Wolf in the Big City

Chapter 19 - Cemetery

My little stint in the fairy-tale hospital wasn't as long as I'd thought it'd be. And I learned two things about my predicament that made it substantially less boring.

The first thing was that mythic healthcare workers were by no means restricted to only using medicine. I found that out the second day of my stay, when a nurse walked- no, floated into my room. She carried a small tray, on which was a smaller cup with a few pills, as well as a plastic cup. The pills, I understood. But the bright blue concoction in the cup? I later found out that that was a potion from an alchemist.

Yeah, you heard me right. A fucking alchemist. Like something out of Skyrim. Add that to the list of "things I didn't understand that I had to deal with later." But the brew worked wonders though. It was apparently made to accelerate the natural healing processes of my body while the pills numbed my pain and kept infections at bay. The only thing I didn't agree with was how it was trying to taste like blueberries. Instead it tasted like the entire perfume section of a mall. Eugh.

The second thing I learned was that my species of wolf was rarer than I'd thought. My doctor offhandedly mentioned that to me as he was clearing me for home rest a few days later. Something about how most of the Nordic wolves had died out or their genes had intermingled with other species so much that they'd lost what it'd meant to be Nordic. Didn't make me feel any better about myself, reminding me about who or what I was. It still didn't feel right. Guess I wasn't that used to it yet.

But hey, I had a week to myself now. That was nice, I guess. As I collected my things and walked out the hospital door into the cool Manhattan air, I took a deep breath and sighed. My bike wasn't here so I had to hail a cab. I didn't know what to do now that I had all this free time to myself. Well, I mean, I did know. As I checked my phone and reoriented myself to what date it was, I remembered what I had to do. So I hailed a cab and, with my hands stuffed in my pockets and a breath exhaled to the cold sky, I travelled down to Broadway.

Every month, I took a day out of my busy schedule to visit my parents. And today was that day. Normally, I'd bring flowers or a card. But since I was just getting out of the hospital, the best I could do was a sandwich from Subway, two chocolate chip cookies and a grape soda. I took my meal all the way to the New York Marble graveyard in NoHo. That's where my folks were buried. By the time I reached the gates, I was munching on my last cookie and my soda was gone. I dusted crumbs from my hands and walked in, taking my time past the rows of headstones and graves.

Just before my dad had died of lung cancer, he'd requested to be buried here. Private plot and everything. I'd come to visit him every month since. Rain or shine. Only times I'd ever missed a visit were when I was too sick to move, or the period when my mom was depressed enough to not leave the apartment. Then when she'd passed on, she'd gotten a grave next to his. And I never stopped the visits either. Although, with work being as it was, I didn't visit every month nowadays. But I still tried.

The plot in question was a small, fenced-off affair in the furthest corner of the graveyard. Very few people, if any at all, went there. From what I'd heard, this particular plot was for cops and the families of cops. So I figured I'd end up there at some point, just hopefully later rather than sooner. But as I walked to the small gate that closed the area off, I felt a familiar electric tingle in the air. The feeling only intensified the closer I came and when I opened the gate and walked through, I saw why.

A bright flash of white light and fire engulfed my body as I felt myself drop down to all fours. In a bit of mild panic, I bumbled into one of the fences, smashed my face against it and dropped to the ground in pain. Then I remembered what it all meant: that this place was protected by magic. Like the Greenwich tavern and the hospital wing that shouldn't exist.