Romeo and Juliet: A Vampire and Werewolf Love Story (24 page)

“Who the hell is it?” Apos
yelled from inside the
apartment
.

“It
’
s Romeo. I
’
m Mercutio
’
s good friend. I mean
,
I
was
his really
good friend.
I need your help.
”

I wasn
’
t sure if he would remember me. I ha
d
met him quite a fe
w times but when a guy had as much recreational herb fun as
Apo
s
, they sometimes need
ed
a little more clari
fication
than the average person. I didn
’
< />, >
t have time to lose, so I cut to the chase.

“Please open the door,” I asked. “It’s a matter of life or death.”

Apo
s
opened the door and
looked at me and
said,
“Romeo, c
ome in.
Of course I know you.”
Apo
s
l
ooked at Juliet’s bleeding neck and shoulder
and said, “Oh my. Let
’
s get her to
one of
the cot
s
.
”

Apo
s had a couple of cots
in his living room
that he obviously kept for this very reason
. He was known as a guy who would help a guy out if he had been in a fight and needed to be stitched up without any officials knowing.
Although the guy got high all the time, he was an amazing doctor and an even more amazing warlock. He combined the two, and we needed a miracle at the present moment.

I laid Juliet gently on the cot. “We
need to
give her something for the pain,” I said.
Juliet was sweating badly and her face didn
’
t look well. A normal human being would have died a long time ago from such a wound to the neck.
Not Juliet, she was immortal and she was a fighter.

Juliet
lied
on her back and Apo
s
went to work. He had
seen many wounds to the neck
in his day. It took him no time to
give her anesthesia
and other drugs
for the pain then stitch up her wounds.
Juliet
was knocked
out
, sleeping quietly
. Apo
s
worked on cleaning her wounds
and bandaged her up, then stripped off his surgical gloves
. Juliet would come in and out of consciousness. I
wasn’t
sure how bad
off
she was.

“She
lost a lot of blood and
is
still
losing a lot of blood,
internally,”
Apo said
to me, very concerned
.

“What does that mean? She’s immortal,” I said.
“
Blood shouldn
’
t matter.
”

Apos said,
“Being immortal
only makes it harder for you
to die. Juliet is losing a lot of blood and the wound to her neck is as bad as I have seen without the person dying. She is holding on for you
,
Romeo. There is no other way to say it. She should be dead. I don
’
t know how to save her. I think it is irreversible.
”

“Irreversible?” I asked. I was numb. There had to be something we could do. My mind was absolute mush. My heart was in so much pain that I couldn’t even see straight. My Juliet was slipping away. I was desperate. “What about Mary’s Blessing?” I asked.

“Mary’s Blessing? You know about Mary’s Blessing? Wow, you and Mercutio were close. We have never shared the knowledge of that serum with anyone.”

“I know what it does. It takes someone to a place far away from here. It kills your earthly body, but as immortals, we don’t disappear. We get lost in our heads.”

“You know the only way to help her in regard to that is that she will never return,” Apos said.

“But she will be there? Right? At the place the serum takes you?”

Apos looked at me and said, “Yes.”

“I have one question for you. Did you and Mercutio ever take Mary’s Blessing at the same time?”

“We did, a couple of times,” Apos answered.

“What happened?”

“We went to the place together.”

“What place is that exactly?” I asked.

“It’s a place where peace and love fills your heart. The whole time you are there, it feels as if a celebration is happening in your heart. Nothing else seems to matter, other than the love you feel.”

“I’ve been there, Apos. I can’t explain it, but I have been there and so has Juliet. Everything has led me to this moment. Every life moment that I have lived thus far, all of that information, was given to me to prepare me to make this decision wisely. I’m
not
letting her go. Damn the consequences. We both need to go there, to that peaceful, love-filled place, and to never come back.”

“You are talking about an overdose.”

“Will an overdose kill us?”

“It coul+0" a celebrd,” Apos answered.

“But what do you honestly think?”

Apos looked at me and said simply, “I don’t think it will kill her, but at the correct dosage, will keep her body in a kind of suspended animation. I think it is the only chance to save her.”

“How much should she take? If she is dying, we need to do this soon.” I looked down at Juliet and held her hand while she slept.

Apos answered,
“Normally, we would onl
y take 20 milligrams of
Mary
’s Blessing
. That would
send you off
to fantasy land
for a good eighteen hours.”

“
Then we need to give her 2
,
000 milligrams. We need for her to stay there a very long time. Long enough for me to join her.”

“
2,000 milligrams would kill her. 2,000 would kill a hundred elephants. Mary’s Blessing is not time released. It hits all at once.
Look
,
I
’
ll give you 200
milligrams and that should damn well put her in a coma.”

I looked at Apos and
I
was just beside myself. I
couldn’t
imagine the suffering she
was
going through. I
couldn’t
imagine the kind of hate that
was
in
the hearts of the
members of my own family.
Benvolio was dead to me in more ways than one. I just stared at Juliet and slowly shook my head in disbelief.

“Who did this?” Apos asked.

“My own cousins,” I said.

“Wow. You’re serious? Wow.”

“The
cousin
who I thought I was closest to was
the one who stabbed her.
”

“Appalling. Inconceivable!”

I nodded, my throat tight with anxiety. My mind was blurry.
It was hard, but I tried to resi
st the need to throw my body on top of Juliet and just hold her and protect her from any
more harm
that might befall her
.
Instead, I held sten>
“Is there a chance
,
Apos?”
I asked.

“A chance for what, Romeo?”
Apos said staring at me

“A chance for us to be together away from here?”

“
I hope so, kid.”

Chapter Twenty

I sat there holding Juliet’s hand for the next few hours. Suddenly, I heard a cough and
I looked down at Juliet, and for a split
-second
moment
,
she woke up.

“Juliet,” I said
.
“
Can you hear me?
”

Juliet
’
s eyes focused in on my face and said, “Yes
, darling
.”

“Can you see me?” I asked.

“Yes,
”
her voice a little more clear this time.

“Honey,” I said. I struggled to speak
. T
hen
I went down on my knees next to the cot.
I knelt down and my face
was about three inches from Juliet’s
. “You
’
r
e
not well, sweetie
,
and we are not sure how much longer you have.” Tears dripped from my eyes. But I continued talking
,
fighting through the crackling of my voice.
“There is a place
for us
. That you and I can go that is far away from here. It is not in this time or space. But as
sure as I am of our love, I am certain
we will be there together.
”

Juliet looked into my eyes with a painful hope.
“A place for us? Where we can be together
?” she asked
slowly.

“Yes,” I said.

“And it is
far away from here?”
sten> said.

“Yes,” I answered
.

“Then
,” Juliet struggled to speak.
“Y
ou and I
…
must go there together.”

“I promise you
, we
will.
” I stroked Juliet on her forehead and kissed her gently on her lips. “
Are you prepared to do this?”