"Yes, lots of wild nature around there," Gregory mused. If he was trying to make a point, it was lost on her. Instead he smiled and held out his hand. "I guess I'll be going, the room reservations start in a few hours and don't want to be wasting my money just standing here."
"Have a safe trip," she returned. This was all very reminiscent of the scene in the lobby as she shook his hand.
"And you keep care of yourself," he firmly but kindly instructed. "We wouldn't want anything to happen to this relationship just as it was getting off the ground. The business relationship, that is," he joked.
"Oh, um, yes, that would be bad for both of us," Stephanie agreed.
She couldn't have been more relieved to lead him out into the front office and see him take off in his car. Chuck had only politely nodded to the man's farewell toward him, and now he stood from his desk and moved over to stand beside Stephanie.
"What'd he want here, Boss?" he wondered.
"To look at some pictures, I guess," Stephanie guessed with a shrug. "He said he was staying up at the lodge for a few days vacation, too, so that's why he decided to drop by."
"He's staying in the area?" Chuck nearly interrupted her. She snapped her head toward him in surprise at his brisk tone.
"Yeah, he said he was staying at the lodge," she repeated. "What's wrong with that?"
"I just don't like that guy, that's all," her partner tried to explain away his anger. It wasn't working very well, though. She was seeing it as a little irrational. The two men had only just met. Rather than love at first sight, it looked like it was hate at first meeting.
"Why don't you like him that much?" she boldly inquired. It just wasn't like Chuck to dislike someone so fiercely. He was always so good with the most difficult of clients, and here was a polite gentleman he didn't want to deal with at all. "He's not that bad, just kind of clingy."
"I don't trust anyone that slick," Chuck vaguely explained. "He's got something up his sleeve and I bet it won't be a good thing for us."
"You honestly think he's like out to get us or something?" Stephanie persisted.
"I don't know, I just don't trust him," he insisted. She thought he was being just a little bit paranoid.
"Well, when you stop being irrational and start being yourself, just call me," she brushed aside his worries.
"Listen, Boss, you don't know these people like I do," Chuck reminded her. "I lived out in those cities for a long time. They work differently than someone like a small town like you does."
"So now you're thinking I'm a naive country girl or something?" Stephanie angrily asked as she sharply turned around.
"I'm just saying that I don't think we should have him back here," he insisted, but there was something else in his tone. It told her he wasn't finished on that point of naivety. "But since we're on the subject, I gotta point out how stupid you were when you went out wandering alone," he gently scolded. "You can't do that again."
"Who are you, my mother?" she questioned.
"No, but I am your partner," Chuck protested even as she turned away from him. "And I have you tell you that was a really stupid move that you pulled there."
"I just needed a breath of air, all right?" Stephanie argued. She rubbed her temple. A headache was trying to come on and her head was feeling light. "I think I need some fresh air right now." She tried to step around her partner, but he blocked her way to the door. "Chuck, this isn't a game."
"No, this isn't a game," he replied, and his voice was so serious it made her pause. She looked up into his face and read the fear in his eyes. She'd really worried him then. "You need to be more careful. I don't know what I'd do without you, Boss."
"Well, you'd be unemployed for a while," she teased. She winced and closed her eyes when she felt a stab of pain in her arm. She reached up and grabbed the annoying limb. "I don't know why you stick around here, though, when you'd be a lot more useful for someone else."
"Yeah, well, I figure I'm needed here," he answered. His eyes glanced down at her arm. "That's still bothering you, isn't it?"
"Just a little," she lied, but he saw through it.
"You want me to get you home?" Chuck asked. She shook her head. It was only mid morning, she didn't want to leave work this early.
"There's just too many deadlines coming up, and I gotta get all that work done," she pointed out.
"Just like you to be all serious and responsible just when you need to rest," her partner commented as he shook his head in disbelief. "But I really wished you'd just go home and take a nap or something. You're overworking yourself," he gently scolded.
"You're one to talk," she playfully shot back. His pale skin told her he was in the building a little too often, too.
"Yeah, but I don't look near as bad as you," he countered.
"That's a fire-able offense," Stephanie answered as another spasm of pain shot through her arm. This time it was followed by a pulsing throb through her head.
"I'll take my risks," he challenged her, but he paused when he noticed her clenched teeth. "Just as long as you get back home and get some sleep."
"N-no, I'm fine," she argued.
Everywhere around her was starting to get dizzy. Then she collapsed forward, and Chuck caught her just before she hit the floor. The last thing she remembered was hearing his voice call out her name as she blacked out.
Stephanie knew she was drifting in and out of dreams and reality. There were worried voices and unfamiliar faces mixed with visions of the nightmarish beast from alley. She felt as though she were reliving that monster chasing her down the wet and narrow alley. Her breathing was ragged and her heart pounded away. She could feel the breath of the beast on the back of her neck and her scar pulsed with a horrible pain. Then there was a flash of a white corridor and bright lights passed above her. There were people dressed in white and bleached walls on either side.
Another flash and she was back in the nightmare. In her frantic running she looked back over her shoulder and tripped over something. She fell hard to the ground and turned around to see the monster standing over her. The full moon silhouetted his enormous figure as those large bright eyes glowed with an unearthly light. The monster leaned back and howled to the star-lit sky, and she trembled at the horrible sound as it echoed off the alley. Then the beast glanced back at her, and its expression was full of feral need. It swiftly reached out his razor-sharp claws and tore at her clothes. Her arms flailed out as she tried to knock its hands away from her as her breasts were exposed and her pants ripped apart.
"Stop! Please god, stop!" Stephanie shrieked.
"She's feverish, hold her down!" someone ordered, and a pair of strong arms grabbed her and pinned them to a hard surface.
"Boss, you have to calm down!" she heard Chuck's voice frantically order. She was out of the nightmare and back into reality. "Come on, Boss, you have to fight it!"
"She's going to pull through, we just need to get her fever down before it damages anything," Stephanie heard that mystery man's voice calmly explain. "You don't have to hold her down so well, young man."
"Oh, sorry," Chuck quickly apologized. Stephanie felt someone stick something sharp into her arm.
"We'll just have her rest for a while," the other man soothed. "She'll be fine when she wakes up."
The stranger wasn't kidding, because after a brief few moments Stephanie felt herself slip into a dreamless slumber.
Stephanie didn't awaken for what felt like quite some time. It was a slow pull from the deep sleep, and she struggled to adjust to the strange, loud beeping noises and whispered voices around where she lay. With a lot of effort she opened her eyes and blinked against the harsh, bright lights above her. She tried to move her arms to sit up, but she found there was a needle with an IV hooked up on her left. From the look of all the technical machines, the stiff, white-sheet covered bed, and the clean white walls, she figured she was in a small hospital room.
Something on the right side caught Stephanie's eye, and she turn
ed her head to one side to find Chuck in a chair beside the bed. He was in an uncomfortable position with his head in one hand which was kept up by his elbow positioned on his leg. His sleeping face was scrunched up and she couldn't help but smile at the cute expression.
"So you're awake already?" someone asked, and Stephanie whipped her head around to see a nurse enter the room.
The noise of her voice also aroused Chuck and his arm slid off his head before he fully awoke. He ended up nearly falling forward, but caught himself just in time. The sound of a soft, hoarse chuckle caught his attention and he eagerly glanced to the bed. A wide smile brightened his face as he glimpsed Stephanie's amused, alert eyes.
"How are you feeling?" he asked as the nurse stepped up to the bed to check Stephanie's vitals.
"Pretty bad," she admitted with another dry chuckle. "What the hell happened to me?"
"You had a very bad infection from that wound on your arm," the nurse answered as she nodded down at Stephanie's right arm. The area around the wound was heavily bandaged. "Fortunately your friend here got you to the hospital and we gave you a big dose of penicillin."
"How long have I been out?" Stephanie weakly asked. She glanced out the windows to her right, and it was dark outside.
"For about twelve hours," Chuck told her. "You had a really high fever."
"Well, it looks like that's cleared itself up," the nurse gladly announced as she smiled at the two. "Try not to wear her out too much," she advised Chuck.
"I won't," he promised, and the nurse left the two of them alone. After she'd closed the door, he turned to her with worried eyes. "You want some water or food or something?"
"Some water would be nice," Stephanie pleaded. She tried to sit up again, but she still felt pretty weak.
"Here, let me help," her partner requested. He leaned over to catch his hands beneath her arms, and with his incredible strength he hoisted her up without any problem. "That high enough?"
"Yeah, but I think you work out at the gym a little too often," she answered with a large grin. "I didn't know you were that strong."
"Yeah, well, you scared me into getting that strong," Chuck replied as he grabbed a cup of water from a nearby tray. He handed it to her, and she gladly drank half the contents in a few giant gulps. "You really should have told me you were feeling that bad."
"I didn't know it myself," Stephanie defended herself. She handed back the glass and he held it in case she wanted more from it. "I don't know what happened. I just had this flash of pain and then everything went black."
"Yeah, you were pretty limp when I got you into my car," he agreed with a grim look on his face. "The doctors weren't too sure if they'd get you out of that fever without damage."
"I...I heard that," she told him. He frowned. "I don't know, I think I was awake sometimes, and having nightmares others."
"What kind of nightmares?" Chuck questioned.
"About...about that night," Stephanie admitted. She sighed. She should have told him about this sooner. "I kind of got attacked by something in that alley. Something big."
"How big?" he asked.
"Like really big," she answered. She tried to spread out her arms to show, but the bandages and IV got in the way. "It was like a wolf or something, but huge. Bigger than I was, and there was two of them."
"So that's how you really got the marks?" he guessed, and she nodded. It was his turn to sigh. "You really should have told me about this earlier."
"I know, I know, I just...I just don't know if maybe I wasn't imagining the whole thing," she explained to him. "I still don't know if maybe I wasn't imagining some large dogs, especially with all those shadows in that alley."
"I told you that was a stupid idea to go in there," Chuck scolded. She took his reprimand with a smile.
"I know, and you were right," she readily agreed. He frowned at her agreeable attitude.
"You must really be feeling bad if you're agreeing with me," he teased.
"Yeah, I feel all weak and stuff," Stephanie informed him. "But I'm feeling better just talking with you." A sudden thought struck her and she glanced around the room. "Is Bob around here?"
"He left a few hours ago," Chuck grudgingly explained as he nodded at the door to the room. Apparently just talking about her husband made him angry. "Said he had to do some things, and that he'd be back."
"Oh..." she replied. She turned her head away to hide the tears she was struggling to tamp down. She had her comfort, though, and he was sitting beside her, so she wiped them from her eyes and turned back to Chuck. "So did you get any rest since you brought me? You look as tired as I feel."
"Well, you caught me napping when you woke up," he sheepishly admitted. "And I got some food from the cafeteria here, but if I were you I wouldn't try that stuff." He rubbed his stomach and Stephanie laughed. "I think they're trying to kill their patients."
"Not on purpose," the same nurse scolded as she opened the door and stepped inside. "But didn't I tell you not to tire her out." She noticed that Stephanie was sitting up, and playfully the nurse clucked her tongue. "And trying to move her around, too?"
"I just wanted a drink of water," Stephanie came to the defense of her friend.
"Well, I suppose if you're up I may as well tell your husband that you can see him," the nurse announced with a wide smile. "He's been asking to see you since he came back a few minutes ago."
"Oh, please let him in," the patient kindly requested. "I'm sure he's been worried about me..." Her voice trailed off as she glanced over to Chuck. It was apparent he disagreed with her on her last comment. The nurse left to fetch the spouse, and Chuck suddenly got up as though to leave. "You're not leaving, are you?"
"I'll just be downstairs, I'm sure Bob would want the chair," he replied.
"Please don't go," Stephanie requested as she held out her hand to stop him. She felt panicked at him leaving her side. She wasn't sure why, but their bond was growing closer with each passing day. "You've been with me for this long, there's no sense in you going now."
"I won't be far," he reassured her with a smile as he took her outstretched hand. He chuckled a little when a thought struck him. "Besides, you know how I just love hanging around with Bob."
As that old wife's tale goes that speaking the devil's name causes him to come to you, the door to the room opened and the wayward spouse stepped inside. Bob was not happy to see their hands interlocked in what appeared to be an intimate gesture of affection.
"So you're still here?" Bob quipped as he directed the question at Chuck.
"Not for long," he promised. He squeezed Stephanie's hand, gave her an encouraging smile and quickly left the room. Stephanie turned to her husband with an angry frown.
"Why'd you say that?" she asked. "He was a lot of help bringing me here."
"Sorry, Steph," Bob quickly apologized as he stepped over to her bedside. He clutched her hand in his like Chuck had done, but she felt it was an empty gesture, or maybe it was that strange cleaning supply smell on him again. "I suppose it was just a bout of jealousy. I've been so worried about you I could snap at anyone in a ten mile radius."
"So worried that you left me here without waiting for me to wake up?" Stephanie pointed out. Bob flinched and she could see the gears in his head working for an excuse.
"I...I was just talking with the doctors and getting the house ready for you," he defended himself. "The doctors think you'll have to rest for a while so I got some stuff ready for you."
"Do you know I'll be able to leave?" she wondered.
"You'll be able to be released tomorrow, but only if you're a good girl," Bob teased. She was confused when he released her hand. "And that means a lot more sleep, so I'd better leave you so you can do some more of that resting."
"Couldn't you just stay for a little while longer?" Stephanie pleaded as she nodded to the chair at the bedside. "Maybe just to tell me what you've been up to today?"
"Nope, nurses orders," her husband protested with a solemn shake of
his head. "She wanted me out ASAP, so I'd better do as she says."
"All right," Stephanie regretfully replied.
She turned her face away from him in dejection, so she didn't see the frown on his face. He brightened up with a smile as he went around the bed. The chair didn't tempt him enough to sit down, but he leaned over the bed and planted a gentle kiss on her forehead.
"Now you try to get some rest," he softly ordered. "And I'll be here when you wake up."
"I'll try," she replied, and she mustered up a smile.
"Good, now get some sleep and listen to the nurses," Bob teased as he moved away from the bed and toward the door.
"Can do," Stephanie promised, and with one more smile and a wink he was gone from the room.
The young woman was both glad and depressed that he'd left. She wasn't sure he was the best company, but that was better than no company at all. Now here she lay with nothing to do but fidget on the bed and wait for one of the nurses to come and check on her. Her stomach grumbled a little, too, and she could never go to sleep on a hungry stomach.
Stephanie was glad when the door opened wide enough for Chuck to stick his head in.
"Is he planning on coming back?" he asked, and she happily shook her head. He slipped in and closed the door, and she saw he had a fast food bag hidden beneath his jacket. "Thought you might be hungry for something, and I didn't want you to go through that hospital food like I did."
"Didn't the nurse warn you to let me get some sleep?" she teased as he quietly seated himself in his chair.
"Haven't seen her, so she can't tell me that," her partner pointed out. "But I can leave with all these delicious goodies if you don't want them."
"Smells too good to pass up," she laughed as he began piling out hamburger after delicious, fatty hamburger. There must have been a dozen there. She noticed there weren't any fries, but the meat looked so tempting she didn't even want to tease him about it. "So we split or is this all for me?"
"We'll have to split, I haven't eaten in a while, too, you know," Chuck replied. He divvied up the packages goods and refilled her water glass. "Need anything else?" he asked as he handed her one of the burgers.
"Just a bigger mouth," Stephanie answered through a mouthful of meat.