C8 Chapter 8

The other two behemoths come over and introduce themselves; each extending their hands out to shake …

“I’m Peter.”

“I’m Paul.”

Snow glances down at their extended out hands; then, puts on another impish little grin, as she quips, “I don’t know … do you really think it’s necessary for us to shake hands, now? … I mean, you guys kind of held onto my arms long enough out there today; so, I’m thinking we’re good.” She winks at them.

They pull back their hands and laugh. Roger tells them …

“See … didn’t I tell you guys she was real funny?”

They both nod in agreement.

Then, it dawns upon Snow, “Hold on; wait a minute. … Peter, Paul …” she turns around, and looks at the Chief of Security, “… and, you’re Tom … which is short for Thomas …” then, she turns to Roger, and quips, “… what happen with your Apostle name; Roger?” She smiles.

They all start laughing again; as Dr. Pravda happens to come up.

“I’m glad to hear some laughter. It’s best to keep your spirits up … especially for Rose’s sake. It’s best to keep her in high spirits, as well. It will help her through her rehabilitation process.”

Snow adds, “That’s right; they say that laughter is the best medicine.”

Not recognizing who she is; Dr. Pravda asks, “I’m sorry; and, you are?”

Daniel answers on behalf of Snow … well actually, answered before Snow got the chance. “This is Snow; Dr. Pravda. She’s the one who saved Rose from those bastard rogues out there, today.”

A little miffed that he didn’t let her answer for herself; Snow decides to put Daniel on the spot, by impishly adding, “Yeah … I’m the ‘bitch’ rogue who jumped in.”

They all become uncomfortably quiet for a brief moment … except for Roger; who is really enjoying Snow’s sass … and, he busts out laughing; while slapping down on his thigh, “Oh, man; stop, Snow … you’re killing me, here! … Is she a riot; or, what?”

The sudden outburst causes Peter and Paul to follow suit; and, they too start to heartily laugh. The merriment starts to be infectious enough to start to put everyone at ease; and, dispels the tension.

Dr. Pravda tells Snow, “Well … whoever you are … thank you so much for coming to Rose’s rescue. I hate to think what might have happened if you didn’t show up when you did and intervened.”

Snow proudly smiles. “Really; there’s no need to thank me for that. I’m just glad that I was there to help her out.”

“And, I’m sure she is, too.” Dr. Pravda informs her, “As a matter of fact; she just can’t stop talking about you. She goes on and on about how brave you are; and, how tough you are, and, how you were able to beat up four vicious, rogues all by yourself.”

Among all the things that has had Tom wondering about Snow; this was the one thing that seemed to puzzle … and, concern him … the most about her and her mysterious background. He cuts into their conversation …

“About that; Snow,” he glances over to Daniel; then, looks back to her, “I was wondering. Where did you learn to fight like that? … I mean … I’m sure living the rogue lifestyle must be hard and dangerous … and, of course you’d have to be able to defend and protect yourself at any given moment … but … to handle an attack of four by yourself … that’s pretty impressive.”

Paul interjects, “Shit … that’s damn impressive; if you ask me.”

Peter concurs, “That’s for sure.”

Tom glares at the two behemoths, as a warning to shut up and not interrupt him. They tersely nod, and step away. Tom inquires …

“So … where did you learn how to fight? Did you have any formal training?”

Yet another topic Snow needs to carefully skirt around. Her sister is practically a legend among the Defensive Security Detail circuit … at least, as far as Snow knows … and, she doesn’t know if Tom knows about her, or not … which he does … so, she doesn’t want to come out and say that she was under the tutelage of ‘Amazon Amanda’. That might surely blow her cover, and, put her in risk of possibly being located by Alpha Michael. So, she tries to avoid answering the question by using the best method she knows how to employ … diversionary jocular banter and sass.

“I don’t know about all that. … I mean sure; I managed to put up a relatively good fight with those four … but then, you four guys showed up and handed me my ass on a platter.”

Roger jumps in, “That’s because we’re bad ass, kick ass kinda guys! … Uh … no offense, Snow.”

Snow chuckles, “None taken. … I totally have to agree with you, Roger.”

Now; Roger gets the reprimanding look from Tom. Unfortunately for him … Roger’s a little slow on the uptake at times … and, he asks his boss …

“What … did I say something wrong? I apologized to Snow; and, she said she was cool with it.”

Tom just rolls his eyes and shakes his head. After all, what could he do; Roger is his nephew.

Before Tom gets a chance to pick up his ‘interrogation’ regarding her fighting skills; Snow turns to Dr. Pravda. “Excuse me … Dr. Pravda … would it be okay if I go and see Rose, now?”

“Of course. This way; follow me.”

Dr. Pravda leads Snow away; and, Roger, Peter and Paul leave to go back to headquarters … a brownstone building housing ‘Tom’s Security’. This allows Daniel and Tom a chance to talk. Daniel’s getting the impression that Tom’s still a bit suspicious of Snow. Daniel, on the other hand, is … not so much suspicious … more like, curious about her background.

Daniel asks, “So … what’s wrong?”

Tom replies, “ ‘What’s wrong?’ Let’s see … where should I begin …”

Just like he did to Snow during her introduction to Dr. Pravda; he beats Tom to the punch “… She’s a rogue?”

“She’s a rogue.”

“True … but; she did save Rose. … My little sister; and, your goddaughter.”

“That’s right … she did. … And; for that … I’m going to owe her for the rest of my life. … But; it doesn’t me that I have to trust her.”

“Then … it’s that you don’t trust her?”

“No. Do you?”

“I don’t know … maybe.”

“Seriously … you trust a rogue?”

“That’s the thing … I’m not really sure yet if she is a rogue, or not.”

Tom is taken aback by his last comment. “Hold on; what do you mean you’re not sure if she’s a rogue?”

“I’m saying …”

He suddenly stops in mid-sentence; and, raises his hand in a ‘just a moment’ gesture to Tom. He’s receiving a long-distance, mind-link transmission. These are a rarity; and, can only be done by powerful wolves. Daniel, however, isn’t strong enough himself to call out or respond back; but, he can still receive the message. When the message ends; and, the mind-link’s broken …

“That was Jake. He’ll be back tomorrow.”

“But; I thought he wasn’t supposed to be back until sometime early next week.”

“Yeah; he wasn’t. But; somehow he found out about what happened to Rose today … so, he’s heading back early.”

“Well that’s a good thing then; right? I mean; with all this recent rogue activity going in … it’s probably best for a pack to have its Alpha around. … Speaking of rogues … you were saying that you don’t know if Ms. Snow here is a rogue? Why again was that?”

“There’s just some things about her that makes me wonder … about her actual background … that’s all. … Well; it doesn’t matter. Jake will be back here tomorrow; and, he can deal with her. I need to focus on Rose for now.”

“Speaking of Rose … do you think it’s a good idea to let her be alone with that Snow, girl?”

“Of course.” He glances over and sees Tom given him a dubious look. Daniel drapes his arm over Tom’s shoulder, and points out, “Come on, relax. If Snow had any intention of hurting Rose; she would have done it when those guys nearly beaten her to death.”

On this point; Tom readily concedes. But … he still doesn’t trust her, yet.

While heading up to Rose’s room; Snow asks, “So; how’s she doing? I mean … is she really okay; being how you had her transferred to a hospital, I hope …”

Dr. Pravda puts her mind at ease. “Relax; she’s fine. I only had her moved because the rooms here are a lot more comfortable than what I have at the clinic.”

“That’s good. … But, she’s still not well enough to go home, yet?”

“I just wanted her to have at least one night of rest. If she went home … well, you saw it for yourself; those four would be hanging around her the whole night. At least here, when visiting hours are over; out they go.”

Snow laughs, “Got it. ... So, I guess they really do care about her.”

“We all do. Which is why … like I said before … I’m really thankful that you were there today to save her.” Dr. Pravda delivers a sincerely appreciative smile to Snow.

“So am I. … And; she’s really okay?”

Dr. Pravda chuckles, “Who; Rose … oh yeah. She’s a resilient one. … As a matter of fact; Rose has an uncanny healing ability.”

Snow seems a bit baffled. “Uncanny healing ability? What do you mean?”

Dr. Pravda takes a quick scan of the area to make sure no one … and by that; humans … are in earshot; then explains, “I’m sure being a wolf yourself; you know we can heal at an accelerated rate; right?” Snow nods; and, the doctor continues, “But, Rose, for some inexplicable reason that we’ve yet to figure out, heals at an even faster rate.”

Snow’s curious. “How fast?”

Dr. Pravda grins, “Oh … you’ll see.”

They arrive at outside her room; but, before Dr. Pravda takes her in …

“Listen, Snow; before we go in, can I ask a favor of you?”

Suddenly, the image of Daniel teasing her back in the interrogation room, when she was discovered in that embarrassing situation, flashes in her mind; and, a smile quickly appears on her face as she laughs.

“Sure; no problem … as long as it doesn’t involve me having to wipe up any drool.”

Dr. Pravda appears a bit perplexed. “Um … no. … No drool.”

“Good. … So; what is it?”

“I’m assuming that being he still has his composure about him; you haven’t told Daniel that Rose was raped … right?”

“Yeah …?”

“That’s what I figured. … Listen; I’m sure Rose is going to bring it up herself with you, but, as a heads up … Rose doesn’t want her brother to know about it. Actually; she doesn’t want anyone to know about it. … You, of course know; because you were there … and, as her doctor who examined her; I obviously know about it. … But, other than the two us … nobody else. I hope you understand.”

“Of course. Understood.”

“Great. … Well, let’s go on in; shall we?”

Snow tersely nods; and, they enter.

When she steps into her room, and looks at Rose, Snow is in awe; she can’t believe her eyes. It should have been a week … no sooner than four days at least … but, this; seven, eight hours? … How could it be? All of Rose’s wounds appeared to have healed already. There’s no bruising; no more welts; and, all the swelling in her face is gone. Impossible.

Dr. Pravda steps up behind her. “Amazing; isn’t it?” A stunned Snow nods. “I told you you’d see. … Although; she’ll probably still be a little tender and sore for the next day or two ... but; there you have it.” The doctor looks at Rose and grins, “I suppose it’s a good thing that she has this healing capability; since she always seems to be getting herself into these types scrapes. … Come to think of it; if they gave out frequent flyer miles for every doctor’s visit … this one could have probably travelled around the world two times by now.”

They all laugh.

“Alright, then; I’ll be leaving now. You two have a nice visit.” Dr. Pravda starts to exit; but, turns around one last time to address Rose, “And, you … young lady … no more fights …at least for a week. Think you can handle that?”

A devilish little grin stretches across her countenance. “I guess we’ll have to wait and see. But … no promises, Doc.”

Dr. Pravda lets out an exasperated huff while shaking head; then, leaves.

With her face no longer disfigured, nor discolored; Snow can now see the family resemblance between Rose and Daniel. They definitely share similar facial features with appealing, big, round, hazel eyes; a perfectly centered, long … but, not excessively long … nose; and, a gently, soft-shaped mouth. And; they both share the same reddish-brown colored hair. Of course, there are also differences. For, one thing, Daniel has a slightly darker, unblemished complexion; while, Rose has fair skin covered with plenty of freckles. But, the biggest difference is probably that Daniel has a slightly bigger than average, well-built physique; opposed to Rose’s diminutively petite stature. Truth be told, if they hadn’t already mentioned that Rose was fifteen-years-old to her already; Snow … like Ed had done … would have pegged her at being nine or ten years old … though; one being blessed with having early, small budding, pubescent breasts.

Snow walks up to the chair beside Rose’s hospital bed and sits. She smiles. “Hey, there you. You’re certainly looking a lot better than the last time I saw.”

“I’m glad you came to see me … um …?”

“Snow.”

“Snow? … Cool. That’s a neat name.”

“Really … you think so?”

“Yup.”

“Thanks. My sister gave me that name.” Suddenly she thinks oops … I shouldn’t have said that.

“You have a sister? What’s she like? Is she as tough and good of fighter as you?”

And, there it is. “Hey Rose; do me a favor … let’s just keep this between me and you. I’d rather nobody else know that I’ve got a sister. We good?”

Rose delivers a thumbs up to her. “We’re good.” Rose looks down towards her lap, and, hesitantly starts to bring up, “Um … since we’re talking about not letting people know …”

Snow, wanting to keep her from having to speak of it, cuts Rose off, and assures her, “… it’s okay; you don’t have to say it. I already know … Dr. Pravda filled me in. … You’re secret’s safe with me.”

Rose looks back up to Snow, and smiles. “Thanks; Snow.”

“You’re welcome.”

After a brief lull in the conversation…

“So … your sister … is she a good fighter, like you?”

“She’s way better.”

“Cool. That’s so awesome.”

“You seem to be really enthusiastic when it comes to fighting.”

“Heck yeah! … Especially when it’s a she-wolf who can really kick butt, like you. I want to be that good one day. Do you think I could?”

Snow doesn’t like to advocate violence; but, at the same time, she certainly doesn’t want to crush Rose’s dreams or discourage her aspirations … so …

“Sure. I don’t see why not. If you train and practice hard enough; anything could be possible.”

“Will you train me? Please!”

Again, Snow doesn’t want to discourage Rose in anyway; but, she’s no instructor … and, she really doesn’t like the idea of partaking in the provocation of violent behavior into the minds of youths … in particularly, female youths. Though, Snow might have given it some though and consideration if the reasoning behind the request was strictly for defending herself … Snow believes that everyone should be able to protect themselves against those wishing to do harm to them … but, Rose seems to want to learn to rush into getting into fights. Like she experiences some sort of rush or exhilaration when fighting. From what she’s heard about her, Rose already has a propensity for fight; and, Snow doesn’t want to be the one to fan the flames, so to speak.

“Rose; don’t you think it would be better if you had your brother teach you … or, even better; what about Tom or Roger or Peter or Paul; they’re members of the Defensive Security Detail … I’m sure any of them would be better at training you than me.” She thinks and, I’m sure that they would also be able to give her the discipline and needed restraint required with knowing how to fight at an advanced level.

“Aw … but, I’d rather you train me. You’re an awesome fighter.”

“I’m surprised you even saw me fighting. You looked really out of it.”

Rose admits, “I kinda was … but, I still did. But, it was kinda blurred.”

Snow quips, “Then; how are you so sure that I’m that great of a fighter?”

Rose quips back, “Uh … because I’m still alive; duh.”

They both smile at each other and laugh. Then, Rose concludes with total affirmation …

“Besides, with my size; you’re the only that can teach me …” she sheepishly explains, “… I saw your wolf-form; how small it was … I mean; even my wolf-form is bigger than yours … and, I’m a small fry. … But; you still kicked butt. … Heck; four butts! … You’re my inspiration, Snow.”

Hearing these words brings an instant warm feeling in heart and lump to her throat. She’s overwhelmingly flattered. Snow then wonders if this is how Amanda feels when she tells her how much she looks up to her. Snow also wonders if this is how it feels to have a little sister … a younger sister who admires you, and seeks out your guidance and help. It feels wonderful. … But; she still doesn’t want to be the one to equip Rose with fighting skills that will only entice her to want to jump into fights and get hurt.

“I’m sorry; Rose … I understand what you’re saying … but, I still think it would be better if one of the guys trained you. Trust me; they probably have a wider range of techniques that they’d be able to show you. But, I appreciate the props.” She smiles at Rose; then adds, “And; I’d also appreciate it if you’ll also keep the size of my wolf just between us, as well.”

“Afraid you’ll be teased about. Got it. Been there. … My brother calls me the runt of the litter.”

Snow can’t help but to laugh, and apologizes, “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to … that’s terrible.”

“What can you do; it is what it is. I’m a pipsqueak; plain and simple. … Tell you what; I’ll promise to keep your wolf size a secret … if you do something for me.”

Snow squints her eyes at Rose, and, with a playful inflection in her tone. “Hmmm … are you trying to blackmail me?”

Rose exhibits her devilish, little smile, “Mmmm … possibly; maybe.”

“I see. … Okay; spill it you ‘little extortionist’ … what do you want?”

“Can you please stay here with me tonight? I really don’t want to be here alone.”

Snow smiles. “Of course.”

Rose’s smile expands; and, she extends out her hand to shake. “Then; we got a deal.”

Snow shakes Rose’s hand. “Deal.”

Once again; Amanda comes to mind in Snow’s thoughts.