Chapter 3

The rest of the week passed fairly quickly for Felicia. She had made some headway with her research of the samples, and she sent her findings to Tallahassee.

"Don't forget about tonight." Kirk reminded her as they all got ready to leave the building for the evening.

"Kirk, you haven't let me forget about it all week. Don't worry, I'll be there. I'm just going to head home real quick so that I can change and feed Shadow, and then I'll meet you and Eddie at the bar."

The night was a clear one, and were it not for the lights brightening up the city, you would have been able to see the stars in the sky.

When Felicia got home, Shadow didn't meet her at the door like he did most of the time. He didn't do it because he was happy to see her, more because he knew that she fed him as soon as she got home.

"Shadow!" She called out, setting her bag on the floor. "Shadow?"

Venturing into her bedroom, she heard hissing coming from underneath her queen-sized bed. Pushing up the bed skirt, she saw Shadow hiding in the darkness. His fur was standing up, and he yowled at Felicia.

"Shadow, what's wrong, buddy?"

The Ragamuffin cat wasn't always the most loving, but this kind of behavior was odd for him.

"Shadow, come on, baby." Felicia reached under the bed, and that was when Shadow attacked, his razor-sharp teeth sinking into her arm.

Letting out a scream, she managed to shake him off of her, the cat retreating further into the shadows.

Felicia went into the bathroom that was adjoined to the bedroom, getting the first aid kit out from underneath the sink. The wound on her arm was already a dark red, and she winced when she looked at it. What had gotten into Shadow? True, he had never been the friendliest of cats, but he had never just outright attacked anyone like this, either. And this didn't look like a normal bite.

For one, it was already starting to swell up. She put some triple antibiotic cream on, then wrapped up her arm. Taking her cell phone out of her pocket, she sent a text to Kirk. 'Can't make it tonight.'

Not even thirty seconds later, Kirk was calling her. "You are not backing out on us now."

"Kirk, I actually have an excuse this time, and it has nothing to do with The Bachelor. Shadow bit me, and I'm not talking just some playful little nip. He latched onto me pretty damn hard, I had to shake him off of me."

"That doesn't make any sense." Felicia could hear the confusion in Kirk's voice. "Shadow's never bit anyone before. How bad is the bite?"

"It wasn't that bad at first. I put some cream on it and wrapped it, but it's really starting to swell up."

"Alright, look, Eddie and I will turn around and come over."

"Kirk, you don't need to do that-"

"Nope, not listening to it, we'll see you in a few."

~

It wasn't even fifteen minutes before the duo showed up at Felicia's door.

"That was fast," Felicia commented.

"We may have broken a few speeding laws to get here," Eddie replied. Eddie was three years older than Kirk, an African American man with hair so coarse that he often joked that you could scrub dishes with it.

"Now, let's see this bite that you're talking about." Kirk had Felicia sit on the couch in the living room. Lifting up her sleeve, he slowly unwrapped the wound, letting out a whistle. "You weren't kidding when you said that it was swollen."

"It wasn't that bad before." Her wound was more than just red now. It was puff and deep, more like the bite had been from a cougar or jaguar.

Kirk swore under his breath. "This is more than just some bite, Felicia. Are you sure that Shadow doesn't have rabies?"

"I don't even let Shadow outside, so how could he possibly have rabies?"

"You need to go to the hospital and get this looked at."

"It doesn't hurt or anything."

"Felicia, now is not the time to be acting stubborn," Kirk said in a stern voice. "Eddie and I are taking you to the hospital."

"And what are we going to tell them, Kirk? I got bit by my cat, and it looks like I got bit by a freaking lion."

"I mean, she kind of has a point." Eddie pointed out. "Still though, it is something that you should get looked at, the last thing that we want is for infection to set in."

"Ugh, fine." Felicia groaned. "You guys aren't giving me any choice in the matter, anyway."

~

Fortunately, the trip to the hospital only took about ten minutes, and a half an hour after that, they were in one of the stark white rooms, a doctor looking at Felicia's arm.

"That is one nasty bite you've got there." The doctor, who had introduced himself as Dr. Armstrong, said. Dr. Armstrong appeared to be in his fifties, with salt and pepper hair. "You said that it was your housecat that bit you? This is a pretty big bite for a domesticated cat. Were you antagonizing him at all?"

"No," Felicia responded. "He was hiding under my bed, I reached under my bed to make sure that he was alright, and he bit me."

"Well, I'm no veterinarian, but I would suggest that your cat be seen by one. If your cat bit you unexpectedly, and you hadn't done anything to antagonize him, then that suggests that something is going on with him, either physical or neurological."

"I'll make an appointment for him in the morning. In the meantime, what can I do about my arm?"

"You mentioned before that you had put some cream on it, but honestly, the only thing I think that's going to do is keep it from itching. I'm going to prescribe you some antibiotics, and I'll give your arm a fresh dressing, but other than that, I'm afraid that there's nothing else that I can do for you."

"Thanks, doc."

"We'll get that done, and then we'll get you out of here. I want you to come back if it gets any worse."

"Well, that was basically a wasted trip," Felicia complained as she and the boys left the hospital. "He told me stuff that I already know."

"At least he's got you on antibiotics," Kirk responded. "That's better than nothing at all. Do you want Eddie and I to stay with you tonight?"

Felicia shook her head. "You guys have done enough."

"You sure that you'll be alright?"

"I'll be fine, and I'll text you if something happens."

When Felicia got into her house, Shadow was sitting on her bed, his tail going back and forth as he glowered at her.

"On second thought, I don't think that I'll mind sleeping on the couch tonight," Felicia mumbled before she quickly shut the door.

Grabbing a blanket out of the linen closet, she laid down on the couch, setting an alarm for herself for the next morning. Curling up under the blankets, she fluffed up the throw pillows that were perched on the couch, resisting the urge to scratch at her arm.

"So much for the cream helping with itching." She grumbled to herself before she laid down, her mind racing. She had so many questions, and she was determined to get to the bottom of this. Something was affecting Shadow, and she was going to find out what it was.