OKAY FOLKS AND LOYAL MOON LAKE READERS. A VERY UNIQUE OPPORTUNITY IS BEFORE US, SO (especially if I can pull this off successfully) MAY I PRESENT "THE CROSSOVER: PART 1".
Doctor Frances Twist stood in the ICU Waiting Room, looking at her patient Jennifer Harper surrounded by all the Jenkins family except the oldest son Henry Junior and his new fiance Betty.
Frances didn't catch a last name for the lady she had yet to meet, but apparently the others knew her, as the Jenkins talked about how Huck (the nickname for Henry Junior) and Betty had known each other for years but were just now realizing there was something between them.
"I can't believe our boy up and proposed like that," Lisa Jenkins told her husband.
"Being shot makes a person stop and take stock of their life," began her husband, Henry Senior. "Considering they've been friends since high school, even for a were, he realizes he's wasted enough time and wants to be with her."
"Besides, even before I joined were society to be with Jenny," began Harry Jenkins, sitting next to his fiance, "Huck sometimes complained to me about how lonely he was and wished he could find that special someone, or even a Miss Maybe, to be with."
"Well, I can't picture anyone else but Betty to be his bride. Whether Huck's realized it or not, that girl's been pining away for him for years," pointed out Lisa.
"Woman's intuition?" asked her husband.
"That, and we talked about it a couple of months ago when Huck was gone on that out of town construction gig," admitted Lisa.
"Well, I wish him all the best," said Harry. "If Huck and Betty love each other at least as much as Jenny as I do," he added, while Jenny laid her head on his shoulder, "they'll be great to and for each other."
"I'm just sorry it took this," Jenny said, waving an arm to indicate the hospital, "for them to realize that there was and should be something between them. Dieter Wilhelm has ruined enough lives between here and Alabama. It's about time something good came out of his mess."
"Well, we're not holding his actions against you," said Henry Senior, looking at his youngest son's girl. "You've been through more than enough without that jerk too. But a man has to know his boundaries and those of others as well. From what you've told me about him, this Wilhelm fellow should get what's coming to him."
Up till now, Frances was content to just stand there and watch the interaction between everyone in the room.
Thankfully Jenny's worries, at least at the moment, were the more normal variety in regards to someone close to her being hurt and wanting to make sure they would be all right.
Frances knew Jenny felt guilty over her family's and Wilhelm's actions. It was bad enough they kept trying to force her into a loveless marriage, which was why Jenny came to Moon Lake on the pretext of getting a college education while secretly hoping never to have to go back home again.
Yet while meeting and falling in love with Harry Jenkins was her proverbial lucky break, it was complicated by Yvette Smith violating Statute 1A* by turning Jenny into a werevixen against her will, her emotional problems increased between the delayed completion of her first transformation and her unresolved past issues in Alabama.
Harry opting to become a werefox to be with her, and the couple forming a life/soul mate bond in the process proved they were meant to be together whether as weres or normals.
But once Jenny announced her engagement to Harry, Dieter Wilhelm decided HE was the only one who could marry HIS Jenny, to the point of having sent two agents to Moon Lake to with the intent of killing Harry before the wedding so Wilhelm could drag Jenny back to Alabama to be "his".
The first agent died before he could make the attempt and the second, now in police custody, shot Henry, Junior/Huck thinking he was Harry.
Yet although the town's main concern now was making sure the wedding this Saturday morning went off without a hitch or anyone from Alabama discovering the existence of weres, for Jenny looked far better now than she did before enrolling in college; Frances was worried about Henry Senior's statement.
"The police are well prepared to deal with Dieter Wilhelm once he steps foot in Moon Lake this weekend," Frances announced confidently.
"Ma'am," began Henry Senior, "I may be a normal senior citizen, but this Wilhelm almost caused the death of one of my sons while trying to murder the other. Even if he didn't actually pull the trigger himself, the... jerk, for want of a stronger term with ladies present, should get the death penalty in my opinion."
"I can assure you, Wilhelm will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law," Frances repeated, when the ICU Waiting Room door opened.
"Oh, there you are Doctor Twist," began Doctor Tora Tachibana, spotting his colleague. "When the nurse at the duty station informed me you were here, I went to Jenkins' room to meet you, but grew concerned when you weren't there."
"Is my son all right?" asked Lisa, worried about her boy.
"Son?" asked Tora, staring at the woman.
"Yes. Henry Jenkins, Junior; although we call him Huck," explained his mother.
"No. I'm referring to Harold Jenkins," said Doctor Tachibana.
"That can't be sir. I'm Harold Jenkins, although I prefer Harry," said the man sitting next to Jenny.
"Wait a second," said Doctor Tachibana, checking the chart he brought with him. "The Harold Jenkins I need to talk to you about Doctor Twist is in his 40s and was just accidentally turned into a weretiger."
Having remembered Samantha said something to her earlier over the phone about there being another possible Statute 1A* violation in Moon Lake, all Frances said was, "I see. Well then, lead the way Doctor and I'll consult on his current mental state for you."
"Thanks Doctor Twist," replied Tora, as he held the waiting room door open for her.
As the waiting room door started to close behind them, Henry Senior stood up and said, "The rest of you stay here. I've got to go to the little visitors room. If Betty returns and Huck's allowed another visitor before I come back, your mother is next," as he walked out of the waiting room.
But, despite what he told his family, Henry Jenkins Senior did NOT go to the restroom when he was out in the hallway.
Instead, he started discretely following the two doctors the best he could as a normal human, curious about there suddenly being another Jenkins in Moon Lake.
THIS STORY WILL BE CONTINUED IN "MOON LAKE, JENKINS: THE CROSSOVER, PART 2".
On behalf of myself and all the other contributors to this series, our thanks to CYOC.net for their continued support of Moon Lake and our humble efforts.—tmw.
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*For those who came in late, Statute 1A is the crime of turning a normal into a were against their will, punishable by a minimum jail sentence of 50 years if tried and convicted.