Scarlet's Mate

Part Nine

Beep.. Beep.. Beep..

When I woke up all I could hear was beeping.  I knew I was either in a hospital, or trapped inside a microwave.  I decided that hospital was probably the more likely answer.  I know some people wake up and immediately want to open their eyes and ask what happened to them.  But I know what happened.  I hit a tree.

I remember the blood and not feeling well.  I remember Derek on the phone with me.  I remember everything.  So I'll just lay here with my eyes closed for a while longer. 

I'm not sure how much time passed before I heard footsteps come into my room.  I kept my eyes closed, not really wanting to converse.  I felt a warm hand rest on top of mine.  It was comforting. 

"I'm sorry Scarlet, this is my fault.  Please be okay," hearing Derek's sad voice made me realize I'm being selfish. 

"I'm fine," it came out as a whisper and I opened my eyes to see Derek looking down at me intensely.  His eyes looked bloodshot, like he'd been crying.  My heart broke for him, seeing him this way.  I reached my hand out and put it on top of both our hands.

"Thank god, Scarlet, you scared the hell out of me.  I heard you scream, I heard a crash and then you didn't answer.  I was so worried.  I don't think I ever ran that fast in my life," he was speaking frantically.

"Derek calm down please, I'm fine, okay?  Seriously-," I pause, my brain just registering what he said, "Wait, you ran to me?"

He looked down at our hands and nervously laughed, "yeah, I wanted to get to you as quickly as I could.  And I wasn't really thinking, I guess."

"You must run really fast if you didn't think taking your truck would be quicker," I teased.

He looked away for a minute then changed the subject, "Scarlet, how are you feeling, be honest."

"Derek, I promise you, I feel fine.  Honestly, my head doesn't even really hurt anymore.  And I'm pretty sure that's the only thing that was hurt, well besides my car," I laughed and shifted into a sitting up position, "hey, do you think you could get me some water actually, I am a little thirsty."

Derek shot up and started walking towards the door, "yes, yes of course I can, I'll be right back," he walked out of the room, then not even a second later he walked back in, "stay here," he ordered.

"Yes sir," I replied.

As Derek went to get me some water I reached up and touched my head lightly.  Ah, felt like stitches to me.  I guess that's better than bleeding at least.  I looked around my room, suddenly feeling a little uneasy as I remembered why I crashed. The wolf. 

It was huge, wolves aren't supposed to be that big.  It looked like the wolf from my dream, except the color and the eyes were different.  Maybe I'll ask Derek if there's mutant wolves here or something.  It is unnatural for a wolf to be bigger than a car. 

Derek came strutting back in with my water in hand.  He opened the bottle and handed it to me.  I took three big sips and handed it back to him, "thank you," I smiled at him.

"It's the least I can do," he replied, still looking guilty.

I decided to change the subject, maybe distract him from feeling guilty, "I have a weird question."

"Shoot."

"Are there mutant wolves here or something?"

He was quiet for a minute then laughed, "you must be concussed, what kind of question is that?"

"Hey I'm serious," I paused to scowl at him before continuing, "I swear, I was driving then out of nowhere a HUGE wolf just jumped in the middle of the road.  And when I say huge, I mean it.  It had to have been bigger than my car.  I swerved, to avoid hitting it.  That's why I crashed.  So you can stop feeling guilty because that wasn't your fault.  But the wolf, I mean I know it sounds crazy but I swear I know what I saw."