Chapter 14
YVAINE
Sunlight was cascading down through gaps in the gray clouds, like hope daring to give it a try. I hurried through the revolving doors of the pediatric cancer center, though my shift wouldn’t officially start for another hour.
I liked waking up the children, checking their vitals, and chatting a little.
They were always so cheerful in the morning, as was their innocent nature.
At night, or in the late afternoon, hope was stolen by a fear of loneliness and the remembrance that they were sick. They were living their nightmares.
Just as the early morning light spread hope within me, for those kids, there was no difference.
Hurrying along the buffed stone floor of the lobby, I passed the marble wall inscribed with the names of benefactors, then snuck my way through the crowds of people.
In amongst the congestion, so many faces were familiar, from admin staff to doctors and nurses.
Even the stressed-out families were anonymous yet intimate to me, on some level.
I stepped into the staff room while shrugging off my coat. There I caught Teresa mid-yawn, the back of her hand covering her mouth while the other jotted down notes on her pad.
“Ivy!” The smell of a cinnamon candle lit up on an autumn night wafted toward me. “How are you this morning? Done your ice bath?”
Teresa was probably the kindest human I had ever been lucky enough to meet. Her strawberry-blonde hair pulled back into a soft bun and her heart-shaped face exuded a sense of sweetness, just like her scent. A warm smile perpetually adorned her face.
We would be friends, if either of us had the capacity for new friendships in our lives.
“Always!” I hugged her, towering over her delicate figure. Helping Teresa put away the new medical equipment, I asked, “How are classes?”
“Too much; I barely have time to sleep.” She shoved her hands under her armpits in a self-hug or an attempt to keep them warm, maybe both. “I don’t know how you manage to have friends and dates.”
“Friends, a few. Dates?” I scoffed. “I wouldn’t have time for those, even if I had time.”
“I think the last time I went on a date was before medical school.”
“You can crash at my place anytime. It’s closer to your campus.” Teresa went to a human university not far from ours, but she lived extremely far away. For some alien reason, she refused to move closer.
“Oh, thanks, Ivy. That’s so sweet, but I’m fine here with the children. I am.”
I often found her sleeping on a cot, unable to leave the kids for the night.
Not a healthy habit. Getting attached was dangerous.
I’d done it before, and my heart had never quite recovered.
The tragic part wasn’t even remembering their faces, but remembering what was listed right next to them. What had taken them away from us.
Federico, meningioma.
Pia, acoustic neuroma.
Ezekiel, leukemia.
It was almost as if the diseases had faces of their own. Dark silhouettes with slitted eyes and toothless grins, hissing, I won.
“I’m a dessert hound, too!” I added. “If you ever want to do a food crawl around the city so I can find all the best slices of cake, I’m down.”
Her hands folded in front of her like a serene bride. “My kind of plan.”
Pulling my hair into a ponytail, I beelined for room 237.
I smiled at Georgie lying in bed and put his chart down, then took my stethoscope out of my scrub pocket. “Ready for our check-ups?”
I placed the stethoscope against his chest, handing him another one. He mimicked me with a small giggle. He’d stopped talking since his mother passed; every time I got a giggle out of him, it was a victory.
“See? Our hearts are talking to each other now.”
This time, we both smiled.
His head was completely hairless, the overhead lighting bouncing off the smooth surface. His face sagged with the yellowish bags under his eyes.
I took the blood pressure equipment from the second drawer and tugged it open. “Now, blood pressure.”
Slowly, I bent his arm into position for the cuff, ignoring the prominent bones covered by a thin layer of skin matted with petechiae. The little piff-piff-piff of the balloon inflating the sleeve took longer than usual, but eventually, it got tight.
It was bad, and my heart tripped over itself. “Strawberry or peach today?”
He nodded toward my left hand, and I handed him the peach lollipop.
Too busy licking his prize, he didn’t notice when I pierced his overly punctured skin. I taped the needle in place and connected it to the IV line, which led to the bag of chemotherapy drugs hanging from the stand.
The bag was labeled with warnings and dosages, but we always covered them with cute adhesives. This one had smiling flowers and mushrooms.
“Star!”
There was Mrs. Tina in the doorway, her arm waving vigorously, her smile almost splitting her face in half.
Her magnificent green hair bobbed as if it were saluting me, too.
Like Teresa, she practically lived in the hospital.
A werewolf lady without a medical background, she had been volunteering here for a couple of years and was as sweet as the apple pies she baked for us.
Since I missed my grandparents so much, she was serving as a replacement until I could get to Scotland for a visit.
Mrs. Tina’s mate had passed away a few years ago, although thankfully, she had children and grandchildren to ease the scary void caused by the loss of her true love.
While she still wore black to mourn him, she’d now taken to dying her hair different colors to express herself. Today happened to be green.
She also lived outside her original pack, Dark Diamond, near the forest close to the children’s hospital, which treated both human children and were-kids—or at least those were-kids young enough to have not yet had their first transformation.
“Mrs. Tina, how are you today?”
“My end is near. My legs are creaking like an old floorboard riddled with holes.” Yet she hurried to me, hence disproving her statement. I doubted the end was near for someone who could run like that without getting out of breath.
Arching an eyebrow, I offered my elbow to her as we moved through the big room together.
“Star, you’re such an apple pie!” Mrs. Tina smothered down the tail of her black scarf. “I know I’ll just mummify alone. That’s fine.” Her shoulders slumped. “Last night, I only had some old bread for dinner.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Mrs. Tina, I remember you telling Teresa how you had fresh venison and your neighbors’ berry sauce waiting for you.”
She looked at me like a deer in headlights, probably the same way her own dinner had looked at her before it was killed.
“Damn werewolf ears.” She cursed like the sailor she tried not to be in front of me.
“True, but then I was hungry again. And I just had old, measly, stale bread from the day before!” She covered up her lie like it was nothing.
“Would you be an apple pie and help me out tonight? I only have the pain in my leg and loneliness for company.”
Guilt overwhelmed me. I wrapped my arms around her tightly. “Of course! I have the night shift for my practice tonight, but I can swap with Tiziano and cover his next one.”
“Oh no, I lied,” she deadpanned. No trace of remorse.
“I just really need you to meet my boy,” she pleaded, with that calculating look of hers.
“It could improve my health! And my boy’s always so busy with that unnecessary training of his!
” Her eyes crinkled at the corners. “Why does he have to do all that?”
Was that question meant for me?
I opened my mouth.
“Isn’t he bloated with enough muscles already? What could he possibly do with more?”
I smiled. I guess not.
“And tonight, he remembered he has a granny and promised to come eat some old bread with me! And elk. I got some for him.”
Her grandson featured in all her conversations, and she tried to introduce me to him on at least a daily basis.
I moved to the second child with an alcohol wipe. Cleaned the area on his arm to get a blood sample. Inserted the needle into the vein above the left elbow, right where an old needle scar was and always would be.
“I just think you two are perfect for each other!” Here we go again. Next, she’d mention flower arrangements and bridesmaid dresses. “Your pups could win the Pup Beauty World Contest!”
She cupped her mouth, so the children couldn’t hear her, and whispered, “He’s really handsome, Ivy.
Two girls came to my house to look for him and ask questions about his whereabouts!
” Her shoulders shook with laughter. “My poor boy forbade me to talk about his business with all his girlfriends ever again! You see, I gave them his number!”
I doubted they were friends with her grandson, or at least not in the way she meant.
I offered her my elbow, and we strolled down the hall together again.
As I passed through the rooms, checking and taking notes, she was by my side all the way, handing me tools, jotting down data, or just chatting with the children.
Rudolph disturbed my mind, or tried to, and I felt a strange urge to check my phone. Had he texted me again? Then again, why would he?
“You could knock some sense into my Lolo. You’re exactly what that poor boy needs!”
I shook my head, checking the IV level.
“You want me to babysit him, Mrs. Tina?”
“Whatever you do in your married life is fine with me.” Her shoulders slumped. “Goddess knows he needs some love. His mom was a human…for a time, at least. Couldn’t bear life with wolves and ran away, leaving my poor son and grandchildren all alone.”
Tragedy. It happened all too often.
Placing a hand on her shoulder, I was glad to spot a spark of warmth in her eyes. Never underestimate the power of small gestures. “I’m so sorry, Mrs. Tina. I hope your family’s recovered.”
“My son visits her from time to time, but that hussy abandoned her pups. Who does that?” A growl escaped her lips.
More than we know, I thought.
“I’ll tell you what. Why don’t we meet with your grandson in two or three weeks?
My schedule will be freer after my medical practice.
” I took her wrinkled hands in mine. I loved her wedding ring, carved in wood by her lost mate, and how it captured the light like he was still here. A love still within her.
“Oh, my dear star, you are such a ray of sunshine. My boy would be lucky to have you as a fated mate.” She stroked my cheek before a sly glint peeked through. “But let me talk to Lolo. I’ll see when he’s free. You know these boys nowadays.”
A thought occurred to me when she said that. “Oh, Mrs. Tina? Do you know a Lucien from Dark Diamond?”
She hummed, tapping her chin. “The only Lucien I know who’s close to your age is a short boy with black, greasy hair.”
Oh.
Could that be my Lucien? Maybe Mrs. Tina didn’t know him… Dark Diamond was a massive pack, after all.
“The other’s an oldie like me,” she added.
“No, he’s around my age.” Probably.
I strode down the corridor, fiddling with my white coat and my phone, which I hadn’t had reason to use yet.
Only at the end of my shift did I peek at it. Messages crowded the screen.
The first was from Makena, saying that all the roommates were going to have a snack at our usual place. I quickly checked my agenda and saw that I didn’t have time.
“Maybe if I start my night shift earlier…or, wait, an hour later,” I muttered to myself, rearranging my day to fit my friends.
The second message was in the group chat with my favorite twins—Archie and Aurora, my childhood best friends in Europe—to organize our monthly catch-up call. Again, I checked my bulky agenda and quickly texted them my availability.
As I opened the third message, I noticed that it was from an unknown number. My heartbeat spiked, but disappointment flooded me when it wasn’t Rudolph.
Dear Miss MacKenzie,
We’re reaching out from the Student Activities Office to gauge your interest in joining the upcoming Wereball Medical Assistance Program.
It’s a four-hour extracurricular activity, and as a medical student entering a competitive field, your CV would greatly benefit from the inclusion of WMAP experience.
Looking forward to your response.
I tapped my lip once.
And accepted the opportunity.