Don't Burn Out (Currently Editing)

Forty-Two

Athena's Point Of View

Alone, I awake in the pack infirmary. I do not know the day. A faint tick ticking alerts me to the clock on the far wall. It reads 3:09. The light streaming in from the window lets me know it's day.

I am am in a room that is almost entirely white apart from the Chelsea grey, tiled wall to my left and two faded blue chairs. Someone dressed me in a stiff blue medical gown that is about two shades lighter than the chairs and has a dark blue and grey square and circle pattern. Even stiffer pure white white sheets are drawn up to my hipbones. The smell of bleach and cleaning supplies burns my nose.

My right arm feels a bit tender. With my left hand I pull the sheets back from where it had bunched up around my right before raising the sore limb into line of sight. I am rather surprised to find an iv sticking into my flesh. Following the tube connected to needle, I find a clear bag of some liquid feeding me drugs above my head.

Confusion hits me in waves. I call out for Tiffany, but she is silent. Rather slowly but surely the events of Zayn's Alpha Paroxysm resurface, and I remember why I'm here. I reach my free hand up to my neck, the side opposite side of my mark. The gauze of my wound is rough under fingers.

Feeling around the wound, I guess I pressed a little too hard at the center and sharp pain shot through my neck and back. I jerk away instantly. For a moment I cannot help but feel like an injured child, feeling so vulnerable and alone.

When the pain settles, I take a breath and rip the gauze right off of my body. The same pain comes back this time it is a little worse, but I bite the inside of my cheeks and sit up to assess the damage.

A small mirror on the wall the right of the bed shows an ugly jagged ring of teeth. Because werewolves healed so rapidly I knew this scar probably looked at a lot worse before I woke. From the way my torn skin fused together in sharp lines that resembled lightening bolts, I could tell the muscle beneath my skin must have also been torn. It most have been an awfully bloody sight at first, but the worst is over now. Eventually this scar would heal to resemble more of hickey than a bite.

I find a bright red button amongst the many other buttons, outlets, a pieces of equipment on the wall behind me and press a then wait for a nurse.

A nurse comes in almost instantly. It is the same nurse from that night. I clear my throat and swallow hard. Her name is Cassiopeia; that is if I remember correctly.

"Ah Luna Athena you're awake. Alpha will be very pleased. Would you like me to go get him?"

"Please."

A few seconds later she return with a very worried Zayn. The dark bags under his eyes tell me he has not slept for awhile. Before his eyes met mine they are as dark and lonely in away I've never seen and hope to never see again. When he does meet my stare relief fills his brown iris, but his shoulders do not relax and the pain does not leave his eyes.

I wanted to jump of the bed and hug him, and jump his bones maybe, I think with a sly smirk; but I carefully restrain myself. Zayn plops into a chair beside my bed side. He watches me as I watch him. There is a small knowing smile on his mouth. My eyes never leave him as Cassi checks my vitals and re-bandages my wound, much to my dismay.

"I'll leave you two now." She walks out, taking a clipboard with her.

Just as the door clicks shut, I find Zayn's lips pressed to mine. His right hand cups my cheek and he take my left hand into his. He makes he way to the base of my throat and gently kisses my mark, careful of the new bite wound. I lay like play dough in his arms as I soak in all his warmth and love.