Declan
"Declan, Declan," it wasn't until Malachi's hand held onto my shoulder and slightly shook me that my eyes pulled away from the wolf. My train of thought came back to me as I gasped and looked to my forearm expecting to see blood with the torn material of my shirt.
However there was none of that. No blood, not the imprinted skin where its canines had sunken into my flesh or the material of my shirt barely hanging on. It looked like nothing had happened to begin with as I patted my arm long thinking I had lost my mind.
"Are you okay?" He looked at me with a frown as he pushed the wheeled table to the back of the open bucket. "You zoned out."
"I think I'm just tired," I ran my fingers through my hair and let out a long exhale. I hadn't even had a sip of alcohol today but it felt like I was hallucinating.
"Help me get him out. The sooner I can get it cleaned up and he rests the better. Wolves get agitated being confined too long," he pulled the wolf by its shoulders whilst I stepped in with the hind legs.
It barely fit onto the table but we managed to get it into the clinic and the consultation room. Under the bright light of the surgery its leg didn't look that bad. Just a few scraps here and there. Clearly no broken bones therefore not as bad as I thought it was back at the road.
"I'll just clean it up and let him stay overnight," Malachi put on his gloves and was quick to get to work whilst I held onto the wolves shoulders.
It's eyes just staring at my face the entire time. Almost studying me as I watched Malachi work. Far too afraid that if I looked into its eyes again my mind would be gone.
"Sorry," Malachi quickly apologized when he seemed to clean its leg with an iodine sort of mix that clearly must have stung by how it let out a growl and a bark. It's canines snapping at him.
"Shh," I pushed it back onto the table and with just a little resistance in the beginning he laid back down. His snout constantly pulled back as Malachi cleaned up its leg and just for good measure bandaged it slightly.
"Let's take it to the back," he sighed when he was done and threw his gloves in the bin. We rolled it to the back of the clinic where there were overnight cages. All of them were empty luckily and there was one big enough to keep the wolf in.
The little makeshift rooms looked better than the ones you could get at the hospital honestly. Comfy beds, a heater to keep the room warm, clean bowls of water and toys to keep them occupied.
It took back breaking work to get the wolf in the cage and Malachi went to the fridge to get fresh uncooked steaks. "What? I like to spoil my patients," he grinned whilst I gave him an amused look.
"Truthfully five star service," I laughed when he put the meat in a fancy golden bowl then placed it in the cage.
"I'll check on him in the morning. For now I think he'll be alright."
I nodded as I cast the wolf a look then smiled, "sorry about the leg." It simply looked at me before looking back at the steak on its plate then let out almost a hiss in what I assumed to be disgust. "Maybe he likes white meat?"
"He'll have to pay for that," Mal teased. "Let's get going, I don't think I have it in me to stand another minute." He dimmed the lights of the room so that they weren't so bright as I was exiting before following behind me. "You know wolves heal great on their own. We didn't need to go through all of this."
"I felt bad," I sighed, "I've never hit an animal in my life. It was a shock."
"You'll learn to avoid them better over time," he reassured me as we approached the house.
The exhaustion of the day hit me hard when we entered and after kicking off my shoes I was practically dragging my body up the stairs. I undressed far too tired to head for the shower and collapsed in bed.
My mind for the first time was blank as I drifted off to sleep and didn't wake up for the rest of the night.
The next morning my alarm jolted my body awake as I groggily sat up to switch it off. Even from my closed door I could smell the aroma of coffee downstairs and wondered how in the world was Malachi so active in the morning when I was the definition of the walking dead.
It took me a moment to swing my legs over and I found it calming to have my feet on the fluffy rug next to my bed. I didn't know what it was made of but it felt like I was sinking into a cloud.
When I stood up I stretched throughout my room then I walked to the window to open the curtains. For the first time since I had arrived to Enen the skies were partly cloudy showing off the peeks of blue behind them. I nearly had forgotten the colour of a clear blue sky as I chuckled.
My eyes travelled down to the driveway and onto Malachi's clinic when I caught movement close to the entrance. Instantly my curiosity peaked when I saw him standing there dressed in black jeans, a matching hoodie and sneakers. His blonde hair tousled about as it always was but for the first time instead of the calm expression on his face, his smooth features were pulled into a taunt frown.
His eyes burning as he spoke tensely to the man in front of him. A man crazy enough to only be wearing denim cut off jeans, barefoot and no shirt whatsoever whilst it was freezing temperatures outside.