They Think This is a Game, Don't They?

Flanked by his second and third commanders, Brad sprinted through the woods. A group of trackers waited for him by a small stream, some a little roughed up from a previous fight.

It hadn’t happened more than five minutes ago, but the scent of their intruders had already begun to fade. However, the trackers confirmed the wolves to be from the north, members of the cult.

Brad snorted, displeased by the situation they found themselves in. They could make their scents fade quickly. They were quick and quiet. The possibilities of them getting through grew the more they learned about them.

Luke nipped at his ear, catching his attention. His beta led him off to a spot, a few yards away, before shifting into that of a man. Brad followed suit.

They both stood, their clothes having reformed over their bodies after shifting back to human form. Luke said nothing for a moment, looking around and listening to the sounds of nature.

“This is where we found Ruby. Thought you’d want to know.” His words came out of the blue.

Brad kneeled, touching the dry dirt that lay around him, imagining the scene that had been later described to him. He didn't like the image in his head.

“Capture one.”

“W-what?” Luke blinked dumbly down at him, baffled by the vague and sudden order.

“Capture one of them. They’re going to keep trying to get in. We’ll have plenty of opportunities. Just don’t let Ruby see or hear anything about it.” Luke straightened at the commanding, emotionless tone he rarely heard.

“Yes, sir.” Shifting, Luke left him to disperse the order to the others.

Brad kneeled for a moment more, before standing to follow the path she must have taken before she collapsed in front of his patrolling group.

There had been little disturbances left over from the tussle that had happened so many weeks before. Bark torn, dirt displaced by foot and paw prints alike, bullet shells littered like hidden gems; these were the only things he could find left and even these were scattered about.

How she had managed to run…

Brad shook the thoughts from his head. Getting angry now would do no one any good. He needed a clear and rational mind but everytime his thoughts returned to Ruby, just her being in general, rational was not what he was. He was far from rational by any means, constantly struggling against his instinct to comfort her with some sort of physical contact, but his logic already told him how she'd shy away. She hated being touched 75% of the time.

He just wanted to help her, but at this point, he doubted he was the right person for that job.

Turning away, he lifted a hand to his nose, attempting to regain himself as tears tore up his eyes. Frustrated. Longing. Angry. Most importantly, he felt weak at the moment. Helplessly lost.

Brad shifted and returned to the house. A long night awaited him.

A longer day after that, too. When he woke in the morning, Darz reported Ruby back in the east wing. Doctor’s orders.

The bite on her shoulder had become infected, despite Smith’s best attempts. He prescribed her antibiotics, but she refused to take them. He didn’t want to force her, but this wasn’t an option. She needed the drugs.

“Ruby.” Brad came to kneel by her in her wheelchair.

“Stop. I’m not going to take them.” Tremors went throughout her body, but they were barely noticeable beyond her stiff posture and the way she held herself.

“Listen to me,” he grabbed ahold of her wrists, dropping the nice act for only a moment. “Ruby! Listen! You need to take those meds. They will help you get better.” She tried to free herself, but he held her fast.

“I won’t take them!” Ruby turned her face away, her panic becoming more noticeable the more she couldn’t get away. “They don’t make feel better. That’s a lie! They make me worse!”

Brad let go, looking to Darz who stood just as lost as he did. A nurse came knocking on the door, but Darz stepped out to quickly take care of it. Smith stayed away, the pinkish pills still in hand.

“Alright, let’s try this.” Brad held open his hand to the doctor. “I’ll take some first and once you know it isn’t going to harm you, then you have to take the dose, okay?” Smith hesitated, not agreeing with the plan. It could cause symptoms in Brad, especially since he doesn’t need it, and in the end, she’ll take it as a sign not take the pills.

When Smith handed them over, Brad popped them back, except, the pills never made it into his mouth. Ruby dove out of her chair and smacked them to the floor.

“Don’t! Don’t take them!” She landed awkwardly on the floor, her hair covering her face as she heaved each and every breath.

“Ruby…” Brad pulled her into his side, his arm wrapped around her shoulders. “Those pills are just antibiotics. They’re for your infection. The most will be maybe some nausea but it's not going to hurt anyone.”

Smith came to squat down in front of her, pushing back strands of hair to look her in the eye. “Did they give you pills, Ruby? Did they tell you it was going to make you better?”

She didn’t answer the question but looked down at her hand that still shook fiercely.

“Let’s get you back in your chair.” Brad lifted her back up, fixing her hair as she calmed.

“Did they give you pills, Ruby?” Smith pressed on, pulling up his stool to sit beside her. “Answer the question. This is important. Did they give you pills?”

“Yes.”

“Did they drug your food when you refused to take the pills?”

“Sometimes.” Her outburst past, she stoically sat, her face a mask of indifference.

“Did they force you to take the pills when you refused?”

“Yes.” Brad reached out then, taking her hand in his as he sat, legs crossed, on the floor beside her.

“Did those pills make you drowsy? Sick? Lupy?”

“I’d throw up a lot, but those were the green-ish pills. The pink ones were the one where I couldn’t really feel anything… like I wasn’t really there.” Smith merely nodded, adding that to her chart as a side note.

“Okay. You see these pink pills aren’t going to do that and if they do, I need to know immediately, okay? They’re going to help with your injury and they might make you a bit sick. You only need one in the morning and one in the afternoon. When you take them is when you’ll have your bandages checked, okay?” At her nod, he got another pair of the pills and handed them over to her with a glass of water.

Brad wheeled her from the examination room, followed closely by Darz. She sat slouched in her seat, the strands of hair returning to cover her face, even though that didn’t work very well. Her hands idly played with the hem of her shirt.

“Oh! Ruby!” Dr. Smith came running up behind them, partially out of breath. “I forgot to check your leg after yesterday’s activity, but with all things considering, I’ll just have you come by tomorrow for your physical exam, so long as it doesn’t look to be swelling tonight.”

Brad escorted her up to her room where she rested for the rest of the day, not bothering to leave her bed. Darz kindly stayed with her for an hour after his shift since Brad needed to get something straightened out before he’d be with her until Meers returned from his day trip.

When he returned, he brought her some stew and a Coke at her request. They ate in silence, watching the television. She changed it every once and a while from HGTV, Food Network, and USA. Apparently, nothing was on that she liked because she ended up turning it off altogether.

“Ruby, I know you don’t want to talk about anything that happened, but thank you for answering Smith’s questions.” He patted her hand, noting how stiff her arm became when he neared her. “We only want to help and that’s hard when we don’t know what might make you uncomfortable or bring up any bad memories. Just let us know.” He didn’t receive a response, not even a nod or shake of the head.

At this point, they had about a fifty to fifty percent chance of Ruby answering anything they asked. It went even lower when it involved something of her past be it before or during her time with the cult.

Brad stood, taking their plates as he headed for the door.

“Sorry.” She cleared her throat, looking towards the drapes that covered her windows.

“Did-” He stopped himself short, unsure if he should continue, but at the sudden attention he received from her, he continued, “did you really think those pills were going to harm me?”

You really didn’t want me hurt?

“They always hurt me before… Besides, you don’t have a need to take them and that wouldn’t be good for you either…” As if she said too much, Ruby returned her attention to the curtains.

“Well, I’ll be sure to keep that in mind, Nurse Ruby.” He smiled her way, even though she didn’t see it.

When the door clicked closed behind him, Ruby took a peek, making sure he was really gone before facing the door. She may not trust him just yet, though he hadn’t given her a reason to not to, she hadn’t wanted to see him reduced to her level. She didn’t want to see anyone reduced to that kind of vulnerability.