#105 Good Morning, Silver City

"...So you've really lost all of your Earth and Water magic?" Kelsi asks with a sorry expression.

"Yep," I nod.

"And neither are coming back?"

I glance down at the burn on my finger. It's a bit odd how it burned my skin and stayed there as a reminder... It's not ugly, though. From up close, it looks vaguely like a butterfly, otherwise it's a brown triangle. I shrug.

"The earth magic, definitely not. The water magic... perhaps it will awake again later, if I try harder? I'm not sure, but I think I would rather not, though. I want to respect Luna's decision, for now. So, unless I really need it... I will stick to my good old fire magic only."

"I see..."

She looks down, her hand gently petting Ben's head. The big brown wolf is covering her leg and one half of the bed, but neither of them seems to care. I chuckle. It's actually his bed, although Kelsi still has an IV drip in her arm too, and is wearing a hospital gown. Ben has his own on the same hanger, and he's got a lot of bandages covering his body too, and his broken leg. Our poor Benny even got half his tail amputated... Kelsi told him it was cute though, so he's probably fine with it now. I wonder if there's going to be any damage on his human body, or if we will just have to get used to seeing a wolf with the tail of a pomeranian each time he shape-shifts... Still, I'm glad he's okay; that they both are, and together. The only reason the nurses accepted this arrangement is because of the lack of beds at the moment... and Ben refused to sleep anywhere other than Kelsi's side. I feel a lot better knowing those two are fine... It's been a rough night, to say the least. It's probably sometime around five now...

After we evacuated those who could still be saved, everyone worked together to gather the bodies. Wolves and humans working together, helping each other through the hardest. I had to wait for a while before I could check on those two, so I'm a bit relieved now, and catching a break too. I think like half my night has been fighting, the other bringing back bodies and transporting people... Kelsi looks tired too, but I'm glad she's alright. Apparently she got better as soon as we beat the Curse, although she's still pretty weak. She doesn't remember much of the incident, either, which is good.

"...What will happen now?" She asks.

"The Alphas are checking on everyone, organizing the last rescues, and overseeing the packs... Selena has talked to the human leaders, too, and Nora is here, helping with the healing for those she can. Everyone is pretty exhausted, but... you know."

"You do look tired," she mutters. "Your clothes, too..."

I make a grimace. Yeah, I probably look like crap... I'm not the worst, though. The hospital lobby is full of blood and mud, despite the volunteers who tried to help keep this more or less clean...

"Mara?"

I glance over my shoulder, and Bonnie is there on the doorstep, waving at us. She's the one who took care of Kelsi for the first half of the night, but then she got a lot more going on...

"See you later," I say to Kelsi, getting up.

"See you. Try to catch some real rest, okay?"

"I will. You watch over the big boy."

"Sure," she smiles, petting Ben's fur.

I turn around, hiding my sigh, and walk out to see Bonnie.

"How are you?" I ask as I step out.

"Not the best shift of my life, I'll admit that much," she sighs. "Oh, here."

She hands me a chocolate bar, and I'm more than glad to finally be able to eat something.

"Oh, thank Moon Goddess," I sigh, feeling the chocolate warm me up.

"You're welcome. I snuck some from the Nurse's office, I figured you didn't get any time to eat... They are bringing in more food though, apparently the werewolves and humans that didn't fight are both trying to help and send us sandwiches soon."

I nod, but my mouth is too full for now. We walk among the hospital corridors, stepping aside when someone rushes in, or helping push a bed when we can. We're far from the war zone it was just a few hours ago, though. Now the most important surgeries have been done, the injured found beds or places to rest, those who could went home, and the emergency cases are lessening... We watch out to not hinder anyone and try to squeeze ourselves out of the way until we make it to the floor above.

"Boyan is still stable, all his vitals are improving, so he will be fine," she finally announces when we get to an empty examination room.

"Oh, that's awesome," I let out a long sigh. "I didn't dare ask..."

"Yeah, I know, everyone has been mindlinking like crazy, I've shut it out too... But his surgery went fine, and you know, Betas are strong, so I bet him and my brother will recover fast."

"Good... Anyone else I need to know about?"

"Nothing new... Werewolves are tough, so those who made it to the end of the battle will probably make it... Humans, probably not as much, but we are working on it. I'm glad a lot of people volunteered to help or donate blood. I have rarely seen so many people working together to help, it has been the best comfort all night… Did you get examined yet, Mara? You look like..."

"Crap, I know. No, I'm good, just tired. There were people who were much more urgent than me."

Bonnie chuckles and turns to me, shaking her head and turning on the little light.

"Well, I'm free now, and you have an opened brow ridge, both ears bleeding, many contusions, and from the way you're standing, at least a couple of broken ribs."

"What I need right now is a shower," I chuckle and step back as she brings her hands closer to my face. "I'm fine, Bonnie."

"At least let me stitch your brow ridge and check your cuts! Do you know how much bacteria you can get in there? You should get a full check up and some X-rays, too."

"I'm still a witch, Bonnie, I'll heal myself just fine!"

"Don't give me the witch excuse. Didn't you just say you lost two of your types of magic? Plus the necromancy spell? What tells me you got any left and you aren't going to pass out the minute I look away?"

I sigh. She's giving me her schoolteacher mean look too, with her hands on her hips and the frown on.

"Wait... Did you eavesdrop on my discussion with Kelsi?" I realize.

"Mara, if my brother isn't snoring like an overfed pig, he isn't sleeping. I was looking for you, and he happened to be listening when I mindlinked, so if you want to blame anyone, blame Ben. Now, show me that cut."

"Bonnie..."

"Sit down," she orders, pushing me towards a stool on the side.

I sigh and surrender, putting my butt down on that stool before she gets really mad; Bonnie puts on some gloves and starts touching my eyebrow, which does hurt. I grimace a bit, but it does feel good to sit down and let someone take care of me for a minute... I chuckle.

"What is it?" She asks. "And by the way, you really do need stitches. It's pretty deep."

"It's just... it reminds me of how we met. Like... both you and Kelsi, my first memories of you are in this hospital, and here we are again..."

She finally loses her frown and smiles too.

"True... Well, I do love my job, but if you could stop being so reckless..."

"Sorry, you're friends with a crazy witch... I don't think I'm going to stop the craziness anytime soon..."

"Moon Goddess. You should be grateful you have a nurse as a friend, then."

I chuckle, and for a little while, neither of us adds anything. It stings where she's disinfecting or stitching, but it does feel good to sit down, close my eyes, and think of nothing for a while, letting Bonnie take care of my wounds and patch me up the good old way. I let out a sigh, and try to mindlink Nora quickly.

*Hey, how are you holding up?* I ask.

*Not too bad... A bit tired, but there are many in worse condition than us. Thankfully, we are getting to the end of it. I am proud of our wolves; a lot of them insist that the humans are taken care of first, since they don't have our regeneration abilities...*

*Sounds good. You should get some rest, Nora; you sound awfully tired.*

*I know, but you too, Mara. Make sure you go home for a while, okay? Get some sleep, you fought the hardest of us today.*

*...Will do.*

*Alright. Liam is still at East Point Ground, but take him home with you.*

*Thank you, Nora.*

*...We're the ones who should thank you.*

She cuts the mindlink, probably still very busy too. I let out a bit of a sigh.

I'm not sure wolves and humans will think the same, though... All that mess was caused by a witch in the first place. I don't really know what Nora and Selena will tell them, but I doubt they will find the witches completely guilt-free. Naptera disappeared before the fight ended, too, and only Ayesha stayed behind to help. Last thing I heard, she was on Selena's territory helping around. I guess I can check on her later...

"... I'm so glad Bobo made it," suddenly sighs Bonnie. "I didn't want to lose another family member."

"Oh, I forgot he’s your brother-in-law..."

"Yeah, but... You know, we're all a big family, in the pack. I'm still... not really processing that some more people died, I think I'm just glad it's over, again. I love Silver City, but... I hope you're right and this was the last battle, Mara. Because I'm sick of trying to save people and watch them die."

"I know... I'm... sorry I couldn't save your brother."

She lets her arms down for a second, looking a bit sad.

"I... When I heard what had happened on the battlefield, I admit, for a second, I... wondered if you couldn't have brought more people back. But then, I heard your chat with Kelsi earlier, and... you sacrificed a lot. Your magic, and... half your life. It made me think, and I realized I am not you, Mara. I'm not a witch, and I don't have a mate yet, so I'll never understand what it took for you to make that choice. I'm... glad for you and Liam, but... you know, as your friend, I'm also very sad you made that choice."

"...I know."

I just don't regret it, for now. I haven't told Kelsi the truth yet, so I suppose Bonnie heard it from Selena. Perhaps I'll wait a while before telling Kelsi what happened with that spell, and Liam.... The consequences that I will face. A few more minutes pass in silence, with a couple more stitches and grimaces of pain for me.

"So... what's going to happen now?" Asks Bonnie. "You know, since the barrier is gone and everything..."

"Silver City doesn't need a barrier anymore, I think. There's a new witch in town..."

"Look at you, acting all tough and what not… But seriously, so, no more borders, no more barrier? What about... I don't know, other threats? Other witches, or vampires?"

"I don't think the vampires would have attacked if it wasn't for the Curse and Nephera... And about the witch, not to brag but I'm pretty sure I can handle any on my own. Moreover, I think Ayesha was hoping to stay around for a while, too, so Silver City is good."

"... You say that as if you are not going to stay around yourself," she mutters, raising an eyebrow.

"Maybe not..."

I still kept in mind what Luna said to me, about the other witches, the newer generation... I haven't really looked into this yet, but I do feel.... connected to more than just wolves right now. It's like new voices, or on a different channel. They are rather quiet for now, but I know I could definitely strengthen that bond easily if I wanted to.

"Well, as long as you don't plan to come back to the hospital too soon," sighs Bonnie. "I'll be good with anything you want to do."

"Really?" I chuckle. "You're not going to... I don't know, warn me about dangers and stuff?"

"I think you've outgrown being an angry and trapped witch. And Moon Goddess, I'm done with it too; you're a pain when you're stubborn as hell."

I laugh a bit. I would probably miss Bonnie not being the angelic voice over my shoulder, though, now that the evil ones are all gone...

"How about you?" I ask. "Any... plans for a werewolf companion yet?"

"Seriously?" She rolls her eyes. "Now you're the one trying to give me dating advice?"

"Why not?" I laugh. "You're a single nurse, quite sexy, and pretty bossy too. I know a few guys who would love that. Oh, and a redhead. Do you have any idea how popular redheads are?"

"If you wanted me to kick you out, you win," she growls. "Get out of here before I kick your witchy butt."

I laugh still and get up, my eyebrow all stitched up and covered in smelly disinfectant. I'm still in need of a shower, but at least that's one less part of my poor body hurting... I turn to Bonnie who's gathering the dirty compress and cleaning up.

"... Thanks, Bonnie."

"Moon Goddess, don't do that. Get out!"

"Bye Bonnie!" I chuckle, leaving the room with a smile on my lips.

I get back into the maze of white corridors, strangely silent despite all the activity going on behind doors. It's strange how different I feel compared to a few weeks ago. I was in such a hurry to leave this hospital and see Silver City, but now, I feel like... it doesn't really matter anymore. Here or outside, I belong to Silver City. It's not going anywhere, but it's not waiting for me either. This place will be here wherever I go...

I slowly make my way out of the hospital, greeted by a few wolves on the way, thanking the medical staff I see, and buying myself a hot drink at the vending machine as soon as I'm outside. I pick a hot coffee, strong and bitter, just what I need to wake myself up. It's still a bit cold outside at this hour, and I don't even have a jacket... Still, I walk away from the hospital, enjoying the cold wind on my skin, and the first lines of purple in the sky. As soon as I'm a few streets away and I shut my inner wolf, there's nothing but silence... We're too far from the city center to hear the first cars, and there's nothing but some grass around. I cross the river, my eyes set on the horizon, in a strange, but relieved mood. It's really over... It's over this time, isn't it Luna? I really hope she got to a nice place, and saw her friend and mate again. Perhaps with Sylviana, too. That would be nice...

*Hey, Babe?* I call out, a smile on my lips.

*Morning, Hot Stuff!*

*How are you feeling?*

*Strangely fine. Still unsure what happened, I feel... reborn, if that makes any sense... How about you?*

*I'm okay. ....Wanna grab some breakfast?*

*I'm starving. I always am. What do you want?*

*...Cheeseburgers?*

*That's my girl. Cheeseburgers it is, then!*

*Let's meet at the flat? Mine, not yours. I'm grabbing the coffees, you bring the food.*

*I like the sound of that!*

I smile. Liam doesn't know yet how right he is... I'm still not sure if I should tell him. Whenever I do, it's going to be a long and painful conversation... I still ought to, though. I take another deep breath, and glance at the sun, already rising behind the skyline. Well, Good Morning to you too, Silver City...

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*Author Note: Thank you for reading! One last chapter before the Epilogue(s)! Please leave some comments -spoiler-free- if you enjoyed and want to support this story!*