Chapter 7 Drool

Disclaimer: the characters and all recognisable situations belong to Stephenie Meyer - this is a work of fan fiction, except for the legends and histories of the Quileute and the Makah that, of course, belong to them. I pay my respects to their gods.

Thanks to BanSidhe for betaing.

Another day the hospital had moved Rose to hang in a Stryker frame. She hung in it, taking the weight off her body and stopping bedsores. She faced the floor now. When Seth visited, he got down and crawled under her and read her more children's picture books; holding the pictures up for her to see.

She drooled on him.

"Whoa girl, you drooling on me there? If I had known you liked me earlier…" he chuckled.

"God that reminds me of that awful school excursion… have I told you that story? We had to go on this long bus trip… I can't even remember where we were going now… I was about 15 I guess… and I had to sit next to Sarah… Sarah Spottedwolf… she was beautiful and I had the biggest crush on her… for years… so, at any rate, I am so nervous… I can't even bring myself to speak to her… I cannot say two words to her… I know… it's hard to believe that I could not talk, but I could notspeak to her… I was pretty tired from patrol and the bus was hot and stuffy and I must have fallen asleep… and you will never believe it… but I drooled on her shirt… my head must have fallen over to the side and the poor girl ended up with this… puddle… of Seth drool… all over her shirt…"

"Took me a long time to live that one down… I can tell you… hey, are you okay? You don't smell right." He reached for her face and she felt hotter than she normally did to him.

He ran off to get one of the nurses. Laura came back with him and confirmed that Rose had a fever. It took them a little while to work out that she had contracted a urinary tract infection. It was probably from the catheter. Her mother confirmed that she was susceptible to them. The doctor authorised for her to be put in adult diapers instead.

He brought her Christmas lights even though it was not Christmas. He hung them right in front of her eyes. The nurses were amused by his efforts, but he told them that if Rose didn't want to see them she would have to shut her eyes.

She started to blink to stimulus.

It was a huge step.

It had been ten days since the accident. He knew if she stayed like this for thirty days or more, her recovery prospects deteriorated.

Seth didn't feel as un-sinkably happy as he used to. He still bounded into the hospital a complete force of nature; all happiness, zest and sunshine. He brought hope, noise and enthusiasm with him. But, that was only for a couple of hours a day. He was like an intense therapy session for Rose.

The rest of the time, and outside of the hospital, he had got more serious. He was darker. It was as if all his happiness went into those intense hospital sessions and he had none left over for himself.

He asked Quil for help. He started to do some work on weight lifting. Quil helped him without comment. He taught him how to use the heavy punching bag. Seth loved it. Some days he really felt like beating the shit out of something and now he could.

Quil didn't ask and Seth didn't tell him. He can't lift as much weight as Quil does, but he has something to work towards. It gave him an aim in his own life when so much else was a mess. He knew Quil had used all this stuff early on to work on his body with the aim of attracting more women. Seth didn't want women; he just wanted to lose some anger and some frustration.

He ran more. He usually ran into Forks to see Rose.

He took Pititchu for long runs. Quil worked at the ABC garage now and she liked to go running through the forest, so Seth repaid Quil for his weight training, by taking her for a run. He found her complete animal behaviour a refreshing change. He didn't want to be too human now anyway. Her mind was so uncomplicated when they were phased it was restful for him to share a mind with her. And because she was so wolf-like herself, she didn't ask about any stray too-human thoughts that crossed his mind while they were both phased.

He didn't realise that the workouts were adding more muscle mass to his frame. He had filled out and he had grown into that gangly body. He was as tall as Paul was now at 6ft 4.

He stopped hanging in the nightclubs; he stopped the casual sex. It all seemed pointless while Rose was lying in that hospital bed.

The pack all gave him a wide berth. His head was just full of the accident and his guilt. They gave him space and time; it was all they could do. But everyone was worried about him.

He did his patrols. He did his pack duties. It is his school work that he let slide.

Jake lectured him. He was missing school. Not handing in assignments.

Jake was upset.

Seth argued with him. "Don't give me that shit Jake, we all know we have a life sentence here," he said. "What does it matter?"

"Not all of us… I do… because I am the alpha and the heir to the chief… but there is no reason why you couldn't go to college if you wanted to."

"What?"

"You are smart enough Seth, but this behaviour… skipping school… this isn't smart… it's notyouSeth. What the fuck is going on?"

Seth decided attack was the best form of defense. "What… are you going to alpha order me Jake?"

Jake's head pulled back sharply. "No Seth. You know I don't like doing that unless I really have to."

That was exactly what Seth was banking on. So, he missed that one, but it was a close call. He would have to be more careful in the future.

Bella asked Paul what they could do. "It's Seth," she tried to explain, "I mean Seth… he is usually so happy and so..." she struggles for a word, "…light-hearted. And now he is all sad and dark… it's just not right."

Paul hugged her. "I know baby. We can't do anything. He blames himself for the accident and this is his way of atoning, you know."

"Well I don't like it," she said, as if her opinion made a difference.

Paul chuckled. "It's a hard way to do it… but maybe he is just growing up. Something had to happen to make him join the real world."

Bella thought on Paul's history and just how fast he had to 'grow up', as he put it. "I guess you are right but there is just something wrong in a world with an unhappy Seth."

Seth quizzed the medic on the reservation, Charles Eastman, about coma patients, nursing and therapy strategies.

He avoided his mother. It was not hard as she lived in the Black house now. She was busy helping nurse Billy Black, doing her tribal council duties, working and spending any spare time with Charlie Swan. They were getting more serious every week.

He kind of missed her, but he didn't know how to talk to her about this. Maybe if he was living with her, she would have realised sooner that he was not happy; that he was not his usual self. But she didn't.

FF_2154210_ - 15/03/2011 01:19:00 PM

FF_2154210_ - 30/08/2011 09:07:00 PM