CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Mary was doing her daily morning exercise at the hospital. Tom watched her from behind. He was standing near the door and Mary smelt him as he came in.
"Nurse, I feel tired. My legs are hurting now." Mary said.
"I think that's enough for today." Tom said and came closer to his fiancée.
"Alright doctor." The nurse said, "I'll see you in the evening Miss." She told Mary and went out of the hall.
"How are you honey?" Tom asked as he gave Mary a kiss.
"Tired and hungry." She rested her head on his chest. "If I don't eat anything right now, I might eat anyone who comes on my way."
"Oh, that sounds spooky." Tom smiled. "Let's go out today. What do you say about that?"
"Out of the hospital?" Mary looked at him; "Do you mean it?"
"Yes. I think you also need some fresh air, don't you?"
"You bet I do! I'm starting to hate this place."
"OK, let's go. Can you walk?"
"Yes, but slowly."
Tom held Mary's hand as they walked to her room. He helped her get dressed and then they left the building and headed to a restaurant.
During their meal, a girl who was sitting with her parents noticed Mary.
"Mommy! That's Lola!" she called and pointed toward Mary.
"Sweetie, Lola is gone. She isn't here anymore. That lady just looks like her." The mother said with a sad tone.
Tom leaned closer to Mary and whispered, "Do you see what I see in her eyes?" Mary just nodded and felt a single tear scroll down on her cheek.
"I did the right thing. I will not sing anymore." She whispered back.
Tom held her hand and kissed it. "Do whatever you see right for you honey. And if you decide to go back to singing, I want you to know that I'll be there for you."
Mary smiled lovingly. "I love you Tom. I really do. I just can't understand why I haven't been paying attention to my heart at that time. None of this would've happened."
"That's in the past now. We must only look forward. We are going to be together form now on. And…" he pointed a finger at her, "You won't get rid of me that easily."
Mary laughed at the last remark, "Oh Tom, I would never want to get rid of you. I am a wolf, and that's the only thing you should remember. Wolves mate for life. Remember that."
"What if mating for life loses its meaning?"
"I don't get it."
"I mean, if a wolf mates for life but after some period one of them realizes that their marriage was a mistake? Or there is no love between them. And the mate finds his or her true love?"
"Wolves never get married without true love. That's why the marriage lasts forever. But Tom, why did you ask that question?"
"Don't get me wrong dear. It just crossed my mind, that's all. I know that what we have is true love. I have been in love with you since the first day I saw you on stage."
"Remember how Dan was drunk? And you brought him to my room." They both laughed.
"Yeah. That guy has some kind of an inner charm. He is a true friend. If it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have met."
"You're right. I guess we should thank him for that in person." Mary said.
"We will. Now, let's take you back to the hospital. You need to rest."
"For the first time in my life, I feel that my stomach is full!"
Tom paid the bill and they went back to the hospital by foot, as it was close to the restaurant.
Tom wanted to go by car, but Mary didn't agree. She was scared of cars. When they entered their room, Tom helped Mary to take of her dress and put on the hospital robe. Then he helped her to sit in her bed.
"Mary, why didn't you want to go by car?" he asked.
"I don't want to. I can't get over what happened."
"You know it wouldn't happen again." He kissed her forehead, "Anyway, I want you to take a nap. You are tired, and after a few hours you will go to the exercise hall again. So, have a sleep until then. You need to rest."
"OK honey. Where will you be?" she asked.
"At Dr. Simons' office."
"OK."
Tom leaned and kissed her lips and then left her to sleep. Mary lay down and closed her eyes. She was so tired that she fell asleep instantly.
Wendell went to the mirror room. He stood in front of a small old mirror that was black.
"Mirror, wake up from your sleep." Wendell demanded. The mirror started to glow.
"Who dares to wake me from my sleep?" A sound was heard from the mirror.
"I am King Wendell White. The ruler of the 4th Kingdom and your new master."
"I obey only the queen."
"The queen is dead. And if you don't accept me as your master, you will be punished." Wendell said. The mirror knew what was the punishment going to be. It was going to turn into pieces, and that meant its death. That was the punishment that all the mirrors feared, no matter how powerful they were.
"I accept you as my master. The one and only." The communicating mirror replied.
"Good." Wendell said. "Now, I need to talk to Queen Red Riding Hood III. Show her to me."
The mirror started to crack and glowed again. Finally, it showed a woman wearing a red dress sitting in her thrown. She was beautiful. A few red curls fell on her shoulders and the rest of her hair was pulled up in a bun that gave her an elegant look.
"Red?" Wendell called and saw the queen hold her head.
"Bring me a mirror!" she ordered. "Hurry up! Or I'll feed you to the wolves!"
Servants ran all around the room and they brought her a golden mirror. "Wendell!" she was surprised to see him. "I wasn't expecting you today! And please don't use this kind of communication anymore!"
"I'm awfully sorry Red. I didn't mean to give you a headache." Wendell said with an embarrassed smile.
"I hope that this won't be repeated again." She said.
"I hope so. I wanted to know about the reason of the privet dinner."
Red raised an eyebrow. "How rude." She said calmly. "I was just inviting you for a friendly dinner."
"I apologize for my rudeness Red. But I wasn't expecting to be invited to a 'privet' dinner. Besides, I know that you're up to something. So, why don't you tell me what you want now?"
"Wendell dear, it's only a friendly dinner. But of course, there is something that I want to discuss with you. And it's very important. That's why I want to talk to you about it here in privet."
"And why didn't you come here?"
Red sighed, "I have millions of problems in my kingdom that I can't leave. And I know that the situation in your kingdom is more settled. Now, are you going to accept my invitation or not?"
Wendell thought for a moment, "I will be there by tomorrow. But do you have a travelling dust to bring me back here?"
"Of course I do. When are you coming?"
"In the evening."
"Alright, I'll be waiting for you." The queen smiled.
"Then see you tomorrow Red." Wendell said, and the mirror was black. "You can go back to sleep mirror. You've done well."
The mirror cracked and glowed, and in a moment it reflected Wendell's image.
"I just hope that she isn't planning anything." He sighed and went out.
On his way to his office, Wendell met Tony. "Anthony!"
"Wendell, did you talk to her?"
"Yes. She says that it's just a friendly dinner, but she has something important to talk about."
"But what's the privacy for?"
"I really don't know Anthony. And that's concerning me."
"Can I come with you?" Tony asked.
"No Anthony, she said it's privet. But I can give you the key to the mirror room and you can use the spying mirror to listen to our conversation."
"Wendie! That's a good idea!"
"Just don't call me Wendie again, please. It's terrible when Wolf calls me like that, and I wouldn't like to hear it from you too."
"OK, OK. I'll keep that in mind." Tony said.
"I will go to my room now. I need some rest." Wendell said.
"I was on my way to my room too. See ya in the morning."
"Good night Anthony." Wendell said. And each one of them went to his room.
A/N: I'd like to know your opinion. So, please take a few seconds to review. That would encourage me to write more. Thanks!!!!
