Free Web NovelChapter 132: Separate Duties
"A few days?!" Damon was so upset at this realization, he nearly tore out his own hair in frustration. Worry rushed through me as well. A few days was a little too long for my liking.
"We don’t have a few days! We need it now!"
"Well, what do you want me to do about it?" the doctor demanded, throwing his hands up into the air in exasperation. "Unless you want to deliver the parts and fix the damn machines yourself, what else can you do?" freewēbnoveℓ.com
Damon growled, preparing to start another argument with the doctor, but I pulled him back as a metaphorical light bulb glowed over my head. Doctor Thomas’s words had given me an idea.
"Damon, wait, I have an idea. We can’t fix the machine, but we can help with the delivery."
With our enhanced speed and Damon’s ridiculous driving, surely we would be faster than a regular human. Even if we could only shorten the delay by one day, it was still worth a shot.
Damon’s eyes flashed with renewed hope and he gripped my hand tightly, before turning back to the doctor. Unknown to both of us, Doctor Thomas caught that display of affection with narrowed eyes.
"Doc, so where is the delivery coming from?"
***
"I’ll be going now," Damon said the very next morning. "Don’t cause any trouble here."
I rolled my eyes. "I should be the one telling you that. Don’t go off scaring the poor human delivery men, got it? We need the parts intact."
Needless to say, if Damon frightened them enough, they might drop their packages and we would have to start over. Damon scoffed at my worries and entered the car.
"I’ll play nice if they do. Contact me if anything happens," Damon said, and I nodded, waving goodbye as his car pulled away from the little parking lot. Next to me, Doctor Thomas narrowed his eyes.
"This boy... still lacking manners after all these years," Doctor Thomas grumbled quietly under his breath, without any real irritation.
"Miss Harper, do you have any plans for today?"
I paused, contemplating my answer.
Last night, Damon and I found out that the delivery was meant to take place from a bigger city that was a four-day’s drive away from Everhaven. That same city usually delivered the necessary goods to Everhaven that Fangborne couldn’t provide.
According to Doctor Thomas, most of the younger townspeople have already moved to that city to seek employment, only coming back occasionally to see family. The rest that decided to remain simply couldn’t be bothered to move, or couldn’t afford to uproot their lives to start afresh.
Well. That explained a lot about how deserted this town was.
Then, Damon and I had a brief argument about what our next steps should be. He wanted nothing more than to send me back to Fangborne before tearing off through the night to snatch the delivery for himself, while I told him his idea was ridiculous because he was liable to crash the car in exhaustion without a second driver. Then he argued that since I couldn’t drive anyway, the point was moot.
In the end, we compromised. Damon would drive himself to get the delivery, while I stayed in Everhaven with Doctor Thomas for the time being until he returned. There was no point in wasting time bringing me back to Blaise when I couldn’t do anything for him.
At least in Everhaven, not only could I begin my investigations, I could also take a look at the damage and talk to the people responsible for repairing it to better update Damon.
"Doctor Thomas," I asked hesitantly, "Could I meet with the repairmen responsible for fixing the machine? I want to hear from him regarding the extent of the damage."
As I said this, my mother’s necklace was slowly burning a hole in my skin. Yet, I knew there was more than enough time for me to investigate my mother’s belongings since Damon would be gone for at least two days.
Blaise was more important. Callous as it was to think, my mother was already dead, her body decomposing in the soil. A delay wouldn’t — couldn’t — kill her.
"Be my guest," Doctor Thomas said agreeably, "I’ll take you to them. It shouldn’t take more than two hours, and you can spend your time sightseeing in this tiny town."
"That’s fine with me," I said, and we slowly made our way back to the hospital. This time, in the light of the morning, I could finally take note of where I was going. Overgrown weeds were lining the sides, threatening to swallow the concrete paths whole. Whole patches of grass were missing, and I guessed too many people stomped on them or peed right in the open, causing them to die.
Yep. This was a depressing place. Normally, I wouldn’t be here for longer than necessary, but circumstances were unusual.
My phone beeped, alerting me to a new message. I raised my eyebrow; surely Damon couldn’t be driving while texting, could he? Even if he was a werewolf, that was still awfully dangerous.
Thankfully, the message wasn’t from him.
Unknown: Hi! This is Nicole. ^.^
Unknown: Damon gave me your number last night, just in case I needed to update you about Blaise’s condition!
Unknown: He woke up for an hour at night and ate some food, which is a good sign.
Unknown: We’re still monitoring him. Come back soon!
Unknown: Hope to hear good news!
My lips curled up when I read her message. Blaise was doing better, and when Damon came back with the missing parts, we’d get the machine fixed and Nicole would treat Blaise, and all would be well.
Blaise just had to hang on until then.
"Why are you smiling at your phone? Did Blaise send a message?" Doctor Thomas asked hopefully.
"No, he didn’t, but our doctor says he’s doing better," I said.
Now that we were speaking of Blaise, I had questions that needed to be answered.
"Doctor Thomas, how did you know Blaise?"
