Fate of the Wolf

Doctor

Last time Naomi was sitting on the doctor's table Aiden was picking pieces of bark from her skin.

The cloth hospital gown snapped in the front, and came down to a little past her knees. Her fingers rubbed the inseam absentmindedly, growing increasingly anxious about her appointment. They were still waiting for the nurse to come in.

Aiden rested a hand on her knee, stilling it. She hadn't realized it was shaking. Concern shone in his eyes, "Honey are you alright? I can feel how nervous you are."

Naomi exhaled slowly. "Do I have to have an appointment? I'm sure my cycles will continue soon."

"You didn't show hesitancy before." He spoke.

She rubbed her arms, "I don't go to the doctor." She thought for a moment about what he had said, that he could feel her fear. She closed her own eyes and concentrated, she wondered if she could send memories through to him like she did with her attack.

Focusing on the rays of warmth coming from Aiden's aura, she pushed her way through and could easily read his concern and...love? Was the warmth love? She would turn that notion over later in her mind. The doctor or nurse could be here any minute. So Naomi recalled memories of her mother for him.

"It hurts mama!!!" Naomi cried as her mother wrapped her arm tightly. Her nose shriveled at the piercing smell of herbs underneath the bandage. She was only 6.

Her mother shook her head with clear disappointment. The sun from the kitchen window shone through her thick blond curls, a shimmering halo around her head. "Maybe you shouldn't have been so reckless, imagine if I was a terrible mother." She twisted Naomi's arm to the side, a harsh popping sound emitted from the socket in her shoulder. Naomi hollered and then covered her mouth quickly. She could handle the pain for mama. It was her fault she wasn't strong enough for the monkey bars.

"I could've taken you to the hospital." Her mother continued, her hands now gentle, soothing, the pain ebbing away and placed by a cooling touch. "I could've taken you to the doctor." Her mom began to mumble under her breath.

Naomi sniffed. She remembered the last time she went to the doctor.

Naomi's body slumped forward, and Aiden caught her, and she closed her eyes again.

IV's and needles pinpricked her skin, pulling harsh blood from her veins and transfusing it with another.

Naomi felt sick and heavy, like her body was weighted to the bed like a ship at the bottom of the ocean.

She heard some of the words the doctor said, in between her states of conciousness. Words like "poison" and "infection". She didn't know what these words meant. She was only 5.

Her aunt sat by the bed, kneeling and head bowed in obvious prayer, a red beaded rosary clutched in her closed hands.

Naomi felt like her head was going to explode, and she began screaming, a burst of energy finding her. She flailed, black spots in her vision making her dizzy. The people around her bed didn't say a word, only holding her back to restrain her, hot iron hands clad her to the bed, another sharp pinprick in her side and a cloth in her mouth.

Then she heard it, her name. "Naomi? Where are you baby?" The voice repeated this, getting louder, and she recognized it immediately.

Mama. That's mama.

She felt sleepy, her eyes closing, her body lax.

Aiden was knelt before her, hands on her knees, piercing gold eyes gazing up at her. "Are you back?" He asked, he squeezed her knees, grounding her.