Wolf Girl (Book 4)

Chapter 6: Jana

Jana's POV

I wake up to the curtains wide open, I see the cloudy grey sky, and the trees blowing around in the cold wind, but I'm warm in Carys' arms. Everything about her feels so right, I don't know how I lasted without her at my side. Her face has made this dreary day seem a little brighter.

"Hey," she says and leans down to kiss me. This is how it used to be before I left for the city, we'd just lie around some days. The only difference now is that we're in the hospital... and everything's a mess, apart from us.

    "Did you sleep okay?"

    "Not really, my head's pounding, my heart's racing, the painkillers help a little but I can't stop worrying about everything," she rubs her eyes and looks down at me.

    "It's going to be okay, you promised me that, remember?"

    She smiles and kisses me again, "I can't believe I went so long without you next to me. I'm not letting you out of my sight ever again." Our fingers intertwine over my chest.

    "I'm not going anywhere, not ever." I kiss her again and climb out of the bed and start getting dressed. I've stayed in my hospital gown this whole time, the only clothes I have are the ones I was wearing in the wild, they're a little dirty but it's bearable. Carys still doesn't have anything else to wear, but Ceri said she was going to drop off some stuff for her.

    Just as I'm completely dressed, the door knocks and Rhydian walks in, he's brought Maddy with him. "Maddy!" I walk over and hug her. It feels so good to be back with the old pack. Even if it is under these circumstances.

    "How are you both feeling?" She says as I bring her to the bed. She sits on the edge. Carys sits up.

    "I'm good, just a bit bruised," I say back.

    "I have a bit of headache and some chest pain, but the drugs they've got me on are really helping," Carys says, reaching her arms out for a hug from Maddy.

    "Have you guys eaten yet?" Maddy asks.

    "Shall I see if one of the nurses knows when breakfast starts?" Rhydian asks.

    "No, I think we should all go down to the canteen, it won't do us any good to stay in here, it might be a while before you're discharged."

    "Yeah, you're right, I'm going stir crazy in this room," Carys says.

    "I'll go and get Matei and Emilia," I start heading towards the door.

    "Jana," Carys stops me, "They don't want me around. It's fine, you guys go down without me."

    "No, come with us it'll be fine!" I sit back down next to her.

"Honestly, it's okay, just bring me back something." It's like suddenly she's gone from wanting to be next to me all the time to wanting to be alone with her thoughts.   

"Uh, okay, as long as you're sure?" She nods and smiles. I lean in and kiss her.

"I should probably try and get some more sleep anyway," she tucks herself back into bed.

I don't like the thought of leaving her, especially after what we've been through, but maybe she just needs to be able to think with anyone clouding her thoughts. Rhydian, Maddy and I head out of our room and we go to Emilia's ward.

"Morning guys, this is Maddy and Rhydian, from Stoneybridge."

"Hey, I'm Matei."

"Emilia." They shake hands.

"We were just thinking about going to get some breakfast, wanna come?"

Down in the canteen, things are pretty awkward. Matei is still pretty upset with me but I think he's trying to get over it. Emilia looks a little bit better, but she doesn't look happy. I wouldn't be happy if I'd just been told I had cancer and I had a long lost father. She's barely eating.

"Not hungry Emilia?" I ask.

"No, not really, chemo comes with side effects, no appetite is one of them."

"You should eat anyway," Matei says.

"No, I feel kind of sick."

"Emilia, you have to eat."

"Matei please," she's getting frustrated.

"No, if you don't eat you'll only get worse," he tries to put the fork in her hand but she just slams it down on the table, causing everyone to look at her. She raises her voice.

"If you keep treating me like I'm a child I'll get worse!" She rolls out of the canteen in her wheelchair. Matei gets up to follow her, but I grab his arm.

"I'll go, she obviously doesn't want to be around you at the moment." He looks at me, with pure anger and yanks his arm away. He storms out of the canteen. I follow after Emilia, who by this point is waiting at the lift.

"Leave me alone," she smells me coming. "I just want to go back to bed."

"Look Emilia," the lift opens and we go in, I crouch in front of her, "This really sucks, I get that, and I know I can't understand what you're going through but I am here for you. So is Matei." I see a tear roll down her cheek.

"I'm so scared Jana," she bursts into tears.

"I know," I take her hands, "But you're strong Emilia, you can handle anything," I touch her scar, "Think about what you've been through, what didn't kill you has made you stronger." I take her other hand and put it to her face.

"Thank you." I wrap my arms around her, she whimpers into my chest until the lift doors open. I wheel her out. "I'm sorry I was so rude to your Carys. I was just kind of annoyed about what happened between- well you know."

"It's not me you should be apologising to." I don't want to force her to say anything but it would be nice if they got along.

"You're right, I'll go and say sorry." She starts wheeling on her own leaving me walking behind her. Once we get to the door she doesn't even hesitate, she just goes in.