Innocent Devil’s Harem Ch. 22

It wasn't until we reached the elevator that I suddenly recalled that I dropped my phone earlier.

"Shit," I hissed, focusing back at the rougher guy behind me. "Hey, I left my phone back there. I think on the floor. Can I grab it really fast? Or can you grab it?"

"Not our problem," he snapped.

"Hey Fred, chill out, man," the taller guy said. "All the kid has done is try to save someone important to him. Just hold on a second and I'll go check." He then focused on me, ignoring the guy's scoff. "What's it look like?" he wondered.

"It's just a black phone. If you turn the screen on, the background for my lock screen is a picture of me and a girl with brown hair."

He nodded, making his way back down the hall. It was obvious the other guy was irritated, so I politely just stood there, not making any attempts to look like I was going to do anything, and also not making any attempts to socialize.

I could hear the taller guard asking one of the nurses if they'd seen the phone, only for one of them to say they found a black phone and had it on the desk in the nurse's station. He grabbed it shortly after, made a weird clicking noise in his mouth after picking it up, almost as if he was confirming to himself that it was the right one after looking at my screen, and then started heading back.

However, before he even made it halfway, the elevator doors popped open, Serenity locking eyes with me in confusion, only to focus on the guard and back at me with wide eyes. I quickly shook my head before she could respond, hoping she'd take the hint, though it didn't go unnoticed by my escort.

"You with him?" he asked in annoyance, his eyes narrowing.

She glanced at me again, almost seeming uncertain, before she got that look in her eye, the look a mother gives when someone's threatening her children, abruptly straightening up as she stepped off the elevator.

"Yes," she said firmly. "And what seems to be the problem?"

"We're escorting him off the premises for unruly conduct. He's lucky we aren't going to press charges."

"Well," she replied evenly, pulling out her badge just to flash it at him. "I'd be curious to know what you mean by unruly conduct, and if you're implying that he's guilty of disorderly conduct, or just giving me an excuse for why you're throwing him out of the hospital."

"Ren..." I whispered, only for her to hold her hand up to shush me.

The guy's eyes were still narrow. "You a cop?" he said seriously.

She crossed her arms, her badge still in hand. "I am. And I'd very much like to know what my charge, who is still in high school, did that deserves this treatment."

The taller guy was close enough now that he'd overheard, speaking up loudly. "He did nothing illegal," he announced, garnering her attention, her brown eyes widening slightly when she saw how tall he was. "But this is private property and we still have the right to escort him outside."

"And just how long is he banned from the hospital?" she asked in disbelief.

He shrugged, handing me my phone. "For today. I'm off tomorrow, and the patient will probably have another doctor too. If he shows up and is civil, then doubtful anyone will complain."

Of course, I was silently hoping there wouldn't be a need to come to the hospital tomorrow, but I kept quiet about that. Instead, I gave Serenity a meaningful look. "Hey, it's fine. I'll call you in a few minutes, okay? Just go make sure Michelle's alright."

She hesitated, clearly confused about what was really going on, since no one had mentioned anything about Avery's mom flatlining, but finally nodded, dropping her arms. She then pointed up at the big guy, giving him a stern look. "You be nice to him, and make sure your partner behaves too."

He laughed at that, even as the guy at my side scoffed.

"Sure," the tall one agreed with another chuckle.

Serenity then gave me one last look of concern before heading down the hall.

The taller man continued to shake his head as he stepped forward and hit the down button. "You know, after seeing your background on your phone, I was going to ask what your relationship was."

"Why?" I asked seriously in confusion, quickly following him onto the elevator when it dinged. However, honestly, I should have known the reason.

"Well, you look nothing alike, but she also looks much too mature for you," he replied simply with a shrug. He then paused. "Think I can get her number?"

I looked up at him in shock. "Umm, no," I scoffed. "She, umm, has a boyfriend," I added.

He laughed at that, not seeming concerned. "He black?" the guy wondered with a straight face.

"Why in the hell does that matter?" I asked seriously, starting to get annoyed even though this guy was the one who kind of made it possible for me to do chest compressions for as long as I did.

He shrugged. "Cuz if her boyfriend's black, then it means she's satisfied," he said with an amused tone. "But if he's not..." He chuckled again as his voice trailed off.

"Her boyfriend has dark skin," I lied, although technically it wasn't a lie. Not when I considered the fact that I was officially her boyfriend and was very dark under certain circumstances.

Dammit, I knew why Serenity implied that I was her 'charge,' something they would understand, since that would ensure they listen to her, but now I really wished she had just told them I was her boyfriend after all.

Worst case, and I could have just explained over the phone once I got outside.

He frowned at that. "Hispanic? Indian?" He paused. "Fuck, he's Hispanic, isn't he? Damn lucky bastard."

I decided not to comment.

But then, Mr. Asshole Fred decided to chime in. "Hey, if you're giving up that easy Tyrone, then I'll take her number. I love me a woman who sticks up for herself. And she's a cop too."

"Guys!" I said in disbelief. "I'm not giving you her number!"

"You know," Fred continued, sounding amused. "I think I forgot something back in that room. Might need to make a trip back up there."

Son of a bitch! They were playing with me, weren't they? Fuck, I needed to stop reacting so strongly.

Sighing, I decided not to respond.

I considered making small-talk as we got off the elevator, in an effort to change the topic, but ultimately didn't want to socialize too much with people I might never see again. Not to mention, they were quickly getting on my bad side by trying to get in Serenity's pants.

Like fuck, she was mine, dammit!

And they continued to make little jokes at my expense until we were finally just outside the front entrance. Of course, I could get to the parking garage from here, but I was much more interested in calling Serenity up the moment they left me alone.

It had only been maybe a minute or two since we saw each other, and yet clearly that was enough time for her to find out what was going on.

Still, I quickly explained my side of the situation, just in case what she'd been told was bias, and she informed me that they'd given her some more medicine, but were holding off doing much since her vital signs seemed stable at the moment and she wasn't showing any signs of seizing.

I was relieved to hear that, but quickly suggested that she switch with Gabriella, having forgotten that I'd wanted them to leave the hospital as soon as possible.

"Oh," Serenity said in response, lowering her voice. "She just left. Avery woke up and actually was able to look normal pretty quickly, so I've spent the last half hour or so trying to help pressure the staff into discharging her. In the end, Avery told them she was just going to walk out if they didn't give her the paperwork." She paused. "Kind of helped that she was standing up when she said it."

"And they didn't mention anything about her mom?" I asked seriously.

"They didn't," she confirmed. "We had no idea anything was going on, which means Avery still doesn't know." She sighed. "You might want to call up Gabriella and let Avery know. They're heading back to our place for now, just so Gabriella can kind of give her a rundown and explain what we know so far." She paused. "I did sort of mention the letter to Gabriella. She'll probably read it when she gets the chance."

I sighed. "Okay. And that's fine. Although, I might wait to call her. I don't want to give Avery hope only for things to still turn out bad. Not to mention, being stressed might make it difficult for her to continue looking normal."

Serenity took a deep breath. "Yeah," she whispered in agreement. "Michelle still looks gray, Kai, and the staff have noticed. They're worried about it, but they don't seem as if they know what to do. Everything is turning up normal now, except for her skin color."

"What color was Avery?" I asked seriously, wondering if Michelle was going to get any darker, since that would definitely be a problem.

Serenity sighed. "Kai, she was a light tan, similar to Gabriella, except lighter. And her hair was white, and her eyes were more of an icy blue, but otherwise there was no signs of her being gray. Her lips did kind of look...frosted, like they were pale compared to her skin, almost as if she was wearing white makeup, but definitely no gray."

Fuck.

What did that mean? I mean, no way in hell the transformed skin and hair color were random. No, they had to be based on genetics or something, especially since it seemed as if everyone's eyes were only changing slightly. At the very least, Gabriella's irises went from an emerald to an even more vibrant and rich green hue, while Avery's light blue eyes turned icy blue.

But then, what did that mean for Michelle? Was she really going to end up having gray skin? Not that it looked bad on her at all -- the healthier version, rather than the deceased gray -- but still, if her daughter had light tan skin...

The difference must be because of Avery's father, since Michelle and her daughter looked very much alike otherwise. Not to mention, Gabriella said that the two women shared a similar scent, but that it was much stronger and enticing on Avery.

And I agreed that Avery's floral scent seemed to be stronger, even if what Gabriella experienced was much different, with her describing it as being sort of like warm vanilla sugar. Or vanilla cinnamon. Still, if they both fundamentally shared the same natural aroma, then why would the daughter be more potent?

Maybe there was something about Michelle that was recessive, and it somehow became a bit more dominant in her daughter?

Honestly, I didn't know. But at the very least, it made Michelle's gray skin more concerning.

Taking a deep breath, I finally responded. "Okay, well I guess keep me updated if anything changes. I'll probably find a bench outside and wait."

"Sure," she agreed, only to pause, lowering her voice. "Oh, one of the security guards is back," she added.

Fucking bastard!

"Ren, he's there to try hitting on you."

"Oh," she said in surprise. "Well, don't worry about it. I actually have to deal with his type a lot. I'll handle it."

I sighed, knowing there wasn't really anything I could do about it either way. And I had no doubt what she said was true, since she was objectively as hot as fuck and likely got hit on all the time.

"Okay, love you," I said simply.

She paused, her tone suddenly endearing. "Love you too, Kai," she said meaningfully. "More than anything. Talk to you soon."

"Sounds good," I agreed simply. "Bye for now."

"Bye," she replied.

After hanging up, I focused on the walkway that led away from the main hospital entrance to a nice seating area with a circle of metal benches that had pleasant landscaping around them. Taking a deep breath, I made my way over to have a seat, silently hoping and wishing that things would turn out alright. But for now, all I could do was wait and hope that my blood running through Michelle's veins would do the rest.

For a few minutes, I just tried to clear my thoughts, leaning forward with my elbows on my knees, my phone in both hands, attempting to not worry myself to death. But after a short while of listening to the plethora of noises bombarding my ears, I decided to experiment to see if I could hone my hearing enough to pick up Serenity's conversation with the guard.

Of course, I could hear from several miles away, easily, but trying to actually wade through thousands upon thousands of noises, including the collective beeping of several hundred heartrate monitors, never mind everyone talking, was all a lot to try to filter through.

Ironically, it was easy for me to do that with a scent, but I hadn't practiced much doing it with my hearing, since I usually wasn't interested in tracking down and eavesdropping on a particular person.

Taking a slow deep breath, I closed my eyes as I attempted to ignore the vast majority of the noises, attempting to find my friend's familiar voice.

However, after another few minutes, I began to lose hope that it would be possible.

Opening my eyes, I focused up on the tall building before me, using my powerful spatial memory to recall where Michelle's room was inside. It only took me a second to realize she was on almost the other side of the behemoth building.

Standing up, I immediately began walking toward the entrance, planning on heading toward the parking garage and then making my way around to the other side on foot. Unfortunately, once I did get to the other side a handful of minutes later, I found myself in an area that wasn't exactly designated for visitors to hang around, even if it was obviously open to the public.

Picking a spot to lean against the wall, I pulled out my phone, just staring at the blank screen as I tried again to focus on my hearing.

I was surprised when I picked up the nurse's voice right away, sounding like she was talking about a different patient on the phone. Again, using my spatial memory, I searched for Serenity with my hearing, unable to pick her out directly.

I assumed that meant the guard must be gone already, but I also wanted to confirm she was there.

Turning on my screen, I typed out a simple message.

"Love you Ren."

I heard her familiar notification noise chime barely two seconds later, allowing me to instantly pinpoint her location. I then heard the faint sound of her tapping her screen, my own phone vibrating in my hand shortly after.

"Love you too. You doing okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine," I typed simply. I then decided to elaborate. "I'm outside more toward your side of the building. I heard it when you got my message."

After her phone chimed again, she didn't do anything for a long few seconds, before making an amused sound.

"I love you, Kai," she whispered.

I grinned, typing on my phone again. "Love you too Ren. Also battery low. Can't talk much."

Serenity sighed heavily, sounding like she was leaning back in her seat to get more comfortable.

Frowning, I decided I should use this time to begin focusing on what our next steps would be, trying to anticipate possible outcomes and how I might deal with them. Including what might happen if Michelle wasn't herself when she woke up.

Not that I was overly paranoid or anything, but I decided to step away from the building for a second, evaluating the height of the windows to the third floor, and mentally using what I knew of the inside to estimate the best route into the building if I needed to get up there in a hurry.

Because if Michelle woke up and attacked my girlfriend, the person I loved more than anything, there was no way in hell I wasn't going to leap straight to the third floor, bust through the window, and bolt for Serenity as fast as inhumanly possible.

Of course, that would mean we might have to go on the run after such an exposure, but with my older girlfriend's life on the line, there was literally nothing that was going to stop me from doing everything in my power to protect her.

Taking a deep breath, I then walked back over to the wall, and resumed my position, staring at my blank screen.

An hour passed, with the nurse coming in to check in on Serenity and Michelle a handful of times, before anything significant happened when the nurse wasn't in the room.

Suddenly, it sounded like someone was choking, the noise close enough to Serenity that I suspected it might be Michelle, but wasn't entirely sure.

However, barely a second later, I heard my older girlfriend's alarmed voice.

"Michelle?" she hissed urgently.

Panicked groaning immediately followed, sounding almost as if she was pulling out the tube down her throat that had been controlling her breathing while she was supposed to be in a medical coma. Then, a gasp as the older blonde sucked in a desperate breath, beginning to sound like her panicking was escalating, the beeping on the monitor noticeably picking up -- enough that the nurse noticed it on her monitor in the nurse's station, based on the sounds I heard from her.

"Michelle," Serenity said urgently. "Calm down. They can't see you like this. You need to try to relax and look normal again."

I heard Michelle suck in a deep breath then, holding it for a second, and then letting it out slowly.

But it was too late. I could hear the nurse rushing for the room, calling out to someone else for help since it sounded like she was assuming the worst based on Michelle's vital signs.

And then, just like that, she opened the door and yanked back the curtain, only to freeze solid.

Fuck, was she seeing Michelle transformed?!

Would she scream and call for security?!

Was there any way for me to intervene to prevent this from happening?!

Fuck!

"Y-You're awake?" Tracey said in alarm and confusion. "But that's not possible," she added. "We had you sedated."

Did she look normal? She must look normal!

Michelle took another slow deep breath, sounding as if she was pulling out one of her IV's.

"Stop!" the nurse yelled. "Don't pull on that one! It's a central line! It's deeper than you think!"

"I want to leave," Michelle said firmly. "Please take this out and get the discharge paperwork, or else I'll just walk out."

"W-What?" Tracey said in complete confusion. "You can't leave! You were dead for over half an hour! And you shouldn't even be awake right now! We need to assess you!"

"I was?" Michelle said in sincere shock.

"Yes, you were!" Tracey continued. "Your heart was completely stopped! And if you're awake, then the inflammation might make you have another seizure before you even get down to the first floor! You were in a car accident and a truck literally fell on your head!"

"I still want to leave," Michelle pressed. "You have thirty minutes to do whatever mental assessment you want, but then I'm walking out of here, whether you have the paperwork ready or not. Whether you've removed this IV or not. You can't keep me here."

"Yes we can," the nurse retorted. "And we must. You can't leave under these conditions."

"Actually," Serenity finally interrupted, speaking firmly. "I'm a cop, and know for a fact you can't keep her against her will."

"We can if the doctor decides she's not capable of making sound decisions," Tracey said in disbelief. "And requesting to leave after you've been seizing nonstop, forcing us to put you in a coma, and then after being dead for half an hour, is not a sound decision!"

Serenity continued. "Just get the doctor in here to do his evaluation."

The nurse made a series of flustered noises like she wasn't sure how to respond, before leaving and coming back half a minute later with the Charge Nurse, who argued with Michelle for a solid five minutes, before she started asking her questions as a challenge, only to seem sincerely surprised when Michelle answered accurately and calmly to everything the Charge Nurse asked.

I could then hear them after they left the room, discussing the fact that there didn't seem to be any confusion, and how bizarre it was she seemed completely fine. In the end, they decided to wait for the doctor to show up and make an assessment, with her apparently being busy elsewhere dealing with a more urgent situation.