Touched by the Moon Pt. 07

The sight of her father on the bed made Sam's heart sink down into her shoes. His face was a swollen, pummeled mess under the oxygen mask, and his body was a mess of dark bruising and long bandages stained with blood. His hands and arms seemed to have weathered the worst damage, and were thickly wrapped with stained bandages. Phil's face was a swollen, bruised mess; his eyes were closed, but his head and body gave soft, gentle jerking motions while unconscious, as if still fighting his assailants within the confines of his nightmares.

Sam covered her mouth with both hands. "Shit," she said. "Oh my God." When she felt Wren's hands on her shoulders then, they were the only thing stopping Sam from falling over.

"Easy, easy," Wren said, his voice gentle.

A moment ago, Sam hadn't wanted him to touch her; now, she turned her face away and buried it in his chest. Part of her wanted to cry, while more of her wanted to scream. Since she couldn't do either one, she breathed in the smell of him and pounded one fist to his chest; he grunted, but otherwise didn't complain. Then she turned her head, catching Eleni's eye. "Will he...be alright?" Sam's throat was tight, making it hard to talk. She didn't have it in her to ask if he'd live.

"They likely used some kind of silver cutting or stabbing instruments of some kind; his wounds will be slow to heal, and they'll be slowed down even more by the tranquilizers," Eleni said, as she quietly shut the door again. "I'm more worried about the pain than I am the injuries--I'll need to keep him sedated for the next twenty-four hours, at least."

"Shit." Sam straightened and pounded both fists on Wren's chest, looking up at him. "That's why they did it--my Dad can't fight Tennessee if he's injured or drugged out of his mind. Those fuckers!" Sam managed not to shout her oath, but just barely.

Wren and Susie shared a look, then he looked back and nodded. "Phil was our best shot at stopping Tenn. Now that's gone...I guess." He was putting on a brave face, but Sam could see Susie looking ready to burst into tears again.

Sam opened her mouth to argue, then closed it again. The sense of loss, of dread and despair flowed from the other two wolves until Sam could hardly stand to breathe at all. Gently pulling away from Wren, she turned to face the doctor. "My Dad'll be alright? You're sure?"

Eleni took a breath. "I wouldn't bet my medical license on it--non-humans are so much harder to diagnose and treat--but...yes, I believe he will be. He lost a good deal of blood, but Wren called for help in time. I think Phil will recover."

"Thank God." Sam closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. She filed away the doctor's use of the term non-humans for another time. "Do we... Do I need to pay you, or...something?"

"Don't worry about that," Eleni said with a smile. "And since Warren is vouching for you, you can always come back and visit Phil any time."

"But, shouldn't I stay here?" Sam felt awkward, unsure of what to say. "It doesn't seem right, leaving him alone."

"It's up to you, of course," Eleni said, "but you're welcome to stay."

"Thank you. I think I will."

"You sure you'll be alright, Sam?" Wren said.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. You don't have to stay, but I think I should be here, right now. Thank Rhett again for me."

"I will." Wren seemed reluctant to leave, but he finally smiled and nodded. "I'll see you later, Susie," he said to the redhead, then turned to go.

After quietly letting herself back into Phil's room, Sam shut the door and found a seat for herself. She sat with her back to the wall and let out a long breath while staring at the sleeping man on the bed. Up overhead, the dark ceiling of the old theater stretched black and empty, which fit her mood perfectly.

So much was going through Sam's mind, so many concerns and questions, while at the same time her mind felt like it was a black space, empty and formless--she'd try to focus on something, and then it would flutter away and vanish.

There was no telling how much time passed. Sam didn't look at her phone, she just stared at her sleeping father and listened to his quickened heartbeat. His earlier twitching and moving had stilled and now he seemed truly, deeply asleep.

"If you're too old for this...does that make me too young?" she asked him.

Phil, not surprisingly, didn't answer.

It would've been easy to just stay quiet, to keep her head down and not do anything. Sam didn't want to do anything. She was identifying more and more with Phil's words after the Meet, with how he seemed to want to keep his nose out of whatever power struggle was going on. But now, Tennessee Watkins and his posse had made it Sam's business. When they hurt Phil, they made it personal.

Standing up, Sam walked over to the side of the bed and touched his shoulder. "I'll be back," she said, giving his arm a gentle squeeze. Then Sam walked to the door and stepped outside, pulling it shut behind him.

The hall and nurse's desk were empty. Sam pulled her phone out of her pocket, looked up one of her saved numbers--she only had two--and dialed it. "Wren? Have you got a way to contact your other pack members? I want to hold another meeting. Tonight."