Chapter 24
woke up groggily. It took her a moment to get her bearings, but then she remembered she was in the hospital because Jen and Jacque were both healing from the wreck. She put her hands to her head and moaned, her head felt like it was splitting open. As she stood up slowly, she realized that there was singing coming from the bathroom. She looked around and noticed Jen was not in her bed, and then she remembered that Jacque was really sick and in the ICU. She looked at the clock on the wall and saw that it was 5:00a.m. Walking over to the bathroom door, she tried in vain to remember what had happened last night. She gave up and knocked on the door. When the singing continued and no one answered her, she turned the knob experimentally to see if it was locked. It was. She pressed her ear to the door and realized then that it was Jen singing. Pressing closer, she strained to hear her.
"You're so hypno-something, could you be the devil, could you be an angel, your touch is something good, feels like going floating, leave my body glowing."
"Katy Perry? She's singing Katy Perry in the hospital bathroom. Just when you think you've seen it all," Sally mumbled. She knocked on the door again. Still no answer, so she started banging. Then she was banging and hollering, "JEN! OPEN THE FREAKING DOOR!" Wouldn't you know, she just sang louder. Why am I not surprised, she thought.
"They said I'm afraid, you're not like the others,
futuristic werewolves'
different DNA, they like to command you," Jen continued.
"Can't you at least get the words right if you're going to be so stinking loud!"
Just as Sally was going to resume her, so far fruitless, banging the hospital room door flew open. She turned to face the would-be intruder. "Why don't you freaking wolves ever knock? Has ever occurred to you that we might be naked up in here?"
Decebel at least had the good grace to look embarrassed. "I apologize. I heard banging and yelling. Is everything okay?" He asked, glancing around the room. Before Sally could answer he spoke again. "Where is Jen?"
Before Sally could answer they both heard Jen.
"Kiss me, k-k-kiss me, infect me with your love, and
fill me with your poison,
take me, t-t-take me, wanna be your victim, ready for abduction
boy, you're a werewolf, your touch is so furry, its supernatural,
extra-werewolf-iestrial," Jen sung as loud as she could.
Sally was shaking her head in disbelief, "This is gonna be good. I mean, she might actually be embarrassed when she finds out you heard all that."
Decebel cocked his head as if listening for something, then he sniffed the air, taking in a deep breath. "I smell alcohol. Have you two been drinking?" Decebel asked in disbelief.
"Of course not!" Sally said with obvious offense.
Decebel didn't acknowledge her answer but continued to ask questions. "Why were you banging on the door?"
"It's locked and Jen won't answer me. It's like she can't hear me."
"So, she might be drunk and she's trying to take a shower?" Decebel asked skeptically.
"That. could be. a bad thing, right?" Sally pushed out the words.
Decebel was already in action, he was banging on the door so hard the hinges shook. Werewolf strength, must be nice.
"JENNIFER, OPEN THE DOOR!" he yelled.
There was a pause in the singing and all they heard was the water from the shower. Both of them held their breath waiting for her response. One beat, two beats. "Knock, knock?" they heard her ask.
"Jen, open the door. This isn't funny," Sally tried.
"Jen, open the door, this isn't funny who?" Jen repeated and snickered.
"Okay," Sally said to Decebel. "You're right, she's tore up from the floor up."
"Jennifer, I want you to back away from the door," Decebel told her.
"What are you going to do, Decebel?" Sally asked him apprehensively.
Decebel didn't answer her, instead he braced both hands on either side of the door, pulled his leg back and kicked hard. The door didn't resist at all, it splintered where his foot hit and then swung open. Steam came flowing out of the bathroom looking like a living being, slipping around Decebel, seeming to pull him in towards Jen. He started to enter but before he could put a foot over the door jamb, Sally grabbed his arm. "Hey buddy, she could be naked all up in here so wait. If I need you I will call."
"You are right, I will wait here. But hurry," Decebel relented.
Sally stepped into the steam. Jen was standing in the shower, dancing to music that Sally couldn't hear until Jen decided to share, that is.
"There is this decibel, on another level, boy, you're my lucky werewolf, I wanna walk on your wave length, and be there when you vibrate, for you I risk it all. But you're not an option, wanna be a victim, ready for objection, and I don't remember the words, something about poison. You're an alien, wait I mean a werewolf, let me see your furry paws, don't know what rhymes with paws." All of this was to the tune of Katy Perry's E.T. song. Man, she is going to be so freaking embarrassed when I tell her she sang about Decebel and his paws. Sally actually laughed out loud at the though., Jen turned at the sound of Sally's voice. Sally saw more of Jen than she needed to in an entire lifetime.
"SALLY!" which actually came out more like Swally. "Hey chica, how'd you like my singing, pretty good right? You be my backup, the Sonny to my chair, or like the, um," Jen screwed her face up, struggling to come up with an adequate combination, which she didn't. "Like the black eye to my peas." Jen laughed and nearly fell over.
Sally jumped forward to catch her friend and keep her from cracking her skull. "Crap! Jen, stand still."
"Is everything okay? Do I need to come in there?" Decebel's raised voice caught Jen's attention. Great, just what Sally need, a drunk, horny, naked chick chasing a werewolf.
"No!" "Oooh, did you bring a boy home, Sally?" Sally and Jen spoke at the same time.
Of course, now Jen was eager to get out of the shower, now that Sally was thoroughly soaked. Jen untangled herself from Sally and headed straight for the smashed-in bathroom door…naked…as in no clothes. Sally was slipping, trying to catch her. She wasn't going to make it.
"DECEBEL. Incoming, drunk, naked, crazy chick!" Sally yelled as loud as she could.
A second later she heard Decebel say something that sounded curiously like Romanian cussing and Jen say, "Oooh, you're freakin hot, as in h-o-," Jen was attempting to spell out hot, it obviously wasn't going to happen.
Sally finally made it out of the bathroom, water dripping off her. She imagined she resembled a very pissed off wet cat. Decebel had wrapped a sheet from the bed around Jen, who was at the moment trying to grope him. "Have we met?" she asked, "Cuz if we haven't then we should, and by meet I mean hook up." Decebel was gallantly trying to keep Jen's hands in appropriate areas. Sally supposed she should help but this was just too good to pass up. She walked over to her backpack and pulled out her phone.
"What are you doing?" Decebel's voice was incredulous.
"I'm videoing this. This is too good to pass up. Jen is going to have a freaking heart attack when she sobers up and I'm going to have it all on video. It will be like a Christmas present that just keeps on giving. Every time I need a pick me up, I just turn on the video of Jen drunk off her rocker, groping a werewolf who has no clue how to handle a drunk, horny teenager! This is like the best gift ever, someone in the galaxy loves me." Sally was laughing by the time she was done talking. Decebel, however, was not.
Jen turned to look at Sally as if realizing for the first time she was in the room. "Sally! Look it," Jen tried to whisper like Decebel wouldn't be able to hear her, but it came out more as a hoarse shout. "What's his name? He is so yummy!"
"Jen, that's Decebel, remember? Fane's werewolf pack member?" Sally watched Jen for any recognition.
Jen was studying Decebel closely, as in had her hands on his face. Then she ran her fingers through his hair, close, all the while staring at his face. "Hmm, he kind of looks familiar now that you say that..." she continued to study him, turning her head from side to side.
Decebel looked at Sally as if looking for instruction.
Inspiration hit. "Say something bossy to her," Sally grinned at her ingenious.
Decebel growled at her, she shrugged her shoulders. "Fine, be the first werewolf raped by a drunken teenage girl. Whatever dude, it's your rep."
Decebel grabbed Jen's hands and looked her straight in the eyes. "Jennifer, go and get dressed. Now." His voice was as cold and firm as always.
Jen froze, then giggled as she said,"Decebel. Oh yeah, I know you. You're so hot when you're bossy." Great, Sally thought as she rolled her eyes, inebriated Jen thinks Decebel is sexy when he's bossy, nice.
To Sally and Decebel's surprise Jen finally relented. "Fine, I'll put on some clothes. But only because you asked so nicely." Jen began to un-wrap the sheet and she was nearly naked again when Decebel realized she meant to get dressed right there in front of him. He moved faster than he ever had before and made a bee line for the bathroom. "Tell me when she's dressed," he told Sally.
"Roger that, little buddy," Sally said sarcastically.
"Do you think he likes me? I think I like him, but I shouldn't," Jen's voice sounded like a wounded little girl. Oh no, Jen was going from silly drunk to sad drunk. Sad drunks were the worst kind.
"Jen, look at me," Sally said in the sternest voice she could muster. "Why do you think you like Decebel?"
Jen's face was blank, then she grinned. "Why would you think I liked Decebel, silly? He's bossy, cold, mean, grumpy, pushy, yummy, sexy, strong, tall."
"Um, Jen." She snapped her fingers in Jen's face, which had gone all spaced out as she continued her description of Decebel. This was bad, so very freaking bad. Jen had a crush on a werewolf who she could never have. Damn, Sally thought, why can't she be like other girls and like the captain of the football team, or even some grungy high school dropout? But no, she had to fall for a werewolf.
Jen's voice was soft. "It's no big thing, he's not an option." She swung back to the other end of the drunken spectrum and was spinning in circles with her arms out, singing, "He's not an option," over and over in the same tune she had been singing earlier. Sally grabbed Jen and helped her into her clothes and then hollered for Decebel to join them again. When he walked back into the room, Jen immediately walked over to him and leaned on him, looking up at him dreamily. He walked over to the bed as Jen continued to keep herself attached to him. When they were both seated he looked up at Sally, "So what exactly happened last night?"
Sally closed her eyes and rubbed her face roughly with her hands, trying in vain to remember what happened but there was just a black spot in her mind.
"I don't remember, Decebel," she answered honestly.
"Okay, what's the last thing you remember?"
"Jen and I had decided to sneak into the ICU to see Jacque. We wandered all over the hospital until we nearly got caught by some guy in scrubs. Jen made me go on without her and said she would stay and distract the guy."
Decebel growled. "What do you mean she was with a guy?" He looked down to ask Jen about it but she was sound asleep, her head leaned against his arm. Decebel gently laid her back and swung her legs up on the bed, then covered her with the blankets. He turned back to Sally and pinned her with his gaze. "What the hell were you two thinking? Did I not specifically say to not do anything stupid?"
It was clear to Sally that nothing she could say would calm the pissed off werewolf in front of her, so she didn't even try. "Look, Jacque is our best friend, she's all alone in a room with tubes and crap stuck to her, she's in pain, and she's scared. We were not just going to leave her like that all by herself."
"I understand that, but you could have asked for help instead of attempting it on your own," Decebel told her.
Sally's jaw dropped open, baffled by what she had just heard. "Are you saying you would have helped us?"
"I'm not going to say that I wouldn't have tried to talk you out of it, but knowing this one," he nodded his head in Jen's direction, "she wouldn't have relented. So yes, I would have helped you."
"Wow. Well, next time we want to break some rules we will definitely recruit your expertise."
"Good, now do you remember anything else? Did you make it into the ICU? Do you remember coming back to your room?" Decebel fired question after question at Sally.
"Hold up, Dec. Let me think," Sally told him, holding her hands up in an effort to get him to stop. "I remember standing in front of the ICU doors and I was trying to figure out how they opened and then..." Sally furrowed her brow, trying so hard to remember what had happened.
"Hold on, you guys got past Skender, right?"
Sally nodded her head yes and watched as Decebel got up and walked to the door. He stuck his head out and she heard him ask Skender to come in. Skender walked in, shoulders slumped forward, and Sally could tell he was getting ready for his butt to be chewed on by his pack Beta.
"Skender," Decebels' voice was low and demanded truth. "Could you please explain to me how two teenage girls were able to get past you?"
Skender looked at Sally and then at Decebel. "It must have been when I went to the bathroom. I wasn't gone that long, and the room was so quiet I figured they had gone to sleep." Skender stumbled over his words as fear rolled off him.
"Why didn't you call me and ask me to come and take over for you?"
"I don't know, Decebel. I just didn't think they would try anything."
Decebel snorted. "Have you not been around these girls for the past month? Surely you've noticed their pension for trouble."
"Hey now, there's no need to be hating on us," Sally frowned.
"Speaking the truth is not hating, as you call it, it's just stating a fact," Decebel informed her.
"Okay, so we know how they left, now we need to know how they got back." Decebel glared at Skender. "Did you happen to be at your post when the girls returned?"
"Yes, I was here both times," he answered, no less nervous than before.
"What do you mean both times?"
"I mean both times. They didn't arrive back together at the same time," Skender explained, "they arrived separately. Sally was the first one back."
"I don't remember coming back," Sally told him.
"Well, I wouldn't expect you to. I found you knocked out in the elevator."
Sally gasped and covered her mouth. Decebel didn't say anything, he just waited for the wolf to continue.
"The elevator doors opened and no one stepped out, so I ran over before they could close to see if someone was in there, and there you were on the elevator floor. So I picked you up and put you back in the bed. That's when I realized that Jen was gone as well." Skender flinched at the low rumble coming from Decebel.
"Pray tell, why did you not call me at this point, Skender? Don't you think it was a pretty big deal that you found Sally unconscious in an elevator and Jennifer missing?" By the time Decebel was done talking, he was pacing the room, looking like he was on the verge of throttling the poor wolf.
"I should have called you right away, but I decided to wait and see if Jen made it back on her own. If she hadn't returned shortly I was going to call you then. I see now in hindsight that wasn’t the best idea."
"You think?" Decebel asked. "When did Jennifer get back?" he growled.
"She came back about an hour ago in the company of a guy in scrubs, she said his name was Matty. She was pretty drunk when I inquired her about the guy. He got scared and hurried off. Then I helped Jen back into their room and I've been sitting out here ever since," Skender finished.
Sally was convinced if he had been in his wolf form he would be cowering with his tail between his legs. Then again, as she looked at Decebel and the obvious rage he was battling, Sally had to admit she felt like cowering as well.
Decebel finally looked at Skender. "You can go."
Skender let out a breath that Sally didn't think he even realized he had been holding. He turned to go but before he could make it out the door Decebel told him, "Skender, I will not forget this, and it will be dealt with once everything else has been worked out. Understood?"
"Yes, Beta." And then he hastily shut the door.
Sally could feel the anger coming off of Decebel, it was nearly tangible.
"Are you okay?" she asked him.
"I'm not really sure at the moment," he answered honestly.
"Well, maybe you should take a time out. Jen's not awake for you to growl at and there's no sense in growling at me now when you're just going to do it again when she wakes up."
"That's probably a very good idea. However, I will warn you Sally, a time out will not cool my temper. If anything it may become worse as I have time to dwell on all the possibilities of Jennifer's little adventure."
"Okay, well, let's just not worry about that right now. I mean, she obviously showed up fully clothed. Skender didn't mention that it looked like she was disheveled or whatever, so you can assume that she didn't let this Matt character de-flower her."
"Sally, you're not helping." Decebel turned away from both girls, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. "Look, I'm going to check on Fane and see if they've heard anything since I left. Please do not leave this room until I come back. Do you think you can handle that?"
"Okay, Decebel, since you asked so nicely," Sally responded, her voice thick with sarcasm.