Page 5 of Birds of a Feather

“Change.” Before he could attempt to elaborate further in one-word sentences, her father disappeared within the robe. A black-feathered head poked out, rising up from the garment. Acawsounded from his beak.

Gabby tilted her head. That was new. Before, her father could also say words as a bird. Did this mean her dad was regressing? She turned to her mom.

“They said they made a lot of progress,” Kristen said with a shrug. “Last week he was only human for a minute. This week he made it to almost ten. That’s a lot of progress, Gabby.”

Gabby wasn’t so sure she agreed. Maybe she was just being pessimistic.

Her dad rummaged around in the fabric of the robe. After disappearing for a moment, he popped back up with the plastic crow figurine Phin gave him, bobbing his little bird head. Hesquawked a muffled sound, excitement perhaps, showing his gratitude for Phin’s present.

“Good idea.” Gabby fluffed up her brother’s hair with her hand. He tried to smile up at her, but only one corner of his mouth rose. She pulled him in for a hug, feeling her heart break all over again. “Kay kay. Okay.”It will be okay,she wanted to say. Gabby bit her lip, mad she couldn’t properly console her brother. Why was it so much easier to speak when she wasn’t flustered?

Kristen looked like she was about to say something when the door swung open. Dr. Brown walked in with her clipboard, Lynn in tow Both had wide grins on their faces like they’d won the lottery. Gabby didn’t know what all the smiles were about. She couldn’t imagine anything to smile about when she was trying her best to hold back tears.

“Joe?” Dr. Brown asked, glancing down at her watch and then at the crow making a nest out of the robe. “That was the longest yet!” Her brown eyes twinkled with triumph.

He glanced up at her with his amber bird eyes before bobbing his head, the toy bird still clutched in his beak.

“What’s that?” Lynn asked, looking expectantly at Gabby.

Gabby wished she could transform into her bird form and disappear. Technically, she could—she flew around the atrium three times a week, monitored by Dr. Brown— but she figured the doctor and Lynn wouldn’t be pleased she was avoiding the situation. “Gift. Ph-ph-phin. Gift. From.”

“Good. Look at how many words you just said.” Lynn clasped her hands together before taking her pencil from behind her ear and gnawing on the wood some more. The cognitive therapist scooped up her dad, while Dr. Brown grabbed his garments. “Let’s get you back to your room for some more work.” Her father bobbed his head,cawingexcitedly.

Kristen nodded, putting her arms around both Gabby and Phin. “You’re both making a lot of progress,” she noted, walking back to the couch. The doctor and Lynn left the room after saying their goodbyes, taking Joe and his belongings with them.

“See,” she said to her brother who was still in her arms. She brushed the hair out of his eyes. “Okay.”

“I just thought you’d both be back to normal by now.” Phin dropped his head, walking back to Kristen. His small feet dragged on the floor with each step.

You and me both, kid. Gabby smiled tightly, feeling the sting of tears in her eyes and the back of her throat. She swallowed it down for Phin. He had to know she was okay, even if she wasn’t. Tonight, she would need an extra session of screaming into her pillow to decompress. Seeing her dad was always hard. Seeing Phin made it worse. She and Dad were always disappointing him. Her therapist tried to help her see that while the whole situation was sad, Phin was at least happy they’d been rescued, but Gabby couldn’t get over her perfectionist tendencies enough to see it that way. She only felt the weight of their failure.

4

Lyla flitted around, enjoying the heat and humidity of the aviary in her hummingbird form. Every day she seemed to have more energy, and each shifted session lasted longer. The less fatigue she had, the longer the doctors allowed Lyla to stay as a hummingbird. Visiting the beautiful flowers was one of her favorite things to do. One small normal thing throughout her rehab where nothing else felt typical.

While Lyla loved the staff, she felt guilty wishing she could be home. Her family lived nearly five hours away from WANC. While they visited as often as they could, Lyla missed them. She knew they were doing the best they could. Her mom and stepdad couldn’t afford to take a lot of time off of work to visit.

Lyla also felt her life was put on hold, waiting for her body to fully recover and no longer need doctor supervision. Before the whole ordeal, Lyla had been working as a barista at a coffee shop and saving up to take some online courses in computer programming. She couldn’t wait to get back to it. But now her focus had shifted to getting better. She was becoming impatient. Lyla wanted to spread her wings and fly, not stay cooped up in a hospital.

While the Furry United Coalition usually only dealt withfurryshifters, the recent rescue of Sandy’s patients meant they had a large influx of birds, and a family by the name of Goosby had reached out with the idea—and money—for the new structure.

Lyla was thankful for the location. It beat shifting and flying in the gym, that’s for sure. Outside was out of the question. Dr. Brown insisted she only be allowed to shift under supervision, and outside provided too many potential hazards.

She wasn’t the only bird patient who was enjoying exercise that morning. She saw several others, some flying fast, some slow. A cuckoo was spending most of its time on a branch, and a crane waded through the fountain in the middle of the structure. Lyla avoided crossing paths with the osprey. His hooked beak and sharp talons made her nervous, even if they were all being watched closely at all times.

The dextrose drip must have been doing its job, because Lyla felt she could flutter about in hummingbird form all day if she wanted, though the doctors had warned her against going too long until they knew she was properly nourished. When she’d been in captivity, Lyla wasn’t fed as often as she should have been, for any shifter or pure human. The evil scientists were more concerned with their results than the health of their subjects. Or their consent.

“You could burn through all the stored energy if you do too much, too soon,” Dr. Brown always cautioned.

Lyla knew this, just as she knew hummingbirds needed a lot of calories since their wings beat so fast. She tried her best not to roll her eyes whenever Dr. Brown reminded her. She was just trying to help.

“That's time, Lyla!” Dr. Brown called.

Her immediate instinct was to fly away in the other direction. To assert her rebellious nature and also show that she had lots more energy to go.

But then she remembered that she wanted to save some of that energy for her trip to the computer lab… and she’d also need to follow instructions if she hoped to be granted a favor. It seemed an easy choice but still challenging, especially when she was getting cabin fever from being cooped up inside for too long.

Reluctantly, she returned to the ground, going behind the curtain that had been set up to allow students to shift and dress in privacy. Nudity wasn’t a big deal to shifters, but it was still a considerate gesture.

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