A Fighting Chance: Chapter 1
#1 of A Fighting Chance
Revan, an unsuspecting human, has a mysterious accident and finds himself in the hospital surrounded by strange animal people who call themselves Animus. More-so, he is one as well! Follow Revan as he adjusts to his new surroundings and tries to make sense of what happened to him.
Welcome to the first chapter of A Fighting Chance! This will be a long story over many many chapters. So sit back, relax, and enjoy the start of my brainchild! Every rating, review, and comment is greatly appreciated!! ^.^
A Fighting Chance
Chapter 1
With a soft blow, I parted the steam rising from my cup of coffee. I stared into the mug, getting lost in the small ripples created by my breath. The surface of the deep brown liquid soon calmed down, allowing me to see myself in the reflection. As I stared at my visage, I could see just how pathetic I looked. I had heavy bags under my dull looking light green eyes, which usually were bright and vibrant. A small amount of unkempt stubble on my sharp jawline framed by sandy blonde hair. The last remnants of what used to be a light tan on my now pale skin, pulled tight over angular features. Whether it was from lack of food or sleep, couldn't tell. At one point, someone might have even considered me attractive, but that was the last thing on the long list of shit on my mind. But none of it mattered.
I sighed, tearing my gaze away from my miserable semblance and instead directed it towards the rapping of raindrops on the large glass window. Every once in awhile a car would pass by slowly, headlights nearly obscured in the heavy rain. Time seemed to come to a standstill as I stared out the window, not caring about anything but the thoughts running through my head. Occasionally I would take a sip from the mug, the bitter drink causing my features to scrunch up ever so slightly. I liked my coffee strong and this little joint did it right. The small rush of energy and heat momentarily helped me forget the soul-crushing pain inside my chest.
I was disturbed from my own thoughts as a presence appeared next to me. I turned to tell whoever it is to buzz off, but instead I was met with the apron of Donna, the homely old waitresses I had come to know quite well, working the small diner. In her hand was a small plate with hearty slice of their house-made blueberry pie with a nice dollop of slowly melting whip cream on the top. She sat it down in front of me with a smile.
"Eat up sweetie."
"Wait, Donna I didn't or-" I started to protest, before she raised a hand and cut me off.
"Hon, you've been in here nearly every day this past week and I haven't seen you order a thing other than coffee. We both know how big your appetite is. Plus you look as white as a sheet, so it's on the house." Donna flashed me a sympathetic smile and walked back behind the counter to wipe up after a customer who had just left. I turned my attention back to the delicious looking piece of pie and felt the empty knot that was my stomach grumble at the sight of food. I had eaten practically nothing over the past few days and the wafting smell of the pie was making sure I remembered it. For the first time in a week, food actually sounded good. I took a small bite accompanied by a sip of coffee, savoring the sweetness of the pie with the contrasting bitterness of the coffee. I looked over to the generous shop owner and gave her a sincere smile, quickly going back to the delicious pie.
In seconds the rest of the pie had been demolished; not even crumbs remained. I ran my finger around the rim of the plate to gather the last traces of whip cream and popped it in my mouth with a sigh of satisfaction. As I sat back in the padded booth seating, it felt as though the pie had lifted some of the weight from my heavy heart. Although it would be a long time before I felt anywhere back to normal, I had found a small amount of temporary relief.
"Looks like you were hungry enough," Donna quipped with a kind smile. She picked up my plate and wiped the spot under it with a small rag.
"Thanks Donna, it was delicious."
"I know Hon, I made it myself. You sure looked like you were in a mighty rough patch and as my momma always told me, pie makes everything better." She headed behind the counter once again humming an upbeat tune while cleaning my dish off. I smiled watching the jovial woman go about her work. It was oddly relaxing to watch Donna run around the quiet diner to keep herself busy with the occasional customer seeking momentary respite from the torrential downpour outside.
The diner itself was quaint and homely with padded four person booths like the one I was in along the walls. Smaller tables were spread throughout the middle of the room with a high counter and accompanying stools along the north wall. Small rotating glass containers sat on the counter, displaying all of the tantalizing flavors of pie the diner offered. Behind the counter, large flat cooktops were lined up ready to make anything from eggs and bacon to my personal favorite, a skirt steak sandwich.
Thinking about all of the food stirred up my unsatiated appetite, prompting my stomach to growl again. Eating the pie showed me how hungry I actually was. I called Donna over when it seemed she had a free moment. "Hey Donna, you mind whipping me up the usual?"
"You got it sweetie," she beamed, "I told you the pie would fix you right up. 'Bout time too. Your sour mood was scarin' away all my customers."
I chuckled, "Very funny Donna." She always knew what to say to brighten my mood. For the first time in what seemed like ages, I cracked a smile. It felt good. Donna quickly busied herself with my order and as I waited, listening to the sounds of sizzling meat, my dark thoughts resurfaced. I stared out the window once more. I wanted to feel better; I wanted to rid my heart of this pain. I just had no idea how. How does someone get back to the way they were? Is there even a way? For the time being, I guess I just had to live with it.
Thankfully Donna broke my string of quickly declining thoughts, setting my delicious looking sandwich down in front of me. Thin strips of perfectly cooked steak stick out from a lightly toasted and buttered hoagie roll. Housemade barbecue sauce dripped from the hefty portion of meat, paired with caramelized onions and melted provolone cheese; it looked delicious. With a smile, Donna left me to my food and I eagerly dug in.
One devoured sandwich later, I was left once again to my own melancholic thoughts. I looked outside to the quickly darkening sky, the rain seeming to have no intention of stopping. I grimaced. I guess I should head home before it gets too dark. I dropped a ten dollar bill on the booth to pay for my meal and stood up to leave, grabbing my raincoat from the corner of the high backed seat.
"Thank you for everything Donna, I'll be seeing you around." I thanked, taking my leave from the small diner.
"You're welcome dear! Get home safe now, ya hear?" Donna called out to me as I stepped out into the downpour.
The walk home wasn't too far, which is why I spent so much of my time in the homey little diner. Granted Vale wasn't overly large with a population hovering around 40 thousand people. Over the course of the many years I've lived in Vale, I've gotten to know Donna quite well. Granted, she wasn't that complex of a woman to understand, but it seemed she'd taken a real liking to me. Maybe it's just all the service I give the place, being a typical guy and not always wanting to cook for myself. Whatever the reason, I enjoyed her company and she enjoyed mine, so when I came in looking like hell, she felt bad for me and tried to help in any way she could.
I made the short walk home, dreading spending any more time in that place than I had to. Even looking at it brought up bad memories. However, I soon made it the front steps of the small three bedroom house I was renting. I made a mental note to try and find a new place, and soon. Unlocking the door, I stepped inside and flicked a light on to navigate through the mess I'd accumulated over the past week. Clothes spilling out of my room, papers and bills all over the dinner table, and half-eaten plates of food long gone cold. Normally I considered myself to be a pretty organized and clean person, but with recent events I didn't bother. I tried to stay out of the house as much as I could.
I sighed to myself and tossed my raincoat over the back of my sofa, flopping down on the plush material. As I relaxed into the sofa, I closed my eyes and tried to clear my head of everything that happened and relax, even for a minute. It seemed like the only place that I could ever feel anything other than complete shit was in the diner, which is why I tried to spend as much time in there as I could. Even if it only helped a little, it still helped. I could occupy my thoughts and watch the other customers, talk to Donna, or even watch the cars pass outside. Anything that would distract me from myself.
I opened my eyes and stared at all the empty spots around my disheveled house. I could feel the memories cause tears to well up inside me again and I tried my hardest to fight them, but I just couldn't help it. Fuck me...I gotta get out of here... I quickly brushed the oncoming tears away and practically ran out of the house, snatching my raincoat off the couch on the way out. Pulling my hood on, I welcomed the feeling of the rain as it pelted my body. I just couldn't take it anymore, but I had no idea where I could go. Back to the diner? No, I had spent much too much time there already today. I took a few breaths to steady myself in an attempt to wrangle my emotions. I'll just go for a walk.
I set out along the sidewalk with no particular destination in mind but I knew that I wanted to be away from that place. I stuffed my hands inside my pockets and lifted my heat to the sky, letting the heavy rain wash away the remnants of my tears. The frigid tendrils of rain felt good against my face and helped clear my head. I walked like that for a while, letting the rain numb my pain. Feeling nothing was better than feeling anything at this point. I turned my face back down to the road, letting the water drip off my nose and hair. Reaching into my pocket, I pulled out my pair of headphones and stuck them in my ears but didn't play any music. It was a good way to not be bothered by anyone, yet still hear the relaxing patter of rain on my hood.
Over the past week I had walked this route more times than I could count. Being outside was always something that I enjoyed, even in poor weather like today. I found a sense of comfort from being active outside in fresh air. But lately I was out of the house more than ever before.
I walked through the quickly darkening streets; the lamp posts flickered on as I passed. But the oncoming night didn't bother me. Well, at least it bothered me less than being cooped up inside my house. Soon I could barely see through the sheets of rain in conjunction with the dark sky. Judging by the driving wind, It felt as though it started raining even harder. I hunkered down into my hood and stared at the sidewalk in front of me to prevent any rain from getting in.
Suddenly a blast of lightning caught me off guard, striking a parked car across the street. I felt the shockwave of superheated air hit me like a truck, knocking me off balance. The car's deafening alarm shattered the quiet of the night, but I could barely hear it over the ringing in my ears caused by the crack of lightning.
"Holy fuck that was close," I yelled to no one in particular. I turned on my heels to hurry home and get out of the storm.
Another strike of lightning hit the ground right in front of me, knocking me off my feet. I groggily got to my feet, the ringing in my ears much louder than before, rendering me completely deaf. My eyes hurt from the bright flash of light as I rapidly blinked them to try and regain my sight. I could taste blood and smell my own singed hair. The taste of blood in my mouth grew stronger and I realized I had bitten a deep gash into my tongue when I hit the ground. Suddenly all my senses snapped to as a surge of adrenaline pumped through my body. I jumped to my feet and bolted down the sidewalk, fighting the driving rain. It seemed dead set on knocking me over with its fierce winds crashing into my body in waves. Over the course of what seemed to be seconds, the weather had turned from relaxing to downright dangerous. It almost felt like I was in a tornado the way the wind was buffeting me from every direction. Whatever I got myself caught in, I needed to get somewhere safe and fast.
Three more lightning strikes in quick succession scar the pavement behind me, prompting me to run even faster. I knew you're supposed to get as low as possible, preferably a ditch, and cover your head, but I wasn't exactly thinking anymore. The only thought that ran through my mind was: "SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT SHIT".
Suddenly, hundreds of smaller bolts of odd colored lightning continuously rained down from the sky, trapping me in what looked to be a cage. The lightning didn't seem normal; the only reason I could see it was an unnaturally white outline surrounding a deep black core. Arcs of the white crisscrossed over the shadowy center in intricate and erratic patterns. A sharp pang of fear shot through my heart as the cage seemed to be getting smaller...
I looked for any opening I could run to, but couldn't find any hole in the wall of vibrating electricity. "OHHH FUCK," I yelled just as the cage closed in on me. I felt the electricity surge through my body and I opened my mouth in a silent scream from the excruciating pain. My muscles stopped working and I fell to the ground in spasms as the electricity wracked my body. It felt like a million white hot needles were repeatedly stabbing into my flesh. My whole existence felt like it was on fire, electricity coursing through me and superheating my muscles. I laid helplessly on the ground as I was repeatedly pelted by the combination of the torrential downpour and odd lightning. I felt my mind begin to slip as I blacked out from the staggering pain. The last thing I remembered seeing was my twitching fingers laying on the pavement out in front of me before the mystifying black and white lightning obscured my vision.
I slowly became aware of my consciousness returning and my body let out an involuntary groan from the excruciating agony I felt in my muscles.
"Oh thank Gods... you're alive," I heard a voice say, but it seemed so distant even though I felt a hand on my shoulder.
I attempted to open my eyes to see who said that, but it didn't seem like my muscles were responding to my brain. They twitched repeatedly from the latent effects from the lightning.
"Oh Gods... oh Gods... What am I gonna do..." I could feel my consciousness slipping away once more, but I couldn't do anything to prevent the blackness from enclosing me once more.
My fleeting consciousness returned for a moment. The loud pattering of rain on a windshield became apparent and I felt the softness of leather on my back.
"... Please don't die..." I heard whispered from my left, but the shadowy tendrils of darkness pulled me back into its clutches immediately after.
So much noise...
The screech of wheels on linoleum... People shouting over each other... The beeping of different machines. It was all much too loud. I tried to shield my ears from the cacophony, but my arms wouldn't move. I squinted my eyes trying to close them even more as I felt the glaringly bright artificial light pierce through my eyelids. Every fiber of my being still screamed in agony, but my mouth wouldn't make any words, only extended cries of pain.
So much noise...
Good... It's dark.
The inconceivable pain my muscles used to endure had now subsided to a somewhat uncomfortable ache. If I tried to move, the pain would come shooting back, so I opted to keep still. I tried opening my eyes and thankfully my body seemed to oblige, albeit begrudgingly. My eyes were greeted by a particleboard tile ceiling. I seemed to be laying down on my back in an uncomfortable hospital bed, covered by a thin white sheet. I tentatively turned my head to the left, checking my range of motion. It seemed like I could move my neck, even though it stung a little. I saw a few monitors, each one beeping softly with an LED displaying my vitals. I guess I'm in the hospital...
I turned my head back upwards, closing my eyes again. "I thought I was done for..." I breathed a sigh of relief.
After a moment, I took a deep breath and tilted my head forward to scan the rest of the room. It was kind of hard to see in the dark, but it seemed to be an average hospital room; relatively small with a little TV hanging in the upper corner. A door to what I assumed was the toilet. My gaze traveled right, spotting an undistinguished shape curled up in the probably very uncomfortable chair. It seemed to be wrapped up in a blanket, but I couldn't tell in the dark room. I squinted my eyes to try distinguish any features, but couldn't make out anything. After a minute, my vision adjusted to the darkness of the room unusually well.
I refocused my efforts once more on identifying who or what occupied the chair. It was relatively small, especially curled up. Maybe a little over 5 feet tall? White hair a little longer than shoulder length shielding its face, the very ends dyed a soft shade of purple. Oddly enough, two pointy, tufted ears sat atop its head. What in the world? Was it an oversized stuffed animal? No... it couldn't be. Why would you wrap a stuffed animal in a blanket? As I paid closer attention, I could see the gentle rise and fall of the blanket. So they definitely were alive... What in the heck were those ears then? Maybe a headband? I felt an unnaturally strong urge to touch them...
I was torn out of my curiosity by a gentle knocking on the closed door from across the room. The door slid open quietly, an average height nurse dressed in dark blue scrubs slipping past while reading a clipboard. The darkness hid the majority of her features from my sight, but I could still make out her general makeup.
She had odd colored shoulder length hair that swept over the right side of her face, almost like toasted marshmallow? Looking up from her clipboard, she noticed that I was awake. She flashed me a warm smile, her eyes catching me off guard. They were.... "Amber," I whispered in amazement, not realizing I said it out loud.
She giggled, "No I'm Amy. Amber checked up on you yesterday. Although I think you were pretty much out like a light, so I'm not sure how you would confuse us. Despite us being completely different species."
I didn't know how to react. My mouth hung open as she slid the dimmer switch for the light above my bed, casting a pleasant glow over her features. A very short coat of fur, a shade lighter than her hair covered her face, neck and arms as well as a large puff of grey fur coming from the V of her scrubs. A thin line of white dots traced her upper cheekbone to her sloped nose, ending in a little pink nub. I had to blink my eyes a few times to make sure I wasn't going crazy. But there she was, plain as day. I'm definitely dreaming... She moved up next to my bed to check my vitals from the monitors, jotting them down on her clipboard.
"What..." I started, but felt my words get caught up in my throat. My brain was trying to make sense of what it was seeing. Rather than a frightened reaction, which I would have expected from myself, I was more curious and amazed than anything. The bunny girl didn't seem hostile in anyway, so the natural flight or fight response wasn't triggering. In fact, she was downright...adorable. This had to be an elaborate costume or something. I analyzed her closely, almost more closely than she was analyzing me. I tried to find anything that would prove that this wasn't real, but then I saw her nose wiggle in concentration as she read something off her clipboard. Holy crap that was cute. HOLY CRAP IT MOVED.
"Hmm? You say something?" She asked, looking above her clipboard. I rapidly shook my head no, still in a state of awe. I closed my eyes tightly. It's all a dream...all a dream... Okay... One...Two... Wake up! I reopened my eyes to see the nurse who called herself Amy looking back at me.
"What are you doing..?" She questioned, looking at me quizzically, "Are you in pain?"
I went to shake my head no, but I felt my muscles give me a quick reminder of how sore they actually were. "Y-yeah, a little..." I said softly.
"Well that's no surprise, you were pretty banged up when you got in here yesterday."
"Hold on a second, you said yesterday? I've been out for an entire day?" I asked, still studying her delicate features.
"Mhmm..." She mumbled, turning around to grab what I assumed to be a patient sheet off the adjacent wall. Peeking out from the back of her head were a set of long floppy ears the same color as her air. They laid relaxed against her back, so from the front they would be covered by her hair, unable to be seen. A bit of pink peeked out from the inside tip of her ears. A long haired white tail also poked out from the small of her back, contrasting heavily against the color of her scrubs. I couldn't fathom what was going on.
"Ears..." I whispered in awe under my breath, again not noticing that I said it aloud. Why is there a bunny girl, or at least a girl dressed up extremely well, working at the hospital..?
"What? You forget what a Lapin looks like?" Amy joked, reaching behind her head to smooth down one of her ears.
I tilted my head in confusion, "A what now?" I asked. What the hell is a Lapin?
Without missing a beat, Amy chuckled and started jotting things down on her notepad, "Apparent memory damage from injury..."
"Memory damage..." I trailed off, trying to remember the events leading up to the present, but everything seemed fuzzy.
"I actually wanted to ask you a few questions regarding your medical history," Amy asked while flipping through a few pages on her clipboard.
"Uhh...sure..." I agreed tentatively, wondering what kind of questions she could ask.
"Well..." she started, "first off, I should probably get your name."
"Hold on, what? My name? Shouldn't that already be on my medical records?" I asked, even more confused than before.
She shifted her weight uneasily, "That brings me to the next thing... we didn't have any pre-existing records on file for you. Neither did any of the surrounding clinics."
"What...? I've been to this hospital when I broke my arm a few years ago and I've definitely been to the doctor's office, so I should at least HAVE records."
"Well we've asked around everywhere and we don't have anything for you...." she trailed off, indicating I should fill in my name.
"Revan," I informed her, to which she quickly jotted down.
"I like it," she bubbled, "now, age? That is, if you can remember."
"24," I replied tiredly. I just kept asking myself why I needed to do this. I had been to this hospital before. At least I thought I did.
Content with her questioning for the time being, she clicked her pen closed and stuffed it in her pocket. "Revan, age 24, species Vulpin."
"Excuse me?" I asked, my interest peaked in what she called me.
"What?"
"You called me a Vulpin?"
"And a good looking one too," she giggled, pulling the covers back, "See?"
WHAT. THE. HELL."OH MY GOD!" I yelled, bolting upright. Despite my normal looking hospital gown, I was covered from head to toe in a thick coat of short white hair. My body apparently didn't appreciate being moved so abruptly. A shooting pain coursed through my muscles, forcing me back onto the bed with a pained howl. Amy rushed over to hold me down while gripping onto my hand tightly as I grimaced in pain.
The sudden commotion startled the figure sleeping in the chair next to me, causing them to throw off their blanket in a fit of confusion.
"Wh-Wha-? What the heck is going on?" She asked groggily, looking around the room to regain her bearings, eventually settling on my trembling body.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out!" I seethed through gritted teeth. I felt the pain start to subside as I took in deep breaths. Weirdly enough, I felt that Amy's hand on mine also alleviated some of the pain as well. I loosened my grip on her hand as I felt the painkillers kick in and the pain, thankfully, dulled. I reached my hand up to examine it in the still relatively dark room. Sure enough there was a sheen of fur encompassing my entire arm. I had little raised parts on my fingers and palm, kind of like little pads of skin, which I assumed were to help with grip.
"What the hell happened to me..?" I asked to no one in particular.
"Shouldn't you get the doctor if they react...like that?" the girl asked Amy under her breath, referring to my freakout.
Amy shook her head. "No, the doctor said something like this might happen. Some of the scans we ran on him showed that he may have some traces of memory loss, which he just clearly confirmed," She explained to the other girl who seemed to still be slightly confused with the situation.
I reached up hesitantly to feel my face and I accidentally bumped myself in the nose. I reactively snorted in surprise and shook my head. I felt again, this time a little more carefully, and sure enough I had an elongated snout that was covered in the same short white hair. I felt around more to find a pair of large, soft ears on top of my head. In between them was a patch of longer and thicker hair, but just as soft. My hands roamed down my jawline to find two large patches of long fur jutting from the bend, accentuating my apparently angular face.
The two girls just stood there and watched in confusion as I curiously examined my new body. "I mean, I didn't used to be like this... I didn't have fur or pointy ears..." I trailed off as I saw a twitching movement under my hospital gown. Pulling it to the side, a white, fluffy tail popped out from under my leg. A ring of sky blue about a foot from the tip circled my newfound appendage.
"...Or a tail..." I watched in amazement as it twitched and wagged gently on the bed. I didn't want to move to check and see if it was connected to me for fear of more pain. The realization hit me again, "HOLY CRAP I HAVE A TAIL! I HAVE EARS AND FUR AND A TAIL! What the hell...how...why?"
Both of the girls looked at each other for a possible explanation for my behavior, but soon realized they were in the same boat. They had no idea what I was talking about. Turning their attention back on me, they discovered that my fear and apprehension had quickly transformed to a fervent sense of curiosity. I moved to sit up and Amy sprang into action, "Woah there, take it easy..." She held my hand and placed her other hand behind my back, helping me up slowly. I flashed her a quick smile in thanks, quickly going back to examining my own body. I pulled my tail into my lap and ran my fingers slowly through the thick white fur, trying to comprehend how in the world it was attached to me. I traced it from the tip, over the blue line of fur to the base, where it connected to the small of my back. I gently tugged on it, checking that it was in fact attached to me. I even tried wiggling it, but I had little luck.
"I can't figure out what muscle to use to wag this thing..." I stared at it hard in concentration, but never managed to make it do anything more than twitch and not even always when I wanted it to. While I was enraptured by my newfound furry appendage, the two girls just watched me in befuddlement.
The other girl approached me timidly from my right, "A-are you okay..?" she asked quietly.
I turned to look at the other figure in the room, whom I had unintentionally ignored up until now. I was more concerned about how I grew fur and a tail like these people, if I could even call them that. It was the first time since I had woken up that I got a good look at her. She had an odd look on her face. Her head was tilted slightly to the side and her brow was furrowed. A small frown of confusion turned the corner of her lips down ever so slightly. It was like she didn't know how to process my reaction.
Like I noticed before, she was relatively short and had very white hair; not even platinum blonde, white. I could now see that she also had purple streaks in her simple braid that fell past her shoulders, details previously hidden by shadows. Short grey fur adorned the upper part of her rounded face above her vibrant blue eyes and down the top slope of her short muzzle tipped with a flat, black nose. The sides of her nose and the area under her eyes had pristine white fur that went down her neck and under her plaid blue flannel. A patch of slightly longer grey fur stuck out from the corner of her jaw like mine. Little black dots were sprinkled sporadically throughout the grey parts of her fur that sloped over her forehead and down her neck to her back. Tufts of darker fur tipped the top of her ears while white fur poked out from the inside of them. She looked just like a female lynx.
I shook my head with a chuckle, "No... if I was okay, I wouldn't be in the hospital, now would I?"
She fidgeted with the end of her braid, "Not exactly what I meant..." she seemed hesitant to say what was on her mind. She seemed to think over what she wanted to ask, breaching the subject gently.
"More like...did you hit your head or something?"
"Maybe..?" I thought over the series of confusing events for a moment before continuing, "I don't remember a whole lot of what happened to get me in here. I did remember a whole lot of lightning though..." I trailed off. She didn't seem satisfied with my answer and I didn't blame her. I was as confused as she was, but she seemed to drop the subject for the time being.
"So that's what it was!" Amy exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "We couldn't figure out what was wrong with you. We thought it was most likely was severe electrocution from the signs of extreme muscle fatigue you were displaying, but you showed no signs of the usual burning that accompanies it." She started quickly scribbling down notes on her clipboard.
While the bunny was busy, I turned back to the lynx, "By the way, were you the one who brought me to the hospital?" She nodded, her snout scrunching into a smile, eyes closing in a squint. It was kinda cute honestly.
"Yeah I was driving home when I spotted you lying on the side of the road getting soaked by the rain. You were knocked unconscious and you didn't seem to be breathing, then you let out a huge cry of pain. I rushed you here in my car as fast as I could." She tentatively placed her hand on my covered knee for a moment with a smile before pulling back to sit in her chair.
"Thank you... Really...You probably saved my life." I gave her a sincere smile before furrowing my brows in thought, "Speaking of which, I don't believe I know your name."
"Celeste," she replied with another grin, "and yours?"
"Revan," I returned with a grin of my own which quickly turned into a grimace. My muscles apparently didn't like sitting up for so long and they were making sure I knew. I laid back down with my tail still in my arms. Even if none of this made sense, it was oddly comforting to gently stroke the sleek fur of my newfound appendage. I could definitely get used to cuddling with this.
"Awe, now isn't that just adorable," Amy gushed, placing her hands over her mouth in a futile attempt to cover her smile.
"Oh hush, it's comfy," I retaliated, continuing to run my fingers through it.
Celeste stared at me like she had something to ask, but was hesitant on asking it. She kept opening and closing her mouth repeatedly, of which I quickly took notice. "You need something Celeste?" I asked, tilting my head to look at her directly.
"Well..." She began slowly, "why do you seem so... surprised that you're a Vulpin?"
I thought for a moment how to reply, deciding on going with the truth. "I guess it's because that before I woke up in here...I didn't look like this at all...In fact, none of you did. Nobody had fur or tails. It feels like one giant dream...and when I wake up, everything will be back to normal." I dropped my tail and stared at it, studying it closely for any sign that it wasn't real.
"I have no idea what you're talking about... Everyone around here is an Animus, even you. Always has been." I had no reply to that, she seemed so convinced. Still...there's no way this could be real. I stared at her for a moment, thinking of something to say, but with a dejected sigh I turned my head back to stare at the ceiling. I could feel Celeste's sympathetic look from my right, but I didn't pay it any attention. Celeste wasn't believing my story one bit. Amy probably didn't either, but she was much less vocal about it. I didn't blame them. I would have myself pegged as crazy too.
After a moment, Amy cleared her throat. "Well, I'll let you rest up, I can get the rest of the measurements in the morning."
"Right, yeah, thanks Amy," I smiled and attempted a wave, but my body quickly shot that idea down. I shut my eyes to rest, but I suddenly remembered I should probably call my boss in the morning. I should let him know what happened and that I'm okay, but I would have to miss a few days of work.
"Hey Amy?"
She had dimmed the light above my bed and was halfway out the door before she stopped and turned around. "Hmm?"
"Where are my clothes and phone and stuff?"
She gave me a smile, "Your jacket, clothes, and phone are on the table whenever you want them," she pointed at the neatly folded pile of clothes on the small round table by Celeste.
"Okay, thanks again Amy, you've been a big help."
"Anytime cutie," she giggled with a wink and left the two of us in the room.
I yawned loudly and carefully scooted back down to a laying position in my hospital bed. I pulled my warm tail up into my arms once again and got comfy for the night. I looked over to Celeste who seemed to be doing the same.
"You know you don't have to stay here right? You made sure I wasn't dead. I'd say that's more than enough already."
Celeste looked back at me, but quickly looked away. "I just wanted to keep you company. I know how lonely hospitals can get when you're alone." she protested quietly, curling up in the blanket.
"Don't you have a family to get back to? A significant other or something?"
She didn't answer that time. Instead she turned away and pulled the thin blanket tight over her body. "Goodnight Revan."
I sighed, inwardly cursing myself for prying too much. I shouldn't have been complaining when all she wanted to do was keep me company. Who was I to turn down an innocent offer like that? I closed my eyes and gently cuddled into my strange new tail. I hoped that when I woke up, everything would be back to normal...