Fang

Last Chance

My heartbeat pounded loudly and painfully in my ears as I sat and waited on the cot, watching the open cell door. I could leave whenever I wanted to. 

Though the option for me to leave was open, something made me stay where I was. An indescribable feeling that I was where I needed to be. 

Hearing the door at the end of the hallway open, I perked up on my cot. 

Drawn out, the footsteps slowly got closer until Stovall's grumpy face came into view. She sighed heavily upon seeing me. 

"He didn't tell me who I was going to be seeing down here, but I suppose it should've been obvious." She kicked the door wider open, the door smacking into the bars. 

The young female strode into the small cell and instantly, her nose scrunched up. "You smell like rotting flesh and puke." Her brown eyes flickered to the toilet beside me. 

"Nice to see you again, Stovall."

Stovall set her equipment down and placed her hands on her hips, assessing me head to toe. She clicked her tongue before squatting down in front of me, taking my arm into her hands and flipping it over. 

"There isn't much I can do for silver, but you seem to be healing better than most. Not your first time?" Gently she prodded the silver bitten flesh of my forearms. 

"No," I hissed, gritting my teeth. 

"Did you hit your head?" She looked over at the vomit in the toilet again. 

"Maybe, but that's just my anxiety. Vertigo." 

"That seems. . . Counterproductive as a spy." She smiled a little at her own joke. I shrugged, silently agreeing with it.  

Her hands left my arm, allowing it to drop back to my side. I pulled my arms into my stomach, protecting the vulnerable skin. Her fingers began to gently prod around my scalp, searching for any injury. She pressed into the back of my skull, causing me to wince. 

"Yep, you hit your head."

I rolled my eyes at her, but she didn't seem to notice. Pulling her hands away, she rustled through her bag, pulling out a small flashlight. Clicking it on, she held it up to my eyes. 

"Follow the light for me please." She slowly moved it from side to side, intently watching my eyes as I followed it. 

She hummed to herself. "Good news is that you don't have a concussion, but you do have a nasty bump on the back of your head. You should be fine once the silver leaves your system."

"How long have I been down here?"

"It's been two days since the celebration, so you do the math." She shrugged. The lota clicked off her flashlight and tucked it back into her bag. 

"Well fuck," I mumbled to myself. Absentmindedly I rubbed the spot of my missing fang with my tongue, thinking to myself. Stovall watched the action with interest. 

"May I see? Not very often someone gets defanged and is alive afterwards."

"Sure, I guess." I shrugged and opened my mouth, tilting my head back for her to see. Delighted, she held my head still and peered into my mouth. 

Releasing my head, she took a step back. I rubbed my jaw where she had held it.

 "Is there anything else I should take a look at before I go?" 

Awkwardly, I rubbed my arm and nodded. "Uh, yeah. . . But I'll need to take my shirt off." 

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow at me as she stood. Stovall extended her hand to me and helped me to my feet.