Finally Awake

Dakar knew exactly what had happened to her. She had received too much of his wolf vibes into her totally human body and her system couldn't cope. But what he didn't know was if it was going to wear off soon or won't wear off at all. What if it kills her, he asked himself.

He took just two steps and was already by her side. Crouching down, he looked over her and carried her up. She seemed lighter than her normal self and his heart raced. Leaving his bow, arrows and the other baskets, he began to run back towards the mountain house. He would have ran faster on all fours but couldn't because she would fall off.

As he ran, he got angrier with himself. He kept asking himself questions. Why couldn't he control himself? She was angry because he was hiding something and she had every right to.

Why did he let Dojo out? He cared about Avril so much and didn't want to think about what could happen to her. He tried as much as he could to surpress the guilt and anger and reach the mountain house as fast as he could.

Sure enough, he reached it in thirty minutes which was half the time they used to get where they were.

Racing past the statue, he entered the entrance to the house and literally flew up the stairs because of how fast he was running. He opened the door to her room and entered carefully, so as not to bump her against the wall.

He laid her down on the bed and looked at her bleeding arm. The wounds were deep and she was loosing blood. He rushed to the kitchen and came back with warm water in a bowl and a towel.

He sat down beside her and with his big paw, he began to clean the wounds. He managed to wipe out the excess blood all over her arm. He then used a spare towel he brought to dab the surface of the injury. The more he wiped out the blood, the more it seeped out. But he was conversant with wounds and knew how to treat them.

He left the room and came back minutes later with some leaves, a liquid in a small clay cup and a brown powder in a plate.

He cleaned off the blood and immediately applied the brown powder before it seeped out again. The powder surpressed the blood flow and he had the time to squeeze the leaves in order to get the juice out. Each squeezed leaf, he pressed unto the wound until the claw marks were now covered fully with juicy leaves.

Next, he rubbed the whole arm with the oil in the cup and made her windows open for fresh air. Taking one last glance at her, he left with his things. As he walked to the kitchen, he saw that her blood had trailed the floor from when they entered the house. It had also dropped all the way to the mountain house. This made him worried, he would have to prepare a blood tonic to feed her with when she wakes up. If she wakes up, a tiny voice whispered in his mind. He frowned to that and made his way to get a rag to clean the blood.

He didn't eat throughout that day. He couldn't bring himself to do it when he felt he had hurt his only source of hope and survival. The thought of Avril dying, kept rearing its ugly head in his mind and he couldn't even think straight.

Every hour, he kept checking on her to see if she moved. But she was as still as a log of wood. Even her breathing was light, as if it was fading.

When she didn't wake up for two days, he began to panick even more. She was getting paler. He deviced a means of keeping her body hydrated by inserting a straw in her mouth, through her lips. He would then pour little amounts of water from a small teapot into the straw and wait till it slips in to her throat.

He also kept dressing her wound which no longer bled.

Finally, on the fourth day, she stirred and made sounds. Dakar was elated and his spirits rose high. The evening of that day, she opened her eyes while he had gone to husk coconuts.

Avril felt weak and dry when she awoke, with indescribable pain in her whole body. She closed her eyes few seconds after opening them because of the light. After about a minute, she opened them slowly and looked around her.

It was the middle of the day, the sun was still shining overhead and she couldn't figure out why she was still in bed. She hardly took afternoon naps because of how busy she would be with Dakar, out on the island.

She tried to sit up but couldn't so she gathered energy for about two minutes, then pushed herself up. Her arm felt very heavy, she glanced at it and gasped as she saw fresh wounds. She then remembered how she got them.

“Dakar” she croaked and looked around her room, as if he would be somewhere in the corner.

She felt the need to pee so she stepped her feet on the cold floor. Gathering energy, she stood on her feet and took gentle, slow strides towards the wall of the bathroom.

“Got to pee” she mumbled under her breath and the wall began to split. Over the months, she had mastered the whole mountain and found out it responds to desires. So she just had to tell it what she wanted, and it would obey.

Once, she hid from Dakar during hide and seek by muttering “I need somewhere to hide” at the back of the mountain. A small cave formed in the rock and she hid in there successfully. When she returned there hours later, she couldn't find it.

After using the bathroom, she walked to the sink and poured cold and fresh water on her face with her healthy arm.

Before turning back towards her room, she heard dim sounds coming from there. She knew it must be Dakar and she quickly moved towards the wall which began to creak open. Suddenly, she stopped and so did the wall.

Avril remembered again, how she got injured and the excruciating pain and heat she had felt. She got nervous immediately. A part of her was scared. Scared of Dakar and what he might be. Another part of her, wanted to walk through the mountain wall and gaze at his eyes again.

With a deep sigh, she moved forward and the wall split completely, revealing a worried Dakar who was standing on all fours.

They stared at each other for long seconds, both not knowing what to say to the other.

Finally, Dakar gave a low growl. A growl Avril interpreted as relief.

“Avril” he called, calmly. She cracked a smile and moved out from the bathroom, with the wall slamming shut behind her.

Dakar stood rooted in his position as she passed by him to sit on the bed. He couldn't believe she had really woken up. He had hope again.

“What happened?” Avril managed to ask, her breath was too heavy.

“You...I...we were...it's just that...uhmm” he stuttered and scanned the floor as if the right words were there.

“I remember the forest” Avril stated and Dakar looked up at her. His ears fell and he fell to the floor, sitting with his hind legs straightened in front of him.

“I'm sorry. It was my fault. I snapped. I got angry and couldn't control myself. I'm sorry I hurt you” he pleaded, sincerely.

“I made you angry. I said stupid things. I'm sorry” she apologized and lowered her gaze to her laps. Her healthy arm was still holding onto her injured arm.

“But what happened?” she asked after an awkward moment of silence. “To me...when I ran from you, I mean” she added. She didn't want him to think she was asking about what he did to her. She, herself, wasn't ready for that news yet.

“Oh, ehm...you fainted. You've been out for four days” he said, rising up to stand on two legs.

“What? Four days?” Avril asked, sounding really surprised.

“Yes. I was so worried. Worried I'd lose you” he pronounced and that happened to create a very soft spot in Avril's heart. She flushed and bit her lip to stop herself from turning pink.

“Are you hungry? You should be. You haven't eaten for days. I'll make you something soft so your body system won't reject it. How about avocado pudding? I have fresh coconut milk to use”

“Sounds nice” she said and he made a smiley face

“Stay here, I'll be back soon” and he hurried away through the door.

Avril couldn't stop smiling. Deep down inside her, she knew it. Dakar did care about her.