As I reached the door, a gray-haired woman appeared at the end of the hallway.

Wu, who had been racing down the hall, skidded to a stop. "Mom!"

"Yes?" The woman answered, peering down the hall toward me quizzically, then toward Wu. "What's going on? Wu, who's this?"

"There's something I haven't told you," Wu told her seriously. "This is, uh-"

"Lloyd," I supplied, because I'm an idiot who didn't think to give a fake name.

"Lloyd," Wu repeated, nodding. "See, Cryptor and his gang cornered me today, but this guy helped me get away from them. He saved me. But they shot him!"

The woman's hand flew up to cover her mouth and her eyes popped. "Oh no! Come in, come in! Who can we call for you? Your parents, the police, some kind of-"

I winced as another throb of pain surged through my shoulder, and Wu's mom's whole face changed. Suddenly, she was calm and steady.

"Wu, take Lloyd to the bathroom," she ordered. "I'll get my things and be there with you in a moment."

I hesitated over the threshold, but Wu's worried face made me step in and follow him a little ways down the hallway to a small bathroom. Feeling dizzy from blood loss, I decided to sit on the edge of the tub before asking, "Uh, what kind of things is she getting?"

"Medical things," Wu explained, hovering over me awkwardly. "Mom's a veterinarian. She knows her stuff, and a lot of it works on people too."

A veterinarian, coming to work on a birdboy. How ironic. It was so funny, I found myself grinning, but that was probably also the blood loss. Sometimes it made everything seem goofy.

Wu's mom entered the bathroom holding a large first-aid box. "We should get you something to replace the fluids you've lost, Lloyd. Would juice be okay? It'd help your sugars too."

I shrugged and immediately regretted as a fresh wave of pain shot through me. Through gritted teeth, I mumbled, "Juice is fine."

"Wu? Could you get Lloyd some juice?" His mom asked.

Wu bobbed his head and practically ran out of the room.

"Something tells me you don't want me to call your parents," Wu's mom murmured, fishing through the first aid box.

I shook my head. Not like there were any parents to call, but she didn't know that. A lump was forming in my throat. She didn't know anything yet, but she was about to know everything.

"No police, either," Wu's mom guessed, pulling out a pair of scissors.

"Nope," I agreed. "Don't think they need to know. It probably just grazed me."

"We'll see. May I cut your hoodie so I can get a good look?" She asked.

I nodded, and she began cutting away, gently tugging at the fabric so it pulled away from my injury. Soon the hoodie was off and I was left in just my sleeveless shirt. I felt cold, and not just from being wet and hoodie-less. Any second now…

"It's messy, but it doesn't seem too deep, it just-" Wu's mom began, then her voice trailed off. She frowned. "Huh."

Here it came.

Wu came back into the room, holding out a glass of juice. I snatched it from him and gulped it down, fortifying myself for what was about to happen.

"What in the world-" Wu's mom muttered, moving slightly to peer around my shoulder. I knew exactly what she was seeing, what nobody else except the whitecoats, the Serpentine, and the Flock had seen.

Wu's mom pulled back. Her mouth was set in a frown, but her eyes were wide and concerned. "Lloyd. What is that?"

For a moment, I didn't say anything. I thought through how I'd gotten to the bathroom, how easy it would be to get out of the bathroom, out of the house, out of these people's reach. Out of any chance of getting help.

"That's a wing," I offered, then clarified as Wu frowned, "That's my wing. I think the bullet didn't just get my shoulder, but my wing too."

Gripping the edge of the bathtub tightly, I unfurled my wing slightly so they could see better. Even out of the corner of my eye, I could see the dark red-brown patch of blood spreading across my wing. Yup. Definitely hit.

Wu's jaw dropped, and his mom's eyes got even wider.

"How-" Wu started, then his voice died. He cleared his throat and tried again. "What- I mean, is it- why-"

Wu's mom leaned in again, looking around my shoulder. Putting her hands on either side of where the bullet had struck my wing, she carefully extended it the smallest bit.

I gulped but let her.
"I see. Yes, your wing certainly took some of the damage," Wu's mom murmured. "The shot may have even hit the bone."

Letting go of my wing, she leaned back, eyeing me thoughtfully.

I was only able to meet her gaze for a moment before I had to drop my head to look at my toes. Oh, Nya and Cole were going to be furious, and rightly so.

Wu's mom placed a finger under my chin and gently tilted my head back up to look at her. Softly, she said, "It'll be okay."

"Okay," I managed to whisper back.

"First, we'll need to get everything cleaned up. Then we'll need to staunch the bleeding," she said, taking on a more brisk tone of voice. "Are you up to date on your tetanus shots?"

I blinked at her. "Um. I know what they are? I've never had one though, I don't think."

Wu's mom quirked her mouth in a half-smile. "Well, we'll need to do that too. Let's get to work."