Why a Wolf Cries - Julie Steimle (read a book .TXT) 📗

Randon and Silvia to help with the wolf?” Rick’s heart started to palpitate faster. “Do they know I’m here?”

Andrew nodded. “They stopped by when you were asleep. Randon has mentioned your ‘auto accident’ and that Audry did hear about it so…. Your dad’s plans are basically screwed. She does know you are here. She just doesn’t know which room.”

“Oh, damn. I hope she does not add everything up,” Rick muttered.

“She might.” Will figured with a slow shake of his head.

But Andrew shook his head meaningfully. “I doubt she will. She’s smart, but werewolves don’t fit in her paradigm. Randon said Silvia tested it to make sure.”

Closing his eyes, Rick muttered about Silvia minding her own business.

“You know,” Andrew turned toward him with a tone of changing the subject, “It was really stupid for you to risk your life like that. Audry could have just shot the cougar.”

Rick looked to the ceiling, muttering something about ‘short time’ and ‘didn’t want to risk it’. Yet he said louder, “How is Maris?”

 “I’ll go check on her.” Will said, rising. “That is what I am here for, isn’t it? I am an expert in treating bites, after all.”

Andrew smiled at him with a confirming nod as Will headed toward the door. “I agree. But I think his dad does want you to check out Rick as well.”

Yet Will winked at Rick when he stepped out into the hallway to find his new patient. “We’ll discuss this when I come back to take care of you.”

He halted just two steps outside the room, mentally assessing the things he would need. He would have to have gloves and bandages, and perhaps even a complete kit to rewrap her wounds. Will turned to Tom, whom he hardly knew, and said, “Where is the room for little girl who got attacked by the cougar?”

A grin crooked up to one side of Tom’s mouth, looking quite at home there. “I can show you.”

Will shook his head, recognizing the nature of that grin too well. Eve sometimes had it when she was in a prankish mood. “No. Thanks. I just need a room number. And you are here to guard Rick.”

Sighing wearily, Tom nodded. “I know. But this so boring….” He looked around the mostly empty hallway. “Hospital imps are usually fun, but these are so uptight.”

Will blinked at him, then tugged down Tom’s sunglasses to expose his orange eyes. “Hey… you really are half imp?”

Snatching back his glasses, Tom nodded, a mite confused. “Yeah. And you’re not shocked. Weirdo.”

But Will grinned wider. “No need. My sister is Eve McAllister. Orange eyes are nothing. It’s when her eyes go red that we get worried.”

Tom lowered his sunglasses, nodding slowly. “She’s your sister?”

Extending his hand, Will grinned with pleasure and almost a bow. “I’m William McAllister. And I hear you are the famous Tom Brown.”

Beaming wide, Tom chuckled, taking Will’s hand in a firm shake. “Pleasure.”

Before Will went on his way, he got a whispered (if not instructive) oration from Tom about the family. Tom liked them, but each one had weird quirks which made him like them more. They were good folk, for starters. Normal imps. But their temptations made him chuckle. Skyler’s hugest temptation was simply to climb up and change the channel on all the TVs in the hospital to a sports station. Doug’s was to collect the blood samples in a given day from the lab—which he did not do, though he did have a sample of Rick’s blood for his collection. Tom decided to let him keep it too. Doug was less likely to believe in werewolves than Audry. Maris was sick to death of being in bed and wanted to escape the room. Her mother was anxious about a particular TV show she was missing, but was too adult for Maris to watch with her. She was tempted to sedate her daughter so she could put in earphones and watch it on her cell phone. And Audry was tempted to sneak around and find Rick’s room.

“She knows he’s here.” And Tom smirked about it.

Tom also informed Will that Audry was not only a quick minded skeptic, she was also oddly intuitive. It was best to be straightforward with her, and factually accurate without actually telling her the truth. It usually diverted her and played on her skepticism. Skeptics were easily fooled, Tom explained. Will kept that in mind when he finally got the room number and knocked on the door.

When they replied for him to enter, Will stepped inside. He was not dressed like a doctor, so all eyes questioned who he was. Some were perhaps thinking he was a reporter. Will recognized Randon and Silvia, silently meeting their gazes with a look that said not to reveal too much. They returned the look, continuing as they were when Will introduced himself.

“Hello, I’m Doctor William McAllister.” He smiled as he nodded to the roomful of Bruchenhauses “Which of you are the parents?”

Jean lifted a hand, but did not move as Silvia was still styling her hair, adding finishing touches. She had a tie ready in her fingers. Doug also was in the room, sitting with Skyler on his lap in a corner, nodding off some. He lifted his head then raised Skyler’s hand for him. Skyler rolled his eyes, still playing his video game.

“Did you say McAllister?” The one whom he did not recognize but he assumed had to be Audry, rose from her seat near Randon who was eating lunch while also feeding pieces to Silvia.

Will nodded to her. “Yes. I’m a doctor who specializes in bites and bite trauma. I was flown in from New York to help you.”

“Flown in?” Doug shifted Skyler off his lap, rising from his chair.

Nodding, Will said with a peek to Randon. “Yes. Mr. Deacon would like for me to check out your daughter’s wounds and give you whatever help you need—considering the help you gave him.”

Doug looked to Audry, but then quickly directed Will see Maris. Will looked to her, meeting Maris in the eye with a smile then said, “Do you mind if I unwrap your bandages and look at you wounds? I’ll be gentle.”

With a hesitant peek to her father and mother, Maris nodded, allowing him.

He immediately requested that Doug help him by fetching some replacement bandages and other supplies while he thoroughly rubbed hand sanitizer over his hands before pulling on gloves. As soon as Maris’s father came back with both bandages and such to keep the inspection sanitary, Will McAllister helped ease off her sling and unwrapped the bandages.

He was quiet when he inspected Maris’s wounds. Audry stood near, watching him. The man had a soft yet firm bedside manner. He spoke kindly to Maris as he inspected the stitching and all the bruising as he lifted her arm. It was like he was handing a porcelain doll, in a way. He knew how breakable she was—perhaps too well. Will nodded approvingly at all the work, remarking they did a first-rate job, and he wrapped it up again so that Maris was comfortable once more.

“You are very good patient,” Will said to Maris as he finished it off, easing her arm back into the sling. “I bet you are glad your mom is a nurse.”

Maris nodded. “Yeah.”

“She did an excellent job taking care of your first aid,” he said. “The fun part is, when this is all over, and you’ve healed, you can show off your war wounds to your friends.” He winked.

Audry smothered a laugh. She automatically liked Will.

“Oh, we’ll see if we can remove those scars altogether.” Jean said, brushing hair from Maris’s face.

Yet Will shrugged as if that would be a pity. “If you want. But you should never be ashamed of a scar. All the best survivors have them.”

Maris grinned.

“It shows you’re brave,” he said.

Jean rolled her eyes, not agreeing.

“I want to be brave,” Maris declared. “I want to be good with a gun, just like my Aunt Audry.” 

Will peeked to Audry, eyebrows raising. He knew Rick hated guns. Of course, it was only because people shot at him with them. It had never occurred to him if he had ever thought of arming himself. Jessica would have. For all he knew, she was a fair shot as a police officer.

Audry immediately colored. “Tranquilizer gun. I don’t use a real gun. They’ve got kickback.”

Maris shrugged. “Ok. But you shot the cougar.”

“The wolf killed him first.” Audry immediately argued back, blushing as if she were being accused of committing a heinous crime, such as murdering the cougar, despite the cougar attacking her niece.

“Wow.” Will then shook his head. There was no point in getting involved in that argument. He turned, still stunned, toward Maris’s parents. “Can I speak to you two in private?” He gestured to Jean and Doug to come out into the hallway with him

They nodded, glancing back to Maris.

“We’ll be here,” Audry said, gesturing to everyone else. Of course Maris was perfectly safe with her brother, her aunt, and two radically skilled, if not dangerous (yet good) ghoulies.

“How about I teach you how to braid someone else’s hair,” Silvia suggested to Maris.

With an excited look, Maris nodded to her. “Yeah!”

“Let’s torture your aunt.” Silvia grinned at Audry who rolled her eyes, yet obediently shifted a chair so she could volunteer her fluffy head of hair to her niece.  Randon winked to Will, a bit too much like a cat to be honest, and shooed them out.

All three out in the hallway and away from prying ears, Will only had two thing to address to the parents. PTSD and how to help Maris cope with the aftermath.

“She will have nightmares,” Will said, which they of course knew. “Possible regression. Separation anxiety. Be aware that she might become afraid of animals and animal noises. I can give you tips on how to help her cope. But it would be helpful to know what exactly happened and to deconstruct it for her so she has some sense of ability to defend herself. What we want to instill in her is a sense of self-confidence, so she can fight her fears on her own.”

“Her aunt has been telling her stories about the wolf who saved her,” Jean helpfully supplied, nodding. “We’re starting to call him her guardian wolf. I suppose it gives her some sense that the cougar did not win.”

Pondering on that strategy. Will nodded slowly. “That… might help, actually… very well.” He nodded more to himself, then gave them both his business card for personal contact, deciding that was enough. These were competent workers in the medical field after all. He then decided for them all to return into the room to explore that idea.

“Hi,” he said again to Maris, then looked for a chair to pull up. They were all taken. So he stood with his hands behind his back. “You mother was just telling me about your wolf. Can you tell me about him?”

Maris nodded, halting with one strand of Audry’s hair up, the other two in her hands where Silvia was showing how to do a French braid.

Audry peeked to her, but could not move her head much.

Taking in a deep breath, Maris thought back on the night she got bit, then said, “We were sitting at the campfire when the cougar jumped out at me and bit my arm. His mouth was giant. And it hurt so bad.” Tears went down her face. She sniffled them back. “But then the wolf jumped out of the dark and bit the cougar right on neck, making the cougar let go of me. Daddy got me away, and Aunt Audry shot the cougar when the wolf got tired, ‘cause he was not letting go. And the cougar was acting all crazy until… until… I dunno. Aunt Audry shot him. She said the wolf saved me. But he got hurt. I saw him. He was all bleeding. And his back looked like…” She screwed up her eyes and started