Owen's POV
"I'm sorry Owen, it'll be at least two more weeks until she can be released," Dr Wu says.
"What?! Don't you have some sort of medicine or...... weird concoction you've brewed in your crazy lab?!"
"She's on our most hi-tech meds. Be glad she's got fast healing genes in her DNA, or else it would have taken at least six weeks."
"Uuuuugh. Fine!" But as I turn to go, Dr. Wu stops me.
"Owen, seeing as it means that much to you, why don't you go and see her, I can't really keep that much from you." The surprise must have registered on my face because he chuckles and opens the door to where she's quarantined. "Go down the corridor and take the next left. You should see her."
As I approach the small quarantine area she's put in, I can't help but grimace. The enclosure is made of rough steel fixings, about 4 meters in height and 5 meters in length. 3 of the walls are white concrete and the fourth is steel bars, with about a 5 centimeters gap in between each bar. There was a soft pillowy thing for her to lie on, rather like a dog bed; a trough for water; and some empty steel baskets which I assumed was for food. At least she was eating. Considering Phoenix was 2 meters tall and 3 meters long, tip to tail, the enclosure isn't the most...... roomiest.
She must have heard my footsteps because as soon as I come near, she opens her eyes and bares her teeth towards my general direction. I whisper gently to her, soothing her, and as she realizes it's me, she calms down and shuffles towards the bars, her claws hooked onto the bed to drag that with her. She settles it in front of me and sits on it. Wow. The intelligence of these animals is just amazing. But if what Maisie says is true, it's the intelligence of humans combined with the Raptors.
She lets out a throaty call and it's obvious how frustrated she is. But the fire.... The fire that I loved so much about her from the first time I laid eyes on her, that fire is still there. She's still fighting.
And then I realize. I need to help her. I'm the only person who knows enough about her to do this. And to do this, I need to know the truth. And I need to be able to trust Phoenix.
I gently speak to her, but as I'm talking, I inch towards her cautiously, and slip my hand towards the bars, touching it against the steel. She stares intently into my eyes with her big amber eyes, and then she puts her nose into my hand. Only after that do I let out the breath I didn't know I had been holding.