The Abused Werewolf Rescue Group Read Online Free Page A

like that. She packed up and left when the lights went out, promising to come back first thing in the morning. But by that time, of course, it was too late to call Fergus. All day I’d been waiting and waiting for Mum to leave, so I could pick up the bedside phone and dial his mobile number. I’d been asking her if she wanted to go out and buy some food, or move the car, or check her email. Not once, however, had she disappeared for more than three minutes at a stretch – not even when she went to the toilet. The bathroom wasn’t very far away, you see; I was sharing it with the Pneumonia Kid, and from where I was lying, you could hear people flush even when they’d closed the bathroom door.
    So there was no way I could have used my phone without alerting Mum. That’s why I had to put off calling Fergus until bedtime, when I discovered that I couldn’t get through. I’m not sure why. Maybe you had to pay for outside calls. Maybe Fergus was out of range. Whatever the reason, I’d left it too long.
    Fergus was unreachable.
    After that, I was kept awake for most of the night by all the squeaking and coughing. I knew that there was no point calling Fergus too early, because he always sleeps late during the holidays – and because he turns off his phone when he goes to bed. So I didn’t even try to make contact before breakfast. But by nine o’clock I was starting to panic; I had a nasty suspicion that Mum might be along any second, lugging the clothes and shoes and toiletry bag she’d promised to bring. She’d already told me that she was taking another day off work. I figured she was bound to show up as soon as she could, and I was worried that she might interrupt me while I was giving Fergus an earful.
    That’s why I decided not to use my bedside phone. That’s why I wandered around the ward – holding my stupid hospital gown together at the back – until I found an empty office with a telephone in it. I should tell you, by the way, that I was feeling fine. Wandering around the ward didn’t trouble me in the least. Though still a bit sore, I wasn’t dizzy or limping. And I began to think that there was nothing much wrong with me.
    I’d felt ten times worse after my nicotine overdose, which I’d managed to survive without a trip to the hospital.
    Needless to say, I shut the office door before dialling Fergus’s number. My call went straight through. Fergus answered on the second ring, sounding cautious; he wouldn’t have recognised my caller id, I suppose.
    ‘ Yeah? ’ he said.
    ‘You bastard.’
    ‘ Toby? ’
    ‘This had better be good.’ I was already in a rage. ‘What the hell happened?’
    ‘ Huh? ’
    ‘I don’t remember what happened, Fergus.’
    ‘ What happened when? ’
    ‘Don’t gimme that.’
    There was a long and loaded pause. Then Fergus said, ‘ Are you stoned or what? ’
    ‘Get stuffed!’
    ‘ You’re not making any sense, okay? Just tell me what the problem is .’
    ‘Oh, right. Like you don’t know.’
    ‘ I don’t know .’
    ‘Bull.’
    ‘ I do not! ’
    I took a deep breath. ‘This isn’t funny, okay? Whatever you gave me, it messed with my head. I can’t remember a thing. So you’d better tell me exactly what happened, or I’ll bloody kill you.’ When Fergus didn’t respond, I added shrilly, ‘You dumped me in it, you dickhead! I’ve had the cops on my back and everything! The hospital wants to do all these tests, thanks to you!’
    ‘ What? ’
    ‘Just tell me how I got into that dingo pen! If you tell me what we did, I won’t mention your name. I’ll say I don’t remember.’
    There was a sudden gasp at the other end of the line.
    ‘ Don’t tell me it was you in that dingo pen? ’ he squeaked. ‘ Man, you were all over the news! ’
    If this was supposed to impress or distract me, it didn’t work. All it did was make me even madder.
    ‘Oh yeah?’ I growled. ‘Well, guess what? You’ll be all over the news, if you don’t ’fess