Nolan stood in the elevator and stared at the results of the blood work. It didn't make sense. None of it made sense. Less than a week ago, Maddox Kincaid was dying. Not just from multiple bullet wounds, but from the donor blood that was toxic to him. At least it should have been toxic to him. He had none of the symptoms expected from a regular transfusion patient, let alone what Nolan expected from his initial blood work. He should have a high fever, low blood pressure, difficulty breathing. There were a dozen other symptoms he should have but didn't. He was... fine? He still complained of pain from the bullet wounds, but who wouldn't?

He glanced up as the doors opened and saw the young Doctor Rehan at the desk, tugging at the ends of her hijab and chewing her lip in thought. She glanced his way and straightened. "You are seeing the same results I am, right?" she asked, jabbing at the tablet in front of her.

"Good morning to you too, Faiza," he forced a smile and dropped the file next to her. "Yes, I am seeing the same results as you. Before you ask, no, it's not a lab error. We ran it three times."

"It doesn't make sense." She sighed. "He shouldn't be doing as well as he is. If we forget the blood thing, he should still be having more symptoms. He suffered a major shock and went through one hell of a surgery. The surgeon had to take out a part of his liver and his lung collapsed. Have you seen his latest C.T.?" she barrelled on without waiting for a response. "His lungs are perfect. Pristine condition. His liver? Almost back to full functionality. It will take some time for it to grow back, but I have a feeling it won't take as long as a normal human. I've only seen this kind of healing in Ancients." She glanced sideways at him. "And they're usually the more powerful Ancients. Even a vampire would have a hard time with a wound like that."

"An Ancient?" Nolan snorted derisively. "In that family? Not a chance in hell."

"I suppose you're right." she rolled her eyes. "I had to explain to the father three times that we employ based on qualifications, not race, and that asking for a non-ancient physician or nurse is not appropriate. Have you met the godfather yet? Now there is a man with serious issues."

"Understatement of the millennia. I had to threaten to get security when the patient wanted him out. He looked like he might call me on it, too."

Faiza sighed before turning and leaning against the desk. She stared down the hall towards Maddox's room. "Are you sure there isn't any magic in his blood?" she asked thoughtfully.

"Pretty sure. Nothing came up in the initial testing, but it wouldn't pick up on some of the more subtle stuff. I would have to do an extensive study of his history and bloodwork."

"What about transference?"

Nolan was a little impressed by the knowledge of this young human doctor. He made a mental note to check where she attended medical school. "Its... possible." He said slowly. "But from who? Not the family. He doesn't have a significant other, does he?"

"Not from what I've seen or heard. What about the sister? Isn't she adopted? Could she have some level of magic?"

Nolan hesitated. He hadn't exactly ruled it out. It was just a matter of what. The "light walkers", as humans called elves, fae, and a handful of other select Ancients, couldn't have red hair. The "night stalkers", like vampires and lycanthrope, wouldn't take a job that had a chance of working into the daylight. She had legs up to Canada, so she couldn't be a dwarf. Succubi had incredibly powerful magic focussed entirely on getting men into bed. It would explain her scent and affect on him. But if she were half blood, or even less than that, she wouldn't be able to pass as human for long. She also wouldn't have submitted to giving her blood. Fuck, he should never have incinerated it.

"I don't know." He finally said quietly. "Maybe."

Faiza have him a sly look. "You don't know?"

The way she said it made him feel like she was asking far more than what she said. "Should I?"

"Well, I figured given your interest in her you would know all about her."

"My interest?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

"Oh, don't play dumb with me." She snorted with laughter, finally losing her patience with him. "The nurses have a pool going on whether or not you're going to ask her out."

"Huh. What are my odds?"

"Eighty to twenty that you don't."

"Where did you place your bid?"

"Doctor Wes, I am offended." She scolded him. There was a twinkle in her eye that told him she wasn't entirely serious. "I am a professional. I would never bet on a colleague's personal life... Not on the clock, anyway. I want to take my son to the King's game, so do me a favour and ask the girl out."

Nolan laughed, took the paperwork from the desk, and said quietly. "We're going out on Saturday."

She raised her eyebrows, impressed, but before either could say anything more, shouting interrupted the relative quiet of the wing. "My life is none of your fucking business!"

It was Rhia's voice. A sudden wave of protectiveness washed over him, and it was an effort not to run down the hall as fast as his preternatural abilities would allow him. He and Faiza appeared at the door to Maddox's room in a few, painfully long seconds, to see Rhia standing next to her brother, her father standing on the opposite side of the room next to the couch, and her mother and brother watching with concern and anger in their respective faces. Nova the dog stood in front of her in a defensive position, her lips raised in a silent snarl. It seemed the dog was on her side.

"I am just worried about you." Richard Kincaid barked back.

"You don't have the right to mess with my life! My work!"

Nolan had never seen her so angry. Her face was almost as red as her hair, her heart was racing, and there was so much adrenaline pumping through her system her already potent scent had become damn near irresistible. His mouth started to water, and his gums started to ache. Not the time, asshole, he snapped at himself.

"People have to trust that my decisions aren't being influenced by a third party! What are they going to think when they find out that the government is interfering with my career?! How the hell am I ever supposed to have a social life if you're standing over me and dictating who I can and cannot interact with?!"

"The government is not interfering with anything!"

"You're a government employee! You represent the government! My bosses don't even trust me right now!"

"That wasn't what..."

"It doesn't matter what you meant to do! What you did was make everyone think I can't do my job without daddy holding my hand! You do know it's the road to hell that's paved with good intentions, right?!"

"That's enough, young lady!" Richard seemed to have reached the end of his patience.

"Young lady?" she challenged. "I'm twenty-fucking-six, Dick."

"Rhia!" Madeline tried to interject but she went either unnoticed or entirely ignored.

"The days where I need to tacitly stand by while you and Mark moved me like a pawn on a chess board are fucking over."

"Excuse me!" Faiza stepped into the room, looking between the two combatants as if she might need to actually stop them from clawing each other's eyes out. "This is a hospital. Patients are trying to rest."

Richard caught sight of Nolan and he went from angry to positively livid. "You get the hell out of here, blood-sucker!" he roared.

"I beg your pardon?" Nolan hissed, straightening to his full height and feeling a surge of power rise with his anger. He'd face a lot from people over the centuries, but nothing quite so blatant in the last few decades.

"You heard me." Richard took a threatening step forward, not a hint of fear in his words or eyes. The stench of rotten magic seemed to swell with his fury, almost making Nolan gag. "Get. Out. I want a different specialist on my son's case! I'll settle for second-best. I'll settle for dead-fucking-last! Just get these god-forsaken corpse-fuckers away from my family!"

"Jesus Christ, Dick, could you be any more racist?" Rhia rolled her eyes.

"That's enough out of you!" Richard rounded on his daughter. Nolan did not miss how she flinched when he took a step towards her. "This is why I'm worried about you! You are far too tolerant of those things!"

"Because I treat them like people!?"

"They're fucking monsters!"

"Stop it!" Maddox's voice cracked like a whip over his father's tirade. He looked exhausted. "Please... just stop."

The heart monitor was beeping rapidly, and his oxygen stats were flashing red. Faiza crossed the room in a few short steps to place an oxygen mask over his face. He tried to push her away, but the doctor was stronger than she looked and held firm. "Everyone needs to leave." She said in a stern but calm tone. "Your fighting is stressing him out."

"It's fine, we're done." Richard snapped, glaring at Rhia.

"That doesn't matter." Faiza stretched the band around Maddox's head and straightened to face the family. "You have to leave him be tonight. He hasn't had five minutes alone since he woke up. He's not going to get any better if you're hovering over him."

Maddox pulled the mask down to speak. "It's fine, dad." His voice was hoarse, and his heart was still beating too fast. "I'm fine. Go home. Take mom out for dinner. Do something that doesn't involve worrying about your children."

The monitor started to beep again and Faiza pushed the mask back up his face. "Mr. Kincaid," she said. "Maddox is doing remarkably well. But in the slight chance that something happens, we will call you immediately."

Nolan glanced at Rhia. There were tears in her eyes and she was chewing the inside of her cheek. A new flare of anger tore through him and his fangs descended almost painfully fast. He resisted the urge to rip Richard's throat out.

Madeline took a tentative step forward and put a hand on her husband's arm. "Honey," she said softly. "Maybe we should leave it be? He is..."

Richard ripped his arm out of her grip and stormed out of the room. The silence persisted until Madeline hugged her children, gathered her bag and Nova's leash, and followed. "You should go too, Miss Kincaid." Faiza gently.

Rhia took her brother's hand and squeezed. "Are you going to be okay?" she asked him.

He nodded and pulled away from the mask again. "I'm alright." He managed a crooked smile. "Go order some Thai and watch a movie. You look like you haven't slept in a week."

"Alright." She sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "But if you die on me..."

"Yeah, yeah," he chuckled. "Eternal torment of listening to you sing."

"Asshole."

She squeezed his hand again before grabbing her bag off the couch. She didn't look at Nolan as she slipped out the door. Maddox leaned back against the pillows and took several deep breaths with the mask. "I'm sorry, doctors." He finally said quietly. "Especially you, Doctor Wes. There is no excuse for my father's words."

Nolan shook his head and approached the bed. "My concern is for my patients. Not my patient's family." He ignored the judgmental look Faiza was giving him. "So, let's focus on you right now. Doctor Rehan is right. You are recovering remarkably quickly. Some of your test results don't make sense."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"It is but it is also a curiosity. Have you ever heard of a phenomenon called transference?"

"No."

"It happens when an ancient's magic sort of... rubs off onto a human. It usually goes unnoticed, but in severe accidents and with today's modern medicine, sometimes it's the only thing keeping someone alive."

"Take all the samples you need." Maddox's eyes were drooping. He was fading quickly.

"I'm afraid it goes a little further than that. The relationship has to go deeper than casually knowing each other. Your sister is adopted, and she clearly cares for you. Is there any chance she...?"

He let the question trail off, letting Maddox get to the conclusion on his own. It took a minute, but eventually his eyes widened again, and he looked at Nolan with obvious confusion. "You think my dad would take the chance of adopting someone with even a drop of Ancient blood?"

"It's not impossible. Mixed bloods aren't tracked as carefully as full bloods. They get lost in the system all the time."

"Doctor Wes," Maddox sighed. "Rhia told me you've taken her blood once."

"Yes." He said slowly, looking up at Faiza with confusion.

"Then you'll know that she doesn't like needles. You're an intelligent man. Surely you can put two and two together."

"I'm not following." Faiza said slowly.

"Rhiannon was adopted by an incredibly intolerant man who works for the United States government." He said slowly and painfully. "She has a fear of needles."

It finally clicked. "No..." he breathed. "He didn't... test her for Ancient heritage, did he?"

Faiza's eyes widened in shock. "Those tests are never performed on children." She said in pure disbelief. "They're too painful."

Maddox shrugged and hissed in pain. "There has to be another explanation for my test results."

It was clear by his tone that he was too tired to continue. The two doctors walked out of the room and back down the hall. Rhia was waiting for them at the nurse's station. "Could I speak to you in private, Doctor Wes?" she asked quietly.

Faiza excused herself and Nolan led Rhia into an empty room. The moment the door closed, he reached for her. She let him wrap an arm around her shoulders and her head thumped on his chest. He closed his eyes and revelled in how good it felt to hold her. It had been three very long days since he'd kissed her. How was it possible to miss someone so much? Her hands wrapped around his waist and clutched at his shirt. "Are you alright?" he finally asked.

Her shoulders lifted in a shrug. "My dad called my boss and had me reassigned to the day shift. He made it... explicitly clear that it was a federal officer making the request." She let out a long sigh. "They can't fire me, which I guess is good. But they'll probably bench me at dispatch to keep me out of the way."

He pressed his lips against the top of her head. "That doesn't answer the question." He muttered against her hair.

She was quiet for a minute before tilting her head back to look at him with vibrant green eyes. "I know we're not supposed to go out until Saturday, but... Do you think we could do something? I don't want to be alone tonight."

He lowered his head to catch her mouth in a kiss. She instantly melted in his arms and let out a little moan that set him on edge. "Of course. There's just one thing we have to do before we go."

"Okay?"

He indicated for her to sit and went to the cupboard. "There was a mix-up in the lab." He didn't like the taste of the lie on his tongue.

She winced as he pulled out the supplies he needed. "Does it matter?" she asked hesitantly. "I'm not a match for Maddy, anyway."

"Standard protocol." He sat in front of her and took her hand. "I don't like doing this to you."

She managed a shaky laugh. "You can make it up to me later by poking me with something more fun."

He would have laughed, but the moment he pressed the needle into her arm, the smell of her blood filled his nostrils and his mouth started watering. He forced himself to look away from her.

"Is it hard to resist sometimes?" she almost whispered.

"Not usually. But being attracted to you doesn't make it easy."

She cupped his cheek in her soft hand and pulled his gaze to hers. There were so many emotions in her eyes that he couldn't interpret them all. It made him want to hold her for the rest of eternity.

He cleared his throat and pulled away. "I'm going to take this down to the lab. Meet me in the lobby?"

~