He watched Leo with the scrutiny of a bat, stern gaze never daring to turn away as his lips twisted in a slight grimace when he readjusted himself on the bed. If he kept frowning like that, it would surely age him, but not in such a foul way that most vampires resembled the undead.  Perhaps more like a fine wine with the fullness in his cheeks and tapered jawline. Even his moonblessed complexion held a touch of lively color to it. 

Years of walking their lands tended to age vampires in ways not always noticeable at a glance, but when one was close enough to feel them nearly slip into the afterlife, it was hard not to notice.  Leo estimated him to only be a couple hundred years old.  A mere child in their years.  Strange for someone like that to be a ranking officer, but Leo wasn’t all that familiar with vampire policing.

“You were stabbed with silver,” Leo gently explained, taking baby steps toward the bed as the vampire sluggishly pulled himself up, blinking as if taking it all in.  “I found you outside my clinic here.  Literally on death’s doorstep.”

Careful not to let the vampire snatch him by the arm, he handed him a styrofoam container of blood. O Positive to be precise.  Despite how he tried to keep his hand steady, it trembled as he passed it over to the vampire who hesitated to accept it.  The way he looked so distrusting at Leo made him want to scurry out of the room and not dare glance back.

“I didn’t poison it or anything,” Leo told him matter-of-factly.

Detective Ashmidia glared into his very soul with a deepening frown.  “That’s reassuring, doc.  Thanks.” He gazed down at the container of blood, then popped open the lid and took a whiff of it.

“You should be grateful I had any blood on hand in the first place.” Leo folded his arms in front of him, standing ramrod straight and slightly puffing out his chest because he swore he remembered his sister once telling him to assert his dominance if ever confronted by a vampire.  “Many people on this side of town would’ve left you to perish out on the sidewalk, you know.  Would’ve let the crows pluck out your pretty eyes.”

“I’m flattered, honestly, doc. But you seriously need to work on your flirting skills.” The vampire detective had the audacity to smirk at him.  

Warmth bloomed in Leo’s face as he sputtered for a retort.  “Flirting? Don’t be absurd,” he scoffed.  “I don’t fancy vampires of any kind.  Helping you was simply part of my good deeds this morning.”

“Perhaps it was my pretty eyes that you couldn’t resist?” 

Leo propped his back against the wall, ignoring the way his heart fluttered in his chest like a thousand bats escaping the cage of his bones. “Drink your blood. You need it to get your strength up.”

“Could I have a straw then, doc?” The detective offered up his most charming smile, flashing a pair of pointy fangs that made Leo shiver.  “Please?”

With the snap of his fingers, Leo conjured up one of many bendy straws he kept in his clinic and magicked it his way.  “Satisfied?”

“Your bedside manners could use some work.” Detective Ashmidia jabbed his straw into the lid then bent the straw before sticking it between his pale lips. He slurped up his blood like a greedy bat.

Leo merely glared at him.  “Forgive me, detective.  I haven’t slept all morning since I was tending to your wound and making sure nobody came back to finish you off.”

As if the recollection came rushing back to him, the vampire lifted his blanket to inspect his bare chest.  He lightly grazed his fingers along the aloe-infused bandages.  “Son of a witch,” he muttered under his breath.

“You’re lucky it didn’t hit your heart,” Leo told him.  “Not even I could’ve mended that damage.  Honestly, I wasn’t even sure you’d make it when I first brought you in here.”

“Why bother then?” Detective Ashmidia asked, taking a long leisure sip of his blood.  “One look at my pretty eyes make you decide to save my sorry fangs?”

“No.  Your eyes were widened and glassy, quite unsightly to gaze upon. Like staring at a corpse.” Leo knew better than to taunt a vampire, especially one who looked like he wanted to jump out of that bed and bite his jugular. Yet that didn’t stop some strange urge that propelled him to step closer, more than he was truly comfortable with.  “It was your ears.”

“My ears?”

“Your whole body had gone rigid by the time I pulled you inside.  All but your ears, twitching and fluttering like they couldn’t just let go.” Without thinking Leo, reached out and gently caressed the pointed curve of his reddened tipped ear just to see it flutter like that again.  

“I see,” Detective Ashmidia murmured, then in a more bashful voice asked softly, “When can I leave?”

“I want to monitor your blood levels until nightfall at least.  You’re not prone to sepsis or infection like mortal witches, but there’s still a risk of silver-related inflammation, given where you were stabbed,” Leo explained.  “You’re an officer, so I suspect you’ve been exposed to silver material before during your training, correct?”

“Yes.” Detective Ashmidia nodded.  “Everything was normal as it could be during that first exposure. Surprised you’d know about that.  Most witches don’t. They train us to be prepared because it sends our bodies into shock, even the slightest contact with it.”

“That’s good to hear.  Means you’ll likely have a speedy recovery and get to flying back out in the skies in no time.”

“Though, I suppose you should know I’m allergic to soil.” Detective Ashmidia pouted slightly.  

Leo raised a brow.  “Really?  I hadn’t realized such an allergy would carry over into vampirism.”

“Unfortunately, for me, it did.” 

“I’m sorry about that,” Leo said, and he truly meant it.  

“It’s not something I’m particularly fond of talking about.  Figured I’d be upfront about it in case you use any soil-related medical herbs or prescribed me anything like that.” Detective Ashmidia shrugged.

“I hadn’t intended to.  All I administered earlier was a vampire sedative, which should slowly begin to wear off.  If you need a pain elixir, I can give you one.” Leo hadn’t noticed the vampire showing any signs of pain, but their pain receptors were quite different from mortal witches. 

“Could you?” The way he asked in such a low, hoarse voice actually pained Leo’s heart.

“Of course.” Leo frantically inspected the vampire, unbothered by how close he now stood at his bedside literally lifting his blanket to check on his wound.  No blood or drainage seeped through the bandage, so that was a relief.  “Does it hurt internally or externally?”

“What?”

“Does it hurt within, or like more of skin irritation?”

“You know what?  Never mind.  It doesn’t even hurt that bad.” Detective Ashmidia tried to wave him off dismissively.  “I can tough it out until nightfall.  Don’t worry.”

“Be honest with me, please.” Leo did not wish to frighten him, but he hadn’t spent all morning patching him up only to lose him before nightfall because he was too prideful to admit his pain.  

“It’s just a dull, throbbing pain here.” He gestured to the bandaged site.  

While Leo had spent hours ensuring every particle of silver had been removed from his chest cavity, there was always that slim chance that some could’ve been missed.  Even the tiniest amount could cause rapid internal poisoning and force his heart to literally rot along with the rest of his vital organs. 

Leo gently rested one hand atop of his chest, then instructed, “Take a deep breath in, then out.  Tell me how it felt afterward.”

A flash of concern crossed the vampire’s face, but he did as he was told.  “Is this bad?  I’m not about to… you know…”

“Just to be on the safe side, I’m going to draw a sample of your blood.  To make sure there’s no traces of silver.” Leo stepped away for a moment to fetch a syringe and a new pair of latex gloves.  “Since you just fed, the venom in your body should already be repairing the damage that silver blade inflicted within. I believe you’re experiencing what vampires call venom-esophageal reflux.”

“What the hells is that?” Detective Ashmidia rasped. 

“It happens after a major surgery sometimes once a vampire first feeds on blood,” Leo explained.  “Usually goes away in a day or two.  Your mention of it traveling up your neck makes me suspect that even more.  None of your veins are visibly discolored either, so I’m not seeing any indication of silver-poisoning. But I’ll keep a close eye out. Monitor you maybe a little past nightfall even.”

“Lovely,” he mumbled.

“Did you know a vampire’s heart enlarges triple its natural size?” Leo asked.  

“Is that so?” Detective Ashmidia asked with much less enthusiasm. 

“Yep.  I can only imagine how painful a vampire transformation is when the heart has to increase in size like that and push aside the lungs as they shrink.” Leo bristled to even imagine enduring something like that.  “And while the heart is important to your kind, even more so is your liver. Which is where I did have to remove remnants of silver.”

“You did?” 

Leo nodded.  “When you mentioned being in pain, that’s what I first feared.  I figured you already know that all the blood you consume is filtered directly there rather than through the intestinal tract, right?  Sorry if it feels like I’m giving you an anatomy lesson.  I just thought you’d want to know, because I know I would.”

“I appreciate it, doc.  I do, really.”

“It’s sort of similar to those growing pains you probably had as a dhampir teen.” 

“That might be a little hard for me to imagine, doc.” He let out a bitter chuckle.  

“Oh?”

“I wasn’t born with any vampirism in my veins, doc.  To be quite honest with you, I never asked to be like this.”