Chapter 6

ENCOUNTERING WOLVES

She could feel cold air tearing through her lungs with every step, as well as the growls. It sounded like wolves. She was from a small town by the mountains. Even with her ears barely working.

“ A wolf? Is this a city or a national park?”

She could definitely recognize the growl of a wolf. She found it impossible that such wild animals would be out in the city. Maybe she was wrong, maybe she had too much to drink.

She soon felt that running on the open road was too risky. She dashed into an alley and continued without stopping, just when she thought she could not run anymore, she tripped over something and fell almost head first into the concrete.

She struggled to get up, only to notice that it was not something, it was someone.

She suppressed the urge to scream despite her almost bursting heart and looked down to find a person.

Even in the dark, she could still make out the form of a man’s broad shoulders covered in a dark coat. It was Matthew Reeves.

“Oh my god! Matthew?”

She heard growling and saw a wolf in the distance.

At that moment, she wondered whether to run or leave him there. She had never seen a wolf that size before.

The wolf was on the other side of an iron fence far away and Mathew was still lying at the opening of the gate.

“Get up! You have got to get up!” she screamed at Mathew. But no matter how much he turned, he did not get up.

“Run!” she heard him say.

“As if I can outrun a wolf,” she answered him. She had made her decision.

She hurried forward and grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. She could tell the wolf was running forward, but for some reason, it still seemed far away.

It reached them right in time for the iron gates to shut. By the time she looked up, the wolf was gone.

She collapsed on the floor and took in deep breaths. It did not take long for her to realize that he was barely conscious.

She could smell blood on him, which scared her greatly. She tried to help him up, but he helped himself. She wasn't sure how he got the energy to get up, but helped him towards her car and drove towards the hospital.

In the emergency room, they cut off his bloody clothes and Emerald felt numb just seeing all the blood she had not noticed before. Sure, she had been able to smell blood on him, but she did not know he was this injured.

She looked away hurriedly till a doctor approached her

“He is unconscious,” he said, “He was clawed by an animal. Do you know what kind of animal did it? We need to inform the police.”

“The police?” Emerald asked, there was nothing she avoided more than the police.

“Yes, the wound seems to be from some wild animal, it is dangerous if there is one in the city, did you see what did this?” the doctor asked.

“We have a crossbreed,” she said cautiously.

She was already used to law enforcement ignoring her words so she did not feel like reporting it.

“Crossbreed dog? Cross breed with what?” the doctor asked.

“Wolf...” she muttered as the thought of the wolf she heard not long ago crossed her mind. She could see that the doctor writing away looked up slightly and back down. She felt judged by that look.

“We had someone vaccinate him” he said

“Okay please check to be sure nothing is wrong,” she said and the doctor nodded.

“We are setting him up in a ward. Please go over and fill the form while we do so.” he gestured in a direction, while handing her a slip and she thanked him and left in that direction.

There, the nurse asked, “Family needs to sign here, how are you related to the patient?”

At that question, Emerald froze. Her mind spun a few times.

“Madam?” the nurse called her out of her daze.

“I am his wife,” she replied in a panic.

When Emerald returned to Matthew’s ward, she noticed he was in a private room. She settled in quickly with the things she had gotten from the hospital shop.

She wet the towel and rugged it till it was slightly damp, then proceeded to use the warm water to clean his face and his neck where some traces of blood had dried on his pale skin.

Not long after, the door opened and a doctor and nurse walked in.

When he saw her, he raised his brow slightly, looking between her and the man lying on the bed.

“You are?” she asked.

“I should be asking that,” the man muttered, and her brows came together in confusion.

“Oh, I am his attending doctor, You can call me Hunter,” he said, and she frowned even more deeply.

“You were not the one I met when I brought him in,” she said.

“Oh, he has been transferred to me because of the nature of his wounds,” he explained.

“Is something wrong?” she asked with slight worry. Her worry seemed to throw Doctor Hunter off as he glanced at the patient on the bed, then back at her.

“Sorry, who are you to the patient?” he asked.

“His wife,” she answered, and the doctor’s stethoscope slipped from his fingers while he was taking it off his neck.

“Ah, why did no one tell me the patient’s wife was around?” The doctor spun around and looked behind Emerald and the nurse hurriedly walked forward.

“I had not looked through his file yet,” she answered hurriedly.

“Ah, Mrs...” he asked.

“Reeves,” she answered, and he nodded vigorously.

“Ah, Mrs. Reeves,” he repeated after her.

“Emerald Jackson?” he asked, and she paused.

“Yes,” she answered. It seemed he had heard of Matthew Reeves.

“Why is he here? Why was he transferred to this ward?” she asked.

“His wounds have made his skin delicate, general wards are full of people and easier to get an infection. Even though we have treated him, we have to be careful,” he explained, and she frowned slightly but nodded in response, not noticing the nurse raise her brows at his words.

“How long until he wakes up?” she asked.

“You will need to give it some time,” he said, and she started to speak when her phone suddenly rang. She hurried over to the table at the corner where she had placed down her bag, rummaged through it, and picked it up.

“Ma,” she started to say the moment her phone touched her ears.

“Emerald Jackson, do you know what time it is?!” her mother’s roar rang out into the now silent room.

“I…I…” she glanced at the time on her phone and realized it was one in the morning.

“Why do you ask?” she responded.

“Why are you not home at this hour? Is this how you behave in the city?”

“What are you talking about? Did you dream of me again? I am safe, go to sleep,” she responded.

“it seems I am already asleep. Either this empty house and pots that break is yours or someone is about to call the police to have me arrested. So, let us hope I am sleepwalking.” Her mother’s sarcasm floated from the phone to the ears of everyone in the room and Doctor Hunter choked slightly and dismissed the nurse who had finished changing the medication. But Emerald was too shocked to notice his reaction.

“You are in my house? You dropped my pots? They are porcelain!”

“No, maybe I trespassed on the wrong house, who knows, the owners may be back soon to get me.”

“Mom, why are you in my house?” she asked.

“Why are you outside at this hour? Have you joined a coven?”

“Mom! Why are you out of the hospital? Did the doctors tell you that you were allowed to leave? And why would you come at this hour?” she asked.

“It was too stuffy there. Can’t I come and stay over?”

“It is dangerous to move around at night, you did not think to call me to pick you up?” she asked.

“The ancestors were telling me that you are out there fishing me a son-in-law, so my legs took me to come catch you, but to think you are still out by now,” she said.

“Ma!” Emerald was so frustrated she wanted to pull her hair out at this point.

“Child, I expect that if you are out this late, you are at least committing sins that will lead you to the house of god in a white veil!” her mother scolded and disconnected the call. When she looked back at the doctor, she had a feeling he had heard their entire conversation.

“Um, Doctor Hunter, what was it?” Emerald asked.

“Yes, Mrs. Reeves,” Doctor Hunter answered.

“This is a VIP room...” she drawled uncomfortably.

“Ah, when the emergency room staffs took off Mr. Reeves’s clothes, they noticed Mr. Reeves’s branded clothes, some pieces like his watch valued at a few million dollars; so we made sure to put Mr. Reeves in an exquisite room.

“Our hospital is equipped to give Mr. Reeves the best care in the city. The hospital management has been informed to make sure Mr. and Mrs. Reeves are satisfied with our service,” Doctor Hunter said.

Emerald was trying hard to control her expression. Why was he talking so much? Was he a doctor or a marketer?

The more he talked, the more something in Emerald broke, something far away in the Magma First city Bank. The crack was enlarging and resonating all the way to her head.

What if this husband does not wake up? She really does not have access to his bank account. Did that not mean she was paying?

As she looked at Doctor Hunter’s smiling face, she wanted to scream. And why did she get the feeling that Doctor Hunter was repeating the words of Mr. Reeves so much?

She took a deep breath to calm herself before nodding absentmindedly,

“Thank You, doctor,” she said and Doctor Hunter nodded, glanced at the man on the bed before leaving after a slight hesitation.

The room returned to silence after he closed the door and Emerald began to pace around the hospital bed where the man laid.

“You better wake up when I come back so that you can fix this big lie, or else you are dead.” she turned around and left the room, slamming the door shut.

The moment she left Doctor Hunter entered the room.

He walked over to the bed and adjusted the bed so it was slightly lifted. He looked down to meet the patient’s dark eyes.

“Ah, Mr. Reeves, You are awake,” he said jovially, seemingly pleased about something other than the patient waking.

“It seems you have a death wish Hunter,” the supposed Mr. Reeves opened his mouth and said in a low voice.

Doctor Hunter raised his hands innocently when he heard ‘Mr. Reeves’s’ words.

“You are the one who did not tell me that the wife you have been talking about all these while was a real person. What does this have to do with me?” Doctor Hunter said.

“Sir Hunter, that woman almost caught Leo,” A person manifested out of shadow in the corner and another followed.

The person who had spoken had blonde hair that had been cut to the neck, while the one beside him who was referred to as Leo had light red hair that sat just below his shoulders. They were both clad in a black suits.

“She almost saw you too, Samuel,” Leo said to the other with short brown hair.

“She did?” Doctor Hunter asked suspiciously.

“It was as though she could tell that we were in the room but could not particularly find us,” Leo said.

“She picked me from the shadows,” Matthew finally spoke.

“What do you mean she picked you from the shadows?” Doctor Hunter asked, he was no more casual in his demeanor, instead he looked completely cold and focused.