Waiting for Mercy (Cambions) (24 page)

“Tom, what’s up? It’s three in the morning,” I said.

I heard a huge sigh of relief. “Mercy, I finally got you. I was about to come over,” he said.

What would he need to call me for at this hour, I thought? “What’s up?”

“Look, I need you at the hospital right now,” he said.

Panic gripped me. “What?” I asked.  My face contorted in confusion.

“Maggie’s in the hospital,” he said solemnly.

If not for the need for more information, I might have dropped the phone.  But I sprung into action darting to my car. “What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Just get here. There is no way to explain over the phone,” he said.

Now I felt the tears spilling onto my cheeks. “Is she ok?” I asked my voice hitching on a sob.

“Yeah, for now. Just get here soon,” he said, his voice sounding shaky.

“I’m on my way,” I replied and we hung up.

My hands shook the entire time it took to drive over to the hospital.  Tom had been cryptic at best and I couldn’t imagine what had happened to Maggie.  She was more than a friend; in fact I would consider her my sister.  I didn’t have siblings and she had older brothers.  We had become what each other had dreamed of, sisters. 

My heart had yet to overcome the loss of Luke.  I couldn’t bear it if anything happened to Maggie. Maggster, Maggpie, was my heart.  It would stop beating if I lost her forever.

Pulling into the first parking spot I found, I didn’t bother to look for something closer.  I could run and find out what the heck was going on sooner than searching for a closer spot.  The air was brisk.   My run to the front doors of the hospital causes the chill burnt off into a heat that nearly had me sweating.

Tom was leaning against the walls nearest the automatic sliding glass doors.  I barely pulled to a stop when I stepped in front of him.

“Maggs,” I huffed out in a frosty breath that filled the space between us in that hazy smoke.

“I need to explain first,” he said, his hands held up to stop any further conversation.

Shaking my head, I said, “I need to know if she is ok.”

He gave a barely perceptive nod before replying, “Maggie will be fine.”

A long stream of vapor exhaled from my lungs as my posture drooped. “And,” I pressed trying to get him to divulge more information to me.  Something in his eyes warned me the news he was about to deliver wasn’t good.

He looked away. The movement suggested he was not particularly fond about revealing the information he was about to share.  His eyes glanced my way again only to fall at his feet.

“Look, spit it out.  I need to go see Maggie,” I barked in frustration.

Shifting his eye that held an undercurrent of anger I took a step back in fear.  Something didn’t look quite right in his gaze any longer and I didn’t feel particularly safe.

He cleared his throat and looked away again.  My own anger was building with his delay tactic but something inside me warned me to wait.  “Maggie is going to need you more than ever now.”

His words threw a bucket of ice down my already cooling back.  I’d left without a jacket other than the light velour one that matched my pants.  The heat from my quick run was evaporating fast.  My overactive brain ran through a list of horrors that Maggie might need me from such as being paralyzed, loss of limb, blindness, and other crazy notions.  None of these impairments were the end of life, but an adjustment period would be needed.  What he said next however wasn’t in my vaguest imagination.

“Maggie was attacked by a warg,” Tom muttered.

Eyes narrowed, I wasn’t sure I heard him correctly.  “Warg?” I questioned.

He nodded. “It’s kind of a long story,” he said.

Not really feeling like listening to a story, I said. “Look, give me the condensed version.  I really want to go check on her.”

Catching my eye again, he focused on me.  “You need to hear it all because you’re going to have to explain it to her.”

My eyes went from slits to saucers. I think I had enough of being the bearer of bad news. I’d done my share with Paul.  I didn’t want the responsibility of giving my best friend in the whole world information she didn’t want to learn.  He hadn’t yet told me what a ‘warg’ was.  But I knew it wasn’t good and somehow it meant bad things for Maggie.

Tom finally opened up and began to tell me a tale that began with Brent.  Once he did, I found it hard to believe that the story actually began where he started.  But time was of the essence.  I would grill him more, later. Apparently, Brent had been bitten by a warg in the Hamptons back long ago when I was at the lake house with Flynn last Thanksgiving.  No one really knew what bit him, although Tom had suspected.  With Brent’s injuries healing at an accelerated rate, he guessed what really happened.  Brent’s show of aggression also led Tom in determining that Brent was no longer a part of the human population.  This is where it dawned on me what Tom was about to reveal.

“So Brent is a shifter,” I said, in a defeated tone.  My mind was working back to Maggie and how I was now going to be able to tell her exactly what I was, because she too would no longer be human. 

“No,” Tom said. I turned back to him confused.  I mean it all added up.  “No, shifters are born.  Weres are turned.  Brent is a werewolf.”

Okay, maybe now wasn’t the time but my brain was no longer operating rationally. Hysterically, I let loose a string of chuckles that turn into full blown laughter.   When a tear began to stream down my face, Tom pulled me into a hug.  The laughs started to die away as my hurt and pain took over. “Look, it’s not a done deal.  Maggie’s family has to have the recessive genes of weres for her to be effected.”

I pulled back to stare into his face. “What do you mean?” I asked, still choking on sobs.

“I mean, someone in their family history there has to be a shifter.  That’s the only way for her to change,” he said, searching my face for understanding.

Grabbing the cuff of my jacket, I pulled it over my hand to wipe the tears from my eyes. “When will we know?  Can she be tested?” I spewed out.

“Not to sound like a bad movie, but we will know when the full moon hits,” he said.

Staring at him, I waited for the punch line to this bad joke. “You’re kidding me, right?”

He shook his head no.  “Unfortunately, we can’t ask the hospital to run a DNA test for a were gene.”

My brain finally kicked into gear. “So how did this happen.”

His hand which he’d been nervously moving about dropped to his sides. “That’s the thing.”

Oh crap, was my first thought.  Things were only going to get worse in the story. “When Maggie left the party, she left with Doug,” he began.

Closing my eyes, I let loose a string of silence curses.  Everything clicked into place like a puzzle.  It hadn’t occurred to me Brent’s part in this whole story.  “After the party was over, Brent took off.”  He looked away again.  I could see now Tom was feeling responsible for this whole event.  Tom had to be a were or a shifter too, and how?  I was sure that was the case, so I didn’t interrupt.

“Once I realized he was gone, I knew where he’d gone,” he said.  His eyes reached mine.  His expression was one of pain. “I got there too late.  But based on what I saw, Maggie and Doug had been outside talking.  Brent must have gotten the wrong idea and went all ape on them.”  I thought a rabid dog was a better choice of words, but thought better of correcting him.

“Brent did this to her?” I asked.

His eye flicked down but returned to meet mine again. “Yes and Doug too.”

“Doug is here as well?”

“Yes,” he said.

“Brent,” I asked through clenched teeth.

Looking away again, he said, “I made him stay home.”

Giving him an approving nod, I knew there was a whole lot more to this story.  But I’d heard enough for now. “Does Maggie even have a clue?” I asked.  I needed to know what I was walking into.

He nodded. “I tried to tell her but she wasn’t listening to me.  That’s why I’m relying on you.”

I nodded. He handed me a sticker that read visitor.  I could have asked more, but I was anxious to check on Maggie and Doug’s status.  “Are you going to be here?” I asked.  He nodded again.  “Okay, I’ll see you when I get back.”

“Hey,” he said grabbing my arm. “She is on the fourth floor,” he says rattling off the room number. “Just head to the elevator like you know where you’re going.  Normal visiting hours are over.”

Now it was my turn to nod.  I moved through the doors with no hesitation.  My mom worked here, so I was very familiar with the place.  I even knew a bunch of nurses, so if I was caught hopefully I would encounter someone who knew me or my mom.

Luckily at this hour, the guards face was buried in a book.  The administrator at the front desk appeared to be playing a computer game as her finger moved and clicked with a smile on her face.  I made it inside an open elevator with no trouble.  The ride to the fourth floor was wrought with what I was going to say to my best friend.  I didn’t feel knowledgeable enough about weres to answer her questions.  What I thought may help is for her to know she wouldn’t be alone in the non-human department.  Then again, Maggie might decide to be pissed at me for withholding that information from her.

Stepping off the elevator, the bell chimed announcing its stop in my ear.  I moved down the hall watching the numbers fly by.  By my estimation, her room was only two doors before the nurses’ station. If any of them looked up, they would notice my approach.  But as luck was on my side for once, the station looked empty.  I picked up the pace hoping to make it to Maggie’s room unscathed.

Turning the handle, I walked in on Maggie’s mom with a nurse.  Crap, I knew I was about to be sent home.  Fate however had other intentions.  This time they benefited me. I was enveloped into a warm hug that was Maggie’s mom.  Her puffy eyes and red nose were hidden in the crook of my neck as we held on to each other.

“Mercy,” she said in a tearful sob.  “I’m so glad you came.”

“I wouldn’t be anywhere else,” I cried back into her mass of brown curls.

“Excuse me,” the nurse said. “I’m sorry but normal visiting hours are over.”

Maggie’s mom pulled back and gave the nurse that look all moms give their child when they’d said something bad. “Look, I know you can make an exception. Mercy is practically my daughter.  She’s Maggie’s sister for god sake.  If anyone can get her to open up about what has happened it would be her.”

“I’m sorry, but rules are rules,” the nurse said like she’s seen and heard all the sob stories a hundred times.  I was certain she had.

“Look, I’m going to find my husband.  Let her stay with Maggie until I get back.  I won’t be able to leave unless I know someone is with her,” Maggie’s mom begged.

The nurse flicked a glance at me and then back at the weeping mother. “Fine, but don’t be long.”

The nurse left and Maggie’s mom looked at me.  In a whisper she said. “Maggie won’t talk to me. She’s clammed up after that boy, Tom, left. Please talk to her.”  She looked back at the bed and it appeared to me Maggie was sleeping.  I’m sure that the nurse would have said something like she needs her rest.  But I nodded. She gave me another tight hug before she left me alone with Maggie.

hapless
(adj.)
unlucky

Maggie wasn’t asleep as she had appeared.  No longer pretending with just the two of us, her eyes were wide open.  Staring down at her face, I could see the agony in them.  Although I knew her secret, I didn’t want to push her to tell me. 

How do I begin?  “Maggs, do you want to tell me what happened,” I asked gently.

I watched her eyes close tight like she was ashamed.  She shook her head in a frantic no.  I stepped away from her bed to pull a chair over.  I reached for her hand to give her some comfort.  Somehow I knew it was time to reveal my secret.  This was probably the only way to make her know that I would understand anything that she would think sounded incredibly crazy.