Dilemma
Chapter 7
By Leanna
Panthro woke in pain and confusion, last thing he remembered was the fire and being unable to breathe. As he became more conscious he heard the soft beeping of machines and something covering his face, he started to panic, reaching up he pawed at the oxygen mask. "easy now, you're back at the lair, Keep that on," Sabar said gently taking his hand away, "you've breathed in a lot of smoke and are suffering from smoke inhalation".
The panther tried to speak but his throat was too sore to get out what he wanted to say, his lungs felt like they were on fire. He opened his eyes and looked at his niece, "Kale," he managed to croak out with a lot of effort.
"Kale is going to be fine, everyone is home safe and sound" She said with a reassuring smile and nodded to the next bed.
Panthro turned his head and seen his son lying quietly on the med bed next to him, oxygen mask covering half his face, "Leanna has gone to get the girls settled down, she should be back shortly, so you mister behave and just lay there and rest" the panther tried to move but his body protested.
"Stay still" his niece warned him."Just let me do my job, now please just lay and rest" she said and leaned over her uncle, "or I shall put you out for a week "she winked, Panthro just looked at her and scowled.
"And if she don't, I will" Pumyra stated walking over to the panther's bedside "that was a incredible brave thing you did, you saved your children, but it was also quite foolish running into a burning building, "Pumyra said looking over the panther's chart, "but I can understand why, you're quite lucky and so is Kale, If you hadn't of gotten to him when you did he wouldn't of made it, "she said setting the chart down and stood by the side of the bed and placed her hand on Panthro's shoulder, "he'll be fine, he's a resilient young man , just like his father".
Panthro nodded his thanks and motioned for a piece of paper and something to write with. Pumyra got him a note pad and pen, Panthro started to write and showed the puma, "They are still putting the fire out and so far no sign of Sele" Pumyra answered the question the panther had written down. "But don't worry; Tygra and Bengali are out at the site, helping with the investigation, they'll let you know when they find out what happened; now as far as you go, you have second degree burns on your arms, legs and third degree burns on your feet, which will heal with time and treatment, you breathed in a lot of smoke which is why your throat and chest are sore" Panthro nodded his answer, "so tonight keep the oxygen mask on, it will help clear up your lungs" Pumyra stated, "and we'll re-evaluate you in the morning, so try and rest"
Panthro wrote on the notepad and showed the puma, "ok, ok, I know you won't rest until you see Lea, she'll be here soon, but try and rest until she gets here" Pumyra said and nodded slightly to Sabar who injected something into the panther's IV line while he wasn't looking. Panthro slowly closed his eyes as the light sedative took effect.
Pumyra walked over and checked on Kale, his vitals were improving greatly over the past hour when he had been first brought in, Pumyra was pleased with his progress, he too had inhaled a lot of smoke but would recover in time, Pumyra turned her head as the door to the med bay opened and Leanna walked in, the lioness looked worn out, "Leanna you should be resting" Pumyra said as the lioness came over and stood by the boys bed.
"Later," she said with a dismissive wave of her hand, then leaned over and softly kissed her sons forehead, "will he be ok?"
Pumyra smiled and nodded, "he'll be fine; we gave him something so he'll sleep well into tomorrow"
"And Panthro? "Leanna asked looking over at her mate.
"He was awake for a few minutes, but we gave him something to make him sleep, it's for the best right now, he's going to be in a lot of pain when he fully wakes up" Pumyra nodded, "how are the girls?"
"Frightened to death, but I did manage to get them settled enough so they went to sleep. Snarf was kind enough to stay with them," Leanna said quietly, "I don't understand what happened"
"We'll get to the bottom of it Lea" Pumyra said, "I'm just happy you guys are ok"
"Me too Pumyra, me too, I came very close to losing my entire family tonight" Leanna said running her fingers through Kale's jet black mane.
"These two will be sleeping for the next six or so hours, why don't you do the same? "Pumyra commented, "You'll be no good to them if you're run off your feet"
The lioness sighed and shook her head, "can't sleep, not until know what happened to Sele, if something has happened to her, we'll be crushed, she's been with us since the twins were tiny cubs".
"And it's not like her to leave them alone" Pumyra said sharing the lioness's concern.
"No," Leanna said shaking her head, "Not unless, something made her leave them alone"
"How's your hand?" Sabar asked.
"The salve is helping thank you" Leanna said holding up her bandaged hand. "So did you tell him?" Leanna asked nodding to the now sleeping panther.
"No," Pumyra said shaking her head, "best wait until morning when he's had a full nights rest".
"Foolish man, running into a burning building bare foot, what the hell was he thinking" Leanna said shaking her head.
"He was thinking of his children, you know he would give his life for them" Sabar said placing her hand on Leanna's shoulder.
"That I am aware," Leanna nodded
"We've given him something for the pain and will try our best to save the toes on his right foot"
"And the left foot?" Leanna asked.
"Doesn't look good, "Sabar answered, "luckily, years of martial arts training has toughened and pretty much dulled the pain sensation in his feet, he never even realized how badly burned they were, he was concentrating on saving his cubs, nothing else mattered"
"I know you will do your best, "Leanna said and got up and walked over to the panther's bedside, she could hear him softly snoring over the light hiss of the oxygen mask and didn't want to wake him. She looked down at his bandaged wrapped feet and nearly burst into tears, she remembered the strong smell of burnt flesh when he had collapsed in the sand thankfully it was dark and she couldn't see the chard flesh. But she would never forget the smell.
She had seen the note pad and what was written on it, lying on the side of the bed by the panther's hand. Even when he couldn't speak he was quite adamant in written form about seeing her. She softly smiled and sat down on the side of the bed and placed her uninjured hand gently over his, she was always amazed at how his large rough hands always seemed to dwarf her smaller more slender ones. Without a word or movement he gently squeezed her hand.
"Hey handsome," she said with a smile as he slowly opened his amber eyes.
He gave her a slight smile before he started coughing, the lioness pressed the button that brought the head of the bed slightly up, "better?" she asked.
He nodded his head and coughed a few more times and tried to reach for a glass of water that was on the bedside table. "Let me get that," The lioness said and picked up the glass and handed it to her mate, Panthro lowered the mask and drain the glass in a few gulps. Leanna took the now empty glass and set it back on the table.
Before replacing the mask on his face, Leanna leaned over and softy kissed him, "you truly are my hero," she said softly, "you saved our cubs". Panthro just reached up and gently touched her cheek.
Even in a half drugged state nothing escaped the panther he gently grabbed Leanna's wrist and held up her bandaged hand and gave her a questioning look. "It's nothing I burned it trying to get into the car, I won't be able to work for a couple weeks but that's ok, I'm all caught upon the circuit boards I was working on" she said trying her best to keep her emotions and facial expression in check, she didn't want him to know how upset she really was, he would have enough to deal with later once he was fully conscious.
Panthro placed her hand on he center of his chest and gave it a gentle pat, his way of telling her not to worry, the lioness leaned forward and softly kissed his cheek, "get some sleep love, you'll feel better in the morning, I'll be right here, I'm going to sit with Kale, I won't be far away" Panthro nodded and closed his eyes and fell back to sleep. Leanna sat with him for a few minutes before returning to her son's bedside.
It was late the next morning before Tygra showed up in the med bay, he seen Leanna sleeping in the chair next to her sons bed, he walked over and put his hand on her shoulder "Leanna?" he said quietly.
The lioness opened her eyes, "Tygra" she said sitting up then glancing over at the boy who was still sleeping.
"Sorry to wake you" Tygra said in a low voice, "can you step outside a moment?"
Leanna nodded and followed the orange tiger out into the hall way, "What is it?"
Tygra put his hand on the back of his neck nervously," We found Sele"
"Is she ok?" Leanna questioned.
Tygra shook his head, "I'm truly sorry Lea, but she was found in the basement"
"Poor Sele," Leanna said hanging her head.
"I can assure you she didn't suffer, it all happened to quickly" Tygra said putting his hand on her arm, his amber eyes held sadness.
"She was part of the family, we are really going to miss her" Leanna said wiping tears from her eyes.
"I know you will, we all will," Tygra nodded, "we brought her back to the lair so you could give her a proper burial"
"Thank you Tygra, I will contact her family on the planet of snarfs and let them know so they can decided if they want her buried there," Leanna replied.
"The fire is out now, so we can continue investigating the cause of fire" Tygra said, "from just having a quick look around, it was deliberately set, I helped Panthro install the safety systems and I can tell you, there is no way they would have failed without them be tampered with"
"But why? Why set fire to our house?" Leanna asked, "Besides a handful of people, no one knew we were there, "Leanna said then stopped, her mind went back to the conversation her and Panthro had and then the incident at the restaurant, "oh my, Tygra, I have to speak to Sabar "she said and quickly went back inside the med bay.
Sabar was pouring herself a cup of coffee when Leanna came rushing in "Sabar, I need to ask you something"
"Ok," the Female panther said and walked over to her desk and sat down.
"When you and Thane left the restaurant last night, did you see where Katra went?"
"No, she sped off right after you and Panthro pulled out of the parking lot" Sabar answered, "wait, you don't think she has something to do with the fire?"
"Tygra said as far as he knows the fire was deliberately set" Leanna said, "I want her found and questioned," The lioness said looking at Tygra, "get Thane to help you"
"But Lea," Tygra started to say but was cut off.
"No, buts Tygra, this woman has killed Sele and tried to kill my children and because of this Panthro maybe crippled, no, you find her or I will" the lioness spat angrily.
"Crippled?" Tygra asked, "Wait, what are you talking about?"
"When Panthro and I were on the beach we were both bare foot, when the house caught a fire he just ran inside bare foot, both of his feet got badly burned," Leanna explained.
"He may lose three toes and part of his left foot, Pumyra and I will do everything we can to save his right foot," Sabar spoke up "He'll have to learn to walk all over again, we might be able to fit him with a prosthetic so he can keep his balance and help him walk some what normally"
"Does he know?" Tygra asked concerned
"No, not yet, we figured we'd let him recover from the smoke inhalation first, he's not going to be able to walk for a few months, not until his feet heal and we know exactly what's going to happen with them" Pumyra added, "the main thing we worry about is infection setting in, if that does he may lose his left foot entirely, we will start growing skin graphs as soon as he is strong enough to withstand the operation".
Tygra just shook his head "you should let Lion-O know as soon as possible".
"Let me know what?" Came the lion's voice behind the group.
"Glad you're here, "Tygra said with a slight nod of his head to his king.
"Sorry I couldn't get away sooner," Lion-O said and walked over and gave the lioness a hug, "how you holding up?" he asked.
"I'm doing ok" Leanna said still in the lion king embrace.
"Snarf is taking care of the girls, so no need to worry," Lion-O said.
"I'll bring them down later so they can visit their father and brother" Leanna said." Lion-O, I'm worried about Panthro" Between Sabar and Pumyra they explained the panther's injuries to their king. And Leanna and Tygra told him about what they discovered about the fire and the fate of Sele.
"So you think someone set the beach house on fire, on purpose?" Lion-O asked.
"I think I know who it was." Leanna answered, "A woman named Katra"
"Katra? I remember a woman working here by that name," Lion-O said, "she was part of the work crew who worked in the hanger, but she left suddenly without explanation"
"She stayed around long enough to get pregnant," The lioness said with a snort of disgust.
Lion-O along with, Pumyra and Tygra's eyebrows shot up "Explain," Lion-O replied.
"She had Panthro's child, he's two years younger then the twins" Leanna answered.
"Whoa, wait a second," Pumyra spoke up, "what?"
"It happened when we thought Lea and Kale were dead," Sabar quickly explained.
"I had no idea he was even seeing anyone" Lion-O said running his hand through his hair.
"It was a short lived affair," Leanna replied, "anyway, she's been bothering Panthro, we've been trying to figure out what she wants from him, so far she's said nothing"
"Wow" Lion-O said just shaking his head, "sorry, I'm just surprised by all of this"
"You?, I just found all this out two days ago" Leanna said crossing her arms over her chest.
"So what makes you think she had anything to do with the fire?" the lion asked.
"Well Panthro and I were talking last night on the beach after the disastrous dinner and he said he thinks he might know what Katra wants"
"Which would be?"
"his land and anything thing else he owns, if something were to happen to him, everything he owns goes to Kale, Panthro offered to put a trust fund for Katra's son, but she didn't want it, so the only thing we can think of is she wants what Kale would eventually inherit" Leanna said.
"Ok." Lion-o said with a nod of his head, "I'm with you so far, but still what makes you think she had anything to do with the fire?"
"Because when we went to dinner last night with Thane and Sabar, Katra showed up and well , it got ugly" Leanna said.
"Katra had no idea Leanna was alive" Sabar replied, "things got nasty, Leanna broke her nose and WE left"
"Lucky I didn't break her neck," the lioness growled.
Lion-O hid a smirk, he knew the lioness's temper, "OK, let's think a moment, after you left and went back to the beach house, how much time passed, between when you were on the beach and the fire?"
Leanna stood and thought a moment, "Not long, ten, fifteen minutes maybe"
"What are you thinking Lion-O?" Tygra asked.
"You seen the damage Tygra, would someone have enough time to cause the fire that did that much damage?"
"well until we go back and fully look things over, no way to tell, but I can say, It's a arson case, just need to find out how and with what" Tygra answered.
"Ok, I'll leave that to you" Lion-O nodded and turned to the lioness, "and you," He said, "go get some sleep, you look like death warmed over"
"But, "Leanna started to protest
"No buts, go get cleaned up, grab a bite to eat and get a couple hours sleep, your still in the close you came in last night," The lion said, "Do you want to upset your husband?"
"No," Leanna answered shaking her head.
"Then please do as I ask," The lion said placing his hands on her shoulders, "Someone will come get you if he or Kale wake up before you comeback".