Liberation: Oscar's Story

Chapter 22: Pt. 3

"Thanks, Samiya." Ananya stared at the stool below her dangling feet. "Um, could you..."

"I've got you." Oscar approached her again but hesitated when he came in line with Samiya. He glanced at her. "Can I?"

She clenched her pen. "Okay...yes...you can." She huddled over her notepad.

Oscar nodded and put his arms under Ananya's shoulders and lifted her from the bed and onto the ground. He kept his arms under her until she patted his biceps, letting him know that she was stable.

"Can you walk? Does it hurt anywhere?" He held her arm.

"It's just an ache. I can still walk." Ananya took a tentative step and paused to allow the pain to sink into her foot. "Yep, I can still walk." She took another step and winced. "I'll be fine..." I'm not a weak person. I can push through this.

"Ananya, don't force yourself." Oscar sighed. "I don't want you to worsen your injury."

"What injury? Apart from getting a tetanus shot, I'm fine." She tried to smile, but the pain shooting up her spine and into her brain caused her gaze to become unfocused and her smile to take a crooked, almost insane shape.

"No, you're not." Oscar held her in place. "Let me carry you, Ananya."

"You can't carry me. I can't support my neck."

"Then I won't carry you bridal-style. Can I carry you on my back? Gravity will hold your head forward, won't it?" He pleaded with her.

Ananya chewed her cheek. "Oscar, seriously -!"

"Ananya, you're going to strain your body and it won't be good." Samiya interrupted her. The usually calm-faced woman had a fixed look of determination etched across her features. "I understand that you want to be able to help yourself, but accepting that you need the aid of another person doesn't make you helpless. In fact, accepting aid makes you as an individual stronger, because you're acknowledging your physical state and helping your body recuperate at a faster rate. So stop being stubborn and please, just take the Alpha's help."

Ananya was speechless. Oscar was speechless. Samiya was embarrassed.

"I...what I meant was..." she started to say.

"Okay." Ananya relented and smiled with a small huff. "You win. Doctor's orders, I guess." She winked at Oscar. "Will you be able to carry me? I'm sure I'm heavy."

He laughed. "My dear, you underestimate the strength of a werewolf." He strode toward her and knelt. Ananya wrapped her arms around his neck and he stood, locking his arms under her legs. "Is this okay?"

"Yes, it's fine." She rested her cheek on his neck. "Thanks for knocking some sense into me, Samiya." She gave the blushing doctor a cheeky thumbs up.

Samiya nodded. "Um, yes, well...yes," she mumbled.

Oscar hoisted her up on his back. "Where to, your Highness?" He teased her.

"I don't know. Where would you suggest?" She ducked her head as Oscar crossed through the doorway, entering the clear hall.

"Would you like to go home for the day? I can ask Karsten and Cai...no, they have their punishments. I'll take you if you'd like."

"I..." Ananya faltered. I don't want to go, though. "Er...could we maybe sit outside? I know Samiya said to rest, but I can still work on the garland while resting, can't I?"

"I don't see any harm in that. I'm feeling much better now, and before you say anything, werewolf metabolism is faster and stronger than a human's. I'll go pick the flowers for you to use." He smiled. "I'm glad you're enjoying your time here, Ananya. I'm...I'm glad that you didn't want to go..."

"I love it here. It's so homey and lively! It reminds me of the tenth district. I...I also didn't want to leave you too." Ananya kissed the nape of his neck. It's the antithesis of Mausi's home...I don't want to go to my apartment to relive the isolation of my adolescence. She shivered.

"You certainly have a way with words, don't you?" He held her tighter against him, quickening his pace down the steps. "Or rather, a way with your mouth."

"I never noticed." She kissed his hair. "Is it alright?"

"It's better than alright. I only wish I could return your affection."

"When I get down you can." She closed her eyes momentarily, and when she opened them, at the entrance of the hospital, she saw to her astonishment that the entire pack had crowded at the doors. They were silent and solemn, and when Oscar stepped out into the sun and set Ananya on the ground, they bowed in sync like a falling row of dominos.

"We apologize for our hostility and distance. Our assumptions of humankind were wrong and unfair. Please forgive us." They dropped to their knees while speaking in harmony. "Please forgive us, Luna."

Ananya blinked once, then twice, then several times, stunned by the large display. She regarded Oscar for advice, but he merely shrugged and nudged his chin in the direction of the bowing wolves.

"Um..." she began slowly. "It's...it's okay. Just...let's just try and all be friends now, okay?"

She was met with a chorus of cheers and an amalgamation of "thank you" and "Luna". Observing the uproar, Ananya could no longer feel the pain that had been meandering through her digestive system. She smiled and clapped her hands. Perhaps she had found a new place to belong. 

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Oscar was not happy about Ananya's accident 😅but the pack seems to have accepted her. Why does Samiya fear Oscar so much?