hapter 0037
(Luna Jane POV)
Another week has passed. We were all relieved when James finally woke up on the fourth day, and we were now celebrating that Dr. Miller had given us the blessing to take him home later today.
Although Dr. Miller had cleared James to leave the hospital, he emphasized to us that it was critically important that James avoid stress as much as possible for at least the next few weeks. James’ heart was still quite fragile, and his wolf had not spoken to him yet. Dr. Miller said that rejections are especially hard on the wolf counterparts, and we could expect it to take between one and three months for Luke to fully recover, much less be willing to talk to James and/or shift. Until Luke recovered, his ability to heal James would be compromised.
We decided to take Dr. Miller’s advice seriously. Earlier today, Randall alpha-ordered all pack members, except Robert and Margie, to avoid talking to James about anything related to Lily, Stephanie, or what happened on the day of the rejection. Pack members were also alpha-ordered to avoid talking about any those subjects in the pack house, because we wanted to avoid James accidentally overhearing a conversation that might trigger him. And finally, the she-wolves that James had been inviting to his room were ordered to stay away.
Our plan was to wait a few weeks, and then sit James down and have a conversation about everything in a therapeutic setting.
There were two reasons that Randall did not give alpha-orders to Robert and Margie.
not give alpha-orders to Robert and Margie. First, they live in the packhouse with us, and we knew that they were suffering right now just like we were. Limiting their ability to talk in their own home about their two daughters or what happened seemed unnecessarily cruel. Second, Robert and Margie were our best friends, and we knew that they did not need to be alpha- ordered to avoid hurting James. They had proven many times over how much they were willing to
sacrifice for him.
Eager to leave the hospital, James had just stepped into the bathroom to change clothes when Margie burst into his hospital room. Her face was tomato-red with rage, and her fists were clenched as though she was ready to hit something or someone.
I admit that I still had not talked to her and Robert since the rejection. Part of it was because I was a coward; part of it was because I have a horrible time keeping secrets from Margie; and part of it was because I wanted to make sure that we had something concrete to present to Margle before we confronted her with our doubts and concerns.
I
When Margie barged into the room, I expected that she was angry with me because of not talking to her
in so many days. Unfortunately, I was sorely wrong.
“HOW COULD YOU!” Margie screamed. “AFTER ALL I DID FOR YOU! HOW COULD YOU DO THIS!!!!
“Margie! I do not know what you are talking about, but we cannot talk in here. I do not want James to
hear you! Dr. Miller said that it is important that he avoid stress at all costs!”
I quickly ushered her into the hallway and down the hall into a small visitor’s office. After I closed the
door, I turned around to face her.
“Now, tell me what is wrong Margie,” I said calmly.
“I went to the florist to select flower arrangements for Stephanie’s birthday memorial, and she told me
that YOU SCALED BACK THE EVENT. She said we will only need 10% of the flowers that we normally
have. HOW COULD YOU DO THAT WITHOUT TALKING TO ME?!?!”
My heart dropped. I had meant to talk to her about our decision to scale back the memorials after we
brought James home. I had not anticipated that she would have a meeting with the florist today.
Margie, !
“AND
“AND THEN! THEN I GO UPSTAIRS TO THE ALPHA SUITE TO CONFRONT YOU ABOUT THE MEMORIAL,
AND YOU KNOW WHAT I SAW? OR RATHER, WHAT I DID NOT SEE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!”
“We took down most of Stephanie’s pictures,” I said softly.
“HOW COULD YOU DO ANY OF THAT WITHOUT TALKING TO ME? YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO BE MY BEST
FRIEND AND YET HERE YOU ARE TRYING TO ERASE MY DAUGHTER’S MEMORY!!!! AND WORSE, YOU
DIDN’T EVEN HAVE THE COURAGE TO TELL ME ABOUT IT FIRST, AND SO I HAD TO FIND OUT THIS
WAY!!!!” 1
My eyes are starting to water. Margie has never been this angry with me, and I know it is all my fault.
“Margie, I am so, so, so, so, so very sorry! I promise, I never meant for you to find out this way. I had
plans to come and talk to you as soon as we brought James home from the hospital this afternoon.”
