The Werewolf Bond

Wide Open

My eyes fluttered open to the glow of even brighter lights.

Again, I thought I was in heaven, until my momentary delirium was disrupted by the rhythmic beep of monitors—a sound that I had grown all too familiar with since I was first diagnosed with cancer.

My body ached, and it was a dull, pervasive pain that mingled with the fog of sedation. As I turned my head, wincing with how I felt, a hand covered mine, and I turned to see Ralph sitting in a chair beside my bed. His face was etched with exhaustion, regret, and something else—guilt, perhaps? The sight of him churned her stomach and tempted me to another nausea episode, with the memory of his cruel words and Lily’s betrayal flooding back. As it turned, and disappointingly, I was not in heaven after all. I was still in hell.

“Soph,” he mumbled, his voice cracking as he leaned forward. “Thank God you’re safe. I… I thought I’d lost you.”

I looked at his eyes and saw how they glistened, it was still hard to tell if the tears were real. “I’m so sorry. For everything. Please, forgive me. I can’t do life without you.”

The words sounded rehearsed and memorized, more like nothing but a plea to salve his bitter conscience. My throat tightened, my anger warring with the fragility of my condition and all that had happened since it began. Deep inside, I wanted to scream, to hurl his betrayal back at him and make him feel the same way I felt. To hit him until it hurt and he bled the same way my heart had.

Except… my body betrayed me. I was too weak to fight, so I only pulled my hand away.

I wanted to be alone.

“Don't do this to me, Soph. I don't know how it happened, and she hates herself for it too. I'm going to cut all contact with her right now and make sure I never see her again. I love you.”

I wanted to be alone, and anywhere but here.

The sound of his pleading voice irked me, and to get him away, I only nodded, my lips trembling.

“Okay,” I rasped, the word hollow. He exhaled, and I saw the relief washing over his face as he squeezed my hand and kissed it. I let him because I was too tired to react in any other way, but on the inside, my heart recoiled, so I shut my eyes and tried to get some sleep.

I now hated him, of a truth. But there was a corner of my mind that was still drawn to the version of him I loved. The man that was everything I could have ever wanted.

The man that was mine before the cancer diagnosis.

I woke up again, and blinked, looking around me.

My body felt so weak that I could not move, so I only stared straight ahead of me. A sideways glance showed me Ralph on his phone, furiously typing on it. He had tilted it away from me, but I could still see it. A closer look showed me a notification from Lily, and my pulse quickened, sending the machine into a frantic beep.

He looked at it, terrified, before rushing out to speak with a nurse. He wasn't the most composed whenever he was in a panic, and he left his phone by my side. Quickly, my trembling fingers seized it, and my heart pounded expectantly as I unlocked it with ease.

His password hadn’t changed in years.

It opened, and the chat with Lily was a stab to my heart. The messages had been sent just this morning, around the time he sat by my side, and they were all callous and cruel.

The first was a picture of her lying unconscious, to which Lily replied “So ugly,” and they both laughed. The next was from him.

“She’s fading fast. Won’t be long now, and we'll have the insurance money all to ourselves.”

Her reply followed. “Good. Then we can stop pretending.” And she sent a photo right after the both of them tangled in a loving embrace, her smile radiant in a way I hadn't hadn’t seen in years. The timestamp was just this morning, and by my calculations, it was while I lay unconscious next to him.

His footsteps echoed outside, and I returned the phone into place before lying still and in place, shedding tears where I lay with my eyes closed. He came in, with a nurse and a third man trailing behind, and the nurse jumped into action. She adjusted the IV and touched me, before touching my head.

“Something has sent her into a panic. Did you do or say anything that you think she could have seen or heard?”

“No,” Ralph answered, rushing to hold my hand. “She was just even sleeping.”

“Ma'am?” She asked, touching my forehead, and I opened my eyes to look at her. “How are you?”

I nodded, trying to keep myself under control, but the beep of the machine overrode everything, drowning all in its loud beeps.

“There's something I could try to relax her,” the third man who had hung behind all along said, and he pushed himself towards me, shoving the nurse and Ralph aside. In his hand was a deck of cards, and he took out the ace of spades and held it before me before flicking a finger.

And all of a sudden, the card wasn't there anymore.

“Now breathe slowly, and I'll show you where it is,” he smiled, his green eyes reassuring, and I did as he said, allowing my chest to rise and fall in slow heaves. He reached with a gentle hand to wipe my tears, and he did on one side before the other, withdrawing an empty hand. Then, with another flick of his finger, the ace of spades was back, and he held it.

Ralph and the nurse stood amazed behind him, clapping their hands, while I stared at his eyes. He was familiar, and I knew that I had seen him before.

Yes. He was the angel from last night.