Pack Mentality: Wild at Heart

Chapter 9

Becky hadn't meant to sleep. She wanted to kiss Seth and talk to Vida about Maggie and kiss Seth again and hopefully get out of the bed. As comfortable as it was, she hated being stuck. It reminded her of when she had been forced to stop wrestling, of how helpless and mired she had felt. But Seth was warmth and coziness and home, all things she was desperately missing, so it had been so simple to curl up with him and listen to him murmuring how everything was going to be okay. They were lies and she knew it, but at least they weren't hurtful lies; he was trying to make her feel better since the medication obviously wasn't.

When the scent of coffee tickled her nose, Becky tried to sit up, but Seth's arm on her hips held her down. "Coffee," she protested, tapping his arm.

Seth's eyes were hazy when he blinked and she had that moment she always had when they woke up together, like she just wanted to pull the cover over their heads and hide from the world for an hour, a morning, a day. "Let me sit up first," he said, "and I'll help you."

As much as Becky wished she didn't need the help, she didn't want to push it. The jolts of pain were coming more frequently now, but she didn't want to tell Zenna that. The doctor seemed surprised that she could feel anything at all. Maybe I'm immune to witch medicine, Becky thought. "Thank you," she said as Seth steadied her while she sat up. "And thank you for the coffee."

Zenna set the steaming cup on her bedside table. "It's weaker, but still hot, so be careful." Then the doctor stepped back to the foot of the bed. "Did you tell Seth about your diagnosis?"

Becky shook her head. "Can you, please? You can tell him everything. I don't mind."

The doctor frowned a bit at that, and Becky wondered if Zenna was worried about Seth lashing out. "Okay. Well, all the bruising and such on the face should heal without any problem. Her neck still looks horrible, but there wasn't as much damage as we first thought, which is a good thing. Her right arm should heal in time, but the left one will always be a bit weaker now, I'm afraid." She took a deep breath and looked up at her sister before continuing. "The stab wound will take a while to heal, but it missed any major organs, thankfully."

"And the leg?" Seth rested a hand on Becky's knee. "I know it looked bad."

"And it is." Zenna gripped the rail at the foot of the bed. "That appears to have been Maggie's primary focus. I'm guessing that Maggie was already wounded at that point and she figured if she couldn't kill Becky, then she was at least going to maim her." Zenna let out a long breath and drummed her fingers on the rail. "She bit through muscle, tendon, bone, you name it. Large chunks of Becky's thigh are missing. To be blunt, if she remains human, she will almost certainly lose the leg."

It was Becky's second time hearing the prognosis, but it didn't make it any easier. Watching Seth absorb it was even worse. "If she remains human?" he echoed. "Will she... not?"

"She lost a lot of blood, Seth," Vida interrupted. "And she had numerous bites. It's... not an ideal combination. Maybe if she hadn't lost so much blood, her body would be able to resist, but...."

Becky reached for her coffee and Seth immediately steadied her hand. "How's Maggie?" she asked. She knew she shouldn't feel bad for defending herself, but she was still curious about the young werewolf.

"You don't need to worry about her," Vida said soothingly. "She's being held at a separate location, and she doesn't know where you are."

Seth squirmed a bit beside her and Becky rested her head against his shoulder. "I'm not worried about that. What... what's going to happen to her?" Maybe it was a strange concern to have, especially given her prognosis, but she couldn't help it. She had been young and fiery once, going down paths that weren't good for her. Thankfully Finn had steered her right, but she knew not everyone was fortunate enough to have someone like that in their lives.