I woke up. Which was both a pleasant and an unpleasant shock all on its own.
The low droning beeps, bluish-white curtain around the bed, and tubes strapped to my arms, nose, and chest told me more than the fuzzy, dreamlike quality of my thoughts and vision that I was in a hospital. Every part of me ached abominably, but it was distant, like I was feeling everything through a curtain of cloth gauze.
I tried thinking back on what happened, how I got here. No such luck. The last thing I remembered was breaking the focus and passing out. Everything after that was just…empty. Blank.
Blinking my eyes to clear my vision, I turned my head to the side and found it in me somewhere to dredge up a smile at the sight of Sara seated at my bedside, her eyes closed as she leaned against the metal rail, head pillowed on her arm. She must have fallen asleep waiting for me to wake up. It was good to see she was alive and, aside from a bandage I could see winding around her other arm, unharmed.
“You’re awake,” came a surprised voice from behind the curtain. Chaz carefully brushed it aside, sidling around it to stand on the other side of the bed.
I nodded and tried to smile, my voice coming out no stronger than a faint whisper. “For what it’s worth, yeah.”
He smiled back at me, gently taking my right hand in both of his own. The left was tightly bandaged up and I could only see the tips of my fingers. Must’ve done more damage to it than I’d thought when I destroyed the focus. I lifted the bandaged hand to examine it, took a deep breath to sigh, then decided that was a bad idea and immediately expelled it.
“How long have I been out?”
“Your family was here. Visiting hours ended twenty minutes ago, but we snuck back in.” Chaz said, not meeting my gaze. I stared hard at him until he finally capitulated, squirming like a kid caught playing hooky. The doctors probably told him he shouldn’t tell me anything about the injuries to keep me from being worried. “We were all here yesterday, and the day before, too. You’ve been out for four days.” So much for that.
I closed my eyes, fighting back the sudden sting of tears. We won. We came out alive, on top. Chaz was apparently okay. There wasn’t even the hint of a scar to show where he’d been bitten or scratched during all that fighting. Chaz took the tears the wrong way, concern making his face fall as he reached up one hand to gently brush his fingers over my cheek. “Don’t cry, please don’t. Everything’s okay now, the focus is gone and so is the holder.”
I couldn’t help it. Despite the pain it caused, the tightness in my chest, I started laughing. The soft, wheezy quality and the sharp pain made it hard to keep it up, but I did it anyway. Chaz looked shocked, even as I covered his fingers on my cheek with my bandaged hand. Tears spilling down, I laughed, and it felt good. Apparently it was enough to jar Sara, who lifted her head and blinked blearily at me before her eyes widened.
“We’re alive. We won.”
“You did. I owe you for that,” came a new, unfamiliar voice, deep and rough with the hint of a smoker’s husk behind the twang of a New Jersey accent. A man I didn’t recognize was hanging back by the curtain. Chaz glanced over his shoulder, a wary look, but Sara didn’t seem afraid.
He came forward to stand near the foot of the bed, keeping some distance between himself and Chaz while still keeping me from having to strain my neck to see him. He was tall, half a head taller than Chaz, with short black hair that had a touch of white threading through here and there, warm brown eyes showing little laugh lines at the corners, and skin burned dark by years in the sun. He wore jeans and a white T-shirt, along with a long-sleeved flannel shirt to cover his lean, muscled arms, and had a touch of stubble on his strong jaw. He looked like a forty-something construction foreman, and had the same air of casual strength, command, and lingering musk scent as Chaz did.
“The Moonwalker tribe owes you, girl. You saved them, me, from a nasty fate.”
“You’re Rohrik Donovan?” I asked after a moment, having to concentrate harder than expected to dredge the name up, absently wiping the tears off my cheeks. Man, whatever the doc had me pumped up on was making me slow.
He nodded and exchanged a look with Chaz, who didn’t seem all that pleased that he was here. “I just came by to see how you were doing. Also, to let you know that you can call on any of the Moonwalkers when you’re in need. We’ll help you any way we can.”
“Thanks,” I said, though as much as I meant it, I was praying I would never be desperate enough to turn to a pack of werewolves for help again.
“I’m…uhh…I’m sorry about hitting you. Back there. The pack has taken up a collection to help defray any medical bills,” he said, his gaze creeping off me to stare at the ceiling. My, was that a touch of red in his cheeks? He was embarrassed for hurting me. So much for being the Big Bad Wolf.
It hurt a little less when I laughed this time. Eventually he managed to look back at me, relief creeping into his features. It was good to see.
“I’ll be in touch.” He lowered his head and gave me a little salute, nodding to Sara and Chaz before leaving. Chaz watched him go, and I could feel his fingers tighten almost imperceptibly around mine. Mr. Sensitive today.
Sara spoke up next. “How do you feel?”
“Like warmed-over shit.” I grinned at her to soften the words. Even that hurt. “I’ll be okay, I think. As long as I don’t have to fight any more Weres or vamps or insane sorcerers, my day is made.”
Arnold cleared his throat from the door, carrying a bunch of coffee cups. Unfortunately, none for me. I guess he hadn’t thought I’d be awake when he got back. “Hey, good to see you with your eyes open. Was that Rohrik Donovan who just walked out?”
I nodded, closing my eyes when the movement made my vision blur and head spin.
Arnold walked up to the bedside, carefully handing cups of coffee to Sara and Chaz before taking a sip of his own. I was pleased to note Bob’s tiny triangular head poking out from under Arnold’s shirt collar, whiskers twitching. Good to see the little furball survived.
Sara reached out to offer me some of her coffee, but I shook my head, figuring it would probably be better to stay away from caffeine while on whatever it was they were feeding me through the tube in my arm.
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there to do anything in time. To keep you safe.” Arnold sounded bitter, though part of me wondered whether it was for the focus or me. “I couldn’t cast anything that might have helped with all those Weres in the way. It was all I could do just to keep Bob with you.”
“Don’t sweat it,” I said, wondering if it was my imagination or if my voice really was slurring the way I thought it was. It was getting harder to keep my eyes open.
Just then, a nurse strode in, though I was barely able to rouse myself enough to look over and see. “She’s awake? All right, you three, let’s give her some rest. You can all come back tomorrow.”
I waved halfheartedly, smiling in amusement at their protests at being given the boot. I’d see them all when I woke up. Tomorrow.