Chapter Text
Dean sat in a diner outside of Chicago eating pie. He had stopped for a bite to eat on his way from Cicero to Sioux Falls. He and Lisa had given it a couple of months before officially calling it quits. As much as he wanted to be a family man for her and Ben, hunting was in his blood and his mind was set on finding a way to save Sam from Lucifer’s cage.
The door to the diner opened and a young black woman walked in. The waitress behind the counter knew her by name, so Dean assumed she was a regular. She was cute. British from the sound of her accent and she had a great ass.
It felt good to be able to check out anyone he wanted again.
He cared about Lisa, but he wasn’t sure that he was meant to be tied down to one woman. That was more of Sam’s thing. Sam could do the domestic life. A wife, two kids and a dog complete with the white picket fence. He fit that lifestyle to a tee. Dean was more beers, burgers and babes. That was his area. And he had a feeling that the hot little thing that just strolled into the diner was just what he needed to get him back into the swing of things.
Dean was torn away from his thoughts by the sound of his cell phone. He glanced at the number and answered. “What’s up, Bobby?” he asked. “Yea, I’m still in Illinois. Stopped in Maywood for a bite to eat. What?” He frowned as he listened. “Are you sure? Yea. I’m on it. Thanks, Bobby.”
Dean quickly finished up his pie and coffee. Bobby had given him a tip about a case in the area. The hospital’s blood bank was having trouble keeping up with blood demands and that coupled with a rash of disappearance spelled vampires.
If there was a nest in town, it probably was near the hospital. Or at the very least, they were connected to the hospital in some way. So that was where he was going to start looking.
The only regret he had was that he wouldn’t get the opportunity to get better acquainted with the hot chick in the diner. ‘Oh well,’ he thought as he gave her one last glance. There’d be other women in other diners.
Right now, he had work to do.
~*~
Martha was so wrapped up in her thoughts that she wasn’t paying attention to the clock. She was going to be late for work. She had Linda pack up the rest of her food so she could take it to work with her. She’d just have to finish it during her break, if she even got one. The hospital had been so chaotic the past few days.
She had only been working at the Loyola’s emergency facility for a little over a month since moving to Illinois from London. It was a big transition. The cultural differences alone were enough of a struggle, but she also was trying to get back into the habit of being in a hospital again.
Martha had taken a sabbatical from the Royal Hope Hospital to pursue other interests and she considered returning, up until the failure of her marriage. After her divorce, she decided what she needed was something new. A new life, a new job and definitely new surroundings.
~*~
“How’s it looking tonight, Shane?” Martha asked as she pulled on her lab coat. She was in the on call room with two of her colleagues, Dr. Shane Garrett and Nurse Britney Weldon.
“Busy,” the young doctor replied. “There was an accident on the Ike. We got slammed.”
“Are we still having blood shortages?” Martha asked.
Shane nodded. “Someone down there in the blood bank clearly doesn’t know what they’re doing.” He folded his arms across his chest. “Their inventory isn’t matching up with their supplies.”
“I’m sure it’s just a clerical error.” Britney shrugged.
“Or maybe it’s a cover up,” Shane joked.
“I bet you’re right,” Martha agreed with a smirk. “Probably plasmavores.”
Britney wrinkled her nose. “What’s a plasmavore?”
“They’re sorta like vampires, but a bit weirder,” Martha explained.
“Weirder than the ones that sparkle?” Shane quipped.
Martha laughed. “ Nothing is weirder than that.”
~*~
Dean stole a pair of scrubs and an ID badge from one of the lockers. He’d pretend to be an orderly long enough to gather some information.
He just wished that Sam was there. These things always worked better with back up. Plus, Sam was much better with all the medical mumbo jumbo than him.
He shifted those thoughts aside as he found a supply closet. Checking to see if the coast was clear, he pocketed a few syringes. If he was dealing with vampires, he was going to need dead man’s blood and there was only one place in the hospital that he was guaranteed to find that.
~*~
“Where’s Britney?” Martha asked Shane as he tended to a patient.
“I haven’t seen her in a while. I think she said something about going up to the eighth floor to check on a patient.” Shane slipped his stethoscope around his neck. “Why?”
“I think she accidentally switched the charts for Mr. Meriwether and Mr. Thurgood.”
“They already wheeled Mr. Meriwether down to the morgue,” Shane informed her.
Martha groaned softly. “I guess I’ll have to go to the morgue and switch the charts myself.”
“Beware the plasmavores,” Shane teased.
Martha rolled her eyes playfully as she headed for the lift. “Plasmavores aren’t dead, but they do have salt deficiencies,” she commented. “Kinda like Mrs. Kramer over there.” Shane eyed the elderly woman suspiciously causing Martha to laugh. “Mind her teeth.”
~*~
The morgue was quiet when Dean got there. The fact that no one was around to question his intentions made his job easier. He found an elderly man on one of the tables and began filling his syringes with the man’s blood. It wasn’t until he was filling the fourth and final syringe that he heard the door to the morgue open.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” a female voice came from behind him.
Dean quickly stuffed the syringes in his pocket before turning around. “I was just gathering blood samples for…umm…hematology.”
Martha crossed her arms over her chest. “Since when does hematology send orderlies to collect blood from corpses?”
“Budget cuts.” Dean flashed her his best smile. “We all have to do our parts.”
“Only you’re not really an orderly, are you?” Martha asked as she walked towards him.
“What?”
“I saw you in the diner before my shift.”
Dean scoffed even though he knew he recognized her as well. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“I’ve never seen you here before.”
“It’s a big hospital,” Dean retorted.
Martha pointed to his badge. “So your name is Anwar Patel?”
Dean glanced at his ID and smiled. “I was adopted.”
“You’re a terrible liar.”
“If I told you that you were incredibly hot would you believe me then?”
Martha scoffed softly. “Well you were checking out my arse in the diner.”
“Then you know I’m telling the truth.”
Martha smirked. “So you admit you were there.” Dean’s smile faltered, giving her the confirmation she needed. “You’re rubbish at this.”
Dean shrugged. “I usually have help.”
“Seems like you need it.”
“Are you offering?”
Martha shook her head. “Not without a proper explanation of why you’re stealing blood from a dead man.”
“You wouldn’t believe me even if I told you.”
“Try me,” Martha challenged.
Dean exhaled. “I’m hunting vampires.”
“Is that all?” Martha asked nonchalantly.
“Is that all?” Dean repeated incredulously. “Lady, I just told that I was taking the blood from a dead man to hunt vampires.”
Martha nodded. “I heard you.”
“Aren’t you going say something or try to stop me?”
“Most people in my position would probably recommend a psychiatric consultation, but I’m not most people and I have a feeling that you’re not either.”