Body of Blaise LeVieux recovered from mansion ruins, confirmed through DNA testing.
Expect 3 rainy days in a row starting Tuesday.
Alive. He was alive. Someone had tried to kill him, but he was alive. That was the most important thing. He had to keep remembering that.
The female nurse, Chloe, came in with an apologetic smile. "Sorry for disturbing you," she apologized. "I just need to check this." She tapped the side of the monitor recording his heartbeat and various other things he did not understand.
He offered the smallest of smiles. "It's no bother," he assured her. He glanced out into the hall through the small window in the door of the room they had moved him into. "Where's Noah?"
Chloe's lips twitched, and she looked satisfied enough to have just won a bet. "Dr. Callahan is down in the ER," she replied, stressing the Dr.
Camille felt himself flush. Why was he blushing? Noah was a friend of a friend, not anyone worth a single drop of warmed blood. "Oh," he said, his brain refusing to give him any other words.
Chloe smirked, hiding it with a quick turn of her head, but Camille still saw it.
That gave Camille the courage of fury. "I knew him from before this, in case you're curious."
Chloe looked up, shocked at the bite in his voice. "Oh." Now she was the one running short on words.
Camille scowled, willing his face to cool down and stop embarrassing him. "Now that you've got the facts straight, would you please let Noah know that I'd like to talk to him?"
Chloe nodded hurriedly and left the room as soon as she was done writing down the numbers from the monitor.
After the door shut behind her with a soft click, Camille pulled the blankets up to his chin and cringed into the fabric. What the hell had just come out of his mouth? How could he talk to someone else like that? That had been so rude. He should apologize the next time she came in, if she came in again at all.
The door unlatched and then Noah's amused voice asked, "What are you doing with your face in the blankets?"
Camille lifted his head, biting his lip. "I think I was just really rude to your friend."
Noah raised a black eyebrow. "Chloe?"
Camille nodded.
Noah's brilliant white teeth flashed bright against his dark lips. "Nah, you weren't rude enough to hurt her feelings. She was already giggling her head off by the time she found me to deliver your summons."
A sigh whooshed out of Camille's body. "Good," he said. "I didn't want to hurt her feelings."
Noah shook his head as he braced his hands on the thick plastic footboard. Today, he was wearing typical light blue scrubs under his white doctor coat, and he had tied his shoulder-length braids back from his face with a matching blue hairband. "You didn't. So, how can I help you?"
Camille dropped the blankets into his lap. "Can I tell you something?" He half-hoped that Noah would deny him.
But Noah nodded immediately. "What is it?"
Camille bit his lip again. "Can you promise not to tell anyone else?"
Noah frowned. "Yeah…that's just standard doctor-patient confidentiality."
Camille took a deep breath and then said, "I feel like I'm going crazy."
Noah's frown deepened. "What do you mean? Like, things aren't making sense or—"
"No!" Camille felt his heart rate rise as the monster in his mind clawed forward. He tried to fight it back, but he knew it would emerge, fangs bared, within five minutes. "There's something in me that I don't understand! I don't know how it got there, and I don't know how to stop it or get rid of it!"
Noah's eyes flicked to the monitor, clocking Camille's elevated heart rate. "Calm down." His voice was even. Professional. "I'm here to help you, but it's hard for me to do that if you freak out."
Camille put his hand on his chest and pushed down hard. Sometimes that helped stave off the insanity long enough for him to finish a work shift. But instead of calming, it flared. "You should leave," he gritted out. "I don't want to hurt you."
Noah did not leave. He came closer instead. "You think you're going to hurt me?"
Camille pressed on his chest harder. "Yes," he managed, his lungs fighting the pressure. "I always hurt people!" You even killed someone once, his brain unhelpfully supplied.
Noah sat down on the side of the bed. "I think you might be exaggerating. Why would you hurt me?"
"I told you already! Because I'm insane!"
Noah grabbed Camille's wrists and pulled his hands away from his chest. "You're fine. Believe me, I'd be able to tell if you're insane. I'm a doctor, remember?"
Camille closed his eyes as the insanity welled to overwhelm him. "Then I'm sorry."