The Case of the Bored Doctor

[Deathy]

... | SIMON WHAT | ...

... In a coat of gold or a coat of red, a lion still has claws, And mine are long and sharp, my lord, as long and sharp as yours....

"Nice subtlety, guys. I can feel your questions invading my personal space." Her voice was like beach water left in the blazing afternoon sun, evaporating and leaving nothing but salt. "I don't suggest the methods used to get rid of it. It's not pleasant, or FDA approved, I imagine."

Well scratch that off the possible escape plans list, things were in a bad enough state as it was, no need to push his obviously terrible luck and make the whole situation infinitely worse. Just occasionally turning into a giant cat and being able to smell his neighbours burning toast from the end of the street was enough for Simon, thank you very much.

I dunno, anything that the FDA doesn’t approve off sound like it would be fun. The Beast was defiantly mocking him, no way it would encourage its own destruction surely.

Sticking with the ignore everyone’s sarcasm plan, Simon made no comment as he pulled the bottles out from the cupboard. Invading her personal space with questions about how that would be achieved in a less dangerous manner would probably be considered rude anyway.

"Oh look at that, seems like the tiger has finally found his bite instead of his roar,"

“I will roar all I want thank you very much” Simon grumbled at the floor while he spread the towel out to his satisfaction. He really needed to try and do something about the damage that his floor was about to suffer.

But if you really want I could bite

Shut up, that sounds gross.
Oh it would be

Your disgusting

"Simon, unless you want a horse to trample you flat I suggest you stop with the names,"

Simon blinked and looked up from the bottle, lid held loosely in his left hand, “No, I would not like a horse to trample me flat. Why would I want a horse to trample me flat you cra-, stu-, person”

He flung the lid at the trash can in the corner where it failed to enter and bounced off the edge and pinged in the opposite direction, Simon stared at it with annoyance, one thing to go right, one thing.

“Well want do I call you then” he asked voice sounding like a disgruntled house cat that had been punished with the squirty bottle, turning back to the girl, “ok, I’m going to start pouring now” and with that he tipped the water over the wound, letting it pour out in a small, but steady water fall. He needed to get the blood and dirt washed away from the graze before he could get a good look, so that he could decide how bad the damage was, and if there was any chunks of gravel or shrapnel to remove.

"I, uh... don't know," Came the slow, slightly buzzed response, "A little bit, I suppose, but I can't tell compared to the... rest of me."

He stopped pouring for a moment and turned to observe his other patient. She looked a tad dazed and slightly lethargic, but that was to be expected he supposed. Blood loss would do that to a person, at the least she was still keeping pressure on the wound.
“That sounds good, means that most of your tendons survived. Which if you don’t have any special hoodoo healing powers anymore is important”, he turned back to Ash’s leg and began pouring again, “means that your arm will still go, which is something you look for in an arm, I assume”

... But now the rains weep o'er his hall, with no one there to hear....

Lyrics from 'The rain of Castamere' by George R.R. Martin

[RacingBelle]

Ashleigh

~Don't stand up, they'll shoot down the first one who tries.
Try to change the world, they'll think you're out of your mind.~

My eyes slid open at the sound of Jisa's voice. I let my eyes slid over to where her tired, bleeding form sat on the bed.

"Dammit, Ash," Jisa sighed. "Look, I don't mean to snap but we're both bleeding and tired. I don't know if you noticed but I'm not invincible or unshakable and when I get scared, I lose my temper."

Again the witch's words came floating back into my mind. "Your Jisa isn't invincible." Those words always came back to taunt me no matter how much I tried to forget them, the witch, and the two times that she had called me into her presence. That sentance repeated on an endless loop while I tried to think about how to respond to Jisa's apology.

"Don't worry about it," I said, unwittingly repeating Jisa's earlier words. Then, eyes widening in realization, I stammered, "I mean I get it. I just..." I just don't want to lose you, I wanted to say but I didn't. I couldn't. I searched wildly for words to finish the sentance that expectantly hung in the air. "I know this is my fault. You wouldn't have gotten hurt if it wasn't for me. I'm sorry, Jisa."

I glanced at her briefly before lowering my eyes again. No apology I could ever make would be enough to make things right. I owed her my life twice now. I owed Jisa a lot actually. She's given me a place to stay and food to eat when I was only a stranger to her. Jisa offered me her friendship and help when she could have turned away and ignored me like I knew she could so easily do. I very grateful and incredibly lucky that I had ever met her.

Once again Jisa's voice brought me out of my thoughts. "Nice subtlety, guys. I can feel your questions invading my personal space." The panther-shifer's voice held just a trace of amusement and none of her usual sarcastic bite. But it cheered me a little to hear just that faint bit of amusement. After all, Jisa had to be okay if she was still trying to make wise cracks right? "I don't suggest the methods used to get rid of it. It's not pleasant, or FDA approved, I imagine."

In a way, Jisa's totally Jisa answer to our silent intruding questions revealed a bit more about her. I knew Jisa had been through some ordeal, it was obvious through her scars and the way she acted after all, but her answer only confirmed my guess. But it doesn't confirm how...shut up Ash. That might not even be true! I chased those stray thoughts away about what happened in the park. I didn't want to think about that, not now.

I turned my attention towards Simon who continued to fuss with the towel he was spreading out carefully on the floor beneath my leg. I bet he didn't want to ruin his perfectly clean floor with my blood and whatever was in that bottle....he did say it was salt water right?

The horse inside me again tried surging to the front at Simon's nearness. Predator! Run!it shrieked again, as if I didn't know already. I was getting too tired to soothe the pathetic beast that was apart of me. I understood why it was so uneasy around Jisa and Simon right now compared to all the other times I had been with them. To my other half I was 'trapped' inside a small room with two predators while hurt and weak and I should be doing my absolute best to get away from them. It didn't matter if Simon wouldn't hurt a fly or if Jisa was the closest friend I had, and worse off than I was, all the horse seemed to register was that both of them were two of the world's top predators. The increasing stress and pain did not make it any easier to fight the shift that tried to overwhelm me every time one of them made a move that was threatening to the prey animal, which seemed to be every five minutes.

I realized that I had again drifted off when I heard a ping. I watched at the lid failed to enter the trash can and bounced off in thee other direction. I couldn't bring myself to make a smart retort or even snort at Simon's failure. I didn't even want to laugh at Simon's offended stare, which I would usually find comical considering that this was after all Simon and only he could get offended at a lid. It's not like it was the lid's fault for not making it into the trashcan, it was Simon's.

Already I could feel my muscles stiffening throughout my entire body. They were protesting, telling me that I hadn't galloped in weeks and so the today proved to be too much too soon. More than anything I felt my right leg throb. How in the world did I manage to hurt the same leg in two different ways on the same day? Only you Ashleigh, only you.

"Well, what do I call you then?" the good doctor asked. I could tell that he was highly offended but in a way that only a person who was trying to salvage his pride could.

I let the silence in the air become thicker as I thought of an answer. What could he call me? Ash seemed like the only thing people called me these days. Ashleigh seemed to be used only by my parents and for some reason I now decided that I didn't want that to change. So I threw Simon a bone. "Fine. Call me whatever you want. It doesn't matter at this point." I paused for a second, realizing that I had just given him a feast instead of a measly bone, "But Ash would probably be the best thing to call me. Call me Princess or something again and I'll trample you."

I know I was being rather difficult but honestly, now I was just tired and realizing how stupid and childish I was being. I needed to grow up some and there was no time like the present.

"Ok, I'm going to start pouring now." With that Simon tipped the bottle. Out flowed a small, steady waterfall that cascaded over my wound.

My leg jerked, jarring my ankle, and more pain flooded my body as salt invaded the wound. Involuntarily, I flung my head back and it thumped against the wall. I tasted blood as I bit my already swollen lip I bit my lip to stop a sharp cry that swelled in the back of my throat. Despite my effort I couldn't help it when a high pitched yelp escaped my lips.

Shifting, I was shifting. The horse was convinced the predator, Simon ironically, was now attacking and it had to get away now. My jaw clenched, fists curled as I fought back once more. No, no, no. I managed to somewhat keep hold of the shift, stopping it halfway. I panted, trying to calm down. Deep breathes now, Ash. The pain was starting to abate, fading as the initial shock from the solution was gone.

My head fell to my chest as I slumped in the chair, the shift faded entirely. "Sorry," I muttered through clenched teeth. What else could I say? Nothing.

~Revolutions start when someone crosses the line.~

(Inspired by Jisa! Lyrics from Superchick's Cross The Line.)