I don't know why I felt the need to know, but I did. 'What hidden poem?' I asked, 'What does it say?'
'It's four lines long. Only those full of grace, will be able to shift their face; the royal nobility- only have the ability .'
'Hmm. Well, I have to get going. I need to know how Kyle is doing. I'll talk to you later. Bye.'
'Alright. Bye.'
I shook my head to try and clear it from the tornado of thoughts spinning inside my skull. They could all wait. First, I needed to know Kyle's current situation. I know it would hurt to see him lying there in a coma, but I figured this was something I had to do. The reality of my life was unravelling, and this was just a part of it. Attempting to steady myself, I walked up to a lady at a counter to inquire where I would find Kyle.
The lady wasn't very good at giving directions and soon I found myself lost on the second floor.
Meanwhile, in the first-floor staff room:
"Ah, Stephanie. There you are. I didn't think you would make it to the break room before I go back on shift."
"Urg. I didn't think that I would either! It got so busy all of a sudden; a human kid with a bad complex break, a car accident and that young male werewolf with the brooding alpha father!"
"Gosh. I am glad I got to go on break when I did then!" She let out a laugh.
"Tell me about it!" She sighed. "How is that older man? The one in hospice with the cancer?"
"Not great. He is dying after all, but at least we have him on a good dose of morphine. He isn't in any pain. But he sure says some funny things once in a while!"
"Ha! Well, no wonder! It's common with the morphine, for people to say all kinds of wild things. The young male werewolf with the bullet wound made quite the statement after I gave him his injection. Before he lost consciousness to the artificially induced coma, he got all panicky, and blurted out that I needed to pass a message on to his family. He wanted me to tell them that they need to take care of Sam and that Sam is his mate."
"Oh? And how was that funny or unusual?"
"Well," Stephanie lowered her voice conspiratorially, "Sam is his sister! I heard him ask his parents about her earlier, when he had all his senses about him."
"Did you…did you tell them?"
"No! Of course not! I am sure he couldn't have really meant it. It was a case of the morphine talking. I am almost one hundred percent sure he won't remember saying that if and when, he wakes up. Of all the things I've heard in my thirty years of nursing…" Stephanie trailed off.
"Well, I am sure you are right then. The whole werewolf mate thing is hard enough for us humans to grasp at the best of times. Anyways, I'd best be off. Only five minutes left anyways."
The young woman walked away, leaving Stephanie alone in the breakroom.
Back on the second floor:
'Mother? I seem to be lost in this building. Where is Kyle's room? What is his room number?'
'Ah! Sam. I assume you are done with the doctor? It's on the third floor, room 310. I am leaving now and will meet you.'
'But Mother, there are so many odd smells in this hospital. Are you sure you can sniff me out?'
'Darling,' she thought with a laugh, 'A mother can always find her offspring.'
As I retraced my steps, I filled her in on what the doctor had told me and reassured her that my wound wasn't nearly as bad as she thought it was.
Once she found me, I ran up to her and gave her a big hug. She smiled at me for a moment before it faded away.
"Sam, the doctor told us some more information about Kyle, that I think I should tell you."
I pulled away from her slightly to look up into her eyes.
"The bullet was dipped in something that acts like wolfsbane but isn't wolfsbane. The doctor just informed us that it is a synthetic chemical with a molecular make up that they have never seen before. That same bullet injured you, did it not?"
"Yes, Mother."
"And yet, though you are shot, the synthetic chemical doesn't effect you?"
"Correct." I said slowly.
"Which means it was created to harm werewolves and not shifters."
I gasped and my eyes widened. My mother was on the same track I was.
"Knowing this, I fear for Kyle more than before." She closed her eyes for a moment and placed a hand on her forehead. "There is something I should tell you about, that I kept from you…"
"What is it?" I asked.
"The chemical is a synthetic chemical. Someone created it on purpose. We don't have a way to cure Kyle yet and it may take some time before we can help him. If only we had some of the substance just by itself. Part of the problem is that there are elements of the substance that are untraceable in his system; but that we know must be there for the substance to work as it does."
She sighed and placed a hand on my cheek lightly. I know my emotions were showing on my face.
"My mate and I don't know for sure, as we don't have any solid proof, but we have a hunch about who is behind all this."
"What!" I exclaimed. "We got to get some antidote for Kyle!"
"It's not as simple as that. They are an underground group of shifters, who are against the royal shifter family. Part of their beliefs are blaming the werewolves and vampires for letting the royal family have so much power. It wouldn't be beneath them to create something like this to harm werewolves."