ChapterThree
1335 Words
Ravena took a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart. "Okay, Ravena, you’re just being paranoid," she whispered to herself, glancing around the sterile room. "There’s nothing out there. It’s just the shadows playing tricks on you."
She shook her head, trying to dispel the creeping fear. “I’m just imagining things. The forests can’t be watching me. It’s just—”
As Ravena's heart raced with determination, she strained against the confines of the hospital bed, only to realise she was bound by the hospital drip. Panic surged within her, but she fought to remain calm. Just then, a poised nurse entered the room, her strikingly unusual eyes capturing Ravena's attention.
"Finally…," the nurse said with a quick smileas she dropped the medication tray. Ravena wondered as it almost sounded like the nurse anticipated this moment. "You've been unconscious for two days."
Ravena's confusion deepened as she absorbed the nurse's words.
“Your record…” the nurse continued, opening Ravena’s file with a practiced ease.
“You haven't got anyone coming in to ask about you…uhm… Ethan Ravelt?” The nurse paused her brow furrowing with surprise.
“Ethan…” Ravena gasped, a surge of urgency cursing through her veins as she made another attempt to sit upright on the hospital bed but the restraints held her firmly in place. The name echoed in her mind, a lifeline to a world she had been torn from.
“Don’t stress it; your body is still very weak” the nurse said, her tone shifting to one of gentle reassurance. “You need to take it easy.”
“What…happened? To me…” Ravena questioned grabbing the back of her head as it pounded with a dull ache. Memories of how she landed at the hospital flickered like a faulty light bulb but were simply out of reach.
“You fell.” The nurse replied matter-of-factly, her eyes scanning the documents in her hand.
“According to Ethan, you ‘simply fell while making dinner for both of you.’ “ she referenced to the file again, her expression unreadable as she dropped the files onto the tray again.
“I have to see Ethan. Please.” she pleaded as tears gathered in her eyes and blurred her vision. The thought of being alone in this sterile prison was unbearable.
The nurse hesitated, her expression softened as she considered Ravena’s request. “Alright, just a moment.” She left reluctantly and Ravana felt a wave of anxiety wash over her. Time seemed to stretch endlessly as she waited each second, amplifying her fears.
The nurse, after what seemed like forever, returned with Redhead Ethan. They both straightened and ended their small whispers as they entered the ward Ravena was.
“Oh Ravena! I thought I lost you,” Ethan moved forward grasping Ravena’s hand roughly. “You shouldn't ever make scrambled eggs again. You totally blanked out on me. Thank goodness I brought you here early enough”
“I’m fine Ethan.” Ravena chuckled.
“I’m just gonna give you both some time to talk alone” The nurse exited the room giving Ethan one last stir..
Ethan darted his eyes back at Ravena and smiled at her, still not letting go of her hand. “I thought I lost you.” Ethan whispered and kissed Ravena’s head.
“Ethan… we've got to leave.”
“Huh? You've only just woken up from a near coma—” Ethan sounded confused
“I was unconscious Ethan…”
“You. Slumped.” he stated, matter-of-factly
“Yeah I'm pretty sure it’s not the same with coma”
“Listen, I wouldn't let you make any rash decisions, especially when the doctor had told me you wouldn't feel normal. But then I feel you have never felt normal. Given the…circumstances and you know I'm literally your only—”
“I saw her again…” Ravena interrupted. Jacking her hand from Ethan’s
“Okay? Lunara might be dead for all I know and I need to go as far away from the forests as possible” she said, looking through the window of her ward. It seemed to her that the forests might just be closing in on the hospital center.
“I saw her again and they might just be close.”
“They are always close, Ravena.” Ethan stirred into Ravena’s golden eyes.
“Huh?”
“Come on. I'll ask for you to be discharged. I'll deal with the doctor and we’ll deal with this at home” he said sternly and left the ward without giving Ravena a chance to reply.
Ethan was basically the only family Ravena had. They had met years after Ravena left foster care.
After Christine had died, Ravena was taken in to foster care in Maplewood but still lived her second life with Lunara and the Silver Claws. The times she was with her pack family, she simply blanked out from real world. And that had been…a lot of times.
Her foster family had decided to return her to Maplewood Child Care who alsobuad returned her to her mother’s home at the age of fourteen, there the found Ethan Ravelt.
Ethan Ravelt was practically the same as Ravena, except the complicated life. He had a perfect family and was pushing his career as a local historian fourteen at the age of nineteen. So he had told Ravena.
They became the bests of friends afterwards, did everything together and went everywhere together. Ravena had trusted him just as much as he had trusted her and they shared secrets. All the kinds, but as suspected, Ravena’s was the most daunting.
She had told him all about her life in foster care, her mother according to the stories Lunara had told her, and of course, the goddess Queen, Lunara.
Most of the reasons Ethan had chosen to be a local historian had been because of suspected mystical creatures that lurked in the forests of Maplewood. Ravena had just given him many more reasons to continue as she had proven him and the town’s police guards right.
Ethan had chosen to study Ravena and help her acquire the much-needed education and tools for her kind to conquer the rogue wolves that bothered the town.
Ethan stood at the hospital's reception desk, his heart racing with a mix of relief and anxiety. He glanced over at Ravena, who was seated in a wheelchair, her eyes reflecting a mixture of exhaustion and hope. After days of waiting, they were finally ready to leave the hospital, and the weight of the moment pressed heavily on them.
The receptionist handed Ethan a stack of documents to sign, detailing the discharge instructions and confirming that Ravena was fit to leave. He took a deep breath, his pen hovering over the pages as he recalled the challenges they had to face in deciphering Ravena’s new hope. Each signature felt like a step toward a new beginning, a promise that they would face the world outside together.
“These are her meds…” The receptionist handed them to Ethan, “…instructions are on it.”
Ravena reached out, squeezing his hand gently. "It's okay, Ethan. We’re going home," she said, her voice soft yet reassuring. With a nod, he signed the last document and handed it back, feeling a sense of finality wash over him.
As they exited the hospital, the bright sunlight greeted them, as well as people gathering and speaking in low whispers, a stark contrast to the sterile environment they had just left. Ethan pushed Ravena's wheelchair forward, and just before they were about to enter the hailed cab, they were stopped by a little child of about thirteen years.
“Ravena Lone?” he looked up at Ethan and back at Ravena on the wheelchair.
“Yes. What can I do for you, pretty?”
“I think they said your house caught fire or something…” he said stratching his scanty black hair.
- Writer
