This story depicts a scene of euthanasia; so if you are uncomfortable with the subject matter, stop reading here.

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Given Wings, Take Flight

The doctor's footpads made an echoing 'pat-pat' as he proceeded down the brightly lit, sterile white hallway towards the security door. He was momentarily preoccupied with consulting the clipboard in his hands when he came to a stop at the heavy steel reinforced door with a thin horizontal view port. There was an electronic chirp from the speaker on the code pad next to the lock, "Yes?"

The middle aged wolf cleared his throat and spoke in a practiced monotone as he keyed the mic and looked at the security camera, "Doctor Kabrinski here for a follow-up on Subject TS0100ABF."

There was a momentary pause before the pad chirped again, "You're late doctor. Proceed to station Alpha 3, the subject is waiting for you."

The large door buzzed loudly in the narrow hallway and the doctor entered quickly. The door clicked shut with a resounding clang as he continued into the classified section of the complex, knowing that his movements were under constant surveillance. The wolf glanced at his watch as he negotiated the corridors to the specified holding cell, and increased his pace as he confirmed that he was 5 minutes behind schedule.

When he reached the holding cell of station Alpha 3, he was relieved to see that there were no security personnel waiting for him to take custody of his patient. He breathed a small sigh of thanks that the higher ups had not noticed that this was his second session with the subject this week. Not that an extra patient session was completely out of order, but the executives had been scrutinizing the budget lately, and another session would mean the doctor's time spent here was time spent away from other more lucrative ongoing R&D projects. He peered into the large double-paned inch thick Plexiglas panel and saw his patient sitting at her usual place.

He knew that she would be expecting his visit, since they had quietly discussed it only a few days ago, but she had tried her best not to rouse suspicions of the security guards when they brought her for another session today. The doctor had put it on the schedule as a "follow-up psychological examination," but they both knew it was something far more important. The wolf briefly brushed his hand across the inner pocket of his lab coat to make sure he had the two vials he promised to bring his patient. Confirming that he indeed had everything, he drew in a deep breath and attempted to convince himself that this was the proper course of action.

Entering the correct key code, the door clicked open and the doctor entered, letting it close behind him before he turned around to greet the female patient. He smiled at her, and she gave a small smile in return, her eyes bright and lucid. The doctor set his clipboard down on the small metallic table that sat between two chairs, of which she was already occupying one.

"How are you today zero-one?" he said in what he hoped would sound like a dry, slightly disinterested voice. He currently had his back turned towards the camera in the corner of the room, and gave her a secret wink.

She replied in an equally practiced tone, "I am fine Dr. Kabrinski."

"Good," he said and made a quick note on the clipboard, and pulled out a small digital recorder to set beside the pad. He clicked a button and a red light blinked on as he said, "Dr. Kabrinski, Project Chimera, psych-eval number 194, patient TS0100ABF, commencing interview."

"Now then, zero-one, can you please tell me the word I asked you to remember the last time we spoke?"

She nodded and robotically responded, "Transcendence."

"Subject correctly responded to memory test," he droned into the recorder. "What are we doing now?"

"You are asking me questions and we are discussing my psychological evaluation," she said automatically.

"Subject is lucid and observant. Pausing recording, summary to follow at the end of the evaluation," the doctor said and clicked the button on the recorder again.

Walking over to the camera in the corner, he reached up to pull a shutter down in front of the lens. A few seconds later, the expected chirp of the comm echoed in the room. "Dr. Kabrinski? Everything okay in there?"

The wolf rolled his eyes and pressed the mic and replied, "Yes Central. I am conducting my psych eval on a patient as per my privacy guidelines."

He waited a few seconds before getting the expected reply, "Roger that, patrol will be by in 90 minutes. Out." With that, he clicked the switch off and went to sit at the table with his patient.

In a much warmer tone he said, "Hello, Tess. I'm sorry we have to go through the procedures every time, but it would raise too many eyebrows not to."

"Tess" smiled back at him and said, "I understand doctor." The wolf patted her hands, which were folded on the table.

"Please, how many times do I have to ask for you to call me Jacob?"

The doctor had taken to calling her Tess after a few months of having regular sessions with her. He had gotten tired of trying to call her by the long moniker she was assigned, and took the name from the first two letters "tee" and "ess" eventually just referring to her as "Tess." He grasped her right hand, which was missing the small finger, in his left and asked, "How are you really doing, Tess?" with a genuine note of concern in his voice.

She smiled weakly and sighed, squeezing his hand replying, "I wish I was doing better, doctor...uh, I mean, Jacob. It means a lot to me that you would see me again."

Jacob nodded and said, "I'm sorry that it has taken so long to arrange this. I had to make sure everything was ready, and I did not want interference from my superiors. I'm glad I could be the one you trust."

Tess nodded back slowly, "You have done so much for me these past months; you are so different than the other doctors. I truly believe I was on the verge of losing my sanity before you came along and showed me how to endure. I thank you for that." A single tear formed at the corner of her eye and she lowered her head for a moment.

Jacob went around the table and knelt at her side, lifting her chin. "You deserve much more than I can give you in this place, Tess. I just hope you can forgive me for having to put you through so many hardships against your will. You did not choose this life, it was chosen for you. Every person should be given the freedom to choose his or her own path..." The wolf found he could not finish his statement from the lump forming in his throat.

Tess turned and stroked his cheek with her left hand, her portable IV tube sticking out of the back of her hand. "Do not be sad, Jacob. The kindness in your heart is my solace in this place, my only ray of sunshine behind these walls. I will not be sad to leave here, only sad that I am leaving you." Jacob nodded slowly and stood.

"I have a request, Jacob, before we begin."

Jacob replied without hesitation, "Anything."

"Hold me."

The wolf smiled briefly and helped the female stand, pulling her into his arms in a hug that held as much compassion as he could convey with the simple gesture. She sighed as Jacob held her firmly, feeling for once in her life like she was a normal wolf and not the shattered shell of a being that described her current existence. Another tear fell down her cheek.

Tess was the only remaining subject out of four children, whose mother's were the victims of a tragic industrial accident at an experimental power plant 20 years ago. The result was a wolf child that had an exceptional healing factor, roughly 5 times faster than normal. The government quickly "adopted" the orphaned children, whose mother's had not survived much past the birth of their offspring. The military quickly took interest in the unique physiology of the orphan's, and Project Chimera was initiated to engineer a superior soldier from what they could learn from the children. They had been at this facility ever since.

Two of the children died as a result from failed experiments over the course of trial after trial, and the third child had been brutally tortured to death after he had attempted an escape, which resulted in the death of four guards. Tess was the only remaining subject that had endured all her experiments at the cost of her body, and nearly her sanity. The medical staff had performed numerous surgeries on her, extracting samples of her organs and tissue. They had also conducted drug tests on her to map out how far her regenerative properties extended.

Jacob was forcefully reminded of her ordeals as his hand had brushed over the scar on her lower back where one of her kidneys had been removed. He rocked her gently back and forth in his arms; recounting the first days he had examined Tess when he had arrived. He shuddered now, as he had back then.

Tess was missing the majority of her left ear from a failed skin graft experiment. Also, her muzzle was misshapen from a surgery to remove a small part of her nasal cavity, which left her face frozen in an odd grimace. Various other scars were littered over her body, such as the three vertical scars on her left thigh where a portion of her muscle tissue had been taken. Or the horizontal scar across her abdomen where part of her liver had been extracted and her eggs harvested out of her ovaries for future attempts to engineer newer experiments. In addition, her small toe on her left foot had been removed.

Perhaps the only experiment that was completely successful was the eye transplant she had received when she was approximately 18 years old. The scientists had managed to culture some of her cells into a treatment to repair the eye from a patient with cataracts, and had taken the new eye and replaced her own. Tess's left eye was now green, instead of the normal yellow like the right eye she had been born with. Other than the color, the new eye had only taken days to heal and she could see perfectly with it.

Jacob continued to hug Tess as he also recalled the events leading to his "promotion" to project leader. Basically, his superior was executed for trying to blackmail the president, and the responsibilities of the project landed in his lap. At first he was happy to accept, being a man of science and dreaming of the advancements that could be made with the right kind of research. Then he came to know how things were really run at the facility, and he soon wished he had never known its existence. But he was patient and slowly instituted procedures to ensure that more humane avenues would be explored to reach the same ends they were seeking, without having to subject wolves to the brutal experiments currently being conducted.

Over the months, he had grown attached to Tess, since she was the constant reminder of what he wanted to fix. He had finally reached a decision to take action when a month ago he was conducting a session with her and she had asked him a peculiar question.

"Do you believe in heaven, doctor?" She had asked him.

Surprised but curious, he had answered truthfully, "Well, I'm not sure what exactly your definition of heaven is, but yes, I believe there is a place that your soul goes after you depart this world."

She had nodded and did not ask any further questions on the subject. A week later in another session, Tess touched on the subject again. Jacob had discussed her feelings about the matter realizing it as a way for him to gain a perspective into her personality and emotional state. She had told him simply, "My soul will fly away from this place when I die, leaving behind my broken body like a butterfly emerging from it's cocoon." Jacob had been especially moved by her statement, and began looking forward to talking to Tess. Given the nature of the facility where they were stationed though, he had to take care to go about arranging their private conversations carefully.

Last session had been the final straw. When Tess had shown up, Jacob could tell she was losing her will to live and nearly begged him to help free her of this existence. He was torn between the dilemma of wanting to end her suffering and the atrocity of taking the life of another living being. She had explained that she truly believed it was the only way for her soul to be freed, and told the doctor that if he did not help her she would find a way without him. He had reluctantly agreed and she was grateful, confiding in him that he was the only one she had ever known in her years at the facility that saw her as another person.

Jacob was weeping silently still hugging Tess, trying to steel his resolve at what he must soon do to keep his promise. Amazingly, it was she who comforted him. She stroked his back as his shoulder's shook in sadness. She said soothingly, "Jacob, I do not want to cause you any anguish, but I believe you are strong enough to endure this trial set before you. I would not have asked you if I did not believe you were the right person." He could do little more than nod. The pair remained in the embrace for several moments more.

When they eventually broke the hug, Jacob saw Tess's face contort in pain as she winced and clutched her stomach. Jacob guided her over to the small padded couch sitting against the wall. He had requested that their sessions have a less formal setting in order to get his patients to relax and open up more freely, than the normal interrogation room type setting present in the other cells. The wolf helped make the female comfortable and saw that her wave of discomfort was passing.

Tess looked up into his face and nodded saying, "Please Jacob, it is time." At this crucial moment of decision, Jacob seemed uncertain and his resolve faltered briefly. Tess squeezed his hand again and looked deep into his eyes and said very softly, "Please."

The doctor nodded and took a deep breath, pulling out the vials and a syringe from his pocket. The female wolf laid her hands across her stomach and attempted to relax. Jacob briefly jabbed the syringe into the first vial and extracted several CC's of solution before turning to Tess.

"This will dull the pain and help you relax." He did not mention that it would cause her to become drowsy and drift off to sleep as well. Jacob briefly stuck the needle into the IV still attached to her hand and injected the medicine. A moment passed before Tess sighed in relief, a good sign to the doctor that she was no longer in constant pain. He also took note that her breathing was becoming more regular and relaxed.

"How do you feel now?" he asked, a hint of sadness in his tone.

"The pain has subsided for now, it does not hurt to breathe. Thank you, Jacob."

He knelt down and patted her hand again, and briefly set aside the vials and syringe. She was visibly more relaxed now and she was almost smiling with her eyes closed. Tess pulled on Jacob's hand and said in a sleepy tone, "Hold me again, Jacob."

The wolf's lower lip quivered lightly, but he knew he would gladly do nearly anything she asked of him now. He pulled her upright for a moment so he could hold her in his lap, and lowered her back into his supporting arms. She sighed again in contentment. Jacob was stroking her cheek as tears streamed down his own. Tess reached up to take his hand and pulled it down to her mouth, planting a kiss as she squeezed his fingers. She spoke very softly this time, her speech beginning to slur, "The pain is gone Jacob, I don't hurt anymore. Thank you. Thank you."

The doctor sat for a moment stroking her face and chin before she spoke again, this time barely a whisper. "Jacob..."

"Yes, Tess?" he replied with his voice quivering.

"Jacob...I...love you. I...love...yo..."

Her voice trailed off in a sigh as she lost consciousness, now deeply relaxed and entering into a drug induced sleep. Jacob's tears fell upon her cheek as her breathing became slow and relaxed, and even the smile on her face faded slightly but not completely. Gently, the doctor placed her hands folded across her chest and stroked her cheek one last time before reaching for the second vial.

Once he had loaded the needle again, he placed his lips upon her forehead and kissed her saying, "Please forgive me, Tess." Then he poked the needle again into her IV and injected the contents. He dropped the needle on the floor now that it had served its purpose.

He watched her breathing, looking for the telltale signs of the second injection to begin. Observing Tess, the doctor removed the IV from her hand and dropped that on the ground as well. Her breathing was becoming shallower now, but she was still relaxed and peaceful. Jacob could do little more than hold her in his arms and wait for the drug to take effect. Moments later, she seemed to give a final exhale.

Jacob broke down and cried in wracking sobs, clutching Tess's still form to his chest not wanting to accept that she was now gone. He cried his heart out with his cheek pressed to hers and softly repeated, "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..."

Much time had passed since Tess's final breath escaped her lips. Jacob had laid her down on the couch and sat on the floor next to her, his face streaked with dried tears and his eyes red. Just then, there was a loud rap on the door. Several seconds passed and Jacob did not move in the slightest. Another louder knock came from the door. A muffled, "Doctor?" could be heard from the other side. Again, the wolf did not move.

Another moment passed before the beep of the keypad sounded and the door clicked open. An armed security officer stepped through pointing his stun gun at the doctor and patient across the room. The guard motioned for those behind him to enter and he lowered his weapon slightly.

"Doctor!" he called out. Jacob did not acknowledge the presence of the guards, and the first guard went over to shake him. "Doctor Kabrinski, what is going on here?"

Finally, he looked up and replied, "I have freed subject TS0100ABF from this prison. You can no longer force her to endure your tests, your experiments. She is free."

The guard looked over his shoulder at the others and said, "Get him out of here! Put him in holding cell Beta 2! Call the General, I have a feeling he is going to want to talk to the doctor."

A pair of guards lifted Jacob bodily to his feet and started to drag him out of the room. When the doctor saw the other guard start to pick up Tess, he suddenly went into a rage, straining against his captors.

"NO! DON'T TOUCH HER!! DON'T YOU DARE LAY A FINGER ON HER! NOOOOO!!"

He was screaming incoherently as the guards forcefully dragged him from the holding cell and down the hall. The first guard heaved a sigh and picked up Tess's body, and followed out of the room behind them.

None of the guards had noticed the last note scrawled on the clipboard still left sitting on the metallic table. It read:

Given wings now, take thee flight

From this prison of pain and despair.

Rise to heaven now, angel of light

Peace is waiting for you there.

~End~