Dogs of War

Chapter 2

Her eyes flickered to Soap behind me still hovering in the doorway. She yipped again, her ears pointing up with a tired excitement, and I'd have bet every dollar in my account her tail would have been wagging if she hadn't been laying on it.

"Lass..." Soaps voice breaks and I finally take my eyes from her to regard Soap. "Johnny," my voice a low warning. He looks at me and I can see the heartbreak in his face. "She's back, Johnny, maybe not all the way, but it's a start yeah?"

He nods his head, the movement jerky and I know he doesn't believe me. He turns tail and walks away before I can see any more emotion from him. Instead my own heart breaks as I hear a low mournful whine from the bed. I turn to see her ears drooping in sadness.

"Hey pup, it's ok. He just has lots of emotions right now, he'll be back." I'm not sure if I'm making empty promises, but I make them anyway. Her ears flick at me and from that motion alone I suspect she understands me just fine. I remember what Dr. Cooper had told me, even when she was more wolf, she was still there underneath the surface. She just wasn't the one entirely in control. 

Despite the fact that it looked like she was ignoring me in favour of staring out the door after the man she loved, I knew she was listening as I continued to speak soothingly to her. She finally fell into a natural sleep curling up on her side facing me. I lean over to run my hand across her cheek, a soft hum escaping her mouth as she enjoyed the patting, even in her sleep.

That night, I slept in the hospital chair again for the first time in months. Dr. McKenzie had the grace to not force me out now that Wolf was awake again. He even had the sense to keep the Medic out of the room too. 

My sleep was fitful, the hospital chair not the most comfortable, made worse being a light sleeper. Every shift of Wolfs form in her sleep rustling at the bedsheets jolted me from a restless sleep, my heart leaping into my throat. At one stage she'd started thrashing and whining in her sleep, waking up panting eyes filled with fear. Only calming as I ran a gentle hand through her hair. Some sensor or alert had let Dr. McKenzie know something was happening as he come hurtling through the door to check her vitals.

"Ceri," He greets with relief filling his tone as he sees she's awake and fine despite her elevated heart rate. "How are you doing?" he asks. Her only response is to whine softly at him, her chest still heavy with recovery from some untold terror in her nightmares.

"Hmmm. That could be problematic, yes?" Dr. McKenzie smiles at Wolf, giving her a pat. "We need to figure out a way for you to tell us what's wrong." 

"How much can she even understand?" I ask, not entirely sure complex sentences are something she can respond too. 

"Enough. She recognises us at least which is good. She should be able to answer simple questions if we can give her a way to express herself. But asides from some minor concerns with her brain, she is in good health. As for her brain, now that she's awake, we just need to monitor it to avoid any complications."

"What kind if complications?"

"Co-ordination, memory dysfunction, emotional dysregulation."

"Doc," I growl warningly. "I wouldn't call those minor concerns..."

"All things considered, Ghost, they are very minor. She is lucky to be alive."

"She's lucky in her shifted form she's taller than Johnny. That combined with her momentum meant relatively minor damage."

"Now you're just repeating my words back to me," The doctor huffed in annoyance. "But yes. you are right, though considering how long she's been in a coma, I didn't expect her to wake up again. We just don't know enough about what's happening to her DNA changes."