disclaimer: i'm not magical and did not transform into rachel hawthrone, thereforth i do NOT own the dark guardian series
this is my story and i love you for looking at it (:
Chapter 7:
Wolford? Never heard of it. "What's it near?"
My mom absentmindedly rubbed my foot, "It's by the National Forest, you know, where we traveled to last summer?" As if I could forget.
"Mom, you drove three hours?" It was not new information that my mother was the world's worst driver. I thanked my lucky stars we had somehow made it here unscathed.
"Kayla, you're my baby. Of course I would drive here!" She looked over her shoulder, "I'm going to go find Dr. Brandt and see if we can leave soon, ok?"
"Yeah, ok." My mom wondered out of the room, leaving me to my thoughts. Wolford? What kind of weird town name is that? It reminded me of a combination between a wolf and a ford automobile. I snickered at the thought, then turned somber. Wolf. Ugh, this town did nothing but send me nasty reminders of why I was here in the first place!
I heard my mom walking carefully into the room. "Mom, did you find out when we can leave?" I called out.
"Uh, no." I froze. That was most definitely not my mother's voice. The footsteps continued, hesitantly, and before I could register what was happening, Lucas was standing in front of me, wearing a small smile.
Lucas Wilde, for anybody confused. I knew I was. I thought, What's he doing here? immediately followed by, Oh fuck!
"Lucas?" I whispered.
He gave a halfhearted wave, "Hi, Kayla." My mouth was dropped open; I could feel it. I could also feel my face getting hotter and hotter as I wondered what I must look like: bandaged, hair a mess, sleepy eyes, dressed in nasty hospital scrubs. Maybe if I was lucky, I would even have a fresh new pimple to deal with. I ran my eyes over him. Why did he have to look so perfect? So gorgeous, so completely...sexy, when I looked so completely not.
I snapped my eyes away from him and back to the door as my real mother barged into the room with Dr. Brandt following closely behind.
"AH!" My mother shrieked, and ran forward to hug Lucas. That's right, hug him. My mouth dropped open further. What the bloody fuck is going on? "It's YOU!" She grabbed onto Lucas's muscular forearm and dragged him over closer to my bedside. He looked extremely embarrassed. "Kayla, this is the man who helped with the att-attack." She hugged him once more. "Thank you for saving my baby. If there's anything you need- anything at all-please let me know."
What? What? What? Lucas had saved me? What! I darted my eyes between the two of them, silently begging for more information. My pleads went unnoticed, and after a few more painful seconds, I finally had enough.
"Lucas what are you doing here?" I practically yelled. But, can you blame me?
Lucas had a faint blush and was concentrating very hard on the floor. He looked up and spoke with deliberation, "I live here." I just looked at him stupidly. Lucas sighed and continued, "Wolford is...a little town few people know about. It's near the National Forest."
That explained...nothing. If Lucas lived here, then what was he doing three hours away- at my school nonetheless! And furthermore, why was he back in Wolford? I highly doubted he made a six hour commute everyday, just for a TA job. And what was he doing near my house that night Devlin attacked me? I couldn't put the pieces together. It was extremely frustrating. It certainly didn't help that my mother was still fawning over him. She was currently bombarding Lucas with offers to get him a drink, all of which he refused.
Dr. Brandt came over to me and pulled at the bandages for a few moments, which made me wince. There was no actual pain, but just the feel of a doctor's cold hands on my neck made me shudder. Doctors were not my favorite.
"Well, Kayla," Dr. Brandt started, "I would say you're on your way to the road of recovery! I already had your mother sign the discharge papers, the only real thing you need to do is not get the stitches wet." Well, that should make showering interesting.
"Also," he added, "I will want to take a look around next week or so...how about either the seventh or the eighth?"
"The seventh!" I quickly said. Dr. Brandt gave me a startled look, "my birthday is the eighth." I added.
Dr. Brandt turned back to my mother and made small talk about my stitches and caring for them. Honestly, they were on my body, shouldn't I get the information? The fact Dr. Brandt ignored me was overruled by how much Lucas, well, didn't. He stared at my face, while I pointedly tried to make myself ignore him by picking at my hospital bracelet. I was too embarrassed to look at him. This was not the way I pictured meeting Lucas again.
My musings were interrupted by my mother's obnoxious ring tone. She grabbed it and fled the room, taking note of the "no phone" sign clearly posted above the sickly white door. Dr. Brandt, Lucas, and I all watched her run down the hall before disappearing from sight. As if rehearsed, both men turned back and focused their gaze on me. I dropped my eyes back to my very interesting hospital bracelet.
I still had so many unanswered questions, but there was no way in hell I could ask them here, with my mother down the hall, and Dr. Brandt pacing around the room. Later, I promised myself, I'll ask him later.
"Dr. Brandt?" I heard my mom call, "May I speak with you for a moment?" Dr. Brandt hurried out of the room and I started to panic.
Why did she want to speak with him? Why couldn't it be done in the room? Lucas sat down across the room and said, "I'm sure it's nothing." I jumped, my heart rate exhilarating. I hadn't expected him to speak. I gave a little nod and watched as my mother walked carefully back into the room, her face white.
Oh Jesus, what's happened now? She sat down next to me and grabbed my hand in a vice grip. "Sweetie," She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, "our family only has one working car. Yours can't be fixed until after Halloween. They have to order parts."
I held myself back from laughing in her face. So what if we only have one working car? Wait...one car...? But... My eyes went wide as I looked to my mom for conformation. "Kayla, I'm going to have to drive back. I can't leave your father at the house without a car...and your father and I have talked. Sweetie," her grip got tighter, "money is extremely tight right now." She spoke every word slower then the next, "I can't take off from work. You know your father and I aren't blaming you for anything that's happened, it's not your fault. But, this hospital bill is going to stretch us. We talked and...I need to go back home."
"What! Mom, please..." I would have to stay here, by myself? No! No way in hell was that happening! I felt like I was going to cry and blinked rapidly to clear my eyes.
"Kayla, Dr. Brandt has had other patients in similar situations that have stayed here. He assured me it's perfectly safe." Similar situations? I highly doubted that anyone else had been attacked by a crazed wolf, then dragged halfway across the state to an obscure hopsital, only to be ditched here. And perfectly safe? Shit, this guy was like Mitty all over again. 'Don't worry, Kayla, poor little wolfy bolfy won't almost KILL you' I mimicked.
My expression hardened, "No. No!"
"Kayla, please, sweetie." My mom's eyes had un-shed tears of their own, and I instantly felt regret. This obviously wasn't an easy decision for her to make, either. "Please, sweetie. Your father's called the school, and they've excused you until your better. Please, Kayla, please don't make this harder for me."
It was absolute. There was no way I could possibly say no again, not with my mother practically weeping for forgiveness. Me, Kayla Madison, boring junior, would stay here. Fuck.
"Ok." My voice sounded dead.
The next few hours passed quickly. My mother and Dr. Brandt moved in tandem, leaving behind a whirlwind of plans for me. I took a few more pain pills when my neck started to throb, and I fell into a medical daze. I vaguely remembered Lucas leaving the room and not returning. I wonder where he's gone? I quickly forget about Lucas and my thoughts when a very mysterious piece of fluff floated by. It was amazing. I must have watched that thing float around the room for a good ten minutes before I lost track of it.
Good thing too, because my mom was full on crying. She came over to me again and helped me into a wheel chair. I rested my head against the cool metal frame, feeling content, and let sleep take me.
~~OO~~
"Kayla, we're here."
I fought against the grogginess that entrapped me, and opened my eyes. The first thing I noticed was the darkness. I was most definitely not in the city anymore. The second thing I noticed was my mother's sad tear-stained face. And the third? The ridiculously huge bed, calling out to me.
I climbed into bed and rested my head against the pillow. My neck was really starting to hurt. Dr. Brandt noticed my discomfort and gave me another dose of pain medication.
"Kayla, sweetie, call me in the morning, ok? Don't worry if it's early or not, I just want to hear your voice, ok? I'll be back on the seventh for your appointment. Kayla? I love you, sweetie."
"I love you too, mom." I felt so tired, even forming those simple words was challenging.
"Kayla, there's going to be clothes for you in these drawers, ok? Dr. Brandt has a daughter your age and about your size. Everything's going to be ok? Just sleep sweetie, and I love you."
"Mhmkay." I could barely keep my eyes open, and as soon as I heard the door click, I was out like a light.
pleeease review, no reviews = a very sad me
