Chapter One - Books, Bonds, and Jane Doe

Though he had tried to stay away from the doctor, the conversation he’d just had weighed heavily on his heart. Sebastian decided that the pull he had to Dr. Keene was there for a reason. It was a mixture of realizing what she might mean to him and knowing he still had some emotions to overcome about someone else from long ago.

While trying to stay away from the doctor, he’d made an appearance at the Council Chamber. Sebastian even gave insight to a couple of cases that Crimson agents were currently working on. He picked up some books supplied by the librarians. After that, he found himself at the Eastside Medical Clinic to see how Samantha’s day had gone. Was he also avoiding a certain Dragon Tasker? Perhaps.

The staff were completely unaware of his presence. He had not used magic, for that couldn’t happen in this specialized clinic. But he was a vampire, and that came with an abundance of innate abilities and physical prowess. Within one minute, he silently made it into Dr. Samantha Keene’s office.

He scanned over the many medical guides and certifications she had here and there. She had filled two walls with books separated by random works of art made into bookends. There was no particular color scheme, which, oddly enough, perfectly matched Samantha’s chaotic personality. He wasn’t there to disrupt her day or pull her away from patients. So, Sebastian simply settled into the couch and awaited her arrival.

Sam walked into the office and went directly to the opposite wall of books. She moved the tip of her index finger over the spines until she found the one she needed. Taking it down, the doctor opened it immediately to the back. Flipping back through the pages, her focus so profound that she didn’t realize she was being watched. Moving behind her desk, she flopped down in the chair and continued to read. She reached into her side drawer to open it up and grab out a granola bar.

Quietly, Sebastian sat there and watched the good doctor. She was beautiful, though he knew she would never believe him when he said it. To him, Samantha Keene was breathtaking, and the energy she gave over warmed him. He could honestly sit and watch her work all day. He let himself have the pleasure for at least fifteen minutes before he cleared his throat.

“For the…” When she stood up, the chair fell backward behind her and she dropped everything on the top of the desk. Sebastian chuckled. Despite him being in a darker portion of the office, the vampire knew she was aware of who her intruder was.

“Bastian, I didn’t hear you come in or… were you here the whole time? Holy shit…”

“The whole time.” Sebastian grinned as he got up and made his way across the office to her. “I enjoyed watching you and was in no rush to interrupt.”

“Jerk. You nearly gave me a heart attack,” she scolded, but he could tell she was trying not to laugh at both herself and the situation.

Sebastian turned the book properly to see what she was so focused on reading.

“A Treatise on Blood Diseases?” It was an old book. His gaze moved from it to her.

“Sometimes there are clues for an ailment in the older texts that have to do with magic. When I wear out normal science and medicine, I try that out and then ask shamanic sources and now I also ask you. So, this is step two in treating one of my patients.”

“Well, why not move to step - me - since I’m here?” Sebastian held his hands palm up momentarily and shrugged. He watched Sam purse her lips and narrow her gaze before finally nodding, as if she had needed a mental debate with herself over the decision.

“Everything points to lymphoma. But her blood cells are not human. Either she’s not sure what to tell me about her parentage, or she’s just refusing.” Sam sighed and turned to pick up her chair, but Sebastian had already handled that. She looked over her shoulder, eyes narrowed.

“What? I caused you the startle, the least I can do is be a gentleman about the chair.” He smirked, but figured a wink might go a bit too far for her right then. This case, or rather this patient, bothered her. It was another thing that had him entranced by Sam. She was so caring and passionate about her patients that it influenced his own stony heart sometimes.

“How can somebody just leave, you know? Especially like this?” Sam sat back down and met his gaze. “I know the legends and I know humans can be just as culpable, but it just seems to me like a supernatural parent would be more diligent about their kids and their procreating. Now this girl? She’s gonna pay for it. She’s already paid for it.” Sam opened the granola bar and took a big bite and chewed while slumped in her big desk chair.

Resting against the edge of the desk, the elder vampire took a moment to think her case over. As Samantha ate the repulsive bit of grain bar, Sebastian’s nose crinkled. He lifted the book from the desk to thumb through it. “Perhaps her abandonment has a reason? My guess would be that she’s a half-blood. It isn’t unheard of for supernaturals to leave behind progeny that aren’t pure. For hundreds of years lycan were well known for it. It is why they had packs that were built to hunt rogues. Of course, it is extremely rare for vampires to procreate with those outside our race. To be quite frank, it is nearly impossible. My daughter, Morgan, and some from the Eriksson Coven are the only exceptions. That coven hasn’t gone by normal coven law in centuries, though. Nasty bunch, those. That’s why I took Morgan’s mother from that place. Though she was pregnant with a human’s child, I felt like the child was innocent of it all and didn’t deserve whatever would happen to her. I don’t regret it, though sometimes she has made my life hell.” He chuckled.

“Did you visit her before coming here?” Samantha asked.

“I was going to visit after I saw you. Wanted to be sure she and Seth were doing better, medically speaking.”

“Yes, they are. They’ll be free to go home soon. Just a heads up on the facts - I don’t think they have a place to stay. But you didn’t hear that from me.”

Sebastian groaned.

“That bad?” Samantha had treated the couple for injuries and withdrawal. She knew part of that answer.

“If you think human teenagers are bad…” He realized Samantha was looking at him with more than a minor curiosity. “I know she’s an adult now, but this all started when she was still the maturity level of a human teenager. Rebellious is an understatement. What made things worse? Her being a halfling.”

“Well, back on the other subject, teach me about halflings or a child of two species.”

“Right.” He cleared his throat. “Halflings. So… dragons can have halfling children, but don’t as a rule, given the high percentage of mutations and deaths in childbirth. Elves and demons do, and rarely worry about it. Of course, it is harder to tell their halflings from other races. The reason some get orphaned is that in any of those cases, it’s possible that the supernatural parent had to leave the situation or risk discovery. You know the rules about human discovery and the mess it would make with Crimson.”

“Yes. Doesn’t mean it’s a good excuse in my book. This girl looks and acts human. No telltale signs at all. She was in a church convalescent home. She hasn’t communicated well. They say someone left her on the doorstep. Most of the time she refuses to even look at me, let alone speak. At ‌the convalescent home, she started getting sicker, and they couldn’t stop it.” Sam pulled up the girl’s file on the laptop in front of her before turning it for him to see. “Guess I’ll skip a couple of steps and let you tell me anything if you can?”

He reached out and ran a finger over the screen as he read the notes. “She’s a vampire for sure, but she may be more than meets the eye. You should take me in to see her and speak with her. Do you, by chance, have blood samples on hand?”

“It’s the first thing we collect in cases like this. I’ve not had a spinal tap done yet. I wanted to save her some pain if I could.”

“Let’s go meet this young woman so I might get insight for you, Sunshine.” He held his hand out to her. “Then, I’ll go visit Morgan, Seth, and Russ.”

“If you can figure anything else out, that’d be great.” Sam always put her patients ahead of her own needs. “This is a Crimson case. I am the only doctor allowed on it and I’m not really supposed to be going to a consultant unless I have all of that bureaucratic red tape handled. So, this is not happening, okay?”

“Of course,” he replied.

They walked up the stairs quietly before coming out into the hallway that ran the length of the building. These were the in-patient rooms. She knew better than to even whisper to Sebastian details about their patient. After all, most supernaturals had extraordinary senses. That included hearing. And there were supernatural patients here.

She knocked on a door and pushed it open just a smidge. Inside, the patient continued to stare at the window in front of her. She had a weakened tone of muscle with sunken eyes behind strong cheekbones. Sebastian could tell by her skin that she looked bi-racial, which was odd considering Sam thought she was also bi-species. The IV was a platelet mixture attached to her left arm while there was a bandage covering her opposite shoulder.

“Hi, Jane… Can I bring in my colleague? You know the one I talked to you about?” Sam asked. Jane was obviously for Jane Doe.

“How long has she been lost in her own mind?” Sebastian asked.

“Thirty-six hours. I thought maybe you could speak to her. You have a talent with your mind.” Sam looked at Sebastian, hope in her eyes.

“Any distinguishing markings?” Sebastian asked.

“It’s on her wrist. Someone burned her, but there are traces of tattoo ink there.” Sam moved slowly to pull the girl’s hand out from under the blanket. Her fingers were cool. There was a burn scar on the inner portion of the girl’s thin wrist. The doctor let Sebastian see what he could make out. But he shook his head.

“Let me get ready. Let me read over everything I can instead of just skimming her record. Then I’ll see what I can scan in her mind without harming her. Sounds good?” He waited for Sam to nod before he reached for the local tablet. He didn’t want to make any leaps.

"Thank you," Samantha whispered to him as she led them both from the quiet room.

Senias was ready to move on. As he listened to Samantha go on and on about the research she'd already done for this complete stranger, the vampire realized how much she was the yin to his yang. He began studying her notes on Jane Doe as he listened to the doctor's lovely voice, so full of excitement over working together on this case. He felt exhilarated, like he'd not felt in years. The vampire lord didn't believe in fate or destiny. He was beginning to believe that finding a perfect complement to one's soul was possible. Perhaps he'd just been searching for it in all the wrong places?