by Charlie Tran
Jason shrugged, “It's not like we had a babysitter. We had to rush here at the last minute after Silver's call.”
“Silver called you? What did he say?” I blinked.
“What, you didn't hear?”
I shook my head, still confused at whatever the fuck was happening.
“Alfie's awake! Silver just told us. We tried to get here as fast as we could, but we got delayed. Did you know there's a bunch of traffic downtown right now?” Forest finally spoke to me. Again, I shook my head, unaware of what was happening so late at night for so many people to be out and about.
“There are tons of bars down here, and it's the weekend. Stop acting so shocked,” Jude huffed at his pack, waltzing by me with the others following in step. “Let's hurry up and go see Alfie.”
I fell into line with the rest of them, scratching at the back of my head. Silver was right after all when he said Alfie was going to wake up soon. Maybe it was his intuition or maybe just a lucky guess, but I was wrong in the end, regardless. We all boarded the elevators. The security guards didn't make any fuss about them coming in, and their suspicion about me had gone now that I was with my pack.
“Silver called all of you?” I asked.
“Just Forest. He told the rest of us. Didn't he tell you?”
“No. We got into a fight.”
“Of course you did. You argue worse than people who've been married for fifty years,” Jude snickered, and I shot him a glare.
“Whatever.”
“Hey, only one visitor after hours!” a nurse scolded us as we entered the ICU. Jude shot him a hateful glare.
“Our friend just woke up out of a coma. Fuck off.” He continued to storm forward, leaving the rest of us to follow in his steps.
“I'm calling security if you don't get out of here,” the man threatened, reaching for the phone on the wall. Jason stepped over to him, and they exchanged words. I walked a bit slower behind, watching them as they spoke briefly.
The nurse finally set the phone down with a scowl on his face. It must be nice knowing so many people in the hospital. I guess being an EMT helped him get a few favors. In exchange for what, I wasn't sure.
“You've got ten minutes,” he said finally, spinning back around in his computer chair with a mean scowl on his face.
Jason gave us the thumbs up, but Jude hadn't waited for the confirmation and was already storming into Alfie's room.
We all piled in together, though it was a rather small room for us all to fit inside. There was the doctor at the bedside waving a finger in front of Alfie's eyes that were indeed wide open. His head was shaking constantly back and forth, though slowly.
“Shit, he wasn't lying. He really is awake.” Jude smiled, and Dr. Clark jumped, clearly not expecting more visitors.
But where was Silver? He called his pack here, so why wasn't he waiting?
Maybe he was in the bathroom.
“He is. What are you all doing here after hours? So... many of you.” The doctor took in each of our faces, pausing on Forest who smiled at him, bouncing Willow on his hip.
“Hey there, Dr. Clark. How are you doing?”
“Good. Your wounds on your chest healed up fine, I take it?”
Forest nodded fervently as Dr. Clark pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose.
“Well, I guess it won't do any harm for you to visit for a few minutes. I know you must be excited to see that he's recovering. And finally awake. Go ahead and say hello.”
The doctor took a step to the side, allowing us to gather around Alfie. I heard everyone's voices chime in simultaneously as they began to speak to Alfie, but something still wasn't sitting right in my gut.
“Did you see Silver in here, Dr. Clark? Small wolf, white hair, needs a haircut,” I asked him, staying a bit back from Alfie's bed to stand aside the doctor. He shook his head, wringing his hands together in thought.
“No. He was here earlier, however. But I haven't seen him since Alfie first woke up. I'm sure he'll return shortly. That boy is always here checking in on your friend here.”
My lips tightened, and I exited the room. The others didn't say anything, probably not paying much attention as I took a step out. I lifted my nose slightly, taking in several deep breaths in an attempt to pick up Silver's scent. He smelled earthy, like moss and flowers, and it wasn't long before I was on his trail. I must have looked pretty goofy walking around trying to sniff like a dog on the hunt, but I ignored the few strange looks I received as I pressed down the hallway. The smell took me past the restrooms, down the hallway further, until I reached the very end near the fire escape.
Why would he take the stairs down and not the elevator? That didn't make any sense.
“Hey, what are you doing?” the same nurse from before piped up, looking as annoyed as he had only moments earlier.
“I was looking for someone...” I began to say, but he raised a hand to cut me off. Rude.
“No one is allowed down there unless there's an emergency. The other fire exit,” he pointed to the side, “is where you can leave. Only doctors can use this one during non-emergency situations.”
As soon as he turned away, I flipped him off behind his back and received a couple of chuckles from the other nurses. They must not have any favorable opinions on this asshole either, so I didn't feel bad about it.
I peeked my head back into Alfie's room, clearing my throat to catch everyone’s attention.
“His scent went past the bathroom and down the steps. I don't know where he would have run off to.”
“Why are you always on his case? Maybe he just needed some air.” Forest rolled his eyes at me, and I stuck my tongue out in reply.
“Forest is right. Maybe you should give him some space. He obviously doesn't want you hounding him every second of the day,” Jude agreed.
“We just went through hell tonight, and...” I noticed Dr. Clark listening in on the conversation intently, and I quickly changed my words. “And he isn't here to check on any of us? Or stay at Alfie's side even? Something doesn't sit right with me about that.”
“Shut up, already. We're here for Alfie. We'll find Silver soon,” Jason spat. Like he gave a shit about Alfie when he was making deals with Declan. But I didn't say that aloud, keeping my thoughts to myself.
Instead, I leaned against the open doorway and pulled my phone out to send a text to Silver telling him to get his ass back here. I was genuinely worried, even if the rest of our pack felt like everything was going to be okay now that Alfie was no longer in a coma.
“How long do you think it'll take for him to be able to speak again?” Jason asked.
“There's no specific time frame. But with some therapy, he'll be speaking again in no time. The real problem will be getting him walking again,” Dr. Clark replied.
“Why? What's wrong with his legs?” Forest looked around at everyone and received a sympathetic pat on the shoulder from his mate.
“Not using your muscles for such a long time makes it harder to use them. But physical therapy will be great for him.”
“You seem to have all the answers for someone who's just an EMT,” I huffed, folding my arms over my chest while staring at my phone screen. Still no reply from Silver.
“Do you think all we learn about is driving a big fancy ambulance? You learn the basics about plenty of medical issues,” Jason snapped back at me.
I ignored him, instead sending another text to Silver, hoping he would reply soon.
'Stop ignoring me. I wanna see you.'
I sighed, finally pocketing the phone. I didn't wanna get my hopes up. More than likely, he wasn't going to be saying anything back to me as fast as I wanted him to. If at all. He'd come back from wherever he was and say that he had forgotten to turn his phone off of silent mode as he did usually.
So, for now I'd wait, enjoy the rest of the time we had to visit Alfie, and then go off to find my idiot and take him home with the rest of us.
5
Silver
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br /> I almost tripped as Vik dragged me down the cement steps of the fire escape. He'd snuck us both down there without the nurses noticing and had threatened me if I said anything. He swore that if he didn't return back to the Grey Brotherhood, they'd just send more people after us until they got one of our heads. I couldn't tell whether or not he was lying, but after every last thing that had happened to my pack at the hands of these bastards, it was better to be safe rather than sorry.
Once we reached the bottom of the staircase, two sets of doors greeted us on either side, one that lead right into the hospital on the main floor and the other that would lead us outside. I had hoped that with him pushing through the doors, it would set off some type of alarm. He continued to drag me by the shoulder, pushing me into the doors first and opening them up with the weight of my body. Nothing. No alarm, no blaring sirens going off at our exit. Did they have them disabled, or was it just a damn coincidence?
As we exited into the freezing evening air, Vik made sure to keep the pace up, compelling me to move into a jog or be dragged across the ground. And with no one else outside to see the struggle, there was no point in furthering the delay of my demise. Whatever demise he had planned for me, anyway.
“There, stop moving.” The disguised wolf pushed me against the side of the car, leaning over the front of my body to keep me in place while keeping his hands free. He forced his keys into the side of the car door. They gave a long cranking sound in the old school metal handle before the lock popped open inside the vehicle. My heart started to race as he pulled me away far enough for the door to swing open, and I began to dig my feet into the ground while my captor attempted to push me inside. I was freezing up, physically unable to move out of fear.
“Get in, damn it,” Vik cursed under his breath before he became even more violent. He grabbed both of my shoulders, and with his lithe muscular frame was easily able to pick me up with his claws and toss me into the vehicle headfirst, almost slamming my hand into the roof of the car.
“Ouch!” I cried out, my shoulder and the top of my head colliding with the buckles for the seat belts, scratching the side of my cheek.
The door slammed behind me before the driver's side opened up, with Vik sliding inside himself.
“Shut up. We've gotta hurry up and get out of here. You're wasting too much of my time.” He had already started the car and was pulling out of the rear parking lot where there were very few cars parked. There was no one to see what was going on or to report the vehicle's license plate to call for help. Nothing anyone could do at all. It was then that I realized something even stranger about the vehicle. Although the outside had been painted a solid dark gray color, the inside had a gate in the middle between the seats. keeping the passenger and driver from interacting with one another. Like in a police car.
“You steal this too?” I snorted, leaning my head against the gate while attempting to slyly feel around the door for a lock. If I was able to pull it open, I'd be able to barrel roll out onto the street. But alas, there was nothing for me to pop open. It was as if the locking latches themselves had been ripped out, so the only way in and out was from the outside.
“No, it was a gift. From good ol' Evan himself.” Vik turned hard out onto the street toward the right with enough velocity that it made me slide into the door, my other cheek painfully hitting the window.
“Vik. Come on. There's no need to do this.” I stared at him through the rearview mirror, hoping that he would eventually make eye contact with me. “Evan is dead. Declan is dead. I heard that Leon was a nobody compared to them. We can both be free of the Grey Brotherhood if we try.” I couldn't tell which approach would be the most useful, being aggressive or passive.
“You used to be right, but since they are gone-if they really are as you say-that makes Leon a somebody. The only somebody who is allowed to call the shots within their group. I gotta do what I gotta do.” Vik smiled coolly, finally meeting my gaze for a moment before focusing his sights on the road once more.
I sighed, laying down on the seats now instead of sitting up, thinking, mulling over any plan of action.
Maybe I could smash through the gate with my feet, but what if he spun out and we both died? I couldn't get out of the back seat, and it'd be hard to make a hole big enough to fit my body through. It just wasn't worth it right now.
I huffed, rolling onto my side again only to hear something thud onto the floor below.
“Stop moving around so much,” Vik growled. I cleared my throat and nodded, though it was doubtful he could see me doing so from my position. As I peered down to see what had made the sound, my eyes widened when I saw my phone lying in an upright position with the screen lit up highlighting a recent text that had just come in from Lucas.
Vik didn't appear to be paying much attention to me, so I snatched for it. I grabbed my phone, and rather than pocketing it, I put it on the inside of my pants. They were snug enough that it wouldn't go sliding around, but I was fearful of getting searched wherever it was that he was taking me. And if they took it from me, they could use it to get to the rest of my pack. There was no way they were honest enough to only take the one life, or hostage rather, as Vik had noted. While trying to stow the phone away, I almost fell off of the seat, landing on my knees and bumping into the back of the gate and pushing into the driver's seat.
“Didn't I just tell you to stop moving so much? The fuck?” Vik growled, this time looking over his shoulder back toward me instead of peering through the mirror. I rolled back up onto the seat, slightly uncomfortable now that the phone was digging into my hip. I did my best to ignore it, though my face must have shown some degree of pain, as Vik turned around to mention it.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
I didn't reply, turning my head away to stare at the peeling upholstery of the back passenger seats.
Vik sighed, and I could hear his knuckles crack as he squeezed the steering wheel.
“If I didn't have to do this, I swear I wouldn't. Okay? Every wolf for himself. I have no other choice.”
“Why not?” I finally asked him.
“Because. I owe them too. If I don't do this, then they'll come after me next.”
I blinked, craning my neck to stare at him curiously. “What did you do? Scuff one of their shoes?”
“I owe them, okay? More money than I could hope to make working at a car wash. Leon got me hooked and I couldn't quit the habit. Just kept taking out loans with them until they finally called it in. So, now I gotta do their dirty work for them.”
“Was the habit shootable or snortable?” I asked, frowning.
“That's neither here nor there. It doesn't matter now. I already got you, and if you'd please stop trying to guilt me into letting you go, that'd be great.” I could see the corner of his lip rise in a grin at his own sarcastic humor. But nothing about this was funny. Not in the least.
We drove for almost an hour before we came to a halt. Of course, I couldn't keep track of the total amount of time we'd been driving, with the stereo and clock in the dashboard seeming to be completely out of commission. But it had felt like forever.
“We're going through the back.” Vik exited the vehicle, slamming his door before finally opening mine up. “And if anyone asks, I was brutal. Gimme your arms.”
I could have sworn there was an ounce of pity in his eyes as I leaned up from the seat, extending both of my hands forward only to feel something cool and hard slap across them.
Of course, if he was driving a cop car, he would have handcuffs.
“Why didn't you do this sooner?” I asked as he pulled me out of the car, trying to give him the most pathetic, sad look I could muster.
“I'm not a thug, you know. I told you, this isn't my choice. I have to do this, but since you came nicely, I didn't see the need to totally bash you unconscious and tie you up. I'm not evil.”
Sure, he might have been somewhat humane in my treatment, but if he thought what he was doing wasn't exactl
y evil, I was going to be frightened to see what evil truly was at the hands of the Grey Brotherhood.
There was a light sprinkle in the air, and moisture dripped across our clothing as we walked slowly toward the back door of the place, whatever it was. I could hear loud, thumping music within, but it couldn't possibly be a club. Glancing around, it looked like we were out in the middle of nowhere. It was the fucking boondocks. Why would anyone want to come all the way out here just to party?
Vik knocked at the door, and we both waited for a long pause before a small peephole slid open. A pair of dark eyes glared out at him before turning toward me, giving me a look up and down that made my skin crawl.
“You gonna let us in or what, Carl?” Vik barked, only for the peephole to slide shut yet again. Instead, the door opened this time, just barely wide enough for us to slide our bodies in from the side.
Vik didn't say anything more to the massive wolf as we entered, his eyes still focusing on me with a sickening grin.
“Welcome to the Gilded Heart.” He chuckled to himself before settling down onto a comparably tiny stool, his arms folded over his large belly.
I wrinkled my nose as we walked through another door, the room here rather dark aside from the black lights placed sporadically around the ceiling that barely lit the path down the hallway.
The carpet was disgusting, and some places seemed to be covered with something sticky that had dried and was now coated with dirt. Others looked rather damp and stank of urine. Again, there was no way that anyone could be coming to a place so disgusting to go clubbing-unless they were coming for something more than just a drink and techno music.
The next room, connected from this back area, was a bit more well-lit. Interior lighting consisted of sconces on the wall giving an almost romantic display of soft lighting, the walls a deep red wallpaper. And while there were still a few dirty places I'd rather not step on barefoot and stains on the wall, it wasn't that bad. The thumping sounds of heavy bass almost seemed to be diluted back here, as though there had been soundproofing put across the rest of the walls underneath.