Page 45 of The Rabbit's Foot
Another knock.
“One sec,” Mal called out before he turned to Alp. “I can tell her we’ll talk later.”
He shook his head. “We need her help. I’m fine.”
Mal stared at Alp, knowing he was anything but fine. “Alp, I—”
“I’m fine, I promise. Let’s see what Lydia has to say.”
He trudged to the door and pulled it open. Lydia stood there, with several bags in her hands. She stepped into the room, a bright smile on her face, but it quickly dimmed when she looked at Alp. “What’s wrong?”
Alp shrugged, then turned and went to the other room, closing the door behind him.
She locked gazes with Mal. “What’s going on?”
A deep sigh slid out of him. “Alp had a nightmare. He’s been having them more often lately, but this one seems to have rattled him.”
“Does he remember what it was?”
“My death.”
“Oh.” Lydia flopped onto the couch and let her head drop back, so she was staring up at the ceiling. “Did he say how?”
“He’s not sure. He only knows there was a lot of blood. He’s angry with himself because, in this dream, he watched Hyde kill me and did nothing to stop it.”
“But it was a dream. He can’t take that kind of stuff to heart.”
Mal sat beside Lydia and took her hand. “Alp was held for six years, and during that time, they did unspeakable things to him. Hyde is the monster who haunts his dreams. He’s literally Alp’s bogeyman. And now, he’s watched Hyde take away the one thing he feels is his.”
“That sucks,” she said quietly.
“Tell me about it. I want to help him, but I don’t know how.” He put his head in his hands. “I’m thinking, after this, he needs to see a doctor, but how can he tell them the truth?”
For several long moments, Lydia said nothing. “When Dinah was younger, like thirteen, she went through a long bout of depression. Everything was closing in on her, she told me. She didn’t want to be queer—she only wanted to be normal. I talked to her until I was blue in the face, assuring her that however she was, whoever she was, that was her normal. Nothing helped. I took her to see a doctor, and he wanted to put her on medications. She flatly refused, saying she didn’t want to become dependent on them.
“Doing nothing wouldn’t work either. She got worse, spiraling deeper into anger and pain. Finally, she accepted that she needed help and has been on antidepressants since then. They’ve worked wonders for her, and she’s no longer hating life or afraid to live it.”
“What does this have to do with Alp?”
“The FDA has allowed some medications to be given to pets.” Before Mal could say anything, she pushed on. “I know Alp isn’t an animal, and I honestly think it might be better for him to see a human therapist, but it’ll be hard to explain about his lost hand without telling them the whole story.” She gave a soft smile. “I can look for someone, but not sure I can tell them about Alp without mentioning the other things.”
“No, we can’t do that.”
“I know, and I do get it. Really. I wish I had other options, but I’m operating in the dark here.”
As if Mal wasn’t. He needed to get back on familiar ground, so he cleared his throat and turned his attention back to Lydia. “Did you need something?”
“Oh, yeah. I was coming to tell you I’ve placed a big order for things to treat animals, so if there are other shifters in that place, I can help you out.”
“The place is there, and we believe the shifters are too. I couldn’t go in, because of Alp. I won’t leave him alone.”
“Then you’re a good man. If he’s already suffering, you shouldn’t compound it. That doesn’t mean he has to fight, of course.”
“And what about you? Will you come with us?”
She nodded. “Yes. I won’t hurt anyone, but I will come with you to help out where I can. Do you have a plan?”
“We have something better. We have an army.”
