The two people who entered my partitioned section of the room were Kyle and a man who appeared to be a doctor.
"Ah, you are awake!" The man said. "I thought perhaps you were. My name is Dr. Young. I am the head doctor on this shift."
Though he smiled warmly, I still felt uneasy about the current situation. 'Had Kyle told anyone else about me being a shapeshifter?' I wondered.
As if sensing my unease, he glanced at Kyle before he said, "Don't worry, you will get good care here. The head doctor on the previous shift, she was very careful to fill me in on the whole situation."
'What!' I thought, as my brain panicked.
"Where did you bring me Kyle?! What is going on?" I fearfully demanded.
"It's okay. Please calm down." Dr. Young said soothingly. "It's not good for your healing process or your health in general."
"I brought you to my pack's hospital." Kyle said. "I didn't think you would get adequate care in a human hospital."
My breath came out in a gasp. "You did what?" I asked trying to squelch my rising panic.
Kyle ran to me and standing at the bedside wrapped his arms around my torso. "Hey, hey, you are going to be okay."
I didn't answer.
"Look," Kyle said, "This is a safe place. You are safe, even Dr. Young can tell you that."
"He's right." Dr. Young confirmed. "This hospital is a safe place. No one is going to hurt you. I am a doctor even if I am also a werewolf. I have taken an oath to do no harm and to help people in whatever way I can."
"You don't have to worry about anything. Your only problem should be getting healthy." Kyle said. "All the care is good quality the hospital and equipment are up-to-date and its all no cost to you."
"What are you talking about?" I turned to look up at his face. "Under my mom's coverage, I only have partial benefits."
"Well, here you have full coverage- all benefits." He paused. "Did you hear about the latest law concerning shifters that was passed last week?"
I furrowed my brow trying to think. "No." I said.
"The government passed a bill saying that all medical care for known shifters is now provided to them free-of-cost, and the cost is taken up by the federal government. It is part of their new initiative to stop the decrease of the shifter population."
I looked at Dr. Young. "Is he telling the truth?" I asked.
"Yes." Dr. Young said simply.
At this point, I somehow realized I was a bit calmer than I had started out as.
"Kyle says your name is Sam." Dr. Young said. "Is that right?'
"yes."
"Okay, Sam, do you mind if I take a look at the injury on your shoulder?" Dr. Young asked.
Kyle let go of me and stepped away to make the doctor's job easier.
"Go ahead." I consented.
"Are you thirsty?" Dr. Young asked. "Both your chart and Dr. Cole said you were dehydrated. I could send Kyle to get you some water."
I nodded. "That would be nice."
Kyle didn't say a word but left right away to go get the water.
Dr. Young gently pressed the undamaged tissues around the outside of the wound, testing the blood flow beneath.
"I have something to say to you." Dr. Young said seriously. "You don't have to say anything, but please, just listen." He took a deep breath. "Kyle freely admitted from the beginning that he was the wolf who attacked and bit you, thus your reason for being here today. But there are laws against violence towards others, and further laws against killing, and/ or endangering the lives of your kind. And the latter is exactly what he did; you were unconscious for two days."
I sucked in a shocked breath at this, I had no idea it had been two days.
"Regardless of whether the story he tells of the circumstances is the truth or not, he still committed a crime, punishable by werewolf law, and if you choose to press charges against him, I have the forms in my office for you to fill out."
He paused, turning his head as if trying to better hear a sound.
"All you have to say to me is that you 'feel well enough to fill out the paperwork' and I will know exactly what you mean."
He smiled at me and said, "Your injury is healing nicely, so far. The antibiotic is working well on the infection."
Just then, the curtain moved again, and Kyle returned with a plastic cup of cold water.
"Here you go." He said offering me the cup. I took it from him and took a few sips.
"I like that you are awake now," Dr. Young continued, "It means I can give you antibiotics in pill form instead of through IV. Also, if you drink enough fluids, I can take you off IV completely."
"That's good news." Kyle said smiling at me.
"As of the current moment, I feel it is safe to say we will be able to release you either by the end of the day, or tomorrow morning at the latest."
I felt a relief at being able to leave soon.
"So, what is your last name, Sam?" Dr. Young asked. "Who would you like us to contact to come pick you up?"
"No." I said. "I don't need you to contact anyone. I can get myself home safely."
"Okay, Sam." Dr. Young said carefully and calmly. "But I will need your legal last name to process the paperwork and cover the medical costs, alright?"
I nodded after deciding that made sense.
"I will come back later to check on you. You can give me the spelling of your last name then, and perhaps you will feel well enough to fill out the paperwork. If you can think of anything else you want to discuss with me, we can do that then." Dr. Young said before he left.
"Thanks for the water." I said to Kyle.
"No problem." He replied with a smile.
There was silence for a few minutes. I broke it by asking, "Do you mind if I lay back down for a bit? I still feel pretty tired."
"Go ahead." Kyle said going to sit in a nearby chair. "I'll be around, and so will the nurses, if you need anything."
I lay back down, closed my eyes and deepened my breathing. I would pretend to be asleep, even though I wasn't. I needed the time alone with my thoughts to go over all that had occurred since I first ran from Nick. There was just so much! It honestly did feel exhausting- emotionally and mentally exhausting.