Whiskers

Pulse

(Racquetball likes to chase the hose. I think the hose won.)

Palace felt horrible. No, worse than horrible. His throat throbbed sharply the entire way around and he felt surprisingly cold. 

"He's starting to come back around but we should still have a few minutes. Get more heat blankets on him." A female voice said from somewhere that sounded very far away. "He's still in shock." 

Weight was quickly added to his body but if they were heat blankets, they didn't make a difference to him. He was freezing and his muscles ached from shivering so hard. 

"Everyone clean up and get away from him now, please. He should be fully awake soon. We'll continue the shock treatment once I can be sure that it's safe to be close to him again." The woman's voice echoed in his mind. He wanted to chase her away from him, but all he could manage was a flick of his ear. 

His mind went dark for an unknown amount of time before a gentle pressure moving between his ears woke him. He let a low growl slip from his panting mouth, but the hands barely paused in their attention. 

"It's alright, Pal. Your Knight is finally here." An unfamiliar voice said soothingly. 

He wasn't soothed, but he couldn't even lift his head, so there wasn't much he could do about the man. His ears picked up several other people as he lay there, immobile, making him wonder if he was still locked up in the empty room. 

"Is he still shivering?" Asked the female voice from earlier. 

Silence answered her, but judging from the sigh and sudden sharp pain he felt in his shoulder, the quiet had earned him a shot of something. 

"Keep going. Even if he isn't responding much, he still got that growl out. Do whatever you can." She said, making Palace want to growl again, but he couldn't find the strength. 

He heard several footsteps running around him but his eyes refused to open to even allow him the luxury of seeing who was messing with him. 

"I was hoping that it wouldn't be too deep or infected, but luck wasn't on our side at all. We should have gotten to it sooner." The woman said. 

The hand gently petting his head stilled, its fingers curling softly into his thick, dirty fur. 

"Can't we give him more antibiotics?" The raspy voice near him asked. He had a feeling that whoever it was that was speaking right then was also the one touching his head. 

"We already dosed him with triple the recommended amount." The woman said. 

A pair of footsteps came closer then and another hand was added to his coat. It stroked down along the blankets covering his side, then returned to just below his neck to continue the action. His frustration mounted as the second hand refused to go away. After about five minutes of attention, he managed another quiet growl. 

"There we go. Keep at it, boys. Hopefully with some more attention and another bag of fluids, he'll be doing a bit better." The woman said, making Palace want to groan. 

He really didn't want to do anything, but if showing that he was awake would get the people to stop touching him... 

Grunting, he gave his head a dull shake, feeling both hands retreat from his body with the action. 

"Alright, both of you back off for now." The woman said, making the person next to him get up and hurry away. 

When he didn't hear a second person do the same, he let out a slightly stronger warning growl. 

"Get away from him. Now." A dominant male voice ordered. 

There was a moment of tense silence before he heard whoever was close to him slowly get up and start walking away. A faint yet familiar scent met his nose with the person's movement, but his foggy mind couldn't quite place it.