Jumping forward a bit, to say midnight at the hospital (after Martin, Melissa, and Dr. Tachibana have gone home). There's blood mentioned in this chapter, so that's why I gave it the "violence" tag. - bj88
Julie was trapped in her own mind. Heavily sedated and in an unconscious state, her thoughts (or maybe dreams?) were focused on Eric. HER Eric. Not that body double who had been oogling her early.
She moaned his name in her sleep, calling the attention of the nurse who was stationed in her room. As Julie continued to toss and turn, the nurse injected her IV with another dose of the sedative to ensure a more peaceful night sleep.
But Julie’s mind kept running. Even unconscious she was trying to come up with explanations for what she’d seen. Or for why she was being help prisoner in this damn hospital. Was there some sort of accident? And where was her Eric?
She never did get an answer from anyone regarding his well being. Were they not telling her because, as she feared, he was dead? What could have happened? Did that rogue come back to finish the job? But why would she? Yvette was after Eric’s father, not Eric. Or maybe it had been that other Eric. Yes, he must be behind all this.
Images of Eric, both Erics, ran through Julie’s mind. The one who had made her the happiest fourteen year old in the world, and the stranger who smelled like wet fur. Eric would NEVER do something stupid like become another kind of were. He loved Julie, and was already her merman. That imposter wasn’t Eric, he was a werewolf. And he didn’t just smell like wet fur, he smelled of another girl.
In its drug addled state, Julie’s mind began to rationalize. Eric would never sleep with someone else. He loved her, and Julie loved him. It was just like her parents love, or her grandparents or… Then who was that stranger? Why did he look like Eric? Why? WHY?!
The nurse was suddenly alarmed when the patient’s vitals began to spike. Her heart rate fluctuated dramatically. Whatever was happening inside her, was making her blood pressure rise, and her breathing to become sporadic. The nurse called for help. And in that brief second she turned away Julie woke up, having powered through the sedative.
“ERIC!” she screamed as soon as she was up. Julie tore the IV from her arm, determined to find Eric and make sure he was safe. The nurses couldn’t do a thing to stop her. Julie was possessed. She stormed out of the room, blood dripping from the hole in her arm.
Julie kept screaming Eric’s name, trying to follow his scent. But the scent she was trying to follow didn’t exist. Eric Anderson was no wermerman. And there weren’t any at the hospital.
“He must not be here. Why not? Oh god, he’s not in the morgue is he? Oh god,” Julie’s mind went into another panic. She ignored the nurses chasing after her, and the security weredog who was standing in her way. Julie jumped forward, her gown allowing her to slide through the Doberman’s legs.
Julie wastes no time to get up and run down the stairwell. No clue where she’s headed, and almost positive there will be more guards waiting for her, Julie pauses after she’s gone down at least three floors.
“What am I doing? This is lunacy,” she thought, “My parents will tell me what’s going on. They couldn’t say anything in front of all those doctors. They wouldn’t understand the bond Eric and I have. I’ll go to them.”
But how would she get home? Male voices grew closer, so Julie hid. She was small enough that she could squeeze herself underneath the stairs. But the trail of blood she left was a dead give away for her location. The guards entered stairwell, and made the fatal mistake of leaving the door open. As soon as she had a clear path, Julie made a run for it.
And she thought she was going to make it. But at the last second, someone grabbed the collar of her hospital gown and yanked. It choked her, and all the wind was violently taken from Julie’s lungs. She collapsed on the floor, hearing a guard call for one of the nurses.
“Why won’t they let me be with Eric? He has to be somewhere close. He just has to be.” Julie thought as tears ran down her face. That’s all she wanted. To spend the rest of forever with Eric Anderson. Was that too much to ask of the universe?