What it Means to Have You

Instigator

Nagol

Letting them put him under hurt a lot. And not just because he was digging his nails into my hand. I kept cooing into his mind that everything would be okay. That I would be there when he woke up and I would watch from behind the glass wall until I was allowed back in after the surgery. He didn't tell me flat-out that he was afraid, but I wasn't stupid. All of the signs pointed to that. Even his wolf whined in my head, making a rare appearance as a separate entity from Kine as his instincts flared. I reassured it as much as I did its other half, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of Kine's hand when I finally felt them both drift off into a deep sleep.

As soon as the doctors were ready, I got up and walked outside, knowing that they needed the room to move about freely. I watched the entire surgery, my heart hurting as blood coated the surgical sheets beneath his foot. They had to make several cuts because of the amount of breaks, but even knowing that, it still made my stomach turn. He was going to be in a lot of pain. At least the x-rays had just shown that they were normal breaks, allowing the surgery to be done without any setbacks.

It's for the best, though. He'll be able to walk again.

I nodded to myself, licking my dry lips nervously. My gaze stayed locked on Kine, roaming up to his relaxed face before going back to the surgical sight several times over the next few hours. By the time it was over, I was feeling light-headed, but the doctor that came out to talk with me while his colleagues wrapped up Kine's foot and took him to a room to wake up, was all smiles as he took off a rubber glove and offered his hand. I shook it, trying to return the smile but having a feeling it was more a snarl from stress than anything else.

"He did really well. He might feel a little off once he wakes up, and vomiting is normal, but you should be able to take him home as soon as he's coherent and we've gone over his vitals."

"Okay," I mumbled before slipping past him and heading to the room down the hall where they had taken my mate. The other doctors were just finishing up checking Kine's cast when I walked in so I carefully sidestepped around them and stood near the bed. The second the doctors were gone, I picked up Kine's hand and pressed a kiss to each of his fingers, and a lick, for good measure. That lick turned into multiple ones when Kine didn't wake up immediately. Of course I knew that he wouldn't just open his eyes, that it took awhile for the drug to wear off, but I nearly found myself in a licking frenzy when he finally whispered into my mind. Stop it, you creepy cat.

His words made me give an exhausted chuckle of relief and, I'm sure to his pleasure, stop licking his fingers.

"Sorry," I returned quietly. His eyes were open when I lifted my own to look, but they seemed so tired.

Can we get out of here? he asked, making me smile.

"The doctor wants to check you one more time once you're coherent enough to talk, then we'll head straight home."

He tried to nod but didn't quite have enough control of his muscles yet.

Do I have a big ugly cast on my foot?

I glanced down at said foot, smirked, then returned my attention to his wary eyes.

"Ugliest one I've ever seen."

He groaned, and I laughed, feeling some of the stress drain away when I heard a faint chuckle in the back of my mind from him. The doctor I'd been talking to walked in about twenty minutes later, smiling at us as he took his chart out from under his arm and made his way over to the few machines that were still hooked up to Kine. He jotted down a few notes, then set his clipboard and pen down to unhook what was left.