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Awake

Adrian O'Neil was at the office, staring at the screen in his cubical. The forty-five year old man scratched his balding head where once stood a forest of thick red hair. Now what hair he had left was white. Occasionally glancing at his phone, hoping of the the guys from that dating website might message him back. He was dozing off, reading the words on the screen. Sometimes he thought it was funny how they always said, "Wake up." when he was this sleepy. One of the many things, he guessed, the brain does when it's falling asleep. Like the steady beeping he can hear in the distance. Sometimes he would think he could see an old dog he had as a child. What was his name, Pete? Peter was someone else, right? He shook his head, trying to keep himself awake as he startled himself. Something always reminded him of the car crash.

No. That's not right, he didn't drive. "I ride my bike to work every day" He thought, pushing the false memories out of his head. The other humans in the office were looking at him weird. A darker skinned woman in a bright yellow dress walked over to him. She handed him a bulk of papers. Valerie was her name. Adrian and her were friends, stuck in a dead end job. Adrian often felt bad for her. She was too good for this place. Adrian looked the papers over and realized they were blank.

"Uh, Val, something's wrong." Adrian called her back over.

She walked back confused, "What is it?"

Adrian showed her the blank pages. But something was wrong. On the blazer she wore there was a pin. It was made of silver and amber. He'd seen her wear it a few times, but this time something was off about it. She was talking to him, but he had stopped listening. He stared hard, as if looking for something.

"I'm in a dream." He stated.

He woke with a start. He was in a dark room. The beeping beside him was getting faster. Was it his heart? He was stiff all over, like he'd over slept. Something felt like it was tugging at his tailbone. He weakly reached under himself and in shifting felt that something was clearly hooked into his lower back. Was it some kind of medical thing? He thought about it, and figured he'd ignore it. He looked down to look at what else may be hooked into him and notice his.. Hands?

They were furred, white like large cat's paws. The machine beeps climbed. He felt his body under the covers. He was furry everywhere. Reaching to he back he found what he was sitting on was his tail. He felt over himself to find that he wasn't a he? Where his package should be was a female's anatomy. Was he female? He didn't have breasts. He felt scruffy in his face and had more hair than he ever wished on his head. Like a mane around his neck. He felt a scar on his cheek, and a spot on the side of his head that appeared much shorter than the rest.

He heard some voices coming from outside the room. In his panic, Adrian unhooked himself from all the machines and left the bed. He fell flat onto the cold linoleum floor immediately. He legs were too stiff to keep him steady. He crawled towards the door, listening to the conversation outside.

"I guess you could call Peter, Adrian might want to see him." A man said, sounding like he was just woken up.

"Isn't this a family only kinda thing?" Another man asked.

"Who cares?" There was a pause, "Don't be a dick, dude."

"I'm not being a dick, it's a rule."

"Fine! Fuck, I'll call him if you're gonna be like that."

"I'm not being like anything! What if we get a visit?"

Adrian crawled back towards the middle of the room. He shambled over to the window. Looking outside he saw a large river and the city it ran through. Where the hell was he? They were on the third floor of the building and the window was locked.

"What am I doing?" he said out loud in someone else's voice. He didn't have a plan, but his instincts were telling him to leave. The door opened and a sort of giraffe person came through the door. Adrian looked in horror as the man made his way into the room.

"Adrian, right?" The man said, "Please, come back to bed, you might fall."

Adrian nodded, "What are you?"

"I, uh." The doctor cocked his head, "I'm a doctor. I'm your doctor."

"What happened?"

"You've been in a coma."

"What have you done to me?!" Adrian nearly screamed.

"Done to you?" The doctor sat at the foot of the bed, "Nothing, man. You were in an accident. Hit your head."

"I don't drive." Adrian's legs were shaking under his weight. Although he clearly looked thin, he had never felt so heavy.

"Hmm. Can you tell me what you remember?"

"I was at work, I was handed some papers and." Adrian paused, "It was all a dream."

"How much of it do you think was a dream?"

"I don't know." He tried thinking about memories. They were almost there. Mostly unformed, like they were made of sludge. Trying to pick out any specific thing carried with it a pile of something else. Nothing seemed connected, yet all seemed to have happened all at once. Was this a dream, too?"

"I remember." He remembered thinking about his dog, it felt like so long ago, maybe a childhood memory. Something he never liked thinking about, there was a crash. The sound of glass breaking all around him.

"Pete." Adrian said out loud. It was the only concrete memory he could pull. Even if it always hurt to think about.

"Yes, your boyfriend."

"Pete's a dog."

"Half wolf, though, right?" The giraffe said, "Nice guy, he's been here every day to watch you."

"No. Pete's my dog."

"Yes, your boyfriend, Peter Levi" The doctor looked confused, "He was driving when you crashed."

"Dog's don't drive."

"We _have_established he's at least half wolf if that helps."

"But, he died in a car crash when I was a kid."

"Hmm." The doctor looked serious, "How long ago would you say this happened?"

"I dunno, around forty years? I was only 7."

"Adrian, you're twenty-one years old."

There was a knock on the door, then before the doctor could even turn around a pounding.

"Adrian! Adrian!" An oddly familiar voice yelled, "Let me in god damnit!"

"Give me a chance to unlock the door!" Yelled the doctor, shaking his head, "Calm down, kid, Jesus." He muttered as he swiped his card over a panel on the door, standing clear of it before the door burst open.

There he was, tall, silver furred, practically foaming at the mouth. He was in pajamas and a tank top and sandals on the wrong feet. He looked at Adrian for a moment and his expression became bleak.

"What's wrong?" He looked at the doctor, "What happened?"

Adrian just noticed he was shaking, sitting on the floor, backed against the far wall beneath the window. His breathing was labored, there was a pain in his chest when he filled his lungs with air too much.

"He woke up." The doctor said with a smirk.

"Why does he look scared?"

"Remember when I said his brain was unusually active for a coma patient?"

The wolf nodded, "Yeah."

"It's been forty years for him."

"How?"

The doctor shrugged, "Nothing we can look into at the moment, Amnesia, maybe?" He picked up a chart from the foot of the bed, "So maybe chill him out while I get some coffee, huh? Decaf for you?" He pat Pete on the back and slinked away through the door.

Adrian stood and stared at the beast.

"Adrian." The wolf started walking towards him, "How are you feeling."

"What are you?"

Pete looked himself over, "I'm Petey?"

"I." Adrian relaxed his shoulders, "I'm sorry, I don't know you."

The canine looked hurt.

Adrian looked at his hands, his body. He was some kind of cat, right? Was this normal?

Adrian sighed, "You can sit with me if you like."

"You're not scared anymore?"

"I don't know what I am. But I don't think you're going to hurt me."

The wolf sat under the window with the lion, leaning against him, "Do you remember anything?"

"I was an aging human, everyone was."

"Everyone was a human?"

Adrian nodded, "The only animals I saw were the four legged kind."

"Weird, what about family, friends?"

"I lived alone, divorced. I." He looked to the wolf, "We're together?"

The wolf nodded, "I.. I think so." He looked sad.

Adrian looked down to the ground with a sigh, "I'm so sorry. I don't remember anything."

"Don't!" The wolf barked, "Don't apologize! You just lost everything."

"It was just a dream." Adrian said in a whisper, it didn't sound convincing.

"I'm just glad you woke up." The wolf squeaked, Adrian could almost hear the tears.

"But I'm not." Adrian paused, feeling the lump in his throat, "I'm not who you think I am."

"You're might still be in there somewhere, right?"

Adrian shrugged, feeling lost, "I don't know. I don't feel like anyone else."

The wolf sighed, "I'm here for you, whoever you are. I can promise you won't be alone anymore."

Adrian leaned against the large creature as he felt it's strong furry arm pull him into a hug. He rested his head on Pete's chest, "Thanks."