Chapter 5: Wolves

Nessie's POV

Justin sped as fast as he could do so safely and legally. My stomach was in Knotts. Our jackets wouldn't be enough to stop the bleeding for very long. God only knows what kind of damage the bullets had already done to those poor babies. Oh God couldn't we just get there already?! Would if they died in route to the hospital?!

Finally after what felt like an eternity of driving we pulled into the parking lot of the animal hospital. Justin jumped out of the car and ran inside as fast as possible. I opened the back and was relieved to see that they were both alive. They were extremely sedated but still alive.

If it weren't for the emergency situation that we were in I could've just sat there and admired their beauty all day. Both of them were girls. One with reduced brown fur and the other one with gray fur. I didn't understand why anyone would want to hurt such beautiful animals. Especially babies. Stupid poachers probably just wanted to sell their fur at a high price on the black market.

I looked back when I head footsteps running toward us. It was Justin along with his mother and father. "Wow they're huge," Justin's father, Brian, said as he grabbed the reddish brown pup from the car.

"They're really big for wolves," Justin's mom, Amelia, agreed. "Let's get them both into surgery as fast as possible before we lose either of them. Kids we're going to need your help for this. The assistants are busy with other patients right now,"

My nerves were all over the place. It wasn't the first time I'd assisted with a surgery, as I volunteered here a lot, but it never got any less nerve wrecking. There was always a chance that one of the animals could die in surgery. It had only happened once in all the time that I had been volunteering here but it was heartbreaking to witness. Something about these two really brought out a protective side of me that I didn't even know I had. They had to survive this somehow. I would make sure of it.

The wolf pups were taken to the operating room right away. After the pups were given anesthesia via IV both of them instantly went from merely being sedated to falling asleep completely. The only good thing about all of this is that my mind was completely distracted from my own problems.

That it is until I was brutally reminded when I had a horrible cough attack. Justin looked extremely worried. Even his parents gave me worried looks as they were operating. I'd have to ask Dr. Cullen if there was anything I could do for relief when these attacks happened. I coughed up blood again as usual but I ran to the bathroom to get myself cleaned up before Justin or his parents could notice.

"Are you alright?" Amelia asked me as soon as I returned.

"Yes I'm fine," I answered. "I swear I'm okay,"

"Really because you just ran out of here like you were about to throw up or something," Brian said.

"Seriously I'm okay. I'm not the one you all should be worried about right now,"

"I am worried about you Ness," Justin said as he handed his mother some tools. "This isn't the first time this has happened. I think you should go to a doctor,"

"Can we just take care of the wolves please? They're the ones in danger of dying right now. Not me," I hoped they didn't notice how nervous that I suddenly was. Technically I was in danger of dying right now. Dr. Cullen had given me 3-6 months to live but what if he was wrong? What if I were to suddenly die today from the cancer? Maybe I shouldn't be alone. But I refused to call my aunt and uncle to tell them. If I did they'd cut their business trip short and fly home immediately. After my slip up yesterday the police might already be looking for them. I shuddered.

Thank God they didn't question me further and returned their full attention to wolf pups. The reddish brown pup had two bullets and the gray one also had two. Removing the bullets was the easy part. The hardest part was repairing the damage those bullets had caused. In the pup with the reddish brown fur one of the bullets had hit and broke a rib.

"I can't believe anyone would want to hurt these wolves," Justin said. "They're only just babies,"

"It's possible that from a distance they didn't look like babies because they're so big," his mom said. "It doesn't excuse what they did though. Poachers don't care about anything but making a quick profit. At the expense of our beautiful wildlife,"

"You make it look so easy. Saving these animals I mean," I said.

"It's far from easy. But I think you could do it Nessie. You love to volunteer here. Have you ever thought about going to veterinary school?"

"I've never really thought about that actually. I know I want to study science though. I actually got into Harvard, Princeton, and Yale,"

"Really? That's awesome Nessie!" Justin shouted. "and here you thought you wouldn't even get into one I've league school,"

I tied to remain stoic as sadness threatened to overtake me. I wouldn't be studying anything at any school but they couldn't know that. Not now. If I had my way they wouldn't know until I had already died.

A few hours later the surgeries were finished. We helped put each pup into separate kennels to recover. According to Justin's parents they would remain sedated until morning. As soon as the anesthesia wore off they would be given sedatives to ease the pain and keep them calm.

"I wonder how young they are," I commented.

"They're less then two months old," Brian answered.

"How can you tell?" I asked.

"By looking at their teeth. They still have their milk teeth. If you look closely enough they have some milk residue on their tongues. Meaning they just nursed very recently,"

"So there's probably a very worried momma wolf out there looking for her babies right now," I said.

"I believe so. Hopefully the poachers that tried to kill her babies won't find her though. Anyway I'm going to let animal control know about this. Do you mind keeping watch on them both for now?"

"Of course!" I was a little to enthusiastic but I loved taking care of animals. The only reason I'd never had a pet before was because my aunt was allergic to cats and dogs.

Hours went by and we continued to keep watch on not only the wolf pups but all the other animals that were there as well. It kept my mind busy as well. I had a few cough attacks but nothing I couldn't play off. Day sooner turned into night. Justin and I volunteered to stay the night to help his parents look after the animals. Mainly the pups who were still in recovery.

Justin and I went home only to get something to eat and to pack a few things we would need like pajamas. It was a lot more lonely at night. Only Justin's dad was there. Then both of the wolves started crying in their kennels as Justin and I were watching them.

"I wonder what's wrong with them?"

"They're scared. They're drugged up in a place they don't know without their mother. If what your dad said is true about them not even being two months old then this would be their first night without their mom,"

"What happened to the sedatives keeping them calm?" Justin asked.

"Must have worn off faster then I expected. I'll give them more and they should calm right down. They need to get used to being without their mother anyway. Animal control is coming to take them tomorrow. They'll decide what to do with them next,"

"They're not even going to try to find their mother?"

"No. They don't have enough manpower to search,"

The wolves started to freak out even more. As if they'd understood what he'd said. It took a few minutes for them to calm down after being given the sedatives. Then he left to check on the other animals.

"Poor girls they just-" I started hacking away before I could even finish my sentence. A little more blood came up. But this time Justin saw it before I could hide it.

"Nessie what's wrong?! You need to get to a hospital you need-"

"Relax Justin. It's okay,"

"What are you saying?! You need a doctor-"

"I already saw a doctor Justin. I saw one yesterday,"

"and what happened?"

I bit my lip as I figured out what to say.

"God damn it Nessie I'm your boyfriend. We've been best friends since we were little. You know you can tell me anything,"

"There's no easy way to tell you," I took a deep breath. "In 3-6 months I will be dead,"

Please Review