Chapter 73
Boston, Massachusetts, USA, 1886
James packed up the last of his utensils into his doctor’s bag and turned to bid his colleagues farewell. It wouldn’t be easy to walk away from the hospital, but the time had come—much more quickly than he had ever envisioned. When he’d begun working here just a few years ago, he was certain he would have a lengthy career at Massachusetts General Hospital, perhaps someday being the head surgeon, and retiring as an old man, after a successful career.
He had no idea he’d be leaving at the age of eighteen, well before most surgeons even started their practice. Yet, after he’d undergone the Transformation process late last year, he hadn’t been able to continue pretending to be a typical, human doctor. If he touched a patient without gloves on, they immediately began to recover from their ailments, leaving him nearly passed out with no reasonable explanation. When he wore gloves, he couldn’t be as precise in his movements, and often other doctors would suggest he take them off. There was simply no way he could go on about his everyday activities around the hospital now that he was something more than human.
“It’s been wonderful working with you,” Dr. White said, extending his hand, which Jamie shook. The other doctors followed suit, and soon he was walking out the door. They believed he’d taken a sabbatical so that he could travel some before finding a suitable wife and settling down, possibly returning to the hospital at some future date.
Obviously, that wasn’t the truth. He’d been speaking to his sister and Culpepper off and on, and they sincerely wanted him to join their team, not even necessarily to fight Vampires but to put the Guardians and Hunters back together again if they were injured in battle. Culpepper insisted that he’d never seen anything like James’s gift, which had actually intensified since he’d gone through the Transformation process. Six months later, he was finally getting used to his own body.
As James walked out of the hospital, he heard a feminine voice behind him and turned to see Annie following him down the steps, loose strands of blonde hair flying around her pretty face. “Dr. Joplin, I’m sorry. I was in a surgery. I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye.”
Despite his emotional state at leaving, he couldn’t help but smile at her. “I’m glad you caught me, Annie.”
“I just wanted to tell you how much I’ve enjoyed working with you, and I hope you’ll follow your true calling now. You are an amazing surgeon. But they need you more.”
James looked at her puzzled. He glanced around, and when he saw that they were virtually alone except for a few hurried passersby on the sidewalk below them, he leaned in closer and said, “What’s that now?”
Annie smiled coyly. “Oh, come on. I’ve worked with you enough to see what’s happening. And, well, let’s just say I know some people. You’re a Healer, Jamie, obviously. You’ll be such an asset to the team. I know you will.”
She was smiling at him with pride and encouragement, and James had to believe she knew exactly what she was talking about. “You believe in… them, then?”
“Vampires?” Annie asked, her face perfectly serious. “Yes, of course. I’ve seen one. Once, when I was a young child. I know more than I should since I’m not capable of doing what you have. But, yes. I believe. And I’m so thankful there are people out there protecting us.”
James nodded, not entirely sure what to say to that. His sister had told him about how exciting it was to hunt down Vampires and destroy them, but it didn’t sound at all appealing to James. However, when he thought about it from the aspect of protecting innocent people, people like Annie, perhaps he needed to investigate exactly what the job would entail more closely. At any rate, Uncle Culpepper had asked him to meet with someone “very important” and James had decided he owed it to his uncle to hear him out. He had kept his family safe for all those years, after all, despite the fact that there had been a Vampire living in the alley just down the way for his entire life.
“Well, good luck, Jamie,” Annie said leaning in to embrace him. “Be safe. Do great things.”
“Thank you, Annie,” he said, trying to ignore the urge to lean in and smell her hair. She was to be married within the year, and it would be ridiculous for him to think of this as anything other than a friendly gesture from one former co-worker to another.
She released him and took a step back toward the door. “Keep in touch.” Giving him a small wave, Annie turned and went back inside.
“Who is that buxom blonde?”
James turned toward the voice and saw his uncle standing on the sidewalk, his hands deep inside the pockets of his duster, which he wore despite the warm spring day. “Just a former colleague,” James replied.
“You ready to go?” he asked, looking James up and down.
“Right now?” he asked. “I thought I’d go home first. Drop off my bag, perhaps change clothes.” He had performed two surgeries that day, and though he was fairly certain he hadn’t managed to get any fluids on him, he never liked to wear the same clothes he’d worn to work after the day was done.
“Don’t have time,” Culpepper shrugged. “We’ve got a hunt tonight, and there’s a whole team to be organized. This person I want you to meet is extremely busy. He has hundreds, thousands of people to organize all over the world. His time is more valuable than… God’s.”
James didn’t approve of his uncle’s blasphemy, but he also knew from experience that arguing would do no good. “What time is your hunt? It’s not even six in the evening yet.”
“Come along,” Culpepper insisted, and James followed, wondering where they were going and if he would actually somehow be tricked into taking on a Vampire with no preparation.
Now that he had completed the Transformation process, the art of walking was nothing. He never grew tired anymore from any sort of physical activity. He didn’t need to eat frequently either, though he did so whenever Sadie insisted, or she made something he particularly enjoyed. Sleeping was another human need James no longer had the same sort of necessity for. He only slept an hour or two each night. The only time he ever grew weary was when his special energy was triggered. Culpepper called him a Healer, and even though James didn’t think of himself as any more of a healer now than he had when he first started practicing medicine, the fact that Culpepper insisted on capitalizing it made him think it must be more important than he realized.
