Huntress

Chapter 58

Sometimes I knew who Keiko was, sometimes I didn't. But I was thankful that I had accepted this state. Otherwise, coming to in the bathtub with a strange woman shampooing my hair could have been a frightening moment. It was frustrating and often confusing, but at least she was a comforting presence. She would hum or sing songs softly. She never pulled on knots when brushing my hair and could braid my locks without making them too tight and knew the perfect temperature for a bath.

Ajax would help with the carrying as the room where I stayed was upstairs and the main living space was on the ground floor. For the most part, I became a vegetable in front of the television. When the little girl watched her shows it was even worse, like holding on to the tether of life was even more difficult when I didn't have something to focus on.

But today was different because the woman with the stethoscope was back and we were all gathered in the living room.

"Well, have you found anything?" Keiko prompted while stirring a mug of tea in front of me.

"It's complicated," the woman said, almost wincing as the words left her mouth.

"If any part of this has been straight-forward, I have yet to hear about it," Ajax groaned from his arm chair. Though he wasn't necessarily as involved as Keiko with the smaller things, he did to all of the lifting and had taken on the role of my movement and mobility.

"As you know, we have been using EEG tests to monitor her brain in the least invasive way possible. So far, it has been hit or miss. Somedays we can see more activity than others. Over the past two weeks, there hasn't been any signs of decreasing in the activity, so, for now, we think it has stabilized and isn't getting immediately worse."

"But we don't know for sure," Keiko added.

"No," the doctor replied honestly. "And if there is a delay, we have no way of knowing." She turned her focus to Ajax then. "Have you heard anything from her mate? I would like to ask him some questions about the initial signs and when he started noticing symptoms."

Ajax snorted then. "I can give you his number, but at this point, I'm pretty sure he has thrown his cellphone into a river."

"No other packs have reported him to be nearby?"

"No."

She sucked in a low breath. "You don't think he's trying to go feral, do you? Isolate himself as a wolf until the wolf completely takes over? I have heard of a few people taking that route."

A black wolf with red eyes stared at me.

"God, I hope not. But I can't say for sure. This is...something awful. No wolf should have to go through losing their mate, not like this, not when they are the cause," the man replied. Ajax. It was Ajax.

But I was slipping.

Another black wolf with eyes that shone like moonlight. Eyes that had been given to him as a blessing. I called out to him. He didn't turn to me.

"She's not exhibiting signs of stroke or epilepsy or other brain disorders. All of the human methods of medical treatments have come up flat so far. Our next line of action is through magic."

Yes! Magic. The purple woman had told me that it was magic. I knew that. But even if I could tell them that they were on the right track, would they believe me? How would I even begin to tell them about her, the beautiful woman with her small marbles and big plans?

"Do you know what kind of magic?" Ajax asked. "Sirens have powers from magic beyond ours, then there's fairies, vampires, witches. Is it possible that someone has put a curse on her?"