At David’s pronouncement, I fell back against my pillows. I
couldn’t believe what I had just heard. "But that is not possible," I said.
"Oh, but it is possible, and the proof is right here," David said, holding
up the folder that Louis had been reading. "The tests were run
double-blind...neither lab knew of the other. The results were completely
identical."
"May I see that?" I asked, reaching for the folder, which he handed over to
me.
As I looked through the lab report, the bedroom door opened. Daniel and
Armand walked in. "What’s going on?" Daniel asked, noting the tension present
in the room. Lestat and Louis took them aside and told them what was
happening.
I was still deep into my reading and pondering this incredible news when I
heard Daniel shout, "What?" This drew my attention to him, and I noticed him
looking at me in a state of shock. He came over to me and took my hand.
"But why didn’t you tell me, Jamie, honey?" he asked, a little hurt.
I shrugged and said, "Probably because I didn’t know myself, Daniel." Then
I directed my next question to David. "How could this be happening? The
last blood test I had didn’t show this at all."
David folded his arms across his chest and stared at me. "When was the last
time you had a blood test, Jamie?" he asked.
I was rather astonished to realize that I didn’t remember, and I said as
much to him. "I haven’t been sick in such a long time that I haven’t needed
one."
"And you haven’t wondered about that at all?" he asked me.
"To be perfectly honest, I haven’t given it much thought. I’ve been too
busy living my life to worry about being sick," I said.
"When was the last time you were sick?" he asked me. I noticed a change
come over him. He was all scholar now.
I pondered over that question for a couple of minutes. I could tell that
everyone in the room was paying close attention to my next answer. I tried to
not be nervous as I said, "I suppose the last time I was really and truly
sick was about two years after the twins were born. I don’t exactly remember
what was wrong with me; I just know that I almost died," I said.
"You almost died?" David asked me.
I nodded and said, "Yes, and my doctor didn’t know what to do. One minute I
was healthy as a horse; the next, I was near death."
"Go on," David prodded.
"The day I got sick, I vaguely recall feeling a little lightheaded, and then
nothing. The next thing I remember is waking up in the hospital, and three
weeks had passed. To this day, I still do not know what was wrong with me."
"Let me go back a bit," David said, "you remember your last blood test being
perfectly normal?"
"Yes," I said, "the test indicated that I had perfectly normal human O+
blood. Of course this was just after I had the twins, so the tests might not
have been as thorough then as they are now, but there were no strange factors
in
it at all."
As I finished, I looked at David. "Will you please tell me what you think
about all of this?" I asked, "I would really like to know your opinion on
this."
David said, "For one thing, it is obvious that whatever happened to
precipitate your change had its inception during the time when you were so
dreadfully
ill. But tell me this, you have not been sick since that time?"
I shrugged. "Well, I do that the occasional sneeze and cough, especially
when the weather changes, but otherwise, no, I have not."
"May I ask you another question?" he asked me.
"Certainly," I said, "what is it?"
He looked at the others, and I could see Armand nodding. He looked back at
me. "Do you have any problems with sunlight? Does it bother you?"
The question surprised me, but then again, it really shouldn’t have. They
would obviously want to know about this particular subject. I shook my head.
"No, I don’t," I said, "well, of course if I stay out too long, I will get
sunburned. But other than that, no."
Everyone looked flabbergasted. "Not even the tiniest bit?" Lestat asked.
"No, it really doesn’t. In fact, I love being outside in the sun when it is
nice and warm outside," I said.
I could sense their envy, and I felt slightly sorry for them, that they
could not enjoy the sunlight. Then David spoke up again. "This is most
intriguing, Jamie. But may I ask you for your permission to do a thorough
background check on you?"
I said, "Sure, but why?"
He said, "I would like to discover if you have had other family members go
through this as well. Can you recall any?"
I thought back. "Well, when I was very young, I do remember a favorite aunt
of mine becoming very ill. No one spoke of it to me, but I could sense it
was bad. She wasn’t expected to survive, and then all of a sudden, it seemed
that she was well." I looked at Daniel. I said, "Do you remember my Aunt
Carla?"
He nodded. "Yes, I do. I liked her; she was always nice to me."
I smiled at him. "Well she always liked you, too. She always told me that
you and I would eventually get together. I just wish she could have been at
the wedding."
Daniel smiled, and then David spoke up. "This aunt of yours, did she die?"
"I don’t know, David. One day she was simply gone. She had just recovered,
you see, and she had really been living it up. At least, that’s what my
mother told me. There was a lot of speculation about what happened to her,
but
since no one knew for sure, we simply stopped talking about her."
David asked, "And this was your aunt? On which side of the family?"
"My mother’s side of the family," I said.
"Very well," David said, "that is a fine place to begin."
David left the room to go make some telephone calls. Daniel was sitting
next to me on the bed, holding my hand; Louis was looking out of the window
into
the night; and Lestat and Armand were into a deep, yet quiet, conversation.
"I have to get up," I announced to no one in particular, and began to climb
out of the bed.
Lestat was there in an instant. "Cheríe, what do you think you are doing?"
he asked in a most haughty tone.
I matched him tone for tone. "What does it look like, darlin’? I’m
getting out of this damned bed," I said.
"Oh, really?" he asked, in a soft, yet dangerous tone.
"Yes, really," I sighed, "and you can either help me out of this bed or shut
the fuck up."
My use of language seemed to shock him a little. He probably wasn’t used to
hearing women use choice words like that. I had to stifle a smile at the
look on his face. But it had its desired effect. He immediately moved to
help
me out of the bed. I heard Daniel chuckling softly behind me. "She’s
definitely getting better," he said, probably to Louis.
Louis asked, "How can you tell, Daniel?"
I turned my head and glared at him. "Don’t say it," I warned, "or I’ll
start spilling secrets of yours that you definitely don’t want getting out."
Daniel grinned his full-fanged grin at me, and pretended to shudder in
horror. "Okay, okay," he said, "you win.....this time."
I grinned toothily at him before turning my attention back to Lestat. He
was leaning against the wall with his arms folded across his chest. "Well?" I
asked, "aren’t you going to help me?"
Lestat pretended to look chagrined. While reaching to help me, he said,
"What? You mean now?"
As Lestat assisted me to my feet, I muttered under my breath my doubts about
his legitimacy. I’m also sure that the terms "fucking asshole" and "rotten
prick" were in there somewhere as well. But I also studiously avoiding the
grins that broke out on the other’s faces.
In the living room, I paced back and forth across the floor. I was deep in
thought, so I was totally oblivious to the eyes on me.
Lestat said to Louis, "She’s going to wear a hole in my floor."
"In your floor?" Louis asked, his tone full of sarcasm.
"In our floor," Lestat said, "pardone moi."
I whipped my head towards Lestat and glared at him, and then I broke into a
small smile. "Sorry," I said, "it’s just that it is such a shock. I always
thought I was halfway normal."
"Normal?" Lestat scoffed, "what is normal? Normal is overrated."
I laughed softly. "I know that," I said, "but it is quite a shock to
discover that, all of a sudden, I’m different from other human beings."
Lestat nodded. He said, "That’s a shock we have all experienced as well."
He looked at the others, and they all nodded in agreement.
He asked me, "Will you please sit down? I want to tell you something."
I did as he requested, but I asked, "What is it?"
" I want to tell you a story I once heard from a very reliable source,"
Lestat said.
"What sort of story?" I asked.
"A story about your possible ancestry," he responded.
"Possible ancestry?" I asked, a little shocked.
"Yes, possible, because no one knows truly knows the facts behind this
story. There is only speculation," he said.
I leaned back into the chair in which I was sitting. I winced a little as I
did so. No one said anything, although I know they all noticed it. "Please
tell me what you know. I want to know.....no, it’s more like I have to
know what you know. There is more than just me on the line here," I said,
thinking of my children.
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