If This Wall Could Talk, III.

Linka took a breath. What she was about to say, she wanted to say right. He deserved that. Six years later, since the day they'd first met, and they were finally saying all they ever meant to say …


Jake was put back in his room. Once everything settled down, Linka went straight to a phone in the waiting room to call Sohvi.

"That's crazy!" said Sohvi from the other line, shocked. Linka had told her everything that had happened. "I'm so glad you're all right! As weird as it sounds, maybe the she-wolf that bit Jake passed something onto him?"

"They're going over Jake's blood test results again as we speak," said Linka. "Something may turn up. I'll look into it."

"Wow. That's quite an afternoon you and Wheeler have had! Do you mind staying there a bit longer? To see how Jake is when he wakes up? You probably won't get home until late … "

"It's fine, Sohvi. I was thinking the same thing anyway."

After Linka and Sohvi finished talking, Linka went to sit with Wheeler on a nearby lounge.

"So?" he said to Linka expectantly, as she sat down.

"So! I told Sohvi we'd stay here and wait for Jake to wake up."

Wheeler nodded … begrudgingly. He didn't fancy talking to Jake Spencer again, despite his curiosity about the guy being a potential 'wolfman'. "What do you want to do 'til then?"

Linka shrugged. "I don't know. I am feeling a bit tired, I think I might have a nap. What do you want to do?"

"Have a walk around town, burn off some energy. You don't want to come with?"

"No thanks," said Linka with a yawn. "Maybe afterwards, if Jake wakes up sooner than later. But you go! I'll be okay here."

Wheeler nodded again, before adding, "Don't see him alone, all right? Wait for me to come back."

"Wheeler, please! I am a big girl, I can take care of myself."

"Do you or do you not remember how the guy tried to eat you twenty minutes ago? Or did that just conveniently slip your mind!"

"He did not try to eat me!"

"He was gonna take a bite out of you! If I hadn't gotten in the way, that is … "

Wheeler said that last part rather sulkily, turning Linka's smirk to a warm smile. "Thank you, Wheeler," she said, leaning over to kiss his cheek. "For getting in the way. As usual."

"Any time," said Wheeler, smiling back at her briefly. Linka's 'kisses-on-the-cheek' were always bittersweet for him. He'd had plenty over the past six years … what he wanted was something more. Before he got carried away with that kind of thinking, he stood from his seat and stretched his arms.

"I'm outta here," he announced. "And remember Linka, don't see Jake without me! Promise?"

"Da! I promise."

"Cross your heart?"

"Go away, Wheeler!" said Linka teasingly, laying down on the couch.


"Linka? Linka. Hey, sleeping beauty!"

Linka opened her eyes. Somebody was rocking her shoulder. She looked up.

"Wheeler," she yawned, sitting upright. "How long has it been?"

"'Bout an hour. Jake's awake. You want to see him?"

Together, Wheeler and Linka walked down a hallway towards Jake's room.

Jake, sitting up in his bed, was almost exactly as he'd been when Linka first saw him earlier in the day, though he was notably less 'chirpy' now then before.

"Hey! It's you lot," he said, eyes sparking with recognition.

"Hello, Jake," said Linka politely. "How are you feeling? You seem … "

"Sane?" Jake cut in with a wiry smile. "My doctor told me what happened. I can hardly believe it … I don't remember a thing. And on that note: I'm so, so sorry Linka! You as well, Wheeler. I heard I tossed you some where?"

"Behind the reception desk," grumbled Wheeler, his ego bruised.

"Right," said Jake, mystified. "My apologies. I didn't know I could do that."

"Better me in harm's way then anyone else," said Wheeler, shifting his eyes quickly to Linka.

It appeared Jake was back to normal, with no signs of aggression or any strange behaviour to speak off. Wheeler and Linka were perplexed; Jake more so. He honestly had no memory of ever leaving his room like a snarling, out-of-control maniac. Linka could tell he was shaken up about it, even though he was chatting openly in his usual friendly manner. He wasn't the type of guy to go around randomly attacking people.

"Linka?" said a young nurse at the door. "Could you step outside for a moment?"

"Ah … of course," said Linka, excusing herself from the room. Before she left, she gave Wheeler a stern glare, which could only be interpreted as behave yourself.

Wheeler and Jake. Left alone together … was this really a good idea?

"Nice girl," said Jake, half a minute after Linka had gone.

"She's my girlfriend," said Wheeler, without thinking.

"No she isn't," said Jake smartly, causing Wheeler's neck to burn an angry shade of scarlet. Jake chuckled. "Relax, mate! Linka's not your girlfriend but you plainly want her to be. What's the hold up?"

Frowning and feeling uncomfortable, Wheeler replied, "Um … that's private, dude."

"Respectfully," said Jake, backing off … a little. "All I'm saying is if you don't act quickly, some rugged scoundrel with a nice British accent – or anybody!" Jake added 'anybody' when he noticed Wheeler's neck turning red again. "Somebody is going to snatch that one up. And that would be a right shame in my opinion, because you obviously care about her a great deal."

It was what Wheeler feared most. Somebody else with Linka.

"What's up with you, man?" he said to Jake in a stunned sort of way, after a moment's reflection. "One minute you're running wild around the hospital, the next you're talking to me like an Oprah special!"

"Too true!" Jake laughed heartily. "Severe mood swings, I could be turning into a woman. Maybe that's what the doctor's are discussing now?"

When Linka returned to Jake's room, she half expected to find the boys at eachother's throats. It took her completely by surprise to discover them laughing and getting along like old friends.

"What is this?" she said, almost rudely.

"Hey, you're back!" said Wheeler, happy to see her. Jake was happy to see her as well.

"What did the doctor say? Will I be changing my name to Jennifer any time soon?"

Wheeler and Jake both laughed, leaving Linka very confused.

"I am not understanding boys!" she muttered to herself, lost.


The reason Linka had left the room earlier was to take a phone call at reception from Sohvi, who confirmed there were traces of an anabolic steroid in the she-wolf's infected blood. This then later matched up with what was found in Jake's blood. Worried, Linka asked the head doctor if Jake would be okay, thinking how Sohvi had told her the she-wolf had died.

"There's not enough of it in his system to cause any long term damage," the doctor told Wheeler and Linka, in reference to Jake. "He'll have to be here a couple more days, but I'm certain he'll make a full recovery."

Satisfied with this information, Wheeler and Linka said goodbye to Jake for the time being and left the building. It was far too late in the afternoon for Wheeler to go snowboarding. Plus it had begun to snow heavily.

"What gives?" said Wheeler, catching large fluffy white snowflakes in his gloved hands. "This just came out of no where!"

"Snow usually comes out of no where here. This is Finnish Lapland," Linka informed Wheeler knowledgably, zipping her jacket up tight and tucking her hands in her pockets. "Located just below the Arctic Circle."

"Thank you Miss Geography!" grumbled Wheeler, cranky because they had to head back to Sohvi's place already. He'd hoped to have Linka to himself a little longer. With this in mind, Wheeler dragged his feet through the snow after her, as she led the way back to Sohvi's four-wheel drive.

Driving down the highway back towards Sohvi's house, the falling snow grew heavier and heavier.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive?" Linka asked Wheeler, who'd insisted on taking the steering wheel this time round.

"Your eyesight's no better then mine, babe," said Wheeler, leaning forward in his seat to try and see more clearly through the windshield. The windscreen wipers did their best to plough an opening through the blanket of snow immersing the car. Even so, visibility beyond that was average at best.

"Make sure you keep under the speed limit."

"I am keeping under the speed limit, Linka! And by the way," Wheeler turned to her quickly, "I was right, wasn't I?"

"About what?"

"About the infected she-wolf passing something onto Jake."

"Wheeler, those were not the words you used! You said Jake was becoming the wolfman. He's not becoming the wolfman, he's just on steroids."

"But I saw the connection!" Wheeler emphasised proudly. "I thought it up before you did, admit it."

"Okay, fine!" Linka gave in. "You saw the connection, Wheeler. You are smarter then me. Is this what you want to hear?"

"Just that you think I'm smart," he said impishly, looking at her again. Eyes lingering a little longer then they should.

"Watch the road, Yankee!"

"I am!" Wheeler's eyes rapidly shifted back to the windshield. "I am, I am … "

After a minute or two, Linka looked over suspiciously at Wheeler. Something had been praying on her thoughts ever since they'd left the hospital.

"What did you and Jake talk about when I left the room?"

"Huh?" said Wheeler, who'd been daydreaming. "What did I what?"

"With Jake! After I left the room to talk to Sohvi on the phone, you two were laughing and smiling like two idiot boys! I thought you didn't like him?"

"Nah, Jake's cool! We bonded."

"Bonded how?"

"We just … talked about stuff. Idiot boy stuff! It's not important."

"What idiot boy stuff?"

"Nothing! Geez, Linka. And while we're on the topic of 'secret' conversations, why were you talking about sex with Sohvi on the porch this morning?"

Linka's mouth fell open. "WHEELER!"

"WO!"

Wheeler hit the breaks, bringing the car to an immediate halt. Everyone was flung forward, saved by their seatbelts.

"Wheeler! What – "

But Linka didn't need to ask why Wheeler had stopped the car so suddenly. For she could see, through the gap in the windshield, standing there outside in the middle of the road was a man. Only half a metre away, cast against the snowy glow of their headlights. Just standing there, not moving. Staring at them. Wheeler pulled over to the side of the road.

"I'll get out of the car and see if he's okay," said Linka, already undoing her seatbelt.

"No way!" said Wheeler, reaching over to hold her arm. "I'll do it. Stay here."

Before Linka could argue with him, Wheeler scrambled out of the car and slammed the door shut. Out into the cold, billowing snow.

"Hey, buddy!" Wheeler called out. The man was middle-aged, dark haired and around the same height as Wheeler. "Buddy, you all right? You speak English?"

"I don't like this … " said Linka to herself from the car, on edge. Unable to sit calmly any longer, she opened her door and went out. Wheeler heard her and spun around immediately.

"Linka! What are you doing? Get back in the car!"

"WHEELER, BEHIND YOU!"

Without warning, the man in the road lunged at Wheeler and pulled him to the ground.

"AGH!" Wheeler cried, caught completely by surprise.

Struggling, the anonymous man's eyes were wild – his mouth open and his teeth exposed. He tried fiercely to overpower Wheeler … to get close enough for just one bite …

"WIND!" Linka shouted, aiming her ring right on target.

"FIRE!" Wheeler shouted at the same time.

The effect was a double-whammy. Just as Linka managed to blow the man away from Wheeler, Wheeler also managed to burn him. Only slightly.

"Wheeler!" Linka panted, dashing to Wheeler's side and kneeling beside him. "Did he get you?"

"I'm good, I'm fine," said Wheeler, wincing. Linka hooked her arm under his, helping him to his feet. "There was wet blood on the dude's hand. He must've been bitten, just recently … hey? Where'd he go?"

They were looking out to the snowy field adjacent to the road.

"He was right there!" said Wheeler, pointing to an empty man-shaped hole in the snow. Worried, both he and Linka scanned up and down the road. Searching.

"There's too much snow!" said Linka, hardly able to see anything.

"Then let's get the hell out of here!" Wheeler was already backing up towards the car. The headlights were blaring brightly behind them, like a shining beacon.

"But Wheeler," said Linka, rooted to the spot. "He might be hurt!"

"He can't be hurt if he's run off that fast," said Wheeler logically, coming over to take Linka's hand. "Let's go, babe! It's too dangerous out here. He might be lurking around here some place, waiting to strike again!"

"But he needs medical attention!"

"Yeah, and so will we if we don't move! C'mon!"


When Wheeler and Linka arrived at Sohvi's house and entered inside, Linka found a note that read:

Staying late at the veterinary clinic with Nell the wolf cub, I'll be home close to midnight. Anneli is at her mother's house until tomorrow. Help yourself to anything in the kitchen, and call me when you get back! Let me know you guys are safe …

Sohvi xx

As the note instructed, Linka called her cousin at the clinic where she worked. Sohvi was, once again, in a state of shock to hear Wheeler and Linka had had a second encounter somebody bitten by an infected wolf.

"I'm sorry I can't get back any sooner!" Sohvi said apologetically to Linka over the phone. "I have to analyse the she-wolf's blood sample again, and do a few other things around here with Nell."

"Sohvi, don't worry about us. Really! We handle dangerous situations all the time, Wheeler and I will be fine alone."

"All right. Just make sure you lock all the doors! And bring Aki and Torr in for the night. You said this guy on the road was only fifteen minutes away, correct?"

"Da," said Linka in confirmation.

"Then there might be an infected wolf roaming close by. Stay inside from now on."

As the night drew near, Wheeler and Linka were quite content to stay indoors in their pajamas. They'd brought Aki and Torr in like Sohvi had asked them to. The two huskies curled up together on the rug, warming themselves by the open fire. Meanwhile, Wheeler and Linka hit the kitchen to prepare something for dinner. Wheeler insisted on making omelets, considering it was one of the only things he could make.

"Watch this," said Wheeler, lifting the pan from the stove … getting ready to flip the omelet over. "One … two … three!"

It rose up in the air … and then splattered on the kitchen floor. Both Wheeler and Linka started laughing.

"Well, I guess the dogs can eat that one," said Linka, still chuckling at Wheeler.

Moving into the lounge room to eat dinner, Wheeler and Linka sat side-by-side on the couch with their plates positioned on their laps.

"You all right?" Wheeler said suddenly to Linka. She looked up from her plate towards him.

"Da. Why do you ask?"

"A lot of creepy stuff has happened today. I was just checking in." Linka smiled.

"I am all right. And you? How is your hand? And your back! That was a bad fall you had on the road before."

"At least I wasn't bitten," said Wheeler thankfully. "I'd hate to end up like Jake or the crazy dude on the road. Unable to control myself. My emotions … "

"Da, because you are always so in control of your emotions," Linka wisecracked.

A strange sound came from outside. From the front porch. Wheeler and Linka quickly turned their heads to the window behind them. All they could see through the frosted glass was the darkened grey sky and the falling snow.

"What do you think that was?" said Wheeler, in a low voice.

"A house sound?" Linka suggested. "This is an old house. It creaks in the night."

"No, it sounded like somebody on the porch," said Wheeler, putting his plate aside and standing up to go see.

"I'm sure it's nothing," said Linka, trying to keep her cool. She really didn't want to think about somebody being on the front porch.

"I can't see anyone out there," said Wheeler from the window. "What if that guy from the road followed us back home?"

Annoyed, Linka stood from the couch and closed the drapes over the window Wheeler had been looking through.

"Nobody is out there, Wheeler. This is not like a script from one of your stupid horror movies!"

"Linka, our whole day has been like a script from one of my stupid horror movies! I'm sorry if I'm scaring you – "

"Good. Then stop! Or I won't be able to sleep tonight if you keep talking this way."

Speaking of going to sleep, after they'd eaten dinner and cleaned up in the kitchen, Linka told Wheeler she was feeling sleepy and headed upstairs to bed. Wheeler stayed downstairs, to watch some TV. Linka warned him to give the horror flicks a rest for the night – not that Wheeler took her advice. About an hour after she'd gone, and just as she was dozing off in her bed … another sound from outside. The sound of howling. Linka sprung up, clinging to her blankets.

Half a minute later …

"Linka?" Wheeler's voice whispered from the darkness. He was standing at her doorway "Linka, it's me!"

Linka groaned, holding her hand to her heart in fright. "Da, Wheeler. It is not like there are any other Yankee American boys staying in the house tonight! What do you want?"

"Did you hear that? That howling?"

As if on cue, the sound of howling repeated itself.

"It sounded close to the house!" said Linka, unable to help herself.

"I bet it's one of those infected wolves!" Wheeler said in a panicked voice. "Or the wolfman!" Linka groaned again.

"He is not a wolfman, Wheeler!"

"I think I should sleep in here tonight," Wheeler went on to say, unable to mask the fear in his voice. "To protect you."

"Sleep in here?" Linka echoed him. "Are you out of your mind? This is the worst come on you have ever tried with me!"

"It's not a come on!" Wheeler protested sincerely. "I meant I'll sleep on the floor. Please?"

"Oh, all right!" said Linka, aggravated. Truth be told, considering how worked-up she was, Linka was happy to have him sleep in the same room as her.

"Thanks, babe. I owe you one! I'll just set myself at the base of the bed … "

"Nyet." Linka made a very bold and impulsive decision. "You've hurt your back, you shouldn't be sleeping on floor. You sleep here."

"Eh … " Wheeler wasn't sure he'd heard her correctly. "You mean … with you?"

"Get in the bed, Wheeler!" she demanded. Wheeler did not need telling twice.

Facing away from him, Linka felt Wheeler shift the blankets.

"Never thought I'd hear you say 'get in the bed' to me," he couldn't resist saying, laying beside her. "You should give me lines like that more often."

"You keep to your side Yankee, or I will – "

"I know, I know! You'll tornado me right out the window."

"Something like that. Are you scared any more?"

"I wasn't scared, Linka!" Wheeler lied. "Like I said, I came in here to protect you."

"More like I am the one who is protecting you! Goodnight, Wheeler."

"'Night, Linka. Sweet dreams"

The sound of howling no longer bothered them. It had been replaced by an issue far more intense.

Of course it entered both their minds. How easy it would be to cross that ever-so-small, delicate gap between them. For one of them to reach out and seek permission … seek the warmth of other person's body. Linka dealt with such reflections by staying completely frozen. Wheeler on the other hand dealt with it by fidgeting and flipping around, as if he were trying to fall sleep on a hot plate. Linka had to hush him on three occasions (at one point she even hit him on the head with her pillow). By some miracle, despite the 'heat', they both eventually drifted off to sleep.

To be continued ...


I feel I'm getting a better grasp of this fanfic now. It's predominately a Wheeler and Linka story, set to the backdrop of a B-grade horror movie! Hence, I've changed the genre to Romance/Horror. I know what happens in the last chapter (I've already written most of it), it's just the in-between stuff I'm sorting out. Stay tuned!