Reid knew it was stupid to put himself in this position but the whimpering made the animal in front of him seem so helpless somehow. He felt horrible that it was in so much pain, empathy radiating in his eyes, and suddenly he was glad that he’d thrown caution to the wind for once in his life. It only took an animal in need for him to stop worrying about everything that could go wrong.
The snapping caused Reid to quickly pull his hand back, leaving the bandage over the wound as he looked back into the animals eyes. Again, words spilled from his lips before he could think about the fact that the coyote couldn’t possibly understand him. “I’m sorry…it’s going to hurt but it’ll save you in the long run. Just…uh, just stay still.”
He slowly puts his hand back on the wound and starts to add pressure again to slow down the flow of blood.”As soon as I get the blood to slow I’ll try to get you to my place to get you better. People….so screwed up that they can’t even slow down for the creatures we share this world with.” Reid was just mumbling at this point, eyes locked on the bloody bandage under his hand and silently praying for the flow to slow even just a little. After a few moments he noticed that the blood wasn’t saturating the gauze as quickly as it had in the the beginning. It was time to try the hardest part of this whole situation.
Throwing the supplies back in his bag the pack was over his shoulders and he stayed low to the ground while sussing out the coyote a bit more to see if it was too dangerous to try picking her up. “Alright, girl…I really don’t want to hurt you and…I don’t think you want to hurt me either. We can do this…just hold on, okay?”
The animal was in his arms after only a moments hesitation, Reid careful not to knock the bandages off. He was careful not to jostle her too much while walking as fast as possible to his loft. “It’s not too far…just hold on.”
Malia’s eyes met the man’s once more. She listened to his every word as he began to speak to her again. While she knew he probably assumed she was just a coyote, she had understood everything he said and everything he was doing. Her humanity had allowed her that much. While the animal was strong in her, her time spent as a human, after Scott had helped her to shift back, had domesticated her for the most part. However, with everyday spent as a coyote, she could feel the animal forcing its way back to the forefront rearing to take over her senses and instincts for good.
It was when he picked her up, however, that the beast within started to take control again and the growl she had released (and stifled earlier) had returned. But it wasn’t as if she could go anywhere. With every little movement, she felt pain course through her small frame. All she wanted was to go to sleep. To rest her eyes and slow her breathing for a while. Maybe then, just then, her advanced healing would kick in.
Breathing labored, as she was carried, Malia’s whimpering had softened and her body fell limp. She was growing tired of being tense. Her neck ached. Her ribs ached. Even her skinny little tail ached. How much further was he taking her? She wanted so desperately to ask him, but shifting was out of the question. At least not until she could stand the rearranging of her bones. The breaking and cracking, until she was a biped again. Plus, he was sure to drop her if he realized he was carrying a naked teenage girl in his arms.
Instead, Malia remained quiet, except for the almost human sigh of frustration that escaped through her snout. Sure, she was in pain, but she was easily becoming more annoyed that anything. One of her best and worst qualities that all of her friends had come to ‘love’ about her, aside from the other stunning quality that made her who she was; impatience.
