Beep beep beep beep beep
She was so used to the sound that it startled her when she noticed it. Danielle sat on a clean steel chair in a clean white room, she supported her head on her clean paws, both held together with her clean elbows supported by her clean knees.
She looked to her right, Peter's breath was very slow, the anesthesia still haven't lost its effect and he seemed calm. His left leg hung from two hoops that came from the ceiling, plaster hid his stitches, and metal rods proctored from his leg, holding his fractured bones together.
Danielle sighed, the memory sent shivers down her spine. It brought the smell of blood, the sounds of the boars life slipping away. How long did she try to clean her paws? She thought that her fur would get bleached from so much soap, alcohol and water, but no. The gray still was the same. Her claws, her fur, her appearance, nothing changed.
But her mind had changed. Something tore with the last heartbeat of that crazed boar. She knew that she had no choice, she was in danger, Peter was in danger, hell, it was her duty. But she did take a life. She would go under investigation, could get suspended and boy, oh boy, that would spark a fire or two with the whole prey and predator thing.
"Think of the head lines: wolf goes medieval on drugged boar." She talked to herself, smiling. Danielle glanced around the empty room, just the beep beep beep beep keeping her company, she sighed once again and got up, stretching her back. Pops sounded as each of her vertebrae got into their right place, a subtle pleasure to her not-that-old bones.
She headed for the door and glanced one last time at her sleeping friend before exiting the small hospital room. Outside the movement was intense, Danielle nodded to one of the Officers guarding the door, the gazelle nodded back at her. She smelled the air. Fear.
She walked out of the hospital, she needed both air and a smoke. The noon sun scorched the street, bustling with life and movement. She inhaled the warm air and leaned against a waist high grid by a stair.
Danielle looked up to the bright blue sky, only a few clouds passing by. She patted her shirt's pocket, only to find it empty. Dammit… It was in my shirt… She felt the texture of the cheap shirt one of the other Officers had borrowed her on the scene, the loose white fabric hung from her shoulders, barely touching her fur. Tigers are bigger than they look…
She sighed and looked around, trying to find a place to get a new pack, but a curious sight caught her attention: a hay colored fennec sat at the end of the short flight of stairs, he wore a dark gray suit, small enough to fit a doll.
Her first reaction was of aversion, but her curiosity got the better of her. "Hey, you are Wilde's fennec." She greeted him, walking down the stairs.
The fennec looked up at her, his eyes seemed very tired. "Hey wolf..." He blinked and straightened his back, his expression had shifted. "Are you ok?"
That caught her off guard. She opened her mouth to speak, but a lump formed in her throat. "No." Was all she could force herself to speak, looking away from the fennec's small yellow eyes.
"Nick…" Started the small fox, seemingly trying to cherry pick the right words. "Told me that the jaguar that was with you got hurt this morning. He was your partner, right?"
Danielle glanced down at the yellow eyes that peered up to her, there was compassion in there. She nodded and closed her eyes, they would burn less this way.
"Was it bad?" Asked the voice behind her personal red curtain.
"Yeah." She answered.
"Will he…" The small fox took a deep breath. Danielle opened her eyes to see him getting himself up. He looked at her again and patted his small gray pants. "Will you be ok?" He asked.
"I killed someone." Those words weighed a ton for her. She pressed her eyes with her right paw paw pads, she would not cry in public like that.
She expected anything from that small fox: repulsion, fear, snark. But a short half smile formed on his face.
"Things got very bad there, right?" He asked, tenderly.
Her eyes burned again, she sat down on one of the stair steps, the weight of the world on her shoulders. Her mind raced, she pictured her father seeing her bloodied face on the news, her aunt messing the threads of her knitting when the death was announced, she imagined Rosa calling and saying that she would not come by the next day. Not to the house of a murderer. Danielle trembled, she crossed her arms over her knees and hid her snout behind them.
The fennec sat beside her and watched as the cars went by. After a minute passed he broke the silence. "Name's Finnick."
"Danielle." She mumbled.
"Had you any choice?" He asked, bluntly.
She shook her head, tears rolled down her eyes, she could not hold it in anymore. Peter knows… what else could I've done? I… he… could've… her mind went back to a few months prior. The long barrel of a rifle aimed at her face, an explosion sounded and, that time, Peter had saved her, the bullet landing only centimeters away from her head, but he had spared the culprit, only sinking his claws under his skin and fur. And yet…
"Look mut… People… do bad things." She felt Finnick's small paw press her shoulder, his paw pads were warm and his claws were dull. "I know a whole bunch of those… I did my fair share of stupid shit in my own time…"
Danielle took her snout out of hiding, only enough to stare at him, with her reddened accusatory eyes.
"Hey, don't look at me like that. See Danielle… Sooner or later things get to us, we never get away. I paid my… fair share, when I got out." Finnick looked away from her, towards the street. Danielle lifted her eyes, searching for what he gazed upon. A fruit stand. She glanced back at him, but he was lost in thought. "Mike... is my family. The little I have left."
Danielle supported her chin over her crossed arms, the seller in the fruit stand was piling apples. One over the other, each apple supported the one above it. Each was different: red, green, fuji, gala and golden.
"Peter… is my pack." It was the first time that she had acknowledged it, not even to someone else, but to herself.
The little fox looked at her, a puzzled look on his face. Danielled rolled her eyes, she shouldn't have expected him to understand. "We wolves have… this thing. We are pack animals, we have to have groups, that's how we socialize, we protect each other."
"But… he is no wolf." The fennec blinked and lifted his hands defensively, shaking his head. "I didn't mean that…"
"You did." She understood his point of view, it didn't matter. "And yes, he is no wolf. But he is more pack to me than… heck… than my whole family. I can count on him, we protect each other." It felt good to open up to someone, to finally say at least a bit of what she felt. "He is better than most wolves that I know anyway…"
"You mean, you and he…" Finnick seemed to be trying to be tactfully, he was not very good at that.
"No, you dumbass. He is like a brother of sorts, but one that doesn't freaking hate me and that I don't despise. He is family." Danielle turned her body and punched the safety grid, a low ring sound echoed through the steel pipes. "For Fenris fucking sake…"
Finnick smiled at her and she felt her ears turn backwards instinctively. The knot in her throat was back, the tears rolled down her face. "Why does everything have to be so fucking…" She mumbled, curling her body and hiding her snout behind her arms once again.
She felt the warm arms of that small fox hug her head. God dammit Danielle, get a hold of yourself. She thought, but she couldn't hold it in anymore.
They stayed that way for some time, how long she couldn't know. After a while the tears dried, her heart felt calmer and the sound of cars, passerby's and the world came back to her. Danielle took a deep breath and lifted her head. The fennec let go of her and patted her back.
"There, there... I've got to get back to Mike, will you be okay?" He asked.
"Yeah… I… I will." Danielle rubbed her eyes and smiled to him. "You… thanks."
"No problem kiddo." Said Finnick, waving goodbye.
She saw the fox vanish behind the white doors of the hospital. Well, I gotta get back too. Danielle got herself up and looked around. An idea popped up in her head.
She crossed the street and bought a bag of apples, different shapes, colors and sizes. With a smile on her face she pushed open the doors of the hospital, walking back in.