"What did I tell you, Sal, there is something
going on and we are always being left out. So Ms. P, who wants to
see our little wolf princess?" Jen asked, keeping her back to
Decebel but not moving away either.
It was Vasile who answered. "Dillon Jacobs is
here to see Jacque."
Both girls stared at Vasile blankly, "Right,
right, and Dillon Jacobs would beeee?" Jen prompted.
"Jacque's father," Lilly spit out.
"Oh, snap," "Shit fire and hold the matches,"
Sally and Jen said at the same time. Vasile and Decebel coughed,
both trying to cover up chuckles at Jen's vocabulary. Jen had the
good grace to look slightly abashed at her outlandish statement,
but only just.
"That doesn't even begin to cover it."
Lilly's voice was distraught and frustration was written across her
brow.
"So when were ya'll planning on dropping this
nuclear bomb on Jacque's lap, because I think I am going to be
needed elsewhere in the hospital at that exact moment," Jen told
them. Sally stood next to her, nodding her head in agreement.
"We are going to tell her now," Decebel
answered, giving Jen the perfect excuse to turn and ogle him
without being obvious that she was indeed ogling.
Or so she thought until she heard Sally
whisper in her ear, "So, Decebel is looking drool worthy I
see."
Jen whipped her head around so fast that she
knocked foreheads with Sally. "Freaking A, Jen, your head is even
harder than I originally thought," Sally whined.
"Yea, well, Sherlock yours ain't so soft
either," Jen snapped. Sally gave her a knowing look, reminding her
that she had caught her checking out Decebel. She shouldn’t be
bothered that Sally had called her out on it, she checked out guys
all the time. This was different though, this was a freaking hot as
sin werewolf. Yeah, okay, maybe the burns were going to her head.
That must be why she would suddenly be fixated on the unattainable.
Although, she thought, werewolves can have flings can't they? She
looked at Decebel again, who was studying the floor like it had the
answers to life written on it in Aramaic. A fling with him, hmmm,
could be interesting. She didn't realize she had spoken that last
part out loud.
"What kind of fling would be interesting?"
Sally asked.
"What? I didn't say fling, I said sling. A
sling for my arm, because of the burns and what not." Jen stumbled
over her words.
"Uh huh, right, a sling. We'll have the nurse
get right on that, Jen." Sally's look of 'you're full of b.s.'
matched her tone of voice.
Jen turned to Lilly then, for once not
wanting the attention directed at her. "Okay, well I say we get
this over with Ms. P, just rip it off like a band aid, nice and
fast." As she was talking she was hobbling back to the room with
her I.V. pole in tow. Before anyone knew what she had planned, Jen
swung the door open, saying, "Jacque, dear old dad has come to pay
his respects to the nearly departed."
Jacque's head snapped up. "What?"
"Crap, why did nobody tell me someone with a
freaking I.V. pole could move that fast?" Sally blurted out.
Lilly came into the room, followed by Vasile,
Alina and at last Decebel, who was just as broody as ever. Jen
crawled back into bed with Sally's assistance and turned to look at
Jacque, who at the moment looked at a loss for words. That's a new
one, Jen thought.
"Mom, tell me that Jen inhaled one too many
smoke fumes, or that she is high on morphine, or even that she is
just saying that to be a butt head."
Lilly shook her head. "How I wish I could
give you any one of those excuses, but she was being just as
brutally honest as she always is. You father is here and he wants
to meet you."
Fane let out a low growl and Jacque laid her
hand on his to help calm him. He looked at her and used their bond
to talk to her. "
You don't have to meet him, you know that
right?"
"Yes, I know. But Fane, it's my father and
he's here to see me. I can't tell you how many times I have dreamed
that I would get to meet him one day,"
Jacque told him, and
then she thought of what she had asked him earlier when she felt
like he wasn't being totally honest.
"Wait, did you know about this? Is this what
you weren't telling me?" Jacque glared at Fane skeptically.
Fane kneeled down so that he was face to face
with her.
"I'm sorry, love. I just didn't want to upset you and
I didn't know what he wanted. I wanted to wait to tell you when we
had more information."
Fane's eyes were pleading with her to
understand.
"Never keep things from me, Fane. It will
never end well for you, we clear?"
"Crystal, Luna. Please forgive my
thoughtlessness." Fane bared his neck to her out of respect for his
mate.
"Man, that is so freaking yummy," Jen said,
watching the exchange between Fane and Jacque along with everyone
in the room. "I want one Sally, go find me one."
"One hot, loving, passionate, furry werewolf
coming up," Sally said sarcastically. "Would you like fries or tots
with that?"
"I prefer whipped cream actually," Jen said
wistfully.
Decebel coughed and sounded like he was
choking, while Jacque and Fane stared at the two girls in
perplexity.
"I swear my two best friends have no shame.
Absolutely, utterly, completely and wholly without indignity,"
Jacque's voice was full of mystification.
"Jacque," Lilly's voice brought Jacque back
to the reality of the situation.
"Oh, right, so my father is in town…not sure
what to feel about that to be honest."
Fane wished he could hide the worry that
something wasn't quite right but she picked up on the thought
before he could block it.
"What do you mean you don't think something
is right?" she asked him out loud.
Fane turned and looked at Decebel. "Did you
confirm it?"
"Yes, my prince, he is hiding something,"
Decebel answered.
Fane looked back at Jacque and he gently held
her bandaged hand. "Love, he is here to meet you, but he is hiding
another motive and we don't know what it is. It's making us very
leery of him. I can't say that I like the idea of him near
you."
"You will be with me, right?" she asked.
"Of course." He nodded.
"Then I won't be in any danger." Jacque said
it with complete confidence in him.
He leaned down and kissed her gently.
"Thank you, Luna. I will always keep you safe."
"I know wolf-man, I'm counting on it,"
Jacque smiled at him and gently ran her fingers down the side of
his face.
Jen cleared her throat. "I don't mean to bust
up an obviously promising interlude, but we kind of need to figure
out what you want to do, Jac."
"I'm going to meet him," Jacque said
bluntly.
Lilly looked at her daughter and gave one nod
of her head that she understood. Vasile stepped up to Jacque's bed
and placed a hand on Fane's shoulder, "Why don't you get some rest,
Jacque. Sleep tonight and then your father can come meet you
tomorrow."
Fane nodded his head in agreement with his
Alpha, "I think that is a good idea, Jacquelyn. You've been through
a lot today, you need to rest."
"I know I have, but I feel amazingly better.
Aside from the fever I can't seem to kick," she told him in
astonishment.
"That's your wolf genes coming out, we heal
really fast. You are obviously going to heal much faster than a
human but not quite as fast as a werewolf."
"Jen, how you be over there?" Jacque asked,
using the slang that was nearly second nature with her best
friends.
"Wait for it," Jen said as she began the
process of unwrapping her legs and arms. Sally had started humming
the song from the game show Jeopardy.
"Sally, wow, it's you! I've always wanted to
meet you."
"It's me what?" Sally asked Jen, curiosity
thick in her voice.
"The mayor of Smartassville of course. You
should carry a sign that says welcome to Smartassville, population:
1."
Everyone in the room was trying to cover
their laughs with coughs when Lilly finally gave it up and laughed
out loud. "I'm sorry, Sally, but you have to admit that was pretty
funny."
"I guess, for someone whose brain cells have
been cooked recently, it'll do."
Jen finally had her legs and arms unwrapped
and there was a collective gasp in the room.
"I must not have been burned as bad as you
because I don't even have blisters on my legs anymore, the skin is
just raw and really red. The ones on my chest are almost completely
healed as well. Somebody will have to look at my back and shoulders
to see if they have healed as well," Jen said, sounding
dumbfounded.
"What?" Vasile, Alina and Decebel all spoke
at the same time.
Jen looked around the room at each of them,
unsure. "I said, I don't even have blisters on my legs or chest
anymore." She nearly squeaked when Decebel was at her bedside in a
flash. For someone so big he was surprisingly gentle as he examined
her skin.
"You will tell me if I hurt you." Decebel
held her blue eyes with his golden wolf eyes.
Jen couldn't say anything, she just nodded.
All she could focus on were his hands touching her leg and she
didn't even try to hide the soft sigh that came out as he ran his
finger across her skin. He went to pull the front of her shirt down
just enough to see her collar bone but Jen slapped his hand away.
"You didn't buy tickets. You don't get a free show, fine, drool
worthy werewolf or not."
"Alpha, it is true, her skin is healing
rapidly. Too rapidly," Decebel said, looking at Jen.
"Why are you looking at me like I've grown a
second head again?" Jen asked him, confusion marked her face.
Decebel just stared before finally turning
and walking away. As he walked past Vasile he said, "I will take
first watch tonight at the door." And then he was gone.
Jen was confused and frustrated at the little
scene that took place but she couldn't worry about that right now,
she had bigger fish to fry. If there was anything bigger than
Decebel that is.
"Why would I be healing so fast?" she asked
Vasile.
"I don't know. We will just have to continue
to monitor you. Maybe have Dr. Steele run some blood tests on you,"
Vasile told her.
"Okay, well, I guess I will call Dillon and
let him know that he can come tomorrow if you're sure, Jacque,"
Lilly told her.
"I am sure. Avoiding him won't do me any
good. I think I need some sort of closure or whatever else it is
that psychologists call it." Jacque's voice betrayed the fact that
she really was tired even though she was feeling better.
The rest of the afternoon consisted of Jen
and Jacque taking naps and when they were awake they continually
bantered with one another with Sally as the mediator. There was
never a moment when Jacque wasn't touching Fane or vice versa, both
of them constantly seeking comfort from the other.
Finally, when it was time to call it a night
Sally secured some sheets and a blanket from a nurse and slept on
the couch by the window. Fane pulled up two chairs and sat in one
while propping his feet in the other.
"You are not going to sleep like that,"
Jacque told him skeptically.
"You are right my love, I am not going to
sleep at all," Fane told her. "Don't try to convince me otherwise,
we have a group of strange wolves in your town, one of which is the
father you have never met. There is no way I will sleep under those
circumstances."
"Well, tell us how you really feel there,
white fang," Jen said sarcastically, laying down and pulling the
covers up. She felt really cold for some reason and was beginning
to shiver.
"Are you okay, Jen?" Sally asked, noticing
that her friend was acting like she was cold when it was not cold
in the room.
"I'm just cold all of a sudden. Could you get
me another blanket, Sal?" Jen asked, her teeth chattering
together.
Sally walked over and opened the hospital
room door and stuck her head out. Decebel was standing just to the
right of the door.
"Hey Dec, could you get Jen another blanket
please?" Sally asked him. She could have done it herself but she
was experimenting. What could she say? She was an opportunist.
Decebel stood up straight and turned to face
Sally directly. Trying to look past her into the room he asked,
"Why, is she okay? Is something wrong?" Sally raised a single
eyebrow at him. "I mean if something is wrong we might need to get
Dr. Steele or something, that's why I'm asking," he said, trying to
look nonchalant.
"Uh huh, right. Well, I think maybe she just
has a little fever. That usually makes me shiver. So if you would
be so kind," Sally prompted.
"I will bring them in to you," Decebel said
as he turned away to search for her request.
A moment later the door opened to the room,
letting a stream of light in that shone across the white floor,
making the room seem harsh and uninviting.
Decebel walked over to Jen's bed instead of
handing the blanket to Sally. He spread the blanket out over Jen
while she simply watched him in silence. Once the blanket was in
place he turned and walked out, closing the door quietly behind
him.
"Is he bipolar, schizophrenic, or is there
some weird werewolf gene that makes you a jack ass one moment and
then somewhat nice the next only to then throw you back into jack
ass mode within a single breath?" Jen asked, turning to direct her
question at Fane.
"I don't know what is going on with him, Jen.
I apologize if he is causing you distress. I can talk with him if
you'd like."
"Na, it's all good. If he keeps it up I will
gladly tell him to get the proverbial stick out of his fine, furry
butt." With Jen's final statement the room fell quiet and Fane
began to hear one by one the even breathing of each girl that
indicated they had fallen asleep.