“... even one skipped Jerel, meal can mess with her croyneyth myt nekypomediel, processing of situations, and she has often fainted if she is more active than her intake of vyrarel, food.” Katherine hears, her head snapping over to Mason as she realizes she became lost in her own thoughts instead of listening to Mason. Not wanting to upset Mason, Katherine sits up straighter, trying to cover her inattention. Mason just chuckles lightly. “I think I kynozyrekancyr ju quera, lost you there. Did you at least get some of it, Saulari?”
Katherine blushes looking at her lap, murmuring, “Kaycee has side effects from when she had Rage Fever, that makes her need to eat enough, or she faints, likely due to the Rage Fever bringing about the high metabolism side effect.”
Mason grins widely at Katherine, “Close enough, that's what's croytran rai nom, important for now. Kaycee’s usual doctor, Bethany, generally checks Kaycee’s kyn ulari, blood sugar, level when Kaycee seems to be lethargic since it’s a good way to determine if she didn’t eat properly during the day. When I brought her in, Bethany said Kaycee’s kyn ulari was extremely low. So either she overworked nixryka, herself, before the game, or she skipped sonihyerjerel, breakfast, before aneyth ju, seeing you, sent her adrenaline skyrocketing and burning off whatever ecvyraniel, reserves, she had left. Bethany put her on a PPN IV drip with additional glucose to partylo, attempt, at bringing her levels back up to normal.”
Katherine nods slightly, not looking up. Mason sighs and stands to gently place her hand on Katherine’s shoulder, “Don’t overthink it, Saulari.”
“How can I not? I don’t even know how to feel about all of this Alpha Mason.” Katherine argues, looking up at Mason’s timeless face.
“So ealk syt, talk to Kaycee about it. What the fur myt ju, two of you, feel is best decided with each other alone. There is kyno urkyr, no need, to put expectations on what it should be. Just be exactly who ju xy, you are, and see Kaycee for who nix xe, she is. The rest will werona, work itself out.” Mason tells Katherine, kissing the top of the Omega’s head as she use to do when the girls were little. “Kaycee is going to be filnajerel, hungry when she wakes up. I’m going to go get one of our Lesrya’el, Thetas to grab some vyrarel from the BBQ for her.” Mason states as she moves to leave the room.
“Wait, won’t Kaycee be looking for you when she wakes up?” Katherine exclaims softly, standing in alarm as Mason reaches the door.
Mason pauses at the door then turns back to study Katherine’s nervous stance. Smiling tenderly, Mason then walks over to Katherine, taking a hand and pulling her closer to her twin till she could place Katherine’s hand on Kaycee’s. “I’m always the xifur rika, second person, she looks for, even after all these rolentri’el, years. Just keep A’testhazeve company Saulari. Ry systa vyn alynro siesyt sauquere.” Mason reassures softly before heading back out of the room.
Katherine turns to watch Mason leave removing her hand from Kaycee’s to brush her own long hair from her face. A soft groan sounds from Kaycee that startles Katherine’s eyes back onto her as the unconscious girl’s body shifts slightly. Katherine freezes as she watches Kaycee’s eyes flutter slightly before settling back into a restful state. Releasing a breath she wasn’t even aware of holding, Katherine looks once more to the door before moving to sit beside Kaycee on the bed. She uses her eyes to trace the path of the IV tubing from Kaycee’s hand to the PPN bag subconsciously before looking once more at her twin’s restful face. Sighing deeply, she reaches out to gently touch Kaycee’s face, ghosting across the scar that follows the sleeping girl’s jaw. When Kaycee murmurs slightly in her sleep, Katherine snatches her hand back. When Kaycee only turns her head towards Katherine before settling once more, Katherine rubs at her face and looks to the door.
Pulling at her hair, Katherine grows restless in the silence of the room. Reaching out nervously she decides to take Kaycee’s IV’d hand and takes a deep breath before beginning to softly talk to Kaycee while looking at the unconscious twin’s face. “Hey...ah. Kaycee… I...uh…” Groaning, Katherine looks down at the hand she is holding. Her thoughts move through her head causing her to feel all the conflicting emotions at once. What is wrong with me? It’s just Kaycee. Even if she’s a little different, it's still her. She always use to say nothing would make her hate me. Looking up Katherine takes another deep breath and tries to start once more. “This is harder than I thought it would be. I mean, it's been so long. I never thought I’d see you again. I guess you didn’t either, or you’d be awake right now.”
Glancing around the room, Katherine chuckles morosely “Definitely didn’t imagine waiting for you to wake up in an intake room. Funny, since I work in these sorts of rooms all the time now, I mean, after all, I am a fully trained Were Doctor….,” shaking her head Katherine feels tears start to run down her cheeks. Well, guess sadness is something to feel, Katherine thinks with a short forced laugh. Reaching up with her right hand, she swipes at her cheeks before just letting the tears fall. “I don’t know what to feel Kaycee. Everything has felt so fake since… since the attack… Am I supposed to be happy to have you back… or angry that we could have been together all this time and weren’t…. or sad at the lost years of having you in my life. Seventeen years of not having you and all I really feel is numb.”
Taking a wracking breath, Katherine rubs at her face again trying to stop her tears and breathing from becoming harsher. “I ... I just want to hide so badly Kaycee ... I don’t want to do this … to ... to feel everything at once... I just want to hide … it hurts ... it shouldn't hurt ... but it does … I don’t … I don’t even know … know who you are ... I don’t …,” Katherine pushes out before her sobs take away her ability to speak for several moments. Why does this hurt so much? Katherine thinks, her breath catching with every sob. I shouldn’t feel like this. Like I’m falling apart. Finding her should have made everything better not make it worse.
Katherine struggles to control her breathing, to slow her sobs so as not to wake Kaycee with them when suddenly she feels strong arms encircle her. She stiffens for a moment, before allowing herself to fully release all of her jumbled emotions into the sobs. As Katherine starts to calm once more, she realizes she is feeling Omega power flowing around her, tingling where the arms held her as the calming sensation brings Katherine a sense of safety as she breathes the scents of lemon and cedar thoughtlessly.
Kaycee had woken upon hearing Katherine’s sobs and had instinctually sat up to hug her twin. As Katherine’s lilac-cedar scent washes over her, Kaycee feels her anxiety rise, half expecting Katherine to pull away from her offer of comfort. Shit, Kaycee began to speculate to herself. What the hell am I doing? Why would she want me to comfort her? When Katherine seems to melt into her arms. even more, Kaycee sighs, letting go of the anxiety. Okay, I guess she’s okay with this, Kaycee decides as she gives Katherine a slight squeeze to try and comfort her even more.
After a time, Katherine feels a sudden desire to just fall asleep, causing her to shrug off the hug and pull back, only to lock eyes with the worried, chocolate eyes of her twin. Kaycee lets her arms fall as she looks back at Katherine’s hazel brown eyes, her anxiety pushing forward past the Omega influence. Katherine’s own Omega power answers, leaving the girls feeling the swirl of emotions even more poignantly.
I woke her up, Katherine thinks, her eyes searching Kaycee’s for discomfort, She doesn’t seem freaked out. And she comforted me. Wait, she... Katherine blushes as she realizes that the Omega power she had felt within Kaycee’s arms had come from her twin.
Kaycee stiffens at the feeling of Katherine’s Omega powers, having never felt the influence from outside of herself before. This is so weird. It feels so familiar but kinda backwards. I wonder if this is how she felt a few minutes ago, Kaycee wonders as her anxiety starts to calm. Noticing Katherine’s blush, Kaycee frowns, curious as to what has set that off in her twin.
A clanging of metal from a gurney moving past the door startles them both to glance at the door. Seeing nothing more than a few people moving past the room, they both laugh at their discomfort. Looking back at Katherine, Kaycee smiles as she gently reaches up to wipe away Katherine’s tears. The familiarity of the moment causes Katherine to smile and relax completely, though one last tear escapes her eyes.
“Didn’t mean to make you cry,” Kaycee softly teases in hopes of making Katherine’s smile stay, laying back tiredly onto the bed as her energy levels drop from the strain of sitting up under her own power so soon after waking.
“You didn’t,” Katherine murmurs back, feeling a bit of deja vu washing over her at Kaycee’s comment. Looking down at Kaycee’s hospital gown, Katherine notices the shoulder closest to her is soaked through and sticking to Kaycee’s skin. Feeling a bit sheepish Katherine looks down at her lap as she whispers “Sorry for getting your robe wet.”
Kaycee blinks slightly as she too senses the deja vu from the conversation. Unsure about her feelings on it Kaycee averts her gaze to the wet spot, seeing the clinging robe. Shrugging she smiles brightly as she jokes, “Probably needed a bath anyway.”
Katherine’s eyes snap up to lock with Kaycee’s, laughter bubbling up to erupt from Katherine’s chest, surprising Kaycee who raises an eyebrow in confusion at Katherine’s mirth. “Bigger reaction than I was expecting,” Kaycee laughs as Katherine’s laughter starts to calm.
“It's not that. I just had a dream where you said the exact same thing,” Katherine replies, a grin filling her face as she lets the sudden feeling of happiness flow through her.
Kaycee frowns and opens her mouth to reply when a knock from the doorway grabs the twins’ attentions. Bethany, dressed in a pair of beige shorts and a dressy yellow t-shirt with her white doctor’s smock over top, is standing just inside the door with Kaycee’s charts in one hand. Katherine quickly moves off the bed as Bethany starts to enter the room. Bethany pauses to press a button to raise the bed up to support Kaycee in a more upright position as she reaches the side of the bed. She receives a smile of thanks from Kaycee who is happy to not be laying flat any longer, while Bethany starts to look over the charts.
“Glad to see you awake. Now I’m a bit concerned because when you were brought in your sugar levels were extremely low, 80 mg/dl. You know that you need it up to at least 120 mg/dl or you lose focus” Bethany scolds, giving Kaycee a look of chagrin.
Kaycee blushes slightly, looking like she wants to sink under the covers in abashment. Amusement fills Katherine’s eyes as Kaycee looks away from Bethany and mutters, “I only had a supplement shake this morning.”
Rolling her eyes, Bethany makes a note on the charts, “I see. And what time was that?” she inquires, glancing at Katherine who is now looking at Kaycee in concern.
“Um. I had set an alarm for about six. After turning it off, I laid in bed for a bit longer. Didn’t check the time when I got up and grabbed the shake before going for a run.” Kaycee admits, getting a frustrated look from Bethany as Katherine shakes her head at her sister. Shrugging, Kaycee continues, “I hadn’t planned on staying out so long, and when I got close to being back, James found me and pulled me into the game. I figured I’d be fine until I ate something.”
“And of course you didn’t hunt during the run,” Bethany states as she makes some notes, Kaycee giving her a look of disgust that is ignored.
“Aversion to red meat,” Katherine whispers softly, drawing Kaycee’s attention from Bethany, who is pulling out things to check Kaycee’s vitals from one of the cabinets.
“Wha…” Kaycee starts to ask, getting cut off as Bethany sticks a thermometer into her mouth. Giving Bethany a look of frustration Kaycee crosses her arms.
Bethany, ignoring Kaycee’s reaction, turns towards Katherine, “You’re referring to the Rage Fever side effects?” Getting a nod from Katherine, Bethany moves to grab the thermometer when it beeps and checks it briefly before handing it to Katherine to continue her examination. “96.7 is normal for her by the way.”
Katherine looks at the thermometer. The reading, indeed being 96.7, is much lower than the normal 101.3 temps most Weres have. Looking up to see Bethany putting a blood pressure cuff on Kaycee’s arm, Katherine questions Bethany, “Kaycee ended up with all of the lifelong side effects?”
“Yup. According to the medical record here she was in for the Rage Fever for six months total from exposure to decontamination. She copes with the side effects better than others in some of the studies I read in my initial Were Healing Training, after being turned,” Bethany answers as she begins to write all her findings on Kaycee’s charts, “though she does occasionally think she’s invincible and forgets to keep her food intake high. Her Wiccan powers help keep her from overheating or freezing, and she is resourceful enough on more rural missions to be able to cook any meat she hunts to supplement her packed rations, which are usually higher in calorie content than most people take with them out into the wilderness,” Bethany explains as she takes a penlight to Kaycee’s eyes.
Katherine nods, parroting from memory, “Hybrids are more at risk for dying during the initial illness, but tend to do well with the lifelong side effects if they pull through.”
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