Wolf’s Bane

Meanwhile, as the nurses talked about the strange happenings in Maximillian’s room, Jack was on the phone near the hospital entrance.

“Hello Pat, how are you? I’m sorry to call you during non-working hours, but I have a few questions about a special situation and I’ll need some help from you.”

“Oh, sure, please tell me, I hope I can be of help,” the elderly lady said, with a smile that Jack could easily and was glad to hear on the other side of the line.

“Well, Max just had an accident, and I know it’s out of our regular protocols, but my parents like him and, good or bad, he’s been with us for a while. So, I think the best course of action is to help with his hospital bill, especially since he won’t be working for a few weeks.”

“I guess you want us to give him a paid leave and pay the hospital bill?” Pat asked, ready to tell him what the needed processes were, and also to get everything ready and follow through as soon as she got back to the office the next morning.

“Almost… I also think it would be more beneficial to him if we use his vacation days instead of the paid leave.”

“Well, indeed it is some more money for him since the vacations are paid in full while the leave is paid at 70%, but, sir…”

“Yes, this should be done with an exemplary employee, and we both know that he’s far from being so. For now, it’s just politics, Pat. And it’s far from rewarding him. What I’m actually trying to do is reduce the troubles at the lumber camp and to avoid him from giving us even more problems.”

“I understand that well, sir. No worries, I’ll have all the paperwork ready when you get to the office tomorrow.”

“Thank you, Patricia. I knew I could count on you.”

“It’s my pleasure.”

“You’re awesome, Pat. I honestly don’t know what we would do without you. Okay, enough of me interrupting your night. Please go ahead and have a good rest.”

“Thank you very much, Jack. See you tomorrow.”

The not-so-young and overweight lady got back to her sofa, wrapped herself in her comforter, and pressed ‘play’ to the anime series that she was watching. All this while taking a bite of the special meal she had prepared for herself.

As she happily ate her sushi rolls and hugged her cat, Yuki, Golden Kamui, an anime series about wolves, continued to play on her large screen HD TV…

What a coincidence…

Meanwhile, back at the hospital, Jack walked to the nurse’s station and asked for the doctor.

“Of course, Jack, you can see him in his office. He just finished his rounds, so he must be there now. Just follow the hall all the way to the end. It’s the blue door at the right side of the corridor.”

“Thank you, Joyce.”

A few moments later, Jack was already knocking on Doctor Marc Esguerra’s office door.

“Oh, good evening, Mister Schneider. I was wondering when I would finally see you.”

Jack was surprised. “Were you expecting me, doc?” he asked curiously while taking a seat on one of the chairs in front of the doctor’s desk.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.

“Yes, Maximilian mentioned that you would visit him at some point, so I was wondering if you really would come over.”

“Yeah, I actually wanted to ask you about him…”

“You saw him already, I guess. He bumped his head hard, but I’m wondering if his… weird behavior is something new, due to the concussion, or if he was like that before. You see, it’s not the first time that I have treated him, but he used to be quite normal from what I remember.”

“I noticed him a little… disturbed. I have to admit, I hoped for a medical explanation, but now that you’re telling me that…”

“I don’t know if you remember the old werewolf stories that circulated the town years ago since you were pretty young…”

“I do, Doctor Marc, but why do you ask me about it?”

“Because that’s what he was continually babbling about when he entered the hospital… He just walked in, bloody and looking angry. And just right after telling us about his fall, he started murmuring something about wolves, and that a wolf did this to him, and he would pay for that. He also changed his story quite a few times about how he fell from the tree, making the accident itself the only constant part of his tale. Other than the threats he was saying for someone we are not familiar with, he was pretty lucid and aware of where he was, including time, date, his identity… everything,” the puzzled physician explained, pausing for a moment as he saw Jack getting pale, and then a bit red.

“Yes, he said to me that there was something up that tree and he climbed it to take it down, then a pine cone hit his forehead which caused him to fall.”

“Oh, I don’t think a pine cone could have done that,” chuckled the friendly medical expert.

“Why, doctor?”

“Because a pine cone might have made him lose balance, but that won’t be enough to make him bleed. And by the way, his arm got fractured so he didn’t just fall because of a random pine cone landing on his head, that I can assure you.”

“I see… Well, besides all the weirdness, because he’s our employee, we’ll be taking care of the bill. If something else happens, please give me a call, would you, doctor?”

“Yes, of course, son, I will. I’ll have to filter it a bit, though,” the physician said with another amused chuckle.

“Why is that?”

“Well, it hasn’t even been one night yet and all the nurses are already talking about weird things happening in his room,” the lanky brown-eyed MD explained with an almost cynical smirk. “Now, who knows what happened to him, and don’t quote me on this… But I believe he has a screw loose and needs to see a therapist.”

“Oh, well, in that case, maybe the rumors can help him as well,” Jack said as he smiled back. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to pass a report about his condition to my parents. Thank you, doc, and good night.”

Jack got up, strolled back to the entrance, and left the hospital. He already had an idea of what had happened even before getting to the village’s medical center since the story was close to what Eron told him on the phone earlier. Of course, Max would not admit what he was doing before and when he fell from that now infamous tree. He may be nuts but he’s not THAT crazy!

But the other part of the story, even if he was delirious…

The topic was too close to home for Jack, and even if he wanted to ignore it, it made him wonder.

“The wolf did this to him, he said? And wait… Wasn’t the wolf seen in the forest not long after Eron arrived? But no… it can’t be! There were no more sightings after that one night. I can’t… No, it can’t possibly be related,” Jack thought as he walked back home. “Or can it be?”

His parents were waiting for him to arrive with news, which he quickly gave. Jack then excused himself for the night, saying that he was too tired to stay awake any longer.