The Pearl Family

Jessica

I watched Joey as he was unconscious. The beeping of the heart monitor and the air conditioning noises filled the room.

Why was he in the woods, who brought him here?....why is he being cared for by a human?
I need to know this stuff. But Joey was not in the mood for talking; maybe something on him could tell me.
The doctors had taken his clothes and stuff and put them in a neat pile on a small wheeled tray next to him.
It wasn't much, just his shirt and jeans, but there was an odd smell. Like...cleaning products mashed together to make something.
There was also a light green stain on his white shirt.
"Ugh, this will never wash out," I told myself. I then caught a whiff of the substance, and I nearly vomited.
"What is that?" I asked myself, "smells like...rotted fish."
I dropped the shirt and gagged. When I did, I heard Joey groan, and his heart rate went up.
"Joey?" I wondered and went to his side. "Can you hear me?"
Silence filled the room again.....I sighed and sat back down.

Then a knock at the door startled me.
I walked....um. I think his name is Darius. He's a friend Joey had over sometimes.
He seemed genuinely surprised to see me, which is odd.
"Mrs.Pearl. I didn't realize they called you" He spoke softly as if Joey could hear him.
"Hello, Darius," I responded. "How did you know he was here?"
The young man was nervous, and it was clear they hadn't changed since coming here. His dungarees were covered in mud in specific areas; his shirt had bits of blood on it. And based on the outline, he was scarf at one point, but it was gone now.
"I brought him here," He said as he sat down on the other side of Joey's bed.
Wait, he did?
I started to ask a mountain of questions. 'Why was he in the Wood's? Are we you with him? What happened?' We're a few of them.
"Wow. Wow. Mrs.Pearl calms down."
I took a few deep breaths and looked at him.
"I found him after I overheard him talking to himself in the hallway at school about going into the woods to stop. Nikolaus" He whispered the name.
The lights above us flickered at the mention of the name.
"What?" I know we didn't raise him to...this is crazy.
"Okay. But was he with anyone?"
He looked uneasy. Like he wasn't expecting the question.
"I'm not sure it was dark, and the rain obstructed my vision."

"Okay. I get that...What happened when you got here?"

He then told me what had happened last night.

He was following Joey along the trail. When the rain got pretty bad, he heard Joey yelling at someone but couldn't listen to them. Then he heard Joey scream just as thunder filled the air.

He immediately followed the screaming and found Joey covered in mud and blood at the base of a tree. His left ankle was slashed up severely. So he used his scarf to stop the bleeding. It took a lot of strength and willpower to drag him to his car and place him in the backseat.
It was hard for him to drive in the rain, but he got to the hospital after ten minutes. But Joey wasn't responding to anything, just grumbling nonsense.
He tried to rush inside, but the doors wouldn't open. He looked inside....the power was out, and he couldn't get in....the hybrid clinic must have lost control during the storm. And nobody noticed him, so he ran to the human one nearby.
He immediately ran inside to get attention. But he was immediately waved away by the woman at the front desk because he's a hybrid.
"Please. My friend is badly hurt," He pleaded. "He got caught in...something like a mudslide. Please"
That was when an eavesdropping doctor noticed the pair arguing and went to check it out.
"Hello. Don't worry; I'll handle this" he then took Darius aside. He thought the doctor would tell him to leave but instead.
"Where's your friend?" He asked softly.
Darius was surprised but took him to the car.
The doctor did a slight examination.
"He must have hit his head. He's saying nonsense."

"Well, he's breathing. At least stay here with him put some pressure on his ankle."
The doctor immediately stood up and ran inside, quickly returning with a wheelchair.
He got inside with Joey and Darius, and after some back and forth arguing with the head nurse, he was allowed in the emergency room.
Darius wasn't allowed in to check on him. Only immediate family was allowed.

"Oh, Sayan," I muttered under my breath.
"I skipped school to stay with him. I'm pretty sure my parents don't even know where I am..." He stopped himself from talking after seeing me.
"I'm going to get some food from the vending machine. The one they'll let me use anyway."

"When will the clinic open?" I said, not looking at him.

"When they regain power...so about an hour or two, and they'll transfer him there."