Book One: The Chosen Mate (Complete)

Chapter 16: The Hospital

When I woke up, it was to the sound of a beeping monitor that I tried to smack like an alarm clock. I soon realized I was not in my room, but in the pack hospital, and my IV was low and sounding an alert.

"She is awake." My mom came to my side and smoothed the hair off of my forehead.

"How long have I been out?" I mumbled still groggy.

"About four hours." My father answered as he walked to the other side of the bed. "The pack doctor said that you need to rest for the rest of the week. You have quite a severe concussion."

"Where is Jesse? Is he ok?" I asked, my eyes scanning the room.

"He had to leave when visiting hours ended an hour ago. We got an extension by being your parents. We didn't want you to wake up alone." My mother explained.

"So why did you decide April in Alaska was a good time to take up cliff jumping?" My father inquired with a smirk on his face at his joke.

"Didn't Jesse tell you?" I asked, my head was starting to pound, and I was afraid I was developing a migraine.

"He did, but I would like to hear it from you." My father waited patiently.

"My head hurts. If you turn out these bright lights, I will tell you." I shut my eyes and held my head.

They shut off the lights and turned the bathroom light on so there was only a dim light source in the room.

"Better?" My mother asked.

"Much." I answered.

"Cliff jumping?" My father prompted.

"Jesse and I went for a run to the cove. Yesterday, I saw that the whales were back and I wanted to show him." I paused and made sure they were listening and not rushing to judgement. I continued, "We went up the left trail to get the best view of the deep sea, and found George, our classmate."

"Who is George?" My father asked.

"He had a crush on me and has been harassing me lately since Jesse and I decided to start dating. He is jealous and didn't handle it well. I ignored it and hoped it would blow over." I explained.

"So he was the one behind that text asking us to ignore anything we might hear about your new relationship, because the gossip mill was running with the story?" My mother asked.

"Yes. He did some very over the top things that I really rather not talk about to embarrass and mortify me, but I played it off as though nothing bothered me and he was an idiot. It worked, but in truth, I really was embarrassed and mortified." I explained. "Just laughing left me in a more powerful position than crying."

"We can table that discussion for now I guess. So why was he at the cliffs?" My father redirected the story.

"George was depressed," I paused, because it didn't feel like the right emotion. "No, I think he was more dramamtic. I didn't sense sadness. He was serious about jumping, but his motive seemed motivated more by self pity than strong emotion." I explained recalling what I sensed in that moment. My empathy was typically on point.

My parents waited for me to explain, so I continued, "He said his mate rejected him at first sight, because he was too common, but that did not ring true when he said it..." I paused while recalling. "Practically everyone is common in our pack..." I explained confused, then I edited my story based on my assessment, "He was having a pity party over what he did to me, lumped in his mate's rejection, which I still have no idea what happened with that. Nothing rang true with what he said... Anyway, so he was threatening to jump into the sharp rocks, with a strong under toe current." I continued the story.