Chapter 38 – Of Wolves and Men
Carlisle:
It's been a week since all the wolves came down with the dog flu. Finally, everyone is back to normal. The flu lasted 3 days at the most and each one in turn got better and better. We are finally back home in our house. Jasper would run back and forth and take care of Harry and Chester. So far things are going pretty smooth.
School is starting in a few days. My older vampire children have decided not to go to college this year either. They want to stay home and just relax for a bit after all the tension with the Volturi and Bella being forced to be turned. Nathan's parents called and asked if we would mind keeping Nathan a bit longer since they would like to extend their visit with relatives. One more child doesn't make much difference in this household and much to Nathan's delight, he gets to stay longer.
I am finally going back to the hospital today since I took off during the wolf flu. Seth is going to go in with me and work at the vet's office. Hopefully, the dog flu is over for the wolf children. The Pack gave Seth a hard time when they got well about bringing the flu to them. They were doing it just to tease him but they took it too far as usual and Seth got his feelings hurt. I stepped in on his behalf and Billy also chastised them. Sam is good as new and is back to controlling the Pack.
Billy was so proud of Rosalie and the way my vampire children pitched in to help the wolves when they were burning up with fever by becoming human…er…vampire ice packs. He commended and praised them, especially Rosalie who came up with the idea. He has a soft spot for Rosalie anyway and now he just beams at her and Rosalie just eats it up. Billy is good for Rosalie. He has helped to bring her out of her shell. She is much more tolerant of the wolves now.
My first day back at the hospital went fast and we did not have much happening. Some of the people in town have the human flu but most have had their flu shots and are able to shake it pretty quick. I just got off and picked up Seth from the vet's office and we are now pulling in the garage.
"Greetings family," I said walking up to my Esme and kissing her.
"Hey Pops," Emmett called out.
"Hi Mom," Seth said hugging her.
"Hi Sethy, did you have a good day?" Esme asked holding him back and caressing his hair.
"Yeah Mom, it was busy but fun," Seth said happily.
"You better not have brought any of that flu home again," Jake said to him.
"Nope, dog flu cooties are gone," Seth said to Jake.
"They better be, that was awful," Jasper said.
"Try being the ones upchucking," Jake said to him.
Just then Leah came in from being with her friends and said a brief greeting and walked with a purpose up to her room. We all watched her and wondered what was up. We heard her door slam and rummaging around in her room. Just as quick, we heard her door open and close again and she came bounding down the steps with her arms full of the folders she had about the online dating sites. She promptly went over to the waste basket and chucked them in the can shoving them way down. She then brushed her hands together as if she was threw with it. She then turned around and saw all of us staring at her.
"That's that," Leah said as she noticed all of us. "What?"
"Yeah! What?" Jake said looking at her in wonder.
"What?" Leah asked again.
"Aww, come on. How often do you come in and do something like that," Jake said to her again.
"Dad?" Leah asked.
"Leah, I'm with Jake on this one," I said to her.
"Leah, sweetie, why did you throw that online dating stuff in the trash," Esme asked.
"Because Mom, Dad and all of you were right," Leah explained.
"We were?" I asked her.
"Yes. You said don't use an online dating service, it's dangerous. Rosalie said they lie. She's right, they do lie," Leah stated.
"Wait, did you go against my orders and use an online dating service, Young Lady?" I asked her now narrowing my eyes at her.
"No! No Dad…not me…one of my friends," Leah said.
"What happened," Alice asked her.
"Well, my friend Amber set up a date with a nice looking guy who was about 2 years older than her and in med school. She was meeting him at a restaurant this afternoon and she asked all of us to be there with her at another table to make sure she was safe," Leah explained.
"So far, I'm impressed. That's a good idea to have friends looking out for you," I said proudly.
"Well, since you and Mom and my siblings were warning me about dating online, I suggested she have us there discreetly just to be safe," Leah said.
"Now I'm extremely proud of you, Leah," I said beaming at her.
"Thanks Dad," Leah said blushing.
"So what happened, Lulu?" Emmett asked.
"Well, we got there early and sat in a booth in the back of the restaurant. Amber was there first and told the waiter she had a reservation. He sat her at a table. Then some guy came up to her and asked if she was waiting for someone. We saw her shake her head yes. The next thing we knew, he held his hand out to her and shook her hand then pulled the chair out and sat down. Amber put her hair behind her ear on the right side which was a signal we had pre-arranged. The guy looked like he was her grandfather!" Leah said.
"Oh no!" Esme exclaimed.
"I told you they lie," Rosalie said.
"Well, you're right. The guy said he was 26 on the website but he had to be close to 50!" Leah said.
"The jerk! I wish I was there…I would have grabbed him and threw him out the door," Emmett said cracking his knuckles.
"Ahhhhhh! Stop doing that," Jake said to Emmett.
"So what happened," I said growing concerned.
"We called her on the phone and asked if that was him and she again put her hair behind her ear. So that was a signal and we got up and came up to the table," Leah explained.
"Then what? Did you call him an old fart?" Seth asked.
"No, we just grabbed Amber and walked out but not before I went back and told him he should be ashamed of himself," Leah said.
"Leah I'm so proud of you and your friends," I said to her.
"Let me finish Dad…I then told him my stepfather was the Chief of Police in Forks. You should have seen him take off. I bet that's the fastest he's moved in a long time," Leah said proudly.
"Leah, I'm so proud of you, Baby," Esme said walking up and hugging her.
"So what's with the folders," Jake asked.
"Oh, I'm just throwing all those papers about the dating service in the trash. I'll try dating on my own like all of you told me. Thanks for looking out for me," Leah said to all of us.
"Don't mention it wolf sis," Jasper said.
"Leah, you used great common sense and wisely listened to your family," I said now hugging her myself.
"Thanks Daddy," Leah said.
"Okay, enough of Lulu…is it supper time?" Jake called out.
The next day at the hospital:
Carlisle:
I was just finishing up with an emergency room patient when Marcie came running in to find me. Something had to have happened to cause her to come in such a hurry.
"Dr. Cullen, we need you right away," Marcie said.
"I'm just finished here, the nurse will come in and give you your discharge instructions. I'm sorry to rush off, excuse me," I said to the patient.
"There's been an accident and they are almost here with the patient," Marcie said.
"What happened," I asked.
"I'm not sure but the driver hit a tree or something," Marcie said.
"Is he conscious," I asked.
"I'm not sure of that either, here comes the ambulance," Marcie said as the ambulance roared up to a stop.
"Patient hit a tree head on and hit his head and the airbag broke his nose, he's bleeding from it," the paramedic said.
"Take him to trauma room 2," Marcie said ushering them to the room.
"Is he conscious," I asked putting on gloves.
"Yeah, he keeps yammering and not making sense," the paramedic said again. I walked up to the man who was bleeding from his nose.
"I'm Dr. Cullen, do you know your name," I asked lifting his chin to survey the damage.
"Yeah, John McCormick, I hit my face…or head…or something…," the man stuttered.
"Let me take a look," I said drawing my attention to his nose. I put a wad of gauze there to stop the bleeding.
"Is it bad, doc?" John asked.
"I need to take x-rays first. Did you lose consciousness," I asked.
"No, I was too scared…it looked in at me," John said.
"What looked in at you," I asked growing concerned.
"I don't know what it was…a big wolf-like creature. It was huge…it lunged out and I saw it and swerved and there was another one on the other side. I panicked and tried to steer away from them and hit the gas and sped off and I lost control and hit a tree head-on," John said.
"Can you see okay, do you see double," I asked.
"I did at first, but then the one huge wolf stuck its head in through the shattered window and looked at me…I swear it had a cell phone on its hind leg," John said.
"He's been saying stuff like that since we extracted him from the car. We just humored him. There were no tracks but his and no creatures around. He must be hallucinating from hitting his head," the one paramedic said.
"I am not…I saw them with my own eyes…they were huge…like a wolf on steroids of the strongest kind," John said again.
The one paramedic looked at the other and the other paramedic made the cuckoo sign where the patient could not see him.
"Gentlemen! Anything else?" I asked correcting their behavior.
"Uh no Dr. Cullen…that's it," the main paramedic said and they left him to my care.
"Dr. Cullen, Chief Swan is here to see you," Marcie said.
"I bet he is," I said aloud before I could catch myself.
"Am I okay, Doc?" John asked.
"I think so, but we have to wait for the x-rays, Marcie will wheel you down there now. Marcie, get a CT scan also. Are you sure nothing else hurts you?" I asked John.
"Now that I moved, my chest hurts," John said.
"You may have cracked a rib. Get a chest x-ray also and a full CT scan," I said to Marcie.
"Yes Dr. Cullen," Marcie said and wheeled John down the corridor.
"Well, what do you make of this?" Charlie asked coming in.
"Come to my office," I said not wanting to talk where we would be overheard.
"You think it was some of the Pack?" Charlie asked as I shut the door to my office.
"I know exactly who it was. Nathan and a new wolf, Canton," I said to Charlie.
"What's wrong with them, now this guy seen them and he won't let it go. He's certain of what he saw," Charlie said.
"We will just have to convince him it was a regular wolf and he was out of it due to the concussion," I said.
"Carlisle, he saw a cell phone on the hind leg of one of the wolves. He's positive he saw it. Those two really made a grievous blunder," Charlie said.
"Yes they did. I will have to take this up with Nathan when I get home," I said.
"I called Sam already so he knows all of this," Charlie said.
"Good, he can take care of Canton. I'm going to convince John that he was imagining this," I said.
"Huh, good luck with that," Charlie said.
"Thanks, I'll need it," I said growing more and more upset.
Cullen House:
Esme:
I was making supper and my vampire children were all here and so was Billy and my wolf children. As I was preparing dinner, the kitchen door burst open and Nathan ran in and made a mad dash for the stairs.
"Nathan! Get ready for dinner soon," I called to him.
"Not hungry," Nathan called as he scaled the stairs.
"Not hungry…hold it right there, Young Man," I said flashing to the stairs. My other children had come in to witness this exchange.
"Aunt Esme, I hafta go," Nathan said hurriedly.
"Go where?" I asked.
"My room," Nathan said.
"Well, get washed up for supper. Where were you anyway? The others have all been home for a while," I questioned him.
"Just out with Canton," Nathan answered.
"Where were you and why aren't you hungry?" I asked concerned.
"We ate a lot of junk food at the Lodge," Nathan explained.
"Were you at the Lodge all this time?" I wondered.
"Yeah…no…I-I gotta go," Nathan said turning to make his way up the stairs.
"You will still come down for dinner Young Man. You are not just having junk food today. Now you go wash up and come back downstairs," I said to him.
"Ah…uh…okay," Nathan said turning and bounding up the stairs. We heard his door slam to his room.
"That was odd," Billy remarked.
"Of course, why wouldn't it be," I said to Billy.
"He's up to something, Momma," Alice said.
"I'm sure he is. It will come out soon enough," I said going back to the kitchen.
Nathan's Room:
Nathan:
Oh boy we did it now. I told Canton we would get caught but he wouldn't listen. He had us stay there too long and the guy got a good look at us and when we took off, he wrecked his car. He hit a tree and his horn started blasting. We crept up toward the car to see if he was okay and he really got a good look at us. His face was full of blood and his nose was bleeding. He had a big bump on his head. I wanted to help or call but we were in wolf form. Canton took off and I quickly followed not knowing what to do. I looked on from the forest and a car came and the man got out and called the police.
We stayed hidden until we saw Chief Swan pull up. The man had also asked for an ambulance and it pulled up right behind Chief Swan. They came over and checked him out and laid him on a stretcher. The man was ranting about huge wolf creatures with phones and packs on their hind legs. He thinks we're from outer space. He kept rambling on about some sy-fy movie.
I saw Chief Swan scan around and I'm not sure if he saw us or not. He was looking for a long time in our direction and I'm hoping we were not seen. I'm sure the man was taken to Uncle Carl's hospital. I sure hope he came home early today. I mentally told Canton we have to get home as soon as possible so it looks like it was not us. We both ran off and phased back to human form. I almost got to my room but Aunt Esme caught me. Now I have to go downstairs but I'm afraid to.
I'm going to get a hold of myself and go wash my hands and face and hide in here for a while. I'm going to wash up now so I can get back without any of the others questioning me. I'm checking to see if it's clear and it is and so I am in the bathroom now cleaning up. Now I have to get back to my room before anyone comes up. I made it back to my room. I'm going to hide in the back of my closet from Uncle Carl. If he was on duty at the hospital, I'm in for it. He will tan my hide for me and he even warned me if I was by the road in wolf form again, he would spank me. I know I'm really in for it. I don't want to face him. Maybe he will think I ran away. I am hiding in the back of my closet rocking back and forth in utter dread of what's coming to me…
Downstairs:
Jake:
"I wonder what the little runt did," I said aloud.
"Probably was in wolf form by the road again," Edward said.
"Boy if he was, he's gonna get it from Dad," I said.
"I'll say. His butt is in the sling if he did it again," Bella said.
"I wouldn't want to be him," Seth said.
"Children, stop guessing and let your father handle this," Mom said.
"Boy will he," Rosalie smirked.
"You don't have to enjoy it so much, Rosalie," Mom said to her.
"Cool it Rosie, you better not let Pops catch you smiling about it," Emmett said.
Back at the Hospital:
Carlisle:
"How's he doing, Carlisle," Charlie asked as I came out of the room.
"He's doing okay now. The bleeding stopped and we sedated him and I set his nose. He will be sore and have black eyes from it but he will be okay. I'm keeping him overnight for observation to make sure he is okay. He has a concussion and a broken rib," I explained.
"I contacted his family and his wife and kids are coming up," Charlie said.
"I'm about off and I will tell my colleague, Mark, to look after him," I told him.
"I bet this is going to be a sore night for Nathan and Canton," Charlie said.
"It most definitely will be for Nathan at least," I told Charlie.
"I just spoke to Emily and she said Canton confessed and Sam has him over his knee right now," Charlie informed me.
"Good, they both deserve it," I said. "Did he say it was Nathan with him?"
"Sure did. Said the guy seen both of them too. Canton even admitted that," Charlie said.
"Oh great," I said running my hand through my hair.
"Sam was really upset with the fact that the guy saw them. You must be too if you ran your hair through your hair like that…never do you mess that up…," Charlie chuckled.
"Very funny…are you staying here for a while," I asked Charlie.
"Yeah, until his family comes," Charlie said.
"Well if he brings up the wolves, tell him he was confused by the concussion," I said.
"Sure thing, I'll try," Charlie said.
"Thanks Charlie," I said to him.
"No problem Carlisle. Good luck tonight," Charlie said.
I checked on the patient again and he was awake and resting quietly. I opened the door and walked in to check him out. He opened his eyes and was anxious to talk to me.
"Doc, I saw these two huge, I mean, HUGE wolves come and look at me in the car. It was almost as if they were checking on me to see if I was okay," John said.
"I'm sure they weren't that large," I tried to diffuse.
"No they were. I swear they had packs on their hind legs and one had a cell phone strapped to the other leg," John said with wide eyes.
"I think the concussion is making you remember things that were only in your imagination. This happens with head blows and concussions," I said trying to talk him out of it.
"No, it was real," John said.
"Wolves do not run around with packs and cell phones tied on their hind legs. Who would tie them on?" I questioned hoping to make him see the problem.
"Oh yeah, I never thought of that," John said.
"I think this is all a jumbled mess from the concussion. Things will be clearer in the morning," I suggested as his family burst through the door.
"Daddy!" His children called.
"John, I was so worried," his wife said looking at me.
"He'll be fine. I'm just keeping him overnight for observation since he is still a little confused and he is having much discomfort from a broken rib," I said to his wife.
"Good, I would feel better if you kept him overnight," his wife said.
"I'm off now but my colleague will be taking over and he will be here to answer any questions," I said.
"Thank you Doctor," his wife said shaking my hand.
"You're welcome," I said and left the room. I went to fill in Mark Jansen of my patient.
Cullen House:
Nathan:
Oh no, I can smell Uncle Carl's scent. He's almost home. I know I'm going to get it. I'm huddled on the floor in the back of the closet in the guest room which has been my room since staying here at the Cullen's. I can hear Uncle Carl's car pull into the garage. Oh no, he's almost here. I wish I wouldn't have done that.
Downstairs:
"Hey, Dad's home," Jake exclaimed.
"Uh oh, something happened. Daddy's blocking me," Alice said.
"Yeah, he's blocking me too," Edward said.
"I bet it has something to do with Nathan making himself scarce," Seth said.
"It is unusual for him to say he isn't hungry. I wonder what that boy is up to," Esme wondered.
"Wow! Dad slammed his car door. This can't be good," Jake said.
"I bet someone's in for it," Jasper said.
"The runt is in for it," Emmett said.
"Children, don't bombard your father with questions," Esme warned.
I was hearing my family piecing together what was wrong. They had the person right, but didn't know what he did. Funny how the simple act of slamming a car door sets all these presumptions into motion. I opened the door and stepped inside.
"Where is Nathan?" I asked.
"You owe me $5 bucks," Emmett said to Rosalie.
"Get lost, that was a sure bet," Rosalie said smiling and slapping his shoulder.
"He ran in and disappeared upstairs. He even said he wasn't hungry. Carlisle, what did he do?" Esme asked me.
"What did he do? He and Canton were down by the highway again in wolf form and this time a man by the name of John McCormick saw them," I said with ire.
"How do you know the guy's name, Dad?" Bella asked.
"Because he was my patient at the hospital," I answered.
"What?" Jake asked.
"You mean the guy got hurt," Leah asked.
"Yes, he saw the wolves and crashed into a tree and suffered a broken nose, concussion and several cuts and bruises and a broken rib," I told them.
"Oh no, Carlisle," Esme said putting her hand to her mouth.
"Is he all right?" Billy asked concerned.
"He will be, but we are keeping him overnight for observation," I explained.
"Thank goodness he is okay," Billy said.
"That's not all, I haven't told you the worst part yet," I said.
"What do you mean, Dad," Jake asked.
"The man saw the wolves because they came up and Nathan put his head in through the window to see if the man was okay. John looked right at Nathan and Nathan scampered off, but not before he saw a cell phone and a pack tied to the backs of his legs," I informed them.
"What? He saw that?" Leah said loudly.
"That little runt, he exposed us," Jake said with anger.
"What did the man say to you, Dad," Seth asked.
"He told me he saw a cell phone and pack strapped to the hind legs of the wolf. He also said they were each huge. I tried to tell him he was seeing things from the concussion but he insisted what he saw was correct," I explained.
"Oh no! Does Sam know?" Billy asked.
"Yes, Charlie came by the hospital and told me. He had called Sam and filled him in. He also was concerned about what the man saw," I told them.
"That little punk, I'm going to slap the soup out of him," Jake said heading for the stairs.
"Jacob! You get back here. I will deal with him," I said making my way to the stairs.
"Man is he gonna get it," Seth said.
I knew by my intense sense of smell, that Nathan was hiding in his closet. He probably doesn't realize we vampires have a keen sense of smell like the wolves do. As I began ascending the stairs, I called out to Nathan:
"Nathan, I am going to count to 10 and go to my study. You better get out of your hiding place in your closet and be in my study by the time I reach the count of 10 or I will come and get you and you will not be a happy camper. You are in enough trouble as it is so move it. One…Two…," I began counting.
Nathan:
Oh no, Uncle Carl knows where I am. I'm burrowing in deeper and covering myself. Maybe he won't see me…
"Three…Four…Five…," I counted.
Five, he's at five! Halfway to my doom. I hafta go but I don't want to…I can't make myself move from the closet…
"Nathan! You better get in here! "Six…Seven…," I called to him…
To Be Continued…
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