“It’s a boy,” Grant was saying over the phone when a doctor emerged from the exam area.
“Did you come in with the young woman found on the road?” he was asking.
“Grant, that’s great man. I’m gonna have to let you go. The doctor is here and I’m trying to find out who this woman is and how she got mixed up with the Dire Wolves.”
“Good idea. Talk later.”
“Yep. Congratulations, man.”
“Thanks,” Grant told him before he ended the call.
“Yes. I came in with her.”
“She’s resting comfortably. I can’t really give you any details on her condition due to privacy laws, but she’s going to be fine. We are putting her in a room now if you want to wait a little longer and check on her yourself. The nurses said you came in with her, but don’t really know her. Still, you are the closest thing to a friend she has until we find out who she is.”
“Not talking yet, then?”
“Not yet. Maybe tomorrow after she rests.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
“The nurses will let you know when she is in a room where you can visit. Visitation hours are technically well over, but it’s almost morning anyway. I’ve told them to make an exception for you.”
“Thanks. I appreciate that.”
An hour later, Moose sat beside the mystery woman’s bedside. He couldn’t help but notice how beautiful she was, even in a hospital bed. Her skin was flawless, youthful. She was a good twenty years younger than he was by his estimation. It was hard not to be attracted to her, even in her current state. She groaned and squirmed a bit in the bed, making him ashamed for even thinking of her like that when she was bound to be in great discomfort.
A few moments later, she opened her eyes, seeming to look through him more so than at him. She sighed and squinted in his direction for moment as if trying to make him out and being unsuccessful.
“Who are you?” she asked finally.
“I’m David Kelley, but everyone calls me Moose.”
She seemed to absorb this for a moment, still looking at him in confusion.
“Do I know you?” she asked in a groggy voice.
“No. Not exactly. I found you on the highway. Well, me and my guys. I called the ambulance for you.”
“Oh,” she said, closing her eyes.
Moose waited for her to say more, but she was out cold again. He chuckled to himself and tried to close his eyes for a bit. It had been a long night and he had been sitting here waiting for her to wake up for hours. He could barely stay awake himself anymore. He dozed off in his chair, oblivious to anything until a bit later, when he heard voices. Jumping up, he was in fight mode, ready to shift. Instead, he found himself looking at a man and woman in white coats who seemed amused.
“Have a nice nap?” the girl in the bed asked from behind them.
“It was okay. You?” he replied with a slow smile.
“I’ve had better,” she told him.
“Hi. I’m Doctor Fox,” the man told him.
“Moose,” he replied.
“Moose? Well, we’re just a couple of animals, aren’t we?” the doctor replied.
“What?”
“Moose? Fox? Animals . . ..”
“Ah, right. That we are.”
“Anyway, we came in to check on our lovely patient here. She’s doing fine. We’ve got stitches in her side and her concussion is clearing up. She’s out of the woods and can go home.”
“Sounds great.”
“Just have her make an appointment with my office in a couple of weeks to remove the stitches. You can take her home.”
“Oh, I uh. Yeah, okay,” Moose replied, on the verge of telling him that he didn’t really know her, but then deciding he would just talk to her once he was gone.
“See you soon,” the doctor told her as he left.
“I’ll be right back with your discharge paperwork,” the nurse told her before following him out.
“Well, good news for you then,” Moose said, turning back toward the young woman in the bed.
“Right,” she said glumly.
“You don’t seem very excited about getting to go home.”
“Home? I don’t have one.”
“What do you mean, you don’t have one. Where did you come from?”
“Doesn’t matter. I was hitching my way to Florida.”
“Why Florida?”
“Why not?”
“Fair enough. Well, you can’t hitch with your side in that condition.”
“No shit,” she said sourly, easing herself up from the bed.
“Here, let me help you. Why don’t I step out and let you get dressed. I’ll get one of the guys to bring me a car and take you to a hotel or something.”
“Hotel? Dude, I maybe have forty bucks to my name. Shit. My bag. Did they bring a bag in with me?”
“No. I didn’t see one near you on the road.”
“Fuck my life. So, I have no money, no identification, no nothing. I’m completely screwed.”
“What’s your name?”
“What?”
“What’s your name?”
“What difference does it make?”
“I’d like to know what to call you.”
“Fine. It’s Ali. Ali Canton.”
“Good. You are Ali Canton and I’m David Kelley, aka, Moose.”
“Moose. Right.”
“Look Ali. I’m no one for you to be afraid of. I don’t know what you are running from, but I’ve been around long enough to know you are running from something. You could ask to borrow my cell phone to call a friend, a family member, a priest. Instead, you look like a drowning rat trying to figure out how to stay afloat.”
She stared at him blankly, not denying what he had to say, but not admitting it either. She didn’t need to. Girls like her popped up here in the middle of nowhere all the time, looking to get lost in a place where no one would look for them. Some, like Ali, were only passing through, but they were always on their way far away from something. Of course, Ali might not even be her name, but it gave him something to call her.
“It’s not your problem, anyway.”
“No. It isn’t my problem, but I’m not about to walk out of here not knowing you are going to be okay.”
“I’ll be fine. I’ll find a place to hunker down, somewhere safe for a few days, and then head on out.”
“What about your doctor’s appointment?”
“I’m sure I can find a doctor in Florida to pull out some stitches or buy a pair of clippers to do it myself.”
“Or you could come with me to my clubhouse and stay in one of the spare rooms until after your appointment. It will give you time to figure things out.”
“And what’s the catch?”
“No catch.”
“There is always a catch.”
“No, not always. Sometimes, there is just someone who wants to make sure you are okay.”
“Thanks, but I couldn’t accept.”
“Why not?”
“I just couldn’t.”
“Listen, Ali. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m the one that made sure you got up off that road and to the hospital. Let me finish what I started. Who knows who you will encounter on your way to Florida or what will happen to you once you get there. I’m guessing you bolted from wherever you came from without much of a plan. If nothing else, this gives you a little more time to put things together.”
“This clubhouse. Are there other women there?”
“Yes, tons of them. You’ll be perfectly safe there and you’ll have your own room. Your own room with a locking door.”
Ali smiled at him and nodded for a moment as she finished slipping out of the bed to make her way slowly to the bathroom. She paused at the door and looked back at him.
“Okay, Moose. Call the cavalry. I’ve got nothing better to do.”
“That’s good enough,” he told her.
“I’ll get dressed,” she said, retrieving her clothes from the stand by the bathroom door and disappearing inside.
Moose pulled out his cell phone and made a call to the clubhouse to speak with Aspen.