Chapter 4
4
Lyla flitted around, enjoying the heat and humidity of the aviary in her hummingbird form. Every day she seemed to have more energy, and each shifted session lasted longer. The less fatigue she had, the longer the doctors allowed Lyla to stay as a hummingbird. Visiting the beautiful flowers was one of her favorite things to do. One small normal thing throughout her rehab where nothing else felt typical.
While Lyla loved the staff, she felt guilty wishing she could be home. Her family lived nearly five hours away from WANC. While they visited as often as they could, Lyla missed them. She knew they were doing the best they could. Her mom and stepdad couldn’t afford to take a lot of time off of work to visit.
Lyla also felt her life was put on hold, waiting for her body to fully recover and no longer need doctor supervision. Before the whole ordeal, Lyla had been working as a barista at a coffee shop and saving up to take some online courses in computer programming. She couldn’t wait to get back to it. But now her focus had shifted to getting better. She was becoming impatient. Lyla wanted to spread her wings and fly, not stay cooped up in a hospital.
While the Furry United Coalition usually only dealt with furry shifters, the recent rescue of Sandy’s patients meant they had a large influx of birds, and a family by the name of Goosby had reached out with the idea—and money—for the new structure.
Lyla was thankful for the location. It beat shifting and flying in the gym, that’s for sure. Outside was out of the question. Dr. Brown insisted she only be allowed to shift under supervision, and outside provided too many potential hazards.
She wasn’t the only bird patient who was enjoying exercise that morning. She saw several others, some flying fast, some slow. A cuckoo was spending most of its time on a branch, and a crane waded through the fountain in the middle of the structure. Lyla avoided crossing paths with the osprey. His hooked beak and sharp talons made her nervous, even if they were all being watched closely at all times.
The dextrose drip must have been doing its job, because Lyla felt she could flutter about in hummingbird form all day if she wanted, though the doctors had warned her against going too long until they knew she was properly nourished. When she’d been in captivity, Lyla wasn’t fed as often as she should have been, for any shifter or pure human. The evil scientists were more concerned with their results than the health of their subjects. Or their consent.
“You could burn through all the stored energy if you do too much, too soon,” Dr. Brown always cautioned.
Lyla knew this, just as she knew hummingbirds needed a lot of calories since their wings beat so fast. She tried her best not to roll her eyes whenever Dr. Brown reminded her. She was just trying to help.
“That's time, Lyla!” Dr. Brown called.
Her immediate instinct was to fly away in the other direction. To assert her rebellious nature and also show that she had lots more energy to go.
But then she remembered that she wanted to save some of that energy for her trip to the computer lab… and she’d also need to follow instructions if she hoped to be granted a favor. It seemed an easy choice but still challenging, especially when she was getting cabin fever from being cooped up inside for too long.
Reluctantly, she returned to the ground, going behind the curtain that had been set up to allow students to shift and dress in privacy. Nudity wasn’t a big deal to shifters, but it was still a considerate gesture.
“That’s fifteen minutes more than last week,” Dr. Brown announced when she emerged with a triumphant smile. “Let’s check your vitals.”
Lyla sat down as a nurse slid on the blood pressure cuff and clipped the oxygen meter on her finger. Dr. Brown listened to her heart rate and breathing. Once they were done, another nurse arrived with a tray of sweets for Lyla to replenish herself with. She gobbled up half the chocolate and fruit before Dr. Brown could review her vitals.
“Your stats are looking good,” Dr. Brown announced. “I’m really pleased with your progress.”
“But not pleased enough to take me off the IV yet?” she asked as one of the nurses approached her with a new one.
“Not quite yet,” Dr. Brown replied with a note of regret. “Be patient. I think your treatment is working, even if it does seem slow to a speedy hummingbird like yourself.” She gave her a kind smile before she left to check on another of her patients.
The nurse finished setting up her new IV bag and left Lyla to eat and drink. Lyla gulped down the rest of the apple juice on the tray, noting that they usually gave her four glasses of it. Today only two. She took that as a sign she was nearing the end of her recovery, that her body had finally started to produce more energy on its own.
“Lyla, right?” A woman with long silky black hair approached her.
“Yes,” she replied cautiously. Paranoia after being abducted and held captive wasn’t easy to get rid of. “Who are you?” She eyed up the woman for any hints as to who she was and if she was safe to converse with.
“I’m Agent Nari Lee, from the Avian Soaring Society. Mind if I sit?” Agent Lee indicated the chair next to Lyla.
“Be my guest.” Lyla shrugged. She’d met another ASS agent—Cass Sparks—and she’d been nice enough, so Lyla had no reason to be wary of Agent Lee.
“How are things going here?” Agent Lee asked. “Is FUCN’A treating you well?”
“Yeah,” Lyla said, tearing off a piece of cookie and popping it into her mouth.
Lee smiled, though it didn’t seem to touch her eyes. “I’m glad to hear that. Traditionally, they don’t specialize in birds.”
Lyla glanced around at the aviary. “They seem to be doing a pretty good job after rescuing all of Sandy’s abductees.” Referring to herself and the rest as “experiments” seemed wrong. She felt it depersonalized them in some way.
“Have you thought about what you want to do after you recover?” the agent asked, ignoring Lyla’s defense of FUC.
“Ahh…” Somehow, admitting that she planned on going back to being a barista and saving up for online classes didn’t seem like the right answer. Suddenly, she realized that those were dreams of a different Lyla, one that didn’t know what it was like to be birdnapped and experimented on. Being fully recovered and able to leave WANC seemed months away from where she was now. And while she yearned to be home, the thought of moving back in with her family wasn’t entirely what she wanted. While she loved her younger siblings, at times the nest felt a little crowded. Lyla was ready to start her own life.
As if noticing the uncertainty in her mind, Lee went on as if this was a rehearsed conversation. “ASS has its training facilities in Australia if you’re looking for a change of pace.”
A change. Lyla could use a change. But could she leave all her siblings behind? Or her job at the coffee shop—if her position was still open? There’s no way it was. Lyla had been missing for half a year prior to coming to WANC for rehab. Maybe she could find a different coffee shop to work at. But what if she wasn’t able to blend in with regular humans again? Did ASS have a tech division? Lyla did love computers, after all. The thought of leaving was enticing. Spreading her wings and finding her own nest. A bout of homesickness struck as soon as she had the thought. “I don’t know if I’m ready for that yet.”
“Think about what it might do to help your recovery, then. Do you think you’d rather be somewhere with more birds?—"
“Agent Lee!” The new voice sent a shiver down Lyla’s spine, even though it wasn’t directed at her. She turned her head to see Clarice Tertius, legendary hawk shifter, heading in their direction. Lyla couldn’t believe Clarice was in the same building as her! She’d heard so many stories about the shifter that she felt in the presence of a famous person. Albeit a crabby one.
“Shit,” Agent Lee hissed before standing. “Agent Tertius. How nice to see you.” Agent Lee’s tone implied the opposite.
“I wish I could say the same,” the former ASS agent spat, narrowing her eyes at the current ASS agent. “How many times do I need to remind you that the aviary is off-limits? No trying to poach FUCN’A patients. They’re here for recovery, not for ASS recruitment.”
“Tell that to our boss.” Lee shrugged.
“ Your boss,” Tertius retorted, wrinkling her nose in disgust. “You ASSes can try to claim me all you want, but I’m fully FUC.”
Lee ignored the statement. “You know ASS is pissed about this new aviary. They think FUC is trying to expand into ASS territory.” Lee raised her head defiantly, showing she agreed with this perspective.
“They can be as pissed as they want about it,” Tertius replied. “But just as FUC is going to stand their ground and refuse to ship off a bunch of rescued patients—ripping them away from what family and support groups they have here—they’re also damn well going to approve building structures that will enhance the patients’ quality of life. Regardless of how insecure that might make a bunch of ASSes.” A wry smile spread across her face as if she were proud of her pun.
“And I can respect that. But you have to admit there are a lot of birds here now.”
“Blame that on the slew of illegal experimenters who think the Rocky Mountains are a great place to hide their labs. If your bosses don’t want FUC to help the rescued patients, then they’re welcome to establish something in the neighborhood so they can take in whatever bird comes our way.”
“Most ASS agents hate the Canadian cold,” Lee muttered, making Lyla wonder if she was one of them. Lyla was aware that there were many ASS agents who worked for FUC “on loan,” even more now that Sandy’s lab was busted up and so many birds were now at FUCN’A recovering. “Anyway, Lyla, it was nice to meet you. Please search me out if you have any questions.” She set an ASS business card with her contact information on the tray next to Lyla. “Clarice… I wish I could say it was nice seeing you again.” With that, Agent Lee left.
“There’s no pressure for you to decide what to do once you’re released,” Agent Tertius reassured Lyla, taking the seat Agent Lee had vacated. “There’s no rush on your recovery, either.”
“Okay.” Lyla wasn’t sure what to say. Clarice had an imposing presence and felt almost like a celebrity.
“Is there anything you need? Anything that could make things better for you?” Clarice asked, sounding genuinely concerned.
Lyla couldn’t help herself. She blurted out, “Could I take a trip to the library?”
“The library?” Clarice raised an eyebrow.
“I wish I had my smartphone, but, well, bad guys don’t let you keep it after capture, and my mom hasn’t been able to afford to buy me a new one.” It wasn’t all that important, usually, except now she wanted to help her new friend.
“Sure. I don’t see a problem with it. As long as you don’t spend too much time away and you’re back in the hospital wing before that IV bag is empty.”
Lyla’s heart soared. She thanked Clarice and stood, having finished her tray of snacks. Dr. Brown and the nurses didn’t pay her any attention as she left the aviary, but Lyla couldn’t shake the feeling that she was doing something against the rules, even if she had permission.
Permission from someone who’s not on my medical team, she thought as she followed the signs to the academic wing. There, she found a placard with the locations of classrooms, staff offices, and… the library with a computer lab.
Excitement buzzed in her chest, like the flutter of hummingbird wings, like her own wings. Dr. Brown said soon she wouldn’t need the glucose drip and she’d be able to get all the nutrients she needed from food, as she once could. They didn’t want to risk Lyla shifting before they gave her permission to. In hummingbird form, she blew through a lot of calories per second. She didn’t want to risk it either. Then she’d be stuck on the dextrose drip even longer. Though she and her IV bag had become close, she didn’t want him around forever. She wanted a real friend. And Lyla hoped going to the computer lab to conduct research would help her with just that.