by Marie Fraser
Slowly, Jason had picked up the skills and now he was a master. He had no degree nor did he have any fancy culinary teacher to fall on for support. Jason had reached this point with his own hard work and Rachel’s never-ending support.
Jason filled the form and got up to hand it over to the reception.
“Will you be bringing in the documents?” The receptionist asked him as she looked at the form.
“There’s a slight problem with that.” Jason told her, scratching his head.
“We were travelling so our documents are back at home and it’ll be quite a hassle to bring them over.” Jason told her. “Can we mail them after going back home?”
This way, Jason could ask the girl for her real details and they could figure out a better plan to throw the insurance company and the hospital off.
“I’m not sure. Can I get back to you on this?” The receptionist asked, stamping Jason’s form and filling in his details into her computer.
“You won’t stop her treatment, right?” Jason asked, anxiously.
“No-no, don’t worry.” The receptionist reassured him.
“Alright, thank you.” Jason said.
She told him to wait in the waiting room until Anastasia’s doctor returned with more news on her condition. Jason sat down next to a family of three, holding each other’s hands and praying.
“Are you here with someone?” The woman asked him after a few minutes of silence and empty smiles.
“Yes, my wife.” Jason said, the words sounding absurd to his own ears as well.
“What happened?” The woman asked, forlornly.
“Car accident.” Jason told them, the guilt eating him alive.
“I’m so sorry to hear that.” The woman patted his hand and smiled at him, kindly.
“Who are you here for?” Jason asked them.
“Our elder son.” The man told him.
“I’m so sorry, what happened?” Jason asked.
“We were out hunting when a bear came towards us…” The woman told him before breaking down.
Her husband moved to wrap his arms around her as Jason tried to find the right words to offer to them as solace. How could he make a mother feel better after she had nearly lost her child? It seemed like a difficult task and Jason was not the right person to try to fulfil it.
“I hope he feels better soon, ma’am.” Jason consoled.
“You’re too kind.” The man told Jason as he turned to look at the emergency unit doors open and the doctors, along with the nurse he had talked to before.
Jason got up and walked to them as the nurse gestured for the doctor to face Jason.
“Are you with Mrs. Anastasia Stockholm?” The doctor asked.
“Yes, I’m her husband.” Jason told them, fearfully.
The expression on the doctor’s face showed that the situation wasn’t completely safe as of yet.
“I’m Dr. Calhoun and I’ll be dealing with your wife’s case.” Dr. Calhoun told Jason.
“How is she?” Jason asked, gulping down the fear.
“She’s better than the condition in which she arrived.” Dr. Calhoun told Jason. “However, we were unable to bring her back.”
“I’m sorry?” Jason asked, confused.
She was better but she wasn’t? What was that supposed to mean?
“I’m sorry but your wife is in a coma for the time being. We’re doing everything we can.” Dr. Calhoun told Jason, regretfully.
Jason couldn’t believe what a mistake he had made. He had put someone through so much, only because had been coping with his own problems so dreadfully.
Jason was an evil person for doing this.
“Can I see her?” Was the only thing Jason had the courage to ask.
Chapter 4:
Aiyana could feel her body breaking in multiple areas and rejoining.
What had happened?
The last thing she remembered was chasing the deer out on to the road. She had hunted during the day and after her shift had ended, she had gone back out in to the forest to hunt some more before going home for the night. She had been focused on two things at once. She had been hunting alongside with communicating with the pack, using their wolf powers to talk.
The pack had the ability to talk to each other over a vast distance through their minds if they were in their wolf form.
Recently, a catastrophe had occurred in the area surrounding their own clan. Someone was hurting people and businesses and making it look like wolves were behind it. For this very reason, the pack had decided to stay on guard and keep an eye on things to find out what was actually going on.
They had been discussing this when Aiyana had run out on to the road, without realizing she was doing so. She had seen a flash of light before falling unconscious. Aiyana didn’t know where she was and it felt like she had just woken up from a long sleep, albeit a tiring one. The worst part? She was awake, but only consciously. Her mind was awake but her body wasn’t moving. She couldn’t feel any of her limbs and at first, the sensation was quite unsettling. She couldn’t open her eyes and wondered what was going on.
She didn’t know where she was and had no way of finding out.
Aiyana felt something on her hand and an electric shock went through her. All of a sudden, her body was on fire, her senses heightened like she was on another world. Everything sang for the touch she felt, a touch that made her want to fly into the sky and squeal. What was happening and who was touching her? Why was Aiyana feeling so warm and peaceful all of a sudden?
“I’m so sorry…” She heard the most melodious voice speaking to her.
Who was this angel and what were they apologizing for? Aiyana didn’t know but she knew wanted them to speak again.
“I was so reckless. I’m so sorry for hurting you with my car.” The voice said and slowly Aiyana understood what was happening around her.
She had run on to the road and this man, this beautiful man’s car had hit her. She had no doubt transformed back to her human form, which is why she was unable to wake up. She was going to heal as a human and that meant it would be a while longer than it would if she was still in her wolf form.
“How long will she be in a coma for?” Aiyana heard the man ask someone.
“I think it will be a few days, but there is no way to tell. The longer she is out, the worse her chances are.” Aiyana heard someone tell the man and she assumed she was in a hospital.
Aiyana wondered how far she was from her clan and tried to concentrate her attention on contacting Joshua. She had to let him know what was going on and where she was. Otherwise, her mother and her pack would worry and only God knew the steps they would take to track her down.
She tried to shut out the man’s voice, she didn’t understand why he was affecting her so much in the first place. Aiyana had a feeling the answer was something she had heard about and read about, but definitely had hoped wouldn’t happen to her. Hence, she ignored those thoughts.
She tried to shut out the man’s voice, who was still talking to the doctor but her mind wanted to listen to him instead of contacting Joshua which made it all the more difficult.
Aiyana tried counting to ten, knowing this was the only way she could have a semblance of a chance to make her contact with the pack. She didn’t know how long she had been unconscious for and she didn’t want to worry anyone unnecessarily.
“Are you giving her another shot?” The man asked someone who had just entered the room.
“This will help her relax. She might be able to hear us right now, which isn’t good as it makes the patient uncomfortable since they can’t move. This will help her sleep.” A woman told the man, the man Aiyana was feeling so warm for.
Aiyana didn’t want to fall asleep, she didn’t know when she’d wake up and when she’d be able to talk to her clan. She wished so much that she could snap out of the comatose state she was in but her body just wouldn’t listen to her.
“If you hear me, just know I’m here for you a
nd I won’t leave you here alone.” The man said to Aiyana and she felt his hand on her face which burned like the morning sun meeting the horizon.
“You can give the shot now.” The man told the nurse.
Aiyana could hear the nurse moving around, playing with different tubes. Aiyana wondered if the nurse would inject the shot into her and wanted to scream out.
“You won’t inject this right?” The man asked the nurse.
“No, I’ll inject it into the IV that’s already been attached to her hand.” The nurse told him as Aiyana sighed in relief.
She knew she had no way out of this and resorted to staying asleep until the medication wore off.
Aiyana felt a warm feeling spreading in her body, a feeling that was making her lose consciousness, or what she had left of it. The last thing she remembered hearing was a door closing behind her and then she was out. There was no voice, there was no one. It was only her and the darkness, and the tranquility.
*** *** ***
“Aiyana?” Aiyana heard someone call out.
She tried to open her eyes, the medication wearing off and she was disappointed to see she was still in the coma.
A minute later Aiyana realized the voice hadn’t come from her surroundings but had come from inside her mind.
“Aiyana? Are you there?” It was the Joshua, the alpha wolf of her pack.
“Can you hear me?” Aiyana spoke through her mind, relieved that he had managed to get in to contact with her.
“Faintly.” Joshua told her and Aiyana knew what he meant for his own voice was also coming to her like an echoing whisper and not as clear as it would when she was in her wolf form.
Regardless, this was still something and Aiyana wanted to take advantage of the connection before it would wear off.
“Where are you? What’s happening….” Joshua’s voice was fading in and out.
“I’m in a hospital. Someone hit me with their car and brought me here.” Aiyana told him, hurriedly, not wanting to waste time in unnecessary conversation.
“Can you tell me the location? I’ll come and get you.” Joshua said.
Aiyana took a minute too long to answer and Joshua said,
“Are you gone?”
“No, I’m here. I don’t know the location.” Aiyana told him, hesitantly.
“Hmm, okay. We’ll start looking around.” Joshua told her.
“No!” Aiyana said a bit too loudly.
“What do you mean?” Joshua was asking all the right questions.
What did she mean?
Did she not want to go home?
The answer was no. For some reason, a desperate need inside her made her want to stay here and find out more about this man who had made her feel so much even in a coma.
“I mean, um,” Aiyana tried to come up with an excuse. “You all need to protect the clan and find out who the people behind the attacks are. If you come looking for me, the pack will be on their own to protect the clan and they can’t handle this without you.”
“Hmm, but what about you?” Joshua asked, concerned.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll find a way to get back the moment I’m out of the coma.” Aiyana told him, confidently.
This was her buying time. She knew she was running away from her duty but maybe a few days of being human would be good for her.
“Coma?!” Joshua asked and Aiyana realized she hadn’t told him this yet.
“Yes.” Aiyana said, much to surprise, laughingly.
“I will kill this human if I get my hands on him.” Joshua said, protectively, the way he would when it concerned any of the wolves.
“No.” Aiyana said before she could control herself.
The thought of Joshua hurting this man in any way made Aiyana very upset.
“Alright then…” Joshua said, suspiciously.
“I mean, we can’t afford to waste time on this. I’ll handle this on my own.” Aiyana told him, trying to cover up her feelings.
She knew that Joshua would flip if he found out she was trying to protect an outsider.
“Tell mom I’m fine.” Aiyana said, diverting the conversation.
“I will, she’s been worried sick.” Joshua scolded. “Be more responsible.”
“I know.” Aiyana admitted, knowing she had been very reckless.
She didn’t even know if the man had seen her transform and was too scared to even discuss the possibility of it with Joshua as she knew it would cause him to lose control over his anger. As Omega, she was bound to protect their secret and was supposed to be just as responsible as Joshua. She had made quite a foolish mistake by hunting so far away from her own clan. She knew Joshua was going to flip when she would tell him about the man running the car into her in her wolf form.
Perhaps he hadn’t considered this part of the equation yet and that is why he wasn’t asking.
Yet, Aiyana couldn’t hide such a huge thing from him.
“Did you guys find any leads?” Aiyana asked but no reply came.
Joshua was gone, the connection had broken.
Aiyana lay still for a little while longer, not that she had a choice in the first place. The room was oddly quiet and Aiyana wondered where the man was, the man who had brought her here.
She heard the door open a little while later and soon after she felt the presence of the man next to her as he sat down somewhere close to her side.
“Hey.” The man said as a phone rang.
“Hello? The man answered the call. “I’ve been meaning to call, Rachel.”
Rachel? Who was Rachel? Aiyana felt a slight pang of jealous deep within her and tried to mask it as irritation over the phone call ringing and disturbing her peace.
“There’s been a problem.” The man told this Rachel. “I won’t be joining you.”
“I can’t explain right now, its work related.” The man told the woman and Aiyana felt a slight sense of pleasure over the fact that he was ditching his girlfriend for her.
The sad realization about Aiyana only being a petty case consumed her and she knew this was the truth. The man was going out of his way only because he had ended up hurting Aiyana.
It hadn’t escaped Aiyana’s notice that she was being so gracious towards the man who had hit her with his car. Why was she acting this way? The answer was one that would terrify her if she tried to delve further in to it.
“I’ll make it up to you. I love you.” The man told Rachel and Aiyana felt her body falling into some dark pit.
Why was she being this way? She knew then she had to kill the feelings inside her, before they developed further.
Yet, Aiyana knew that was impossible. Because the man sitting next to her was her mate, she had connected with him in the way she had read about in her clan’s history. However, he loved another woman.
Chapter 5:
Jason couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought of Jessica in the past three days. Yes, it had been three days since he had brought Anastasia to the hospital. She hadn’t woken up and Jason was beginning to get really worried about her state. The doctors were trying their best to figure out what was the best way to deal with her case. They simply kept saying she would wake up when she was ready.
Jason had been in the hospital for the past three days straight, he had told Rachel what was happening only yesterday after keeping her in the dark for the first few days. She had advised him to stick to the lie he had told, no matter what it took.
Rachel knew if he told the hospital the truth, he would end up getting arrested for the accident, which was something she didn’t want right now, as it would affect their business badly. Rachel was all about PR, she would always ensure the business only received good attention. This, if revealed to the public, would be catastrophic, which was something Rachel would not be okay with.
She was, for now, enjoying her week while Jason was working on keeping up with the lie that had cascaded out of control. One of the nurses, Elizabeth, had asked Jason how he and Anastasia had met and now
the whole hospital was talking about their love story, which Jason had exaggerated quite a bit.
Jason felt guilty for making such an elaborate lie without discussing it with Anastasia first. He didn’t even know if she was going to be on board with the lie and if she wasn’t, Jason was going to be in all sorts of trouble. He was trying very hard to leave that to be dealt with when it required his attention.
Jason was in the cafeteria right now, getting himself a cup of coffee. The family he had talked to on the night of the accident was still waiting for their elder son to recover. He had been injured very badly and was undergoing extensive operations and surgeries to bring back his ability to move and function.
In the past few days, Jason had grown quite close to the family, which had made him realize how much he missed his own childhood. He hadn’t reconnected with his own father and mother in so long and after this weekend had pledged to reconnect with them. He knew family was an important part of everyone’s life and one part that could not be forgotten so easily.
He drank his coffee and ate his bagel quickly, not wanting to intrude on the family’s privacy even though they were kindly keeping him around to ensure he wouldn’t be alone. Jason wondered what these people would think if they found out he had lied about his relationship with Anastasia. They would no doubt be upset as much as all the staff who had been treating him so nicely over the past few days.
He finished his breakfast and walked back to the room Anastasia had been placed in. He had ensured that she was provided with the most expensive and comfortable lodging away from the more commercial and public ward of the hospital.
Jason began running when he saw a flurry of nurses and doctors standing inside Anastasia’s room. What could have happened for so many doctors to arrive? Jason entered the room and nearly fainted when he saw Anastasia was up, her eyes open and staring at all the staff members around her.
“Anastasia, how are you feeling?” Dr. Calhoun asked and Jason knew he was going to get caught.
