AUTHOR'S NOTE
This is a two in one chapter because yesterday's chapter was a repeat. ENJOY!
*****
"I can't seems to persuade her. She's not listening to me anymore Neal, come quickly!"
I freeze for a moment when I hear what Millicent is saying on the other end of the phone.
'Ash is threatening to kill herself!?' I feel cold-like sensation all over by body as those scary words sinks into my brain.
"Beta! What should we do?..."
"I don't care what you do or how you do it, Neal. Just do whatever is necessary. Keep her talking– do something! Anything necessary!– just don't allow her to hurt herself. I'm begging you, do not allow her to hurt herself. I'm already on my way as we speak and will be right there with you." I say and immediately disconnect the call.
The phone was in speaker mode so everybody in the room heard my conversation with Neal. None of them ask where or why when I asked Henrik and Ella to come along with me to see Ash while the rest of them stay with Thor.
I would have chosen to go with only Ella if it's during the day but it's midnight and I'm still alive after killing some rogues. Who knows who might be looking to take revenge on me? I want a stronger and faster backup than Ella when push comes to shove.
It doesn't matter how we're dressed. None of us think about going to our room for a change of clothes because we can't afford to waste any more time out of the ten minutes it will take us to arrive at Council Yard Penitentiary.
We arrived at the Yard safely. I didn't call Neal to announce our arrival since I don't want to distract them if they've managed to distract Ash from hurting herself.
We arrive at the psych ward. The moment we step into the ward's corridor, I realize Neal did not exaggerate about the damages Ash caused when we start seeing badly damaged metal benches and broken desks.
It indeed looks like a hurricane just passed through the place. I thought.
I entered her room to see the bed that was bolted to the floor now overturned, drawers pulled out of cabinets and desks before they too were either bent to awkward positions or broken into pieces.
I marvel at the manner the place is wrecked and wonder if she used her human strength to pull this sort of damage off. If not then I fear for the life of the baby if her wolf's strength was involved.
Neal's face broke into a huge smile of relief the moment he saw us enter.
"Milli..." He calls softly to his wife who is squatting beside Ash where she rolls herself into a tight ball at a corner.
Millicent also smiles gratefully when she seesus.
"Ash!..." She calls softly but with excitement. "Ash, look up, Eric is here! I told you he will surely come, didn't I?"
"Please, leave me alone. I'm not a child so stop with the childish game?" Ash replies. I can tell she's crying from the sound of her voice.
"Eric hates me now and I'll understand if he doesn't come back to check on me, ever again." She says and sniffles.
"Eric doesn't hate you, Ash. C'mon, I'm not lying. Why don't you look up and see for yourself." Millicent persuades.
"Ash?..." I call her name. On hearing my voice, her heaving shoulders stiffen as if she couldn't believe that I'm actually there. Then she slowly turn around.
"Eric!... Ella!" She calls in disbelief as she sits up. "You came!" Her voice caught in a sob as she stands and drops the scalpel in her hand.
Ella, who of course now has tears in her eyes, rushes past me to embrace her tightly.
"Eric doesn't hate you! Why would you say that? Whatever gave you that silly idea?" Ella cries as they hug.
"I– I don't know. I can't explain this. I honestly can't! I know you'll also hate me if you hear what happened." She says, sniffling on Ella's shoulder.
While the two women embrace each other, Neal and Millicent quietly leave while Henrik goes around, straightening up the wrecked place.
"What happened Ash? What can't you explain?" Ella asks as she gently pulls away from their hug.
"I'm sorry that we weren't able to check on you in the past two weeks. Something happened. Unforeseen circumstances can happen to anyone, you know. What happens to you, though? It looks like some rioters went on a rampage in here."
She exhales and looks at me...
"Hi, Eric!... I'm sorry for all these." She says softly before quickly looking away from me as if she's embarrassed by what she did.
She looks so different from the last time I visited her. She looks pale and more skinnier than she was before which makes me wonder again about the well-being of the baby.
Instead of her blond root and dark hair color, she now has pixie short golden blond hair that is beautifully cut. It looks like a professional work on her hair this time and I wonder if Neal allowed someone in the ward after my instructions of not allowing anyone to see her
I'm surprised to see she's not showing yet. Anders told me she appeared two months pregnant even when it was after three days that she mated with Thor. I worriedly wonder if the baby is not growing or if that's the normal way original babies grow. But then, it's only been two weeks. What do I know about pregnancy? Nothing!
I move forward to give her a hug, holding her tightly in my arms as I explains
"I'm sorry I couldn't check on you as promised. That night, I was attacked by rogues on my way back to the pack and seriously got injured. I was unconscious and just woke up yesterday."
"Oh my god!... Oh goddess! I'm so sorry! I never knew! You were fighting for your life and I thought you hated me and planned not to ever visit me again because of my pregnancy. I..."
"Wow, wow, wow, hold on!" I couldn't help but interrupt when I heard what she said. "You thought I hated you because you're pregnant? But why? Pregnancy is a thing of joy, why would I hate you? Did I behave oddly towards you the last time I visited? Was that why you thought I hated you?..."
"No, you didn't behave oddly!..."
"No?... Then make me understand because I don't! I really want to know why you think such of me?" I seriously ask.
She exhales loudly. She's about talking but my phone starts to ring at that moment,
"Excuse me..." I tell her, bringing out my phone to check the caller ID.
It's Ivar.
"Ivar?..." I answer the call.
"Yeah... I thought I should let you know that he has finally fallen asleep."
"Oh really?" I ask with relief. Even though I suspected that would happen since Ash is calm now. I still couldn't help being surprised by the good news. I can't help but wonder how Ash being upset could cause Thor so much pain.
"Yes. We initially thought something bad happened to him when he suddenly stopped groaning. Not until we moved closer to him and heard him snoring softly. He's fine now. God! I'm so happy, he's fine now."
I chuckle
"I'm glad to hear that. Thank you for letting me know, Ivar"
"Yeah... What about the Luna?"
"Everything is fine. We'll talk when we return back home."
"Alright. Don't be surprised when you find all of us bunking inside his room when you return. We've all decided we will not leave his room until he wakes up."
I laugh then.
"Well, I don't expect you to. I'm very much in support of that... Alright, we'll be home soon. Talk to you later when we see."
"Sure." He replies and ends the call.
******
2nd Chapter
THE CONVERSATION
'That was Ivar, telling me Thor is okay. He has finally fallen asleep, thank goddess!' I quickly inform Henrik and Ella through our mind link before bringing my attention back to Ash.
"Here, come sit down," I say, leading her to one of the beds Henrik just put back in place.
"Are you okay though?..." She looks so frail I can't help but ask. I'm concerned for not just the baby but also her well-being.
"Do you need something? Water maybe?" I ask again, bending to take one of the bottled water that is lying scattered all over the floor.
"Yes, I'm fine now. Thank you," She replies and accepts the water from me, opens the bottle, and drinks deeply from it. She must have really been thirsty. She puts the cap back on when she's done drinking.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to think the worst of you. What happened made me think you washed your hands off me and don't care about me anymore..."
"What happened?..." I ask in confusion
She nods
"Two days after your visit, Millicent came to give me a check-up. During the check-up, she told me I shouldn't worry, the baby was fine. I was confused. Wondering if she somehow mistook me for another patient of hers.
So I told her she got the wrong patient since I was convinced that I couldn't be pregnant after just five days of having sex. She just smiled and told me the pregnancy was about two months old, confusing me the more.
She was surprised you didn't inform me since you also knew about it. I was also surprised. I found it unbelievable that you knew and yet didn't tell me! That alone made me believe you indeed want nothing to do with me.
I thought you stopped coming to see me because you thought I was carrying another man's child but I swear to you that even as the timing is off, I have never been with any man apart from Thor. I swear it, Eric! I don't know what happened. I can't explain it but this baby I'm carrying is Thor's believe me!" She pleads desperately
I sigh
"I know Ash, I know. I know the baby is Thor's. And I have my reasons for not telling you about your pregnancy immediately after the doctor informed me. I thought I would come back to see you the following day, you see, but unforeseen circumstances happened. I was attacked!...
Continue with what you were saying. I'll tell you everything after you're done talking." I say. I don't want to be distracted from knowing how she managed to cause Thor so much pain.
She nods
"So before Millicent left that day, I insisted on a proper pregnancy test. She left and returned when it was night and took me to the clinic part of the prison. She did a blood test and even had a scan done on me which confirmed I am indeed pregnant.
Two months gone. The tests revealed! She showed me the tiny bud on the screen and even printed the scan photo for me to look at..." Her face breaks into a smile as she reaches inside her jeans pocket to hand me a rumpled black and white sonogram.
I collect the sonogram from her with slightly shaky fingers and look at the tiny creature that looks like a white oblong bean in the middle of a black swirl-painted background.
'Thor's son'
I smile and marvel over the photo in my hand. The fact that I'm going to be an uncle soon is exhilarating. I feel a tightening sensation in the part of my chest where my heart is located. Even with the seer's words still ringing clearly in my mind, I wonder if I'm doing the right thing by keeping this important news away from Thor. The urge to tell him about Miranda, Ash, and their unborn child right now is so strong but I dare not open my mouth.
I remember the seer said the situation both of them found themselves in had to run its course so they could live a longer life. It's been two weeks, I just hope the worst that he said was yet to come has already passed. If Thor doesn't put two and two together by himself then I'm only going to tell him at the end of the scheduled month.
After a while, I handed the sonogram over to Ella who was so eager to see it, that she left where she was sitting to peer over my shoulder. The fetus looks like a bean now, why is she so eager? I wonder in amusement.
I nod to Ash who had paused from talking to allow me to look at the photo to continue what she was saying
"Even with the blood test and scan that confirmed the facts of my pregnancy I still found it hard to believe, you know. I told her we had sex five days ago, it's impossible to be two months pregnant but of course, she didn't believe me.
She said I couldn't be two months pregnant from what we did five days ago. She has never seen such in all her medical years. I was clearly mistaken. She was sure it was the ones we did before that resulted in the pregnancy. Like, I couldn't wrap my head around what she said so I just told her I was tired and needed to rest so she could leave me alone.
I was shocked and confused. My thoughts were running haywire inside my head. Thor was my first and we only did it once, which was five days previously so how could I be two months pregnant?... Millicent told me one can tell two weeks after sex at least not five days!
At this point, I was tempted to tell her what Anders told me about the babies of the original shifters that develop faster inside their mother's womb but I know I couldn't. I'm not even sure if Ash is an original herself. Me telling her about original babies would only raise more questions than I was prepared to answer. Questions that I can't even answer without Thor's permission.
"I was scared. How am I ever going to explain this to Thor when he has not even forgotten about Ethan?"
"Ethan? Who is Ethan?" I curiously ask. Thor didn't tell me about anyone named Ethan.
"He's just a friend. It was because of him that Miranda and her cronies fought me that day...
I'm a late bloomer. I got my wolf two days before my 18th birthday. Before getting my wolf, I'd always thought I wouldn't have a mate since I don't have a wolf, you see.
Ethan and I... Well, we shared a kiss once, before I met Thor. It was nothing, really– anyway, we were in the act when something strange happened to me."
"Something strange?... What is that?" I ask, my eyes narrowing with interest
"I don't know. One moment we were kissing, the next, an unimaginable explosion went off suddenly inside my head. I couldn't hear anything said to me. It felt as if there was a stampede, throngs of angry wolves running and howling inside my head. The pain was horrible."
"I see..." I nod.
'Exactly what happened to Thor, guys." I say to Henrik and Ella through our mind link.
Now I understand better that it's not only Thor who can no longer mate with any other she-wolf apart from Ash. Even Ash herself cannot be with another man than Thor.
"The kiss was so short and the experience was horrible, yet Thor somehow managed to find out I kissed another man. He asked me about it the very first day we met. He was so angry. He didn't believe me when I said the kiss was nothing.
After learning about my pregnancy, I wanted to break out of this place and run away but I can't do that without my wolf. Millicent already warned me I might lose my baby if I shifted to my wolf form.
"What happened here then? What made you decide to trash everywhere." I indicate around the room that is still in disarray even after Henrik had strengthened some things up.
She blush
I– about that– it was because of some stupid dream I had. It was stupid. I don't know what came over me.
'No, it wasn't stupid!'
"What dream? Care to tell me about it?" I ask
"There's nothing to tell... It was stupid really..." She hesitates
"I would like to know about it anyway... If you don't mind of course."
"Okay— uhm— I had a dream about Thor kissing another girl that looks nothing like Miranda."