Fall of the Luna (completed)

Larsa

        Unknown POV

              “Ah crap,” I muttered under my breath as my car wouldn’t start. I glanced quickly at the dashboard and rolled my eyes in frustration at myself. Of all days, I had chosen last night to forget to charge my car and today is the first time ever that I’d be a panellist at a medical conference. Grabbing my bag, I quickly got out of my car while calling for an Uber. Luckily, the Uber got here pretty quickly and I made it just in time for the conference, albeit at a very hefty price. Sighing in my head, I made a beeline for the registration booth to get my conference goody bag and to inform the organizers that I was here, in case someone needed me for the preparation of our panel discussion. As I turned around to leave, a lady bumped into me and my goody bag slipped from my hands, its content spilling all over the ground. Great, I seriously just can’t catch a break today, can I? “I’m so sorry! Let me help you with that.” We both got down and picked everything up as quickly as we could so that we could get out of the way and not block the registration booth.

              “Thanks for helping,” I said as I got up after having gotten everything back into the goody bag. “My name is Larsa and I’m a paediatrician,” I introduced myself and extended my hand to the lady. She left me hanging there for a minute and I could tell that she was taken aback, before she shook my hand and introduced herself. “I’m Reena and I’m the hospital director of a small hospital in Sonora in California. Actually, I’m searching for a paediatrician for our hospital and was hoping to make use of the networking at the conference.” Before I could chat more with Reena, one of the assistants of the conference came over to inform me that I needed to prepare for my panel discussion. “I’ve to go but I’d be in Hall B for the first panel discussion on digitalizing primary care. Hope to see you later!”

              After the first panel discussion, there was a networking coffee break and I was hoping to see Reena. For some reason, I felt like I’ve known her for a long time and I wanted to help her. It must be the crazy Aunt Agony in me who was obsessed with helping everyone out there, like Thiago always said. I almost laughed out loud at that thought but luckily someone called me to head over to the next discussion, saving me from embarrassing myself in front of my peers. It turned out to be a very interesting conference and time really flew by. Before I know it, it was already late afternoon and the conference was coming to an end. I was heading out to the foyer to check if James was already here to pick me up, seeing how I’ve personally starved my car to death last night. “Larsa! Hang on!” I turned around and saw Reena outside Hall B waving at me. I decided it’s fine to let James wait a little even if he’s already here, since he always said he’s more than happy to wait for his princess. “Hey Reena, I need to go, and I actually won’t be attending the rest of the conference. I had a last-minute opportunity to observe a surgery pop up a few weeks ago because another doctor had an accident and I signed up to replace him. Do you want to exchange contacts?”

              Her face fell for a short moment but she quickly smiled and nodded. After exchanging name cards, I waved goodbye at my new found friend and headed out to the foyer. Just as I had thought, James was already waiting there for me. “Sorry, I’m late!” I hurried into the passenger seat and gave James a quick peck on the cheek before buckling up. He laughed and shook his head as we made the long drive back to Pemberton. “If you ain’t running late or forgetting something, I’d seriously doubt that it was you,” he joked. I narrowed my eyes and glared at him, pretending to be insulted but he made his signature puppy eyes at me and I had to laugh. What can I say? I guess I’m just a carefree soul and who could blame me? A little over two years ago, I had woken up from a coma after a terrible car accident and thankfully, no serious permanent damage was done. I have no memories prior to the accident but at least I didn’t lose my medical knowledge and was still able to earn my license after a year of residency. James and his cousin, Thiago, have both been an immense help in my journey back to normal life.

              I wouldn’t lie. It was frightening at first to not remember anyone or anything, not even my own name. I was trying so hard at first to remember, to figure things out and no matter how hard I’ve tried, I just couldn’t recall anything. In the end, it was Thiago who managed to talk sense into me to let it go, let nature take its course and live everyday to the fullest. Life is unpredictable like a box of chocolate. Those were his exact words. I remember laughing at him for quoting a movie instead of trying to convince me with tonnes of known medical cases like a doctor should do. His words did lighten up the load on my heart and I decided to let it go. I wanted to just be thankful that my boyfriend, James, and his cousin had not abandon me after the car accident, that they were there for me and cared for me. It was a shame though that I had no other family, and each time when I thought about it, there’s this dull ache in my heart. I guess it was normal and I didn’t let it bother me because everyday since I’ve woken up from my coma has been great. I love my job and Thiago was a great mentor. Perhaps the only thing missing in my life now was some romance. Despite knowing that James is my boyfriend and that he had stood by me through it all, I just didn’t feel that way about him. It’s really strange and I can’t explain it but I don’t love him the way that he loves me. I can see it in his eyes when he looks at me, and it feels good to be wanted and desired, but I simply didn’t return his feelings.

              Sometimes it made me feel like a bad person, like an ungrateful girlfriend but mostly, I’m relieved that he has been understanding and in the past three years together, he has been the perfect gentleman, giving me the time and space that I needed. Actually, I’ve told him that if he wants to, he doesn’t have to wait for me and if he wants to break up, I can fully understand, especially because I barely had time for him given the demanding nature of my job. He declined my suggestion and refused to ever entertain that thought, so in the end, I let it go. Since then, we’ve been dating, I guess. “What’re you thinking about, princess?” James’s question snapped me out of my thoughts and I looked at him mysteriously, considering if I should mess with him to return the favor for insulting me earlier. “Nothing much, just wondering if I accidentally left the bedroom window opened this morning.” James frowned immediately and stole glances at me, hesitating to say something. The look on his face somehow reminded me of a disapproving Gru and I burst out laughing at that thought. A few seconds later, he must have finally caught on and I could see him glaring at me. “Very funny, Larsa. The next time you leave your window open and your room is flooded from the rain, don’t steal my bed and make me sleep on the couch!”

Reena’s POV

              My heart was still pounding after Larsa waved goodbye and left. It was impossible but I’d recognize those soft brown eyes anywhere. She spotted a short blonde bob and her demeaner was completely different but there was no way that two different people could look so similar. The only thing that completely threw me off, was that Larsa smelled human. She smelled completely human and she gave no indication that she recognized me as a shewolf or had any idea of what I am. I was struggling to understand this and debating with myself whether to inform Leyton. If it was a false alarm, he’d be so disappointed and I didn’t want to get his hopes up high for nothing. Besides, other than appearance, there was nothing else about Larsa that was like Kayla. Larsa was outgoing and literally spilling confidence out of her pores. I saw her during her panel discussion and she held her own with confidence even when veteran doctors with more experience questioned her views. To say I was impressed would be an understatement. Kayla was brilliant as well but she was soft spoken and preferred to be in the background than to be in the limelight. Most of all, Kayla would never have acted as if she didn’t know me if that was her. That was the most puzzling of it all for me.

              After debating with myself for an entire night, I finally decided to skip the rest of the conference and check out the hospital that Larsa is working at secretly. If anything seems off, I’d contact Leyton and decide on what to do together. If there was even the smallest chance that somehow Larsa is Kayla, I had to get to the bottom of it.