February 14th
Quentin
I rushed back towards the spaceship holding my unconscious girlfriend in my arms. It was a race against time as her breaths got shallower and her heartbeat slowed down. If there was any chance for her, I had to get her to Doctor Octavia. I wanted to kick myself for being stupid enough to let her go when there was nothing on this planet that could’ve been a surprise she knew about. I didn’t want to be too controlling, but I also didn’t want her to make mistakes that would kill her.
I opened up my SAD and dialed everyone. When the first person answered, I screamed, “Everyone, prepare the medical bay! Scarlett is dying! If we don’t perform lifesaving surgery on her, she’ll die!” I continued sprinting through the halls. Surprisingly, Scarlett didn’t weigh as such as she should’ve. She was fit, but she only felt as heavy as someone half her weight. I chalked it up to adrenaline since I didn’t have enough time to waste on thinking about it.
After a few minutes, I burst out of the lab running at full speed towards the spaceship. It only took a few seconds to reach it, at which point Scarlett’s heartbeat stopped along with her breathing. Not letting these crucial seconds go to waste, I used a psionic jump to launch us into the ship before bolting straight into the medical bay. I handed her to the RNU before falling to my knees and panting.
The RNU carried Scarlett over to a strange coffin-looking device. It placed her in there before sealing it. As it powered on, I could hear gas entering it and beeping emanating from it. I was going to ask it something when Doctor Octavia ran straight to Scarlett, wearing only a bathrobe. She looked at me and shouted, “Get out! I need complete concentration to help her!” I nodded and left the room.
I paced around the short hallway as my heartrate shot through the roof. There was a good chance Scarlett wasn’t going to make it. Every second mattered to make sure she didn’t become braindead, and I wasn’t sure I was quick enough. I should’ve been there to stop her! It should’ve been obvious that something that could change someone’s skeletal layout was too dangerous! I was an idiot! And because of my actions, she was going to die!
“What am I going to do?” I frantically asked no one in particular. “What am I going to tell Scarlett’s family? I’ll have to explain that she died and the foxwoman corpse is her! I don’t think any of us can take it!”
I fell to the ground and started crying. I wasn’t afraid of anyone watching me bawl like a baby. The woman I loved was dying. My eyes grew itchy as tears streamed down my face. Even though I became a stronger and tougher man on my journey, the feeling hurt deeper than anything else. It hurt worse than when my maternal grandfather died of a heart attack. He was family, but he was also in his late eighties, so it made sense that he simply reached the end of his life. Scarlett was only twenty-four. I had confirmation that she retained a human lifespan, so she was dying way before her time. I knew some people died young, but I always figured we’d die in combat if that was the case, like with Malgorth.
After what seemed like an hour in that dark place, Doctor Octavia left the medical bay and let out a sigh. I looked at her and asked, “Should we start planning a funeral?” My eyes were red from all the tears. My voice was hoarse and my throat dry.
The doctor had a smile on her face as she shook her head. “Ms. Campbell is in stable condition. While she has to undergo many operations, she’ll be back to her old self soon.” I let out a sigh of relief as I felt every muscle in my body relax.
I slowly got up and said in a hoarse voice, “Thank you. Is there any way I can repay you?”
She shook her head and said, “No, Mr. Smith. I don’t need payment. Unlike other doctors, I don’t need comfortable living standards. I do my services for free since I desire to travel to backwater planets and teach their locals how to do modern medicine. Besides, no money you could give would be worth anything once we reach the next sector.” She then walked back to her room.
I opened the door to the medical bay and walked over to my foxy girlfriend. The coffin-looking device had a glass top that allowed me to see her. There was an oxygen mask on her muzzle, and she was wearing a hospital gown. I could see her chest rising and falling as she was slowly breathing. A heart monitor to the side informed me that she had a healthy heartrate. I felt like a weight was taken off my chest. A sigh of relief escaped my lips as I watched her recover.
The RNU rolled up to check on her vitals. “All vitals good. However, consciousness eludes her,” the robot said. “Foreign fluids in the bloodstream seem to be the cause of her condition.”
I looked at the robot and asked, “Foreign fluids? You mean the Demutator Serum she injected herself with?”
“Affirmative,” the RNU replied. “Unfortunately, with how much blood we’ll need to extract, she needs a blood donor.”
“I’ll do it! Sign me up as her blood donor!” I hoarsely shouted as I raised my hand.
Doctor Octavia reentered the door, this time wearing a proper medical uniform. She looked at me and said, “Go eat something and drink water. The files in the RNU’s database inform me that you and Scarlett share the same blood type.”
I nodded and went straight to the kitchen. I drank several glasses of water before eating some slices of bread. It wasn’t a meal, but it was quick. Once I swallowed the last piece of bread, I went back to the medical bay and laid down on the hospital bed. I felt a quick pinch as the doctor inserted the needle into my left arm.
After a few minutes, the doctor pulled out the needle and bandaged the site. She looked at the vial of blood and said, “That should be enough. If not, we’ll have to take some risks.” She ran over to the coffin-looking device and inserted the vial of blood into it.
The machine got to work. Needles jabbed Scarlett from all sides. All but one of them were extracting some strange greenish blood while the last one was injecting her with my blood. Because the only blood loss she sustained before the operation was being cut by shards of glass, my single vial was sufficient.
Doctor Octavia walked over to me and said, “Her body accepted your blood. We’re fortunate she didn’t lose much blood before she was brought here. She was on her last legs when we started operating on her.” She looked at the greenish blood that was extracted and asked, “What happened here? Her genome is mostly human, so this is very odd.”
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
I sighed as I explained, “She never liked how she was turned from a human woman into a being that looked like an anthropomorphic fox. She swore to find a way to undo it by any means necessary. I only found out earlier today that she tried to find the cure when it had a seventy-five percent chance of killing her. The taint in the blood is called Demutator Serum. She only injected a small bit before I pulled it out and smashed it on the ground.”
The doctor nodded and said, “It’s a good thing you stopped her. Her mutation has become permanent in the fourteen years she spent as a mutant. The serum never could’ve cured her. All it could ever do was destroy her cellular structure, which it was doing.” She looked at Scarlett and said, “What it ultimately means is that Scarlett is a foxwoman and will always be one. What you see is the real her and we need to accept that fact.”
It would’ve thrown a wrench in my plan to start a relationship with her if I was the same man when I first met her. Now, however, I would be fine with remaining her boyfriend. She’d never be a baseline human again. She’d always have her foxy head, a tail, and be covered in fur, but it didn’t make her ugly. She was still beautiful, and even gorgeous in my eyes. The image of her human avatar disappeared in my mind as the current her took its place. And I wasn’t upset.
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Scarlett
I woke up in a black void alone. “Am I dead?” I asked myself. My voice echoed into the void, only to get no response.
“Does this look like heaven to you?” I heard my own voice ask as footsteps approached me. I looked in the direction of the voice to see my human avatar approach me. Taking a look at myself, I realized that I was still the foxwoman I was when I fell unconscious. My human avatar laughed and said, “Yep, you’re still a fox.”
I looked away and hmphed. “Come back to mock me again? Nice try!”
She knelt down and said, “Scarlett, I didn’t mean it like that. I was just telling you that the serum didn’t work. Not even the whole vial would’ve cured you. The only difference the small dose made was giving you a shot at survival.”
I turned to face her again and asked, “How would you know that? As far as I know, you’re just a figment of my imagination.”
She chuckled and said, “That I am. I’m just a reflection of your mental compartmentalization of your humanity as separate from your current form. You did it because you were so sure you were going to become human again and have your happy ending, but it was always a fantasy. Deep down, you knew it couldn’t be true.”
“You’re right,” I replied as I let out a sigh. “I wanted a fairy tale ending to my story without considering the fact that life isn’t one. A twenty-five percent chance of working was always a twenty-five percent chance. Even then, it was one woman’s inexact mental estimate. It really could’ve been zero percent, but she didn’t know how my mutation worked.”
My human avatar clicked her tongue and replied, “Bingo!” She sighed and said, “Scarlett, life’s not a fairy tale. Victory isn’t assured and things could end suddenly. Remember Malgorth’s death?”
“I remember,” I said as I shivered. “And to think I took a stupid risk even though I could die just as suddenly as he did. And I guess I died as well.”
My human avatar grabbed my shoulders and said, “You’re not dead. Your boyfriend saved you from your own mistake and the doctor you brought on board performed life-saving surgery on you. You’re now just waiting to wake up.”
“I’ll survive, but as this accursed creature,” I replied as I messed with my fur. Sure, it was just a dream, but it felt real to me.
My human avatar suddenly pulled me into a hug. “Scarlett, you’re not an accursed creature. You’re not truly a fox either. You’re a woman. And biologically speaking, you’re still human. Philosophically, you’re absolutely still a person. Theologically, you’re still loved by God. You are Scarlett Rose Campbell, daughter of Samuel Arnold Campbell and Cassandra Vaught Campbell. Fastest Draw in the Galaxy, as Quentin jokingly calls you. You’re a good woman, and it’s about time you acknowledged that.”
“I guess you’re right,” I said as I hugged her back. It was the sort of hug I would give my parents after a tragic event for support. “Oftentimes, calling someone good is seen as a subtle insult, implying that the person is nothing remarkable. But truthfully, it should be a powerful compliment. I’ve been called cute, beautiful, smart, and a sharpshooter, but never good. To hear that I’m a good woman, it’s eye-opening. I truly am a person and not just a monster created by science.”
“You finally see it,” my human avatar said as she started to become transparent. “We’re the same person. I never left you, for you never stopped being me. You are still the little girl who was abducted by the Qarri. Your parents then are still your parents. You are still Scarlett,” she finished saying before she disappeared and fused with me.
I felt and looked no different, but it was that same feeling that made me sigh in relief. I no longer desired to be normal. While a nice dream, I felt confident with who I was. I was a foxwoman, but I was still human.
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I woke up on a hospital bed to see Quentin sitting in a chair nearby. He had a smile on his face as he looked at me. Tears were in his eyes as he cried with joy, “Thank God you’re alive!” He jumped up and hugged me tightly, placing a kiss on the top of my muzzle.
“Quentin, I’m sorry. I was planning on surprising you by becoming human again, but it seems it was impossible. I’m extremely sorry I placed you through the stress of almost losing me,” I said as my ears drooped, and I looked away sadly.
He kept his smile as he said, “Scar, while it was a stupid decision, I don’t know if I would’ve done the same. You were overwhelmed by the possibility to become human again that it overrode your brain. But I forgive you. I should be the one apologizing for my actions. Besides, I can now say that I have a werefox girlfriend.”
“I guess when you put it that way, looking like this isn’t too bad,” I said as I considered the term. It was similar to a werewolf. Many women fantasized about having a werewolf boyfriend. This must’ve been the male version of it now. I didn’t know much since I was stuck in space since 2009, but views could’ve changed. Perhaps I would be a celebrity instead of a pariah. Not that I wanted to be a celebrity, but at least I may not have to hide.
We looked into each other’s eyes for probably a minute. Once the minute was over, I hugged him back as tight as I could before planting a strong kiss on his lips. He kissed back with the same strength. I didn’t want the moment to end. I could be here forever and it would be heaven. Perhaps he was the man I was going to spend the rest of my life with. If so, I was fortunate to meet him so soon. We were able to overcome our issues with the other’s appearance and see who we truly were underneath. He was no male model, Hollywood star, or billionaire. He was just a middle-class small-town boy who had a big heart and brain. While he wasn’t to the levels of a living saint or a genius, he was still a good man.
Our kissing session was interrupted by Doctor Octavia’s entrance. She cleared her throat, getting us to look at her. She looked at me and said, “Welcome back to the world of the living, Ms. Campbell.”
“Thank you, Doctor Octavia! There’s no way I’ll be able to repay you for what you’ve done!” I cried back as I looked at the woman who saved my life. Emotions flooded in as the drama of the day had me overwhelmed. “It was a crazy day today! Almost died and was brought back!”
The doctor scratched the back of her neck as she hesitantly explained, “Ms. Campbell, you were out for five days. While the threat to your life was solved in a single day, it took four days to repair the damage the serum did to you. And because of that time, we don’t have enough fuel to leave the planet’s orbit.”
Quentin broke the hug and paced around the room while scratching his chin. He suggested, “Perhaps there’s enough resources on this planet for all of our goals. That abandoned lab should have plasma capsules because it seems like laboratory equipment. We could probably find fuel there or in any settlement that may have housed the scientists. It shouldn’t take long before we’re back to space and ready to head out.”