He was in fact the doctor who had tended to my wounds. He asked me questions about how I was feeling and whether I was in any pain and after hearing my answers he just nodded before muttering to himself and again writing something into his file. He then proceeded to remove the uncomfortable blankets to have a look at my injured leg and that's when I realized that I wasn't wearing my work clothes anymore. An alarmed squeal escaped my lips and the doctor looked up with wide eyes as if he had just seen a UFO land in his backyard. I shook my head hurriedly coupling it with nervous laughter, at which the doctor just narrowed his eyes and got back to work removing my bandages while I fretted over who in this blasted building had seen me in my inners or maybe less! Maybe it was the painkillers but I couldn't feel my undergarments which worried me to no end. I discreetly tried to gaze into the loose hospital gown to hopefully annul my suspicion but much to my horror, my undergarments had either turned invisible, or were in fact, missing from the surface of my body. I suddenly felt discomfort. Extreme discomfort. Where the heck are my clothes? And who took them off?? I nervously glanced around the room, but much to my dismay, my clothes were nowhere to be seen. My eyes immediately zeroed in on the little man working busily in changing my bandages. For his sake I hoped he had not been the one who had changed me, or so help me God, I would hit him so hard on his shiny bald head that he would reduce to half his already Lilliputian size! Unaware of the death glares I was sending his way, the small doctor removed my bandages and examined my injury. His little fingers brushed against my skin and I immediately flinched. Not in pain, oh no, and not in disgust either. That would have been far more tolerable. But this was by far one of the most unbearable feelings I had experienced. Such was the power of tickles! And I had always been extremely sensitive to touch, of any and every kind, which added to my being a feeler in the literal sense, and also made my plight worse. As the doctor continued to inspect was wound, I tried hard not to worm wiggle on the small hard bed. But when his hand grazed my wound I jumped some five inches into the air, and this time it was due to the pain. He mumbled something which I supposed was his apology and turned my right leg a little more to the side before continuing his examination. I looked also, and saw a long red inflamed gash travelling down the back of my calf and stopping a few inches above my ankle. I cringed at the sight of my injury, but I couldn't help but compare it to how gruesome it had looked when I was lying on the forest ground. Even the pain was now only a dull ache and not the piercing, stabbing, dying kind it had felt like before. It was probably because of the painkillers they had given me. But then again, the pain had started to numb right after that brown eyed wolf had licked it clean. A smile graced my face at the memory of that dear animal. Underneath all that powerful muscle and strength, it had been a really gentle creature. Had it really been a wild animal? A wolf? Or had it just been a dog, on steroids? I snorted and shook my head, earning yet another saucer-like stare from the doctor. Regardless of what it had been, it did try to help me, and I appreciated it, very very much. Now when I looked at the wound, I had to admit, it looked better, much better than before. Then again, how long ago was before? I looked around the room for a clock but there was none. So I asked the doctor how long I had been unconscious to which he replied that he couldn't be sure, but I had been at the hospital for about five hours now. He said that a couple of guys had brought me to the hospital, after finding me bleeding and unconscious in the middle of the forest and as grateful as I was to them, I couldn't help but wonder what they had been doing in the forest themselves. Surely no one else would have been as stupid as I for was venturing into the forest like I was taking a walk in my backyard. Or was it just a matter of how well one knew the place? I didn't know. I shouldn't have heeded Mr. Penson's advice about taking the shortcut. He obviously had more faith in my self-navigation skills than they deserved. Oh God! Did he even know I was in the hospital? Did anyone at work know? I was about to ask the doctor when he spoke first instead, "You sprained your right ankle and your wound will probably take a week or more to heal. I suggest you get lots of bed rest and keep your walking to a minimum. I've prescribed pain killers and antibiotics for you. Your colleague has probably bought them. So you are free to leave whenever you want" With that, having finished bandaging my leg again, he turned and strode out of the door before I even had a chance to ask him who this colleague was. But I didn't have to wait long to find out. "Ms. WINTERS!" An unmistakable nasal voice drifted into the tiny spaces in the room bringing a smile to my face. "Mr. Talon", I said smiling warmly, or so I hoped, at him. Huffing and puffing, Mr. Talon rushed into the room carrying a small plastic cover which most likely contained the medicines the doctor had spoken of. "How are you feeling?" he asked worriedly and I smiled hearteningly at him. "I feel much better", I told him honestly and he released a breath. "Thank goodness you're up Suzzanah. I was so worried about you! Half of my hair is already gone from this morning's fiasco and I was about ready to pull out the rest too. Must you insist on giving me such near death experiences and all in one day?" "I doubt you'll die of balding Mr. Talon", I joked and earned a glare from him which soon turned into a smile and a defeated sigh. He then looked at me carefully and gasped dramatically when he saw my bandaged calf. I shook my head reassuringly and said, "I'm fine" Mr. Talon assessed me for a little bit longer before sighing and said, "I nearly had a heart attack when I got a call from one of our pac- I mean staff members telling me they had found you hurt and unconscious in the middle of the woods" My eyes widened in surprise, "He was a staff member?" Mr. Talon nodded, "He was passing by with a friend and found you passed out in the middle of nowhere!" I didn't have the time to be embarrassed as I asked him, "And what was this guy doing strolling with his friend in the middle of nowhere?" Mr. Talon narrowed his eyes at me, "I think the more appropriate question is what you were doing there?" This time I did blush. Mr. Talon seated himself beside me on the small bed, "Tell me everything" I sighed and started telling him everything that had happened and how I had gotten lost in the woods. For some reason he seemed very shocked and disturbed when I told him that Mr. Penson had suggested I take the route through the woods, but he said nothing. But he openly and theatrically scolded me for climbing the tree. And he gasped dramatically when I told him about my epic fall before shooting off of the bed and examining my wound as though he had X-ray vision that could see through the bandages.