Crushing Emeralds

Chapter Thirteen

Sunlight pours into the pure white hospital room waking me up from a nightmare. Once I make eye contact with the nurse that’s hovering next to my bedside reading several machines that I’m hooked up, by the look and feel of tubes that I’m connected to, I know it wasn’t a dream.

I sit up abruptly and am overcome by extreme head pain and dizziness. I place one hand on top of my head feeling my snarled hair and the other to my face where I felt a cut that’s stitched up above my right eyebrow. “Where are the others?” I croak out.

The nurse hands me a cup of water and tells me to drink some, I abide.

“Where’s my mom?” I ask next after the cold water soothes my dry throat.

“She’s outside in the hallway talking with the doctor. You have a concussion honey, you hit you head pretty hard in that accident, now lay back down and they’ll be right in to talk with you.” the nurse says before leaving me alone.

She shuts the door behind her with a smile of sympathy, but within seconds it’s opened back up by a man I didn’t recognize, followed by my mother.

“Well, hello Emerald my name is Dr. Jacobs, you had quite a crash last night. How does your head feel?” He asks staring at the wound that’s on her forehead.

“Fine, where are my friends?”

The doctor looks uneasy and slowly answers, “Emerald, the good news is that Kordelia and Evan were released last night with scraps and bruises.”

I’m slightly relieved, until he pauses searching for words. Tears once more run stream like down her face making a moist spot on the collar of my gown. I didn’t really know why I was crying, but I knew something bad had happened.

“I’m so sorry to tell you that Jordan didn’t make it through the night.” The doctor’s voice is steady and had minor emotion to it.

My mind screams with anger, want of revenge, but in actuality I sit silent, immobile for I’m not even sure how long. Then all my senses come flooding back to me all at once. Words coming so fast I jumble them together. “Where is Officer Olsen, I have to know if they found the wolf. There were tons of people that saw it, I’m not crazy. It followed me.” I ramble until a nurse appears at my side inserting a needle into my IV. The clear liquid slowly enters the line and gradually exists the needle under my skin. A coolness creeps into my veins.

It takes a few minutes, but the sleepiness takes hold and I don’t fight the pull of unconsciousness. I just relax and let nothingness take over again.

A consent whisper is at my ear, I slowly open my eyes almost forgetting how. My mother is at my bedside urging me to wake up. “Dinner will be here in about five minutes, you should really eat something. Officer Olsen was here earlier, but I sent him away.” My mother says in a very nurturing voice holding my hand squeezing it.

“Have they caught the wolf? Did they kill it?”

“No sweetie, but they are searching. They’ll find it.”

Sure they will.

A nurse walks in with a tray of food stopping my hysteria in its tracks. Best not to freak out and drugged again. She set the tray in front of me and urged me to eat. I stare at the plate, pushing the baked chicken around and mash the mashed potatoes even more with my fork.

“Emerald you need to eat, here let me help you.” My mother says as she turns to tray toward her and begins cutting the chicken with a knife that’s on the tray. She set it on the tabletop and walks back over to the guest chair when she’s finished cutting everything up. When she’s not looking I slip the knife off the table and cover within the folds of my blanket.

I have a few bites of food and that’s good enough for my mother. I fall asleep before the nurse comes back to collect my tray. The cold knife turns warm in my tight grip.

I’m barely awake when my mother tells me she’s going to go home and get a good night's rest before tomorrow’s discharge.

***

I hear it subconsciously before I truly hear it. My eyes shoot open as I take a deep breath. The fire alarm blares throughout the halls of the hospital. I frantically look around and begin sniffing the air. I swing my legs over the side of the bed and put my hand on the table to sturdy myself as I’m still a little wobbly on my feet.

I can’t smell anything and am certain that its not a fire setting the place into a frenzy. Its the wolf. My hand tightens its hold the handle of the knife I snatched earlier. One foot forward followed by the next, I make my way to the door, but before I get there I’m tugged back by sharp pain in my hand, my IV. I slowly peel the tap off and pull out the needle dropping it to the floor.

the halls are dead. No one to seen. No one to be heard. I begin to wonder if they forgot about me as I walk down the hall forcing my ears to hear movement over the blaring sirens. Once I hear noises, I wish I took the emergency exit instead of investigating the area. I didn’t need to come face to face with the wolf again. I needed to run.

The emergency lights are on leaving the hallways almost tunnel like. I pass rooms that held patients looking out windows or pressing the nurse button frantically. I’m as dumbfounded as they are, where is everyone.

After going down a flight of stairs and rounding a few corners my assumptions become reality.

The wolf stands in the middle of c*****e, nurses and doctors limp and torn of life are scattered at its feet. Its head jerks up sniffing the air. Its eyes lock onto me for seconds before I starts to come at me. Blood drips from its mouth making a path behind it.

At first I start backing up before spinning into a full on run. I frantically check all the doors, but all of them are labeled personnel only and are locked. Where the hell am I? Still a little rocky on my feet, I stumble landing flat on the floor. If only Evan were here he could see that it’s not heels that make me trip, it’s my own feet.

I try to stand up but get hung up on this stupid gown. I remain on my butt sliding backwards on the floor going nowhere in particular. But my futile efforts are nothing compared to the long strides of the wolf. It hovers over me, pinning me place.

I could not even blink or think for that matter before a large, very heavy limb comes down on my stomach. Pain, searing pain burns along my torso jumbling my brain into nothing but screams. The hospital robe heats up with blood that pools underneath me. The wolf still stands over me, it's bloody saliva dripping from its gnarled mouth.

Finally a scream rips from my mouth and the thing only howls in response. It swings its large paws on my right side and then my left leaving thick gashes into the linoleum. My hands fumble with the gown trying to untangle it from around my legs. A point jabs into my palm. The knife.

Without too much movements, I slide my hand along the metal trying to find the handle. When I flip it around I nick my thigh, but I don’t flinch. I’m actually the calmest I’ve been in a while. No moment is the best moment, but as it lowers its head closer to my face, I have to act.

I slam the knife upward forcefully stabbing it into the wolf’s underbelly. Blood runs down my arms, dripping heavily onto my stomach where my own wound still bleeds. It struggles before collapsing on top of me, limp. The weight leaves me breathless.