A Donation

Greyson walked up to a closed door and gently knocked on it.

"Come in," grunted a low male voice. Greyson smiled down at me and opened the door just in time to let the nurse with the blood cart thing out of the room.

"Thanks," she smiled, looking up at Greyson.

"Of course," he replied, not bothering to smile back. Strolling into the room, I quickly followed.

"Here, these are for you," I said, holding out my hands with the bouquet in them toward the woman on the bed.

Okay, so I had terrible hospital manners. I always felt so uncomfortable here that even when one of my co-workers ended up in a ward, I would only go once to see them. It was a huge joke in the detachment. Everyone assumed that I was scared of needles (which I was) or hated blood (which I don't).

But I would much rather go into the basement of a serial killer than be here, knowing that a single drop of my blood might set off enough alarm bells that I end up in some mad scientist's basement.

Yeah, I had a lot of time to think about that.

"They are beautiful, thank you so much! I especially love the yellow roses! I don't know if you know or not, but the yellow rose is a symbol of friendship. Hopefully, this is a good start to ours," said the woman lying in bed.

The only other man in the room, who I was assuming was her husband, stood up and took the flowers from my hand before placing them in a window.

"Uh, yes," I nodded, not sure what I was agreeing to. Did I propose a friendship without knowing it? Would she even want to be friends with me if she found out what I was? What did I do if I did something to make her hate me?

"You'll have to forgive her," chuckled Levi as he walked around me to give a manly hug to the husband. There was some back bumping, but not enough to signify a celebration. "She would be a hermit if we let her. Coming out into public like this is causing her to malfunction."

Mary and Greyson simply laughed while the husband only stared at me. It was like he was trying to determine how much of a threat I was.

"I'm sure she isn't that bad," joked Mary, inviting us to take a seat. There was only one empty one besides the one where her husband was sitting, so Greyson had me sit down while he leaned against the wall behind me.

Levi walked over to the door and made himself comfortable, causing the husband to look at him strangely. Levi nodded, causing the man to stiffen up more.

"Actually, he is really downplaying it," I said with a smile. Maybe if I pretended that she was a victim or a witness, I'd be able to be more relaxed. "If it weren't for work, I would never leave my house."

And it was true. I could spend days in my hidden reading cave.

"And what do you do?" grunted the husband, who I had yet to be introduced to.

"I was a homicide detective with the NYPD, but I have been retired for a few months now," I shrugged. 

"You look too young to be retired," pointed out the husband, raising an eyebrow as he looked at Greyson.

"Thank you!" I exclaimed, a bright smile on my face. "That's what I keep telling them, but they don't believe me."

Mary laughed. "I won't ask your age, but there is no way you are older than General Greyson, and he hasn't retired yet," she pointed out, causing me to stick out my tongue at Greyson.

"Let's just say that I am now considering it more and more," shrugged Greyson, looking down at me. I wasn't going to press for any sort of decision from him. As long as he was happy, that was all that mattered.

"Oh? Do I hear wedding bells in the future?" joked Mary, looking between me and Greyson. She was definitely the sunshine aspect of her relationship, while her husband was the grump.

"Maybe," joked Levi, not being left out. "It would just depend on if she was willing to choose or not."

That stunned the room into silence.

"Choose?" asked the husband, raising his eyebrow and looking between my two men.

"Which I refuse to," I shrugged. I knew that there would be judgment from any humans I had met. They pride themselves on their monogamy, but multiple partners in a single, committed relationship was the way of the monsters.

And I might as well enjoy all the perks of being a monster.

A knock on the door killed off any more conversation as a woman poked her head inside the room.

"Is now a good time? I have the results from your blood work," she said. Mary nodded her head, and two doctors entered the room.

"We can leave if you want," offered Greyson, looking to Mary to decide what she was most comfortable with.

"It's fine. I am pretty sure that it isn't going to say anything we don't already know," she assured him.

Seeing as I had no idea why she was even in the hospital in the first place, I was not sure that I should remain. It seemed like a private thing.

"Well, the good news is that we have finally figured out your blood type," started the doctor, looking down at her tablet. "You are O negative."

"And what does that mean?" asked the husband, leaning forward to grasp his wife's hand.

"It means that she is a universal donor. She can give blood to everyone without any type of consequence. However, it also means that she has the hardest blood type to find. Only 3% of people in the world have O-negative blood, and there is no guarantee that in an emergency, we would have her blood on hand."

"You should consider becoming a donor," suggested the male doctor. He had a smile that would automatically put anyone at ease. "You never know when something might happen, and you need a donation."