Moonlight Medicine: Inoculation (17 page)

27

Evelyn woke a little after six and found that Kim had already gotten up. She rolled out of bed and took her time sleepily changing into scrubs for working in the lab then freshened up in the bathroom before heading down to grab a bite prior to heading off to the lab. When Evelyn reached the kitchen she found Kim helping Clem at the stove where a large pot of chili simmered aromatically. David was conspicuously absent.

“That smells amazing, Clem.”

Clem pointed to Kim. “Well, you wouldn’t be havin’ any ‘til ‘round midnight if it weren’t for my soo-ie chef here.”

Kim giggled and her face turned red. “I think that’s pronounced sous, Clem.”

Clem shook his head in mock disappointment. “See, already fixin’ to bump me as head chef.”

Evelyn forced a small laugh, but she was having trouble giving in to the jovial atmosphere, much as she wanted to. “Where’s David?”

Clem went back to stirring and Kim answered Evelyn as she put spices away. “Oh, he’s downstairs talking on the phone to…um…I think Zachary about the logistics of the deer drop. Roberto is way too busy trying to coordinate all ten of the battles, so he kinda put David in charge here, but I think that he also had to put the other Alphas in charge too, and Zachary’s being a pain in the butt.”

Evelyn was surprised that David hadn’t mentioned any of that last night, but then again, there had been a lot to talk about other than Zachary’s well known propensity for being a jerk. David came up the stairs almost as if on cue. “What’s a pain in the butt?”

Evelyn glanced at Kim and they both chuckled, though Evelyn’s was half-hearted. David looked confused. “What?”

Evelyn shrugged and Kim shook her head. “Nothing.”

Evelyn set the dining room table for dinner, trying to make it as fancy as possible and unable shake the somber Last Supper feel of the night as she set out the silverware and napkins. David helped get everyone drinks and set out a bowl of shredded cheddar cheese and a bowl of sour cream, then Kim forced Clem to sit while she brought in a bowl of chili for each of them. It was the first formal meal that they had had at the dining room table, and Evelyn wondered if there would ever be another.

Clem rose and held a bottle of Michigan craft beer aloft. “Not much one to say grace, but I can toast to the al-mighty in the hopes that he’s there lookin’ out for us and that he’s got a sense of humor.”

David followed suit with his beer. “To the almighty and his sense of humor.”

“Amen!” said Kim, raising her orange juice.

Evelyn followed with her glass of water. “Here, here.”

The four of them clinked bottles and glasses then dug into some of the best chili that Evelyn had ever eaten, although the circumstances under which it was being eaten might’ve biased her opinion slightly. Everyone abided by an unspoken agreement not to discuss the looming deadline for battle, and Evelyn was almost able to forget for a moment what lay ahead for all of them. She really didn’t want the dinner to ever end, and ate too much as a result, but eventually she and Kim had to excuse themselves.

On the way to the lab, Evelyn told Kim of her plans to just wrap things up and then have a chat about Wolfkin control. She took a long way around to the vet school to show Kim the expanse of research forest on the nearby edge of campus in which she and David planned on changing with Kim, and Kim had some of the same concerns as Evelyn. “Why so close to campus? What if, if I do have control issues? What if I hurt someone?”

Evelyn didn’t want to tell Kim the whole truth about Clem, but she decided that she needed to give her some explanation for staying so close to the school. “Well, actually I’m curious to see the effect of the change on Clem’s remaining wounds, so I’ve asked him to change in a secure room in the basement of the vet school where I can videotape him. Also, between you and me, I didn’t want him rushing his recovery and reinjuring himself, so this seemed like a good way to keep him still for at least one night. But we want to stay close so that we can let him out first thing in the morning.”

Kim seemed to accept this. They parked, headed down to the lab, and ran into Dr. Jonson in the process of locking up. Evelyn was surprised because they had never seen him at the lab so late. “Dr. Jonson, what are you still doing here?”

He gave the two women a weary smile. “Just putting some things in order for my students in case…well, you know. Time waits for no man. I take it there have been no exciting breakthroughs just in the nick of time?”

“We’re making good progress, but like you said, it seems like we’ve just run out of time.”

“Well, I’ve taken the next few days off, so I guess I’ll see you…well,
there
. Until then, take care.”

He nodded to Evelyn and Kim in turn and then ambled down the hall disappearing around the corner. Evelyn watched him go with a heavy heart, wondering if he would survive the next few days.

*

After several hours of work in the lab, Evelyn and Kim made no major breakthroughs, but had steady progress. Around three, Kim finished her last project of the night and Evelyn, who’d finished her lab work earlier, was satisfied with the start that she’d made on the “final” report to send to Philip, so she saved the file to her flash drive and they locked up the lab. Evelyn didn’t really want to go back to the condo and risk waking up Clem and David, so instead she and Kim strolled across the street to the children’s garden to find a place to sit and talk. Technically the garden was closed at that hour, but the wooden gate was only just past waist height, so Evelyn and Kim hopped over and found some benches to sit on. Evelyn had been to the garden many times during the day and enjoyed its whimsical beauty and
Alice in Wonderland
themed hedge maze, but with the waxing moon shining down on the statues and structures through thin clouds, the garden took on a more sinister persona.

Once they were both seated comfortably, Kim turned her expectant eyes on Evelyn. Not having prepared anything ahead of time, Evelyn stumbled a bit for what to say. “When I first became a Wolfkin, I had trouble with control. I was very angry, so that didn’t help at all. I knew what was happening to me, but I didn’t want to focus enough to gain control, I just wanted to be angry and destructive. But you, well, you should have a much easier time, since you seem like you’re handling everything much better than I did. Unless I’m wrong and you’re a very devious ticking time bomb.”

Kim smiled ruefully. “I do get angry sometimes. Why me? But then I think about who might’ve taken my place, and I think about that little girl you told me about. It puts things in perspective for me, and I guess that everything has just been happening so fast, that my brain might not have even fully processed it all yet. It seems like for you all of the stress and craziness was over, and all you had was time to dwell on what had happened.”

Evelyn nodded. “You’re probably right. Clem helped me with my focus. He kept telling me to remember who I was and that who I really was wouldn’t change because of what had happened to me. He said that bad things happen to good people, but that you can’t let yourself go bad because of those things. He stayed with me every night of the first change and just having someone I knew there, someone who cared about me, really helped. You don’t know David and me very well, but I hope that you know that we do care about you.”

“I know that, but I guess that’s why I’m so nervous. What if I hurt one of you again? Or what if I hurt someone else? You might blame yourselves for not being able to control me.”

“Did you ever hear the poem about the Whatifs? I think it’s by Shel Silverstein.”

Kim shook her head.

“It’s a good one. Anyways, it basically says that you could drive yourself crazy worrying about every possible thing that might happen. We trust you. You’re brave and strong and intelligent, and you’ll own this. Just remember who you are, stay focused, and I think that you’ll be fine.” Evelyn squeezed Kim’s shoulder. “And if you’re not, I’ll just tranq you.”

Kim smiled and snorted, but Evelyn was only half-kidding. She decided that it would probably be a good idea to drop by a vet clinic tomorrow and buy some injectable sedative for both Kim and Clem just in case.

“Now, we should get home and get some rest. A well-rested werewolf is a less cranky werewolf. And this is going to sound really cheesy, but tonight before you go to sleep, try to picture yourself changing and seeing the world through Wolfkin eyes, but also through Kim’s eyes. Does that make any sense or do I sound like a babbling idiot now?”

“I’m not sure, but I’ll try it tonight and let you know in the morning.” Kim furrowed her brow. “Or rather, I’ll try it this morning and let you know this afternoon.”

“Right.”

They both got up and walked over the gate to hop over again when Kim touched Evelyn’s shoulder. “Evie, I…you’ve been so nice to me, and I, I don’t want to hurt you…”

“Shush. You’ll be fine. I told you already. I trust you. Nothing more to discuss.” Evelyn grabbed the fence rail with both hands and heaved her body over the gate.

Kim reluctantly followed.

28

Evelyn got to sleep a little after four and woke up around eleven. She still felt the grainy fog of sleep clinging to her, but having so much to do, she brushed off the last languid strands of slumber and sat up in her bed. For once, Kim was still asleep, so she had to try not to make too much noise as she put an outfit together and tiptoed out the bedroom door and over to the bathroom to shower. At the top of the stairs she paused to listen for David and Clem and heard low male voices, but couldn’t make out any specific words. She continued on to the bathroom, and turning on the hot water for a long shower, she hoped that the water heater would have time to recover before Kim needed it.

As the water sluiced over her, she struggled to make peace with what was coming. While she knew that it was impossible to stop worrying about the outcome of the test with Clem, teaching Kim control, and the battle with the Vulke, she strove to step back from the web to see the hidden design and purpose. Evelyn had long been a proponent of the idea that everything happened for a reason, even if that reason was difficult or seemed either unachievable or hopeless. She brainstormed the higher purpose that this might all serve. Maybe the Vulke would prevail only to be slaughtered into extinction by a new breed of werewolf hunters. Maybe after the other packs defeated the Vulke this time, they would finally realize the danger that
Languorem luporem
presented to mankind, and would either put all of their efforts into eradicating the virus, or just allow themselves to naturally die out.

It could be that her own involvement in the Wolfkin world served as a wake-up call to Wolfkin all over the world to stop treating the virus as a religion. Evelyn imagined a reality where David had not become infected, and thus she had not become infected herself, but also one in which she had never met him. Hot salty tears blended with the hot water when she thought of a lonely, empty life without David. Of course, in that reality she would have no notion of what she had missed and would likely still be working day-in and day-out at the clinic, dodging Sylvy’s blind dates, and waiting for Mr. Right.
The Vulke might still have gone to war, they might still have figured out werewolfism was a virus…hell, they may have known it was a virus since before I even met David. Maybe the only difference would be that I’d be dead and the good Wolfkin wouldn’t even have the possibility of a cure going for them.

Evelyn glanced down at her pruning fingertips and contemplated the sanity of standing in the shower hypothesizing alternative realities, when the realities of this world were breathing down her neck. Turning off the water, she stepped out of the shower, dressed, and went downstairs to face her authentic life and genuine problems. She had a perfunctory breakfast and chatted a little with Clem and David, but had to get to a veterinarian’s office quickly, so that she would be ready for the evening and still have time for the four of them to sit down and talk. Evelyn came up with the idea just before she fell asleep that it might be helpful for Clem and Kim to discuss control issues during the change. She wanted to get back in plenty of time to facilitate that, especially since Clem, whose mood had seemed to be improving, was back to having a black cloud over his head.

Evelyn headed to a nearby clinic that she knew from her years as a veterinarian, one whose owner was a doctor whom she had interacted with on a couple of occasions and who had a good reputation overall. When she entered the clinic she put on a cheerful and light-hearted air, telling the receptionist that she was a vet from over at Country Acres and that they had run out of Domitor, a reversible veterinary anesthetic agent, due to a screw-up by their office manager. She asked to borrow some, and of course pay for it, showing the confused girl her veterinary license and acting like there was nothing at all unusual about the request. It helped that the clinic was busy, because that way Evelyn never spoke to the vet himself. The receptionist jotted down notes about her request, then skittered back into the clinic to ask the vet what to do. About five minutes later she reemerged with two little boxes in a clear plastic bag, and Evelyn paid her eighty dollars for the sedative and its reversal agent.

Evelyn couldn’t keep up the ruse that she needed it for her clinic and still ask for syringes, so she decided she would just acquire some at the vet school and make sure things were set for Clem’s containment that night. After parking, Evelyn dug an extra lab coat out of the back seat, and then headed into the clinic via the side door she was used to. She strode with purpose down the halls until she reached the blood donor ward, where the teaching hospital housed the greyhounds used for canine blood transfusions. Evelyn knew by experience that unless there was a canine emergency, the ward was typically deserted save for the gentle and lovable dogs. Evelyn swiftly searched the drawers and cupboards until she spotted some five milliliter syringes and stuffed her pockets with five of them. She then went over to the two dogs in the ward and gave them both some much appreciated love in the form of scratching behind their ears.