Dogs of War

Chapter 1

It's been almost seven months and Dr. McKenzie was starting to be persistent about taking Wolf from life support. Soap and I had been adamantly refusing, Bryce and Shane backing us up. Yet I could help but slowly succumb to his demands, his arguments beginning to wear me down. Going out on missions knowing she was waiting in this bed was messing with my head. If she wasn't going to recover, we needed to lay her body to rest. We needed to lay our fears to rest. It was messing with our work. 

I stare down at her thin an frail body in the bed and sigh heavily. I take a step into her room no longer hovering on the edge between hesitation and certainty. I knew what Soap, Bryce and Shane would say if they knew what I had been contemplating. As Wolfs guardian and handler not even her own family had a say in what I decide for her health and well being. Her brothers would be pissed at me. I didn't know if Soap would ever talk to me again. The only thing stopping me from pulling the plug right now was the new medic. Archiel. She was certain Wolf would recover. Some instinct or training had her insisting on it. Her words tugged at my shrivelled black heart and longing flooded me with the hope that she gave me. 

So instead I sat by her bed, hand in mine and read to her and as if she'd heard my doubts and decided she needed to berate me, I felt her hand twitch in mine. My heart leaped at the unexpected sensation, something she'd only done the once before. Despite the tumultuous emotions tumbling through me, I continued to read, my voice wobbling only slightly. 

Then the machine starts screaming. I jerk back suddenly, the unexpected noise startling me more than if I'd been ambushed, my heart thundering in my ears. Dr. McKenzie enters in a hurry, concern etched onto his expression, Medic Archiel following closely behind. She takes one look at Wolf and then turns to me. "Out," she barks going to shoot me away. I cross my arms and glare at the little woman not intimidated by her icy glare or her harsh tone. 

"No. That's my Dog. I'm staying right here." My voice is a low growl, a tone I had found not even Price would dare argue with. Instead of arguing however, the little Fox reached up with unnerring accuracy and found my ear, pinching it between her claws. I yelp at the unexpected pinching and wondered if I was going to have a matching hole to Wolf's as she dragged me out by the the ear. My hands attempted to slap away her claws to no avail and she slammed and locked the door behind her after she had kicked me out of my own Dogs room. 

I glare at the door like the door itself had offended me and then settled myself against the opposite wall, arms crossed shooting daggers at every nurse and medic that came past me like they were personally responsible for the deaths of my family.

Soap came by, frowning as he saw me in the hallway. "L.T why do you look like someone served you a shit sandwich for breakfast?"

I growled gesturing wordlessly at the locked door to Wolfs hospital room. Soap frowned and attempted to jiggle the knob. "Did you lock yourself out, L.T?" he asked with a shit eating grin. 

"No, you daft wanker, thr machines started screaming at me, and that bitch kicked me out."

"Archiel?" Soap questioned with a frown. "Hang on, the machines?" His eyes opened as he stared at the door as if he could see through the damn thing. "Do you think-?"

"I. Don't. Know," I bit each word out like they too had personally offended me. And in a way they did. I didn't like not knowing, and not knowing if Wolf was OK or not had been killing me for months. Now this was piling the anxiety on top of more anxiety. Wolf wouldn't like that my smoking and drinking had gotten worse. She'd be able to smell the thick scent of cigarettes on me and her little nose wrinkle would give her away just how bad her distaste for the smell was.

Before Soap could respond Ben unlocked the door and strode out looking pale. "She's awake. Barely." Before I could step past him into the room, knees week with relief, Ben stuck his arm out preventing me from entering. He looked between me and Soap. 

"I don't think she's human, Ghost." I look at him glowering.

"I don't care if she's human or not. That's my War Dog. I met her when she was feral with every intention of taking her on board." 

"Just thought I'd warn you." He steps aside and I stride into the room. I don't care to look fully at Soaps crestfallen expression. I can deal with his crushed hope later. I even ignore Archiels scathing glare as I move past her, only not shoving her out of the way as she wisely moves from out of my path. In three quick steps I'm back by Wolfs side, her eyes half lidded on the verge of falling back asleep. My hand takes hers, the other hand brushing away a strand of hair and cupping her cheek. Her eyes flutter open, recognition flashing through them as she gives a soft yip in greeting. 

My heart clenches at the sound, the boiling emotions threatening to give way down my cheeks as I stare at the piercing eyes of the woman who held more sway over me than anyone had since my family. 

"Ceri," the sound an ode to her achievements. The moment reminded me of the first time I had met her as a human. We had come full circle, the knowledge she had reverted back to her canine counterpart not even a rock in the overwhelming rush of relief I felt in this instance. Even if she never recovered her humanity, I didn't care. She was still Ceri. She was my Wolf. My rock. She was alive and that's all I cared about.