Sandy Morrison and the Pack of Pussies

Chapter 10

Sandy woke up slow, her memory unwilling to catch up and bring her to a proper explanation of her inclined position. She recalled Trisha’s bloody wounds and opened her eyes.

Her voice came out raw and dry as she called, “Trisha!”

And then she stopped panicking because Trisha sat on the side of the bed that Sandy lay in, a warm smile stretching her lips. Trisha’s hand covered Sandy’s shoulder, keeping her from sitting up.

Sandy relaxed, and then she became aware of how heavy her body felt.

Before she could ask what happened, Trisha said, “That’s really touching, thinking of me the moment you wake up.” She took a pitcher of water from the nightstand and a glass, filling it while Sandy scooted up the bed to prop herself on the wall. “I woke up and thought of peeing. But then I totally thought of you. Totally.”

“Nice.” Sandy drained the glass, and then made a face when her stomach gurgled. Her head hurt, and she felt like she was starving. She looked toward the bedroom window, and the sun seemed to be setting. “Was I out all night and all day?”

“Try again,” Trisha said. “You were out for three days.”

“What?”

“Maggie got you upright to pour broth into you. She kept claiming you were awake, but I told her you weren’t really aware of any of it.”

Sandy continued to stare, but the words still didn’t make sense. “Three days?”

“Yeah, you really went all out to rescue me from the cats.” Trisha’s mouth twisted as she made a disappointed face, but the sentiment didn’t reach her eyes. “Then again, now I am a cat. Just a different breed.”

“What kind?”

“We don’t know yet. Apparently, I’ll start transforming with lunar phases, and I won’t know what breed I am until the first shift.”

Sandy’s mouth shifted into a tiny smirk. “My money’s on Siamese.”

“Kyle says so too.” Not sharing Sandy’s amusement, Trisha shrugged. “Anyway, we’re at Ray’s. He’s a friend of Kyle’s, and he’s really dreamy, but totally spoken for. And Darlene lives here too, so if she catches you looking, she pounces.”

“I’ll contain my disappointment over not having a man of my own.”

“You already have a man anyway. He’s finishing his last week of college, but when he isn’t in classes, Kyle is your second shadow.” Trisha poured Sandy another glass of water. “You wait right here, and I’ll bring you some soup.”

Sandy opened her mouth, worried that Trisha might attempt cooking. But Trisha waved her down. “Don’t worry, Darlene left chicken soup in the crock-pot, so all I have to do is operate a ladle.” She giggled and added, “I had trouble with it the first time, but fortunately, I looked for instructions on the bottom and figured it out.”

Sandy smiled at the joke and settled her head on the wall. Her eyes closed, and she lost track of time until the door opened again. She hadn’t quite slept in the time it took Trisha to prepare a tray of food, but she had no conscious thought or awareness of the passage of time.

Trisha settled the tray on Sandy’s lap, which held a bowl of soup as well as a package of crackers, a box of juice, and a box of raisins.

Trisha waved at the mostly wrapped food fare and said, “See? It’s all organized in boxes. Even twits like us can’t screw it up.”

Sandy snorted. “That’s comforting. I was worried about starving with you as my nursemaid.”

Trisha made a fake sneer. “Just for that, you’re on your own catching your soup dribbles.”