CHOICES

Disclaimer: If they were mine I would die of happiness and so no longer own them

ANSWERS TO REVIEWS

The lunatic who cares: Hey you! You reviewed! Yay! ::gives cookie:: Glad you like it. Yesssss... Read more Pratchett, preciousssssss...

Watchman: They are kinda short, aren't they? I feel ashamed. Really. Ahem. My apologies... Think of them as scenes rather than chapters, maybe? Also for stories about Angua I recommend Rozi's stuff, she's written some great ones.

Yap: Oh, I can stop it there. Heh, I'm evil sometimes. Glad you liked it... Yes, eventually Vimesey will be supportive but it's gonna take a long time to make his point... Otherwise it wouldn't be angsty, now would it? Muhaha.

Not your average: Freaky! I'm in year 14 and don't do English but other than that it's a pretty accurate description of me. Cool, I am not alone! Glad you like it.

Mercator: Yeah, this chapter was too short... It's just there was nothing left to say and I didn't want to move on to the next stage just yet. Keep the suspense going. I'll try and make this one a bit longer, just for my poor pain-filled admirers!

LottieRebel: How could anyone hate Carrot? I thought the whole point was that that was physically impossible. Hehe anyway, glad you like it so far...

You are loved, all of you

CHAPTER FOUR: AWAKENING

The next week was just the beginning of a never-ending nightmare. Vimes had given orders that no one was to set foot in the room, not even Igor, and no one was to help if asked or to offer help. She was on her own. At first Carrot had simply been unconscious and she'd been able to get some sleep, on and off; then the fever had begun.

As a werewolf Angua didn't know the first thing about medicine, because it wasn't necessary. Having no idea whether any of Igor's stock would help, she was forced to go back to basics; cold water, damp cloth on the forehead and so on. She didn't know anything else that would work, and in his condition it was probably more dangerous to try anyway. That dealt with the fever as best she could.

When the convulsions started they were worse than she had thought and she had to physically restrain him once or twice. No easy task; he'd been strong enough as a human to knock out a troll, and now he was becoming stronger. Three long sleepless days of struggle followed before the fever broke suddenly and the convulsions stopped, leaving both patient and 'nurse' exhausted.

More than a week since it had happened, she was half-asleep in her chair when she was dimly aware of him moving. Slowly opening her eyes, she glanced worriedly over at the bed just as his eyes opened. For a long moment she was frozen, caught midway between overwhelming relief and irrational nervousness, before finally managing to speak softly.

"Carrot?"

He groaned thickly and blinked before closing his eyes again and managing a response. "What... happened?"

She'd been rehearsing possible conversations over the past few days, but there really wasn't an easy way to say, 'Well, I bit you and turned you into the undead.' In the end, after a too-long pause, she asked a little warily, "What do you remember?"

"I was patrolling. I heard an explosion..." he said slowly. "I think... something hit me?"

"Something did hit you," she replied, "about half the alchemist's guildhouse. You've been unconscious for over a week."

He processed that. "So... why don't I feel badly hurt?" he asked slowly, eyes clouding. Carrot was not stupid and he was obviously beginning to realise that something wasn't right.

It took her about three seconds to realise that trying to stall for time whilst she thought of a way to tell him was not going to work. Taking a deep breath, she said quietly, "I bit you."

That earned her a blank stare filled with slowly dawning understanding before he suddenly glanced down at his forearm, at the red and inflamed-looking bite. Hoping like hell she hadn't really seen an expression of horror in his eyes, she tried to fill the silence, wishing she didn't feel so nervous.

"You... you would have died if I hadn't. Even Igor had given up."

She bit back the words I had no choice. She had had a choice. Admittedly it was to let him die, which she was pretty certain she wasn't physically capable of, but there it was. He still hadn't said anything and now she was starting to be worried. Shifting uneasily, she caught his scent; too many jumbled emotions for her to get a clear idea of what he was thinking or feeling. Damn. Okay, no point waiting. Might as well get it over with.

"Carrot? Carrot, say something..."

He lifted his head and gave her a completely blank stare. She knew that one, and used it herself frequently. No emotion and no feeling, just bland attention. Finally he looked away, turned away completely actually, and his voice lacked any inflection when he did speak.

"I'd like to see Mister Vimes if he's around."

Not what she'd been hoping would happen. The first part of her wish had come true; he had woken up and seemed likely to live. The second part, that he wouldn't hate her, was obviously going to be harder. Suppressing the urge to whimper, she said uneasily, "Carrot..."

He interrupted her, still gazing at the wall. "I said I'd like to speak to Mister Vimes."

Somewhere deep she felt a faint flare of anger. She had saved his life, after all. But mostly she just felt numb, too exhausted emotionally and physically to do anything other than reply listlessly, "Okay."

Standing, she left, resisting the urge to look back. Pushing open the door and walking out into the crowded main room, she was aware of the silence so intense it had almost a physical force. Every conversation had stopped and every watchman stared at her. "Someone tell Mister Vimes he's awake and wants to see him," she said tonelessly into the sucking void of silence before walking out the door.

So the one who had saved his life ended up slinking away, hated and feared, tail metaphorically between her legs and somewhere between anger and hurt. Finally stopping on her way back to her lodgings, she stared at the empty street and muttered, "Welcome to hell, Angua," before slinking off wondering how she was going to get through this.

END OF CHAPTER FOUR

Well, what do you think?

Frosteh