Bonds Unbroken Ch. 03

As soon as I entered the rooms one of the beeping sounds on his monitors began to get faster. The doctor quickly walked over to the panels and started tapping the readouts on the machine. I hesitated but something inside me compelled me forward. I stopped when I stood next to Natham's body on the bed.

Still unsure but unable to resist I slowly put my hand down on his where it rested upturned on the blanket. The monitor went wild and Natham opened his eyes.

They were the same beautiful brown that was almost black, flecks of the dark chocolate color floating in the iris. They started slowly scanning the room and its occupants before locking onto me. One guard stood by the door, facing in while the other stood outside and faced the hall. The doctor was to one side and behind his head but somehow I knew that Natham could tell he was there. It was the wariness of his shoulders and the closed expression on his face. His fingers wound through mine, his grip almost painfully tight.

His eyes kept flicking to the guard by the door and then back to me. I could feel the tension in his grip and the monitors weren't settling down like I would expect. The heart rate was still racing. I had to get him calmed down, and fast. He was using up energy that he needed to heal.

"Doctor Pannar, is any of this necessary right now?" I asked.

"No, nothing that can't wait a little while. I could use a bit of a rest and some coffee. If there is a problem, press the call button here to get a nurse. If it is serious they will send someone for me instantly." Natham hissed at the doctor when he came into view. He moved restlessly on the bed and mewled as pain flashed across his face. I crooned at him and he stopped moving, staring at me again. I watched his nostril's flare as he took in my scent.

"Thank you." I briefly glanced at the doctor as he walked out of the room but then shifted my eyes back to Natham. He was staring back with equally intense look. I heard feet shifting and looked over my shoulder to glare narrowly at the guard inside the room.

"You can leave now too."

"But Mishtar told us to not let you out of our sight," he protested.

"I am on the 4th story of a building with bulletproof glass windows and no locks on the doors." I pulled a gun out of the back of my pants with my off hand and had it leveled at him before his pistol had a chance to clear his holster. I looked at him with one eyebrow arched and he flushed.

"You can watch the hall from outside and if someone breaks in through the window somehow it will only take moments for you to get in here. I think I can defend myself that long. Not to mention Mishtar isn't in charge, I am. Now get out!" I said sharply.

The Falcon's mouth was a white line as he pursed his lips but he saluted with his fist to his chest and walked backward out of the room, shutting the door behind him. I waited for it to click before I turned to the lynx lying in the bed.

"I don't know what is going on Natham," I moved up closer to him and sat on the edge of his bed, "but I don't like what I've heard." Natham flinched away from my angry tone and dropped my hand. I was upset by the wounds on his body and the gaunt look on his face but that didn't excuse my tone.

"Velaku?"

His voice was tiny and almost broken, his expression completely confused. I moved to touch his face and he jerked away from me, mewling at the pain from his wounds.

"No, no, shh, it's okay. I won't hurt you." I made an effort to smooth out the roughness in my voice from my anger and anxiety. "I am not mad or upset at you, but at the people who have hurt you. I hate seeing you like this." I watched as a tear slipped from his eye. I wanted to wipe it away but I really didn't want to make him jerk away again. "Shhh, try not to cry, I am sure none of these machines would like that and then we'd have the nurses in here."

He was staring at me, his head cocked as far as he could manage. He didn't seem like he really understood what I was saying but he had stopped trying to move away from me. I laughed a bit ruefully.

"Alright, I wouldn't like it either," I said.

He blinked.

"Where am I?" His words were slow and halting, a bit slurred from the anesthesia and pain medication but I understood what he said.

"You're in the hospital in town. The human surgeons took care of your injuries but you need lots of help to get better still. We're going to get you healthy again. Don't worry, you're safe."

I could see him struggling to understand what I was saying. "Safe?" he asked.

"Yes, you're safe. I promise, no one will hurt you here."

"Nooo," he said slowly and shook his head as he shakily brought one hand up to brush against my wing. "Are you safe?" He spoke slowly and as distinctly as possible. I smiled at him. Starved, injured, just out of surgery, and doped to his cute pointed ears and he was worried about me.

When he smiled back I saw the other signs I had missed before... his teeth, framed by dainty white points before, were now bracketed by large threatening fangs. I turned over his hand and pressed on his fingertip, triggering the release of a sharp gleaming claw from the tip. He was not furred like some of the other mammal Carthera but his skin did carry faint markings, as if he had bands of color like a natural lynx would.

Obviously Natham had matured as well in our time apart. It only reinforced my thoughts and my fears.

He didn't need to worry about them yet though, he needed to heal.

"I am very safe. I'm not alright though."

He looked anxious at my words and I reassured him.

"I won't be alright until you are better and out of here so do what the doctors say, okay? Leave all the tubes and monitor leads alone, they're helping you get better."

Natham nodded and yawned. "Okay." His eyes were barely open slits and he mewed a bit as he shifted.

He snuggled into his pillow, curling up on his side into a ball despite the injuries in his back. I stroked my hand down his smooth hair and he purred in a deep throaty sound that got fainter until he fell asleep. I sat looking at him for a few more moments before I quietly got up.

I shut the door softly behind me, instructing one of the Falcons to stay and guard Natham. I stopped at the nurse's station and asked to be kept informed of Natham's condition and any changes immediately. The female tried to protest based on my age but my guard quickly informed her of exactly who I was. She blanched, readily agreeing to whatever I wanted.

News of my father's death had rocked even the humans in our area.

I couldn't help but think about her reaction on the way home. I would be very glad when the final stage passed and I was fully matured. I was not sure of exactly when that would be, my change being so unusual nothing was certain. I could see the differences in my body each day and a new maturity had settled on me, my mind growing in leaps and bounds. Normal mated Carthera, at least in my clan, were fully matured within days after their wings were sung out and they bonded with their mates.

In the midst of everything else I was fiercely praying that I was not to be stuck in some quasi-adolescent stage. Would I ever have a true mate or was destiny just screwing me over?