Never in all my life had I seen such anguish reflected in anyone's eyes. I yearned to comfort her, to tell her everything would be all right, but the lie tasted like ashes in my mouth.
“Why?” she asked in a hoarse whisper. “Why didn't he just kill me?”
Later, after I bathed Susie and helped her into one of my nightgowns, I put her to bed in the guest room and tucked her in. I stood there a moment, my heart aching for her. I couldn't begin to imagine the horrors she had experienced as she felt her body transform, nor could I truly understand her pain at losing a child. I had been tempted to tell her she could have other children, but I had quickly realized she wouldn't find any comfort in that. Having another child, or ten, would never make up for the one she had lost.
Blinking back my tears, I tiptoed into the hallway and closed the door behind me.
Rafe was waiting for me in the living room. “Is she all right?”
“She's asleep.” I sat beside him on the sofa. “Why would anyone do such a thing to Susie?”
Rafe didn't answer, but then, I hadn't expected him to. There was no answer, at least none that made sense. None that would heal Susie's wounded heart. Only time could do that. Still, I wanted an explanation.
“It isn't fair,” I said bitterly. “She's not involved in your war.”
“That's where you're wrong,” he said. “Everyone's involved whether they want to be or not.”
“I don't understand how either side can win. I mean, do the Werewolves intend to destroy every Vampire in the world? And what about the Vampires? Do they expect to destroy all the Werewolves? Even if it was possible, it would take years.”
“The hotheads who started the fight don't care about that. They're like the old-time terrorists. They don't care who they hurt or how many innocent lives they take, all they want to do is kill.”
“And innocent people like Susie are going to be caught in the middle?” I shook my head. “It isn't right!”
“Hopefully, Mara and Clive will resolve it soon.”
“How will they do that?” I wanted an answer, and I wanted it now.
“I don't know, exactly. I just know they're working on it.” I must have looked doubtful, because he added, “They're trying to talk some sense into the more militant ones on both sides.”
“And if that doesn't work?”
“The ones who refuse to listen, who refuse to end the fighting, will be stopped.”
“Oh.” I didn't have to ask how that would be accomplished. Justice among the Supernatural creatures was notoriously swift and final.
Worrying about the future, mine or Susie's or Rafe's, wouldn't help. It never did. Feeling suddenly tired and depressed, I rested my head on Rafe's shoulder and closed my eyes.
I must have dozed off, because the next thing I knew, Rafe was shaking me gently.
“Oh, sorry,” I murmured. “I didn't mean to fall asleep.”
“It's all right.” He kissed the tip of my nose. “You should go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow.”
I walked him to the door where he took me in his arms and spent a few moments kissing me good night. One last hug and a warning to keep my doors and windows locked, and he vanished into the darkness. I stared after him for a moment, wondering if I would ever get used to the way he seemed to just disappear into nothingness.
With a shake of my head, I locked the door, then went through the house, checking the back door and the windows before I went into the guest room to look in on Susie. She was sleeping on her side, her head pillowed on her hand. Her cheeks were damp with tears. It made me hurt inside to look at her, to know what she had been through, to know that she would have to live with what had been done to her for the rest of her life.
Heavy-hearted, I went into my room to get ready for bed.
I wasn't sure what woke me. Sitting up, I turned on the light beside my bed and glanced around. Everything was as it should be. And then I heard it, the faint creak of the loose floorboard in the hallway.
Thinking that Susie might need something, I got up and slipped into my robe. I was headed for the guest room when I noticed the light was on in the kitchen.
I sighed, thinking a nightmare had probably awakened her.
I came to a dead stop in the doorway, my stomach churning at the scene before me. “Susie! What have you done?”
She looked up at me, her eyes wide and scared. Blood dripped like crimson raindrops from the ugly gash in her left arm.
I stared at her a moment longer, then grabbed a dish towel and wrapped it tightly around her wrist. Grabbing my keys and my handbag, I urged Susie outside and into my car. Settling her in the front seat, I slid behind the wheel and drove to the hospital as fast as I dared, grateful all the while that Oak Hollow was a small town and that the hospital was less than five minutes away.
I hit the brakes hard, tires screeching as the car jolted to a halt in front of the emergency entrance. Getting out of the car, I practically dragged Susie inside.
One look at her pale face and the bloody towel wrapped around her wrist stilled any questions the night nurse might have had. Calling for a doctor, stat, she led Susie into the nearest examination area and drew the curtain.
A short time later, a doctor hurried down the hall and into the ER.
I paced the ugly green hallway from one end to the other and back again. I had known Susie was upset, but I had never expected her to do anything like this.
“Rafe, where are you when I need you?”
I had no sooner murmured the words than he was there beside me.
I was too happy to see him to question his abrupt appearance. He opened his arms, and I went into them gladly, grateful for his nearness and his strength.
“What happened?” he asked quietly.
“Susie slit her wrist.”
Rafe muttered an oath. “Is she going to be all right?”
“I don't know. The doctor's with her now. Oh, Rafe, if I hadn't woke up when I did…” I buried my face against his chest. Another few minutes, and I would have been too late.
After a time, he guided me to a chair. I sat down, and he took the chair beside mine, my hand clasped in his. I don't know how long we sat there. It might have been two minutes, it might have been two hours, but finally the doctor came out of the cubicle.
I stood as he approached; Rafe stood beside me. “How is she?”
“She's lost quite a bit of blood, but I'm confident she'll recover. I'll have to report this to the police.” He pulled a pen from his pocket. “I'll need your name for the report.”
“Katherine McKenna.”
“Are you a relative?”
“No, just a friend.”
“Have you notified Mr. McGee?”
“No.” I wondered how he knew who Susie's husband was, and then it came to me. She'd had three kids and this was the only hospital in town.
The doctor made a note on his pad.
“Can I see her?” I asked.
The doctor scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “I don't see why not, but only for a few minutes. We've given her a sedative to help her sleep, so she might be a little groggy. She's been moved to…” He checked the chart in his hand. “To Room 14,” he said. “Last door on the right.”
“You go on,” Rafe said. “I'll wait here.”
With a nod, I hurried down the hallway. I hated hospitals. I hated the sounds and the smells. It seemed to me that Death was always lurking in the shadows, waiting for the weak and the unwary.
I paused outside Susie's room; then, taking a deep breath, I pushed the door open. Susie lay on a narrow bed, a thick white bandage wrapped around her wrist. There were hollows in her cheeks, dark circles beneath her eyes. She was hooked up to an IV.
“Susie?” Standing beside the bed, I smoothed a lock of hair from her brow. “Susie, can you hear me?”
Her eyelids fluttered open. “Kathy? Forgive me…I'm so ashamed.”
“You're gonna be fine, just fine.”
“Rick won't be able to say it was just my imagination this time,” she said weakly, and burst into tears.
Words failed me. Sitting on the edge of Susie's bed, I took her hand in mine and prayed that would be comfort enough.
I stayed with Susie until she fell asleep, and then, feeling as though I'd been run through an emotional wringer, I tiptoed out of her room.
Rafe was waiting for me in the hallway. “How is she?”
“Sleeping.”
He took my hand as we left the hospital. When we reached my car, he didn't ask if I wanted him to drive me home, he just opened the door for me and then got behind the wheel. Neither of us spoke until we were heading back to my place.
I thought about all the things that I had read about Werewolves. Most of it had been based on speculation, rumor, and myth. But what had happened to Susie was all too real.
“What will become of her now?” I asked. “How can she raise her family, be a wife and a mother, when she's a…a Werewolf?”
“That's up to her,” Rafe said.
“Up to her? What does that mean? She didn't ask for this. And what about the monster who did it to her?”
“She can learn to control what she is, or she can let what she's become control her. She can accept it, or she can wallow in self-pity. Being a Werewolf isn't the worst thing in the world. She'll be the same as she's always been except for those nights when the moon is full.”
“And then what? She'll turn furry and run around the countryside killing people?”
“I'll get in touch with Clive. He can send one of his pack to help her learn to adjust to her new life, teach her how to control her beast.”
“Her beast.” I repeated the words. If this seemed like a nightmare to me, how much worse was it for Susie? I couldn't help wondering how her husband and children would react when they heard the news. I had only met Rick McGee once, briefly, after church. Susie had never said much about him, making me wonder what kind of man he was, what kind of marriage they had. I just hoped he would be as supportive as possible under the circumstances.
