I remember being walked into the hospital, the boy had quickly and accurately given a rundown of my injuries, and him disappearing in the chaos of nurses. They gave me some sort of pain meds and everything after that was a haze of confusion. I'm in and out of consciousness for the next few days, all messed up on medications and IV drips.
Next thing I know, I wake in a white room. For a second, I have no Idea where I am. Fear jolts through my body. I sit up so fast, I get dizzy and black spots dance in my vision. I blink carefully, trying to find out the last thing I remembered. All the events rush through my mind and I realise that I must still be at the hospital.
My right arm was still in a cast and a sling, I had a thick bandage on my right shoulder also, where Fletcher's hand had gone straight into the flesh of my shoulder. Two of my fingers were taped to the unbroken ones. My split lip seemed to be mostly healed, but I had a raging headache.
I slide my feet from under the covers and begin yanking all the wires and IVs from my body. The rhythmic beep catches, making a constant beep sound. My body seemed weak, and my arm ached, but it wasn't too terrible. One of the wires must have been some sort of pain medication. Blood wells where the wires had been torn from my skin.
I somehow manage to stand as doctors come rushing in, telling me to be calm, go back to bed. They all talk over each other, but it was obvious that they feared me. They knew what I was if not who I was.
"Who dropped me off?" I ask, pushing the nearest nurse away, "I'm fine. Who dropped me off?"
The girls pause, looking at each other, the oldest one answers me, "A young man. He didn't leave us a name."
"How many days have I been out?" I demand. The nurses had all paused. A couple had given up on getting me back to bed and were quieting the noisy machines.
"About ten days." The eldest says, taking a step forward. My mind instantly goes into protection mode, as my eyes flicker over her body, stopping on her hands that were casually tucked behind her back. Oh, they knew who I was. They knew my reputation for bolting from hospitals.
"Put the needle away." I spit out, "Now."
The lady flinches, then sighs, relaxing as she puts the needle on the nearest table. "Look, your arm is not done healing, and that wound on your shoulder could open again if you go moving around too much. Your father instructed us to keep you sedated until he got back."
"And he's not back yet." I say, already stripping off my nightgown. The skin underneath was decorated with scars from top to bottom. The hole in my shoulder would be no different. It sure wasn't the worst wound I had gotten. Nor will it be my last. "I'm not staying here another day. Where are my clothes and my wallet?"
The lady shakes her head, "Your father will be furious."
"Knowing him, he won't be back for another couple months. I was just lucky that my body is used to drugs and for even sedatives my body has built up a tolerance." I turn an angry glare at the girl, "Now, where are my clothes?"
Another one of the nurses sighs, "They're in the big closet, there." She points to the side to a set of closet doors.
"I swear to god, if you try stopping me, I will use my hunter licence in a way I never hoped to use it. Get out." The three girls quickly retreat from the room. I figured I had another couple minutes before they called the guards or something. I quickly put on the banged up clothes I wore from that night, the shirt had obviously been cut off, probably to see the wound in my shoulder. So I only put on the jacket, buttoning it all the way to the top. The pants were scraped up and dirty, but not bad. My keys were tucked into my jacket along with my left over knives, broken cell phone and wallet. I was surprised to see they hadn't confiscated my knives. They had probably heard from my father to leave them nearby. I once went on a rampage, looking for them in another hospital. I go nowhere without weapons, and I absolutely hated the fact that they left me so vulnerable when they had me sedated.
Being mostly dressed, I storm out. Being feared did have it's perks sometimes. No one tried stopping me as I walked out. My jeep was parked far away and it was hard to find. Normally I wouldn't mind the walk, but the pain medicine was just beginning to fade away. The walk to my truck was painful, but after being laid up in bed for ten days, I would say it was much needed.
I would have to go back to the burned house eventually, my only good sword was left there, my mother's sword. Along with some of my best knives. Knives were expensive, sure. But a sword with an enchantment would be as expensive as a house. Just to buy one, most people have to pull out a large loan. I was lucky, it was a pass down from my mother to me. She had gotten another one, with a stronger enchantment. I still had to pay a pretty penny for it, but it was cheap compared to how much my mother had paid for it. No way was I going to leave it there.
I go back to the Department of Monster Hunting and Slaying DMHS for short. I go straight in and find Michelle sitting behind the desk, like normal. When her eyes meet mine, they widen, "Oh my gosh! Quinn! You're out of the hospital?" She jumps out of her chair, and has her arms wrapped around me within seconds. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"Yeah, yeah." I mumble stiffly, but not having the heart to push her away. "I need to know if there is any more information on that Fletcher fellow."
She pauses, "You are not still going after him, are you?" She asks worried.
"I left my mother's sword there." I say, making her pause. "I have to go back and get it. My arm is still broken, I don't have a death wish." But, I was going to be gambling a lot. I wasn't going to tell her that.
"Are you going to call Savannah?" She asks hopefully.
I nod, "Yeah." I lie, trying to look defeated.
Her eyes scan me, as if she was deciding whether or not I was telling the truth. After a moment she sighs, "Call her then."
I flinch, "What, don't trust me?"
Her eyes narrow, "I've known you for far too long to know you would just give up and ask someone, even a friend for assistance. So, call her. Right now."
I stare at her, she may be weak compared to me but that didn't mean she was dumb. I sigh, "I'm not planning to go back just yet. I want to heal a bit more. And no, I wasn't planning on calling Savannah." I finish with, showing her how broken my phone actually was.
"Come on, Quinn!" She snaps at me, "You keep saying you don't have a death wish, but you keep doing stupid stuff like this?" Tears well up in her blue eyes, "People care about you, Quinn. You can't keep doing stuff like this. If this was your first, even second time in the hospital, I would let it slide, but it's not! I feel like you're in the hospital more than you are out. Did you even wait for them to give you the green light?"
I flinch, looking at the floor. I say nothing, she was right after all. I've been so used to pushing myself to the breaking point that I don't even know when to stop. I was never taught to give up. Ever. I wouldn't even know what it felt like.
Worse than just that, something was going on here. I needed answers. Something that I had no prior knowledge of. "Look," I say sighing, "I promise that I'll be careful. I know what I'm up against now. It's definitely a Royal. I know that now."
She gasps, "You confirmed it?" Fear bleaches her face, "What's a Royal doing this far north?"
"That's what I intend to find out. Do not spread this around, you know nothing about it. Something is wrong about this one, Michelle. Very, Very wrong. Do you trust me?"
She stares at me for a long moment, "Quinn, what did you get yourself into?"
I shake my head, "I'm not sure yet. Do you trust me though?"
Another moment passes and she sighs, "I don't think there are too many people I trust more than you."
I smile at her, an honest smile. "Thank you. Don't tell anyone that Fletcher is a Royal just yet. If anyone else tries to go after him, let me know immediately. I have a terrible feeling about this whole thing."
She pauses for a second, "Alright. But, keep in touch. Please."
I nod, "Always."
Her eyes narrow, "As if. I'm serious though, keep in touch."
I nod, "Okay, okay. Seriously. Now, have you gotten any new information on Fletcher or not?"
She rolls her eyes and goes back to the computer, clacking away. After a couple seconds she pauses, "Quinn, the post has been taken down. I can't find it."
I nearly choke, "What?"
She clacks on the keyboard a bit longer, "I can't find the contract anymore. The post has been taken down." she says.
"Why?"
"I'm not sure." Her eyes scan the screen again, "Do you still have that paperwork I gave you?"
I search my pockets, then pull out the paper, folded and crumpled. I carefully unfold it and hand it to Michelle. She looks it over then goes back to her computer. After a painfully long time she says, "It was taken down a couple days after you were put in the hospital. It says nothing about the reward being given to anyone, only that it was doubled then taken down. I don't think it's been killed. It says the person who took the post down was-" her eyes widen, "The CEO of the Department of Monster Hunting and Slaying."