Ketch Me if You Can

Chapter 27

My eyes rolled open as the air I had been deprived of while dead rushed back into my lungs. It was ice cold on my burning lungs, leaving me to cough violently as they learned to breathe again. I was able to take in the backseat of my car before it lurched and I was jostled to my side. I threw an arm out to catch myself before I fell off the seat. I could just barely remember dying and had no idea how I had gotten into the back seat or where I was going.

"Alex?!" Elly yelled from the driver's seat.

"Yup," I moaned, still trying to catch my breath before speaking too much.

She slammed on the brakes again, sending my face into the back of her seat before she pulled the car over and threw it into park on the side of the road.

I could see tears streaking down her cheeks as she turned back to me. "Never fucking scare me like that again! That was the most sickening thing I've ever had to watch!"

"What'd it look like?" I groaned, trying my best to sit up slowly. I had never had anyone tell me what the regeneration looked like, I was just back when it was done.

Elly looked like she was at a loss for words. She looked from me to the keys she held in her hands. "There was...a lot of blood. Just completely unnatural puddles of it. Your throat had been ripped clean open. If it wasn't for your spine you would've been completely decapitated..." She shuddered at the memories, her face going pale. "Jody and Donna wanted me to leave you. But I just...I couldn't. I knew you'd come back, but I couldn't tell them that. Do you know how weird it was to explain that I had to take your body back? They looked at me like I was insane..."

"I...I'm sorry Elly." I said, leaning against her chair. "Did you see the healing? What did that look like?"

"Oh...uh." She shrugged, "Only bits and pieces in the mirror." She gestured towards the rearview mirror. "It got really hot in here, like a sauna almost. Steam would surround the part of you that was being healed, and then it kinda just..." She tried to use her hands to describe the motion of it all, and sighed with frustration when she couldn't get it quite right, "It was like watching everything in reverse."

I huffed a little, "Cool."

Elly smacked my arm, a little too hard. "You could've been more careful asshole!"

"Ya, ya." I winced, "Crowley wasn't happy about it either. He left me with a few new scars and some great words of encouragement."

"But, you're ok?" She asked softly.

"I'm perfect," I smiled at her, then climbed over the divider and into the passenger seat. "Where we at?"

"Just outside of Tennessee? I think. I'm not the best with directions, I could have gotten us completely lost." Her hand took mine as I got seated, pulling it to her and holding it to her chest tightly, "I was so worried about you coming back. You won't be a werewolf, right? You did get bit technically."

I blinked, taking her question into thought. "I uh. I don't think so. We'll make sure when we get back. Let me see the map." I said, taking my hand back and grabbing up her phone from the center console.

"Did I get us lost?" She asked, looking over the screen with me.

I took a minute to study it, zooming in and taking in the whole screen and trying to find where the bunker should be. It didn't take long to figure out where we were and where we needed to go.

"No, you're going in the right direction. We'll stay on this road for another half an hour-ish." I said, pointing at the road.

"Alright." She sighed, started the car again, and carefully pulled back onto the road. "Does Ketch know?" She asked after several seconds of quiet.