When Gwen had said she would have 'vivid' dreams, Kel thought that was somewhat of an understatement. Vivid didn't even begin to cover what she had experienced over the last three nights. Her dreams ran the gambit from the heights of erotic ecstasy, to crushing, utter despair...from wonder to abject terror. What she had once called 'nightmares' were tame compared to this... But through is all, the Dragon was always watching her. She had dutifully recorded it all, or as much of it as she could recall. When Cassy had been shot, that night she replayed it in her dreams. Everything moved in slow motion. She watched, as the door opened, the masked wolf entered—gun in paw, and a look of unbridled lust on his face when he spied she and Cassy. She could not cry out, she could not even move. She had to just watch events unfold. To relive the way Mike's knife flew to embed itself in the wolf’s chest, as if it were returning home. The gun going off; watching the bullet slowly, inexorably, travel to the unwary Cassy. The explosion of blood—the look of uncomprehending shock and her paws covered in blood—watching her crumple to the floor. The look of horror on Mike's face as he vaulted the bar... and above it all, the Dragon watched. "WHY?" she cried out. "I watch you, not her." came the response. Shaking her head, she placed the three, fifty page notebooks she had filled with the recollections of her dreams. Maybe she could stop in and see Cassy before meeting with Gwen. # # Kel walked up to the reception desk of Mercy General Hospital. A blond otter femme in a crisp white nurse’s uniform greeted her. "May I help you, Miss?" the otter chirped. "Yes please," Kel smiled. "Could you please tell me which room Miss Cassy Bhunny is in? She may be listed under Cassandra Bhunny." The otter consulted the registry for a few moments. "Ah, Here she is! Fourth floor, room twenty, bed 'A'. "The otter smiled. "Anything else I can help you with?" "No thanks." Kel said as she made her way to the elevators to the fourth floor. The doors opened on a plaque on the wall, which read: "Fourth Floor Recovery. Rooms 401 to 420 Left. Rooms 421 to 440 Right." Kel turned left, and found Cassy's room was around the corner, past the nurses’ station, at the end of the hall. "Hello?" Kel said softly. "Kel?" Cassy answered. "Get in here girl." "Hey Cassy! Oh, hey Mike. How are you feeling hon? You look like...well, you've looked better." The vixen grinned sheepishly. "I'm fine Kel. Just, please—don't make me laugh, it hurts too much." "Aww, sorry Cass. So, when are you getting out of this medical prison?" Kel tried not to make her laugh, but..."Funny...they figured I'd be in here ten to twelve days, barring complications..." Cassy paused; Kel could see disappointment in her eyes. "Huh? That's good news. Right? Okay, what is it you’re not telling me...Cass Hon, what is it?" Kel was getting concerned, something was very wrong here. "Well... The doctors couldn't remove the bullet, it's lodged in my spine…" Kel’s paws went to her muzzle. "...And—and they advise against me having kids, because it could paralyze me…the bullet could be driven into the spinal cord, meaning I couldn't walk..." "Oh-my-God…Cass... Oh my god, what are you going to do?" The shocked vixen asked. Cassy smirked good naturedly, "Get healed up. Then this guy is going to drag me down to the courthouse and make an honest woman of me." Cassy patted Mike's paw. "Really? That's great news! Let me know, I want to be there...there's got to be a way around this. There just has to!" Kel pleaded. Mike shook his head. "The Docs say she's got a greater than fifty percent chance of paralysis if she gets pregnant...so we are dead in the water on that account. I'm not going to risk ruining her life by getting her knocked up." Mike finished dejectedly. "Whoa...déja vu." Cassy said, Kel nodded, "Spooky..." "Bwah?" Mike looked at the two girls. Cassy shook her head. "It's nothing love. It's just my first boyfriend said the exact same thing to me…eight years ago...that’s why he wouldn't poke me in the puss. You remember, I told you about Greg." She noticed that Mike was drawing a blank. "Ya know, Greg...the aircraft mechanic?" she added. "OH, yeah, Greg..." Then it struck him, she had said he died and that they were very close. "Oh, Gods. Sorry honey, I didn't mean to bring up a bad memory..." "S’okay love." she patted his paw "It was a Long time ago..." She sighed, as the memories came flooding back unbidden. Gods he was a handsome buck bunny, and they cared so much for each other. At the funeral there was a large picture of the two of them standing side by side... She slowly pushed the images away, that was in the past. She looked over to the ferret at her side; a radiant smile blossomed on her muzzle. Gods how she loved him, and he her. "I love you Mikey, Thank you." Turning to Kel, Cassy smiled at her friend. "Sorry if I gave you such a scare back there. Like I told Mike, I just got in the way of the bullet. It wasn't like he was aiming at me, right?" Mike gave an inward shudder knowing what that guy had in mind for both Kel and Cassy. Thanks to him, that did not come to pass. She was alive and would recover. "Well I've got to run, you two behave yourselves now." Kel grinned wickedly. "Oh we will; he won't even let me give him a ‘paw job.’" Cassy smiled back wickedly. "CASSY" Mike sputtered, his muzzle instantly fluffing. Kel laughed as she left the room. On the ride down to the lobby, Kel pondered Cassy's situation. On one paw, she would recover. On the other paw, she couldn't have kids, the one thing Kel knew she was looking forward to. There had to be a way around this... Walking to her car it struck her =Bing!= Gwen might know of a way magically to help Cassy be a mom! Kel reached for her cell phone and speed dialed Gwen and Ricks, on the third ring they pick up. "Coona residence, Gwen speaking." "Hay Gwen, it's me, Kel. Say, are we still on for today? I've got my dream journals and I wanted to bounce an idea off you...about Cassy..." She paused, hoping they were still on for tonight. "Um, sure Amanda; C'mon over. Rick and I were just talking about Cassy..." "COOL! I just left her, She's doing better and Mike's there with her now." "Great!" Gwen said enthusiastically. "How soon will you be here?" Kel glanced at her watch. "Oh, give it twenty minutes or so for traffic, Can I bring anything?" There was a muffled pause "Nope, just your lovely self. Rick's firing up the Bar-B-Que. He and Kacy are preparing a few things, should be fun…" Gwen's voice held a note of anticipation at her arrival. "Drive carefully, Amanda." Gwen added. "WHAT! Another premonition?" She asked nervously. "No—just there is more traffic out there, so just keep an eye out. Trust your hunches, remember the Guardian..." "Oh, Right... Duh! See you soon." Kel said, ending the call with a beep of the phone. She buckled herself in and took her time getting to her destination. And there were only two minor fender benders that she could see...
