Chapter 9

Kris

I gasped and sputtered awake. Where was I? Why was it so dark? Why did I hear something breathing that wasn't me?

The longer I lay awake, the clearer my thoughts were. Oh. I was in the shack. My ankle's broken. And...

I looked down. The wolf was asleep on the floor, his head propped up on the bed so it could rest next to me. My heart fluttered. Aw.

I stroked the fur in between his ears. It was rough and dirty, but also soft and easy to comb through. I guess I must've rustled while petting him, because his eyes opened.

The wolf blinked, trying to get used to the dark, and looked at me. I smiled softly. He looked at my left ankle, which was black and blue and a little bit swollen. His eyes went wide at it.

"My sister should be here soon," I told him. The wolf frowned but nodded. I bent my head down to kiss the top of his.

"Thank you," I whispered. He made a strange rumbling sound. It felt nice. And then he pulled away. His eyes were sad.

His head turned sharply, as if he heard something outside.

"What? What is it?" I asked, suddenly afraid. The wolf ignored me and ran out the door of the shack.

"Wait!" I yelled, reaching out for him. But this time, he didn't listen.

I didn't breathe as I waited. I heard footsteps approach.

"Kristen?" Clara called out. A flashlight beamed inside the shack. I shielded my eyes from it.

"Yeah, I'm here."

"What happened?"

"I broke my ankle on that damn root. Help me up."

"Okay."

Clara helped prop up my leg. She went into the trunk in the corner and pulled out a crutch.

"We're going to need to take you to the hospital," she explained. I nodded absently.

Why did the wolf leave? I mean, I understood that he was afraid of my sister, and he obviously saw the gun we keep in the corner of the room. But if I explained, would Clara kill my wolf?

No, I don't think she would. Because Clara was just as understanding as me. And although she could kill my wolf, she despises the thought of me unhappy. And killing the wolf would nearly break my heart. Actually, it would break my heart.

And Clara doesn't want that.

We pulled up into the hospital and Clara helped me out. I wobbled on one foot until Clara gave me the crutch. I limped inside.

"Hello, my sister broke her ankle and we were wondering if you could get someone to fix this?" Clara asked the receptionist sweetly.

"Sure. Go to the room down the hall and to the right and Dr. Cullen will be able to help you," the receptionist replied in a fake sweet tone. Clara smiled in thanks and followed me into the room.

Clara gasped, but I wasn't bothered. The doctor was already waiting for me. His blond hair was neatly combed away from his extremely pale face. Of course he looked incredibly handsome. I wondered randomly if we walked onto the set of one of those lame doctor sitcoms and the actor was standing before us. He looked too young to be a doctor.

There was a snicker from the back of the room. I looked away from Dr. Cullen to glare at the bronze haired boy in the back of the room.

"Please forgive my son. He's planning on joining the hospital staff soon, but every time someone comes in with something broken he laughs," the doctor explained. I glared at the boy again. His name tag said "Edward".

Grr... Edward can go to hell...

"I'll meet you there," Edward said. The way he said it, it was like he was retorting back at me. I looked up at him, not to glare, but to gawk. Edward looked uncomfortable.

"Edward!" Dr. Cullen gasped, more at his speaking rather than what he said.

"Sorry, Carlisle," Edward muttered.

"What kind of son calls his father by his real name?" I asked, rolling my eyes.

"An adopted son," Carlisle murmured. Oh, oops.

"Okay, Doc. Lay it on me," I sighed dramatically. Edward rolled his eyes.

"Well, I'll need to have an x-ray done. It could be just a fracture."

"Okay, x-rays I can do," I said, eager to get away from Edward. He was creeping me out.

As Carlisle set me up, he tried to make me feel comfortable by asking me about myself.

"What's your full name?"

"Kristen Forest McCarty."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Where do you work?"

"Have you ever heard of this club in downtown Seattle, one that allows teens to hang out and sells no alcohol?"

"Yes... My youngest daughter tried to get me to let her go there."

"Yeah, I'm the DJ."

"Really?"

"Yup."

"Have you ever experienced any fractures or broken bones before, Kristen?"

"Please call me Kris. And yes, I broke an arm after practicing gymnastics."

"What happened?"

"I was walking on the ceiling, a long time ago, and I slipped. I fell to the ground and snapped my forearm."

Carlisle nodded to himself. He operated the machinery.

"What about your family? Anything special about them?"

"I really don't have a family. Most of them passed away, are in jail, or disappeared off the face of the Earth."

"I'm sorry to hear about that."

"Yeah... The weirdest disappearance in my family was my great uncle. He went camping one day and disappeared. We found the campsite and a little blood, but his body was nowhere to be found. We all think a bear ate him, bones and all."

"Strange..."

Carlisle looked deep in thought.

"Your last name is McCarty, right?"

"Yeah, what about it?"

"No, the name is familiar, that's all..."

I tried not to think about how strange the doc and his son was the rest of the day.

As it turns out, it was broken, but the doctor gave me a brace and said I'll be fine in a few weeks.

And I was back to thinking about my wolf.

AN: I know, I know, this is a cruddy ending, but hey, you learn new things!