PROMPT: will there be a part 2 after Beca got attacked by an animal and saved by wolf form Chloe?
[A/N: head's up for those of you have been asking what "the other thing" is, what else does a dog do to mark its territory?;)]
Hospitals always had such a distinct smell to Beca. It was a unique mixture of anti-septic and death. Or what she had imagined to be death. She had never actively sought out two levels of the odor that coated her lungs each time she entered one. It reminded her of childhood; the multiple visits and long-standing hours that she kicked her feet idly against a chair too big for her.
When Beca was six, she didn't understand much; not about why she always had to go to the large building with windows like her father's office. Inside was hectic and quiet all at once. There she had grown accustomed to the sympathetic looks that she got from people in brightly colored scrubs, and even a few in large lab coats. She had gotten used to keeping her mother company while she sat hooked up to some loud machine.
One day they stopped going there- and her father didn't have the same look his eyes. He didn't have much of a look at all, Beca doing her best to keep quiet as she wondered why exactly they never pulled into that place again; missing going to the 99-cent store to buy some foil balloons and flowers. They always had to be fake, but her mother kept them, regardless.
The young girl knew one thing for certain: that scent was cemented into her mind forever. And having it shoved against her throat in her barely lucid state was no picnic. In fact, Beca Mitchell was fighting the urge to shoot up- not fully aware of where, or who, she was for a good four seconds.
Her heart pounded roughly as she listened to the sounds around her; brain eventually connecting the busy noises and beeping of monitors together to mean hospital. Painfully conscious about the needle fastened to the top of her hand with a piece of sticky tape.
The next thing she became lucid to was the undeniable pain ripping across her side, her fingers twitching as she registered just how torn up her forearm was- the very arm that she used to push a wild animal away from her throat. It burned with each subtle movement. Tears welling in her shut eyes.
Beca breathed in thickly, willing herself to open her eyes. The lights were as bright as she thought they would be, not helping the liquid pressing against her waterline. She didn't' attempted to move, fingers gracing the fabric of the mattress that she laid flatly on, the back lifted enough to give her a good look at the dark hallway.
"Fuck," She uttered, voice sore from the amount of screaming she had done earlier, head pounding as she heard an immediate shift in the corner of the room, head wanting to shift towards the sound. She didn't get that far, though, a cool hand cupping hers as she heard a soft voice- a voice she never thought would be kind at all.
"Don't try to move, sweetie," Aubrey spoke briskly, taking a few steps out of the room and towards Beca's sight line, she leaned heavily against the glass barrier, pointing her words towards the nurses' station. "Hey! Can I get some help in here!"
I don't need any help. Beca thought bitterly. She had almost fought off a dog by herself, and now Aubrey was crying wolf. She was just coming to, not coding. Her mind elsewhere as midnight eyes traced the woman's figure. She wanted to voice her opinions but couldn't find it within herself. Okay, maybe she did need help.
A short moment later a nurse in stupid neon pink scrubs came in with that same pitying look on her features. Beca hated it but didn't pull away as she gently cupped her face. The tall blonde stood with worry on her features- propped up against the door with her arms folded over her chest. The nurse said something about her name being Kelley, and that she needed Beca to stay still.
The woman shined a bright light in her eyes and asked her to do a few menial things (Like squeezing her finger and repeating back a few numbers that she had rattled off earlier.) Beca didn't quite see why but didn't question the woman. She turned back to Aubrey. "She should be fine, give her a few minutes to come to, I don't think she's in danger of any permanent damage. But it's a long journey from here."
"Thank you, ma'am." Aubrey nodded politely, stepping out of the way as the older woman walked from the room, leaving the two of them in an uncomfortable silence. Beca blinking a few times as she adjusted to the worried scowl on her friend's face.
"Chloe took the girls to the cafeteria." She lowered herself onto the edge of the bed like she would break Beca if she sat any harder. She looked very unsettled. "I'm pretty sure they were going to rip each other apart if they didn't' get food in their systems."
Beca grimaced at the phrasing, making a deep blush push close to Aubrey's cheeks.
"Sorry."
"It's okay." Beca croaked out, swallowing back the tears that again threatened to spill over once her raw throat got irritated. Aubrey lifted her chin, patient. "Any reason they checked my motor skills?"
A slight scoff pushed past Aubrey's throat. Of course, Beca knew what they were testing, and why. She had not given much up about her childhood, but she knew enough. They were testing her brain function. Something you don't do with flesh wounds.
"It's funny, really." The blonde shook her head, "You kept mumbling about seeing a wolf. They asked if you were attacked by one, but you were insistent that it saved you."
"It's Georgia," Beca caught a small smile, feeling a bit ridiculous. "There aren't wolves in Georgia."
"Precisely." She earned a pat on the knee "which is why they wanted to make sure all that blood loss didn't' affect your mind." She tapped her temple softly, giving Beca a sparked stare. But the brunette was focused on something else, her own stare going past her captain and towards the doorframe.
Chloe stood there, a muffin in one hand and crappy hospital coffee in the other. Her fingers almost pierced the side of the Styrofoam cup. Her jaw was slack as she caught wind of midnight eyes- part of Beca's face scratched and bruised- a long gash rushing from her lip to her hairline. It was a wonder she kept sight.
She had never seen the woman so weak and helpless before, in turn, Beca had never seen Chloe push this much concern into one blue stare. A blue stare that seemed so familiar to her, making her inhale softly as recognition pasted near her gaze. It made Aubrey stiffen, the older woman worried about this.
She had seen Chloe in her wolf form a few times, and once she knew it was her, it was all she could see; the deep copper fur and undeniable cerulean irises were a dead give away for her. But Beca? Beca had been on the scent of something odd for months now, and she had stared right into the mouth of the beast.
"I'm going to give you two a minute." Aubrey quietly excused herself, keeping her soft stare until she made contact with Chloe, aggressively taking the muffin and stale coffee from her friend's hand. Chloe watched her carefully, not shifting her heavy stance until she was alone with the small brunette.
Beca stared silently at the woman for what felt like ages. She raked her eyes over her body and tried to fit the pieces together unsuccessfully. There was no way in hell Chloe could have been that giant animal she saw in the parking lot, and no, she now realized she hadn't imagined it. At least she didn't think it had been.
She toyed with the seam of the light blanket that covered her, not taking much stock in the pinching and pulling of her IV, or the way Chloe slowly walked over and sat on the edge of the bed (Almost like Aubrey, but closer. So close she could smell the lavender shampoo and feel her warmth.)
"You think I'm insane too, I suppose?" Beca knit her eyebrows together, not looking up. She felt Chloe shift uncomfortably. Her hands were cupping her ankle, the edge folded in front of her as she thought vividly.
"I could say yes," She started. "I could say that you were dumb enough to accept a shift at the station but smart enough to protect your neck from a dog like that."
"How did you-" She lifted her stare, squinting.
Chloe held her hand up to cut the woman off, gently at that. "You would be dead right now if you hadn't." She shifted once more after a rapt round of silence. "Beca if you think… Do you think that was me?"
She swallowed thickly. Of course, she was out of it, hopped up on drugs and scared out of her mind. That much she remembered. From what Aubrey said, she muttered some crazy things. Her sound self would never mention a giant wolf. Not to some concerned doctors and certainly not to her friends.
"Did I say something?" She asked, barely above a whisper.
Chloe drew in a breath, staring the girl down. "You may have mentioned that I looked a lot like a certain canine, which I'll overlook for right now as you not trying to insult me."
"Chlo," Beca warned, laying her head back against the fluffed pillow.
"Point is," She spoke up, drowning out her friend. "There are no wolves in Georgia."
"I've heard this speech." She cut her off, "I'm not insane, just shaken up. Can you blame me?"
Chloe fell silent at that. No, she couldn't fault the girl, and yes, she was being a bit insensitive towards her friend. A bit of fear was sparked against her mind. She almost felt cruel about leading Beca to doubt herself. To doubt her mind.
"No, I" She stammered, grasping Beca's fingers in hers, making the girl draw in a quick breath. "I'm sorry, I wasn't… you'll be okay, you know that, right?"
"Well, I would hope so." Her usual sarcastic self-was back. "It was quite an A-paw-ling experience."
Chloe threw herself back onto the bed, careful not to squish the injured girl even more than she already had. She groaned, covering her face with her hand. "Beca,"
"Yeah, expect a lot of those." She let out a soft breath. "They might be a bit far-fetched."
The girl huffed, shoving a pillow in Beca's direction, the girl stopping it with her good arm before it came into contact with her face. "Ow! Watch it, I'm staring at the tail end of a lot of medical bills, I don't need you making it worse.