Chapter 61

Chapter 61

-Pax-

Once the doctor was finished dressing Farley's leg, it was my turn to be poked and prodded. I was able to sit on the floor as she worked around me, takin the bandages off and muttering about how I was stupid yesterday. I resisted the urge to comment, as she was doing her job, which I appreciated.

"Right, so you should be able to walk soon," she said as her voice drifted further away from me. "If I see you carrying so much as a heavy book in the next few hours, I will kill you myself."

Farley chuckled at her wording, whilst I huffed. "I think that goes against your job description," I commented quietly.

The doctor didn't make any comment about my remake, instead she said, "I'll be back to check up on you in a few hours. Hopefully you'll be able to walk soon." I hoped that she was talking to Farley, but I had the suspicion that she was talking to me. Her voice was a little clearer, it was as though the sound waves were pushing against me. "I'm sure that there are many wanting to come and see you both."

The door clicked shut. I immediately tried to get to my feet. I had to lean heavily on the table, but I managed. Everything from the top of my ribs and upwards hurt. I tried to relax, but every time I breathed in, a pain shot through my chest.

"You look like hell," Farley commented.

I couldn't help the smile which came onto my face. I shook my head and found the chair which I had been sitting in the night before, moving it as close to Farley as I could get. "I don't need to be able to see to know that you look the same," I retorted. "But how are you feeling?" I reached out for his hand, my fingers trailing down his arm before I found it.

"Sore, in pain, worried, and a little cold to be honest," he listed. He squeezed my hand; his thumb stroked the back of my hand.

"Can I do anything to help?" I asked in a whisper. I knew that the answer was probably no. I couldn't give him any relief from the soreness or pain. I couldn't tell him that everything would be alright, because I couldn't convince myself of that, never mind someone else.

"You could kiss me," he answered.

The suggestion made me freeze. My mind felt like it had finally caught up to the present moment. The past few months came crashing onto me like water in a dam which had burst open.

We had been on a date, we had kissed, we were...whatever we were. I had never imagined that I would ever be in this situation. I felt like I was dreaming. I snorted.

"What?" Farley asked. Confusion was clear. I could imagine him with creased eyebrows, maybe even looking a bit insulted. "Don't want a kiss?"

I shook my head slowly and a laugh escaped from between my lips. "It's easier to believe that I've been shot then...us being..." I gestured in between us with my free hand.

"Boyfriends? Partners? Whatever-the-heck-we-are?" My hand was pulled up and pressed against soft lips. "You're too precious for your own good, literally."

I laughed loudly but the pain cut me off. "Don't make me laugh, please," I begged. I held my stomach and coughed a few times. "Not today."

"I could kiss it better?" he offered.

I stared blankly at him, or at least I hoped I was staring at him. "What's gotten this attitude to show?" I asked with a smile playing on my lips. I didn't mind his teasing, surprisingly. It was something new to me. It made butterflies dance in my stomach and my mind to turn blank.

"Nearly dying," he answered. "You nearly dying." A comfortable silence filled the room. "I think I want to treasure every moment I have. I thought that I had lost you." His voice sounded so sad, scared, and caring. It was a voice I had heard before, but never aimed at me.

"I think I want the same," I responded. "But I don't think I'm good at it." I lowered my head, looking down towards our clasped hands, I think.

He gave a soft laugh. "Good at what? Loving? Being loved? You seem to be a natural at it so far." He squeezed my hand again. "I've never been in a proper relationship either. We can just take it slow." He paused. "But I still want a kiss."

I smiled and rose to my feet. I trailed my hand up his arm and rested it on the side of his head. I leant in and met his lips.

It was different to the last time we had kissed. This time, I didn't want this moment to last forever. I wanted to go slowly and quickly at the same time. I wanted Farley to be able to be the one standing. I wanted the pain to go away. But his lips on mine made it easier. He made it easier.

"I look forward to more of those," Farley whispered when we pulled away.

I couldn't help the small laugh which escaped me. "Me too."

Our moment was interrupted by the sound of the door opening. "You're sitting up," Iris said happily. She was holding a tray of some sort, judging by the clatter of porcelain. "I've brought you two something to eat. The doctor said you shouldn't have too much, just in case."

I flinched a little bit. I still wasn't fond of the idea of being sick. It had been a fear of mine since I was very young, and I still hadn't quite gotten over it.

She put whatever she was holding on the table, somewhere next to Farley's legs. "Pax, you shouldn't be standing." I was pushed back into the seat and handed a bowl of something warm. "How are you two feeling?"

I didn't reply, just embraced the steam of the warm food in front of me. The taste was sensational. It was just simple porridge with some honey on top, but it tasted like one of the most welcoming foods that I could've asked for at that moment. It made me feel like I was back home, and someone had failed at preparing the tea, probably Clementine, and we were forced to have something such as instant porridge.

I listened to Farley and Iris talk, occasionally nodding or shaking my head in response to any comments I felt the need to. I couldn't eat quickly, my arms hurt too much to do that. I felt anxious for some reason.

I met Odell and Brontes not long after Iris took our dishes away. The three children were playing a board game with Lowell and Oran when Alder wanted to show me how to play it. I was, of course, quite useless at understanding the different places on the board, but they always pointed it out if I went too far. Farley had to throw in his input every now and again to make sure that I didn't lose too terribly. We had teamed up, which the children deemed was 'unfair'. They quickly stopped their complaints when I suggested that it was us two versus them three. We still ended up losing, but it was good fun.

The doctor came back to make sure that I wasn't doing anything torture-worthy, and to check on Farley's leg. She told us that it was almost healed, which wasn't very good news.

Farley still couldn't feel much of his leg. He described it to me as though his leg had been placed into a bucket of ice and was entirely numb. I didn't want to think about it. I didn't want to imagine what it was like to experience that. I relied on my senses too much, especially touch, for that to be something that I could possibly live with.

I knew I was probably being dramatic. I should be grateful that I'm not the one with the injury, but all I was left with was the feeling of guilt, which I assumed would be staying in my heart for quite some time.

She said that I could walk about the house, and I did that for two minutes before heading straight outside. I promised Farley that I would be back as quickly as possible, and that I'd probably be visible through the window. I didn't know if I was, but the turns that I had taken and where the window was, I wasn't too far off.

I sat in the grass for a few moments, trying to steady my breathing and ground myself. Nature had always been a close friend of mine. It had been a while since I was able to just sit down in the grass and relax like this.

"Feeling better?" Caspian's voice startled me. He must have been sitting next to me for quite a while, as I didn't remember hearing his footsteps. "It's a nice day, a bit chilly though."

I nodded, my arms wrapping around my legs in an attempt to comfort myself and to keep my back straight. "It's getting towards winter."

Caspian huffed. "You didn't answer my other question," he pointed out. "As alpha of your pack, I don't like that. At least not without some reason as to why it's getting ignored."

"My pack?" I asked with furrowed eyebrows. I'd been told time and time again that I was a part of their pack, from Farley, Iris, and even Rowan. But I hadn't actually heard it from Caspian before.

"Yeah, you know? The one without a name that I'm the alpha of?" He questioned. "I should really come up with a name for us, but it's just difficult." He then nudged me extremely lightly. As though he was scared that I would break. "Now, answer the question."

"Well, my chest hurts," I said slowly. I didn't really know what he wanted to hear, which made me uncomfortable. "My head hurts a little, I'm a bit disappointed that I was teased with a video of my parents."

Caspian waited until I stopped speaking to say, "I'm glad that you're being honest. It's not good to keep things to yourself, sometimes it just eats at you too much." He sighed a little. "I've been meaning to ask you about joining the pack, but there's never really been a good time."

I nodded. I couldn't disagree with the fact that we had been practically busy non-stop. The events had been so uncertain that there really hadn't been a good time for talking about things which were slightly less important.

"Along with the fact that I thought that you would marry into the pack," he continued.

I choked on some saliva. I could imagine him grinning at me, a teasing expression on his face.

"What?" I asked. "I don't think that'll happen anytime soon." I shook my head. My ears were burning hot. The very thought of that happening, not even before I had met Farley, had never crossed my mind. Getting married to someone was a strange thought, but six months ago, finding someone to be in a relationship with was a laughable thought.

"Don't sell yourself short," Caspian told me. "It might happen sooner than you think. Or it might not happen. Either way, I'm putting the offer out to you."

I covered my mouth with my left hand, a position which I found comforting for a reason that I didn't know. "To be in your pack?" I asked. I wanted to make sure that I completely understood what he was talking about.

He laughed a little. "Yes, to be in my pack." He paused for a moment. "Is it really that shocking? Farley's practically claimed you."

A shiver ran down my spine. "Don't say that" I said quickly. "I don't like that idea."

"You know how we are though, werewolves," Caspian pointed out.

I did. I knew exactly what he meant. Farley had let me sleep in his bed, his territory. It was a sign from the very start that there was something strange about the situation. Though, saying that he had 'claimed' me made me feel like something less than a person. It wasn't the case, and I'm sure it wasn't his intention.

"Besides, I want the excuse to expand the house," he said after a minute. "I might even just put Rowan in Iris' room."

I snorted. "You have a better chance of bulldozing the house and rebuilding it than going well." I could imagine Iris and Rowan constantly arguing. They were nearly complete opposites. The number of times that Iris came into our room and started to complain about how untidy it was, was more times than I could count on both hands.

"True, it'd be a lot less messier."

We shared a small laugh.

"I'd be honoured to join your pack," I told him. "I'm not sure what help I'd be, and I'm really not a very good asset."

Caspian placed a hand on my shoulder. It was a simple gesture, but it was extremely comforting. "A pack isn't always about assets. A pack is about family and being there for each other. It's about who we have ties with and who we'll stay faithful to."

I don't know why that made my eyes water. He was stating what I had felt all through my life. I had only felt like a useless asset before I met Farley, but I was starting to understand that I shouldn't have been feeling like an asset at all.

Several pairs of arms wrapped around me from all different angles. I could smell lavender, sandalwood, plum, and some sort of artificial cheese. The arms were gentle, as though they were also scared to break me. At this point, I was more likely to break down than break apart.

"You're gonna make me cry," Clementine whined. "I've done enough of that."

"Sorry," I said, and a laugh escaped when some of the arms tightened around me.

"Sorries are worse than crying," Iris complained.

"We should go see Farley," Rowan said after a while of hugging. "He can't miss out on this."

Hello lovelies!!

I hope that you've all had a brilliant weekend :D

As this story comes to a close, it only seems fit that the question of the chapter be: who is your favourite character in this story?

I really love Rowan and Iris' relationship- which really surprised me as I was writing it. They have definitely been two of my favourite characters!