Chapter 68: Sixty-eight.

Colt lay perfectly still in the dimly lit room, she had kept her eyes closed, just listening to the conversations and the heated debate thatbwas going on around her.

When she first came out of the effects of the sedation, she could hear her Mom and Dad arguing. They were arguing about her and Elijah of all people. Their hushed voices and the beeping of the heart monitor seemed deafening for a second, till she realised why. Her senses were alive, enhanced by her new ability to shift. To actually shift. Colt was no longer a shifter who couldn't transform, now she even had two animal forms to choose from and she was actually excited about trying it out. Running full throttle in her wolf form, or hunting, silently and deadly as her wildcat counterpart, she was looking forward to it. Even to run alongside her mate, or curl up on his lap.

It was then that the reality of her situation crashed down on her. Colt could shift, because Elijah had betrayed her, and his voice wasn't one of the ones present, meaning he wasn't here with her.

This was why she chose to continue lying there quietly, Colt wasn't quite ready to face reality yet. To talk to people, and to have them look at her with their eyes full of pity, for her mate was the one to do that which was unheard of in the shifter community, Elijah cheated. Even now she could feel the fragile remains of their bond, withered and lodged in her chest, like an ice cold knife to her heart, it was just stuck in there, limp and broken.

So, she controlled her breathing rate and instead she listened. Taking in all that was being said around her, and she was glad she did, she was glad she knew what was going on and what was being planned behind her back.

Her Dad it seems, was trying to be a little overly controlling, and trying to make decisions on her behalf. She knew it was from love, but all the same she was sick of men thinking they could pick and choose for her. Enough was enough, she was pissed off at other people trying to make her decisions for her.

Once her parents left to go get some food, she remained still. There was someone else sitting within the room, and she recognised their scent with a familiar fondness.

"You can stop pretending now." Maeve spoke candidly from her chair, having realised straight away when Colt had awoken.

Colt's face drew into a smile as she blinked her eyes open, relieved the room wasn't too bright, and looked at her friend. "Why let me keep hiding?" She asked her.

"Well done girl, My Girl. You survived." Maeve said smiling, as she moved over and lightly hugged Colt, before answering her question. "You needed to process, and you needed to hear what was going on, uncensored." She said, raising a brow knowingly.

"I see." Colt smiled, pushing her body up the bed. "How long have I been out?"

"A little over five weeks." Maeve answered.

"Shit." She groaned. "No wonder I smell like I need a shower." She complained sniffing at her hospital gown.

"Well the good news is, your musculature is perfectly healed. It was just your heart rate and brain waves that were giving cause for concern." Maeve responded, "So, a shower should be fine. Would you like help?" She offered.

"I feel, okay, actually I feel pretty good. I think I will manage." Colt said, swinging her legs off of the bed, before hesitating. "Maeve?"

"Yes?" She responded, almost knowingly.

"Are you planning on removing my bond to Elijah, like Dad said?" Colt checked warily, needing to know where she stood.

"Your Dad is worried about you, and he is very, very, angry, and rightfully so." Maeve answered. "But, I wouldn't do that unless you requested it yourself, Girl. I thought you would know that about me." She added, mildly offended.

Colt smiled with relief. "Just checking." She added casually, throwing in a wink and standing up straight to stretch out her muscles. "Maeve?" She asked again looking around herself.

"Yes?" Maeve answered, with a head tilt.

"How do I unhook this beeping contraption without setting off any alarms?" Colt asked curiously, feeling in desperate need for a shower, and not wanting to delay it, with people potentially rushing in and fussing over her.

"What makes you think I know?" The Shaman asked with a shrug.

Colt simply raised a speculative eyebrow and placed her hands on her hips in response, after pulling out the canula that attached her drip from the back of her hand .

"Fine. I do know." Maeve caved, relieved to see her friend showing some sass again. She walked over to the machine, raising her hand, "You simply, switch it off." And she pressed the power button, letting silence consume the room. "Just unstick them now." She stated, pointing at the patches attached to her. chest. "Would you like me to do the other one as well?" She asked, pointing the the quiet machine which was attached to a cap that had slipped off Colt's head when she sat up.

"Yes please, and thank you." Colt said, unhooking them, and turning to grab Maeve in for a hug.

"Oh." Maeve sputtered. "A bit of overkill for switching a few buttons."

"That's not why I'm thanking you and you know it." Colt stated. "Now, I suggest you hug me back, if you are wanting to be free of my odour any time soon." Colt laughed.

Maeve sighed and brought her arms up and about the younger woman's waist. "You scared me for a minute there." She admitted, before pulling back slightly and reprimanding her, "Do not do it again!" Then Maeve pulled free of Colt's embrace, not sure of how emotionally tied she was feeling to her friend and finding the sensation quite uncomfortable in its newness, before she added, "I suggest you get in that shower now, because if your parents return, I bet it will be delayed, further, and I doubt my nose can take that." She laughed.

Colt let go laughing, and headed off to the bathroom, taking the bag of her belongings, her Mom had brought her, after Maeve pointed them out, tucked up at the base of a hidden cupboard.

Colt locked the door behind her and stripped off her hospital gown. She stood looking in the small mirror, trying to gauge what was different about herself. Other than her hair being several inches longer, in more places than she cared to admit, she was pretty much, just the same as she remembered. She was a little less defined, but she had been lying in a bed for over a month so that was to be expected. She brought her fingers up and lightly traced the faded scar left by Elijah's bite on her collar for a moment with a frown, before shaking her head, as if she could just shake off the crushing disappointment and pain. Sighing, she turned the shower on, turning the dial up as hot as it would go, in the H

hope of some comfort from the heat. But then, just before she stepped in she paused, an errant thought occurring to her.

Taking a deep breath, she thought of her wildcat form, and about how it felt to have those four paws and retractable claws, the long tail, and imagining herself looking like what she had seen from her Mom's shifted form.

Ten minutes later, she was still stood there, as she was on two legs with the room slowly filling up with a thin blanket of steam. Sighing she gave up and stepped into the shower.

As showers go, it was pretty weak and pathetic. The hospitals 'hot' felt barely lukewarm to Colt, and she washed quickly, especially when she heard banging on the bathroom door.

"Colt Briagh Merrier, get your scrawny butt out here right now!" Isla shouted, while hammering on the door annoyed.

"Be out in a second, Mom." Colt called, smiling at the sound of her Mom's voice, even if it was annoyed at her.

Stepping out and drying herself off, she rifled through the bag for a tank top and shorts, before grabbing some underwear and getting dressed. She roughly towel dried her hair, cursing the lack of hair dryer facilities, but her Mom had at least packed her moisturiser in with her toiletries so that was a bonus, she decided, taking comfort from the small familiarities she had available. Another one of which was her hair brush.

By the time she was done, she had spent almost as much time out of the shower as she had within it. Not that she was still putting off, the pity from her family... 'Okay', she thought, with a sigh 'I totally am.'

She repackaged her bag, after brushing her teeth, and slowly unlocked the door.

"Isla, let her come out." She heard her Dad say, "You will likely hit her in the face with the door, if you barrel in there."

This made Colt laugh as she opened the door. What she found on the other side though made her squeak in response. Her Mom was standing directly outside the door, arms folded across her chest, and her eyes radiating thunder. She was pissed.

"Hi, Mom." Colt offered sheepishly, and to her surprise, rather than a scolding, Isla dropping her arms with a huff, her raging eyes quickly filling with water.

It turns out Isla's relief at seeing her daughter, upright and awake completely overthrew her annoyance at being made to wait to see her, and she reached up and yanked Colt into her arms, holding her close like she would never let her go again. There were tears in her eyes, as she breathed in her daughter's familiar scent, noticing it was slightly stronger now with a smile.

"Don't you ever scare us like that again. Do you hear me?" She sniffled, pulling Colt in as much as she could.

Colt just buried her face into her Mom's shoulder and clung tightly to her. Her own eyes starting to well up at an alarming rate. She had missed her Mom so much, while she was away. Now with everything else that had happened, if she could momentarily become four years old again and curl up in her Mom's lap, while Isls told her folk tales and lore of Scotland, like she used to when Colt couldn't sleep, Colt knew, she would take that option in a heartbeat.

"I hate to interrupt." Her Dad said awkwardly, from a few feet away. "But, do you suppose there is a hug available for me too, Princess?"

Colt half laughed at her Dad's questioning tone, but pulled away from an Isla who was still obviously reluctant, to not have her in her arms. Tears streaming down her face, at her reunion with her parents she flew across the room to her Father as he enveloped her within his arms, squeezing her tightly to the point of almost not being able to breathe, but releasing his pressure on her slightly, just before that happened. Kalvin sighed in contentment. His little girl was safe and well, and a part of himself clicked back into place.

"I would say you should have waited for us, before showering, Princess." He began, "But, you do smell better to be fair."

Colt laughed wholeheartedly at her Dad's veiled insult. How had she managed to go so long without talking to them?

"Kalvin, be nice." Isla threatened defensively.

Kalvin winked at Colt, before playfully looking at his riled up mate, "I am, I said she smelled better. She positively reeked before. No offence, Princess."

Colt laughed at the hiss, her Mom let out, and detangled herself from her Father to sit on the edge of the bed, a slight heavy ache beginning in her chest.

"Now, now, Beautiful," Kalvin spoke softly and patronisingly to Isla. "What do we say to shifter's who can't control their animal aggression... Not in the house, if you're that worked up, go outside and catch a..."

Colt was full on laughing at this point as her Mom strode up to Kalvin, poked him square in the chest, and calmly stated "If you dare finish that sentence Mr. Merrier, you will be sleeping outdoors for a month."

Kalvin's mouth snapped shut.

"You were definitely going to say mouse." Colt retorted.

Kalvin winked at her, "Me? I would never dream of it."

"Colt, Honey, are you alright? You've gone a bit pale." Isla asked, her Mom's radar totally honing in on the slightest discomfort her daughter was feeling.

"Yeah, I'm good just a bit achey I suppose." She answered, rubbing on her breastbone as Isla and Kalvin shared a knowing look. "Hey, where did Maeve go? You didn't scare her off did you, Mom?" She asked, changing the subject.

"Bloody hell, what do you take me for?" Her Mom retorted, sitting beside her and placing her hand on Colt's forehead to check for a temperature, while ignoring her daughter's rolling eyes. "No, she went to let the others know your awake."

"Oh, right. How is everyone?" Colt asked.

"Good. You were right by the way, Asher and Lucy had a daughter." Kalvin answered, lowering himself into the chair opposite his girls.

Colt's laugh at the image of her brother raising a daughter, was cut short as it turned into a wince.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Isla insisted.

Colt didn't want to admit what was wrong. But, she recognised the ache flowering to life in her chest all to well. It was Elijah, he was with another woman, again. She started to feel light headed, the room spinning as Kalvin jumped up and headed out the door to call for help.

It wasn't long before a doctor came rushing in, that Colt happened to recognise.

"I should have known you would be trouble when you woke up, Colt." the doctor said.

"Hey Ashley." Colt winced again. "Hows Becs?"

"Never you mind, right now." Ashley chided her. "Do not unattach the monitor, again." She scolded, hooking Colt back up to the machine and switching it on.

"Had to shower." Colt shrugged. "It was a matter of life and death. I smelled horrendous."

"Yes, you did. But, still next time, ask for help." She scolded, turning to focus on the readings from the heart monitor. "We are still trying to work out what is causing these fluctuations, Colt. Until they settle you will not be leaving us I'm afraid."

Colt sighed, tears streaming down her face. She knew exactly what was causing them. The pain was getting worse as her Mom lowered her back into the bed with her Dad's help.

"No more sedation." Was all she managed to croak out, before she passed out from the pain altogether.

Author's Note: The next chapter is ready for editing so shouldn't take too long. I absolutely love hearing your thoughts by the way, so thank you for that and for reading of course. B. x