Disclaimer: The SWAT Kats are owned by Hanna Barbera and the Tremblay Brothers. I own the OCs.
Too tired to thank my Co-Author properly. Thank you MisaRae.
Candice and Tim walked back to her apartment with their paws intertwined. She had never been so content in her entire life. Between Tim confessing that he loved her, and consuming most of the bottle of wine on her own, she was feeling quite giddy.
Tim loved having Candice's paw in his. He kept stealing little glances at her as they walked, all the while thinking about their future together and how in just a short couple of months, she was going to be his date to his cousin's wedding, and how gorgeous she was going to look in a formal dress. If they were still together at that point, he might even consider asking her to move in with him.
They arrived back at her apartment building and Tim opened the front door for her.
Candice reached into her purse and removed her keys. She fumbled with them for a minute to find the right key that would let them through the inner lobby door. Candice eventually found the key, inserted it into the lock, and gave it a quick turn to the right, releasing the lock. She then walked through the door into the inner lobby of the building.
Tim followed behind her, watching her every move. He let the door close behind him and followed her to the elevator.
Candice pushed the button located to the right of the elevator doors to summon the car. While they waited, she started to play with Tim's shirt buttons, attempting to get them open so she could feel the fur on his chest, as well as the muscles that lay beneath.
Candice's actions were interrupted when the elevator's doors opened. They slipped inside, Tim pushed the button for her floor, and the doors closed.
Candice became more aggressive with her tactics, and started nibbling on Tim's neck, while her fingers resumed working on the buttons of his shirt.
Tim was fighting an internal battle between his head and other parts of his body. His head was telling him to back away, while other parts were telling him to take her, now.
Luckily for him, the elevator stopped and the doors opened. Tim straightened his shirt and took Candice's paw in his, pulled her out of the elevator, and led her down the hall to her apartment.
Candice quickly held her purse up to her door and the lock opened. She said, "Newer building, no keys needed for the apartments." She opened the door, grabbed Tim by the lapels of his shirt, and pulled him into the apartment. She then slammed the door shut.
The minute the door closed, she pounced on him and kissed him, slipping her tongue into his mouth. She then ripped his shirt open and put her paws against his chest.
Tim was losing control real quick. He picked her up bridal style and carried her to the bedroom. Tim laid her down on the bed, never stopping kissing her lovely mouth. He let his paws slip down to her hips, and found the zipper that held her skirt closed. Tim grasped the tag and pulled the zipper down, opening the waistband of her skirt and helping draw the garment down and off her legs. He then let his right paw rest on the waistband of her black lace panties.
The brush of air against her legs as her skirt was removed, and the strong but gentle touch of his paw on her barely-clad waist drove Candice's desire even higher. All she wanted was Tim's paws and mouth on her, anywhere and everywhere he wanted. She knew with every fiber of her being that he would take her to places she had never been before, and she was more than anxious to get there. While she kissed him, her paws went to his belt and quickly removed it before they landed on the fly of his pants. She made very quick work of the buttons and zipper, driven to seek him out and surround the most intimate part of him with her paw, desperate to give him pleasure.
Feeling her paw in such a sensitive location made Tim jerk upright and snapped him back to his senses. He gently closed his paw around her own and lifted it up out of his pants and to his lips to kiss the back. He said, "As much as I want this to continue, we must stop." He let go of her hand and fastened up his pants, reinforcing his words with action. At Candice's look of hurt and utter bewilderment, Tim couldn't help but lean forward and give her a peck on her lips to try and reassure her. "We both agreed to take this slow and let the relationship build, remember?" he said, trying to make it playful, but only halfway succeeding. Not knowing what else to do, Tim made his way to the door. "I think it would be better if I slept in the other room," he told her, his words echoing in the room even after he had closed the door, leaving her to her own devices.
Candice could not believe that he had actually left her. No tom had ever simply stopped in the middle of foreplay and left her high and dry before. She got out of bed, removed her dress shirt, leaving her in only her bra and her matching panties, and walked to her bedroom door. She opened the door, leaned to the right, resting her body against the doorframe, crossed her legs and arms, and swished her tail.
Tim had just finished setting up the couch so he could sleep, when he heard her bedroom door open. He turned his body so he could focus on Candice's bedroom door, and his eyes almost flew out of their sockets when he saw her leaning against the doorframe.
Candice said, "I'm sorry I pounced on you like that. I promise I will keep my paws to myself. Please stay with me tonight. I don't want to be alone anymore." She then turned and went back into the bedroom, showing off her shapely butt and her gorgeous tail, swaying in time with her hips.
Tim obediently followed her into her bedroom and closed the door behind him.
The ambulance ride to the hospital went by rather quickly. Adonis's paws never left Pirouette's during the entire trip. The ambulance stopped, backed up to the doors of the ER, and stopped when they reached their final destination. The EMTs got out of their seats and opened the doors to the ambulance. The EMT that had been sitting in the rear with Adonis and Pirouette said, "I know you love her, but you need to let her paws go. She needs to see the doctors and nurses in order to get the treatment she needs, and she can't get that if they have to work around a tom as large as you."
Adonis reluctantly let Pirouette's paws go and said, "I will be right outside in the waiting room. I love you."
Pirouette put her left paw against his right left cheek and gave it a soft caress before saying, "I love you, too, my Adonis." She then lowered her paw to her side as she was unloaded from the ambulance and wheeled into the ER.
Adonis had started to follow Pirouette into the ER, when he was stopped by a nurse. She said, "I'm sorry, but you can't come in. You will need to wait out here."
Adonis growled in frustration. He didn't want to be apart from his fiancée, period. But deep down, he knew that the nurse was right. He looked down the hall at the gurney that held Pirouette one last time before turning around and taking a seat in the waiting room.
Pirouette was wheeled into one of the trauma rooms, and instantly hooked up to the monitors mounted on the walls. They started beeping and showing her vital signs. One of the nurses had just started writing Pirouette's vitals down in her chart, when Dr. Feldman entered wearing brightly-colored surgical scrubs. He made his way over to the gurney and said, "Razor told me that you were coming in. However, he didn't tell me how beautiful you are. Adonis is one very lucky tom. I'm Dr. Feldman, and I will be taking care of you personally during your stay. I don't want to scare you, but there are going to be a lot of things happening rather quickly. First, we are going to take an X-Ray of that shoulder before we get you prepped for surgery."
As soon as the doctor mentioned surgery, her pulse sped up and she began to shake. She already hated needles, and surgery was way beyond having a shot in the arm. Every muscle in her body tensed, and her apprehension displayed itself plainly on the monitors connected to her.
Dr. Feldman heard the heart monitor begin to beep in a faster rhythm, and knew exactly why Pirouette's heart was pounding. He turned to the monitor, quickly read the numbers, then turned back to his patient and said, "I don't blame you for being nervous. The OR is a very scary place that no one wants to be in. You have to trust me; I will make sure that you come out of this in a much better condition than when you went in." He gave her his best smile, which was so warm and reassuring; it felt to Pirouette as if he were her own grandfather.
Pirouette relaxed as Dr. Feldman spoke. She said, "You must be a great doctor. I feel so much more at ease."
Dr. Feldman replied, "I'm a much better grandfather than I am a doctor, Pirouette. My younger grandkids love how I spoil them to no end."
A pair of techs from the imaging department arrived with a portable X-Ray Machine. They quickly connected the machine to the electrical and network connections and turned it on. One of the techs slipped a reflective sheet under Pirouette's shoulder, which caused her to flinch. He said, "I'm sorry, miss."
She reached out with her left paw for Dr. Feldman's paw and gave it a squeeze.
Dr. Feldman felt Pirouette squeeze his paw, then turned to her and asked, "Do you want me to stay with you while they work?"
Pirouette nodded in reply, and Dr. Feldman said, "Alright." He turned to one of the techs and said, "I need one of the shields, please. My patient does not want me to leave."
"Doctor, this is highly irregular and against policy. You can't be in the room with her when we take the X-Rays," the tech replied.
"Screw policy and procedures! My patient has requested that I stay with her, and that is what I am going to do, got it?" Dr. Feldman said.
One of the techs removed his shield from his body and gave it to Dr. Feldman. He then stepped out of the trauma room and waited for the procedure to be completed.
Dr. Feldman put the radiation shield on his body, and then walked back over to Pirouette's side. He took her left paw in his and said, "I will be right here the whole time. I may not be built like Adonis, but I will protect you the best that I can." He turned to the remaining tech and nodded for him to start his procedures.
The tech worked very quickly and took the six X-Rays that were required. Once he finished packing up the machine, Dr. Feldman said, "That wasn't too bad, right? Now comes the real scary part, prepping you for surgery. Before we wheel you upstairs, how about we let you see Adonis?"
Pirouette's face lit up. She said, "I would like that very much, doctor."
"Ok, we will take a slight detour through the waiting room so you can see him before we head up," Dr. Feldman said.
A couple of orderlies came into the room and disconnected the monitors and IV from the wall. They un-locked the gurney and started to wheel Pirouette towards the elevators leading to the surgical floor, when Dr. Feldman stopped them and said, "We are taking a trip to the waiting room so my patient can see her tom-friend."
"Fiancé, doctor," Pirouette corrected.
"My apologies, fiancé," Dr. Feldman said.
The orderlies wheeled her out into the waiting room, and Dr. Feldman scanned the room for anyone who fit the description that Razor had given him. It didn't take long for him to find a very well-built tom with his head in his paws, looking very distraught. He walked over to Adonis and said, "Well, if there's a tom the name Adonis fits, I think it would be you."
Adonis lifted his head up, and then looked at the doctor warily. "Do I know you?"
"No, but your fiancée does," Dr. Feldman said with a smile, gesturing toward the gurney waiting just a few steps away.
Adonis bolted out of his seat and went to Pirouette's side. He took her left paw in his and said, "I will be here waiting for you after surgery, and I will not leave your side once they let me see you again. I love you, Pirouette." He then kissed her paw.
Pirouette replied, "I love you, too, you hunk of a tom." She let her eyes rake over his body and said, "You had better not let any of these nurses flirt with you. You are mine, and when I am home again, I will not let you forget it."
Dr. Feldman did not want to separate them, but he had a job to do. He said, "Adonis, the surgical waiting room is on the third floor. You can wait there. It's time, Pirouette. We need to head upstairs and get that bullet out."
Pirouette let go of Adonis' paw, leaned back against the gurney, and said, "I'm ready."
The orderlies wheeled her back into the ER and let the doors close behind them.
Dr. Feldman said to Adonis, "Don't worry too much. From what I have seen, the bullet didn't do too much damage, and what damage there is, is mostly superficial. She will recover in no time."
Adonis was still worried, but he replied, "Thank you, doctor. You have no idea how much she means to me."
"I am sure that I do, Adonis. I feel the same way about my wife. She is my world, and I don't think I could live without her. Now I need to go scrub in in. The nurses upstairs will get you anything you need, and I have a feeling that the rest of SWAT will be here shortly to stay by your side," Dr. Feldman said before he left Adonis alone.
Pirouette was wheeled into pre-op where her dress and underwear were removed. She was given a hospital gown to put on, which she did with great difficulty.
A surgical nurse came into the room, to check Pirouette's IV and monitors. The nurse then said, "You have nothing to worry about. Dr. Feldman is a great surgeon. He will take good care of you. It's time to go." She wheeled Pirouette out of pre-op and down a sterile hall. She opened a door to one of the ORs and wheeled Pirouette in. The gurney was brought up next to the operating table and locked into position. The nurse transferred the IV bag to a pole mounted on the table, lowered the railing, and helped Pirouette onto the table.
The anesthesiologist turned and looked into Pirouette's eyes before he took her left arm and secured it to the table. He grabbed a syringe filled with thick, white fluid and stuck the needle into her IV. Before he pushed the plunger, he said, "When you wake, you are going to feel nauseous. That is normal. Just drink the water they give you slowly, and the nausea will go away. Have pleasant dreams." He pushed the plunger, sending the drug into her system.
Pirouette's eyes fluttered for a brief second before closing for the duration of the surgery.
Once the anesthesiologist confirmed that she was out, he removed the gown from her body and shaved the area around the bullet wound.
Dr. Feldman walked into the OR wearing his scrubs and a mask. He looked down at his patient and saw the wound. He then looked at the clock on the wall and said, "Starting time, 7:15. Scalpel."
Sniper, Havoc, and Empress arrived back at the hangar. They parked the Cyclotrons and dismounted.
Empress removed her helmet and mask, and shook her hair out. She then said, "I still feel like garbage. When will this feeling go away?"
Katerina removed her helmet and mask also. She heard Callie's question, went to her, and replied, "Callie, I killed several cats when I was Turmoil, and I hated it every time. I always felt horrible afterwards. I could not eat, I barely slept, and there was no one I could turn to for help. I was supposed to be a ruthless leader, and to make sure that no one walked on me, that is what I became, and I hated every minute of it."
"So why did you do it? There had to be another option," Callie asked.
"There was no other option, Callie. I was in a position that no other female had ever been in. It was either walk on others, or be walked on. I was not about to have anyone walk on me, so I did what I had to do," Katerina replied.
Callie did not know what to think. She knew that Turmoil was a very ruthless cat, but she had never known that Katerina had actually killed someone. She cautiously asked, "How come none of this is in your file?"
"Do you really think that anyone on my crew would have talked after seeing me kill others without a shred of remorse?" Katerina asked.
"I guess not," Callie said, as she looked at her feet.
"I have turned a new leaf; I never want to be the cat that I was back then again. I now have a girlfriend who loves me as much as I love her. I have a new family that I care about, more than I ever thought possible, and most of all, I have a chance at a new life. That is the one thing I am most thankful for. I would never go back to my old life, not for anything," Katerina said.
Sniper made her way over to Katerina, wrapped her arms around Katerina's waist, and said, "And I will be by her side every step of the way to make sure she stays on the, well, not exactly straight and narrow."
Katerina returned her embrace, but amped it up just a hair by letting her left paw graze Sniper's right breast. Her tail swished back and forth as she let out a purr, savoring the feel of her partner's yielding flesh despite the layer of fabric between. She then asked, "Are you sure that you can keep me in line, my ga-LOOP-ka?"
Sniper was reveling in the sensation of Katerina's paw on her breast, no matter how short term it might be. As she replied, her paws slipped down to Katerina's butt and gave it a squeeze. "I will do my best to keep you as tame as possible. However, the thought of having you let go in certain situations is very appealing." She then kissed Katerina and slipped her tongue in her mouth.
Callie sighed and shook her head before turning to leave the hangar. As fond as she was of Sniper and Katerina, there were just certain things that she wanted to keep a mystery. Once she reached the bottom of the ladder leading up to the living quarters, she grasped one rung in her paw before turning to the other two she-cats, whose make out session was quickly becoming even more heated. "I'd be quick about it, if I were you," Callie said. "Caliber and Razor will be back shortly, and I highly doubt they will want to have an inadvertent front row seat."
Sniper waved her off with her left paw, while her right slowly started to lower the zipper of Katerina's uniform.
Callie rolled her eyes good-naturedly and resumed her journey up the ladder to wait for Felina.
Dr. Feldman lifted his head to examine one of the X-Rays of Pirouette's shoulder, verifying the exact location of the bullet. After getting the information he needed, he shifted his gaze back to his patient and ordered, "Forceps."
One of the surgical nurses handed him a pair of forceps from the sterile tray of instruments located to his left.
Dr. Feldman took the forceps from the nurse and lowered the tool into the incision. He got the tool in about three inches and hit the bullet. Dr. Feldman opened the forceps, grabbed the bullet, and removed it from Pirouette's shoulder. He examined the bullet and said, "Someone call the Enforcers. They are going to want to see this, and someone get me an evidence bag."
Another nurse grabbed an evidence bag from a cabinet located at the far end of the OR and brought it over to Dr. Feldman. She opened the bag, and Dr. Feldman dropped the bullet in. He then said, "This is not to be given to anyone who does not have a badge and a gun. Do you understand?"
The nurse nodded, turned, and left the OR with the bag in her paw. She turned left down a maintenance hall, withdrew a cell phone from her scrubs, and made a call.
"Yes," a male voice answered.
"We have a problem," the nurse replied.
"What is it?" the voice asked.
"The she-cat is going to make it out of surgery, but the bullet has the Society's markings on it, and the doctor saw them. He has already called the Enforcers to come pick it up," the nurse replied.
There was a brief moment of silence, then the voice said, "Do what you have to do in order to make sure that we are protected. That includes getting rid of the evidence, and I mean all of it."
She froze and nervously asked, "You don't expect me to kill the patient, do you?"
"That is exactly what I expect you to do. She is as much of a liability as that bullet. You will be heavily compensated when the job has been completed," the voice said, and disconnected the call.
She put her phone away and turned back to the main hallway. She then made a left turn towards the surgical pharmacy.
Adonis sat in the waiting room with his legs spread open, his elbows resting on his thighs, and his head in his paws. He was on the verge of tears, worrying about his future wife.
One of the female floor nurses stopped in front of him while attending her rounds. She got down on his level, placed a comforting paw on his shoulder, and asked, "Are you ok? Can I get you anything?"
Adonis lifted his head from his paws and looked into the face of the nurse. He must have been hallucinating, because for a moment, he thought he saw Pirouette's face. He shook his head in attempt to dispel the image, but Pirouette's face remained. He replied, "I'm fine, I think." Adonis attempted to stand up. However, he was more tired than he thought. He stumbled forward, but the nurse caught him and forced him to sit back down.
She said, "Boy, are you heavy." She then took a look at his mask-covered face and noticed several lines forming on his cheeks from exhaustion. She asked, "When was the last time you had some real sleep?"
He replied, "A few days ago, I guess. I haven't slept too well since the shootings down at Make out Point."
"You were there?" the nurse asked.
As tired as he was, he knew he had to come up with a plausible answer fast for him being there. He replied, "Yes, I was there. I stayed out of sight once the Enforcers showed up, but ready to help if needed."
"That must have been traumatic for you, seeing the bodies of the three cats, especially the two teenagers. How about I set you up with a nice, comfortable room so you can get some sleep? Surely, whoever you are waiting for will be out cold for a few hours," the nurse asked.
"That would be nice, thank you," Adonis replied.
"Follow me then," the nurse said, as she extended her paw for him to take.
Adonis got up out of his chair and took the nurse's paw in his. She led him down a hall and to a set of break rooms that were technically reserved for the hospital staff. She opened a door to a room that was a little bigger than a closet. She said, "You can lay down in here and get some rest. What patient are you waiting for to come out of surgery, so I can come get you when they are in the recovery room?"
"Her name is Pirouette," Adonis replied.
"Alright, go ahead and get comfortable. Chances are she will be out for a few hours, at least. Have a good rest," the nurse said, then shut the door.
Adonis removed his boots and lowered the top of his uniform, leaving him bare from the waist up. He lay down on the bed and closed his eyes. Sleep soon claimed him, and he started snoring.
End of Chapter