Forsaken, A Werewolf Story (Rewrite)

Chapter 11

Dad only freaked out a tiny bit when I came home. He seemed ready to go out and hunt down that wolf with his bare hands if need be. Also, the veg ended up burnt to a crisp, smoking the whole kitchen. Kind of minor in the face of what had happened, but that sucked too.

I dozed off early with the help of some painkillers and other meds, somehow sleeping through my alarm. I woke up in the late morning, I stumbled out of my room using my crutch only for dad to come down.

"Hey..." I muttered.

"Good morning, how are you?"

"Okay, how late is it?"

"Almost eleven and a half. After what happened last night, we decided to let you sleep."

"I'm fine, I think I can make it to school this afternoon."

"Let me drive you."

I didn't protest and got ready quickly, although I skipped the shower, it wasn't exactly easy with a bandaged leg and I decided to figure out the logistics of it another time. I made it to school only two minutes before the bell announced the start of the lunch period.

I went for the cafeteria and our usual table, or at least I tried to, as I didn't get the chance to reach it.

"Juno!" Miriam said from behind me. I turned around just in time for her to throw her arms around me. Thankfully I had the crutches or I'd have probably tumbled down with the force of her glomping. "I heard about what happened."

"You heard?" I said, bracing myself against the wall.

"Well, half the town's talking about it by now, it's a small boring town so news travels fast, plus my mom's business partner told her about you."

"Right..."

"I'm so sorry..."

"It's not like it was your fault."

"Well, yeah..." she chewed her lips nervously, "But maybe if we'd been at that movie you wouldn't have been attacked?" She said after a moment.

"No worrying about ifs and buts, I'm okay."

With that, I managed to get her to let go and we went and ate lunch together along with the other Lindells and Nico. Miriam was definitely worried and a little clingy through the afternoon, but I didn't mind too much. I'd just been hurt and she definitely cared for me.

Once school was over, the other lindells left together, while Nico went out with Sebastian again, leaving Miriam and I together.

"Guess it's just us this evening." She said.

"Yeah, uh, before we do anything, do you mind if we stop by my house?"

"Of course not."

We walked out of the school only to stop when Ms. Lindell parked her car right in front of us.

"Juno!" She said a motherly worried look on her face. "My clinic partner told me what happened to you, how you got attacked by an animal. Would you like a lift home?"

I wasn't surprised she'd had access to that info. In the weeks since moving to California, she had become my personal doctor.

"Yeah, it was this wolf, it looked really friendly and then it bit me," I said, taking place in the back seat. Rather than sit with her mother in the front Miriam sat down next to me.

"A wolf you say?"

"Well, what else could it be? Didn't look like a chupacabra."

"It couldn't have been a dog?"

"I don't think so."

"Right."

There was an odd silence as we drove through the few streets to my house. Miriam followed me inside and down to my room.

"Hey... Would you mind if I take a look, see how bad it is?"

"Sure, I need to change the dressing anyway," I said with a shrug.

I sat down on my then and then carefully removed the bandage and dressing off the bite's site. The wound wasn't pretty, it wasn't like a nice and clean-cut a knife would've done, instead, it was a little mangled and torn. But it hadn't shown any sign of infection so far and it had started healing. But when she saw it she immediately threw her arms around me.

"Hey, I'm fine, it's just a small bite, it not even deep." She didn't quite let go.

"Still..."

I patted her head like Dad and Nico would do.

"Now, if you let go I'll be able to bandage it, and then maybe we can have that movie date we talked about?"

It took me a second to realize the word I'd used. By the grin on her lips, Miriam hadn't missed it either. I looked away, feeling warm all of a sudden.

"So it's a date, is it?"

"Maybe...?"

"Well, I'll take what I can get. Although now I suddenly feel undressed..." She said, pursing her lips.

"I think you're fine."

"I'm dressed all well and good for a hangout, but definitely not for a date."

"You won't let go of my choice of word, won't you?"

"Nope."

Miriam insisted on doing the bandaging again herself, she had some first aid training so I let her. Although it could've been seen as something intimate, letting her care for my wounded leg, it really wasn't. She stayed focused and professional until it was over.

"There you go," she said with a smile. "Now, let's stop at my house. I want to get ready."

"Alright then." I blushed a little at the comment.

We took a ride to her house and Miriam disappeared inside along with her mom while I waited for her outside, feeling my heart beating. I was pretty sure that had it not been for the early October breeze cooling me down I'd have caught fire...

I was totally having my first date, was I? I mean the bonfire had been a thing, but we hadn't gone into it with the idea of it being a date-date...