Unexpected visitor from the past
1094 Words
Lara
“Lara! Lara!”
Ugh. Someone's yelling. And no, I do not appreciate it.
“Lara, get up!”
“Leave me alone, Gemmy…” I mumble, half-asleep. Wait—sleep?
Oh no. Did I pass out again?
The doctor’s quarters? No. That’s not it.
The café.
Yes. I was at the café.
Which means I probably passed out for thirty minutes or so. Becky usually wakes me before closing, so I couldn’t have been out that long. Makes sense. Crisis semi-averted.
Except—
“You little B-I-C-H! You’re supposed to be on the morning rounds! Dr. Gemini asked for your presentation notes!”
The words hit me, but they don’t register right away—because Gemma’s shaking me like a damn maraca.
I jolt upright. “Dr. who? I’m supposed to do that tomorrow morning. Why are you waking me up this late?”
“Late? Try too late. It’s already 7:15. If you don’t get to the hospital in the next fifteen minutes, you’re toast.”
I squint, trying to process through the fog in my brain. My other ride-or-die is standing next to Gemma.
That makes two friends in this world: Becky and Gemma. And right now, both of them probably want to slap me.
“For f**k’s sake, get up before you lose your internship after a month, would ya!” Gemma snaps.
“Oh no,” I whisper, frozen.
It clicks.
I’m not at the café. I’m in my room.
How the hell did I get here?
“Gemmy,” I say slowly, dread unspooling in my gut, “did you pick me up yesterday?”
She snorts. “How would I do that? I was the one who relieved you from your shift, remember? Now move it—”
“No, you don’t understand,” I cut in, suddenly panicked. My mind’s a jigsaw puzzle, and someone shook the box.
“What? What’s wrong?”
“Hold on…” I rub my forehead. It’s tingling—pressure building behind my eyes. Think, Lara.
Café. Cappuccino. Sixty-dollar shot of caffeine. Did I even drink it?
Then—blank.
Wait. No. Not blank.
There was a man.
No—a wolf.
A werewolf.
“He killed him,” I whisper. Then I gasp. “I saw it.”
“Lara?” Gemma sounds impatient now.
I shake my head, scrambling to catch up to my own memory. “How did I get here?” I ask, seriously, I am sure as hell i did not walk back. I would have remembered the familiar path I take everyday.
She shrugs. “Becks said you bolted out of the café chasing some thug. We were gonna report you missing, but then we came here and found you. I had to rush back to the hospital, only to LATER find you overslept and no-showed. Do you know how mortifying it was to get scolded by Dr. Freakin’ Gemini?!”
“What?” I blink.
“You heard me. I got reamed out and it’s all your—”
“No, what do you mean I overslept?” My voice sounds far away even to me.
I’m a wolf. Even wolfless, I don’t oversleep. Not after 72-hour shifts. Not ever.
“You’re overworked. Admit it—”
" no, i am not." I exclaim but I am about to be jobless if I don't hurry.
“Shit.”
I flew to the hospital without brushing my teeth or even figuring out who dragged me home.
The day was chaos. Full-speed corridor sprints. Morning rounds from hell. I mixed up patient names. Forgot yesterday’s diagnosis. Botched consent. Might get sued.
Toast.
I am officially toast.
“But hey,” Gemma chimes in as we walk to lunch. “On the bright side, Dr. Gemini’s getting chewed out too. So… win?”
“At what cost?” I groan. “Seriously. The man has a personality forged in hellfire. If he wants to ruin me, he will. My future prospects? Gone.”
“Yeah… where would you go if they fire you now?” she muses, casually stomping on my last thread of hope.
My stomach sinks.
I—
“Princess Lara Yvonne Singh.”
I freeze.
No. Nope. Absolutely not.
“Did someone just call you Princess?” Gemma perks up, totally forgetting we were wallowing in doom a second ago. “Are you, like, a royal from some secret place?”
“No. It’s my sister.” If you can call her that.
“Shouldn’t we go say hi—”
“Nope.” I usher her forward like a Secret Service agent avoiding a bomb. “Ignore her.”
She frowns. “But I’ve never met anyone from your family—”
“Keep walking, Gemma Cecilia Gracis,” I snap, and she throws up her hands in surrender.
But we don’t get far.
Of course we don’t.
My sister always catches up. She did when we were kids. She does now.
She blocks our path, and I reflexively take three steps back.
She’s in full-on wolf warrior garb — straight from Dad’s army. Way too dramatic in a hallway full of white coats and anxious patients.
“I called you,” she says, ignoring Gemma like she doesn’t exist.
“Didn’t hear you. Busy.”
“Can’t you spare two minutes for your dear sister?” she asks with a not-smile.
“No.” I don’t flinch. Eight years away and guess what? I grew a spine.
“Oh? Not even when it’s about being married off?” she smirks.
I freeze.
“What do you mean — married off?”
Her lips twitch, like she’s enjoying this. But before she can answer, her eyes finally land on Gemma. It’s the first time she even acknowledges her existence.
And yeah… Gemma picks up on the energy immediately.
You know how girls can clock a bitchy vibe from across a room? Yeah. This is that.
I don’t even have to look at her to know she’s giving me the “Are you related to this?” side-eye.
“Gemmy,” I sigh, already bracing myself, “I’ll have jam and butter toast. I’ll only take a minute. Please.”
She drags her eyes over my sister—slow and sharp—like a blade in silk.
Then she turns without a word.
But not before delivering a silent f**k you to my sister in look form.
Then she mutters,
“Fine...I’ll be waiting at our usual spot.”
God, I owe her.
- Writer
