Wolf Girl (Book 4)

Chapter 4: Jana

Jana's POV

As my eyes slowly become unstuck, bright white light glares down on me from the ceiling. There's a familiar scent in the air, a chemical scent like at the Segolia labs. But this isn't Segolia. It's a hospital. I look to my left to see some kind of monitor, and to my right, Carys lies completely unconscious. I know the secret is out, and there are laws to protect Wolfbloods now, but that doesn't mean it doesn't break my heart to see Carys like this. There are tubes going in and out of her body and her head is all bandaged up. Apart from that, she just looks like she's sleeping.

I slowly sit up and examine myself, no bandages, only a few cuts and bruises. I'm exhausted and a little bit stiff, but apart from that, I feel fine.

In the corner of the room, Matei is uncomfortably curled up in an armchair. "Matei?" I croak. He rubs his eyes and looks at me as though I'm a ghost. "What happened?" He comes to my side and sits on the edge of my bed.

"We crashed, you went right through the windshield, you're lucky to be alive, Jana. Most people wouldn't have survived that. Dr Whitewood called for help, and we were carried here in a helicopter."

I suddenly remember everything, Carys was driving, we went right into a tree. We were going back to camp to get Emilia. "Emilia! Is she okay?" I try to get up, but he gently pushes me back down.

"You need rest. Emilia's safe, she's on a different ward."

"Did they figure out what was wrong with her? Is she okay Matei?"

He swallows a lump in his throat and then turns away from me. "She- she has cancer in her leg," he tries to stifle a sob.

"Cancer?" A lump comes to my throat this time, "How? I thought Wolfbloods couldn't get any kind of cancer?" She's just a cub.

"Turns out she's half-human. We have different dads." My eyes widen. "The people here are trying to get in touch with him."

"Matei," I take his hand, "I'm so sorry." He tries to smile at me. "Does she know yet, have they told her?" He shakes his head. "Are they going to?"

"They want to wait to see if he's still out there, plus, I think I should be the one to tell her."

"How are you coping? I can't imagine-"

"I'm not. They have a treatment plan already but they're not certain it'll save her, and I know as soon as she finds out about her dad she'll start blaming herself for, well everything. But I'm really trying to stay positive. I just don't know how to fix it."

"Ah, Jana you're awake," Dr Whitewood comes in. "How do you feel?"

"I'm fine physically," I say. It comes out a little more bitter than I had intended. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it'll all work itself out," she tries to reassure me, but I just see Carys lying there so helpless, this is really going to mess with her head.

"Is Carys gonna be okay?" I ask.

"Well, she caught a branch to the chest and her lungs was compromised, but her surgeons are confident they've repaired them, she hit her head pretty hard too, but they say she's through the worst of it. She did wake up earlier, but she was very shaken up so one of the nurses sedated her. She kept saying she was sorry about the crash, and that it was her fault."

Poor Carys. Of course, she blames herself. She always does when something bad happens.

"It was her fault, she's the reason we crashed," Matei spits.

"Matei!" I snap. I know he's upset with me because he saw me kiss Carys and now everything with Emilia, but he has no right to blame her. It was an accident.