From Chapter 5: "Just let me die and take care of my kids,"
Jamie said.
{{{Armand!}}} Lestat mentally shouted. {{{Get to New Orleans now, and
bring Daniel with you.}}} He looked down at the unconscious form of his
friend.
He gingerly picked her up and began to carry her to her bed. "Louis, come
help me," he ordered, gratified to se that Louis immediately broke into
movement.
David asked, "What can I do?"
Lestat quickly glanced at him, "Go find a doctor. I do not care how you
bring one, just get one," he said.
"Consider it done," David said and was gone.
Louis quickly moved in front of Lestat and opened the bedroom door for him.
"Get me some towels. Make some of them wet and some dry," Lestat told him,
and gently laid Jamie on the bed. She moaned softly, and whimpered. He
brushed his hand across her forehead, and whispered, "I'm sorry, ma chere."
Louis reappeared with the towels, and handed them to Lestat. "Here," he
said, and looking down at Jamie asked, "How is she?"
Lestat said, "I do not know as yet, mon ami. I need to see how bad she is
injured." He retrieved a pair of scissors and began to cut away Jamie's
shirt. The aroma of her blood was very enticing--warm and sweet.
Fortunately
for them both, he had fed well before visiting her.
His breath hissed through his teeth as he saw the extent of her injuries.
There were three small neat bullet holes across her abdomen. He noticed that
the bleeding had stopped, but he was concerned with the pallor of her skin.
Her breathing was becoming a little shallower, too. He thought, as almost a
prayer, Hurry up David.
He heard the phone ring, and was relieved to hear that Louis had picked it
up. He heard Louis say, "Ouí?" He picked up one of the dampened towels and
wiped away some of the blood around the wounds. He put her shirt away to
give to David. He thought that maybe that could suffice for a blood sample,
if
they still needed it later. The wounds themselves were angry and red. He
gingerly probed at them, wincing when she groaned. "I am so sorry, cheríe,"
he
said, "but I have to do this.
Suddenly, a phone was thrust into his face. He looked up at Louis
impatiently. "What?" he barked.
“Armand," he said simply.
Lestat took the phone. "Armand," he said.
I heard you Lestat, what is the matter?" Armand's soft voice came from the
other end of the phone.
“Bring Daniel to New Orleans at once," Lestat ordered tersely.
Armand noticed the controlled anger and panic in Lestat's voice, because he
asked, "What's wrong?"
“Jamie's been wounded, Armand," Lestat said, "and from what I can tell, her
injuries are quite severe."
“What happened?" Armand asked, his accent sharpening.
Lestat filled Armand in on what he knew, and then he heard Louis pick up on
another extension. "Louis, tell Armand and me exactly what happened," he
said.
Louis did just that. He paused to answer questions that Armand and Lestat
would ask him. After Louis finished speaking, Armand said, "Since it is
almost dawn, we cannot come now, obviously, We’ll be there shortly after
sunset."
"Good," said Lestat.
"What about her children? Are you contacting them?" Armand asked.
Lestat said, "Louis is going to leave them a message at their school."
Just then David walked in with a doctor in tow. "Armand, listen I have to
go. David just arrived with a doctor," he said, and hung up the phone. "So,
Doctor," Lestat said, "will she survive?" He asked this after the doctor
had examined Jamie's injuries.
"She needs to go to a hospital," the doctor told him, matter-of-factly.
"Out of the question," Lestat said, emphatically, "she is not going to a
hospital."
"Well, then?" the doctor asked, "you want her to die?"
Lestat's anger flared briefly, but he realized that the doctor was not
trying to be antagonistic. He was truly worried about his patient. "Of
course
not, Doctor," he snapped, "whatever you need to keep her stable, you shall
have. Money is not a problem, and you will stay with her until she recovers,
or
she.... well, that had better not happen."
Lestat noticed the doctor's face blanch, but he didn't say anything. He
drew eye-to-eye with the doctor and softened his voice. "You will be witness
to
strange things, Doctor. You will watch, but you will not question anything
you see here."
The doctor repeated dully, "I will not question anything I see here."
Lestat nodded with satisfaction, and broke the trance. "Very well, Doctor.
Now what will you need?"
The doctor blinked and shook his head. "Um," he stammered, "uh, I'll need
my instruments and supplies." He then proceeded to spout things that he
needed.
"It shall be as you have requested," Lestat said, "now, my good man, we will
be going to bed soon, as we are night people. You mustn't leave this room
under any circumstances. I will have food brought to you when I have your
medical supplies brought."
The doctor nodded briskly, his mind becoming focused on his patient once
again. "That will be satisfactory," he said.
The next evening, Lestat awoke earlier than he usually did. He grimaced as
he recalled his dreams of the day. They revolved around Jamie in every
gruesome death imaginable. He showered, dressed, and went out to feed. He
quickly located an especially nasty drug dealer/pimp. He dispatched the
bastard
slowly and methodically. The blood filled and nourished him thoroughly. As
the swoon passed through him, a sense of urgency seized him.
He quickly made his way back to the flat. He walked to the room where
Jamie and her doctor were. Mentally he unlocked the door, and opened it. As
he
walked into the room, the doctor looked up, startled.
"How is she?" Lestat asked.
"Remarkably well," the doctor said, "considering she has three bullet holes
in her stomach."
Lestat exhaled in relief, "Bien," he said.
"In fact," the doctor said, "I was about to change her bandages, if you will
wait."
"That will be fine," Lestat said, and waited for the doctor to finish.
Lestat was facing the window when he heard the doctor exclaim, "Oh My God."
He quickly turned around and asked, "What is it?" He raced to the side of
the bed.
The doctor pointed to the wounds and said, "Look, Mssr. de Lioncourt, at her
wounds."
Lestat looked at the wounds and was dumbstruck to discover that they were
almost healed. In fact, her color had returned remarkably. He looked at the
doctor, who seemed to be on the verge of a panic. He grabbed the doctor by
his arms, and looked into his eyes. "Don't worry about this, doctor. Just
keep taking care of her," he said.
Lestat raced out of the room, and almost ran headlong into David and Louis.
"Lestat," Louis said, "what is it? Is she?", unable to say the word dead.
"No, Louis, mon ami," Lestat said, "in fact she's almost completely healed.
I was just going to phone Armand."
Louis sighed in relief, "Mon Dieu, what a relief," he said, and went into
the room.
Lestat held David aside. "I have Jamie's shirt tucked away, so you could
get a blood sample from it."
David nodded, "That was good thinking, old man. I'll have it sent to Jake
immediately."
"Very good," Lestat said.
At that time, Armand and Daniel stormed into the townhouse. "Where is she?"
Daniel demanded, and when Lestat pointed into the room, Daniel blazed into
there.
"How is she?" Armand asked.
Lestat took Armand aside and said lowly, "She's almost completely healed,
mon ami."
Armand looked stunned, "You're sure about this?"
Lestat nodded, "Positive. I've seen the wounds myself."
Armand said, "I want to see them too."
"She's right in that room, Armand. Don't mind the doctor, I'll take care of
him," Lestat said.
Armand nodded and walked into the room where Jamie was. Louis walked out
with a smile on his face, which died quickly. "Dammit," he said, all of a
sudden.
Lestat almost broke into laughter. "Louis? What is it, mon ami? he asked.
Louis grimaced. "I need to call the school to let the twins know that their
mother is all right," he said.
He went over to the phone and happened to notice that the light was flashing
on the answering machine. One message. Louis pressed the button to play
it. A young masculine voice emerged from the recorder. "Um, this is a
message for Lestat de Lioncourt or Louis de Pointe du Lac. My name is Michael
Stephens, and I would like to thank you for taking care of Michelle's and my
mother. We will be landing in New Orleans tonight. We know the address from
our
mother. So we will be coming to get her tonight. Once again, Thanks for
taking care of her."
Lestat and Louis looked at each other, and Lestat said, "Oh, hell. That
means that they will be coming here tonight."
Louis nodded, and said, "But how can you prevent it? The meeting will take
place whether we like it or not."
Lestat nodded glumly. "I do believe you are correct," he said. And at that
time, the front door knocked.
Lestat and Louis looked at each other. "I'll get the door," Louis said.
"You go warn Armand."
Lestat nodded and walked into the bedroom. He said, "Doctor, you may leave
now. And you will remember nothing of this night."
The doctor nodded, picked up his things, and left.
Lestat noticed that Daniel was parked beside Jamie, gently stroking her
face. Armand drew him away. "Now what is wrong?" he asked.
Lestat looked directly at Armand. "The twins are here," he said, "Louis is
letting them in right now."
"Oh, no," Armand said, "And I haven't told Daniel anything about them."
Just then a pair of mortals burst into the room. The young man stopped up
short, seeing the people in the room. But then his eyes fell on his mother.
He and his sister raced to her bedside. Daniel looked up at the mortals.
"Who are you and what do you want?" he demanded.
The young man, Michael, looked directly at Daniel. "I don't know who you
are, so I won't flatten you. But I would like to know why you are hovering
over our mother."
Daniel looked shocked. "Your, your mother? Jamie is your mother?"
Both Michael and Michelle looked stunned at this stranger's easy use of
their mother's first name. Michael nodded. "Yes, man. This woman is our
mother--mine and Michelle's," he said, pointing to the mortal woman, who
nodded.
Daniel looked to Lestat and Armand who both looked at him. "You knew,
didn't you?" he asked, and you weren't going to tell me?"
Daniel's tirade was halted by a soft voice coming from the bed. "I wouldn't
let them Daniel," Jamie said.
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