Horizon

Chapter 10

Al helped me get back onto my feet...and when I say helped, I mean he struggled. As an anthro I was pretty heavy. I wasn't fat, but I just had a lot of mass. Once I got back onto my feet, Al moved me towards the gurney.

"Just relax, while I go get the serum," Al ordered, as he stepped away.

"Is it going to hurt?" I asked

"Yes!" Al hollered back from across the room.

Nervousness took control my body, as I waited for Al to return with the serum. I waited there, like a child waits for a dentist to come back and drill into their teeth. Wondering what it was going to feel like, a few thoughts came into mind.

Al returned holding a vial filled with red liquid in front of me. "This is the serum," he explained. "All I have to do is inject it into, or near, the wound, and the serum will do the rest. Its purpose is to expedite the healing process, and have you completely healed within minutes."

"How does it work?"

"It works the same way that platelets start to create scabs on your body. For your arm, the serum will grab at the broken, and ripped, parts of your body. It will pull at them, and stick them back together. The reason it's so painful is because the body isn't supposed to heal so quickly. When gathering everything that had been broken, it also bonds them as if welding your body back together."

"Whoa,"

"Whoa indeed. Thomas used to inject himself just to gain some more pain tolerance. If I were you, I'd try that too. Once you're healed, of course."

"If you had one for 'Thomas' tolerance, then you would be taking it daily."

"Heh...yeah, Thomas can be a little too wound-up sometimes, but you know he's right about most things. That just makes tolerating him that much worse."

"Why do you do it?" I asked. "Tolerate him, I mean."

"He's family, to me. Now, you are too," he replied. "Now, lie down and stay still."

I gulped, as Al prepared a needle for the serum. It was a very large syringe that looked like it had been shared by drug addicts...or used to kill someone. I closed my eyes, and silently prayed that it was a clean needle.

"Uh...you know how to use a needle, right?" I asked, with a nervous chuckle.

"Well...sure. I'm not a doctor, but I think I figured it out," answered Al.

"That's very reassuring."

"Relax, Hank. Of course it's going to hurt. It'll hurt like death, but it'll only be for a few minutes. Once you get a few of these serums under your belt, then you won't think too much of them. I think you're psyching yourself out."

"Just...Just give me an example. How bad?"

"It's kind of hard to describe since I've never done it before, but based on how Thomas described his first experience. Imagine breaking your arm in every place possible, and then burning it with a flame thrower until it's all melty. Then take those melty parts and weld them crudely back together. I can't even imagine how it's going to be for your face."

My stomach felt heavy as Al prepared to stick me with the needle.

"I guess doing it quickly is the only way, right?" I asked.