Chapter 32 – Blood Healing

Chapter 32 – Blood Healing

This chapter – I rate for needing a HUG – well Eric does.  I volunteer!

Enjoy!

The rest of January passed quickly with a few bits of really good news: Johanna’s heart replacement parts were growing well and Ludwig had scheduled surgery for the first week of February; Dr. Dayan had tested a compound for removing the fairy dust with positive results and on the last day of the month, Celia’s adoption was finalized. Similar to the night of Hunter’s adoption, they had a small party at Ludwig’s facility for the close family and friends. Also like with Hunter’s adoption, Celia’s middle name was announced. Eric was beaming as he named his baby girl Cecelia Genevieve Northman. The adopted Mima lost it. At Genny’s insistence, Eric and Sookie had a date night out the evening after so they could celebrate just themselves. They took that time to start some real planning. Sookie emerged from the bathroom and Eric beamed. She was wearing one of Pam’s outfits and it wasn’t baggy. “You look wonderful.”

“The drinks I have every day from Dr. Dayan and the afternoon weight training have really been working.”

“I see that.” He even licked his lips. In an effort to help Sookie gain weight, but in a healthy way for a fairy, Dr. Dayan had worked out a diet and weight training plan. Every afternoon, she and Sookie spent an hour in Ludwig’s gym while Genny or Maxine stayed with the kids. Theresa started to join them; then eventually Claudine as well. Sookie hadn’t realized how much she missed girl time until she had it now, every day.

“Where are we going?”

“M&S. I closed it for us.”

“You’re bad.”

“We have much to discuss and I didn’t want to worry about supe ears. Just the chef and one server will be there – both human.”

“Glamourable.”

“Yes, but I intend for them to stay in the kitchen and out of earshot. My fiancée hates when I use too much glamour.”

“She sounds very smart.”

“She is. She snagged me.” Sookie laughed at their back and forth as Eric parked and they entered the restaurant. “Do you know what you want?”

Grabbing the collar of his jacket, she pulled his face down to her level and whispered in his ear after she nibbled it. “You.”

“Minx! I need to at least feed you first and cover a few things.”

“Yes dear.” They walked to their usual booth and Michael appeared. “Hi Michael.”

“Ma’am. The chef has a suggestion for this evening.”

“I’ll take the suggestion. Chef Henry knows what I like.”

“Thank you Ma’am.” Michael nodded and left; per his instructions, Eric knew they would not see him until Sookie’s meal was ready as Sookie’s drink was already on the table.

“So tomorrow is the big night for your baby girl.”

“I know. I’m quite excited.”

“I hope Ludwig is right; that she’ll respond to vampire blood since she’s much younger than Johanna.”

“Sookie, even if she’s not, look at what’s happening with Johanna. Ludwig created the tissue needed to repair her heart – from her own genetics – no rejection.”

“I wish that was the same for Hunter.”

“We have a plan for that. Ludwig’s research has shown that vampire blood prevents rejection of transplants. He will be fine.”

“I just can’t believe how simple the treatment will be for Hunter’s fairy dust – but how long it took to get here.”

“But we are here. This is what we need to plan. After the surgery, you’ll be out of commission for at the most two days – which is not long.”

“With Celia though. . . “

“I know, but Genny and Maxine are splitting the time. You could be fine the first day – it will depend on how much vampire blood you need to heal.”

“I’m not worried about me. I’m worried about Hunter. The timing!”

“I trust Ludwig and Dayan. They have his heart in stasis ready to go. You’ve gained a fantastic 16 pounds so you’re ready. As soon as the process begins, they add the sodium bicarbonate to his system, flush him, put in the new kidney and heart and I heal him.”

“You make it sound too easy. Eric! The process is so long they’re starting in the early afternoon so they’re sure they’ll be done in enough time for you to do the healing before the next morning!”

“And they’re both prepared for that. Ludwig doesn’t need much sleep and Maria and Dayan are going to trade off – as will the nurses. You know they’re just working out the timing now and they just want a few practice runs on all the steps. They’ll be ready soon and they’ll be successful.”

”It’s still scary.”

“Of course it is. Just keep the faith my angel.”

“You’re right.” She poured more of her tea and spoke again. “So, do you think Genny will ever go home?”

“I’m thinking not. When she sent Bobby to Baton Rouge for more of her things, the writing was on the wall. I want to ask her to move to Pennsylvania.”

“I’d like that. I wish everyone could come.”

“We can ask them all. This is one of the things I wanted to discuss with you. I have two parcels of land identified.”

“Both of them are near your friend Godric?”

“Yes and near that Longwood Gardens we read about. You can get to West Chester University within 15 minutes.” He pulled out some plot plans. “Both are large enough for several houses. We CAN have Hoyt, Maxine, Lala – everyone.”

“Maxine and Charles are too tight right now – I don’t’ see him as wanting to leave. Actually I don’t see either of them as wanting to leave Louisiana. Jessica and Hoyt will stay with Maxine. I’ll ask all of them but I’m not keeping my hopes up.”

“We’ll fly them up often.” Sookie was getting a little upset at moving from her adopted family so he took a minute to clean her face and settle her down. “We already know that Mustapha and Theresa are joining us, and of course Maria.”

“And since Maria’s in that means Bobby too.”

“I’m still trying to wrap my head around that.”

“Eric, you’ve seen Bobby change in the past few months. The man does have a degree in finance. That you paid him more to ignore it is YOUR fault.”

“I’m not giving him up now. He can change diapers.”

“Don’t count on that forever. You noticed that was only if Maria was in the room.” It was slow, but Eric nodded after he recalled the times he’d seen Bobby change Celia. “He was showing off. He figured if the whole ‘family man’ thing worked for you, it could work for him.”

“Did it?”

“Maria was practically a puddle. She melted the first time she saw him do it.”

“I should have come up with that angle years ago.” Sookie gasped and slapped him. Hard. “Hey, what was that for?”

“If you’d found the love of your life years ago, we wouldn’t have met.”

“I meant we could’ve found each other sooner dear.”

“Too late. I felt the ‘uh oh’ before you came up with your sorry excuse of a reply.” Grabbing the maps and plot plans from Eric, she asked about the properties to change the subject, saving Eric from getting into any additional trouble. Both properties were huge – dozens of acres each. One had an older but very large barn on it, but the house had been torn down after a partial fire. The other was just land. ”I like both, what about elevations?”

“It’s a pretty hilly area so we won’t have just a flat piece of land. I have some photographs from the realtor.” They debated the pros and cons of each property and made their decision while Sookie ate her dinner. Not that it was the deciding factor, but they did select the property with the barn. Next came a floor plan review and Sookie’s dessert arrived after they had narrowed their selection down to two floor plans. After much discussion, they selected a craftsman style home with three full floors. Half of the lower or underground floor would be light tight, but the children’s bedrooms would have windows. They’d deal with the elevations when they hired the builders. The full top floor would be for Genny (hopefully) and guests. Maria would select her own floor plans and until her home was completed, she would stay in the house as well. Eric joked that this would give Bobby extra time to secure his future with Maria and perhaps they’d only need to build one house.

“ERIC! They’ve only been dating for a few weeks.”

“How long did it take us to fall in love?”

“Good point.” The landscape and house plans were collated together since they’d made their decisions.

Eric realized this was the time for a new topic on their long list. “We should talk about the wedding.”

She smiled. “Godric was able to secure Longwood?”

“Yes. We’ll have the whole place on a Sunday night. We just need to pick one. The conservatory and restaurant are included in that; we can have an indoor ceremony and reception right there.”

“We’ll pick the date, but I want to go there before selecting the exact location.”

“Fair enough.” He pulled out a blank sheet of paper. “So let’s cover what else we can for the wedding.”

She could feel his excitement. “I love the feelings coming from you on this. You really want not just to be married, but a wedding.”

“We aren’t inviting that many people, least I don’t think we are, but I want it to be special.”

“You are the sweetest thing.”

“Where’s my duct tape?”

She laughed at first then had a realization. “Remember the first time you threatened me with duct tape?”

“In my office – you surprised me.”

“Well, that joke helped when Mustapha and I were at the Fangtasia fire.”

“How so?”

“I knew exactly where to have Mustapha grab it since you tried to tape my mouth shut after I called you sweet.”

“Clever girl.” They continued to talk about the wedding while Sookie had some coffee and they ended the discussion after they had a list of friends and family to invite, bits of the ceremony planned and even some music.

“And now what do we need to discuss Mr. Northman?”

“You are so bad; you’ve been trying to distract me from our list since we got here.”

“We don’t have too much alone time; I’m just ensuring we make the most of it.”

“Oh, we will. I have plans for you – right here on this table – but AFTER we finish our list.”

She pouted and folder her arms across her chest. “FINE! Holding out on me.” He simply laughed at her. “Get on with it, what else is on that list?”

“Our visit to PA.”

She sighed. “I know it’s a necessity to get stuff started, but I hate leaving the kids.”

“It’s only for two days, three nights. We have three builders lined up; all vetted by Godric’s staff. The property will be ours by then so we’ll meet them there and select building locations. You’ve got your appointment at West Chester, right?”

“I do with my new name and transcript. Nobody will know that Sookie Stackhouse is going to West Chester.

“It’ll be really busy, but if we do this short trip and get everything started we can be ready to move sooner.”

“I know I know. And Maxine and Genny are fine with taking care of the kids.”

“We also committed to the weekend trip with Maria – so she can pick a location for her new supernatural clinic. Well, Ludwig’s northern location.”

‘I’m so excited for Maria. She loves the opportunity to learn all the ins and outs of supernatural medicine. It’ll be good for her to have that practice up north, while Ludwig’s administrative staff here can still handle all the insurance rigmarole as they both like to call it.”

“Mustapha told me that Theresa is just as excited about the opportunity. Godric is pleased to provide a supernatural center in Pennsylvania.”

“Win win.”

“Godric was already gracious about our plans but it doesn’t hurt to give him more to be happy about.”

“I’m glad about that but still nervous.”

“Godric isn’t like other monarchs; he knows you aren’t a pet. Sookie, he’s helping with wedding plans.”

“But you told me some protocol is required and we haven’t even started talking about that.”

“It’s minimal with Godric. We will be presented to him and as we approach him, we’ll both bow. I’ll handle the introductions. In his court, it would be better if you did not talk unless you are spoken to directly. Once we are out of court and in Godric’s personal quarters we can relax.”

“You’re sure?”

“He invited us to stay with him – all of us. We’ll be his personal guests. You, Maria and Mustapha will be catered to, even during the day. I wouldn’t bring you into something that could harm you in any way.”

“OK, I trust you.”

That earned her a kiss before he started on the next topic. “What are you planning to do with the inheritance from Niall?”

“It’s not inheritance.”

“According to the lawyers involved it is. Claude and Claudine proved he was dead and all his Earth based businesses and profits were turned over to them as per the will they produced.”

“Well, it’s not like Niall can do anything with the businesses or profits. It was nice of them to share it with me. Rather, Claudine shared it with me.”

“Do you want to do anything with the portion of the business that was part of it?”

“I can’t run an R&D business especially not with Claude as a co-owner. We’ve all decided to sell. We discussed it today when they were over.”

“I’ll have Bobby work on that for you.” She nodded. “What about the portfolio? Did you speak with my accountant?”

“Bobby will handle it. We just didn’t get time to discuss it today. Celia was too grumpy from teething.”

“That’s unusual for her.”

“Oh, her grumpy is nothing compared to Hunter’s grumpy when he was a baby. For Celia, she clung to me and did a little crying.”

“We shouldn’t have left!” She could feel he was getting upset.

“Sweetie, calm down. It’s teething and there will be many days when this happens. She was fine by the time you got there.”

“Still.” He actually started to get up.

With a pull to his arm she tried to get him back to his seat. “Eric. We can go back if you want; let’s just call first. OK Daddy?”

Eric did call and check on the kids even asking Genny to hold the phone up to Celia’s ear so he could talk to her, after he talked to Hunter of course. Genny insisted many times that Celia was just fine, she’d whined a little and they found a teether that vibrated in her toys from Bobby and it calmed her right down. Sookie refrained from rolling her eyes when he asked for the fourth time, “You’re sure we shouldn’t come back?”

With all the blood she’d had from exchanges with Eric, she could hear Genny reply. “DON’T YOU DARE COME BACK! You guys never give me this much alone time with my new grandkids. Hunter and I have been playing and Celia is content to sit here with the little teether vibrating in her mouth.” In the background she could faintly hear Hunter say something about getting back to the game before Genny got back on. “Did you hear that? I’m being summoned. We’re fine; Hoyt and Jessica are here tonight if I need extra hands. I’m planning to keep Celia up until 9:30; it’s barely 8 now and she’s content right now. Stay out until her bedtime at least.”

“Ok. Mima has spoken. We’ll see you for bedtime.” The call was ended and Eric removed the flower vase and candle from the table – all in a blur. “We only have an hour and a half. The chef and waiter are gone my Sweet. Hop up here so I can have my dinner.”

OOOoooOOOooo

The next night, as planned, Ludwig started working on Celia using Eric’s blood. After reviewing the steps, Sookie, Eric, Celia, and the medical team were all in the procedure room, dressed in scrubs and ready to start.

“OK, we’ll do this just like we did with Johanna, only you’ll be giving Celia your blood directly.” Ludwig fiddled with some equipment then continued. “Daddy, you’ll be up here at her head and Maria and I will each be on a side of her body. Sookie, since there’s room, you can sit at the foot of the table. I know you’ll want to touch her, but remember I need the space for medical equipment; she’s not that long.”

“I understand.”

“You can talk to her all you want though.”

“And I plan to do that, right baby?” Celia just gurgled a response. “I’ll take that to mean she agrees with me.”

Ludwig got back to business. “She won’t like this, but remember we’re doing a transesophageal echo, or TEE, to get a better image of her heart.”

“That’s the tube down her throat, right?”

“Yes, the transducer is attached to the end. I need to get detailed pictures before we give her blood, then again after to check the progress.” With a needle in her hand, she paused. “You guys are OK with her being sedated still?”

“Yes, I don’t think this is comfortable enough for her to be fully aware and I don’t want to glamour my baby.” Eric smirked. “Until she tries dating a boy I don’t like – then all bets are off.”

To try and distract his baby, Eric immediately starting talking to Celia while Dr. Ludwig plunged the needle into her thigh. He registered her shock by her silence then her face crumpled, almost in slow motion until she drew in a breath, held it in while turning red; then screamed. Celia was such a mild mannered baby that Eric just couldn’t believe what he was seeing and hearing. Desperately, he wanted to pick her up and comfort her but he didn’t think he could, not while everything was prepared. “Shhh little one. Daddy’s here. This will all be over shortly.”

“That shot will take a few minutes to work, go on and pick her up. I know it’s killing you.”

Sookie could feel Eric’s absolute panic over Celia’s scream. She didn’t like it either but after all Hunter’s tests and treatments she knew it was coming. Her own desire to soothe Celia was great but she stayed put and sent love to Eric and let him handle it. The look of pain on his face matched his feelings as he kept shushing and rocking her. Soon, the crying slowed a little or at least it went down in volume and all that was left were the desperate gasps for breath and the quivering lips. ‘Lord!’  If she learned to do that on cue, Eric would give her the world.’ A few moments later she was quite calm and almost appeared limp from the sedative Sookie guessed.

“Ok Daddy, I think we can begin.”

Reluctantly, Eric placed Celia on the procedure table, speaking softly to her the whole time. Her eyes appeared heavy from the sedative so he was hopeful she’d just sleep through what was to come. They didn’t want her under full anesthesia, just the sedative, so her sleeping was iffy. He didn’t get his wish. As soon as Ludwig started placing the tubing down her throat, her eyes shot open and her arms flailed. “Eric, I need you to hold her arms for me.” He did NOT like that. “We’ll be done sooner if she moves less, you need to help me.” When he took her arms, she focused on him and the alarmed look in her eyes flustered Eric. For a moment he didn’t know how to help the situation and Ludwig could tell. “Eric, this will only be for a few minutes tonight. I’m recording everything so I can analyze it later. I know she’s awake and this is uncomfortable, but not painful. Talk to her.” She looked over to Sookie. “You as well. Your voices will probably be soothing to her.”

Eric was literally afraid to talk; his emotions were so close to the surface he feared he Celia would detect his concern. Sookie saved him: She sang. Celia loved a lullaby Sookie sang often called I. L.O.V.E Y.O.U. She sang it for her a few nights after Celia arrived and it quickly became the favorite. At the sound of the song beginning, Celia stilled for a second; then her eyes began looking for Sookie. Ludwig suggested, “Sookie, get on your knees on the table so she can see you. You should be tall enough for that.” Quickly, Sookie kneeled as Ludwig suggested, still singing, and smiled at her baby. Celia could only see her out of one eye since Ludwig’s hands were in front of the other (at least as far as Sookie could tell), but it worked and Ludwig finished her test quickly and gently pulled the tubing out.

“OK Daddy, you can pick her up.” He moved quickly and had her in his arms kissing and soothing her – and himself – from the ordeal.

“How much blood?”

“Just prick your finger and give her a few drops.”

Celia’s face was priceless as Eric’s blood first hit her tongue – she’d only ever had formula before – but she sucked it down and even smacked her lips together when she was finished. “Liked that huh?” He turned to Ludwig. “What now?”

“We’ll run the TEE tomorrow evening. If the healing worked, we could see it now but I’d still need to do the test again tomorrow before more blood. Frankly, I’m mostly worried about Daddy surviving the test again.”

“I wasn’t that bad. My baby girl was unhappy.” He moved her closer to his face and spoke directly to her. “Isn’t that right min dotter?” Celia just smiled and reached for Eric’s hair and tugged. “That’s right, you got me baby girl.”

The same squiggly feeling came over Sookie watching her fiancée being the true sap everyone now knew he was. Unable to resist, she moved to him and joined in the moment. She was very curious about the blood though. “Do you feel her?”

Eric stilled and just allowed his baby’s feelings enter him. “Yes. Right now it’s relief if I had to put a word on it. She’s also hungry.”

“I’m sure; we had to hold off feeding her this afternoon.”

Ludwig ordered them out. “Go on, we’re done here until I repeat that test tomorrow.” To emphasize her words, she even made shooing motion with her hands. “You have two grandmothers who are quite anxious for any news.”

Sookie and Eric made their way quickly to their room and were greeted by two grandmothers, just as Ludwig said, an honorary Papaw, an Uncle, Aunt and cousin and a very excited brother. “She’s OK! We heard her crying for a while, but she seems better.”

“Mommy sang to her.”

“The I. L.O.V.E Y.O.U. song?” Eric nodded. “Yep, it’s her favorite.”

While Eric and Hunter spoke, Sookie heated a bottle and was settling into the rocker to feed Celia. She ate it faster than Sookie had ever seen her eat. When she stopped to burp her, her little angel fussed – including balling her fists, reddening her face and after taking a big breath: Screeching. “Well, seems Celia has already learned about having a temper from Mommy.” Eric joked.

“Excuse me!?” Sookie bit out while she gave in and put the bottle back in her baby’s mouth.

“Exactly.”

Maxine was wringing her hands for an update and now that Celia was settled she asked. “Eric what’s the news?”

“She’s had a small amount of my blood and honestly, we won’t know the results until tomorrow when Ludwig checks out her heart again.”

Maxine turned to Ludwig who’d joined the group. “Any thoughts?”

“We truly won’t know until tomorrow night.” Maxine’s face fell and Ludwig immediately continued. “Look at Johanna, Maxine. We do her surgery the day after tomorrow and I have nothing by high hopes for the results. We have many options for Celia, many.”

Charles moved to hold Maxine; he knew she wanted to hear that everything was all fixed when they came back from the procedure room. As much as he and Hoyt had tried to change her expectations she just couldn’t help it. Sookie smiled from the rocker. The affection between Charles and Maxine was obvious. As a joke, Bobby started referring to Charles as Papaw but it stuck for both Hunter and Johanna. If Sookie had to guess, it would be legitimate by marriage very soon. It was snooping, she knew, but she occasionally checked into their thoughts. They, in two words, fit together. In many ways, they were like she and Eric – friends first. She didn’t want to know and did NOT look for evidence of the passion and aching physical need for each other that she and Eric had, but that didn’t seem like it was missing or needed for them. Based on what she knew, Charles would take care of Maxine when she and Eric left. That turn of thought caused the throb that came with recalling their moving plans. While she’d reconciled herself to the need to move; it still hurt. “What’s going on my sweet?”

Eric had startled her when he moved so quickly and quietly to be in front of her. “I’m fine.” She added with a whisper, “later.”

“Ok.” He stood with Hunter and informed him. “Time for your bath. Celia is probably going to eat for a while.”

“OK, Daddy.”

“I think we’ll go Eric.”

“Sure Charles, thanks for coming out.” He turned to Genny. “Are you staying and taking a limo?”

“I am.” She winked. Her staying would give Charles and Maxine some alone time. With all the days Maxine had been spending at the hospital with the kids lately, dates and alone time hadn’t been happening.

Later, after the little Northmans were bathed and Johanna was in bed, Eric, Hunter, Celia and Sookie started a very important conversation with Genny. “Genny.”

“Yes Eric.”

“We want to make firm plans for Pennsylvania.”

“I’m aware, I’ll be here when you make the trip to do that.”

“Yes, and we appreciate that, but we have something else to discuss with you.” She nodded for him to continue. “We want you to come with us when we move.”

“Pardon?”

“You’re part of our family, we want you with us. We want you to live with us, but if you want your own home, I’ll build you. . . “

“You . . . you’re serious? You would have me live WITH you?”

“Why not?” Sookie asked her.

“I’m not . . . “ Eric raised a brow before she finished anything remotely like her not really being family. “You really want me?”

Eric put his hand on top of Genny’s where it rested on the table. “We do. Don’t we Fidget?”

“You bet. I can’t be without my Mima now.” The boy moved to hug Genny and she started crying.

It took her a moment to compose herself before she replied. “Thank you, all of you. I accept. I really don’t want to live in my own house though. I’ve been fretting the return to my home as it is and being all alone again.”

Eric handed her a tissue and told her. “If we have anything to say about it, you’ll never be alone again Genny.”

PA House, Front view

PA House, back view