Change (Kitsune) (23 page)

Chapter 19

It was Friday again and I was spending another day at the clinic, mostly reading and visiting with Alexis as had become our routine, when a woman brought in her husband. He had been cutting open a box when the razor knife was using had slipped and he hand run the sharp blade from wrist to elbow cutting himself deeply.

He was bleeding profusely and more than a little pale when she brought got him into the clinic. Alexis and I jumped up immediately and helped them into one of the two exam rooms. Alexis carefully held the wound shut, and she asked me to hand her a roll of gauze out of the cabinet, between the two of us we held his wound shut and bound his arm tightly to stem the flow of blood.

"The best thing that we can do is to slow the bleeding, and get him to change forms. That will heal the worst of the wound, maybe not all of it but it will go a long way," She explained to me.

"I can't shift. I can't concentrate long enough to shift." Our patient said.

"That's all right; we can deal with that, just give us a minute. You're out of danger for a minute or two." Alexis reassured him before she turned back to me "Are you ready for this? You can do it, I'm sure."

"I'm willing to try."

She turned back to our patient, and calmly explained, "Okay, this is what we're going to do. Nickie here is still learning to use her powers; she is going to try to call your wolf. Now, don't worry, because if she doesn't succeed, which feel certain she will, I'll step in and you'll change either way. Now, here's the question, do you want to try to strip or do you want us to shift you in your clothes?"

"I don't think I could undress right now and the clothes are ruined anyway, just shift me."

"Ok, Nickie, go for it. Remember, you have to feel for his wolf." She tried to talk me through it but I tuned her voice out while I focused. I reached deep inside myself for that part of me that sensed energy. I pulled that part forward and pushed it gently into the man in front of me. I felt for the man's wolf, he wasn't hard to find, he was hiding just under the surface. I tried to coax him out, but he didn't seem to want out, he shied away every time I tried to send that part of me closer to get him to come out.

I pulled back and opened my eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out, trying to calm myself before trying again. I once again called forth the part of me that senses energy and sent it into him. I could still feel the wolf he seemed unsure of me, but more curious this time. I tried to coax him again but this time when he got close I sent that energy surging forward to grab the wolf before he could jump away and I pulled him to the surface. When I opened my eyes there he was, the wolf I had sensed inside the man, laying on the exam table. The bandage we had wrapped so tightly around the man’s arm now hung loosely around the wolf's front leg. The wound still bled, but it was more of a seep instead of the steady flow it had been before.

"Very good Nickie. Now, do you think you can shift him again?" Alexis said.

"Yeah, give me just a second."

"All right, sit down on that stool over there for a moment before you try it," she said before turning to our patient's wife and said "If you'll go down the hall to our kitchen and look in the fridge you will find a some of those meal replacement shakes they give the elderly, grab a couple, and bring them back in here."

The woman turned to do what she had been asked and I heard her talking to Caden in the hallway. I’d been so focused on our patient and calling his wolf I hadn’t been aware of Caden moving to stand outside the doorway. Alexis turned and grabbed a sheet out of a cabinet and unfolded it. "Ready when you are Nickie."

I focused again, and wrapped my energy around the wolf like a bubble. I gently encouraged him to retreat back to where he had been before I called him, pushing at him with my energy. The wolf seemed content to retreat now that his job was done and I saw a blur surround the form of the wolf, before the blur was gone, Alexis covered the reclining form with the sheet so that only his shoulders and head were left exposed. I knew she did it more for my sake than anyone else's, but I appreciated it.

I looked again at the wound on his forearm and it was still open but it seemed the bleeding had stopped. We could easily get away with a few butterfly bandages and then gauze and tape to cover the wound, and in a few hours or days it would be gone, depending on how fast he healed.

I was pulling out the bandages to close the wound when his wife returned. Alexis took the cans of drink from her and quickly shook one up before popping the top open and putting it in the man's uninjured hand while I worked on re-bandaging his injury. He quickly drained the can and handed it back to Alexis, she took the empty and handed him a full can. He quickly drained that one and as he handed the empty can back to Alexis, who dropped it to the same trash can where she had put the first.

"That stuff's nasty." He said.

"It doesn't taste the greatest but it's an excellent way to replace the calories and nutrients burned by two shifts. And it's fast too, far faster than fixing you something and eating."

"This is true. I feel much better now that I've had them. Why've we never used them before?"

"Because it never occurred to anyone to use them until this one shifted and started drinking them." Alexis said, motioning to me. I was just fastening off the gauze when I noticed they were all watching me.

"What?" I asked, looking at Alexis.

"We were just wondering, what made you think to use the meal replacement drinks?"

"Oh, we used to feed them to Shiloh when she was little because she was so underweight. So when I realized that I would need more calories, especially when I shift and something I can keep in the car for emergencies, they seemed like a good option."

"You're right, they’re perfect. We've even started using them here, they last in storage and they are quick and easy to give someone when they need it."

"I think if you look into it you can buy them in bulk cheaper." I said, not sure what else to say.

"I'll have to check into that." Alexis said turning to the couple and getting them ready to go. I worked on cleaning up the mess we had made in the room while she got them out the door.

The rest of the afternoon was uneventful and I when I went home I took a shower and went to bed early. Apparently calling animal forms was exhausting.

Chapter 20

Devon and I were finally able to find a time in our schedules to run on Saturday morning. We’d talked about going for a run together, only with a twist, for a week or more but since we didn't want to go in the evenings, we just had to wait till we both had a morning off. The twist was that he would run as he normally does, on two legs, and I would run as a wolf. This meant we had to go rural to run, but we had that handled. Devon liked to run up hill, at least sometimes, a left over from his military days. So we decided to run up the road on Mt. Graham. Well, he would run up the road and I would mostly run beside him, but if we encountered a vehicle I could easily take off into the trees and avoid being seen.

Saturday morning we climbed into his old pick up and headed up to the mountain. We stopped at the first picnic area we encountered on the way up and parked the truck. He got out his side and started stretching, working on loosening his muscles so that he wouldn't pull anything. I got out my side, which luckily was on the far side from the road, and started to strip; I folded my clothes neatly and set them into the bag I had brought for them. I didn’t want someone to pull up and see a pile of clothes on the seat of the truck; that would have raised some questions. Once I had all my clothes off I put the bag in the floorboard before closing the door and bending to shift. It only took moment to feel the tingling that told me I was shifting and in another minute or two it had passed.

In wolf form I walked around to the driver’s side of the truck and looked up at Devon. I wondered briefly it would work before projecting *You ready?*

"Sure, let's get started." He said, walking out to the side of the highway that stretched up the mountain and curved not far ahead. He started at a light jog and I easily padded along beside him, as he sped up some and I had to move up into a trot to keep up with him.

*You call this a workout?* I taunted, easily keeping up with his pace.

"It will be when we keep it up for five miles... or more."

*Ok, you got me there, I'm not used to distances*

"You'll get used to it, but you need stamina and endurance not just speed." He said. I had to admit, he probably knew what he was talking about. Devon might not shift, but he grew up among the Kindred. He really did still know more about what I am than I did.

I heard a car coming up the mountain behind us and I sent to Devon *Car, I'll hide. You keep going, I'll catch up,* and I darted into the forest surrounding us. I found a hollow to lay in where I couldn't be seen and I waited until I heard the car pass. I waited a few moments longer, until I was sure it was the only one before I got up and headed back toward the road, angling up the road some as I made the trip so that I would come out of the forest further uphill than I had gone in, and hopefully closer to where Devon had made it by now.

It wasn't until I reached the road that it occurred to me, how would I know if Devon had been here or not? Was he in front of me or behind me? I stood for a minute or two, looking one direction and then the other, trying to decide what to do before it dawned on me. I could just look for his scent; that should tell me if he had been through here yet. I tentatively bent and sniffed the pavement, not really sure it would work, but I was going to try it anyway, especially since there was no one here to see me and how ridiculous I looked if it failed.

I put my nose to the pavement and took a deep breath, thinking to pick up as much scent as possible. I overwhelmed my nose. I picked up the scent of tar and rubber so strong it burned the inside of my nose and I spent several more minutes snorting, trying to blow the strong odors from my nose before I could try again. The second time I tried to pick up Devon's scent I was more careful, I held my nose above the pavement and took short careful sniffs, trying to peel back the layers of scent. I could smell the rubber from all the tires that regularly drove over the pavement, and the scent of warm oil and coolant from the car that had just passed by, but under that, I caught Devon's smoky personal scent, the faint scent of pack that he still carried and the stronger scent of the sweat he was working up.

Now that I knew he had been by here and I turned and headed up the mountain. I was soon running to catch up with him; I found that I loved the feel of the wind in my face, blowing my ears back as I ran. I ran up mountain, maybe a quarter of a mile, my confusion and scenting error had given him time gain some distance on me. I rounded the next curve, at a dead run and found that he was just up ahead, maybe 200 yards. I slowed as I approached him and fell into the steady jogging pace he was keeping.

*So, how far have you made it?* I asked.

"You haven't been keeping track?" he replied with a question of his own.

*Nah, I cut across off road, more ups and downs, more fun, less boring.* I responded.

"It's not boring, It just gives you time to think about other things."

*Boring...* I intoned with a mental laugh.

"It's been about a mile and a half, you still have a while to go..." He laughed in response.

*I can make it more entertaining...*

"Oh really? How?"

*You keep your same pace and I'll run circles around you.*

"Well, duh, we know you're faster than me. You could beat me easily." 

*I didn't mean I would beat you,* I said, speeding up a bit and started circling his still running body. *I said I would run circles around you*

"Show off!" he told me, and I could hear laughter in his voice. The warm timbre of his laugh sent curls of contentment through me, never before simply making someone laugh felt so good.

I stopped circling him and started investigating the scents around us. I caught the scents of the cars that regularly drove up and down the mountain, the squirrels and chipmunks that regularly cross the road, and the occasional deer that roamed through the area. I picked my head up and noticed that Devon was a ways ahead of me. I caught back up with Devon where he was still as though I had never stopped.

"Having fun?" De asked, his breathing was slightly labored, not enough to keep him from talking.

*Yep, I was just investigating the local scents.*

"Find anything interesting?"

*Meh, lots of cars, squirrels, chipmunks, even a deer. Interesting? Sure, earth shattering? No.*

"Sorry to hear that."

*No big deal. Just thought I’d see what I could pick up. I'm still learning to identify a lot of scents.*

We continued up the mountain in silence for a while. I was seeing his usually slight limp become more pronounced the further we ran up the mountain.

*That leg is really bothering you isn't it?* I asked. He was starting to lose control of his breathing, he was almost gasping for air, but I wasn't able to tell if it was from the exercise or the pain.  *Don't try to talk, just think your responses and I'll try to pick them up, I promise not to nose around in there.*

*Ok* I heard his voice in my head, *I'll try. Yeah, it's bothering me more than I thought it would.*

*How long's it been since you went running?* I wanted to know.

*A couple of days, I run all the time, uphill is another story, I haven't run long distance uphill since before the accident.*

*I wouldn't want to suggest that you aren't capable, but I think it's probably best if I go back and bring the truck up to you instead of your trying to run all the way back to it.*

*You're probably right,* He admitted, *But can you drive a standard?*

*Puh-leese, I grew up driving farm equipment and Dad made me learn to drive a standard before I was allowed to drive an automatic. He used to tell us that any monkey could drive an automatic. So yeah, I can drive a standard.*

*Ok, I believe you, it's just that so few people can these days, even men.*

*This is true. Did you lock it?* I asked.

*Yeah, but it's old enough it actually has a key. There's a spare key in a magnetic box attached on the back of the rear license plate. You have to reach under the bumper and around to the top of the plate, it should be resting on a ledge under there.* He explained.

*Great. It shouldn't take me long to get back to the truck and change, and even less time to get back here. I should be back in ten or fifteen minutes.*

*That's fine* he said.

*It'd be best if you kept moving, but not running, until I get back, walk around some, stretch again. I don't want that leg to get too stiff on you before I get back, it's going to be bad enough by the time we get down the mountain.*

*I know. I'll keep moving till you get back. Now go.* He shooed me as I turned and headed down the road.

I ran down the straight stretches of the road, but when the road would switchback on itself I would cut across country and make the distance, and the trip, shorter. I had to duck and hide a couple times as vehicles passed but I soon made it back to the picnic area where we’d parked his truck. I had just reached the truck when I realized I had to shift and get the key before I could unlock the door and get dressed. I listened carefully for a moment to make sure there were no cars coming before I bent and shifted. I quickly moved down to the rear of the truck and I had to get onto my knees to reach under the bumper and find where the key was stashed. The rough gravel of the parking area dug into my bare knees while I felt around for the box. I found the small box, quickly removed it, and moved back around to the passenger’s side of the truck, the side away from the highway, so that if someone came by it wouldn't be obvious that I was naked.

I opened the box and removed the single key from inside while I moved to the door to unlock it and get my clothes only to discover that there was no exterior lock on the passenger’s door. Oh shit. That meant I was going to have to go around to the driver side, still naked, to unlock the truck. Once again I listened closely for the sounds of cars on the road before moving around the truck to the driver’s side and unlocking the door. Just as I got the door unlocked I heard a car approaching so I quickly opened the door and climbed in, I pulled the door closed behind me. I stretched across the seat, grabbing the bag with my clothes in it and pulled out my shirt. I slid it on over my head as quickly as I could so that it would appear to anybody driving by as though I was dressed and sitting in the cab of the truck. Once I had my shirt on I pulled the bag closer and dug the rest of my clothes out of it so that I was ready, and as soon as the car passed I turned sideways in the truck seat and slid my underwear and shorts on. Not bothering with my shoes, I started the truck and pulled it out on to the highway up the mountain to pick up Devon.

It only took a few minutes and I was pulling along side where he was standing, leaning against the rocks that had been cut away to make the road. I stopped the truck and hit the button on the driver’s door panel to unlock the doors. He climbed in and I started forward again, the road was too narrow to turn around, we’d have to continue up the mountain to either the next picnic area or a pull out in order to turn around.

"Obviously you found the key, did you have any trouble?" He asked, settling into his seat and buckling his seatbelt.

"No, it was right where you said it was." I replied, "But those rocks are sharp, especially when one has no clothes on…"

"Yeah…that occurred to me just after you left.. Your clothes were locked in the truck and you needed your hands to get to the key and unlock the truck." He said, chuckling.

"Not to mention the fact that the passenger door doesn't unlock from the outside…"

"Oh, shit. I totally forgot about that."

"Thankfully, I have superior hearing and was able to tell well in advance if a car was coming. So I was able to move around and open the door without being spotted."

"Oh, to have seen that." Devon said with a wistful tone. I took one hand off the wheel long enough reach over and smack him with the back of it. "What?" He asked innocently.

"You know what." I replied, continuing up the road. "You want to go on up to the top, see what the lake looks like, or do you want to head back down and rest, maybe take a dip in the hot tub, see if that relaxes your leg some?"

"I'd like to go on up and at least get a look at the lake, I haven't been up there in years. Then we can go back down, and I can try the hot tub. I haven't been in there yet and it will probably help with some of my soreness."

"Up it is."

"Do you want me to drive?"

"I've got it, unless you want to?"

"Nah, I don't mind. Onward and upward we go."

We drove the rest of the way up to the mountain so that we could see Riggs Lake. It was almost full from the snow melt, and when we got out of the truck, it was nice and cool out. It occurred to me that this would be a nice place to go for a weekend this summer. I’d have to see if someone wanted to come with me.

Devon and I didn't stay long. We looked around a little and discussed some of the changes that had happened over the last ten years. The boat ramp had been rebuilt, but the old one was at least thirty years old, and it had really needed replacing. There were a few new picnic areas and camping spots around the edge of the lake, but not much else. It would be a great place to spend a couple days and maybe be able to shift without being seen, but that would depend on how many people were around.