Golden Bonds

A Rock Meets A Hard Place

As promised to so many great readers, I did tell you I would post an update today. Yay.

I reached a thousand! I reached a thousand! I reached a thousand!! Hey hey hey hey!!!

Ahhhhhhhhh one thousand reads!!!! OMG. I'm so freaking excited!!!

BT-Dubbs This 👆👆👆 is Bash!!!!!!

Lots of love going out today. Thank you all for such great comments. You have no idea how badly I needed such a reassuring distraction. 

Love

N.J. Kuhr

xoxo

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The x-rays went well. Laurel had an entire mobile doctor's office available. She didn't even have to move my bed but brought in a portable x-ray and took an entire body scan. I wasn't comfortable around males so she did this while I was sleeping. Bash and Alek had helped her but they left when I started waking up. I could still smell them. Laurel had to hold me down before I quit thrashing and remembered what happened. Whatever had been holding my jaw shut was gone. My mouth tasted funny and it was sore to move but it was bearable.

    She raised my bed enough I could look around a bit but not enough to add any pressure to my hips. She'd given me another epidural while I was out too so I couldn't feel anything from my belly down. I was watching while she lifted up my arm with a physician's touch, soft and gentle. I winced when she felt the bone.

She glanced up at me but didn't reply, coaxing my elbow to bend so she could rest my arm across my chest. My ribs had improved the most, now only tender muscles and some bruising which would be gone soon.

    "You should have full strength back in that arm by tomorrow."

I felt my lips twitch at her. I didn't know if I could bring myself to smile. It all seemed surreal. I wasn't sure if it would last. I'd been trapped in this stadium for so long. "Laurel? What day is it?"

She didn't look at me right away but kept prodding softly to make sure the bones had set properly. "It's Friday January 27th."

I'd known it would never happen. When I was attacked I had months of training before competitions started and then the trials. It hurt. I knew when I first realized what I'd become I would never compete again. I'd been here for over a year. The trials had come and gone, even the Olympics that were supposed to be my legacy had happened. I'd spent my life working towards those two short weeks. Two weeks to show the world how hard I had worked. They had happened months ago without me. Did anyone even know I was gone? Did they look for me?

Tears came in earnest. There was no stopping them. I was never allowed to grieve, never allowed to show weakness. Garrett made sure I was too afraid for anything else; he wouldn't let me feel grief. Laurel left to give me some privacy. She didn't go far. I could smell her outside the foggy plastic tarps that made up my makeshift recovery room and the tears kept coming.

I felt Bash coming minutes before I smelled or heard him which was strange but I was too upset to think much of it. He came straight into the building and strode right outside the tarps. "What's wrong?"

Laurel stopped him before he could barge in. He snarled at her but she held her ground. "Your orders, Bash. I'm not allowed to let anyone in there, even you, if she doesn't say you can be there. That was your command, this area is considered her territory by right and no wolf can trespass. I told you she wanted to talk to you but not right now. She needs to mourn. Let her have some time to let go of her human past. She never got the chance."