Authors: Naomi Clark
Shannon turned my head, forcing me to look
back at her. “Stop it. She’s not going to die, you know,” she said
firmly, as if she’d read my mind.
I swallowed and nodded. “I know. I
know.”
“
Right. So let’s get to
hospital so we can find out where she’s been.” She took my hand and
glanced back at Vince and Joel. “You two coming?”
They both nodded and the four of us headed
outside. The ambulance was pulling away in a blur of red lights. I
pushed thoughts of Adam away and got into Shannon’s car.
***
The City and General Hospital was quiet for a Friday night. I’d
expected A&E to be overflowing with drunks, girls who’d fallen
off their stupidly high heels, boys who’d got into fights over
perceived insults; the kind of misfits you see on TV. The very
thought had upset my wolf, making me feel itchy and claustrophobic
before we’d even got there. But the hospital was surprisingly
peaceful. Nurses glided silently through the corridors, machines
beeped softly. It all felt so surreal, dreamlike.
I held Shannon’s hand as we hurried after
Molly’s stretcher. A doctor fell into step next to me, looking
bone-weary and ancient despite his baby-face features. His dark
hair stuck up in all directions and his face was sheened with
sweat, making me realize how deceptive the calm aura of the place
was.
“
You found her, I
understand?” he asked me briskly, eyes on Molly’s still
body.
I nodded. “Out in the woods.”
“
You should have brought
her straight to us. You wolves think you’re bloody invincible.” He
shook his head and I wanted to jump in and defend myself, but I
agreed with him so I kept silent. “I’m guessing hypothermia, shock
and maybe internal injuries,” he continued, no longer really
talking to me. “We’ll get her in for X-rays. Do we have a next of
kin?”
“
I’ve called her mum,”
Shannon volunteered. The doctor glanced at her, first in surprise
and then with an appreciative second glance that got my hackles up.
“I’m Shannon Ryan. I was investigating Molly’s disappearance. I
called Tina Brady as soon as I knew Molly had been found,” Shannon
added.
The doctor nodded approvingly and slowed
enough to fall into step with us as the paramedics up ahead
disappeared into a lift with Molly. “I’m Doctor Palmer.” He offered
a hand to Shannon.
I intercepted, gripping his hand first and
squeezing just a little. “Ayla Hammond,” I introduced myself
tightly. “Shouldn’t we call the police as well? She’s been beaten
up.”
Palmer nodded. “Been done. They should be
here to take a statement from you within the hour. And the other
two…” He craned his neck looking for Vince and Joel. They’d fallen
back when we first arrived. Palmer beckoned them over now. Joel
looked pale and queasy and Vince was rubbing his back with big,
slow movements. I looked them over, pursing my lips.
“
You okay?” I asked
Joel.
“
Fine,” he lied. I glanced
at Vince.
“
Joel’s got this thing…” He
glanced at his partner, who looked away, suddenly flushing red.
“He’s got this problem…”
“
It’s a
phobia
,” Joel said
indignantly.
“
Of hospitals?” Shannon
asked.
“
Blood,” Joel
corrected.
I stared at him, sure I’d misheard. “But
you’re a werewolf. How can you be afraid of blood?”
He shifted uncomfortably. “Shouldn’t we be
focusing on Molly?”
“
But how can you be afraid
of blood?” I repeated. “I’ve seen you hunting—I’ve seen you kill
plenty of rabbits and there was blood all over the
place—”
Joel turned away from me,
swallowing hard. Vince scowled and made a
zip-up
gesture at me. Palmer cleared
his throat. “I was just explaining that the police will probably
want statements from the pair of you.”
“
Of course. We’re happy to
talk to them,” Vince assured Palmer.
Palmer nodded and told us to wait in the
A&E waiting room. He hurried off to X-ray. I exhaled in relief
when he disappeared from sight. He’d been standing far too close to
Shannon for my wolf’s liking. I snuck a glance at Joel. He still
looked ready to vomit. I shook my head. A wolf with a blood phobia,
I couldn’t help but smile.
The seats were orange plastic, scuffed and
scratched and suspiciously stained. I got as comfortable as I could
and stared out the glass doors, waiting for either Tina or the
police to arrive. Vince and Joel went off in search of coffee and
Shannon checked her phone every ten seconds. The click of her
opening and closing the clamshell handset began to grate on me, my
wolf roused again.
“
Give that a rest,” I said,
closing my hand over hers to stop her popping the phone open again.
“It’s getting on my nerves.”
“
Sorry.” Shannon dropped
the phone in her bag. “I’m just surprised Tina isn’t here
yet.”
The doors slid open on cue, Tina rushing in,
a whirl of knotted hair and bleeding mascara. “Shannon!” she
shrieked. “Where is she?”
Shannon rose to greet her, catching her as
Tina collapsed sobbing into her arms. “Tina—”
“
Is she okay? Is she hurt?
Oh God, I need to see her. I’ll wring her neck. Is she okay?” she
babbled. She stared at Shannon, eyes shining with tears and a touch
of wolf. It was weird, seeing that amber glow to her human eyes, as
if her wolf was peeking out from behind her. Tina being outcast,
I’d found it hard to think of her as a real werewolf to begin
with.
Except she was a wolf and she was terrified
for her child, her baby. And her pain tugged at me and my wolf,
woke up that deeply-ingrained Pack compulsion to protect our own,
outcast or not. But once again, I didn’t know what to do, what to
say to comfort her.
“
Tina, stop,” Shannon said,
sitting her down. “They’re taking care of Molly and I’m sure
they’ll let you see her as soon as they can.”
Tina sniffled into her sleeve. “I blame
myself,” she said. “All this mess…if me and her dad were still
together…”
“
This isn’t your fault,” I
said, sitting down next to her and draping my arm round her
shoulder. “You can’t think like that.”
“
Ayla’s right.” Shannon
took the seat on the other side. “Molly needs your strength right
now, so you have to be strong, okay?”
Tina nodded, eyes closed. “She will be okay,
won’t she?” she whispered.
“
Of course she will,” I
said, trying not to think of how cold and still Molly had been.
“She’s home now.”
***
The police statements were quick and simple. I recited the story as
plainly as I could. Dwelling too much on the details hurt and I
just wanted it all over and done with. Tina had to speak to them
too, recapping for them how Molly had run off, how it wasn’t the
first time.
“
They know all this,” she
muttered when they were done. “I told them everything when she
first ran off and they didn’t do a fucking thing then.”
They’d done the interviews in the hospital
staff room on the second floor of the sprawling complex. I’d
followed the officers up there blindly and now I was sure I’d never
find my way back to the exit. Everywhere looked the same, one
mint-green corridor after the other, walls lined with abstract art
in pastel colors. It felt depressing now, rather than soothing.
I linked arms with Tina. “Let’s go find
Molly,” I suggested. “There must be someone up here who knows where
she is.”
Her daughter’s name drove away Tina’s anger.
She bit her lip, eyes glowing again. “God yes. I need to see
her.”
“
Ayla.” Vince caught my
arm, pulling me aside. “Me and Joel are heading home. You don’t
mind, do you?” His gaze flicked back to Joel, who was staring
fixedly at the floor.
“
Sure.” I patted Vince’s
arm. “Is Joel okay?”
Vince leaned in to whisper, despite the fact
Joel was well within hearing range. “It’s the green walls. Green
and red are color opposites, so…you know.”
“
Okay…” I was none the
wiser, but I shrugged it off and patted his hand. “Thanks for
everything tonight.”
“
Yes.” Tina slipped in
between us, grasping his hand. “Thank you. Thank you for saving my
Molly.” She had to crane her neck to meet his eyes and the
gratitude in her expression made him flush and mumble.
“
I didn’t do much…Ayla
found her.”
“
But you carried her home,”
Tina countered. “I know the word of an outcast doesn’t mean much,
but I won’t forget that.”
He mumbled again that it was nothing, cheeks
bright red as he headed off. Tina took my arm again. I was a little
surprised that she was clinging to me and not Shannon, but maybe it
made sense, thinking about it. I was Pack and that would always
mean something.
We headed down the corridor, looking for a
sign to point us in the right direction. Shannon walked beside me.
“How can a werewolf have a blood phobia?” she asked me.
“
Beats me.” I mulled the
idea over. “He always has his meat well-done though, now I think
about it. Maybe he’s only phobic in human form?”
“
It just seems so weird.
It’s like a bird being afraid of heights or something.”
“
Bloody posh kids,” Tina
snorted. “His parents probably raised him on veggie burgers and
lentils.”
After a few minutes of aimless wandering
that set my wolf on edge, feeling trapped and lost, we stumbled
upon a sign pointing the way to X-ray. It seemed like the best
place to start. On the way we bumped into Palmer, who was ever so
happy to help Shannon and take us to Molly. I ground my teeth,
repressing the urge to snarl at him and warn him off. My big bad
wolf routine would be out of place here.
Molly, being a werewolf,
had warranted a room all to herself. An injured wolf was a
potential danger to staff and other patients, especially when they
first regained consciousness so all modern hospitals were equipped
to deal with that. Every ward had a
wolf
room
fitted with reinforced steel doors and
bars on the windows. Every bed came with metal restraints—always a
last option, but there nonetheless. Access was restricted to
doctors only—no nurses, no cleaning staff. A werewolf doctor was
always the first choice, so that Pack would be the first thing the
injured wolf would smell on waking.
“
Sadly, the wolf due on
shift tonight called in sick,” Palmer explained as he unlocked
Molly’s door. “I’m sure Molly won’t cause any problems though, now
you’re here,” he added to Tina. “We’ve confirmed there are no
internal injuries and most of the cuts should be healed by
morning.” He pushed the door back to reveal the girl, tucked up
under those stiff, off-white hospital sheets. Her dark hair was a
sharp contrast to her chalky skin and there was a drip feeding into
her arm, a sickly yellow liquid flowing through it.
“
What’s that?” Tina asked,
hovering in the doorway like she was afraid to get too close.
“Drugs?”
“
A vitamin drip,” Palmer
said. “She’s dreadfully malnourished.”
That was the trigger that sent Tina
scurrying to her daughter’s side, crying freely again. “Oh God, my
baby, my baby. What happened to you?”
“
Shouldn’t she have woken
up by now?” I asked Palmer. “She hasn’t…there are no head injuries,
right?”
“
She’s exhausted. Natural
sleep is one of the best cures for cases like this,” Palmer
replied. “She needs rest and TLC first and foremost. And of course,
sleep will give her body time to heal.”
“
She said she couldn’t
remember anything,” I persisted. “When we asked her where she’d
been, she said she couldn’t remember anything. Doesn’t that mean
she might have a concussion or something?”
“
Shock,” he said. “I’m
certain there’s nothing wrong with her that proper care won’t
fix.”
Tina knelt by the bed, stroking Molly’s
face. “She’ll get it,” she vowed, eyes raking the mottled bruises
marring Molly’s face. “I’m not letting her out of my sight.”
“
Once she feels better,
we’ll talk again,” Shannon said. “Try and find out what happened.
It’s obvious she was beaten—the police will pay attention now,
Tina. Assault on a minor is serious.”
Tina nodded but it was clear she wasn’t
really listening. Every fiber of her being was focused on Molly.
Shannon and I exchanged looks and backed out of the room. We
weren’t needed right now. Palmer pulled the door to and addressed
us in a low voice.
“
I understand from Molly’s
records that she and Ms Brady are outcasts. Could this have been
some kind of werewolf feud?”
I bristled at the implication. “Werewolves
don’t attack little girls, Doctor Palmer. This isn’t the bloody
Middle Ages.”
He held up his hands in a pacifying gesture
that just riled me more. “I don’t mean any offence, but I have to
ask. Adolescent werewolves are pretty tough, so for her to sustain
this level of injury suggests to me that someone even tougher dealt
it out. And that most likely means another werewolf.”
“
Or Alpha Humans,” I said,
thinking of Adam once more. “A group of humans with a baseball bat
each could easily do this to her.”
“
They don’t usually starve
their victims first though,” he said. “I’m not saying it’s not a
possibility—of course it is—but it’s not the only
possibility.”