Survival

21. After the Storm

When she finally woke there was a masked, piercing ache in her chest, as if her brain knew that there was something wrong, but the connection between the pain and it just wasn't registering right. The world was artificially bright, light refracting off of white walls and making Stephanie's eyes swim. Her mouth was as dry as parchment paper and her tongue was stuck to the roof of her mouth. Blinking, she tried to sit up, frowning at the pinch in her arm and the tug at her ribs. Upright, she looked down at the IV stuck into her arm and then wondered at the tube lodged in her torso. Each breath that expanded her lungs hurt with an intensity that she dismissed because, for some reason, she felt like she'd been in more pain before.

Swallowing past a dry throat, she glanced around the room. Sitting in a chair beside her bed was Daniel. He had listed to the side, his head weighing him down until he had slumped in the chair and given in to sleep. The contours of his face were soft, steady and lined with persistent worry. Exhaustion and the effect of painkillers were already beginning to wear on her awareness and will, so she sat back against the headboard once more.

She wanted to ask him if he had found who had done this, though she knew the answer already. It would make it real if he said it to her out loud, however, and she needed to know. Stephanie needed to know that it was time for her to pick up and move again, even if no one but her knew that yet. Her ghosts were coming back to haunt her, as they always did. The thought nearly drowned her, speeding up her heartbeat as noticed by the beep of the monitor.

Guiltily, she realized that she was still staring at Daniel with something that was leaning far too close to fondness. It was going to hurt to leave. The fading feeling that she could have grown up here and gotten to know people, maybe finish high school and- who knows? It was that fairy tale life that people like her could only dream of.

Daniel shifted in his sleep as if sensing her gaze on him and opened his eyes. He ran a hand over his tired face and stretched. He blinked and then noticed her, freezing instantly.

"Stephanie?" he asked quietly.

"Hey," she smiled. "How are you?"

He laughed incredulously. "You're lying in hospital with a tube in your chest and you're asking me if I'm okay?"

Stephanie's smile faded and she shrugged. "I've not been aware for most of this. It's the people waiting around who get the joy of worry and stress, not me," she said. "Where're your parents and Lily?"

Daniel stole a look at the clock thoughtfully. "Probably talking to the police or working out payment and Lily's gone to stay with a friend for now."

"The police?"

"Well, yeah, you were stabbed in case you didn't notice. That's the type of thing the police are for."

Stephanie tried to ignore the fact that her knuckles had whitened she was holding her hands so tightly. "Yeah? But what about-"

"The fact that we're werewolves?" He grinned at the shock that showed plainly on her face at his straightforward phrasing. "We'll just have to be a little more careful about that, but it'll be fine."

She nodded. "When can I leave?"

It was his turn to shrug. "Not too long, I'd think. They say that even though the wound was bad enough to make your lung collapse and blood to collect in there, it's stopped bleeding into your chest and has kept clear for a good while. They'll be able to take the tube out soon and discharge you once they've closed up the wound." He smiled. "Guess that's the werewolf blood working."

She managed a short laugh. "Yeah." Stephanie felt the knot in her chest loosen just enough to let her breathe, but she still felt on edge. "I'm sorry."