Author's Note
I absolutely LOVED the reviews from the last chapter. The varying reactions just had me laughing. Everyone was [let me use my favorite word] dubious when they read it. Well, all except for ThexWorld'sxAxBrokenxBone 'cause she's a PSYCHIC. Either that or a mermaid. I'm betting a mermaid.
Oh, by the way, we beat a record! Last chapter accumulated TWENTY-THREE reviews! Hells yeah!
So, here's another chapter and I hope you all enjoy!
For the record, Cassie is going to show a whole lot more anger later on, but right now she's just shocked. Very much so.
Disclaimer: Zilch + Zero + Nada + Shit = Not owning Twilight.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Hospital Part One
Beep. Beep. Beep.
I cracked open an eye, wincing as a bright light filled my vision.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
Was I in Heaven?
Beep. Beep. Beep.
If I was in heaven, then why is it so goddamned annoying?
Beep. Beep. Beep.
I opened both eyes, and turned toward the direction the maddening noise was coming from. A heart monitor was posted right beside my bed, sounds emitting from it as the green line spiked up and down. I tried to move to unplug the damned thing, but pain shot through my back, and I flopped back down on my stomach.
"Miss? Miss Barker?" An unfamiliar voice asked. "Are you awake?" I resisted giving the person a sarcastic remark.
"Yeah, sure." I gasped, breathing slowly as the pain dissipated.
"Oh, good," the woman said, and I could hear paper rustling. "I'll go fetch the doctor." The doctor? What did I need a doctor for? But the mystery woman was already gone, leaving me alone in a quiet room.
I racked my memory, trying to figure out how I wound up in the hospital. I remember Paul, and Quil going all hormonal… Images flashed through my mind, and the monitor picked up my spiking heart rate. The wolf…Paul…
No! My mind screamed, and I mentally shook my head. Paul wasn't a wolf; there was no way he could be. No, not my Paul. Except, he wasn't my Paul anymore. I had made that clear to him, right before he…
The door opened, and I jumped, making pain shoot down my spine again.
"Be careful, there," came a velvety voice. "You wouldn't want to pull out your stitches again, would you?" I turned my head as much as I could to see an attractive blond doctor staring down at me studiously.
"Again?" I croaked, and he smiled down at me.
"You were having nightmares a few nights ago," he said simply.
"How long have I been here?" I asked quietly, and the doctor pulled out a clipboard from inside his white jacket, flipping papers before he found what he needed.
"You were admitted to the hospital three weeks and five days ago, and have been in a coma since then."
"Coma?!" I shrieked. The doctor grimaced lightly, but nodded his head.
"Yes, coma. Now, Cassidy, can you remember what caused your wounds?" he asked, and I hesitated. There was no way I could tell him without exposing Paul, and even if I did, I'd probably get sent to the nearest mental institution.
"Um, no?" I squeaked, and I mentally smacked myself. Idiot! Surprisingly, the doctor only chuckled at my terrible lie and wrote something down on the clipboard.
"You have quite a few visitors," he said. "Do you feel up to seeing them?"
"Define visitors," I said wryly, settling my cramped neck on the pillow.
"Well, first off, your parents are here—"
"My parents?!" I screamed, incredulous. They would've had to drive for hours just to get to La Push, and it made me teary-eyed that they cared enough to come.
"Yes, would you like to see them?" he asked. I nodded my head enthusiastically, and I heard him chuckle as he left the room to go fetch my parents. There was talking outside the room, too low that I couldn't make it out.
The door opened, and my mom poked her head in cautiously. I craned my neck as far as I could and smiled weakly at her. She rushed to my bedside—avoiding wires and tubes—and pet my head motherly like.
"Hey there, mom." I said, and she sighed.
"You nearly gave us a heart attack, Cassie dear," Mom scolded lightly. "Honey, what were you thinking? Walking alone in the bear-infested woods!" My eyebrows scrunched together confusedly. It must be a cover-up.
"Oh, is that what happened?" I asked smoothly. "I'm afraid I don't remember much. So, what was I doing in the woods, again?"
Mom looked at me strangely. "That woman, Emily, told me that you and your boyfriend, Paul—why didn't you tell me you had a boyfriend?—had some sort of misunderstanding and you went to look for him."
I picked at the threads of the thin hospital pillowcase. "Oh. Is…Paul around?" I risked a look at my mom's face, and then turned back, acting interested in the pillow. I listened to her attentively as she spoke.
"He's been here with you the whole time you came to the hospital, actually. All the time you were unconscious, Paul would sit by your bedside and just hold your hand, talking to you," Mom said softly, reaching over to brush my hair out of my face. "When your father first walked in here and saw the way he touched you, he almost blew a gasket." I smiled at the thought; dad was always overprotective of me.
"Why isn't he here now?" I asked, and Mom sighed.
"Visiting hours end at eight o'clock, dear, and start at, well, just five minutes ago, actually. But, you should have seen him: it literally took all of those large men to convince him to leave your side at the end of each day."
"Where's dad?" I asked, changing the subject from Paul. To my surprise, mom laughed loudly.
"I suppose I outran him, huh?" she said, and I looked at her questioningly. "When Doctor Cullen came down to the waiting room and told us that you were awake and we could finally see you, I literally ran down the hall and towards the nearest elevator. Sadly, that meant leaving your father to catch an elevator by himself."
On cue, the door opened to reveal a red-faced and winded dad. I smiled at him, and he smiled back, between pants. My mom giggled girlishly, motioning him over to my bedside. Dad stumbled to the chair beside my bed and fell into it. He slumped and clumsily grabbed one of my hands.
"Just," he breathed. "Just give me a minute." Mom rolled her eyes at him, then winked at me. Even after all these years, they still acted like high school lovers.
"Your father," she said simply, as if that explained everything. Dad stuck his tongue out at her childishly, and she giggled.
"Cassidy," Dad said, once he caught his breath. "When exactly did you get a boyfriend?" I turned my head so I could look at his face as he struggled to look stern.
"Maybe a month or two ago." I grumbled reluctantly. Dad's eyes narrowed, and I could hear mom squeal happily beside me.
"Oh! Our baby's grown up! So, when are you two getting married? September? October?" Mom asked, and I turned to smile ruefully at her.
"We aren't getting married, Mom," I said. "You can't marry someone if you two are broken up and over with."
Mom gasped. "What? But, dear! The way he looked at you…and Emily has told me so many things about the two of you—"
"Tara, honey, if she doesn't want to get back together with him, that's completely fine," he said, and I could tell that he was proud of me. "Isn't that right, Cassie hon?" I mumbled nonsensically into my pillow, and even though he had no clue what I had just said, he saw it as an agreement.
"Maxwell, don't encourage her," Mom scolded. "You know how much I look forward to having grandchildren!" Dad snorted a laugh, and I giggled. Mom has been on my case about grandchildren ever since I first started my period.
"There's no rush, Tara. Cassie has all the time in the world."
"Well, I don't, and I would prefer to actually hold my grandchild before I die, thank you very much." Mom said dramatically, playing with a strand of my hair. Dad let out a huff and leaned back in his chair.
"How many visitors are there for me?" I asked, and Mom seemed to perk up a bit.
"Oh, honey. I never knew you were so popular on the reservation. There was Allison and that Embry boy—is it me or is everyone getting boyfriends?—and that boy named…what was his name? Timmy? Tyler…?"
"Tommy, Mom."
"Ah, yes, Tommy. Such a charmer, I tell you. Then there was Emily and her husband, and that Kim girl and her husband, and a few others whose names I can't quite recall."
"Why doesn't that surprise me?" Dad said playfully and Mom rolled her eyes. I yawned as my eyelids drooped sleepily.
Mom kissed my forehead and Dad patted my head. "We'll see you when you wake up, kiddo."
"Would you like for us to send Paul in?" Mom asked. My eyes shot open and I all but screamed my protest. Mom pouted at me and Dad chuckled elatedly.
I listened to converse quietly as they left, the door shutting with a soft click behind them.
The room was quiet except for the beeping and ticking of a clock. I immediately wished that they hadn't left me alone, because it gave me time to mull over what had happened.
Paul could turn into a wolf, and everyone was in on it besides me. What didn't make since was why they would cover it up and protect him. Was it their loyalty to friendship? Or was there something else?
My head throbbed as I thought over the possibilities for their strange behavior. It was painfully clear that they knew; how they warned me of Paul's temper told me that much. But, when Paul changed, how were they able to keep him back for that long? No ordinary men could do that. Paul was bigger than a horse when he changed, and had to be strong.
Which brought me to the night of the bonfire: Paul fought Quil, and I highly doubt he did it in human form. So, did that mean Quil could change, too?
Al had mentioned some odd things after she broke up with Embry, but I couldn't remember what she had said. But I do remember that I felt something was up, and I was missing out on something. What did she say?
And then there was Sam. He always ordered the guys around, not in a pushy sort of way, but just like…a leader. When I was on the phone with Seth, he mentioned that Quil stopped acting hormonal because Sam ordered him. So, what did this mean?
I wracked my pulsating brain, fighting off the sleep that threatened to consume me. What did this mean?
It's because this is something I've never come across, and isn't something you can examine under a microscope and just learn about it. Al's voice was strong and clear in my mind, and bits and pieces of our conversation were starting to emerge.
It's something incomprehensible, never even heard of before except for the distorted stories people tell to scare little children.
'Distorted stories people tell to scare little children'? No, she couldn't mean…
This is something bigger, and far, far worse than bedtime stories.
All of them were werewolves.
Spots clouded my vision, and everything turned black.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Cassie dear!" I heard a cheerful voice call. "Cassie! Lunch a-la Quil is served!" I groaned as my head throbbed painfully, and I opened my eyes. Quil was standing in front of me, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. In his hands was a foam container where a heavenly smell wafted out.
"Why are you wearing a nurses uniform?" I asked, looking Quil up and down. He had a white shirt on and the clichéd nurse hat with the red cross on the front. But, thankfully, I was spared from seeing him in a short skirt.
Quil pouted. "Sam ordered me not to be motherly anymore, and Doctor C said I could be your nurse today since your old one had to go somewhere. How unprofessional. Just because she had a 'family emergency' and her father was 'fatally ill' doesn't mean she can just up and leave! Why, I tell you Cass, I was sorely tempted to—"
"What? Go werewolf on her ass?" I asked, scowling. Quil stared down at me for a moment, quirking an eyebrow.
"Noooo," he said. "I was going to say 'smack her silly', but that sounds like a good idea, too. Should I have done that instead?"
"So," I grumbled. "I was right."
"About me being a devilishly sexy wolf? Yep, you got that one right." Quil said, sitting down in the chair and held the container out to me. I ignored it, curious.
"So, that's it? No denial or anything?" I asked, incredulous. Quil pursed his lips at me, leaning back in the chair.
"You deserve to know what's going on, Cassie. You were bound to find out sooner or later, just…not the way you did."
"But I did," I mumbled. Quil nodded his head, sighing.
"You should really forgive Paul, Cassie," he said, and I snorted in disdain. "He didn't meant to hurt you,"
"Yes, I could tell that by his remarkable restraint," I said sarcastically, and Quil got this sad look on his face.
"There's more to the story, Cass," Quil said.
"Oh, please, do tell." Quil ignored my scornful tone and continued.
"I'm just going to give you the story in a nut shell: We, being descended from Quileute, have inherited some…sort of gene that enables us to shape-shift into wolves. All of us—Jared, Embry, Paul, Jake, Sam, and I—have inherited the gene, and so have a few others. Together, we form a pack that protects La Push from the danger," Quil said, and I listened attentively. "This danger comes from the cold ones—vampires,"
"Vampires?" I asked, and Quil nodded his head.
"Yeah. Believe it or not, you've already met two," he chuckled, and I stared at him, astonished. I asked him who, and he grinned.
"Doctor Cullen, for one. And, well, technically Nessie's half-human and half-vampire, but she still counts."
"What?!" I shrieked, and Quil rubbed his ear.
"Wow, Cass. Congratulations. I think you just bust my ear drum," Quil said, wincing. I was about to persist with my rant, but Quil held up one finger. "Let me continue the story, then you can ask questions. Understood? Great. Okay, now where was I…?
"Oh, yes. Now, with the gene, there comes a… weird phenomena called 'imprinting'. Imprinting is when you see your soul mate, and they become your whole world; the only thing that keeps you here."
"Have you imprinted?" I asked softly, and Quil smiled warmly.
"My Claire-Bear. I imprinted on her when she was only three years old, nearly fourteen years ago, and Emily kicked me in the crotch for it. Boy, that was a fun day," Quil said, and I giggled.
"What's it like to…imprint?"
"Well, with me, it's like you were walking along with your own life, doing your own business, and then you see her. And then, it's like you're a blind man seeing the sun for the first time, and all that matters is her. You become her protector, friend, lover; anything to keep her happy. For Claire, when she was young, I was her brother; when she was in her early teens, I was her best friend and companion, and now we're an item."
"And, let me guess: Embry imprinted on Al, right?"
"Exacto mundo, babe. Oh, and this you're going to get a huge crack out of: Tommy was imprinted on!" he chortled, and I gaped at him.
"One of the guys imprinted on him?!"
"No!" Quil cried, smacking his forehead with his palm. "Leah imprinted on him!" It took me a minute to remember who Leah was. I vaguely remember seeing her at the supermarket once, and lets just say she wasn't so nice.
"Leah's a werewolf?" I asked, dubious. "And she imprinted on Tommy?"
"Yep," Quil said, popping the 'p'. "And they're already crazy for each other. Ugh, you should've seen them! One minute I'm eating some chicken, and then I look up and, BAM!, they're giving each other the ogling each other. Man, I'll never look at chicken the same way again."
"Whoa," I breathed. "I've missed a lot."
"You're damn skippy you did. But, you're missing the most important imprint. Can you guess who?"
"Sam and Emily?"
"N—well, he did imprint on her, but their not the ones I'm talking about."
"Kim and Jared?"
"No."
"Jake and Nessie?" I asked, and Quil glared at me, shaking his head. "I can't think of anymore, Quil."
"Paul, dammit! Guess who he imprinted on?"
"He imprinted on someone else?!" I cried, tears coming to my eyes.
"No! He imprinted on you! Damn, Carlisle must have you doped up on some good stuff for you to be this clueless," Quil said, laughing. "H—Cassie? Cass? Yoo-hoo? Earth to munchkin! Are you alive?" He waved a hand in front of my shocked face. He imprinted on me…he imprinted on me…
"Yo, Doctor Cullen!" Quil hollered. "Something's wrong with Cassie!" There was a rustling and the door opened.
"What happened?" Doctor Cullen asked urgently. He imprinted on me…
"I just told her that Paul imprinted on her, and she just spaced out! Save her, man! I don't want Paul to kick my ass!"
"Cassidy? Can you hear me?" Doctor Cullen asked, shaking my shoulder slightly. "Cassie, if you can hear and understand me, blink twice."
"He imprinted on me," I said dumbly. Doctor Cullen chuckled quietly, and Quil looked at him confusedly.
"Don't worry, Quil," Doctor Cullen assured. "She's just in shock."
"So, she'll snap out of it, right?"
"Eventually, yes."
"And Paul won't kick my ass?"
"…I can't guarantee you that." Quil groaned loudly, and the doctor laughed again. They talked for a while, and I dozed off.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
OK
AND ANOTHER THING: Is everyone a freaking psychic?! I didn't tell you guys [it was supposed to be a surprise], but the other reason I made Tommy was for Leah to imprint on him so she could have her happily ever after. I remember the first time someone mentioned that [I forgot who, but I'll look at the reviews later, you naughty noodles.], but when I saw it I almost had a heart attack. Have I become predictable? Nah, I don't think so. Unless...you guys can guess my huge surprise?
So she knows now. And she's gonna be pissed. Even more so. I haven't decided how she's going to get payback, or if it's even going to be funny. Most likely not. But, Paul will be sorry. Hell, he already is. Yup.
I'm going to drag this story out some [a lot] so I can get the big surprise in and everything. Why do I keep mentioning this 'surprise'? 'Cause it's freakin' important and will lead to the [possible] sequel. Maybe I'll even make it a trilogy...
But I'm getting ahead of myself there. I'll have to figure out some damned plots and all, but until then, this story will have my full attention.
teamjacob11: I'm not sure what the sequel's going to be called; I'm just going to wing it. But, when I do post it up and all, I'll post it an alert chapter on this story.
Yodes: I don't think she's well enough to be swinging a shovel around [yet], but I'm going to try and make it hard for Paul to win back Cassie's trust.
Invisible Truths: xD Well, I hope you had plenty of fun, and I'm glad you liked both chapters. So, my Lesbanana lovah, I am sorry to say it isn't in Paul's point of view [you know that now]. I thought about it, but we needed to know how Cassie was doing. Next chapter you will get a slightly more detailed diagnosis. xoxoxo Hunny buns [I'm really liking the nickname...kinky]
So, review my lovelies, and make me SUPAH happy. [By the way, Tommy will be in the next chapter.]
Did I mention the I'm aiming for +10 reviews for each chapter? 'Cause I am. And if I get more than that, I'll be freaking happy.
But, if not...I'll just crawl into a hole somewhere. Sigh...