Chapter 6

Frozen in place, my mind raced with thoughts and my body shook furiously with fear. I felt incredibly helpless and scared, not knowing what to do or how to help my brother at all. I was completely out of my element and felt like I was going to faint... just like I think he did... I kept meowing his name and shaking his shoulder, but nothing seemed to work, he still lay there unmoving. 

I wanted to cry, hard, but no tears came out and I just sounded like a distraught squawking bird. What do I do?! What do I do?!

I sat there hyperventilating for a few seconds before I could think of something.

  Z-Zach and Windy!! They've got to know something! I sprinted to the other section of the den, almost smashing my head into the entrance to the other room.

"Windy! Zach!" I cried, skidding to a stop, almost running into them. Before, they were eating the rabbit, but their heads perked up, their faces turning to concern seeing how distraught I was. "What happened?" Zach urged, beginning to look just as worried as I figured I looked.

  I was a mess. 

...

I didn't care.

  I have to save my brother...

  "Oreo just - I don't know, fainted!" "Fainted...?" Windy yapped, beginning to look as worried as Zach. "Why?" He asked, looking like he was ready to sprint into action, a wild look in his eyes. "I don't know! He just fainted right in front of me!" I yelped, more panic-stricken thoughts racing through my mind. Agh - shut up... Someone just get him some help...!

"Is he still breathing?" Zach interrogated, looking into my eyes with seriousness. "I- I don't know... I didn't check..." I stuttered, the panic and fear in my voice rising to an all-time high. I could feel my heart thumping like it was going to jump up into my throat, and I swore my body was shaking by how fast it was beating. "Take me to him!" Zach ordered, and the command skipped over my mind as I darted to the other section of the den where my brother was, Zach racing right behind me. 

I skidded to Oreo's side. Zach skidded to the other side of him and began shaking his shoulder with his paw just as I had done before. "Oreo. Are you alright?" I watched Zach try shaking him awake, but I already knew it wouldn't work. I had tried shaking him awake already... we're wasting time! Zach stopped shaking him and put his paw back on the ground before looking up at me with a distressed and worried look on his face, shocked as well. "I have to see if he's breathing," he asserted.

  Zach quickly looked back down to Oreo, placing a paw on his neck, and waited for a few seconds. Shouldn't he just be feeling his chest to see if he's breathing?! How will that help him know if he's breathing or not?! I presumed, my panic spiking up in itchy fluttering despair, and I could feel the scalding hot distress stabbing me in the chest. 

Wasn't there a way to do this faster? Zach removed his paw from my brother's throat, turning his face up to look back up at me but was cut short as he heard running paws and looked to where the sound was coming from. I turned to look as well. Windy ran into the room, originally a confused and scared look on her face, but when she saw the inert, unconscious tom on the ground, a worried and horrified look spread across her whole face.

Zach shook his head, shaking off the distraction, and turning back to me, said, "He has a pulse, that means he's breathing. Stay next to him. I'm going to go get some camomile and Shockroot." He shot up and sped off out of the den before I could open my mouth to say anything, and I sat there for a few seconds while I tried to comprehend what he just said. Camomile and Shockroot... What are those? Will they help Oreo...? I hope so…

  I sat down next to my brother, Windy anxiously standing next to me as we both waited for Zach to return. I turned my gaze away from the den entrance where Zach had disappeared, glancing back at the black and white spotted tom. My heart still pounded, and I couldn't tell if it was beating faster now that I was looking at him. 

Please be okay... what even could have caused this? Did a snake bite him...? Or was it a deadly infection he caught from the trash bin back in the alleyway that had slowly but finally spread to his vital organs?

Nae - He wouldn't be breathing if that was the case... Hurry the heek up, Zach! 'Chamomile and Shockroot... my mind still raced, wondering what they could be. Wait - Windy's lived with and known Zach for a lot longer than I have, maybe she's learned some from him and she'll know what it is! "What does Chamomile and Shockroot do?" 

I asked the blue she, her head perking up as I spoke like she wasn't expecting me to say anything. I realized I still probably looked like a squawking distressed coyote in labor, as I sounded a lot more choked up than I recognized I was, and I blinked as I felt myself still shaking. "I'm not sure, but Zach knows a lot about healing," she said gently but anxiously, not making eye contact with me.

  I didn't get the answer I desired - I just wanted to know what it was! Is it some sort of dirt type? I figure this time I'll just ask her in more detail... But before I could speak, Zach raced back into the den, with a bunch of plants stuffed in his mouth. Maybe it's that stuff! What will it do...? She said he knows a lot about healing... plants can heal you? I pondered. 

"I got them along with some lotus roots," Zach muffled, padding up to my brother who nevertheless lay still on the floor. "What do they do?" I asked him, still terrified my brother wasn't ever going to wake up. What if he wouldn't? "It will help him wake up." It must be healing, then... "Okay..." I whimpered lightly, stepping away from the tom for him to do his work. 

Zach then walked up to where I sat before, crushing up the plants the best he could with his paws before nudging my brother's mouth open, gently putting the crushed camomile, lotus roots, and Shockroot in. He softly cradled his head, making them go down as he nudged his throat with his muzzle, coaxing him to swallow the plants. I never would have thought of that…

  I was entirely amazed by how much apprehension Zach had about this, and how fast he was able to come up with the names of the plants he needed. He knew to crush them up, too, and I never would have thought that you could make a cat eat something without it being awake! And the fact that he was doing this for my brother when he easily could have chosen not to... I guess Zach wasn't that weird after all. He cared about us.

And I was so thankful for it. I was thankful for him. If he wasn't here, I wouldn't have a clue on whit to do. Zach completed helping him swallow the plants, and after that, he got up and trod over to me. "Can I ask you something, Sally?" The tom inquired, with a confused look on his face as if he had some unanswered questions. "Sure..." I sat down nervously, ready to answer whatever he'd ask. "Did Oreo eat anything before he passed out?

  It's very possible he could have been poisoned." My eyes widened as a fresh new wave of horror grasped my chest. The sparrow... he said the sparrow was disgusting! That had to have something to do with it... something was wrong with the sparrow! "W-" I stuttered, beginning to feel this was all my fault. I was the one who caught it and gave it to him... It must've been sick... Why didn't I scent that anything was wrong with it?

  I should have eaten it first - just so this wouldn't have had to happen, so I would be the afflicted one and not him! "...he ate a sparrow a few seconds before he fainted... I guess the sparrow was sick." "That's very possible..." Zach pondered before I could overthink the subject anymore. My tail anxiously twitched, and my whole body felt like I was going to erupt with fifty different emotions all at once. This truly was all my fault!

"We will need some snakeroot then," the tabby concluded, getting up from his sitting stance, again scraping away my absurd thoughts. I paid no attention to what Zach did next as my thoughts raced to how thankful I was for him. His mastery and experience with healing were truly remarkable and I was extremely thankful that he was there to help Oreo. "Can you go get some, Windy?" Zach asked the blue she-cat, looking at her, sitting across the other side of the room. 

She nodded, her skinny limbs swiftly getting up with ease and sprinting out of the den. I turned back to my thoughts yet again, wanting to thank him to show how much I appreciated him doing this solely for my brother. He barely did anything to deserve Zach's help, and neither did I... and he explained it in such a way that I could understand too, telling me what those plants did and what a pulse is! I wouldn't be able to explain it in a simple way to a dummy like me if I knew so much about the matter! 

I turned to him, my ears still flattened and my expression still worried sick, meowing, "Thanks for being here to help him. I wouldn't know what to do without you." Zach smiled warmly, a bit of shyness on his face, yet somehow still serious about the situation at paw, yet still worried. 

...

How does he cram so many emotions in one expression..? And I never thought that would be a thought I would ever think... So random... I wonder what he's thinking about? Yipe - My thoughts are trailing again! Stupid Sally-

  "Oh, it was my uh.. brother that taught me. He always spent a whole bunch of time outside along with my other siblings, and my mother was obsessed with plants and healing stuff too, so, it's no problem! You gave me and Windy shelter and food, after all," he laughed, still cramming many emotions into his expression - shyness, more of that now, seriousness, yet still terrified. "Well - I'm glad they taught you so much as they did," I purred, smiling warmly right back at him. 

Why do I feel so happy all of a sudden? 

Maybe I'll befriend Zach too, and not just Windy... After this, of course. And she-cat friends are always first - Gals before pals! Female cats are better buddies anyway...

"I'm back!" Windy declared loudly as she stopped, skidding into the den with 'snakeroot' stuffed in her mouth. Right - my brother. Focus on that. I observed Windy doing the exact same thing that Zach did, crushing up the plant with her paws on the hard ground, opening his mouth, nudging his throat with her nose to make them go down, and cradling his head to make him swallow them.

  I still did find that interesting... I sat there yet, watching my brother lie there on the floor, motionless. He almost looked dead. "C-can you check his breathing again..?" I asked the tabby tom, fear sparkling in my eyes as I looked into his. I knew he was still breathing. But the little voice in the back of my head was screaming at me that he was dead, and looking at Oreo's unmoving body made that voice skirl even louder. 

"Mhm." Zach got up, the only cat standing, as both I and Windy were still sitting. He padded back over to him, his tail almost tucking in between his legs, insecure and unsure. Why is he nervous? He sat down beside Oreo and pressed his paw onto a certain spot on his upper throat, waiting a few seconds. "It's a bit fast, yeah though, he's still breathing." The voice now became a whisper of relief, and it finally shut up, but it was immediately replaced by a million questions that couldn't even skip over my mind before I asked one of them aloud.

"When do you think he'll wake up?" I asked the tom, blinking, as my head hurt from all the dreadful things I was still thinking, all the unlikely scenarios I was playing out in my head all at once... just make it stop! My mind unwillingly snapped out of it as Zach finally answered me. "I'm not quite sure... but I'm leaning towards the thought that I'll be soon. I'm positive he'll be alright."

  "Okay..." My ears flattened, thankful for his kind gesture, but it didn't help much with my head screaming at me and my heart still fluttering - from too many things now. I wasn't even sure what all they were anymore...

As the rest of the day flew past me, the thoughts only got louder and louder, just making the stress worse. He still hadn't woken. And I just wanted him to be okay. So throughout the day, I kept asking Zach to check his breathing over and over, each time he did my brother was still breathing, which only gave temporary relief. 

I sighed as I walked back inside the den, lucky that I barely got wet from being out in the rain. 

I saw Zach was asleep on the den floor, next to the pile of cattail fluff, and Windy was nowhere to be found. I trotted to my bed that had already been made and sat down, dropping the prey I had caught while I was outside next to my paws, and bent down to eat it. I'm still surprised I was able to find this out in the rain... Shouldn't all the animals be in shelter? Prey animals are so dumb! 

I finished it quicker than I thought I would - I then realized I was starving before but didn't grasp it then because I was too anxious.

... is that normal?

  Whatever - at least I've eaten now.

  I got up out of my bed and peeked out of the den entrance, seeing that the sky had turned dark already, rain still pouring from it - it was night already. Holy-

...

The time had truly flown by... 

Do I go to sleep now? Am I tired?

I can't tell what I even am anymore.

I looked back behind me, seeing the same sight as before, my brother regardless passed out on the floor, the tabby tom Zach asleep on the floor next to a pile of cattail fluff that had never gotten made into a bed yet because the one who actually knew how to make beds was currently motionless on the hard floor. I glanced back at Oreo. Poor Shrimp-Fluff... He's gonna get cold on that floor! I sighed and walked to the black and white cat, hunkering down and curling up next to him.

  Just please be okay and wake up in the morning... please... I thought desperately, leaning my head on his side. How would I ever be able to sleep when I was so worried about him? Maybe Zach could check his breathing again so I would feel better for a little while? Again, it skipped over my mind and I didn't get a chance to think it through before I said it. "Hey-" I quit as I realized Zach was asleep.

Hmh... Maybe I can try it- or just feel his chest, it would be rising up and down if he was breathing, stupid! I thought. Why didn't I think of that earlier?! I could have saved Zach his time by just doing it myself... I got up quietly and sat down beside him placing my paw on the side of his spotted black and white chest. I could feel it slowly rising up and down, implying he was still breathing. I felt a little calmer now...

  I rested down next to him again, positioning my head onto his side just as before. I shut my eyes tight, hoping I would be able to fall asleep before those maniac screaming thoughts raided into my head again.