Ch. 3

Rosemary was waiting for word on Bodoleck. He had been in the hospital for a few days, and she was at the edge of breaking from worry. I woman next to her looked concerned, but couldn’t quite get the nerves to talk, but then she did, and the woman said, “Aren’t you hungry? You came here before me, and we’ve been waiting for hours.”

“I’m fine. I don’t really need food at all. I’ll survive. I’m just waiting for my half-brother-in-law to come out. That’s all,” replied Rosemary with no spirit at all in her voice. Everyone was staring at her, because there was always someone from the woman’s family there, they took shifts, and she hadn’t eaten or slept since she got there.

Rosemary heard the woman rustle through her bag, but she couldn’t find what she wanted and motioned for the nurse. She whispered something in the nurse’s ear, and then later the nurse came back with a pillow, blankets, and a bowl of soup. Rosemary wasn’t paying any attention to this, not even noticing when the woman put everything on her lap. but then the woman nudged her, and Rosemary looked down at it.

“I want you to try not to notice that you’re here. Pretend that you’re at home, and it’s your birthday. Your mother brought you breakfast in bed, too early for you, but you ate it anyway. Then you decide to go back to sleep. How does that sound?” the woman asked, smiling warmly. The wrinkles on her face grew bigger as the smile grew.

“Thank you,” was all Rosemary could say. It made her feel good to have someone to care for her. She slowly ate the soup, and when that was done, the woman took the bowl and handed it to someone. Her gray hair fell out of its net, so Rosemary, not used to thinking about herself, fixed it.

“No need to worry about me. My husband should be getting out of here soon. He passed out for some reason or another. You just worry about yourself. But thank you, though. By the way, my name is Susan, but I like to be called Susie.” Susie picked up the blanket and the pillow and set it under Rosemary’s head, and set the blanket on top of Rosemary, too.

Rosemary choked up. Tears ran down her face. She told Susie, “That’s my sister’s name, and her husband is here, too. That’s who I’m waiting for. His name it Bodoleck. He’s very close to me. And I don’t know why I’m saying this, seeing as I haven’t told anyone, but my parents died years ago. I live alone. It was my birthday last week, too.”

“I’m so sorry for brining it up. I won’t mention it again, Rosemary. Oh, look at the time, my shift is over. Good-bye!” Susie left quickly. She was gone by the time Rosemary realized that she hadn’t told Susie her name. Then she realized that it could be . . .

But it was too late now. She was gone. And a doctor had just appeared out of the door.

“Excuse me, Miss, are you the relative of a Bodoleck?” asked a doctor. In Rosemary’s confusion, he added, “I’m Dr. Stoneburner.”

“Please to meet you. I am. What’s wrong with him? Is he okay? Can I see him?” Rosemary asked.

Dr. Stoneburner laughed, then said, “Bodoleck is fine. He just seemed to have passed out from exhaustion, dehydration, and hunger. He should be fine. Great physical shape, I might add. We have him on an IV. Sorry to keep you waiting. We should have told you earlier. He should be out this afternoon. We just had to run some tests. And we let him recover a little. Yes, you can go see him, if you want to.”

“Thank you, sir.” Rosemary walked behind Dr. Stoneburner into Bodoleck’s room. He looked week and tired, but he perked up enough when Rosemary entered the room. Rosemary ran to his side.

“I’m going to go tend to some other patients. I’ll come check on you again later. Just have a nurse page me if you need anything,” said Dr. Stoneburner, taking out a stethoscope, and then left the room.

“Good. He’s gone. I have to talk to you. Miss Darkness and Lord Batwings, they know you’re here, in Prague. Veripema somehow found out and told them,” said Bodoleck.

Rosemary’s eyes glowed with rage. Then she said, “That witch. She never thinks of anyone but herself. She’s trying to get tight with the king and queen so they give her part of the power of the book. I bet they think that I know where it is. I have an idea, but I don’t. Mr. Monajelli, the bookstore owner, I’ve become his friend, and he tells me when he gets an order filled. Today, I think he’s getting mythical books.”

There was a small silence where Bodoleck looked confused and Rosemary had her fists clenched, but then Bodoleck asked, “Do you want to be a vampire?”

There was another silence until Rosemary bitterly replied, “No. I hate it. That’s why I hide. I don’t live with everyone else. No one knows that my real name is Bloodrose, or that my eyes are purple. I wear contacts. I stole them from another vampire, and I had them sink into my eyes. I can take them out just not the normal way. And the constant urge to drink blood. It’s terrible. I have wings, too. I’ve never used them before, though. And I pretend to be weak and slow, but I’m faster than a cheetah, and stronger than an ox. It’s difficult. You know that.”

There was a knock on the door. A nurse came in with the release papers and a pen. Dr. Stoneburner brought a wheelchair, too.

“No need for the wheelchair. I’ll be able to walk just fine. Bl- Rosemary, why don’t you fill out those papers for me. The IV, I’m sure, won’t allow me to maneuver the papers,” said Bodoleck. The nurse handed Rosemary the papers and took Bodoleck's IV out while Dr. Stoneburner took the wheelchair away.

“Just lie and say I’m seventeen. It’s more easier to believe than the fact that I’m actually 1,017,” Bodoleck whispered to Rosemary.

“It’s not fair. You’ve all ready reincarnated once. I’m actually fourteen. I just don’t get it,” Rosemary whispered back.

“Are you done yet?” asked the nurse impatiently, who had better things to do like take care of annoying interns than watch two people whisper.

Rosemary rolled her eyes and scribbled the last of what she needed to write, and the nurse grabbed it out of her hands and looked it over. Then the nurse said, “You can stop wasting my time any time you want now. Just go! Hurry up! We have people waiting, you know!”

Bodoleck, ignoring the harsh words of the nurse, darted out of bed and out the door, grabbing Rosemary’s sleeve on the way out with him. He was out of the hallway and into the lobby by the time he spoke next.

“We have to hurry. I have to get back into hiding, and you have to go to the bookstore. You need to get the book before Veripema gets it. Go, and hurry!”

Bodoleck pushed Rosemary out the door facing the road to the bookstore, then headed off in the other direction before Rosemary could properly yell at him.

“Why you little!” she yelled. But it was too late. He was gone. Rosemary just shook her head and started walking towards the bookstore. It was Friday, so she knew it was going to be busy.

“Michael! Hurry up! They might not have any more food if you keep going this slow!” yelled a boy.

“Oh, just shut up! I’m coming! Hold your horses!” Michael yelled back. He ran to catch up with the other boy.

Rosemary wondered why Michael would want anything from the bookstore, then she remembered that they were boys, and they ran to food whenever it was available. But something was strange. In the air. Rosemary looked around, and her eyesight was better than every one else, so when she saw a dark figure, she was able to recognize it immediately as Veripema. Veripema was eying Michael, getting her fangs ready and standing up to swoop down and pick him up.

Rosemary was too quick for her. She darted over and got to Michael first. She called upon her wings, and lifted Michael into the air. Veripema was all ready at the same spot Michael was just standing, and heading towards Rosemary.

“What? Who is this? Put me down! I’m scared of hights!” Michael complained.

“Just be quiet already. I just saved your life! Don’t make me end it my dropping you fifty feet above the ground!” Rosemary yelled. Michael, recognizing who it was, blushed.

Rosemary was in no mood to be tampered with. Her half-brother-in-law was on the run, the two most evil people on the face of the planet knew where she was, and her arch-foe was after her. Talk about a bad day.

“We’ll stop in here. I’m sure Veripema won’t look in an old church. I’m also sure that you’re wondering what’s going on. I’ll explain everything inside,” Rosemary told Michael.

At least they were in luck. There was an open window, and Rosemary was just able to squeeze through it. The window led to an attic, and at the corner was a staircase. Rosemary decided to push her luck and try to find a better place to hide, but still staying in the building.

“Let’s go. Hurry up. We don’t have all day,” Rosemary said to Michael. She grabbed his arm and pulled him out the door. They were lucky, and they didn’t see anyone until they had rounded two corners.

There was a nun walking towards them from around another corner, and Rosemary had to cover Michael’s mouth so he wouldn’t scream, and conjured wings so she could float to the ceiling. Once the nun passed, they headed on.

It took them a while, but they finally found an old storage room that had a few boxes of clothes in them. Rosemary shoved Michael in, and seated herself neatly on a box.

“So, are you going to give me that explanation you promised, or what? I have a lot of questions,” said Michael, the first thing he had said in over an hour.

Rosemary groaned. Then she said, “I hate it when humans have questions.”

“What do you mean by ‘humans?’ What are you?” Michael asked. Rosemary just stared, and they sat in silence.