Finding The Wolf Within

6

Andy woke in a lot of pain and was unsure as to where he was. He tried to move one of his arms only to find it didn't fully respond to him. Pain shot up the same arm the more he tried to move it, so he gave up. He could hear a man's voice. It sounded as though he was giving someone directions, as though he was a doctor or nurse. Andy turned his head in the direction of the voice and was happy when that didn't cause him more pain. As he turned his head, he could see that he was no longer in the ship, but he was in a room with a bright light on the ceiling, the walls were a light green color, and the cabinets on the far wall were silver. And in the bed next to him was Brian, who was unconscious and was being held up by a woman as two others wrapped bandages around his chest. The man instructed the woman to lay Brian back down as he continued moving the bandage around him. Once Brian was back on the bed, the woman picked up a blade and walked around his bed.

As she moved around to the other side of him, he moved his head back around so he could look at her. He wasn't sure what it was, but he felt as though he never wanted to stop looking at her. She noticed his head movement and that his eyes were open once she stopped at the side of his bed. A smile crossed her face, "Well, Hello."

"Hello." He answered in return, happy to find that his voice worked still.

The room fell silent as the other two noticed he had woken up while they had been working on Brian. Her eyes shifted up quickly as she looked across the room in the direction of the others before looking back down at him.

"Can you tell me your name?" She asked.

"Andy and the other guy is Brian." He said. "Is he ok?"

Her smile grew slightly, "Yes, we had to sedate him so we could help him and before he hit someone else again. He will wake up again in a few hours and, with any luck, be a little calmer."

Andy laughed slightly and then winced at the pain, and before he could say anything more, a man was at his side and said, "I am going to give you a smaller dose than I gave your friend, but I am still going to knock you back out while we reset your bones and get you cleaned up. It will be easier and less painful for you." Then Andy felt a small prick in his neck, and everything faded away again.

***

Andy wasn't sure how long he had been out, but he could tell he was still in the same room as before when he woke again. Even though he was still in some pain, he wasn't in as much as he had been when he first woke up. He was now in a slight incline on the bed but was still lying on his back. He looked down at himself to find that his right arm was wrapped up in something similar to a cast but not made of the same material, and he could tell it would be easier to remove later and not need a saw. Like Brian, he had a bandage around his chest, but his didn't cover near as much of his as Brian's. He also could see he had some pretty deep cuts that had been mended back together with something that looked more like glue than actual stitches. Finally, he looked over and saw that Brian was still out cold and had some drool running down his chin. This made Andy laugh a bit, but he quickly stopped himself because laughing hurt a lot.

Andy looked around him, finding that the room he was in looked very much like any hospital room you would find on Earth minus all the electronics, but he knew they had not crashed on Earth. As he looked to the left side of his bed, he found that the beautiful woman that he had seen earlier was sitting in a chair next to him. This brought a smile to his face and made him happy to see that she had not been a dream and was, in fact, real.

He watched her sleep, noticing that she was wearing the same thing he remembered her having had on. She had a fancy dress on that had been pulled up and tied around her waist, a pair of black pants that looked as though they might be slightly too big for her, and a pair of boots that looked like they had been new. She had her head leaned against the back of the chair and her arms folded across her stomach. His eyes had moved slowly down her as he had taken in the sight of her sitting next to his bed. As his eyes moved back up to her face, he jumped just a little as he realized her eyes were now open and was watching him.

She smiled at him, "Hello Andy, I'm Nessa."

"Hello," He said, not knowing what else to say.

"Are you in pain? Do you need anything?" She asked with concern moving over her face.

"I will be ok. There is pain but not any more than I can handle." He said with a small smile.

Her smile returned to her face, "Good." She set up further in her chair. "Dr. Waters said you and Brian will make full recoveries, but unfortunately, the two humans that were in the front of your ship did not make it. We have sent them down so their bodies can be prepared to be buried as per the human retrials. If either of you would like to be there, let one of us know, and we will see about getting you there."

Andy found her use of humans odd. She spoke as though he and Brian were not human even though they very much were. And the fact that there were humans on this planet struck him as odd. How was that even possible. Along with those, about a thousand other questions came to him, but he chose to start with the simplest question he could think of. "What planet did we land on?"

"Phaeton, located in the Alpha Centauri System. Where were you guys trying to get to?" She asked, tilting her head slightly to the right.

This took Andy by surprise. Not only had they made it to the system they had been trying to get to but to one of the planets. But before he could collect his thoughts and answer her question, somebody cleared their throats from across the room, drawing his attention to the door. There was one of the biggest guys he had ever seen standing there in a stance that looked as though he was standing at attention waiting for orders.

"Yes, Lucian?" Nessa asked, and Andy looked back at her only to find that she was still looking at him and had not even looked over to the guy standing at the door.

"The two humans have been delivered safely to the human colony, and they wish to know if the two wolves would like to say goodbye to their friends. Also, your father asked that you join him and the rest of the council in his council room to brief him on the events from last night."

With a sigh, Nessa stood up from her seat, "Very well, we will need to send word to the humans that if they could hold off for a few more days, it would be much appreciated as not both men have woken yet. And I will meet you outside in a moment. We will head up to the council room together." She gave her orders to Lucian, all while still looking at Andy, who was very much confused. They had referred to his friends as humans and Brian and himself as wolves now. And he still had a thousand questions to ask, and with every second, he had even more.

He didn't hear Lucian leave, but he was sure that he had, and he found after Nessa's and Lucian's conversation he only had many more questions. He opened his mouth to ask his next question when she said, "I will send Mrs. Waters in to check on you and will try my best to return soon." She lightly touched his hand before leaving the room.

Andy was left there with his mouth open and a million questions running through his mind, but strangely enough, none of those questions seemed to matter to him anymore. All that mattered to him was that he hoped she would be back sooner rather than later, and he couldn't wait until he could see her again.

Before long, an older woman, he was guessing was Mrs. Waters, walked into the room with something in her hand. She was tall for a woman, Andy thought. She had greying hair that she kept pulled back on the back of her head, and he thought she was not bad looking for an older woman. "Nessa said you told her you weren't in a lot of pain, but she was sure you were lying, so I have brought you something for the pain." Before he could respond, he felt her poke something into his shoulder and felt a cool sensation as she pushed the medication into his arm. "There we go. It shouldn't knock you out again but may make you sleepy." She smiled at him and started to turn back to the door before stopping. She turned her head back slightly and said, "You must call to something inside her. I have never seen her stay with someone so long, especially when there is so much to be done." The older woman looked thoughtful for a moment before shrugging her shoulders and walking back out of the room.

Andy put his head back into his pillow, closing his eyes to rest them. Thinking about what had happened, the beautiful woman that helped save him and Brian, the conversation with her, and all the questions he had. Before he knew it, he had dozed off and dreamed of getting to see Nessa again.