cerhadivision | Isla Sorna

Isla Sorna

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bluebetabitch

When you spend a long time building something with your own two hands, it becomes difficult to wrap your mind around the idea of the work being done. Owen grew up around that kind of mindset, and knows very well how it feels to be in the same grip. But he doesn't mind. That's the thing about having a family: it expands, and the world around it needs to expand with it. Little by little, the house came up around them, and they settled into it, and he's never really stopped working this little world of his over like an ever-evolving project that he loves with his whole heart.

They're settled here. Officially. No one can deny it, and even though Owen still has dreams sometimes about InGen -- or anyone -- hunting them down to rip the girls, or even the boys, out of his hands, those fears evaporate every morning. The girls get along as well as any sisters do, and even the squabbling has died down in recent months; the boys have adapted beautifully, and although Chi and Psi still exhibit behavior that looks odd alongside the girls from time to time, they no longer struggle to meet expectations that were completely alien to them for most of their lives.

And then there's Blue and Omega.

The difference in Blue between her youth on Isla Nublar, and the young womanhood that quite clearly blossomed in the Santa Lucia Mountains of central California, is not only noticeable, but striking. Always the one he could rely on over the others, Blue has managed to develop into a creature that is both an extension of his right arm and yet still a highly independent person who no longer looks to him quite so often for cues; she still values her space and her privacy, but those withdrawals from the pack just to brood and sulk have all but disappeared. And while Blue's temper will always strike fear into the hearts of her siblings -- adopted or otherwise -- she's learned to balance it with patience, a trait that would always thwart her more than any other. Until now. Owen always wanted Blue to learn that balance between animal instinct and human rationality, and he knew she'd get there in her own way sooner or later. Now, it seems she has, and it's a beautiful thing to see.

Then, as if her own transformation wasn't enough, she'd somehow managed to turn her mate into an entirely different person.

If Blue's maturation is impressive, Omega's has been nothing short of miraculous. All right... Owen is a professional behaviorist; he knows there's no such thing as miracles, only hard work and dedication. Only this time it wasn't his. It was Blue's time, effort, and uncharacteristic affection that turned a furious, hateful killing machine into something that could be now what he might have been then, before InGen had their way. Omega lives in the house now. He eats when they do. He joins the family in their gatherings, as long as Blue is with him, and although his temper is still zero to 60 when roused, these days it's much harder to set him off than it used to be, even if that wouldn't be saying much. He prefers his mate and solitude over anything else, but his violently aggressive tendencies have been all but curbed for the sake of keeping Blue happy.

For obvious reasons, Owen has kept a close eye on them both from day one, and even from the very beginning Omega has treated Blue like the center of the universe. Owen himself has salvaged his share of abused, wild animals -- it's literally part of the job -- but he knows without question that no one could have done this but her. And her success is absolutely indisputable.

Case in point: today, Omega's dislike for interacting with unfamiliar people had outweighed his desire to be with Blue as often as possible, and instead of throwing a tantrum he simply hadn't gone with her down the mountain.

For Barry, it was supplies; Echo wanted clothes; Blue was only interested in procuring necessary parts for her nearly-restored 1979 Pontiac Phoenix Firebird, a task built upon very specific requirements and one which she would never entrust to any of her siblings. The day is very nice for a sojourn into the city, considering the length of the drive: blue skies and a mild breeze, not quite so far into spring that the air is anything more than comfortably warm. Psi is helping Delta collect chili peppers and the new experimental plums. Chi fell asleep in the grass up the hill. Charlie is giving Owen a hand with replacing some worn poles along the stone steps leading down to the boys' den, when they hear the familiar sound of the Jeep rolling up the long hill that serves as their driveway.

Only, it sounds like it's coming up fast.

Owen and Charlie look at each other, and immediately drop what they're doing to meet the car just as Barry rolls up, screeching to a stop and diving out of the driver's side to rush around to the passenger door. He looks frantic. And he's helping Echo out of the car. She looks like she's about to pitch right off her feet.

"Owen!" Barry calls out urgently, eyes widening immediately as Owen rushes to them. "Owen!" He has to wrap an arm around Echo's back to keep her standing. And then, to Owen's surprise and dread, Barry yells again. "Omega!"

Owen doesn't actually know where Omega has been this whole time. But suddenly he's there next to him, clearly as alarmed at being summoned as Owen was to hear it, and Owen can practically feel the tension in the male raptor's body triple because they both realized the same thing: that Blue is not with them.

"They took her," Barry says, breathless, and the bottom falls out of Owen's stomach.

Echo tries to rouse herself, flopping a little, mumbling in groggy frustration as she tries to shake off whatever is wrong with her and help explain. But Barry keeps his hold on her and barrels right through it.

"It was InGen. They had an entire strike force, Owen, the streets are chaos now. They used non-lethals. Tranquilizers. Echo took a direct hit, but they left her behind. All of them were focused on Blue." He looks at both of them, Owen and then Omega, panicked and desperate. "They came for her."

The weather was gorgeous a minute ago. Now the entire world is ice. Owen's heart has stopped, his breath is gone. Delta and the boys come running up, but he barely notices them. Beside him is Omega, frozen; then suddenly the raptor whirls to him, eyes wide, and the fury -- the fear -- in them is apocalyptic.

Omega doesn't say a word, but Owen immediately finds his voice. "Go get her."

The male raptor is gone like a bolt of lightning. Owen turns and strides quickly to a hidden cache beneath the porch. He pulls out two assault rifles and a hell of a lot of ammo as Charlie shrieks behind him, "Why aren't we going with him?!"

"Because we're going to follow him." Owen tosses a rifle to Barry, and gestures sharply for everyone to get into the car, including the still-dizzy Echo. "After Isla Nublar, Omega found us in less than a week on nothing but Blue's scent and pure instinct. This time he knows where he's going. We'd only slow him down." The motor is still running. Almost before every door is shut, Owen jerks the Jeep into gear. His last words are almost a growl to himself. "With any luck, all we'll have to do is clean up."

The Jeep screeches in reverse, turns, and roars off down the mountain.

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As much as Omega wanted to climb into bed alongside Blue while she slept, he did appreciate the necessity of keeping those stitches free of stress. He's not entirely clear on what Dr. Gwen had to do, but there was a lot wrong with Blue when they found her. Too much wrong. Anything it takes to fix her is what he trusts her humans to do.

He barely knows where they are, except as another unfamiliar room and a bed that isn't theirs -- does it even matter? Owen and Dr. Gwen are handling things. It's his job to protect Blue, and nothing else. He lets himself sleep only as lightly as it takes to wake at the instant he feels her stirring; he won't eat until she does, because if she doesn't... what's the fucking point?

Now, whether he was asleep or delirious a second ago, hearing his name makes him jerk upright and immediately catch the hand that, god, reaches for him, and the air leaves him in a rush; he jumps up and leans over her to stroke her face, touching his forehead to hers with eyes shut and jaw going tight.

But... while he's not going anywhere unless she's going with him, he's not as much of a help to her as he'd like to be. And he wasn't the one she was so desperate to see the last time she opened her eyes. So, although it takes him an impossibly long moment to tear himself away, he finally kisses her cheek and squeezes her hand.

"I'll be right back."

Then he dashes out of the room to drag her humans out of bed.

Blue sank back against the mountain of pillows, squirming uncomfortably. Her lower abdomen hurt something awful, and a brief tactile inspection revealed it to be insanely tender, and her trembling fingers explored a row of small neat stitches, testament to Dr. Gwen's work earlier. A traitorous sniffle escaped as Blue recalled why that operation had been necessary.

But before she could dwell on it too much, the far door opened and three familiar figures came into view, all of them beloved and familiar. Dr. Gwen approached immediately, her tired smile no less comforting. "Hey, Blue," she said, a cool hand coming to rest on her forehead. "Glad to have you back again, sweetheart. How do you feel?"

Ugh, what a question. Blue tried to laugh, but coughed instead, Gwen helping her lean up a bit to clear her lungs so she could breathe easier. "...rough," she managed to get out. "Stomach...hurts."

Owen can't imagine they were in bed more than five minutes before Omega threw the door open, which was a hell of an experience on its own. But the subsequent announcement had him jumping quickly to his feet, stopping only long enough to drag his jeans back on for decency's sake.

Gwen gets there ahead of him, which makes it no less of a relief whatsoever to see his eldest girl blinking at them from her bed, exhausted but lucid, with no more tears this time. Omega appears behind them, with a glass of water in his hand. As the male raptor circles to one side of the bed, Owen approaches the other, staying out of Gwen's way but coming in close enough to rest a firm, comforting hand on Blue's knee.

"Welcome back, baby girl," he murmurs, with just a touch of a grin. "You ready to fight some mountain lions yet?"

Blue reached for the water glass before anything else; her throat felt as if she'd walked across the Sahara east to west. Gulping nearly half of it in one go, she fell back with a breathless gasp, but managed a small smile for her alpha, no tears this time.

She trilled for him softly, reaching for his hand so she might nuzzle it in profound relief, but then she huffed a small snort of amusement and gave a slight shake of her head. "...not...just yet." Blue eased back down to her pillows, not relinquishing her grip on Owen's hand. "m-m...maybe...t-tomorrow."

Dr. Gwen moved back behind Owen and said, "You're off the protein IV for now, Blue. Are you hungry, honey? Think you can eat something?"

Blue immediately shook her head; the thought of food right now still made her want to heave.

"All right, no rush. We'll bring something anyway, just in case you're tempted, okay?"

Nodding tiredly, Blue sighed and gently wiggled back into the pillows, gazing around once more. "...where...are we?"

Dr. Gwen smiled. "This is my mother's house, Blue. She was nice enough to let us stay for a while, until you're all the way out of medical danger, then we'll all go back home. Barry and the others are already there, waiting. It's just the four of us." She smoothed the covers over the end of the bed. "So you and Omega will have lots of rest and quiet, until you're feeling better, okay?"

Sounded good to Blue. She loved her sisters, she did, but not having to suffer through their own forms of concern sounded...great, really. So she nodded, letting her eyes drift closed again. She felt more than heard both of her human parents drift out, the door softly closing behind them.

A yawn escaped. She murred softly, once again wiggling down in the covers but this time a seeking hand reached out for her other half. "...c'mere," she drowsily entreated. "...'s big enough...for us both."

"I'm gonna hold you to that," he says, as his grin broadens a little more, and he squeezes her hand and strokes her head when she brings him close enough. Already she sounds so much better than she did before, if only by comparison, but Owen is looking for absolutely any improvement he can find. Up until now, anxiety had never slid fully off his shoulders. Now he knows for sure that his Beta is going to be just fine.

Omega is hovering, but silent; Owen was more worried about him before he practically knocked Gwen's bedroom door off its hinges, but he honestly doesn't know what it would take to shut him down. Omega practically walked off a bullet to the chest. And... it took Blue just a couple of weeks to get over having her back torn open, so... yeah. He has a lot of faith in both of them.

It's the look that alarmed him, he realizes. Not now, but the one before -- when Omega chased after her, and when he caught up with her. Owen has never actually seen the male hybrid look afraid.

But he can tell now that Omega is as relieved as they are to have Blue awake and talking again, undoubtedly influencing his willingness to stay out of the way for the moment. After Owen and Gwen head back out again, through the closed door he faintly hears the sound of the bed shifting and gathers that Blue's mate has finally slipped in alongside her again. He's glad for that; sleep always comes easier and better in the arms of a loved one.

Speaking of which...

He catches Gwen by the hand and pulls her back to him, into a slow kiss that's waiting for her. She saved the life of one of his girls, and not for the first time. Steaks and bourbon aren't enough to make up for something like that, no matter what comes of them later. The kiss lingers, and when it finally breaks he only murmurs there against her lips. "Let's get some sleep."

Gwen woke almost exactly six hours later. The late afternoon sun was streaming around the thick drapes, leaving her bedroom swathed in cool dimness. She yawned lazily, still burrowed quite contentedly in a familiar pair of strong arms and nestled comfortably against a familiar broad chest.

She automatically discerned that all was well with her patient; Owen was still asleep, next to her, and the bedroom door hadn't bounced back off its hinges again to admit a nerve-twanging Omega. And although it would be so good to snuggle back down and drift right back to sleep, there were still things which needed tending to.

Gwen lightly stretched where she was, then gently eased out of Owen's possessive hold, but not before placing a soft lingering kiss to his lips, then sat up and fetched her own bathrobe, this one a plain white cotton. She padded barefoot a few feet down the hallway, peering into her brother's old bedroom to find both of the hybrids still asleep, Omega now curled protectively over his slumbering mate.

Well and good.

Leaving the rest of her little family to rest as long as they would, Gwen went downstairs, finding her mother returned and old Fussie waiting at the bottom of the stairs, wagging her stub tail erratically. After giving the old Rottie hugs and kisses, Gwen went into the kitchen, where Marie had coffee waiting.

"Good afternoon, dear. Did you all get some sleep, at last?"

Gwen fell on the coffee gratefully, gulping down about half of the mug before easing on the island's barstool. "Mmmhmm, not nearly enough, but some." She rested her cup on the counter, elbows propped up as well. "I feel like I could sleep for a week, and might just, once we get back home."

Marie chuckled in amusement. "And how's your patient, then? Has she come around yet?"

Gwen nodded, thankful to be able to share at least some good news. "She has. Right after you went out, actually. Which doesn't surprise me, given her condition. But she's much more coherent, now that we've flushed those disgusting drugs out of her system. She's still not really ready to eat, but I give that about a day, maybe less. I'm going to keep her off of the IV, just to see if she'll get hungry enough to eat on her own." She rattled off, realizing that her mother had drifted off into that blissfully vague expression again, and Gwen just finished with, "...but she's coming around."

"Well, that's wonderful, love," Marie smiled, nodding as if she understood every word. "I'm so delighted to hear it. Not that I want you kids to run back off up north or anything, but you know what I mean." Yes, Gwen knew what she meant.

Then the subject about clothing during their stay came up, and Marie offered some of Ben's old workout clothes for Omega, if he would deign to wear another man's clothing and surprisingly, she offered for Owen clothes which had belonged to Gwen's late father.

"They're not doing much except sitting in the dresser, waiting to be used again," Marie told her, but Gwen didn't miss the obscure pain still clouding her mother's eyes whenever either of them mentioned Thomas Carruthers. "And I don't think your dad would mind that your Owen's a Squid," she teased gently, holding her coffee cup in both hands. "Well," she amended with a little laugh, "not too much, anyway."

Owen, not used to sleeping during the day no matter how tired he is, stirred awake once or twice over the course of their very much needed nap, but had also passed right back out within seconds. He felt Gwen leave his arms, but only it that dreamy-delirious way that didn't register as something to be concerned about right this second, not when sleep was so nice. But eventually the bed grew colder, and Owen's head started to hurt. Time to get up.

He sits up, over the edge of the bed, to stretch and rub his hands over his eyes and face. After a shower and a nap, he feels... better, but still not quite himself. Things aren't normal, yet. And he's somebody's guest, as are his hybrids, which changes the dynamic of things significantly.

Rather than wander around in the admittedly comfy bathrobe, he once again pulls on his jeans and slides his shirt back on. Sticking his head out in the hall lets him catch the sound of Gwen's voice drifting up from the first floor, so that's the direction he goes, with a brief pause outside the other bedroom door to listen. Not a sound; both raptors are still asleep.

Downstairs, he finds his girlfriend in the kitchen, sharing another cup of coffee with her mother. "Afternoon, ladies," he says to both of them. "I hope you saved me some coffee."

Gwen glanced up as Owen came into the kitchen, granting him a soft welcoming smile, while Marie chirped bright hellos and immediately bustled about to find another coffee cup. Gwen took advantage of her mother's momentary distraction to steal a quick "good morning" sort of kiss from her boyfriend, sliding the stool over a little closer afterward just because.

Marie returned with a full cup of black coffee for him and refilled both her and Gwen's cups, settling back down on the other side of the island. "Owen, I was just telling Gwen that I'm sure I can find some spare clothes for you and your kids, if you'd like. I have closets just full of leftover things from my son and my late husband. I'm sure neither of them would mind you all borrowing a few here and there."

She smiled over her cup. "Ben's tall like your boy upstairs. Lanky as a bean pole, the both of them!" She tittered genially. "And you're about the same size as my Thomas, mmm, perhaps a little thicker across the hips, but then his backside was starting to erode a little bit!"

Gwen stifled a groan, dropping her forehead down on one hand. "Mom..."

"Oh, shush, Gwendolyn, we're all adults here, we can be grown-ups about backside erosion, can't we? My goodness, you're a doctor, you should be used to these sorts of conversations." Sadly, there wasn't a rock nearby large enough for Gwen to crawl beneath as her mother simply prattled on, absolutely nonplussed. "Why, just last month, you were telling me about that friend of yours back in London, how they'd had to do a C-section on one of their elephants to save the mother and baby." Marie took just enough of a breath to look over at Owen.

"Can you imagine? A C-section on an elephant? My lord, how is that even possible, I mean, you'd have to perform the surgery with a carving knife, and then wade through I don't even know how much gush to even reach the baby elephant--what are they called, Gwen?"

"...calves." The answer was weak, coming from somewhere beneath the fall of Gwen's loose hair, hiding her absolute mortification over all of this.

"Calves, that's right. Well, my goodness, how are doctors supposed to deliver babies wearing hip waders and rain coats?" Gwen's forehead finally thunked on the island counter as Marie rambled on, not pausing for at least two minutes.

"--and to sew up that incision, good gracious, I'll just bet they had to use baling twine, the poor momma elephant, I know that had to hurt like crazy, even if she was out like a light." Finally taking a breath, Marie brightly looked from her daughter to her guest, inquiring, "So. Anyone hungry?"

Edited 2017-05-27 02:27 (UTC)

Owen gets one grateful and casual sip out of his coffee mug, listening mildly to Marie's chatting and Gwen's adorable exasperation. But he doesn't quite get the second sip -- mug pausing at his mouth, eyes a little wider -- as she just keeps going, on the topic of elephant C-sections, while her daughter slowly dies against the counter. He honestly wants to reach out to Gwen just to... comfort her, as if they're watching a tragic thing unfold with no way to stop it.

It's not that bad, of course. But Owen knows he wouldn't do very well listening to someone like Marie for very long, either. But she's wonderful, of course. Letting them use her home on such short notice, being so generous with food and clothing. The coffee. So wonderful. Of course.

When finally addressed, Owen clears his throat and takes a cautious sip of his coffee, to hide the fact that he'd completely forgotten about it until right that second.

"Clothes. Actually. Would be great," he says, pursing his lips. "As long as you don't mind."

Insisting that she didn't mind at all, Marie toddled off down the hall, humming, leaving Gwen to stifle a groan and the urge to just...burrow into Owen's arms and disappear for the duration. As it was, she just sat up, throwing back her messy hair with one arm, turned to him and began apologizing in an earnest whisper.

"God, Owen, I'm so sorry...she does this all the time. It's like she has no brain to mouth filter at all. And yet she gripes at me about propriety, but she's perfectly comfortable talking about backside erosion--what the hell--in the kitchen! With a man she just met this morning! Gah!"

Gwen stifled the grunt of exasperation--theatrical, mostly, because she really did love her mother, when everything was said and done--but dropped her head to Owen's warm shoulder this time instead of the cold countertop.

"...God," emerged from somewhere around his bicep, but it was distinctly muffled. But she lifted her head after a few more commiserating moments and again pushed back her hair, a bit more serious this time.

"But at least we'll all have clean clothes." She retrieved her coffee cup, leaned an elbow on the counter, and reverted to her 'professional' tone, saying, "We have enough groceries to feed a regiment, thankfully. Mom picked up a lot of meat, which Blue will definitely need in the next few days. Important thing now is to get her eating, so she can stay off the IV. We can take them a change of clothes here in a few minutes, and I'll cut some fruit and leave it in there, in case that'll tempt either of them."

Pausing for a swallow of coffee, Gwen continued. "Once she's eaten, I want to get Blue up and out of that bed. She's been on her back for almost ten days, which isn't good for her circulatory system. Omega can help her clean up, take a sponge bath, maybe, but we're going to need to get her ambulatory as soon as she's strong enough to stand." A corner of her mouth quirked. "And if I know our girl, that won't be very long at all."

Owen is still looking after Marie with a touch of disbelief.

"Was she talking about how thick my hips are?"

Should he be insulted? Seems hard to tell. But he actually finds it more hilarious than anything else, and immediately turns back to Gwen with a grin, so thoroughly amused by her reactions to her mother. Amused, and also charmed, for that matter. He lets her drop her head against him and waits patiently until she can recover from such an ordeal.

"Sounds great," he says, in response to the plan she lays out before him. "Blue's gonna shake the rest of this off like nothing. At least, physically." And then his brow furrows, his expression shadowed by something they hadn't really approached directly until now.

"I don't have a great feeling about the other side of it, Gwen. We need to be ready for that."

She'd been thinking about the same thing, here and there. Now that the physical danger was more or less out of the way--although Gwen knew that it could flare back up at any given moment--it was time to begin thinking about the emotional and psychological effect the past ten or so days was going to have for their Beta hybrid.

"Neither do I, actually," she admitted in a quiet tone. "And if Blue goes off in her own head, what's Omega going to do then?" That was what truly terrified the doctor. "I have Thorazine, which might knock him out for a while, but Owen, if he's been conditioned to MORO, Thorazine might not even affect him at all."

"I don't think I can stand seeing any more of my raptors pumped full of tranquilizers," Owen says immediately. Oddly enough, he never really thinks of Omega as one of his raptors, but right now it comes out without hesitation. No hybrids are getting dosed around him for a goddamned while.

"What are you afraid he's going to do? He hasn't left her side." Even knowing full well what the male raptor is capable of at his absolute worst, Owen is -- for once -- not playing on the far side of caution right off the bat. "I can't believe I'm about to say this, but Omega might be better equipped to handle whatever comes next than we are. The boys spent their lives going through what InGen put her through -- with one huge fucking exception."

There are not enough bullets in the world for what Owen wanted to do to Vic Hoskins.

Gwen leaned back a bit, startled. "...I meant it only as a last resort, Owen. I never want to have to do that to any of them, you know that." She crossed her arms, having abandoned the coffee a minute ago. The thick terrycloth was comforting against her sudden shiver.

"I'm sure he is. But you and I both know that Blue is his only stopgap. The only one. I saw his face when he brought her down to the beach, Owen. He was terrified, but absolutely furious at the same time. I'll admit it to you right now, he still scares the hell out of me sometimes."

Hands in the opposite sleeve, Gwen rubbed at her arms. "This might all be a moot point anyway, at least I hope. But you can't sit there and tell me we shouldn't formulate a contingency plan."

Without Marie around to tense Gwen up for it, Owen slides an arm around her shoulders and pulls her in again for half a hug that's still firm and protective.

"You're right," he murmurs near the top of her head. "But Blue brought him back from whatever ledge he was pacing. And I don't think there's anything he wouldn't do to repay that -- including being the one for her to thrash against, for once."

He's quiet for a moment, thinking things over, knowing that she has a good point even if he has confidence now that he didn't have for a very long time. Eventually he says, "You're the doctor. You tell me what you want to do."

She let him pull her close, grateful as always for his solid warmth. Her mother be damned, Gwen slipped from her stool and stood between Owen's knees to drape her own arms around his waist, listening to his very true observations about the eldest hybrids.

"I'm more than willing to let Omega help her, in whatever way he needs to. He knows her better, definitely." Gwen took a slow breath, making up her mind. "Let's go ahead and leave them some clothes. Then I want to wake Blue up and see if she'll eat." Omega would just have to get over them waking his mate. "Then we'll see if we can get her up and about a little."

Marie chose that moment to return to the kitchen, but Gwen didn't bother pulling away from Owen; they were adults, damnit. She did, however, quirk an eyebrow at the collection of clothes in the basket. There were several pairs of sweats and cotton pants, four or five t-shirts in different sizes of grey and black, and even a few pairs of socks.

"Thomas's feet always got cold," Marie told Owen with a little smile. "He always wore socks around the house, even in the summertime. I'm not sure whether little dinosaur feet get cold, but you all are welcome to them."

Little dinosaur feet, good god almighty. Owen nods and keeps his amusement to a simple grin at the corner of his mouth.

"Thanks, Marie. You didn't have to do all this." And he is entirely serious when he adds, "Thank you for helping us take care of them."

He almost says my raptors again, but at the risk of giving Marie one more thing to puzzle over, he holds back his own overt possessiveness for Gwen's sake. Owen reaches out in silent offer to take the basket, a quick once-over revealing nothing that stands out to him as being something Omega would throw across the room. The male raptor won't be thrilled about it, but Owen will reinforce the fact that it'll be worth it to lie next to Blue in better condition. (Putting requests in terms of Blue's wishes tends to increase the likelihood that they'd be indulged with minimal disturbance.)

"I'm gonna take these up now," he tells Gwen, "see if I can wake them, at least. They need to eat. You want to bring that food up?"

While Gwen and Owen were discussing the immediate future one floor down, Blue woke up. She yawned first, then tried to stretch without thinking, then sucked in a hissed breath in sudden and unexpected pain when all of her muscles shrieked their protest.

She felt a mound of pillows beneath her when she calmed enough to relax, and a suspiciously familiar warmth and an equally familiar rumble on her left side. Blue wasn't too surprised that it was Omega, astonishingly still asleep, stretched possessively against her.

A rush of tender affection brought a smile, but it quickly turned to a grimace when a wave of nausea washed over her, and Blue couldn't stifle this shriek as she automatically rolled the opposite way, praying her stomach would settle. She fell to shuddering, but there was nothing left in her belly to heave.

It wouldn't have mattered if Omega had ended up in his own exhaustion coma: the second his mate cries out in pain, he's awake, immediately leaning over her and catching her arm as firmly as he can manage without hurting her more.

"Blue." It's urgent, not knowing what's wrong, not sure if it's simply normal pain or something worse. He catches at her hand just to give her something to squeeze as tightly as she needs to until the pain passes, watching her face while his own stomach twists for a different reason.

"Tell me what you need -- wait, I'll get the doctor."

Her reflexive grip was tight, though had she been in full possession of her customary strength, she might have broken his hand. The pain chewed at her, tied her nerves in and out of knots, but Blue gritted her teeth and bore it, instinctive fury welling up in her throat.

She hissed in spiteful stubbornness at her own body's weakness, but it gagged her in return, and she closed her teeth on another whimper--no, never again!--and simply shook until the spasm eased, and she was able to fall back against Omega with a limp sigh, shaking all over.

"...I-I'm...okay," she stuttered. Blue groped for him again, catching nails around his fingers. "D-Don't...leave m-me...please."

A broken hand would have been a welcome trade for having his mate beside him, and with enough strength to do it; under the circumstances he'll take what he can get, and satisfy himself (...mostly) with the knowledge that she's much stronger now than she was even a few hours ago.

He wants so badly to wrap his arms around her again, but he's not sure how much he can do without hurting the surgical wound, even just by putting pressure on higher muscles. Instead he just curls his arm beneath hers and grips her hand firmly with his own, a physical reassurance that he will stay right where he is until she tells him otherwise.

"I'm not going anywhere," he murmurs into her hair, closing his eyes. Even leaving her side long enough to fetch her humans has been torture, but Omega knows they're more help than he is, no matter how frustrating that may be. After a moment, his fingers do slip just a touch lower, the barest ghost of a touch beneath her ribs.

"How bad does it hurt you?"

The reassurance helped relax her a little, Blue shuddering a broken sigh as an erratic spasm rippled down her spine. The nausea had passed, leaving her spent and tired again, a state she positively detested. But her mate was near, and she leaned into him for more than just physical support.

She wanted to reassure him that she was fine, she could handle it, she was stronger than this, but the words choked in her throat. So she opted to just speak plain. "A lot." A brief grimace crossed her face. "On the inside." Which was just...hell, really.

A few shaking breaths later, the door opened to admit both Owen and Dr. Gwen, the former carrying a clothes basket and the latter bearing a large tray from which rose many enticing smells. Blue felt her stomach rumble in response, but then quickly renig as another round of nausea lurked just beyond her hunger.

The doc was all business, as usual; checking her vitals, feeling her cheeks and forehead, and asking how she felt. Blue considered giving her an exact report of how she felt, but with Owen's eye on her, curbed some of the more 'colorful' responses and admitted that she felt miserable; her stomach hurt, she wanted to throw up but couldn't, and she ached all over.

"That sounds about right, given your recent operation, Blue," Dr. Gwen said, matter-of-fact. "I have something which will help with the nausea, but do you think you might be able to eat something? A little bit of fruit or maybe some crackers?" The doc rummaged in her medical bag, resting on the dresser, and shook out a small white pill, then presented it and a glass of what smelt to be fruit juice to the suffering Beta.

"Drink as much as you can, sweetheart," Dr. Gwen told her, and Blue did, polishing off the entire glass. It tasted like liquid gold, so thirsty was she all of a sudden. She really didn't want to eat, but the doc seemed to want her to try, so Blue picked a chunk of pineapple off of the tray and chewed on it, it tasting like sawdust in her mouth. But she managed to swallow it, shaking her head when offered more. "...can't," she mewed, hiding her face in Omega's chest.

"Okay, honey, it's all right. There's no rush," Dr. Gwen smiled. "Do you think you might want to try and get up for a minute? Stand up and stretch those achy muscles a little?" Now that sounded like a grand plan; Blue immediately opted for that. But her willpower was stronger than her body--never one to take anything slow, she swung around and aimed both feet for the floor, determined that her knees were going to hold her up, but unaware that the price for stubbornness was always high.

Omega's brow furrows as Dr. Gwen examines his mate, not out of displeasure but more the general concern that is keeping every muscle in his body tense. But when the doctor proclaims everything to be on course for healing, he breathes a silent sigh of relief; the medical technicians back on Isla Sorna were never so forthright with him, or even indicated that any particular pattern of recovery was normal. He simply... got better, sometimes through his own determination more than their cold, mechanical attention.

For perhaps the first time, Omega acknowledges a wave of genuine gratitude for what Dr. Gwen is and does for Blue and her sisters.

Blue's Alpha remains close at hand; Owen has his arms folded across his chest and the same look of concern on his face as Omega. Neither one of them will be fully settled until she recovers, or at least can move around on her own. And when the doctor suggests that Blue try moving on her own, Omega anticipates Blue's agreement and slides instinctively off the bed--

--and it's a good thing, too. His mate has been in bed for... likely an entire week straight. Barely a step forward, and Blue's legs give out from under her. In a flash Omega is around the bed, catching her before she collapses to the floor. There was no way Blue wasn't going to try, and he respects the hell out of that, but it was too much, too fast. She's not going anywhere without help.

"It's okay, take it easy," Owen says from Blue's other side, resting a hand on the back of her head. "We'll try it a little slower next time."

Had she not been in the presence of both of her 'parents', Blue might have snarled, but she stifled her irritation and simply curled in Omega's arms, knowing she should have taken things slow, but her patience had never been her strong point. At least, in this sort of arena.

So she huffed a disgruntled breath, but didn't intend to be tucked back in that bed again, at least not for a while. Arms coiled around her mate's neck, face half-hidden in Omega's neck, Blue peered at Dr. Gwen from under his chin.

"Dr. Gwen...is it okay if...I...take a shower, maybe? I feel...nasty." Blue honestly couldn't remember the last time she'd taken any sort of ablution, honestly. But, thank God, the doc nodded and gestured to the other door on the opposite wall.

"Sure, Blue. There's a bathroom right in there, Omega can help you get cleaned up a little, hm?" She smiled, her eyes warm as always, easing a little of Blue's trepidation. "C'mon, I'll get you some towels and washcloths. Oh, and we have clean clothes for both of you, so you won't have to put the dirty ones back on."

Perfect, because Blue hated the damned medical gown, and it was getting a bit scratchy, besides.

"Just be careful around the incision, Blue," Dr. Gwen warned her. "A sink bath might be best for now, let's not get those stitches wet by taking a full shower, okay?"

He knows Blue has got to hate this: being dependent on him (or anyone) just to stand on her own two feet. It's not going to last long, he wants to tell her, not when she's recovering in vast strides every day. But he doesn't say anything in front of Owen and Dr. Gwen, just holds her steady and lets her clutch at him as much as she damn well pleases.

Bringing up a shower makes him realize, in a distracted and uncaring sort of way, that he could probably stand to bathe as well. Much of the dead flesh and dried blood had dissolved away in the rain as he shield Blue from it, back in the jungle, but he hasn't been clean in a good while, either. If only to make himself less offensive to his mate, he'll bathe after she does. In the meantime, yes -- any kind of bath that will suite her, he'll help.

After a second's thought, Omega simply leans down and scoops her gently into his arms again, extremely mindful of her incision. Blue has never liked to be carried, but she doesn't have much choice for now, and the only people around to look twice are precisely the ones who would have the least to say about it. So he keeps his mate's unsteady feet from touching the floor as they follow Dr. Gwen, and she shows them where the washcloths and towels are kept, and which soap is acceptable. Good enough.

Dr. Gwen rests a folded towel on the counter next to the sink, and after she departs, Omega sets Blue carefully down on top of it, glancing at her to be sure she's not uncomfortable there (any more than she would be anywhere). He grabs a couple washcloths, and the soap, and turns on the water until it's comfortably warm but not too hot, and then moves to carefully strip the hospital gown from his mate so he can soak a week of hell off her skin.

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