By the time Lilac’s eyes reopened, she was unimaginably sore. Even before she had allowed herself to move she could feel the tenderness throughout every muscle, as though they had been torn and reshaped and torn again. Lifting her arm felt like a war unto itself as her bones and joints audibly creaked. With a deep groan, she sat herself up. As her eyes roamed from wall-to-wall, the reality of the situation hit her full force with the events that transpired the last time she was conscious.

     Her eyes snapped down to her wrists and ankles to find them no longer shackled, and the bars framing her bed had lowered. She noticed a dark bruise forming under the thinner fur from where the metal had dug into her. It faintly stung. As her heart rate increased she felt her breath quicken before a small voice chimed from across the room. 

     “You’re awake.” Teddy mumbled. Her scrunched body aching. She’d slept in the hospital chair in an uncomfortable position. Her blue eyes opened lazily, before she stood up to stretch. She sauntered to the bedside before touching a slender hand to Lilac’s massive forearm. 

     “Clench your wrist for me.”

     Hesitantly, Lilac did. She couldn’t hide the wince as she repeated the motion as asked. 

     “Fascinating.” Teddy mused.

     Lilac’s worried gaze prodded for clarity as Teddy gave her some clothes from off the counter. She popped a brief smile attempting to ease the akita woman. 

     “It’s your healing abilities… most wouldn’t be off sedatives by now, but you seem already set to walk! That’s good.”

     Lilac’s face filled with skepticism as she eyed the clothes handed to her. Surely the pain she felt couldn’t be considered an impressive recovery by any means. 

     “How long was I out?” Her voice was hoarse and dry. 

     “Mm, About 3 days.” The smaller woman yawned. She threw a soft smile over her shoulder despite the incredulous look that spread across Lilac’s face. 

     “I’ll grab your discharge paperwork. Take a bit and figure out how to walk again.” With a wink, Teddy vanished through the sliding glass doorway.

     Figure- figure out how to…? Lilac’s mind rattled; the unfamiliarity of the situation forced her focus to the instructions given to her. 

     With what felt like the majority of her strength, she pushed herself up. The fatigue in her body weighed her down like an anchor. Every muscle felt as if it were filled with loose sand. The bed seemed to have lost all buoyancy and compressed to a thin pad beneath her increased mass. Rubbing her hands up her tender legs revealed her calves to be taut and brawny. Tilting back, she allowed her hands to roam beneath her hospital gown to her stomach and down each arm.

     Despite the layer of plushness that she associated with herself, every inch of her body had developed a sturdy underlayer of muscle. As she moved, she found a newfound heft that swung into her momentum with every unsteady step forward. Her weighty curled tail now lightly grazed the floor, counter balancing her upper body. If they weren't on ground level, she would almost worry she’d fall straight through the floor. Approaching the doorway, her new height left her almost tall enough to graze the top of the frame.

     Looking around it seemed to be a standard hospital room affixed with heart rate monitors and a dislodged EEG. Her gaze trailed along the walls, over diagrams and decorative paintings of a wolf mother and her children at a playground. One of the children was larger, with the whites of their eyes stained a pitch black. The phrase “family is forever” was overtop the family in bright pink font. Lilac almost wanted to smile.

     Looking down she noticed she was rubbing her own wrists. The change in her body left her deeply uneasy, having gained an additional 5 or so inches in height, and a few degrees of thickness all around. The skin beneath her fur itched as though it had been stretched tight. Being an akita had always meant that, even as a pup, she was on the larger size. And she was the shortest of her siblings!

     As she looked at the painting further something small caught her eye. Just behind the corner of the painting was a mismatched wall color. Letting her curiosity take hold she stumbled forward. Letting her hand tilt the picture to the side revealed a large slab of the wall had been puttied over and yet to be painted. The cause was clear as deep claw marks were still clearly outlined beneath the wall repair. Letting out a gasp Lilac let the painting fall back into place. A misstep caused pain to shoot straight up her back. Her breathing turned uneven, and she felt tears sting in her eyes as the air was pushed from her lungs. 

     The thought of her family quickly turned into another matter altogether. What would they think? What would they say?

     Would they still love her?

     “I didn’t even know what I was going to tell them before this happened. God, what am I going to do when the lease is up? What can I even say to them?” she questioned herself. She shook her head roughly as the thoughts piled up. If she didn’t stop, those thoughts would easily throw her into an anxious fit. She could already feel her hands shaking and she needed to get dressed. 

     Looking at the clothes Teddy had left made her nauseous. They were easily 3 sizes larger than the ripped ones she’d arrived in. For a long moment, she just held them up and stared at them.   

     Her hands started to tremble as she disrobed from her medical gown. She stole a glance at the discarded clothes the staff likely cut off her body sometime in her coma. A snapped bra. A shredded shirt, pants torn straight down the seam.

 

     I’m bigger now. 

 

     She slid her arms through the sleeves. Lightly catching on several bandaids from where they had repeatedly sedated her. 

 

     It almost wasn’t enough.

 

     She slipped into gray sweats, a black tee, and a sports bra she was surprised she could fill.The granted clothes were slightly baggy on her. Probably preparing for the inevitable; the sudden growth that the mutation was most synonymous with. She’d never met a werewolf, but what she heard was never kind. They were people to be avoided, they were monsters to be feared. They were the reason you lock your doors at night.

 

     They don’t know why I’m like this. 

 

     Her tears flowed freely as her gaze was transfixed on a blank spot on the wall. Her hands continued to move. Her thoughts continued to eat her alive.

 

     I could hurt someone.

 

     Her jaw clenched until it ached.

 

     I could kill someone.

 

     Her grip tightened; claws digging into her arm. The pain being the only thing grounding her ever spiraling thoughts. Her body twitched as she began to fold in on herself. Arms holding tight into themselves let her grip dig further into her biceps.  

 

I’m a mons-

 

     The feeling of a hand on her arm jolted her out of her thoughts. She looked down to see Teddy gazing up at her. Lilac shook her head and ran a hand over her face, momentarily shocked to feel she’d been crying. Briefly remembering accidentally clawing her cheek forced her hand to jolt back, just in case. Wordlessly trembling, she grabbed for some sort of assurance to tell the smaller woman she was okay, but couldn’t find the words. Instead, she let her gaze drop as her heavy thoughts weighed down on her. 

     Teddy’s touch fell away, rummaging through a large plastic bag.

      “Nurses are a little miffed at me for leaving you in here alone.” Her voice punctuated the news with an almost inaudible chuckle. “They’re pretty new though. I wasn’t worried, you’re not very scary at all.” She laughed again before handing Lilac a large pill bottle. “Take two. They’ll help you relax.”

     Lilac grimaced before swallowing the pills dry without reaching for a water cup.

     “Ready to go?” Teddy asked - taking a moment to pop her back.

     “N-now? Where? Shouldn’t I have like, I don’t know. Security, or…” The akita woman rubbed her bruised wrists with shame.

     “This entire facility’s staff are trained professionals, even the temps.” Teddy leaned in with a grin. “That includes yours truly.”

     “You…?” Lilac quirked her head. Dread pooled in her gut.

“Yup.” Teddy answered the question hanging in the air without missing a beat.

     The akita woman couldn’t hide the horrified shock. She is my specialist? What is she? A hundred pounds soaking wet!? Lilac thought in horror.

     That was when Lilac really looked at Teddy for the first time. The tips of her folded ears stood at Lilac’s shoulders. There wasn’t much to see beyond her jacket, but it was clear the collie was on the thinner side. 

     Tension gripped Lilac’s muscles. The thought of what she could do to the smaller woman caused bile to well up in her throat. For just a moment, an image flashed in Lilac’s mind of tripping on her and crushing her. She thought back to how easy it was to cut her own face without realizing. She couldn’t imagine the horror she could so easily inflict on the girl smiling brightly at her. Before she could voice her fears, Teddy interjected.

     “We have a few tests to run you through. But first, I’ll show you your room and we can grab some lunch. I’m sure your body is aching for something solid.” Teddy paused as the automatic doors slid open, cocking her head to let her bent ears sway to the side. 

     “Oh, and I know what you’re thinking. But don’t worry, I can handle you just fine.” 

     With a deep breath, Lilac followed, briefly noting that the intense pain that had wracked her body not moments prior had all but vanished.