Tess woke up to a bright light and a quiet beeping noise in her ear. “Tom?” she asked, as she sat up, her muscles aching at her every movement, looking around the room. She was in a single person bed, surrounded by pale checkered curtains. She looked around when she didn’t hear Tom answer her. Where was she?

“Oh, good, you’re awake,” a woman said, as she opened the curtain to Tess’ bed. “We were worried when we found you and your wolf friend in the flower fields passed out. We thought the poppies had gotten to you.”

“Poppies?” Tess watched the woman walk around the bed, looking at a clipboard. She shook her head, trying to clear it. Why were poppies bad again? Sleep, her mind answered her. That’s right, poppies made you sleep if you weren’t careful around them. “Where’s Tom?” she asked, trying to figure out why he wasn’t near her.

“Your friend is across the hallway. The gardeners brought you in when they found the two of you. They thought you were dead, since you weren’t moving. What were you doing in the gardens when they’re closed for maintenance?” The woman asked, walking over to Tess’ bedside checking a fluid bag that was near her.

Tess looked at her arm to see an IV inserted. “What are you giving me?”

“Just fluids, dear,” the woman answered, an enormous smile plastered on her face. Tess shivered, feeling discontented. Why did this person make her feel scared for herself?

“Tess?” Tom’s voice rang out in the hallway, along with the sound of items clattering to the ground.

The nurse turned towards the door and sighed. Tom rushed into the room, doctors and nurses following close behind.

“Sir, we need to ask you to calm down,” a nurse tried to get Tom’s attention as he rushed to Tess’ side.

“Are you okay?” Tom asked, putting a gentle hand on Tess’ cheek. The medical staff continued attempting to pull him back into his room.

“I’m fine,” Tess gave him a smile. “Guess we were both more exhausted than we had thought. Let the doctors finish and we can explore the town soon.”

Tom’s gaze lingered on Tess before nodding his head and turning to go back to his room. The nurses and doctors watched him wearily, unsure of who was going to finish his checkup.

“Quite the looker,” Tess’ nurse watched as Tom left the room. “Keep him close, or someone might snatch him away.”

Tess looked at the nurse, confused. The nurse didn’t seem to notice, and left the room, leaving her alone with her thoughts. Tess wasn’t sure how long she was by herself. She hadn’t heard from Tom in a bit and was getting worried. If nothing was wrong, it was unclear to her why the doctors were holding them. Did the nymphs hurt them more than she realized? She thought back to the event and shook her head. The nymphs had barely touched them, so that couldn’t be the reason.

“Destru! Get back here!” a shout went up. Tess sat up in her bed, intrigued by the hallway, where there was now a disturbance.

“You’ll have to catch me!” a male voice called, coming closer to her room.

“Destru, you can’t take those bottles! You don’t know what they do!” a female voice shouted again. The sound of pounding feet came closer as the yelling continued.

Tess heard stomping as whoever was getting yelled at came closer. A few seconds later, a tall man in a flowy blue coat rushed into her room and hid behind the door. He held a finger to his mouth as he winked at her with the clearest blue eyes she had ever seen. “Destru!” a nurse ran by in search of the man that had taken residence in Tess’ room.

Destru gave a friendly smile to Tess, who returned it uncertainly. “Didn’t mean to disturb,” Destru gave a dramatic bow to Tess. He pulled a large tricorn hat off his head, revealing a set of straw-colored wolf's ears. Blonde hair spilled down over his shoulders as his head nearly touched the ground. He straightened once again and gave a crooked smile, flashing a few golden teeth. “Happy healing lass!” Destru bounded out of the room and back down the hallway.

Tess blinked a couple of times, trying to process what had happened. The nurse ran back down the hallway, noticing Destru was now heading for the exit. She shouted after the man, trying to get security to stop him before he left the building.

Tess looked up as Tom entered her room, flexing his arms as he attempted to loosen his muscles. “You ready to go?” he asked, as a nurse came in and disconnected the IV from her arm.

“Who was that strange man?” Tess asked, wondering if she had been the only one to see him.

“Destru,” the nurse rolled her eyes. “A local nuisance, he thinks he can get away with whatever he wants in town, because he calls himself a pirate. He likes to come in and take medical supplies for his adventures, but I swear he never knows what he’s grabbing.”

“Most likely someone we’ll be staying far away from,” Tom answered. “Is there a hotel we can stay at here in town?”

“Yes, go down the street a few blocks and there will be one near the wharf,” the nurse replied, before showing them their way out of the hospital.