Jax's Backstory - {Unabridged} - Year 1

Part III

Jax awoke in another room. It was more wooden and classier. Roomier. The sunlight faintly lit the room with a warm glow.

He pushed through the sleeping drugs faster than usual. Around him he could see his mother, Shilo, and Rona. He opened his eyes slowly once more and beamed at the sight of all three of them.

"You in there? Heh." Shilo knocked on Jax's head playfully, but not so much to hurt him.

The wolf next to Jax tapped Shilo on the shoulder. She was short and only slightly on the pudgy side.

Her voice sounded urgent. "Come on. Let me see him." She shoved Shilo out of the way. "Sorry..."

Shilo moved to the other side of the bed and stared Rona down with a blank face for a couple of seconds. She started to speak to him.

"Hi Jax. I'm Rona, remember me?"

Jax thought her face was perfect in the orange tinted sunlight coming from the window. Her eyes glistened and her fur looked soft and comfortable.

He tried speaking again. His throat was as raspy as before, but it felt a bit more moisturized.

"H-heyy..."

Shilo stubbornly snapped at Rona. "You can't force him to talk right after he's had surgery."

"Oh, right." She held on to Jax's hand.

Jax's head whipped to Shilo, and he gave him a concerned look.

"Oh, yeah, sorry we didn't tell you earlier. You went into surgery to amend your vocal chords and make them a bit more useful. You should recover later, but you've been asleep for 5 days, so you'll recover faster than usual."

Jax's mother started talking after Shilo. She shoved Rona out of the way and smothered Jax with hugs and kisses. "Ah, I'm so happy you're finally ok. It's been so long."

She kept hugging him tighter and tighter. Shilo shyly intervened.

"Hey uh, don't hug him too tight now, you might kill him, heh."

"Oh, yeah, I'm sorry."

The nurse and doctor from before returned. They looked calm and slightly jubilant. Doctor Lensworth spoke first. "Would the mother of the patient please come outside with me? I have to tell her something important."

"Ok, I'll be there in a second," replied his mother. She let go of Jax and kissed him on his forehead, and she left the room with the doctor placing his hand on her upper back.

Rona looked at Jax and then back out the door. She walked out with Jax's mother afterwards.

Shilo watched her walk out then turned back to Jax and looked down. He sat down at the foot of his bed, his finger idly rubbing the bed sheets. Shilo asked Jax a question.

"Do you really remember Rona?"

Jax nodded slowly. He didn't see her often before the "accident" though, so it was a false assurance.

Rona and Jax's mother returned with a tiny smile on their faces. Rona walked up to Jax and grabbed both his paws.

"I'm gonna go with you to your rehabilitation."

Shilo stood up and crossed his arms, but he changed his face to a stoic expression and continued.

"Well, good for you then."

Jax stared at Shilo. His expression was unknown. Somewhere between lust, amazement, surprise, or confusion.

Doctor Lensworth reentered the room. "Jax, we're going to carry you into an ambulance and drive you to the rehab hospital, are you ready?"

Jax nodded.

"Good..."

Doctor Lensworth and Nurse Cassie carried him - sitting upright - into the stretcher. His mother, Rona, and Shilo followed him out the room and down the hall, but his mother and Shilo stopped at the door's entrance. Rona kept following him.

"Good luck!" Shilo shouted. Afterwards, he whispered.

"Take care of him, Rona."