Chapter 21
"Damon calm down!" Charlie cautiously moves towards me.
"Don't fucking tell me to calm down! Lotus is in the hospital fighting for her life right now and I've heard no new news on her condition!" I roar as I destroy everything in my office in rage and sorrow.
It's been two days since Lotus was shot with three arrows and I haven't been able to see her, the doctors managed to safely get the arrows out of her and close up the wounds but she's not in a stable condition, the arrows pierced some of her organs meaning there's a high possibility that she could die any second. The reason I'm not allowed to see her is because the doctors think it would send me over the edge and if she gets too stimulated in her comatose state it'll make her worse. My wings haven't returned to normal yet so being near me it like being near a ticking time bomb, if someone makes one wrong move my wings will set everything ablaze, Nick and Kevin have been keeping guard outside her hospital room watching out for any threat since we don't know how she got hurt. Charlie and I have checked into it, we followed her and Pegasus' blood trail to the top of the hill she was on when we left her, after careful inspection we came to the conclusion that who ever shot her came from the direction of the gates and walls around the headquarters, our suspicion was proven right when yesterday Pegasus was let out of 'vet' hospital and he sat on the hill just staring angrily in that direction. Sadly we found no other clues. I want to find the fucker who hurt her and slowly torture them to death, the shooter has to be someone in the organization since they were close enough to shoot her or there's a incredibly small chance that the person had the power to get through our hundreds of wards.
Every second of the past few days I've been able to physically feel Lotus' thin grasp on life, she's barely keeping herself alive, but I can tell she's fighting with what little strength she has to live. I eavesdropped on the doctors and heard them say that when Lotus wakes up that they have something very important they have to tell the both of us together which scares me even more and if doesn't wake up they'll eventually tell me what it is. When I had my breakdown in front of her hospital room the only way anyone was able to calm me was by shooting me with tranquilizer darts to knock me out for a few hours, when I woke up I was strapped down to a bed in a fire proof room, apparently when I was out my wings did in fact shoot out fire so what they did was the only thing they could think of to keep me from unintentionally burning down the building a long with who knows how many organization members. When it comes to anything medical related doctors have total authority for the most part which is complete bullshit in my opinion, I praise them for keeping me from harming anyone but curse them for keeping me away from Lotus.
"It may be awhile before there is any change in her condition and as soon their is something to tell you Nick or Kevin will immediately come to find you, all this anger and destruction isn't helping anything." Charlie tries to reason with me.
Listening to him an idea pops into my head. "You know I think there's a way to let some of this anger out, isn't there a hunter base that we recently discovered nearby?" An evil smile creeps across my face I'll take out those fuckers to release a little anger for all we know it could've been a hunter that attacked her.
NICK'S P.O.V.
Kevin and I have been standing guard outside Lotus' room since Damon was tranquilized two days ago, neither of us has been to sleep since she was brought in here. We've overheard the nurses and doctors talking about her condition and it doesn't seem good, there's a few things we've heard that has almost destroyed us. Damon knows that she is in critical condition right now but he was never told she has a less than a one percent chance at survival, the arrows had cause a lot more damage than originally thought and the arrows were poisoned with something very lethal to humans. Everyone decided that due to Damon's actions right now it's best to keep this information from him at the moment, we hate having to hide something like this from him but if he is told the truth he would destroy everything including himself. Kevin and I have opened her door several times to peek in on her and the sight is heart breaking, her skin is even whiter than it already was which is unbelievable, several machines are hooked up to her including a ventilator that's the main reason she's still alive, and there's just about every kind of i.v. drip in there too. Right now the machines are barely keeping her alive the gods are cruel for what they've done, giving a being that's lived alone secluded in the woods with foxes for a thousand years a new life with friends and a mate who would die for her then just rip it away from not only her but from all of us that have come to know and love the unique being.
Yesterday a beautiful nymph named Ariel showed up with Damon to see how Lotus was doing, when we told her what happened and her condition the nymph busted out in tears her elegant make up ran down her face leaving dark trails all the way to her jaw line. She begged the doctors to let her see Lotus but they declined, I was shocked when she called Lotus her daughter, for a second I thought it was true with how this woman was acting, she was truly behaving like a mother whose child is on their death bed. She explained how she met Lotus and saved her and the yearly gifts they exchange, I laughed when she said she gives Lotus berries and secretly watches her through the window Ariel's eyes twinkled as she mentioned how Lotus' eyes light up and she acts like a kid in a candy store seeing all those rare berries. Ariel was blown away to learn that Lotus has befriended another fallen angel but she was more than happy that her 'daughter' is finally making friends. Since her arrival she has brought us food for every meal and patiently waited in a chair next to the room awaiting for any news on our Lotus. If Lotus could see just how many people truly loved and cared for her she'd be shocked, the fact that a nymph is here and calling Lotus her daughter is beyond surprising. For the most part nymph's are selfish and not very sentimental they also tend to not care about anyone but themselves but there's something special about our girl that brings a loving side out of you.
"Ariel you are one amazing cook, I've never tasted food as good as yours before." Kevin compliments as we eat our dinner brought by the small beautiful nymph.
A grin crosses her face. "Thank you, when you've been living for several hundred years and have many male friends that enjoy different foods you got to learn to cook for them occasionally." She winks making me choke on my lemon chicken, most nymphs are know for their promiscuity and they sure don't hide it or feel the least bit embarrassed about it.
"Whenever Lotus gets better you should make food for her and Damon, she needs to widen her horizons with food and surely she'd at least attempt to eat something you cooked just for her." Kevin's eyes shine as a smile tugs at his lips thinking of Lotus' refusal of eating anything normal.
Ariel purses her lips. "I would love to but if I may ask where is her imprint mate Damon at?"
I sigh. "He's not exactly in the best shape and is causing hell everywhere, for the most part the doctors and nurses try to keep him from coming anywhere near the hospital not wanting him to destroy the expensive equipment and disturbing other patients." The poor guy is going insane with worry and pain for his mate.
"I was overjoyed to that my dear little fox found someone to love who equally loves her, when I would occasionally watch her when she was a fox I could tell she thought her life was full and happy but deep down I could see and almost feel the loneliness subconsciously rolling off her in small waves. Now she truly has a fulfilling life with friends and someone to love, she's no longer lonely." She smiles sadly. I had heard Damon and Charlie mention that when they met her they felt the emptiness deep down inside her that she didn't even know was there, now there's no such trace of it.
As we continue eating we ask each other all kinds of questions getting to know each other better, Kevin and I happily share some funny moments of Lotus' antics with the nymph whose eyes light up as she takes in our every word. Kevin grumbles every time I mention something Lotus has done that's caused him to go into a horrible panic, he doesn't want people to think of him as a panicky worry wart. Ariel brought the DVD Damon had made for her and plays it for us, their displays of affection are something we see a lot but watching it this way is much more touching and knowing that she's just behind the door we're front of hanging on for dear life is saddening, this DVD may end up being the only way we'll ever see Lotus. When a doctor comes to check up on her Ariel jumps to her feet with her portable DVD player careful not to drop it and begs the tall elf woman to put it in the room so if Lotus can hear anything she'll be able to hear Damon's voice and the cute interactions between the two, the doctor doesn't agree right away but after dealing with the nymph's cries and pleas for an hour she gives in saying that it shouldn't be too much stimulation for the nearly dead fox shifter to hear. Kevin and I insisted that it was a great idea and maybe hearing Damon's voice would help her fight for life even harder than she already is. I've often heard that hearing loved ones voices helps people in comas wake up and right now Lotus is in a coma only alive due to the machines she's hooked up to.
"Don't worry Ariel I'm sure she'll hear the video and come back to us." I try to soothe her as I come to stand next to her and comfortingly put an arm around her shoulders.
With tears in her eyes she gives a nod. "The power of love is a strange thing and hopefully it's powerful enough to help our girl heal her wounds and wake up."
The first time I ever met this strange fox shifter with powers was when Damon and her arrived, it was worrying seeing him holding a white fox with eyes full of pure love when he looked at it I and the rest of the guards thought he must've lost his mind when he was away. When we saw a small fox cub come running trying to fight his way through the crowd we were even more confused with our leader, then the beautiful snow white fox turned into a dazzling being that almost glowed with paleness, bright white hair with matching ears and nine tails gently being swayed by the wind. Everything about her appearance drew us all in. Her protectiveness over the small cub was just as shocking as her appearance, it surprised us all at how a Pegasus was friendly and even protective of her something that's never really been heard of from the moody beasts it was hilarious seeing Charlie getting kicked by the flying horse.
The next time I saw her I was with some of the other fallen angels talking near the stable, we felt a tremendous amount of terror rolling in waves off someone close by but we ignored it figuring that the Pegasus had scared someone since that's the direction the fear was coming from and the Pegasus had been terrorizing a lot of people at the time. In no time Charlie was next to us asking us to leave because Lotus' had a bad past experience with our kind, I looked over and saw her hiding behind Kevin, her small body shaking in fear, tears brimming her unique pink eyes, ears flat and tails tucked between her legs, her whimpering just about broke all of our hearts, she is here to be protected by us but she was utterly terrified of us. Giving her a friendly yet sad smile I walked off with the rest of the group into the living room. As we all sat down we discussed ways to possibly try to stay out of her sight or even try to figure out a way to get rid of her fear let her see we won't hurt her, we pondered what exactly could've happened that made the leader's mate so terrified of our kind.
When our discussion got heated we heard someone enter the room halting our conversation, looking in the direction of the doorway Lotus, Kevin, and even Charlie were all standing there. Lotus was frozen to the spot seeing a room full of fallen angels with their black wings on display. Immediately we all started to get up to leave not wanting to make her uncomfortable or terrified then we were commanded to stay, we didn't know what to do, we didn't want her to be scared but we can't exactly ignore a command from someone higher ranking than us. Reluctantly we all sat down as instructed and when our leader entered the room we let out silent breaths we didn't know we had been holding, overly joyed on the inside that he'll be able to keep her from being scared or at least a little less scared. It was cute seeing how her ears and tails being petted made her calm and purr like a kitten, Charlie's nickname for her suits her perfectly, she is in some ways like a kitty. A kitty that has become like family to me.
Damon appointing me as her guard/friend was surprising, I was shocked he would suggest such a thing but I guess him, Charlie and Kevin were right when they said she needed to get over her fear of my kind. The first week with her was pure hell for the both of us, she was in constant fear even though we were never alone and I tried keeping a little distance from her, several times I was almost attacked by her for various reasons. Being around the terrified being was like walking on eggshells any wrong move and it would set her off in panic, I can't count how many times she ran away to hide from me, Kevin and I would usually find her in her fox form curled up in a ball whimpering in some small space.
I forgot about staying away from the cub once and it didn't end too well for me, I was leaning against the stable watching Lotus in the field with Pegasus admiring their close relationship when a small tug came from the bottom of my pants, looking down the tiny cub was there staring up at me with his tongue lolling out, smiling I reached down to pet the adorable little guy then before I knew it I was sent flying through the air. When I crashed into the wall surrounding headquarters a very pissed off Lotus was in front of me with elongated claws ready to tear me apart from limb to limb but luckily Charlie came out of nowhere like he tends to do and took her down giving me time to run off before she threw him off her. Thinking of the memories my heart constricts as tears fall from my eyes knowing that these may be the only memories I'll ever have of the kitsune that is like a little sister to me. I'm pulled out of my thoughts by the most horrifying sound I could ever hear, Kevin, Ariel and I stand facing the door frozen in fear and complete sorrow as the sound of the heart monitor goes from a steady beat to a flat line. Lotus is dead.