赤裸裸的滑稽故事

“Do not make the restraints too tight. Keep her sedated but monitor her vitals. Check for any dips in her blood pressure. Since we don’t know why she is reacting this way, we don’t know if the sedatives might have a reaction with something else in her system.”

Peter sighed as he sat against the counter, listening to Bell rattle off instructions.

“Oh, and don’t forget–”

“Hey, Bell? Sweety?” Peter smiled, getting her attention.

Bell looked up at him, “Yea?”

“I’m a doctor too,” he said sweetly. “You can tell because I do things like perform surgery and resect infected tissue from lovesick betas. Oh, and I stitch up coworkers who make stupid decisions like running into the home of a lunatic.”

“She is not a lunatic!” Bell cried out.

“Maybe not, but she has definitely had a psychotic break,” Peter replied flatly. “And while you are still a patient, she is mine. So I will decide on her care. You focus on that arm.”

Bell sighed and leaned her head back against the pillow.

She hated being a patient, hated being on this side of the hospital experience. The IV made her uncomfortable; sitting still was irritating. But, more than anything else, she needed to know what was happening to Renee.

“I just–“

“She’s your friend,” Peter said, “I understand. I will do my best, you know that. But, once the arm is good, you can see for yourself.”

Bell said nothing but nodded in understanding._.

“Thank the Goddess,” Peter said dramatically, bringing his hands up into a prayer pose. Then, he pushed off from the counter, heading for the door.

“Oh,” he said suddenly, “I forgot to mention, you’ll have a visitor soon.”

He gave her a mischievous grin and left the room before she could say anything.

It took her a moment, but she realized who he meant and let out a sigh of her own.

The door flew open.

“Bell!” Galen shouted as he rushed in the door.

“Are you ok?” she asked, seeing how he gasped for air.

He turned to face her; a look of relief fell over him. He let out a deep sigh and smiled softly. He moved to her side, settling into the chair beside the bed.

“Thank the Goddess, you are ok,” he sighed, grabbing her hand and squeezing it.

“I’m fine,” she said, pulling her hand away.

He glanced down as her fingers slipped away from his. His smile faltered, but then he saw the bandage. He gently grabbed her hand once more, so he could take a closer look. His fingers ran over it tenderly.

“Are you sure?” he asked. “This doesn’t look like a minor cut.”

Bell pulled back her arm, holding it to her chest.

“It was a deep cut,” she said, looking away from him, “it looks worse than it is, but it will still take a couple of days to properly heal.”

Galen couldn’t help but notice how she pulled away from him. Twice. And the distance he felt in her words.

“What happened?” he asked.

“It was an accident,” she answered quickly. “I don’t know exactly what happened to Renee, but she would never do that on purpose. Not to me, not to anyone.”

“Ok.”

Bell looked up at him. “You believe me?”

“She’s your friend. You know her and how she behaves. So if you say this was an accident, I believe you,” Galen replied simply.

Bell smiled.

Galen felt relieved to see it. He relaxed a little. Reaching his hand out, he ran the back of his fingers against her cheek. And for the tiniest of moments, Bell relaxed against him.

“I was so worried about you,” he whispered.

Bell remembered how he ran in and how out of breath he had been.

‘He must have run here the moment he heard…’ she thought to herself sadly. She closed her eyes, letting out a shaky breath trying to hold back her emotions.

Galen saw the pained expression on her face. He swallowed down his nerves and took a deep breath.

“What did I do?” he asked quietly.

Bell opened her eyes, looking at him, she saw his vulnerability. His open and honest heart. It hurt.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she sighed, looking away from him.

“Come on,” he said with a soft laugh. “I’m not the smartest or most experienced guy around. But even I know you’ve been avoiding me.”

She continued to look away from him.

“I wasn’t avoiding you, just busy.”

“Half a truth and half a lie,” he sighed. “I know you’re busy, Bell, but you have been avoiding me.”

Bell felt a pressure building in her chest, a hot, uncomfortable pain. She bit the inside of her lip, trying to focus her mind.

“Just tell me what I did,” Galen pleaded.

She took a deep breath and turned to look at him; at that moment, she knew that she had to control her emotions.

“You just… misunderstood me,” she said with an uncomfortable smile.

Galen squinted his eyes and cocked his head to the side with a puzzled expression.

“Misunderstood you?” He asked, “What do you mean?”

“You just took it all too seriously.” She shrugged and forced a smile. “I was just playing around Galen, but you… I don’t know. You just took it all so seriously.”

She laughed a light chuckle. It was awkward and uncomfortable for both.

Galen observed her carefully. He saw the tears that shimmered in her eyes, the wall she was trying so hard to build between them.

“Ok,” he said, nodding his head as he looked away.

“Ok?” she asked, surprised by his response.

He nodded.

“Ok,” she repeated, swallowing down the pain the word made her feel. “Good. We understand each other now. So, you go your way, and I’ll stay here.”

‘It’s good,’ Bell thought to herself, ‘it’s better that he is so accepting of this. It’s easier. It’s fine.’

“I understand that there is some reason that you feel you need to do this,” Galen said, lifting his eyes to meet hers.

“Galen–“ she tried to deny it.

“No,” he interrupted her softly. He looked away, grabbed her hand, and kissed it gently. Then, setting it back down on her lap and holding his hand over hers as he spoke again. “I also understand that doing this is hurting you, and fighting you on it, will only make it worse.”

Bell felt the warmth of her tears as they threatened to spill over. She bit her lip harder.

Galen lifted his eyes to meet hers. Unshed tears glistened back at her.

“So, for now, I will just say ‘ok.’ We can put up a wall.”

He gave her a lopsided half-hearted smile.

A tear rolled down her cheek, and she could taste the metallic sweetness of blood inside her mouth as she bit down too hard.

“Just know,” he said, reaching his hand to her cheek and wiping her tears away with his thumb. “When you are ready to tear it down again, I’ll be waiting on the other side.”

They held each other’s gaze. Living in the moments that they had shared in the snow. He looked away first. Quickly standing up and leaning down, he kissed her head gently before turning and leaving the room.

Bell closed her eyes and let out the sob she had held back. She clenched her jaw and squeezed her eyes tightly. Pushing down on the stifling feeling in her chest until she could breathe again. Wiping away the tears, she cleared her throat and grabbed her phone from the table beside her.

“It’s done,” she said once the other party answered. “I ended it.”

“It’s what’s best, my girl,” Alpha Wyatt replied. “For everyone.”

***

The wolf had guided Ashleigh back through the trees. She found clothing waiting for her just before the tree line. After dressing, she made her way out. Ashleigh expected to be alone. It suited her. She wanted the chance to sort through her thoughts of all that the Priestess had told her.

But she was wrong.

“Hi, baby,” Granger smiled at her as she stepped out of the trees.