Page 82 of The Luminaries
“Yes.” This is from Mom. She hurries in through the doorway, Andrew behind her. She’s wearing her pj’s, and Winnie wonders how long she’s been here. Andrew looks fresher in scrubs. “You can visit her once the doctor approves.” Mom comes to Winnie’s other side. “Emma just woke up too, and she was asking for you.”
“Banshee claw,” Andrew says, and there’s something like admiration on his face. “Brilliant of you, Winnie. That saved her life.”
Darian grips Winnie’s arm, gentle and carefully avoiding several bandages. “Aunt Rachel says you passed the trial. You’re a hunter now.”
“No.” The word slices out, hard on Winnie’s tongue. She closes her eyes. “I don’t deserve to be. Ican’t.The Whisperer—”
She doesn’t get to speak. Doesn’t get to confess before a doctor strides into the room. Winnie doesn’t know the woman, though she recognizes the name Dara Monday as one of Andrew’s second cousins. Her appearance renders all of Winnie’s protests or confessions moot. Mom, Darian, and Andrew instantly turn to her, an anxiety in each of their spines as if they’re waiting for something—some news of some test that Winnie didn’t know about.
And then it comes, straight from Dr. Dara’s mouth: “Winnie won’t turn.” She smiles at Winnie while Darian, Mom, and Andrew all collectively whoop. “The old rule still seems to apply. There is no nightmare corruption in your DNA, so you will not become a werewolf.”
I got bitten?Winnie thinks at the same time she looks again at the arm Darian had so gingerly touched.
“That said…” Dr. Dara gives Mom a pointed look, then Winnie. “Keep up with your tetanus vaccines, okay? Because you’re lucky you didn’t getthat.”
Mom flushes. Winnie just shakes her head.I got bitten?She doesn’t feel any pain.
“When can she go home?” Mom asks at the same time Andrew asks if Winnie wants any food (he’s going to the café on the first floor) and Darian says he wasn’treallyworried (lie, lie, lie), and Winnie feels like she is back in the waters of the Big Lake, being swept away on a current out of her control.
She can go home later today. There’s just a little paperwork. She canvisit Emma on her way out; the other girl is doing well, though her leg is in a cast and she will have some physical therapy ahead.
Then finally, “Congrats on passing all three trials, Winnie.” Dr. Dara smiles. “The rumor is you’re on track to be next Lead Hunter for the Wednesdays. I’m sure your family must be so proud.”
Winnie is released at three o’clock that same day. The outpatient paperwork describes her injuries (werewolf bite, basilisk venom on hands, hypothermia) and their treatments (a lot of fluids and blankets).Try to relax and allow your body to heal. In one week, slowly reintroduce movement.
Winnie doesn’t feel that fragile. In fact, now that the drugs have fled her system, she feels like nothing happened at all. Only the bandage on her right arm reminds her just how close she came to death.
That and her ever-present shame.
On top of it all, no one saw the Whisperer. Lizzy’s camera stopped working right after Winnie screamed into it. All anyone saw was the werewolf attacking Winnie.Thatfootage has apparently been all over the Hemlock Falls news.
It is a horrible dream Winnie can’t crack out of. Wolf is bad. Whisperer is not real. You are going to be a hunter. Your family must be proud. And deep down, a little tiny part of her keeps saying,What if they’re right? What if the Whispererisn’treal and you are losing your mind?
On her way out of the hospital, Winnie visits Emma. Somehow, even with her eyes half closed and a ton of tubes hooked up to her, Emma manages to smile and reveal both her dimples. “Thank you, Winnie. Thank you.”
Winnie wants to cry. She wants to confess. Instead, she just says, “I’m so glad you’re okay. I’m sogladyou’re okay.”
“Better than okay.” Emma gives a raspy giggle. “First banshee venom and now… a melusine blood treatment. I’m basically… half nightmare at this point.” She laughs again. Winnie’s shame just spins wider.
Once she’s home, Mom insists Winnie rest. And Winnie does, but only because she is afraid if she speaks to anyone, she might explode. The bear on the back of her door watches her, and she watches it right back with blurry, uncorrected eyes.
It’s nearing nine o’clock when a visitor arrives. Aunt Rachel knocks before poking her head in. “You awake?” she whispers to the dark.
“Yeah.” Winnie has let the night fall and her room descend into shadow.
Rachel steps in, pats the wall for the switch, and a split second later, light pierces out. Winnie squints as the room materializes into crude focus, Aunt Rachel in simple black athletic gear at the center of it.
“Hey, kid.” She walks hesitantly toward Winnie’s bed. “How you feeling?”
Winnie ignores the question, and for the first time in a few hours, she pushes into a seated position. The room spins. “I lied about the banshee.”
Rachel stops her forward crawl.
“I didn’t kill the banshee. I just found it outside the forest. I was walking to the Thursday estate to warn someone about the Whisperer when the twins and Fatima found me.”
Rachel sucks in a long breath, chest expanding. Her expression is immobile and inscrutable—or at least it is to Winnie without her glasses.
Winnie slides her legs out from the covers. Gooseflesh prickles down her pajama-clad body. “The twins assumed I’d killed the banshee, and I just let everyone believe it.” She drops her feet to the worn rug.
