Secrets Of Sanctuary Hospital Nightmare Of The Dark Shadows (26 page)

A cold hand upon mine pulls me from
introspection and I open my eyes.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m doing much better now that the children
are safe and we are out of there. Did Andrew send you in?”

“He thought you might like some company. He
is going to be a little while. Although he could start the healing
process with our party easily, Elizabeth is watching her men
closely and Andrew doesn’t want to reveal anything to them so Eva
is helping him make it appear as if everything is happening with
the hospital instruments.”

Taking Damian’s hands, “Thank you for risking
yourself to get messages to the kids.”

“Mia, please, what I did was nothing. You are
the brave one. Besides, you know how much we love them.”

“I do know, but what I don’t know is how you
and Andrew traded places?”

“That was actually Andrew’s idea. Once you
left and he learned you couldn’t see, he became desperate to get to
you. He was going to go in as a small animal, but knowing how weak
transformations make us and how they had already seen Jacob go from
a mouse to human, we figured that wouldn’t give him enough of a
surprise factor, especially since he was already weak from
transforming to get Jacob away from the estate. He called Reginald
and asked if there was a way for Emma to make him appear as Jacob.
As Reginald was explaining how that could backfire, Reginald asked
Andrew if we had ever transformed into anything but animals. In
truth, we had never transformed into animals much because of the
side effects. It was always a last resort. It’s my understanding
that Jackson experimented so as not to impair Andrew further and as
soon as he accomplished it, Andrew was off and Reginald shook me
until I came back.”

I gasp. “I didn’t know that was possible.” I
say more to myself.

“We were surprised too. It was probably good
that we didn’t know because when we were fighting, we could have
killed each other.” His head shakes as if dismissing a disturbing
image. Rising, he closes off the drained IV before taking my blood
pressure, pulse and listening to my heart. “How do you feel
physically?”

“A little tired, but otherwise alright.”

Removing the IV, he holds his hand out to me.
“You should try to eat something. Let me take you to the
cafeteria.”

As we walk down the hall, the outside doors
open and I fall to my knees to catch a running Jacob. Hugging him
tightly, another set of arms wraps around us both.

Feeling his tears, I loosen my grip to wipe
them away and kiss his cheek. “It’s alright. You’re safe and we’ll
be going home soon.”

“I know, it’s just I’m so happy to see you. I
was so afraid when you made me leave that I’d never see you
again.”

“I know sweetie, but you listened to me, dad
got you right away, just like I said, and you were safe.”

“I know, but I couldn’t help being afraid.
I’m sorry.”

“Jacob you have nothing to be sorry
about.”

He interrupts. “But if I was stronger, they
wouldn’t have taken us.”

I always knew Jacob’s personality was similar
to Andrew’s, but at this moment, I know he is his father, taking
everything onto himself regarding everyone around him. “Jacob, you
are strong and it’s not up to you to protect everyone. That is our
job. Jacob, I am the one who wanted you to grow up as normal as
possible and wouldn’t let you fully explore your powers.”

Andrew interrupts us both. “Both of you stop
right now.” He states authoritatively and puts his hands on Jacob’s
shoulders. “Jacob, we know how strong you were for your siblings
and how you kept a level head through it all. Despite being scared,
you proved to be wise beyond your years and your heart is filled
with compassion, but you need to remember, you are still a child. I
know your mother blames herself for not allowing you to learn how
to use your powers fully and you feel weak because you couldn’t
utilize them to their fullest potential, but both of you need to
understand that the reason you are so strong in character is
because of the choices we made for you and the realization that
real life takes hard work, compromise, and love. You will get
stronger as you get older, but with that strength comes awesome
responsibility and temptations, that is why we wanted as much of
your developmental childhood to be normal and for you to learn how
to be patient and work for what you want. You saw how evil that
family was. They gave in to temptations and saw how they could use
their strength against those who are weaker to get what they wanted
without having to really work for it and despite the cost to
others, but you, always think of others, trying to make them feel
better. You are a remarkable young man. I know that what you saw
and experienced makes you feel weak and that you were afraid, but
you are stronger than all of those who held you. In time, you will
learn more about your strengths and I know that you will use them
to help others like we do and to protect those who are weaker than
yourself, but never lose yourself or isolate yourself because you
are taking on the guilt for everything that happens around you.
There will be times, when the circumstances cause the outcome to
become something other than what you desire, but never forget there
are others who are around you to help you and to hold on to the
good that this life has to offer you.” He shakes his head slightly.
“I forgot that until your mother came in to my life.” Rising, he
holds my hand and hugs Jacob.

“I love you dad.” He hugs him tightly. “But
you really have to show me how to turn into an eagle, flying in
your mouth was really awesome and I would love to try and fly
myself.”

Andrew laughs. “I promise when we get home,
I’ll teach you.” He kisses his cheek. “I have to go and check on
some of the ones who were hurt.”

Staring into my now focused eyes, he smiles.
“Mom, that was awesome too. Can I learn how to use my healing power
when we get home too?”

“Absolutely, you healed my sight very
well.”

Jacob’s face lights up like a Christmas tree.
“I healed you?”

“Yes you did young man, but I’m sure if you
want to learn more about what to do, dad will show you.”

“Mom, I know this may make you mad, but if we
promise not to use our powers except when you say that it is
alright, I wish you would consider letting us learn how to use all
of them. I know we can’t use them all the time, but knowing that
there are bad people out there like this, if something were to ever
happen, we are old enough now to understand the difference about
protecting ourselves and seeking revenge. I know why you didn’t let
us learn earlier, because we couldn’t understand that before, but
maybe now you could consider it.”

His voice and features hold such hope. “I was
thinking the same thing. Jacob, it isn’t that I didn’t want you to
learn, I just always knew you were safe at Sanctuary with us. I
wanted you to grow up without all of the pressure that this type of
strength and power comes with, but now, I do understand why you
would want to know more about your abilities and from what I heard
you definitely have developed a maturity level that I feel more
comfortable having you experiment.”

“Thanks mom and I promise we won’t use it
around the others and never without your permission or in anger. I
don’t ever want to become like the people who had us.”

“I know you don’t. Are you hungry?

A huge smile lights up his face. “That
depends, have I earned a little ice cream?”

“You have earned whatever you would like to
eat and that we can rustle up from the cafeteria.”

Entering, we are not the only ones with the
idea. It is filled with Elizabeth’s men, Grant and his family and
Reginald’s people. Jacob stands in line. Taking an apple, he smiles
widely and I can’t stop laughing. Taking two more steps, he takes
an ice cream sundae from the freezer. Taking a granola bar, I
follow him and he sits with Grant’s family.

“How is Amelia?”

“She is stable now. The nurse told me that
Andrew saved her life.”

“I’m glad that she’s doing well.”

“Tell Andrew thank you. I’m sure it must have
been hard for him considering what she did.”

“Grant, I told you, I understood perfectly
that she was just trying to protect her family, the way I wanted to
protect mine. How is the rest of your pack?”

“Most escaped without serious injury, but...”
He stops, his eyes shifting to his children.

Rising, I whisper in Jacob’s ear. “I’m just
going to talk to Grant for a moment, right over there, but I can
still see you alright.”

He nods and Grant and I move over to the
corner of the room.

“Did something happen to your pack?”

“They are fine, but have asked us not to
return.”

“I don’t understand.”

“Mia, I broke direct orders, by calling
Elizabeth and her pack to initiate an attack while the elders were
assessing the situation. They discovered that I took weapons and
blame me for putting others at risk because once the attack
started, they felt forced to go in to ensure that they protected
the lands.”

“Don’t they realize with David gone, their
lands are safer now?”

“They do know that, but they feel that
because of what I did, I am not reliable, that I could be a danger
to them because of my erratic decisions and refusal to follow
direct orders.”

I put my hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry
that you got in trouble because of me.”

“Mia, you didn’t get me in trouble. This was
a long time in coming. I had already broken the rules when we
didn’t try to escape immediately when they began the hunt.
Truthfully we let their reign of terror go on too long. They
abandoned me when they refused to act immediately to help me save
my children knowing what my family suffered already.” He shakes his
head and closes his eyes. Opening them, they are raw and full of
regret. “I can understand now why my son felt the way he did and
had to leave. Maybe he was right. I need to think about a new start
for my family. Maybe my next road will even lead me to seeing my
son.” His tone is wistful. “From there, we’ll decide what to
do.”

Andrew is now beside me, brushing my hand
softly, sending tingles throughout my entire being. “You are always
welcome to come to Sanctuary and stay for as long as you would
like.” My eyes shoot up to him and he is focused on Grant.

Grant’s eyes shift to him, but he appears
stunned. “I can’t impose upon you like that.”

“It is no imposition at all. After what you
did for Mia, you are always welcome there.”

“But I’m not a physician. Isn’t it a
hospital?”

“We also have a school there for children
with special gifts and have established a community for their
families.”

“I’m not a licensed teacher either. I have
only helped our children.”

“You do have knowledge of werewolves and we
are uncertain what will happen to Nicholas and Kayla the first full
moon. Besides, even if they do not turn, you would still be
welcome.”

As his words drive home this new issue, fear
for what they could experience causes my pulse to race. “Do you
think that will happen?”

Placing his arms around me, his voice
softens. “Mia, we tried to get out the wolf venom and I think we
did, but I just can’t be sure. We’ll know better once we’re
home.”

“What will happen if they do turn? Do we have
anyone there that knows about werewolves?”

“We have come across werewolves before, but
...” Stopping, he takes both my hands in his. “Don’t worry. I’m
sure that whatever happens, Nicholas and Kayla will be fine. Grant
can give us some answers if he would like to come or if he decides
to go a different path, I’m sure that someone in our group knows
where we can find someone to help them. Mia, it will be alright, I
promise you.” He hugs me tightly, probably hearing my increased
heart rate.

“He’s right. If your children are as strong
as you, they will be fine. Trust me, I know it seems bad, but you
should just look at it as another source of power. I’m sure that
someone in the group here knows how to get in touch with Amanda.
She told me powerful witches keep in contact and your group seems
pretty powerful, she can come and ensure that your children are not
governed by the full moon. Besides, like your husband said, it may
not even happen.”

I smile weakly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to
offend you. It’s not that I see your power as a bad thing, it’s
just...”

He interrupts me. “I understand, you have had
a lot to deal with and are thinking about all the issues your
children will face. I grew up always knowing this life, but my
mother always spoke of how terrifying it was for her, not knowing
what was happening and how to control it.” He turns to Andrew.
“Thank you for the offer to come to Sanctuary for a while.”

Paul joins our group. “Dad, I’m going to
check on Amelia and see if she is up.” He turns to Andrew and me.
“Thank you for everything you did to help rescue us. If I don’t see
you before you return home, have a safe trip, Jacob was telling me
about it, I can see why he is anxious to go back there. It seems
you have quite a lot of interesting activity.” He laughs.

He pats Grant on the shoulder. “Dad, you may
want to talk to Julianne, Elaina, Josh, and Christian. The say they
won’t go home and are thinking about joining Jeff.”

“Paul before you go see your aunt, I think we
should all talk.” He turns to us. “Excuse us.”

We sit by Jacob. “Mom, do you know that they
can transform too.”

Andrew answers. “Their transformation is not
like yours Jacob, they can only turn into wolves and their power to
do this does not come from the same source as yours.”

“I know it’s just cool.”

“You’re right it is.”

“Are we going to be going home soon?”

“We’ll be leaving in a few hours. I have to
help out just a little bit more and we are awaiting a plane from
home to take us back.”