After Dinner Treats

Nova worked her way through any number of responses as she regarded her Maker. She was, surprisingly enough, hurt that Simon was going on without her; she had assumed she would have some part to play in delivering retribution, and wanted to object. In fact, she opened her mouth to do so, but in a rare moment of discretion closed it again.

Of course she wouldn't be asked to go along. There were many in Tacharan far more suitable to assist, after all; she was a scientist, not a merc, not a warrior.

Yeah. Keep the phone.

The words came out more bitterly than she intended, and that alone gave her pause. Here Simon was handing over the care of his human child to her, a compliment of the highest order, and she was getting sulky because she didn't get to get her hands dirty, didn't get the pleasure of ripping apart the person responsible herself?

That's just messed up Nova. Come on.

Her features softened and she gripped Simon's arm reassuringly.

He'll be alright. I'll stay, someone's gotta make sure these assholes get it right.

Simon watched the disappointed and rather annoyed expression pass over Nova's face.

'He'll be alright. I'll stay, someone's gotta make sure these assholes get it right.' She replied.

Turning Simon walked quickly out of the hospital and to his car. Taking out the yellow cell phone again, Simon dialed another number. It was answered on the first ring.

'Find me The Wolf.'

The clear, elf like voice of Carol replied, 'I'm on it.'

Simon ended the call as he approached his blue Jaquar, his hands curled into tight fists, threatening Nova's cell phone as he got in.

((OOC Simon out))

Nova walked back to her chair and settled in for a long wait. She was internally kicking herself for not discussing her thoughts with Simon, but this had all happened so fast. Now she had several hours to think over what had nagged her at the back of her mind since this ordeal started, and no one to bounce off of, no one to help her push the thought out of her mind.

She had only been a vampire for ten years, and already her instincts were changing. She could not imagine what it would be like in 30 years, 300 even, 3000. But already, in such a short amount of time, she was used to the concept of eternal life, and seeing her friend age without her was a difficult thing to see. Was, in fact, something she had refused to see until today. And there was a split second, when she had Marthinus slumped in her arms, where she was not sure if she would save his human life or help him to leave it behind and enter her world.

It was fortunate that she had made the right choice; she of course had not considered the many and varied consequences in that frantic moment, and had she so much as offered her blood to the human CEO, both he and Ellis would make sure said consequences found her in droves.

But what if this happened again? What if she had not been able to get him to breath? What if...

Nova scowled. She -had- been able to get him to breath, Marthinus -wasn't- going to die, so what was she all worked up about?

What happens next time?

A part of her could not believe she had been this stupid, but hell, she never thought much about death and mortality when she was human, why would she think about it now? And Marthinus wasn't even that old, dammit. Or was he? Nova wasn't sure. In any case, she should have asked...

Hell, spit it out Nova.

...should have asked what Marthinus's wishes were. Would he want to be turned? How far should they go to save him? What would Ellis say? It infuriated her that she did not know the answer to those questions, even as it occurred to her that they had been very lucky in spite of the terrible circumstances.

Nova leaned her head against the wall and sighed.

'Excuse me.' The doctor had returned again and was looking at Nova with a curious expression. He watched her for a moment before speaking. She had seemed to completely slumped in the chair and was resting her head on the wall. The next of kin, Simon Huntington, had apparently left.

He walked up to Nova and stepped on something that cracked. He looked down and saw the remants of a cell phone. He had seen worse reactions to family members being hurt, almost all were violent.

'Mr. Steyn is awake for the moment, if you'd like to speak to him. He's asking for you...well I'm assuming it's you. He wants to speak to a 'Nova?'

The prick of a needle woke Marthinus. He looked up quickly, or as quickly as he could, and with a rush of pain to his head, saw the nurse adjusting his IV. 'Where...?'

'You're in the hospital, Mr. Steyn,' she said. 'You've suffered a heart attack and were brought in. The doctor will be in momentarily to explain everything to you.' She finished checking his IV and vitals and left.

Marthinus looked around, dizzy from the pain in his head and in his chest. He reached and rested his hand on his chest. With a sigh he remembers, falling to the ground, exactly on the spot where The Beast should've been.

'My word,' he mumbled, shaking his head. Suddenly he remembered Nova. Where was Nova? He looked around, looking for the call button, finding it on the bed coiled up in the side bar. He pressed the button and moments later a voice chimed in.

'Yes, Mr. Steyn?'

'The woman who brought me in, is she still here?'

'I belive so, Mr. Steyn.'

'Could you send her in, please?'

'Yes, Mr. Steyn.'

He laid back onto his hospital bed. It was flat with very letting support. He could already feel his back protesting. Marthinus looked up at the ceiling, thinking of what Ellis' reaction would be. This was Hillman's doing. For a brief moment, Marthinus pitied Hillman for the wrath he was bringing down on himself. He knew that Ellis would never stop, nor would Simon once he found out.

He mourned the deaths that would lead up to Hillman's capture. Marthinus had no doubt the blood shed would be unspeakable.

Ellis put her cell phone onto her lap as she sat in her Domicile office. Her legs were crossed and wrapped in soft, vintage leather. 'Hillman.' She thought deeply and with much anger. Looking at her top, she brushed away an errant piece of hair. She had chosen a tight black three quarter length blouse that dropped to just below her breasts, accenting her waist and hips as her leather pants hung precariously onto them. Ellis started to bob a buckled boot as she considered her options.

Open her phone, she dialed Carol's number. Within one ring, Carol picked up. 'Yes, ma'am?'

'Call the hospital, Carol. See to it that Marthinus wants for nothing and that Duibne sends its best doctor's to assist.'

'Yes, Ellis.'

'What orders has Simon giving you?'

'To find the Wolf, ma'am.'

'Good,' Ellis purred. 'That will be all, Carol.' She closed her phone again, reaching out with her mind, trying to feel the presence in the Abby but her anger was distracting her. She shook her head and made a promise.

Hillman will be the first human to feel The Beast.

Nova looked up at the doctor with a somewhat grave expression.

Yes, of course I'd like to see him. How is he?

She got little in the way of answers from the doctor, who kept his story to a simple 'Right now, he's alright and out of the woods.', which did little to ease Nova's mind. They walked briskly to the recovery ward, where the doctor directed her to Marthinus's room and went on his way down the hall.

Nova approached the room with trepidation. The door was open when she arrived, and for some reason that annoyed her. She stepped into the room and shut the door firmly behind her, then turned to look at Marthinus.

She was not sure of what she had expected. Tubes and machines and IVs everywhere, she supposed. Instead, there was a single monitor, clipped to one finger, and while there was a stand for holding IV bags nearby, he was currently free of any sort of tubes.

The two friends regarded each other for half a moment before Nova sat down hard on a chair and promptly burst into tears.

Much to his dismay, Nova started to cry. 'Oh...dear...' was all he could think of saying as he reached out and tried to comfort her. He did not do well with tears, especially from vampires.

'Nova.' He gently touched Nova's head, stroking her hair. Marthinus struggled with his words, his chest aching him with every breath.

'Ellis?' He managed to ask. Marthinus was tired, so tired. 'Did you tell Ellis yet?'

Horrified at having an emotional outburst that was not terrible wrath or bellowing laughter, Nova sniffed mightily and did her best to stiffen her upper lip. She eventually collected herself enough to realize that Marthinus was comforting her rather than the other way around, and mentally kicked herself in the shins.

Sorry...sorry...she sniffed again...yes, Ellis sniff knows, or I assume she does, Simon must have told her...he was here, but he's gone now, he went to get sniff Hillman, he's the one that took it, I don't know who that is, but god, Simon was worried about you, everyone is sniffs and when he found out what happened he was so -angry- sniffs.

But...god, look at me, I'm so sorry, I just...are you alright? Are you in pain?

With a weary smile, he took a labored breath and sighed. 'I wont lie, it hurts more than I'd like it to.' Marthinus touched Nova's hand and thought of Simon. He could not imagine what his kinsman must be feeling. Their akward conversations over the years always gave him the impression that Simon chose not to discuss their heritage. Simon was always uncomfortable around him, never making eye contact. Marthinus took it as a simple fact of life that Simon was ashamed of what he was and mourned his humanity when ever he saw Marthinus.

'My son, Jacob, must be notified. If things do not work out, he must step up into my role.' Marthinus raised a hand to stop Nova from any protesting. His death, whether far off or waiting quietly in the shadows, must be dealt with appropriately.

'I do not believe doctors, Nova. I never thought of them as scientists, but more,' he thought a moment, 'heretics waiting to cut me open.' Just then, there was a knock on the door. Marthinus' doctor poked his head in.

'I am sorry to interrupt, but Mr. Steyn I must speak with you regarding your results.'

Marthinus looked at Nova and grimly said, 'See, what did I tell you. Heretics.'

The doctor walked in on Marthinus and Nova speaking softly, undoubtedly about what to do if things progressed and worsened.

Which they had. 'I hate this part,' the doctor thought to himself.

'Mr. Steyn upon your arrival you were given a MRI to check the status of your heart functions.' He paused, moving his fingers along the edge of the folder, rotating it clockwise in his hands.

'Mr. Steyn you're suffering from congestive heart failure. The angioplasty will not be sufficient enough to clear the damage that was done to your arteries. This is a type of heart surgery. It's sometimes called CABG or "cabbage". The surgery reroutes, or "bypasses," blood around clogged arteries to improve blood flow and oxygen to the heart."

'We'll have to take a segment of a healthy blood vessel from another part of the body and make a detour around the blocked part of the coronary artery. We'll take that part more likely from the vein in your leg. Recovery is typically within 4 to 6 weeks.'

The doctor took a moment to let it sink in. He followed with a low, soft voice. 'Mr. Steyn you're heart is dying, but we have the best medical technology available here and we've received notice that your medical facilities best doctors will be assisting.' He smiled, 'You are very fortunate to have high powered friends who want to see you well.'

Taking a step back he made his exit, 'I'll let you confer with your family and friends, but we would need to do this as soon as possible. I'll be back when you're visitors have left to discuss any questions you might have.' Nodding, he opened the door and left quietly.

Nova frowned, but did not interrupt, when Marthinus explained the need to contact his son. She would, of course, help with that in any way she could, but that did -not- mean he was going anywhere. She reached for her phone before remembering that she had loaned it to Simon.

Damn.

She could understand Marthinus's opinion of doctors; it was not an uncommon belief by any means, and Nova herself found it dangerous to overestimate them.

And then, speak of the devil, a doctor came in.

Nova was somewhat relieved now that her crying jag seemed to be over and done with. It would have been worse in a way to dissolve into tears when the doctor was delivering his news. As it was, she was able to listen with reasonable objectivity and only had the slightest of urges to punch a whole through the wall at the unfairness of it.

She paused for a moment before speaking, letting silence hang thick in the air after the doctor's exit. She was unsure of how to bring this up, how to approach the subject in a reasonably tactful way.

I suppose you know that you have options beyond what the doctors can offer, Marthinus...

She trailed off, suddenly worried that her tears were not over after all, but managed to pull it together.

I'm behind you in whatever you want to do at this point, you know that. I'll help in any way I can.

Just don't die. Don't choose that.

She managed to keep that thought to herself.

"I suppose you know that you have options beyond what the doctors can offer, Marthinus... " Nova said.

Marthinus looked down at his hands and took a deep breath. Yes, he knew what those options were.

Marthinus was quiet for a long while. He listened to his jagged breathing and thanked whatever God for being gracious enough to let him breath on his own. If he had been worse, he knew for certain Ellis would have turned him. She told him as much. But here he was now with a choice.

A choice.

Life and certain early death or eternal death as he is now, forever...damned.


"I'm behind you in whatever you want to do at this point, you know that. I'll help in any way I can." Added Nova.

An offer? He looked at Nova, the sincerity in her eyes. 'I would never ask that of you, dear. It would not be your place,' Marthinus said softly but with a grateful nod.

'I do not...know...what to do.' Marthinus sighed.

Nova simply nodded her head and looked at her feet while Marthinus took in both his situation and her words. While she understood his reasoning well enough, she was having a hard time worrying about protocol and did not regret her implied offer.

She looked into her friend's eyes, thinking for a moment, before she spoke.

This is -your- life. No one else's. God knows I want you here more than I can put in words, but if there's anything you have do to for yourself and no one else, it's this.

It was a hard thing to say, tempting as it was to urge him to take the offer.

She looked up at the clock, sighing reluctantly. She would likely be booted out soon, and needed to go anyway if she hoped to see home at all; it was near dawn.

I should go. Don't worry about anything else; I can ask Carol to contact your son and let work know what's going on.

You just rest and think about you right now.

Marthinus smiled and tapped Nova's hand. 'That I will, dear.'

He looked down at his hand and noticed the wrinkles on it. He closed his eyes and felt the shuddered beating of his failing heart. His body was struggling, he could feel it. Suddenly his room felt very small. Is this the life he wanted? To be trapped in the confines of a broken body until he finally dies? To watch his body atophy along with his heart? Marthinus had never questioned his role as a familiar, not in his entire existence of knowing. Did he want to live forever?

Then he thought of Simon, how his kinsman struggled with his family. How was it, to watch your children die before your own eyes? Marthinus then thought of his son. He was as close to his son as any father, but his birth was done out of family necessity, not love. The mother was chosen for her physical qualities and intelligence, he didnt even know her. His son was taken into the Tacharan clan and raised to be his successor. That was the norm. Over the years he spent as much time as possible being a role model to his son. Trying to be more of an example than a father, but loving his son just the same.

Marthinus was a familiar for a reason. He led the public human side of Tacharan. Jacob would have to act in his place if he chose to do what Nova was offering. Can I watch my own flesh and blood die and not feel the pain Simon does?

Marthinus' smile faltered. 'That I will.'

Nova stood up, resigned.

I'll come back and see you soon.

She leaned over and kissed Marthinus once on the cheek, gave him a shaky smile, and left quietly.

/ooc Nova out

Marthinus watched Nova exit. He looked around his room again. The pale walls and the darkened window did not give him the impression of home or stir him into deep thought. With a sigh he laid back and stared at the ceiling.

(( Marthinus out ))