Waiting For August

Part 55 ~ Sucker Punch

Slowly, I was becoming aware of things. Warmth. Voices. The quiet hum of equipment. I opened my eyes. No, scratch that. Eye. For some reason my left eye wouldn't or perhaps couldn't open. I was staring up at a white industrial tiled ceiling. Something sharp and poking was pressing uncomfortably into my outer thigh. I reached my hand down to brush it aside only to have the thing that poked me move. Yup. Move.

I started and looked. I was lying in a hospital bed with the rails up. Surrounding me in every remaining nook and corner of the bed were wolves. Big, hairy wolves curled up all around me, lying partially on top of me, many with their gangly legs and feet pressing sharply into me.

The one I had smacked growled at me. My wolf growled back. It wasn't the same type of growl that I was used to; a rumbling gruffness that encompassed my otherwise normal tenor voice, but an outright vicious grumbling of non-word aggression that burst from somewhere deep in my chest. The animal in question's ears drooped quickly in response. Suck on that, I thought.

At this time, I also came to realized that my chest was bare. I lifted the sheet covering me and looked down at myself. Yup. Naked. Someone had undressed me.

Outside of the hospital room—at least I imagined this was a hospital, except for the wolves it had the appearance as such, I could hear two familiar voices arguing.

I tried to pull myself up to a sitting position and saw stars. Pain exploded through the back of my head, and I groaned. My stomach lurched. I had to fight the urge to retch as I settled back down.

A small wolf that was lying across my legs at the foot of the bed leapt up and out and sauntered across the room and out of sight. A curtain at the head of my bed blocked my view. A moment later, a woman appeared, dressing as she slipped on a set of scrubs and finished by pulling a white doctor's coat around her. She came to my side and began shining a light into my eyes. Correction again. Eye. I raised my hand to my swollen face, and she slapped my wrist.

"Try to stay still. You've got a concussion." She was pretty, probably mid thirties, with tan skin and dark eyes and hair. Her hair was pulled back into a long ponytail, and she had pulled a pair of dark-rimmed glasses out of the coat pocket before examining me. "Do you remember what happened?" She asked as she scrutinized me.

I looked at her blankly. I was still coming to terms with the fact that my doctor had just been curled up at my feet.

"Okay, easier question. Can you tell me your name?"

"August." I managed. "August Shaw." It felt like my head was being used as a bass drum. My ears were ringing. My vision, blurry.

"How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Four." I managed.

She nodded. "I'll be back. I'm going to get you something for the pain."

She opened the door, and I could hear her speaking to the occupants outside. "He's awake. I'm not sure how much he remembers."

Seconds later two large men came into the room. I immediately recognized Zeke's loud voice. "Alright, thank you everyone. You can all go now." Without hesitation, the wolves that had been lying with me jumped up and out of the bed, transforming as they did into naked men and woman as they departed.

The second man who had entered, I identified by smell. Patchouli and cedar drifted over me in a welcoming torment of fragrance, and I felt my chest grow instantly tight. Caleb. Tears began to burn behind my eyes. I hadn't been thinking of him, but now that I could smell him and knew that he was here, I wanted him by my side, like a child longing for a security blanket.