Reborn as a Side Character in the Beastworld

Chapter Nine

My white tiger came back quickly with a golden leopard in tow. Winston led Harvey into the hut and straight to my side. They both shifted and covered themselves quickly.

"She was lethargic this morning and vomited twice during dinner. What's wrong with her?" Winston wasn't one for pleasantries right this moment.

"I see. Hello female. My name is Harvey and I am this village's healer. Are you having any other symptoms?" Harvey's teal blue eyes looked at me with polite concern.

"My name is Bailey and no, I'm not. But I should probably tell you that I left my village a little less than two weeks ago. The reason I had left was because everyone was getting sick with a fever. They would vomit any food and excrete any water they were given. More than half of the village ended up dying that way. Including my family."

I never had much medical knowledge in my past life and the things I did know all came from fictional books. I wasn't sure how much I could trust that information. I also wasn't sure if this world had the same types of bacteria and viruses. There was just no way to tell if the village had gotten something like Cholera or if it was something completely unique to this world. Either way, as a healer, he would need to know everything in order to make a diagnosis.

"Thank you for telling me. That must have been very difficult." Sympathy showed plainly on his features. He probably wasn't used to females being so accommodating to his questions. "I'm going to check for fever and listen to your heart. I will need to touch you." He looked at Winston for confirmation. A tetra marked beast could kill the unmarked healer in no time flat. It made me wonder how he'd survived this long with such impulsive patients.

Winston looked at me. I nodded. He breathed out heavily and then nodded to Harvey to go ahead.

Harvey went to work. He checked my forehead and behind my ears for fever, palpated my stomach for sensitivity and then checked my pulse at my wrist.

I watched him nervously. The last thing I wanted was to infect anyone with whatever my village had, but I needed to know what was wrong before I could decide on what my next steps would be.

After gently placing my wrist down he said, "I have good news. I do not believe you have what your village had. You do not have a fever and you are missing other symptoms that I would associate with an infection."

"Then why is she ill?" Winston anxiously interjected.

He gave Winston a reassuring smile before looking at me. "I believe the reason your body rejected the fish was because you are pregnant."

Excuse me, what? I couldn't be pregnant. I had only had sex with Winston two days ago. Even if I was human, that would be way too soon to tell. And I'm not human. I'm a fox cub. That means I go through yearly estrus not monthly menses and my last estrus was...a week before we left the village... with my first mate...Ryan. Oh God.

"Congratulations. Is this your first litter?" Harvey asked with a smile.

I was in complete and utter shock. Silent tears streamed down my face as I nodded in answer to his question.

"Tiger cubs can take up to four months to be born. You will need to get plenty of rest and eat plenty of meat for them to grow healthy. I am not sure how many you will have yet, I wont be able to tell until you are further along." Harvey was too caught up in his professional spiel to notice Winston's deeply worried face and my deeply consternated one.

"They aren't tiger cubs." I said, my voice hollow.

"Oh? My mistake. I thought..." his gazed moved to gauge Winston's reaction to my words.

"They're fox cubs. From my first mate. But he's...dead." My voice choked and my features contorted with emotion.

Misinterpreting my reaction Harvey said, "While I wouldn't recommend it, if you don't wish to have the cubs, there is a medicine I could-"

"NO!" I yelled. "No." I said a little quieter. "I want them. Ryan was a good mate. He would have been a great father." I had to stop for a second, I was too choked with emotion to continue right away. Both males waited patiently. "These cubs are a gift he has given me. I want to raise them. Will you... help me?" I looked at Winston first. I was unsure. Winston was a very giving character in the novel, but I had only known him in reality for a few days. Would he be willing to help raise someone else's cubs?

The cold reality was that if a mate died or a mate mark removed by the female, any cubs from that male would be in an extremely vulnerable position. They might get discarded by the female like Harvey had insinuated or competing males might chase them off or even kill them.

Winston saw the fear in my eyes and kneeled down to pull me into his warm embrace. "Of course I will. I will protect you and all our cubs with my life." He kissed my forehead.

He'd said 'our'. Not 'your'. Not 'his'. 'OUR'. The tears that had flowed in sadness flowed once again in happiness and relief.

Harvey's expression while looking at us was filled with a mix of warmth and envy. He coughed a little awkwardly when he noticed my gaze.

"Well then. Fox cubs only take about two months to be born. Your diet will not only need to have meat, but fruits and vegetables as well. When was your last estrus?"

I counted back the days in my head. "About twenty days ago."

"In that case you are already through your first trimester if the cubs are male. In a couple weeks we should be able to tell how many there are. You can come to me if you have any questions and don't hesitate to call for me if you start to feel unwell in any way. With it being your first litter, we will need to take extra care as your body adjusts."

I nodded, but neither Winston nor I was ready to release each other.

Harvey, ever the professional, said, "I'll see myself out." And quietly left.