Virginia opened her eyes, yawning heavily. She saw a white ceiling above herself. Lifting her brow in surprise, she tried to stand up and found herself strapped to a bed with several heavy chains.
Brings back memories. The wolf hag thought, looking around the room. She was lying on a soft hospital bed, covered by a blanket, with several fluffed pillows behind her back. Under the blanket, her body was strapped with both steel belts and heavy chains, meant to keep her in place. Near the bed stood a strange mechanical dropper. The machine was busy humming, pumping something into her bloodstream. A ray of sunlight shone through a nearby window, indicating that the wolfkin had been out in the cold for quite some time.
How did I… Virginia concentrated. She remembered how everything was shaking and they had to stop the car, waiting for the earthquake to end. Sveta wanted to treat her injury, but Virginia waved her off. Sveta then asked the terminal from Aranea, and upon coming back to the fortress, Annie came to meet them, shaking hands with Virginia, before smashing her against the nape of… Ah, so this is why I am in the infirmary and not running wild. Virginia and her other self yapped happily to each other in their mind, starting gnawing at the chains. When she was really weak, she and parallel Virginia could occasionally speak up to each other, not with words but rather with emotions.
"It won’t work," Svetlana declared, coming into the room, dressed in the white uniform of a nurse, with her hair tied into a knot. Gloves covered her paws all the way to the elbow, and the nurse came closer, spreading Virginia’s eyelid with one arm and checking for something, "Shit, Virginia, you nearly dropped dead because of blood loss! How many times must I tell you that the wounds have to be treated?"
"Treated?" The wolf hag asked innocently, still chewing the chain. The bloody thing refused to give in! Oh well, Sveta always makes some mistakes, I’ll just slip away…
"My advice is to pump sedatives into this idiot and keep her asleep while her body heals," Annie smiled wickedly as she leaned against a wall next to a doorway, "Oh, hi there, Virginia, glad to see you awake. Get well soon, and thank you for keeping Sveta safe," Annie said this with a genuine warmth in her voice, but her next words were filled with mischievous gloating, "I came to cheer you up, you poor, poor soul. Would you want to have breakfast right in bed? I can even feed you with a spoon or read you a book later, my dear."
"Cringe." Virginia commented, unsure how to act. Annie, did you really hold a grudge for that time? But it was years ago!
"Dislike cringe? Get ready to eat it in full." Blaze, dressed in a green jacket and long shirt, walked in. Her right shoulder was emblazoned with a panther, indicating that she was a member of the Omega team.
Blaze leaped from the entrance, covering eight steps in one single, graceful jump. Her paws grabbed the rails that run along the bed, stopping her fall, and Blaze sat atop Virginia cross leg, making sure not to apply pressure to the injured area. An elegant-looking claw came from her index finger, covered by stylish black nail polish. Blaze had narrow and elegant-looking claws, much unlike Virginia’s massive, curved butcher instruments. But medics reinforced the omega claws, making them just as tough as the claws of any other wolfkin.
"Virginia," Blaze said, lovingly observing her claw and making the wolf hag’s blood run cold. Auntie Blaze never called her by the name, "Svetlana said to us what you really think of us. Virginia," The claw disappeared, and the wolfkin grabbed Virginia by her ear, headbutting both wolfkins slightly. Enraged amber eyes looked directly at Virginia, reminding her of that one time when the wolf hag declared that techniques are for weaklings. Blaze immobilized Virginia with a pressure point style back then, leaving her to lay in the training hall all day, "Pray tell me, why didn’t you tell us that you wanted to be addressed by name? I must say, I am… what’s the word… Pissed at you right now."
"Please don't be angry, auntie," Virginia pleaded, "I've been the good girl."
"That you were, and your punishment will be different. In fact, the term punishment is misleading," Blaze smirked, "Because once you're out, your pack, me, Ron, and the rest of us will talk our hearts out with you. And we will use your name. All. The. Time."
"I can attend, too, if you want to," Annie offered seriously, "I kinda was an ass to you, all things considered."
"Cringe!" Virginia shouted in panic, and Annie laughed mockingly, enjoying each and every second of her humiliation. I am going to get her for this! Virginia thought happily. She was always ready to offer her shoulder or to help anyone in her pack, no matter the difficulty. But Annie was the only one who ever offered her something back, coming to Virginia to thank her, going easy on her, and working with her on non-combat missions. Even now, her best friend understood what Virginia needed and offered her a target to look for. They were rivals again. Virginia smiled right back at Annie, happy that, at long last, she was forgiven for that horrible mistake she and her other self made.
Svetlana ignored pleading glances for help, patting Blaze at the shoulder to make her leave Virginia. The medic took away the blanket, clicking her tongue a few times at the sight of a bandage covered by slight traces of crimson blood. She called Euphemia, and together they removed the bandage, cleaning up the stitched wound and applying a new one, all the while Blaze threatened Virginia with a claw to make her lie still. The omega could not bother, the wolf hag no longer wanted to leave the infirmary any time soon. Instead, she eagerly hoped that Svetlana or someone else would extend her sick leave. Talking back with her pack and auntie, Ron, and... I will burn with shame! Virginia twisted her neck, looking at what Euphemia had written in the notebook. Three days! Noooo! Too early, too soon! A month… Or better yet a year!
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After securing their patients with chains again, Svetlana gestured to Annie:
"With me, sister."
"Piss off, Svetka." Annie bristled.
"Nope, not until we fix your nose," Annie let out a low growl, but the medic stood undaunted, "I have the official permission from Alpha. Your nose is a liability, Valerye will cover up for you. After me, An, it’s an order." Sveta said with a steely tone.
"Ha! Take the L too, Annie!" Virginia laughed, seeing the angry face of her rival. Annie showed her a middle finger before leaving.
****
"We can make it either safe and long way, or quick and healthy, or really fast and painful." Svetlana pushed Annie onto the medical table, moving medical equipment around the room and preparing something that looked like a laser cannon, aiming its "barrel" at Annie’s face.
"The last choice is the best."
"It’s not the choice for you to make, sis," A beam of light came from the strange device, making the warlord frown, "Don’t worry, it is not harmful for the eyes," Svetlana said casually, watching the image on the display. Finally, she clicked her tongue, "Yeah, this checks out with what I read from your medical card. Your nasal septum healed wrong, it is twisted and blocking access. Quick and healthy way it is. I hope you don't mind walking around with a bandaged nose for a day or two."
"I can't breathe properly through it anyway, so it's hardly a problem," Annie allowed herself to lie back and gaze at the light above her, while Sveta prepared syringes and installed instruments into a special steel arm hovering over the warlord. The medic will remotely control this device, which will fulfill the roles of several medics by breaking and restructuring Annie’s nose, "You win, Svet." The warlord spoke quietly, admitting what had been gnawing at her all these years.
"What?"
"You win. In everything. You know how I nearly led a group to their deaths that night?" Annie clenched her fists and looked at her oversized paws, “Meanwhile, you managed to save lives out there, finding a way to help Virginia, while I was as useless as ever in my bile…"
"Annie, what are you talking about?"
The warlord sat upright, looking directly into Svetlana’s eyes. They looked so familiar to her. Unlike her, she lacked scars, her fur was pristine and gorgeous. She looked frail and probably ate a lot less than she should, coming off as an elegant member of the Ice Fang order rather than a member of the Tribe.
"I was envious," Annie finally admitted, "envious of your fathers, envious of your life, envious of UNU, your friends, and... You remember that night when I disappeared from your house? After that, I tried to save money in order to impress... Spirits, it was stupid!” She grabbed her head, "No wonder the Spirits sentenced me for the hardships. I am the bad one. The magnet for disaster. Because of me, you came to work here and nearly got killed in that damned attack! Because I was selfish, our dad…"
"Shut up, already!" Svetlana grabbed Annie by the shoulders, and she kicked her. Sure, the warlord barely felt this touch, Sveta was weak even in her best days, but right now she acted just like when they were cubs, "This is not a competition, dumbass!" The medic roared, "Yeah, at first, I came here because I was worried about you, true! But guess what, you moron! I have friends here now! A job that I like! Don’t you ever dare say that you are the one who exposed me to danger! Don’t you dare claim my agency! I was in trouble because it is my job to save people! You are one of the dearest persons to me in this world!" Svetlana roared in Annie’s face.
"And you are one of the most precious people in my life as well."
"Then don’t you dare blame yourself! And don't you dare blame yourself for our dad’s death! You think he or mom would ever wish something like this for you? Or blame you?"
"I would never…"
"They made a mistake! I made mistakes! The world made mistakes!" Svetlana kicked again and again, and Annie hugged her, unsure what to say, "You are not a bad one! Do… do you even have any idea how long I have searched for you, sis?" Svetlana buried her neck in Annie’s chest and sobbed, "And I ruined everything on that night."
"Sveta... I..." Annie paused, hugging her sister, "I'm sorry, it was selfish of me and..."
"Enough with the excuses! We are both selfish!"
"That we are," Annie laughed, Svetlana's laughter echoing in her chest. The warlord felt tears in her eyes, but she no longer cared about her image. Instead, she threw her head back, laughing out loud, having not a care in the world, and her sister joined her. Both of them were laughing because they were alive and because that damned wall that rose between them had finally fallen. Annie let go of the fear of losing her sister, hugging her and swearing to herself that she will treasure every moment of them being together now instead of being afraid and worried about losing Sveta. The warlord asked quietly, "Svet. Is it true then? That your dads…"
"Yes. They never suggested throwing you out. I swear it."
"I am obliged to apologize."
"No," Svetlana pushed her back, "Fuck off with that. No more feeling sorry, no more apologies. The dads are not angry, you are not angry, and I am not angry anymore. Mistakes happened, so what? We live now. Got it, An? We live and heal," She reached out for another chair, sitting down before the terminal and typing something, "And we start healing by fixing your nose, sister. Then, one day, we restart our meeting with my fathers from scratch. Get ready, it will be a quick and healthy way."
"Sure thing, sister," Annie replied, leaning back on the medical table and feeling the syringe pierce her skin as it injected painkillers, "Say, I’ve been meaning to ask, you have a boyfriend or something?"
"I’ve been hooked up with Zeke for a while, but we broke up before anything serious started," Sveta’s finger lingered above a button for a moment, "Sis, there is that thing… What did you do during your heat?