Claws (mxm)

Respite

Palace's landing was rough as they stumbled into the backyard. Mina, who had only barely been holding on with one shaking hand, flew from his back into the thick grass with Knight tucked tightly in his free arm. 

The world felt like it was spinning around him when they finally came to a stop. Tears stung at Mina's eyes for several reasons, but the one that weighed most on his chest was the fact that the lion, although hostile toward him, hadn't deserved to pay for its mistake with its life.

 Did Del shoot him or was it someone else? 

He couldn't think of anyone else who would have a reason to just murder the lion shifter. He can just pretend that the whole thing hadn't happened if he gets rid of the lion... and me. The idea that Del would come after him made his heart hammer harder in his chest, but he knew that he couldn't focus on that right then. 

"Knight needs help." He rasped to whoever was around him that could hear. He couldn't find the energy to move his aching body, but he hoped that someone would help his injured rescuer. 

When he finally felt hands gently take Knight's prone bird form from his tense arm, Mina forced one of his eyes to squint open. 

Uncle Jared? 

The man stood back up with Knight in his arms, his image blurring as he moved further away. Pretty soon, everything went black, leaving Mina unconscious on the lawn. 

"Jamie, take care of Mina?" Jared asked as he walked past his brother, who was just then running out of the back door to the house, handing off a large towel to Jared in order to wrap Knight in. 

"Got it. Take care of Knight, J." Jamie said as he hurried past Jared to tend to Mina. 

After grabbing his keys from the counter, Jared was off to the emergency vet with Knight. It was nearly nine-thirty by the time he pulled into the parking lot. Thankfully, the waiting room was pretty much empty besides some old lady crying over a container holding a clearly-dead hamster. 

He quickly got them checked in, then sat down to wait. As the seconds ticked by, Jared glanced over the injured hawk in his arms. The wounds were deep in at least two of the four gashes. 

I can't understand how you got hurt so badly. You're a cocky son of a bitch but you can fly ridiculously well. 

"Jared and Knight?" Called the vet leaning out from behind a door with a clipboard in his hands.

Jared stood up and calmly followed the vet back to an examination room as the woman with the dead hamster wailed about her "Ham-Ham". The man got Knight hooked up to a few machines right away, considering he was clearly having trouble breathing. 

"These look like they are from a large cat's claws. He's lost a lot of blood from them already." The vet said as he worked on Knight's damaged wing. 

He wheeled the table Knight was on up to a sink, then looked up at Jared. "Can you hold his wing over the sink, please? It needs disinfected." 

Jared did as told without a word, though he actually felt a twinge of pain in his chest as the vet began scrubbing at the torn up appendage. Blood mixed with the soap and flowed down the drain every time the vet used the little spray nozzle attachment to rinse the wounds. 

By the time the man was finished, Jared felt a little queasy. 

"Is he a friend of yours? Do you know what happened? I can help you wright up a report for the police if needed." The vet said, bringing Jared's dazed gaze up to his.