Fifty-One…

Fifty-One: Suffer the Children

Contains offensive language.

Laughing and giggling, Katerina, Reznik and their friends exited the movie theater.

They hadn’t watched much of the movie, they were too busy making fun of it and pointing out the many flaws in Twilight.

“I wish I was Bella,” Amanda joked. “I would’ve forced Eddy to give me some dick.”

“What about Jacob?” Another chimed in.

“What about both Eddy and Jacob? Like a threesome?” Kat laughed. Another sea of giggles swept over the small crowd.

“Girls are so stupid,” Keith muttered. Reznik nodded.

“So now what?” Kat asked.

“Why don’t we go to the city? I wanna hunt me some human meat,” Sandra said.

“In what context?” Kat questioned.

“Any and all context,” she replied, her eyes sparkling with mischief.

The group headed for the car.

A wave of dizziness struck Kat. She heaved; then collapsed.

Her friends gasped.

“Shit! Kat!” Reznik shouted.

She drifted in and out of consciousness. Voices echoed around her.

“Kat!”

“Katerina! Are you okay?”

Someone lifted her up and carried her to the vehicle.

It was her brother.

Aubrey and Vaclav rushed to the medical facility.

Reznik’s phone call came just minutes earlier.

Vaclav gripped her hand, as though attempting to reassure her that everything would be fine.

Would it?

A nurse greeted them as they entered. Reznik had a horrified look on his face.

“Preliminary tests show that your daughter is severely malnourished, which likely caused the fainting. She’s on an IV drip right now but is still very weak.”

“Malnourished? What?” Aubrey said.

“I don’t understand. You mean she has an eating disorder?”

“Not necessarily. Her symptoms point to something else. We’ll know more in a few hours.”

“Can we see her?” Reznik asked.

“I’m sorry, but not for at least two more hours while we run more tests.”

Vaclav edged his arm around Aubrey and held her close.

There was nothing more to do but sit and wait.

Aubrey fell asleep on her husband’s lap.

Some time afterward, the shuffling of footsteps awakened her.

“You can see your daughter now,” the nurse said.

Aubrey hoisted herself up. Trepidation claimed her, sending her stomach into a frenzy. Tortured thoughts resonated:

What’s wrong with Kat?

Will she be okay?

Is it… a terminal illness? that thought sent shock waves through her motionless heart; perhaps enough to get it beating again…

Kat stirred when they stepped into the room. She covered her face, groaning.

Aubrey approached her.

Tenderly, her hand overlapped her daughter’s.

“I love you so much, Kat.” Moisture gathered beneath Aubrey’s eyelids. She wiped away the tears.

Who says vampires don’t cry? Who says they don’t get emotional? Who says they don’t love, just as much as humans do? If not more?

“She’ll be okay,” Vaclav softly said. “Try not to worry.”

But I’m her mother. I can’t help but worry.

“And I’m her father,” Vaclav said reading her mind. “But it’s useless to worry when her diagnosis isn’t yet known. It could be nothing serious.”

Maybe. Maybe not.

As the minutes ticked, Reznik got tired. Aubrey told him to go home.

Dawn would arrive before long.

A doctor ambled through the door.  Aubrey froze.

She introduced herself as Dr. Peterson.

“More testing has shown that Katerina’s heart has arrhythmias.”

Aubrey glanced at Kat. Panic mode was starting to kick in.

“But that’s not all,” Dr. Peterson said. “Her liver is in the beginning stages of failure, in addition to her kidneys. All this is due to long-term malnutrition.”

“She’s going to die?” Aubrey sobbed; then suddenly raged: “just tell me what the fuck is wrong with my daughter!”

“We think she might have a disorder called Interspecies-Restricted Digestive Ambiguity Syndrome, or  I-DAS. It’s a condition only affecting about 5% of dhampirs. I’ve contacted a specialist to have a look at her. He’ll be here in about thirty minutes.”

“I-DAS? What the hell does that mean?”

“Basically, it means your daughter’s digestive system doesn’t know whether it needs blood for nourishment, or human food. In turn this causes illness no matter what she ingests and her body cannot properly absorb nutrients. This leads to malnutrition, which then leads to organ failure. She’s probably been suffering from stomach pains for a long time.”

Aubrey’s mouth went agape.

“Holy shit,” Vaclav said staring at Aubrey. Even he was shocked.

“So how is it treated? Can it be reversed?”

“Again, a specialist will be in soon to give you more details about treatment. I’m sorry I can’t tell you any more.”

“Has she been like this since birth? I mean, how has she survived this long without having any problems? How did we not know she was in so much pain?”

Kat bolted upright.

“I never told you how bad it hurt… because you and Dad were too busy worrying about Reznik.”

Aubrey looked at her daughter, not hearing the doctor’s next statement.

Flashbacks invaded, declaring war on Aubrey’s mind…

When Kat was six, she’d run through the house excited about her new dress; complete with fluttering wings on the back.

“Mommy! Look!”

“Not now, Kat! Reznik’s started another fire!”

“Damnit, Reznik! Look at what you’re doing! Can’t you just stop?!” Aubrey screamed.

“Oh! I hate you, Reznik!”

He didn’t react.

“Reznik, when I’m through with you, you won’t be able to sit down for a week!”

“But Daddy would never punish him,” she presently said. “You both just let him get away with everything. He’s spoiled… because he was adopted by the other clan and you got him back. You appreciated him so much that you couldn’t see what you were doing to him, or what you were doing to me. And I couldn’t tell you anything was wrong because you were too involved with his problems.”

“Kat, I’m sorry. I never realized how much our preoccupation with Reznik affected you.”

Aubrey nodded, blotting her tears. Words couldn’t express her grief entwined with the guilt she felt.

“It’s okay,” she said laying down, sighing. “You and Mom have enough to worry about. I never should’ve brought it up.”

Dr. Peterson broke the uncomfortable silence that trailed Kat’s words.

“Symptoms of I-DAS peak in adolescence, when the dhampiric child is growing the most.”

Then Dr. Peterson checked her watch. “The specialist should be here any minute. I have to go and tend to another patient.”  She rushed out.

Meanwhile, another doctor rushed in.

At first, Aubrey just stared at him.

“Good to see you again, Mr. and Mrs. Haas. I’m the specialist here to see Katerina.”

“You’re not coming anywhere near my daughter.”

                                                             ****

😛

Vaclav is able to read Aubrey’s mind because their psychic bond has grown stronger since she’s turned into an immortal. Also, her mind is easier to read when she’s upset, similar to before whenever she’d get really emotional and Vaclav could see what she was seeing. Make sense? Probably not, but I’m trying.  LOL

And yeah, the dude at the end is Hunter…