Dark Side of the Moon (4 page)

I fought it, trying to kick it and shove it off of me.  Every time I was successful, it just found a new place to bite me along my arms or legs.  When I tried to crawl away, the wolf jumped onto my back.  It was heavier than me, and forced me onto the ground, my head hitting a rock.

Pain radiated out from my skull, and it was almost too much for me to bear.  How has no one come for help yet?  How has no one heard my screams?  I would have been sure that someone in this small town heard me scream or could have seen the wolf drag me into the woods.  I didn’t know how much longer I could last against him.

With my vision going in and out, I was startled to see two more wolves arrive, both gray in color.  Shit, more of them?  I was done for, couldn’t survive three wolves attacking me.  Oh, why had I gone outside at night?

But the new wolves didn’t even look at me.  Instead, they tackled the black wolf, forcing it off of me.  I didn’t bother looking at them.  I needed to try to get away from them before it attacked me again.

The pain in my head and legs were too much for me, though.  I could hear the wolves fighting in the background, their growls and snarls growing fainter as they tumbled away.  At least they were going further away from me and hopefully wouldn’t come back for me once their fight was settled.  I couldn’t even stand up or try to crawl, my leg protesting with searing hot pain.  I had no idea which direction to crawl in to get back to civilization, either.  I was royally screwed.

Then I realized that I was alone, and no one I knew had any idea where I was or what happened to me.

Chapter 5

I was still in tremendous pain when I opened my eyes.  The sun was shining bright through the trees above me.  Where was I?

Oh, yeah.  Some crazy wolf attacked me and dragged me into the woods.

I tried to move, but pain shot through my body from my arms, legs, and head.  Had the wolves come back after I had passed out?  Trying my hardest, I managed to lift my head up a little so I could see my arms and legs.  They were still there, bloody and torn a little, but still there.

That’s when I heard someone yelling for me.  They sounded a good ways off, but at least they were looking for me.  I tried to get enough air in my lungs so I could respond, but all that came out was a quiet croak.  Shit.  How were they going to find me?

A few minutes later, the voices grew louder.  I tried to call out to them, let them know I was here and could hear them, but nothing came out of my mouth.  Tears formed in my eyes.  Though I survived the night somehow, I doubt I could survive the day.  They needed to find me.

I tried to call out to whoever was calling my name again.  Another croak came out as the tears fell down my cheeks.  This just couldn’t be the end for me.

“Guys!  I see something over here!”

The voice was a whole lot closer, and it sounded familiar.  It wasn’t my dad’s or Dan’s voice, but I couldn’t quite place it.  But they had said they saw something, and hopefully that something was me.

I heard leaves rustling as the person moved closer to me.  They muttered a curse under their breath. 
Yeah, I look bad, but I need help,
I wanted to tell them, but I still couldn’t talk.

“It’s going to be okay, Selina.  I’ve got you,” they said, right next to me now.

I opened my eyes, and saw dark brown hair over me.  A hand touched my arm, and I winced in pain.  But they reached that hand under my back, and another under my legs.  Pain coursed through me tenfold as they picked me up.

“I’m sorry,” they whispered.

I knew they didn’t mean to hurt me, but I just couldn’t help it.  It was agony to move.  As they walked, taking me away from this place, I tried opening my eyes again to see who held me.  If I hadn’t been in pain, I would have gasped.

It was London.

How had he found me?  Was the whole town looking for me?  Closing my eyes, I tried to keep the tears at bay.  I was saved.

“London, you found her?” someone called.

“Yeah, but she needs to get to a hospital,” he called back, almost hesitantly.

I heard rustling of leaves again as someone rushed to us.  “Shit,” they muttered.  “I’ll call an ambulance, have it meet you at the road.”

“Thanks, man.”

London tried not to jostle me too much as he carried me out of the woods.  I knew he was trying to rush, because I had been out all night, was attacked right after sunset, and I needed help.  He didn’t say anything to me as he carried me.

Then I heard sirens.  Though I didn’t like going to the doctor, I was glad the ambulance was fast in arriving.  I wanted the pain to go away.

I heard people talking when the siren stopped, and London slowed his pace.  Taking a peek, I saw we were close to the road.  A couple paramedics rushed to us, asking London questions.  Then I felt him lay me down on the gurney.

I didn’t remember much about the ride to the hospital.  The paramedics had poked and prodded at me, and asked me questions that I couldn’t answer.  My throat burned because it was dry.

Then, I blacked out from the morphine they gave me, finally getting some relief from my discomfort.

When I opened my eyes, a white tiled ceiling met me.  It was better than tree tops.  My body didn’t ache, which I was thankful for.  My throat still hurt because I was so thirsty.

When I turned to find the nurse’s button, I found someone sitting in a chair beside me.  It was Dad.  He had his phone out and was typing away, the keys making a little clicking sound with each button he pressed.

I tried to get his attention by saying something, but nothing came out.  So I tried to move to wave at him, and found that my right arm was a lot heavier than I remembered.  I was only able to lift it a little bit, but it was enough for my dad to look up.

“Selina, are you alright?  Does it hurt?” he asked frantically.

I tried to tell him I needed some water when he turned and darted for the door.

After he opened it, he said to someone, “She’s awake.”

A moment later, a couple nurses came in and rushed over to me.  “Selina, can you hear me?” one asked.

Since I knew I couldn’t talk, I nodded.

“Do you know what the date is?”

I tried to open my mouth, and let them know that I couldn’t speak.  My throat was barely burning, and I wanted to fix it.

The nurse that hadn’t spoken to me walked out of the room.

The other one continued talking.  “While we’re waiting for her to get you something to drink, do you know what happened?”

I nodded.

“The police and your family are anxious to know.  The doctor says that your wounds look like an animal attacked you.”

As I nodded, the other nurse returned with a cup of water.  They helped me with the straw so I could drink.  The water tasted so good sliding down my desert like throat.  I guzzled nearly all of it before trying to clear my throat.  “It’s the Sunday before Christmas, right?”

Both nurses nodded.

I took a deep breath, glad that my body didn’t hurt.  “A wolf attacked me.”

Their eyes widened.  “A wolf?”

“Yeah, he was big and black and dragged me into the woods.  I tried to fight him off, but he kept biting my arms and legs.  And I hit my head on a rock when I tried to get away.  He left me alone after two gray wolves knocked him off of me.”

“Are you sure it was a wolf and not a bear?  We have a lot of black bears in the area.”

“I’m pretty sure it was a wolf.  And what kind of black bear is gray?”

They didn’t say anything about that.  “We’re going to go find your doctor so he can talk to you.  Before we go, are you in pain?”

I shook my head.

After they walked out, my dad came back into my room.  Concern was all over his face as he approached me.  “Are you alright, Selina?”

I nodded.  “Where are Mom and Dan?”

“They went to grab something to eat.  We were so worried about you when you didn’t return home last night.  We had most of the town out looking for you.  No one thought you could have been in the woods.”

Before I could respond, the door opened again.  The doctor was a little older than my dad, and was just as concerned as he had been.  He almost hesitantly approached me.

“How are you feeling, Selina?”

Was everyone going to ask me that?
  “I’m fine,” I said trying not to roll my eyes.

  “Are you sure?  I know the paramedics gave you a high dose of morphine before you arrived here, and I gave you some more before you went into surgery.”

The blood drained from my face.  “Surgery?”

“Yes.  Your leg was broken just below your knee, and, I’m sorry to be so graphic, but part of your bone was exposed.  You also lost a lot of blood and had to undergo a transfusion.  We’re actually not sure how you survived almost twelve hours in the woods in your condition.”

Twelve hours?
  I looked to my dad.

“You left the house just before six last night and were found right after six this morning,” he explained.

“The strangest part of it all was that your wounds were already healing by the time you arrived here.  It took us a while to clean and treat them.  The nurses told me that you said you were attacked by a wolf.”

It took me a moment to nod.  “How were my wounds already healing?” I asked, almost as a whisper.  There was no way that could be possible with how he described my wounds.

“Modern medicine just can’t explain it.  But the bite marks on your arms and legs are very minor wounds compared to your broken leg, and stranger things have happened throughout history before.  I wouldn’t worry too much about it.  I am going to prescribe you some painkillers and some antibiotics to make sure your healing wounds stay clean and free from infection.  I wouldn’t physically clean them every day because new skin needs to grow and not be irritated.  Also, your cast is going to have to stay on your leg for about six weeks, the stitches on your head for two or three weeks.  Hit the nurse’s button if you need more morphine, and I’ll be back to check on you later tonight.  Do you have any questions before I go?”

I shook my head, still a little bewildered from what he told me.

“See you in a little while, Selina,” he said before heading to the door.

Before I could say anything to my dad, the door opened again.  Mom and Dad came into my room, both of them appearing to be worried.  “Oh, Selina, are you okay?” mom asked as she came over to me.

“If someone else asks me that, I’m going to lose it.  I’m fine, I feel fine even though the doctor has no idea why.”

“He told us that they have no idea how….” She didn’t finish her sentence.

“I don’t either.  The only reason why the wolf stopped biting me was because two more showed up and tackled him.”

Mom had tears in her eyes.

Dan tried to make light of the situation by saying, “Just because you’ve got a cast on your leg doesn’t mean that I’m going to constantly be at your beck and call.”

I gave him a little glare.

“Don’t rile your sister, Dan.  She’s going to need her rest.  You would, too, if you’d gone through what she did.”

“Yeah, yeah, don’t give her any hell.  Or make howling noises.”

It was Dad’s turn to glare at Dan.  His expression turned soft when he looked back at me.  “Do you need us to get you anything, Selina?”

“I am a little hungry.”

“Let me go ask the nurses if you’re restricted on what you can have.”  Before he walked out, he gave me a kiss on my forehead.

While we waited for him to return with some food, we stayed silent.  Mom tried to apologize to me, but I stopped her.  I didn’t want to talk about why I had gone outside last night.

After I ate my baked potato and some gelatin, my doctor returned to check on my dressings.  Dan and Dad had gone out of the room to give me some privacy.  Mom stood on the opposite side of my bed from the doctor, watching him intently.

He first removed the bandage over the top of my right arm, where the wolf bit me first.  He scared me when he gasped, making me think the worst had happened.  “I don’t believe it,” he murmured.

“Don’t believe what?” I asked, looking down at my arm.  I gasped, too.

Instead of being completely pink or red and punctures, the wound was almost completely healed, indentions left in my skin where its teeth had been.  He never mentioned anything about doing a skin graph, so how did this happen?

He looked at me, his eyes wide with amazement.  “This is outstanding, Selina.  I’ve never seen anyone heal this quickly.  You could have an anomaly in your blood that allows rapid healing.  It would change—”

“I know what you’re thinking, doctor, and you will do no such thing.  My daughter is not going to be your guinea pig,” Mom told him.

He looked to my mom in disbelief.  “Mrs. Scott, if Selina has an anomaly in her blood that rapidly heals wounds, researching it could be the key to curing a plethora of ailments.”

I didn’t want to be experimented on or labeled as a freak.

Thankfully, my mom was of the same mind.  “I don’t care.  You are not going to poke and prod her with all sorts of needles to see what happens.  As far as I am concerned, you are going to forget this happened.  And I’m sure that my husband will take my side on the matter, as well.”

The doctor looked to me again to see what I had to say.

But Mom spoke for me.  “Selina is only seventeen, and cannot make that decision for herself,” she warned.

I spoke up then.  “Even if I was eighteen, I wouldn’t want you to hide me away in a lab and experiment on me for who knows how long.”

He took a deep breath, clearly disappointed that we didn’t agree to his little idea.  “Well, since you’re healing at a rapid rate, I’m going to order an X-ray of your leg first thing in the morning.  Maybe it has healed as fast as your skin.”  He wrapped the bandage back around my arm.  “So the nurses won’t know,” he explained when I gave him a strange look.  I mean, why put the bandage back on if it was pretty much healed?

As he approached the door to leave, Mom said, “Keep in mind that my husband is a lawyer.  If word gets out about my daughter, we will come after you for breeching doctor patient confidentiality.”

He didn’t say anything, just nodding, knowing he was trapped by the oath he took after graduating med school.