Page 30 of Rescued By the Beast
"She needs care."
"Is she one of your sentinels?" Ethan asks, already removing his gloves and discarding them.
I shake my head, holding the cat carefully against my chest, as if I could protect her from the world. Her breathing is almost non-existent now.
"I found her in the forest. She's fighting for her life. She needs help, Ethan,now."
His expression hardens with determination.
"I'm done here." He turns to Keelan. "The cuts should close by tomorrow. Keep the bandage clean to prevent infection, otherwise it will take longer to heal."
"Don't worry, it's not my first time." Eagle waves, smiling as he gets up. "See you later, Beast," he says to me before disappearing down the corridor.
"I need to put her on the table to examine her," Ethan extends his hands, clearly expecting me to hand the cat over to him. But I don't let go. Not yet.
"I'll take her."
He just nods and leads me to the examination table. With extreme care, I place the cat on the metal surface, but my hand on one of her small paws. Even unconscious, she is emanating the smell of fear and my instinct makes me want to comfort her.
"She's a female, but you already knew that." Ethan's voice interrupts my thoughts as he quickly examines her. "She's lost a lot of blood, and the wound isn't closing..." He stares at me, his eyes serious and curious, a silent question in them.
"I know," my voice comes out guttural, scratching my throat, my muscles stiff. "I didn't detect the essence of healing in her scent."
He nods, interpreting my answer as a sign that the cat is just a cat.
"In that case, her heart could stop at any moment. She needs a transfusion and..."
I growl low, feeling the tension rise through my shoulders and neck.
"Do whatever it takes."
My friend wastes no time. He calls a nurse and begins cleaning the cat's wounds with sterile gauze and saline solution, pressing them against the deep cuts. The nurse, her face serious and focused, administers intravenous fluids, trying to stabiliseher and prevent hypovolemic shock[3] , while Ethan performs the blood typing test.
They work quickly, with a calmness that I cannot feel.
The beast inside me roars, my hair standing on end and my heart racing, compressed with each beat, as if that little creature meant something to me.
The nurse walks around the table, accidentally bumping into me as she picks something up from the counter.
"You need to leave, Mark," Ethan says, his voice firm, without taking his eyes off the cat as he begins to suture the cuts. "We'll take care of her."
My hands are clenched, my thoughts spinning endlessly as I leave the room.
If we had more sentinels patrolling the city, maybe we could have prevented so many deaths. If I had alerted the community from the first strange appearance, if I had called for reinforcements earlier...
I should have done more!
And the kitten...
Guilt consumes me, like a crushing weight. I need to take care of her, I need to make sure she survives. My instinct demands it, and I cannot deny it.
When the door opens, Ethan comes out. He pulls down his mask, and exhaustion is written all over his eyes. But there is something else there, a lightness.
"She's alive," he says, and my chest relaxes, but only a little.
"What now?" I ask, my voice hoarse. "When can I take her home?"
Ethan stops, raising his eyebrows as if he hasn't heard me correctly.
