The next day brought little change to Natham's condition. He was still heavily medicated but had stopped hissing at the staff and let them touch him in order to help him without being sedated. I sat with him for a few hours. He kept waking up when I shifted but after a quick check to make sure I was still there, he would knead my hand caught between his, purring as he drifted back to sleep. His trust and gentleness with me was astounding.
His distress when I had to leave upset me. I had the nurse track down his surgeon so that I could speak to him before I left. The human doctor had worked well with Dr. Pannar but most humans had no idea who I was.
"I want to take Natham home tomorrow."
Prepared for a fight, I crossed my arms over my chest and drew myself up to what would seem to be my full height, a very unimpressive 5 foot 7 inches. I raised one eyebrow and waited for the doctor's argument to begin.
"Alright." The doctor looked thoughtful. "I know Dr. Pannar has just about everything that Natham will need over the next few days but I'll order a different pain medication for after he's settled in. It is a lower dose and should allow him to come out of the drug induced haze he is under. I think he'll be fine once he is out of here and with you."
I stared at the doctor in shock, my arms fallen to my sides. I must have made some noise because he looked up from the tablet he was writing notes on.
"What?" he said, frowning at me.
I smoothed the disgruntled look from my face. Taking a breath and letting it out, I shook my head and smiled ruefully. "I was expecting an argument actually."
"Well, Natham looked really bad when he was brought in and he lost a lot of blood. Fortunately we have donated Carthera blood from many different clans here and he got a full transfusion of lynx blood overnight. His wounds are beginning to heal rapidly and I think that he will recover more naturally away from an institutional setting. He is most comfortable with you so I think going to your home will be the best for him."
I nodded. "I plan to take care of him personally."
I had laid awake in bed for hours last night thinking. I had decided to have Natham installed in my suite of rooms and had rearranged the furniture that morning before I came to the hospital.
"Then ask Dr. Pannar to show you how to hook up and take care of his IV. He's going to need a steady drip to supplement his eating. He will need that for a few more days unfortunately. He will have a pump that regulates the flow but with the energy his body needs to heal and his shrunken stomach there is no way he could eat enough to sustain the weight he is now much less gain to where he needs to be."
"I understand. Thank you, Doctor." I shook his hand and then left the hospital.
Once home I informed Dr. Pannar of my plans as well as Mishtar. My mother was more difficult as I wasn't sure exactly what to tell her about Natham. I left it where he was a good friend and a victim much as I was but I could tell from look on her face that she knew I had not given her the full story. She was not the same since she lost my father, leaving most of the clan decisions up to me.
That night I slept fitfully as I suffered from my nightmare repeatedly only to wake up and begin again. No pain in this one but fear, loathing, and rage pierced my dreams. Finally I laid there awake as the predawn sun began to lighten the sky. I hugged a pillow to my bare chest; I had never felt as alone as I did lying in my bed that night. I sensed that I shouldn't be and it was throwing me off.
I rolled over and gazed over at my parent's picture on my nightstand. The night was quiet other than the sound of my voice as I talked to my dad and told him about my hopes and fears. I knew that wherever his essence was soaring he heard my words and would watch over me. The thought brought a measure of comfort. I was finally able to slip away into a restful sleep just before the sun rose over the lip of the cliff to chase away the shadows of the night sky.
***
It was hard to enter my father's rooms but it was necessary. My mother wasn't even able to go in there. While she was out, I raided my father's closet in order to find clothes for Natham. Ordinarily even those would not have fit him but his emaciated frame was almost as thin as one of us.
When he put them on at the hospital, his ankles and wrists still stuck out of the shirt and pants but his own clothes had been cut off him leaving him with nothing to wear. Though, between the filth already on them and the blood from his wounds, they hadn't been fit for anything but rags anyway. Natham was much more alert today and he watched me as I talked to the doctor and nurses before they released him.
"Where are you taking me?" Natham was sitting in a wheelchair out by the front entrance as we waited with the two guards Mishtar still insisted I keep with me at all times when I was away from the eyrie. I stood beside his chair and the guards flanked us, one on either side.
"I'm taking you home." I smiled at him to reassure him.
"Home?"
"Of course. I want you to stay with me and my mother. Is that okay?"
"As long as I am with you," he said as he shrugged.
He hissed and winced in pain at the movement and I stroked his shoulder, giving it a firm little squeeze. He sighed and then took in the fresh air like he hadn't breathed any in years. It had to hurt, he taking deep breaths of the chilly air as if to clear the stink of the hospital antiseptic from his nose. I could feel him wincing a little with each breath but he kept doing it. The scents from the hospital were very strong to sensitive Carthera noses, most human scents were. It was why we tended to live amongst our own kind.
All of a sudden there was a loud squeal of tires from the parking lot and a car that surged toward us. My guards went into action, pushing me roughly back and standing in front of me with their wings flared. They were on high alert with their weapons pointed at the oncoming SUV.
Their wings relaxed slightly when the vehicle passed us and pulled up to the emergency entrance.
My guards shifted to the right to stay in front of me but when a man ran around the front of the car to help a very pregnant woman out of the passenger side they pointed their weapons at the ground. They were still cautious though and didn't put them away as we watched carefully.
Obviously Mishtar expected me to be attacked like my father had been. He didn't like me going to the hospital and I'd overheard him threaten my guards if anything happened to me. I understood the seriousness of the situation but I just couldn't focus on it. Since he brought Natham into my office, my focus had been on him.
