Peter Pan and the Spiders From Mars

“I’m telling you!” I slammed my hands on the white cotton bed, “It was fucking there! I swear!”

“Hey! Watch your mouth, young lady!” Brent snapped at me from the side of my hospital bed. Debbie, on the other side, bit at her lip. The curtain surrounding my bed enclosed me, Brent, Debbie, and two policemen in the tiny rectangle. I had been asleep for hours, diagnosed with exhaustion and emotional stress. And I had crashed because of that fucking wolf.

It had come from the side of the road, creeping with such elegance that it was obviously alien in Middlesex. The fur shimmered like water underneath the morning sun and when it turned to look at me, its eyes a dull orange, I stopped all movement and let the dirt bike slip. I came to the hospital with a shredded leg, a huge strip of skin left behind on the pavement. Then I had slept for hours, recovering, until I woke up and wished I hadn’t.

“Kjell,” Debbie reached over and gently grasped me hand, “I think that you were a bit too tired and don’t know what you saw, it could ha-“

“No! I saw a fucking white wolf crossing the goddamn street! Why is that so difficult to understand?!”

“There are no wolves in Middlesex, Kjell. It’s simply not possible.” Debbie was hardening her voice, trying to get me to understand. One of the cops shifted to draw attention.

“Miss Miller, what were you doing the night before?” I shot daggers at him.

“Are you asking me if I was drinking or smoking the pot?” I joked seriously.

“Yes.” His face was anything but jolly.

“No. I was at home, they can vouch for me.” I nodded at Brent and Debbie.

“You could have snuck out.” Brent mumbled.

“But I didn’t.”

“You could be lying.”

“But I’m not.”

“Mrs. Miller, could I see you outside?” The cop rested a hand on Debbie’s shoulder and led her outside of my cubicle. I slammed my head into the headrest.

“I can’t believe I’m here.”

“Why did you leave this morning?” Brent mumbled. I smirked.

“My education is important to me, don’t you know that?” He tried to hold back a smile.

“But, really.”

“I just said my education is important to me.”

“Bullshit!” Brent slapped his hands on his legs, his face ferocious and red. I jerked in my bed, never before had Brent snapped that quickly. Moments of silence went by until I spoke.

“Why do you want to know?” Brent just shook his head, cursing internally.

“It’s just, my sister-“

“All right, Miss Miller,” the cop pushed his way into the room, my foster mother trailing after him. “I’m going to leave now, but thank you for your time.” My eyes switched from policeman to foster father. Policeman. Foster Father.

“That’s it?”

“Is there something you’d like to tell me, Miss Miller?”

“Ah,” I retreated back, “no, not really. No.”

“Then, I will see you later.”

“Hopefully not.” I muttered when he left the room.

“Okay, Kjell,” Debbie reached over again and pushed back hair in a motherly gesture. I hated it. “You have to stay in the hospital for a little longer, just for some check-ups and to make sure your leg will be okay.” She glanced at the form underneath the bed sheet and seemed to turn pale. “Then, you can come home.”

“Home.”

“Yes, home.” Debbie kissed me on the forehead and I tried with all my might to not cringe. For her sake. I nodded. Brent got up from the chair next to the bed and walked towards the exit. He gave me one look as Debbie reluctantly followed him. Brent seemed disappointed.

As did I.

When the doctors were gone, along with my foster parents, I whipped off the bed sheet and stared down at my leg. My left leg was wrapped completely in surgical bandages and I could feel my heartbeat where the gigantic scrape was hidden. The doctors told me that it would be painful to walk and that I’d have to keep the bandages on for another three weeks. That killed me. Not only that, but I was suspicious that the cop was bent on taking away my license. Well, fuck that.

Hours ticked by, and I drifted in and out. Some nurses loaned me some crappy romance novels that I am embarrassed to say that I enjoyed wholeheartedly. My butt fell asleep, the extent of my exercise and I bit down all of my nails to the nubs. If infections didn’t get to me, death by boredom would.

And then God heard my call.

Sometime around five, I heard a door slam near me. I ignored it initially, it being a hospital where lots of people come and go. But the footsteps got closer and closer to my room until they stopped. Through the open door was the form of a strong teenage boy, his hair strung out and his shoulders slumped.

It was Thomas. My heart cracked through my chest. Thomas. Thomas. Thomas. I couldn’t help but smile and if he saw me he would have thought I was demonic. Because after five seconds of seeing him, I saw that his body was shaking and one hand pinched at the space between his nose and forehead in disgust. He was crying and I was smiling.

“Thomas?” He didn’t hear me.

“Thomas?!” I raised my voice, hoping that he wouldn’t walk away.

“Thomas!” He jerked towards me, shocked. His skin sagged and his movements seemed forced.

“Kjell?”

It was then that I wasn’t sure whether I wanted to see him so vulnerable so soon.