FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The gray rabbit morph pulled himself out of bed and made his way to the shower, followed by his golden lab. His body still ached some from the beating he had taken the day before and he was sure hers did, too. The warm shower helped and he stretched his muscles, taking his time. They certainly felt better than when he went to bed.

As he was drying off his fur and hers, his phone rang and he hurried to get to it, "Dr Windon Lem, VMD."

The voice on the phone was distraught and sounded near panic, "I'm not sure if you can help me, but I don't know who else to call."

"If your animal is hurt, I'll do everything I can to help."

The man hesitated, "I'm ... not sure..." He gave a heavy sigh and composed himself, "This is John Miller at Miller's Grocery. This is about my daughter, Belle."

"I'm not a people doctor. You should call the EMTs."

"They were just here. They told me they don't know how to help morphs."

"Your daughter is a morph?"

"She's actually my wife's daughter, but she's a cat."

"Morphs are generally more like humans than their animal counterparts, when it comes to anatomy. I'll make a few calls and be there as soon as I can. You're at Miller's Grocery?"

"Yes. Come to the manager's office. Her apartment is upstairs. Thank you so much."

"I'm on my way," he hung up with his mind racing. How was he going to help her? He could call his brother for help, but he could only give advice. He needed somebody there with experience and human tools and drugs. The EMTs didn't want to help or they would have tried, but he knew an EMT that was willing to help morphs.

He checked his patient records and found Van Teel. Just as he had thought, his daughter was listed as an alternate contact. He hoped it was still the same number and she would answer this early.

"Hello?" she sounded groggy, but awake.

"This is Dr Lem..."

She was suddenly alert, "Did something happen to my dad's dogs?"

"No, they're fine. I'm actually calling to see if you can help me professionally."

"What do you need?"

"I got a call about a cat morph, but I don't know human anatomy. I was wondering if we could work together to help her."

"Really? I've never done anything for a morph before. I'm actually getting ready to start my shift in a couple hours. How about I go in early and bring the rig. I'll give my partner a call. Where are we going?"

"Miller's Grocery. I'll meet you there as soon as you can."

"Oh, is it that cat at the checkouts? She's always nice."

"I don't know. I have a couple other calls to make. I'll see you there."

"Right. I'm on it."

Next he dialed Julie Ann as he grabbed his clothes. She didn't answer and he left a message. He hung up and stumbled as he finished getting dressed in a hurry, then turned to Molly, "This is a patient emergency and you're not well yet, so no running around the house. Julie Ann will be coming soon, but until she gets here, you need to stay. Stay."

The golden retriever whined and laid her head on the bed, but complied as he hurried out the door.

He decided to wait to call his brother until he got there and knew what was going on. He got in his truck and hurried to the store. He realized that in his haste, he had forgotten to ask what was wrong with her. He hoped he had what he needed.

Julie Ann grumbled, struggling to wake up. It had been a long night. She had tried to comfort her brother, but Brian was still plagued with nightmares. Her dreams hadn't been much better. She had watched soldiers and hunters beating and killing Don over and over as she repeatedly tried to sleep. Now she was beyond tired.

She pushed herself up and disentangled her limbs from her brother clinging to them. Light was coming through the window and she grabbed her phone to check the time: 6:47am. She realized she was late and it shocked her awake.

She quickly threw off her night shirt and grabbed fresh clothes; she would have to skip her usual shower if she was going to catch Don. Her half-asleep brain told her that she had missed a call and she grabbed her phone before buttoning her shirt. It was from Don and he left a message. It must be important if he called instead of text; and she missed it! She jabbed at the phone until the message played, then stuck it between her ear and shoulder as she finished getting dressed.

"Julie Ann, this is Don. I know we haven't had a chance to talk, but I need your help. There's an emergency I need to attend to, but I don't want to leave Molly alone today. Could you come to the house and sit with her until I get back? I don't know how long I will be. Please let me know when you get this."

She reached for her phone to call him back but dropped it. She needed to get to his house faster than she could, "Brian, get up!" She fell to her knees and reached under the bed where her phone had bounced. She found it and sat on her heels, "Come on Brian, get up! I have to go and you're going to be late." She sent a message to Don to let him know she was coming, then grabbed her brother's leg and dragged him to the edge of the bed as she stood up.

"Brian, come on. You have to get up. I know you didn't get much sleep; neither did I, but we need to get moving. Don called and I have to go."

The boy groggily forced himself awake, "What? Did he find Gizelle?"

"No. Its a patient," she yanked him to his feet and swatted his butt, but he didn't get far. "Move, Brian!" She pushed him towards the door, then hit his butt harder and he opened the door, heading for his own room.

She grabbed her things and ran out, hoping he could get himself to school okay. She had to force herself to not speed as she yelled at herself for sleeping through his call. She pulled into his driveway, but his truck wasn't there. She ran to the door, but it was locked, so she pulled out her phone and called him.

Don parked close and ran in with is bag, "Where is the manager's office?"

A small framed girl pointed to the far end of the row of registers and he ran to the door there. A skinny guy stocking candy jumped up as he approached, "Are you the doctor?"

"Yes."

He opened the office door and directed him to the other side of the room, "Up the stairs, its the only door."

Don could feel the urgency from everyone there. It was clear that they were concerned about their boss's daughter, even if she was a morph. He hurried up and knocked on the door. A voice inside boomed, "What?!"

He opened the door and found a small apartment. A large man was sitting on a large bed, beside a gray ball of fur. The man jumped up and was across the room in an instant, "Dr Lem? She's been hurt, bad." He nearly carried the rabbit to the bed.

Don knelt closer and was shocked by what he saw. He only knew it was a cat because Mr Miller had told him. Her face was battered and half of an ear was hanging almost off. Her tail was bent unnaturally in three places and laying still. She was curled tight around a pillow with patches of blood and missing fur all over her body and he could smell burnt fur. Seeing her reminded him of Molly just the day before, but much worse, and he struggled to keep his composure, "Wh-what happened?"

"I think the girl she was dating did this. They just broke up, but I don't know how she got back up here. I've been in my office all morning. I came up when she didn't come down for work and found her like this."

"One girl did all this?" Don tried to get the cat to open up so he could asses her injuries.

Mr Miller leaned closer, "Please, kitten, let the doctor help you."

She curled tighter, hugging her legs around the pillow, "Nononononono, nobody can touch me, nobody can touch me."

Don stood up and stepped away to talk to Mr Miller, "She is clearly traumatized. I don't want to force her to let me examine her; it might stress her more."

"What can we do?" the big man pleaded.

"We do what we can for her and try to make her comfortable until she's ready." His phone rang. "Excuse me a moment. Hello, Julie Ann."

The cat froze and perked her good ear.

"I'm sorry, Don. I overslept on the worst day."

"Its okay. Yesterday was pretty stressful. Are you on your way to the house?"

"I'm already here, but the door is locked."

"The back door is unlocked. The window is still broken."

"Oh, right. I'll be in in a moment," she ran around the house.

"Molly might be up. Just take her back to the bedroom and sit with her. If I'm gone long enough and you get hungry, you're welcome to anything in the kitchen."

"I'll take good care of her. You just take care of your patient," she opened the back door and Molly was standing in the kitchen. The dog's tail started wagging slowly when she saw the familiar face.

The EMTs came in, carrying their bags. "The paramedics are here, I need to go. I'll call you when I'm done."

"Paramedics? What's going on? Don?" He had hung up and she sighed, "Okay Molly, back to bed." She walked back to the bedroom and flopped on the bed. Molly crawled up and lay down beside her.

"Where is she?" Van Teel was ready to get to work.

"On the bed," Don stuffed his phone in his pocket.

Belle had lifted her head and was looking at them.

Van Teel gasped when she saw her and covered her mouth, trying to stay professional, "Oh my God."

Don walked over to the bed and the paramedics joined him.

Van Teel set her bag down and pulled the strap over her head, "What happened to you, girl?"

Belle ignored her and stared at the rabbit morph beside her, "You're Julie Ann's Don?"

"Yes, I'm Dr Windon Lem. I'm a veterinarian, but these 'medics are here to help, too."

"I'm Chelsea and this is Cam," she gestured to the man behind her at the foot of the bed.

The battered cat kept focused on Don, "Do you love Julie Ann?"

Don was taken by surprise by the question, "Um, ... that's personal."

Belle smiled as best she could, "Good." She raised her arm and offered a paw to the doctor, "I'm Belle. Its a pleasure to finally meet you."

He carefully took the injured paw in both hands. Two fingers were obviously broken and maybe more. He turned it over and her pads were charred, Following the wrist up, she had clearly been trying to fend off her attacker. He leaned over the cat's body as he examined her shoulder, not wanting to jump to another area or talk to Van Teel for fear of losing her attention.

There was a bite mark on her shoulder and another on the back of her neck, both appeared to be human. Some of the missing fur had been ripped out, while others had been shaved. Most of her back was bare, with scrapes and cuts all over. He checked her damaged ear and it looked like a loss. He looked close at her face. One eye was bloodshot and her nose was offset. She smiled and he noticed a couple teeth missing.

"Are you going to kiss me?"

"I think I'll make sure you're alright first."

"Okay," Belle slowly lifted her leg, releasing the pillow she had been hugging.

Chelsea carefully pulled the pillow away, but gasped and dropped it when she saw what was underneath. The cat's breasts had been burned and were now bare of fur. Her belly had been cut multiple times and the fur was soaked with blood. Below that was a monstrous object shoved into her vagina, "What is that?"

Don stared at the large protrusion, "It looks like a horse penis."

"A dildo?!" Cam had the answer.

Belle was trying to get Don's attention and he leaned closer to hear her whisper, "My lion is still in there."

She passed out and Don moved back, confused by her statement.

"What did she say?"

"I think she said 'My lion is still in there.'"

"What does that mean?"

Cam spoke suddenly, "Oh shit! You mean there's another dildo inside her with that one?!"

Don jumped, suddenly realizing the urgency, "She needs blood."

"I have some, but can morphs take human blood?"

"I don't know. I need to call my brother; he's the doctor. See what you can do to get her cleaned up." Don pulled out his phone and started the call, hoping to get an answer quickly. The white rabbit appeared on the screen, but Don spoke before he could, "Ed, I've got a serious emergency here." He turned the phone to show him Belle's condition.

"Oh no! What happened?"

He turned the phone back, "She was attacked. I've found bite marks, cuts, broken bones, burns, but the worst part is what I need your help with."

"Worse? Sounds like..."

"She was sexually assaulted."

"Oh no, how old..."

"They shoved two large dildos into her vagina."

"Ouch. Is there..."

"She's lost a lot of blood and first we need to know if its okay to give her human fluids."

"Yes."

Don motioned for Chelsea to go ahead.

"Well, 85% yes. Some morphs..."

"We'll have to take the risk. We don't have anything else."

Mr Miller stepped up, "What does he mean 85% yes?"

Ed continued, "Not all morphs were made the same way."

The big man seemed on the edge of sanity as a monitor began beeping slowly, "Her mother is human."

"Then I'd say its more 95%. Do you know her type?"

Don took over again, "We're already going with what we've got. Now we need to get them out of her. Is there anything we should worry about?"

"Two things. First, there may be a lot of blood trapped inside and she may still be bleeding internally. Second, if they punctured anything, she is going to need more help than you can provide there. She needs to get to a hospital."

Mr Miller stepped up again, "The hospitals won't take her because of the fur."

Chelsea added, "He's right. If another patient has an allergy, it could complicate things."

Ed grunted, "What do you have at your place?"

Don shook his head, "Pretty much everything you could want for a horse or a dog, but nothing made for humanoids."

"You'll have to make do."

Chelsea waved for attention, "She seems to be responding to the fluids, her pressure is coming back up."

Ed heard her, "Alright, its as good a time as any. You'll need to pack some sterile cloth inside after you get them out to staunch any bleeding."

"We have some clot-packs Should we use those?"

"No, you don't want to force a clot if there's an opening. Just hold it off until you can get inside and repair it."

"How do we do that?"

"That's the tricky part. How are you with micro-stitching, Don?"

"Haven't had much practice."

"Well, time to learn. I know you have the paws for it, but let's get those things out of her first."

"Right. Cam, hold the phone. Mr Miller, you don't want to watch this," Don gave his phone to the waiting EMT and Chelsea held a handful of sterile wadding. He pulled a pair of gloves from his bag and put them on, then wrapped his paws around the large dildo and looked at Van Teel, "Now, wait until I get the second one out and be careful, you don't want to do more damage."

Ed added, "What he said. Full, but not tight."

Don carefully pulled the thick shaft out of her, groaning as he saw the flared head stretch her wider. A short gush of dark blood followed and he quickly slipped two fingers inside. He couldn't find anything and reluctantly pushed the rest of his fingers in. He was up to his wrist and wondering if his glove was going to be long enough when he found the end. Fortunately, it gave no resistance when he pulled.

Belle gasped and opened her eyes as he slid his hand and the nubbed rod out of her, then passed out again.

Don sighed, "Good thing this one is not very big. Get that wadding in there."

Chelsea complied, carefully feeding the soft squares into the cat's vagina.

"Did you see much fresh blood on it?" Ed was still on the line.

"It looks pretty clean on the end, just the bottom has the dark blood." he pulled the gloves off, wrapping them around the red and yellow rod.

"You may be in luck, then. If it had punched through, there would have been a lot more blood. Get her packed and wrapped, then get her to your place. What imaging equipment do you have?"

Don took back his phone and Chelsea and Cam started taking care of prepping the cat for travel, "I have a portable x-ray, sonogram, camera probe, ..."

"That camera probe will be what you need. You can get in and see what damage was done. You should also check the rest of her body with the x-ray or sonogram, so you don't miss anything while focusing on this."

"Of course. Thanks for all this, Ed."

Mr Miller stepped up behind Don, "Yes, thank you very much. You don't know how much I appreciate this."

"You are definitely welcome, Mr..."

"Miller. I'm Belle's father."

"I thought you said her mother was human."

"Yes, her real father is some cat in California."

"I see. Well, you take good care of her and she should be okay. She's going to need a lot of emotional support."

"She'll have it. Thank you again."

Don hung up and put the phone away just as the EMTs finished.

"Alright, we're ready to roll." Chelsea and Cam had Belle wrapped and strapped on the backboard. "I wasn't sure what to do with her tail, so I just taped it to the board. Is that okay?"

"That's great. We don't want it hanging right now."

They carried her downstairs to the stretcher waiting in the office. Employees and customers lined up to see as they rolled her out of the store to the ambulance.

"What's going on?" "Who is that?" "Look at her face!" "Its a cat!" "Its Belle!" "Is she okay?" "What happened?" "Who did that?" "Is she going to live?" "I bet it was Randy." "Think she'd hurt any of us?" "Is the store closing?" "What's going on?"

Don stopped at the door and caught Mr Miller, "We'll take good care of her. Maybe you should stay here and take care of your store."

"CARLEIGH!" his voice roared through the store, causing instant silence.

A small woman pushed through the crowd and rushed up to him, "Don't worry, everything's under control here. You go be with Belle."

He nodded and looked at Don with a smirk as Carleigh turned to the crowd with a commanding voice of her own, "Ladies and gentlemen, she is being taken for medical care. We will make an announcement once her condition is ascertained. The store will remain open and everything is alright here. So, shoppers are welcome to resume shopping and workers, well you know."

"I'll ride with you, if that's alright, doc." Mr Miller followed the rabbit to his truck.

Chelsea climbed in and closed the back doors, sitting beside the injured cat.

Cam looked back from the cab, pointing at the nav screen, "Hey, isn't this his place?"

She looked past him at the blinking dot, "Yeah, but why is there a call for his house now?"

Cam shifted the rig into gear, "Let's get going and find out."

Lights and sirens on, they rushed out of the parking lot behind Don's truck.

Julie Ann sighed and rolled on her side, reaching over to pet Molly, "Well girl, I've only been here a moment and I already feel safer here. Its nice being able to relax and not have to worry about Brian or his father in the house. I bet you wouldn't mind if I took off all my clothes. Does Don walk around here naked a lot?"

Molly perked her ears at a sound outside and lifted her head to listen closely.

"I'll take that as a yes. I bet you've seen every bit of him and know all his secrets. Do you want to tell me a few? I want to know everything."

There were voices talking low outside and the alert canine recognized one. She remembered the man that the voice belonged to and he wasn't good. He hurt her and her mate. He shouldn't be here. She growled low as she waited.

Julie Ann pulled her hand back and leaned away, "Well okay, you don't have to tell me, but I'll find out eventu..."

There were four voices laughing outside and she needed to make them go away, but the girl wasn't paying attention. She stood up slowly on the bed, still feeling sore, but pain didn't matter. She needed to protect her home and her family. She growled louder, staring at the window.

"What's wrong, Molly? Is there somebody outside?" she sat up and saw two heads moving towards the end of the house. "Who is that, girl?" She got up and leaned against the window to see four men with guns. She recognized two of them from the day before and quickly pulled out her phone to dial 911.

"911. What is the nature of the emergency?"

"Four men are outside with guns. Two of them were here yesterday and attacked us."

"I have your location as... Are you the girl that's been helping Dr Lem?"

"Yes. He's out with a patient and I'm taking care of Molly. They nearly killed her yesterday. They look like they came back to finish the job and they'll probably kill me, too. Please hurry.

"Officers are on their way now. Just lock the doors and stay hidden."

"I can't lock the back door. They broke it yesterday."

"Find a place to hide as far from that door as possible."

"We're in the bedroom."

"Lock the door, put things in front of it, stay hidden. Help is coming. I can stay on the line with you until they arrive."

"Hold on. I'll get Molly in the bathroom. Come on girl, we've got to hide." She coaxed and pushed the agitated lab into the bathroom and closed the door, then dragged the desk in front of it and sat underneath it.

Molly whined, wondering why the girl hadn't come in with her. Why weren't they going out the other way? She dragged the rug away and scratched at the edges of the door in the floor, wishing it would open for her as easily as it did for her mate.

Julie Ann sat, staring at the bedroom door and listening for the men.

The 911 operator suddenly spoke, "Are you hidden?"

"I don't hear anything," other than the pounding of her own heart in her ears and Molly scratching to get out of the bathroom.

"Just stay safe until the police arrive. You'll be okay and I'll be here with you. Just stay quiet and wait for the officers to tell you its okay."

She sat under the desk, against the door, hugging the phone to her ear, and waited. When her heart finally calmed down, there was silence, but that silence seemed more terrifying than seeing them. She wanted to know what was going on. She wanted to know it was over.

Against her better judgment and the advice of the operator, she stood up and peeked out the window. She couldn't see anyone. She walked across the room and put her ear to the door. She couldn't hear anything. Slowly, she opened the door and peeked out. Nobody was in the hall.

She quietly crept down the hall. She didn't find anybody in the front room. She stepped into the kitchen and froze. She could see three men standing outside the back door, talking casually. She wondered where the big one was and what they were talking about. She stepped closer, trying not to get their attention.

Her phone suddenly broke the silence, "Are you still safe?"

The blonde man outside turned and looked straight at her, "Hey, there's somebody inside!"

Julie Ann turned and ran for the front door as the men came in the back, but it was locked. She dropped her phone and turned the lock, getting the door open just as a big hand grabbed her shoulder and yanked her back into the room with a scream.

The big man shoved her against the wall, "Hey, you were here yesterday with that rabbit. Why didn't you answer the door when we knocked today?"

She could smell the alcohol on his breath and tried to contain her fear, then turned away, not wanting to acknowledge his presence.

"Maybe I should knock louder." He slammed his fist into the wall in front of her face, leaving a cracked dent the size of her head. She looked at him and he put his hand on her throat, "Where's the dog?"

She tried to be tough and remembered his name from the day before, "Sorry, Charlie."

He squeezed her neck, then released, leaving her gasping for air, "Where's the rabbit?"

"He's not here. He got called to an emergency."

"Why aren't you with him?"

She had to think fast to not tell them where Molly was, "I'm waiting for the police. I'm supposed to give another statement."

Charlie laughed, "I don't think so. You would have been out here sooner if you were waiting for a cop."

"I... was taking a shower."

He grabbed her dry hair, "Without water? No rabbit, no dog; guess we'll have to send our message through you." He pulled her by her neck to the kitchen and shoved her onto the table.

She grabbed his thick wrist, trying to pull his hand off her neck as she kicked and writhed to get away.

"STAY STILL!" He pushed down on her neck and raised his fist over her head.

She almost passed out before he released, but gasped for air as he moved his hand to her face and realized somebody was holding her arms.

"You're going to pay attention and make sure he gets the right message." He nodded her head forcefully. "Good. Its very simple. He's not welcome. He needs to get his furry tail out of here, because the next time I see him I'm going to cut it off. And I'll cut off his ears. And I'll cut off his feet..."

The blonde spoke up, "Hey, think those big rabbit feet will bring us lots of luck?"

"Yeah. I'll hang them in my truck and have all the luck in the world. Maybe we'll just stick around till he comes back; make a fur coat out of him."

Another guy chimed in from her feet, "Aggie's been asking for some fur boots."

"There's plenty to go around. We can cut off his balls and make her some earrings to go with 'em."

Julie Ann's eyes went wide, trying not to picture what they were describing.

The guy holding her arms spoke up, "Look at that. She likes his balls. Do you think she's letting that freak screw her?"

Charlie leaned in, with his reek of booze, to stare in her eyes and squeezed her jaw, "Huh. Are you fucking ... a rabbit?"

She shook with fear, hoping they wouldn't know her thoughts, "N-n-no."

The blonde smirked, "Well, that's a lie if I ever heard one."

Charlie stood up, "No. I don't think she has, but I can see it in her eyes; she's willing to die for him. She wants him to fuck her."

"What, a man's not good enough for ya?" The blonde grabbed his crotch and thrust it towards her face.

She closed her eyes and hoped the police would arrive soon.

"Maybe we should show her how good a man is."

"Dan, get her clothes off. We'll make sure she has a human baby instead of making more of those freaks."

She opened her eyes and started kicking and struggling as the man at her feet tried to take her pants. The big hand squeezed her face and she stopped, fighting back tears, unsuccessfully.

Charlie leaned in again with his beer breath, "Make this easy and we might let you enjoy it."

She closed her eyes again as her pants slid off her legs, followed by her panties. She felt them unbutton her shirt and grab her breasts, laughing and urging each other on. A hand rubbed between her legs and she closed them, sobbing quietly.

"Dak, get her legs."

"But I want to fuck her."

"You'll get your turn, Dakota, she's not going anywhere."

"Fine," he grabbed her knees and pulled them up to her chest as Charlie released her chin, shoving her head into Dakota's crotch.

She opened her eyes again and saw a penis hanging over her. Panic swept through her as the reality of what they were going to do sank in. She wrenched her arms free and grabbed at the arms holding her legs, but they were too strong. She looked around and they all had their pants down and Charlie was getting ready to rape her first.

He licked his finger and rubbed it over her vagina, spreading it open as he stroked his erection, "Now you'll see that its a man you want, not some pussy rabbit's little prick."

He lined up to steal her virginity, but the blonde spoke up, "Charlie, listen."

Julie Ann heard them, too. Sirens, which meant the police were finally here. She started to struggle again to give them more time.

"Fuck!"

"I'm out of here!"

Her legs were free and she kicked at Charlie, hitting his crotch twice as she scrambled off the table.

The big man groaned and held his balls, then grabbed to pull up his pants as police cars skidded to a stop outside the open front door. Two officers ran in followed by two more.

"Hold it right there!"

"Fuck you!"

A pop and two lines stretched across from one officer's hand and into Charlie's chest.

The big man shook and grunted, then grabbed the lines and ripped them away, "Arrest her! She's the one fucking animals. Ain't that against the law?"

"Get down on the ground!"

"Charlie, come on!" Dan struggled to button his jeans by the back door with his gun in one hand.

"Fuck this shit. I'm out of here," Charlie turned and picked up his gun on his way to the door.

A second pair of lines hit him and he stopped, then spun around quickly, pointing his gun at the officers. Two blasts from the front door and a yell from Charlie and the big man fell onto the table, smashing it beneath his sudden weight.

Julie Ann frantically crawled away from him as the officers ran up with guns aimed at the man cursing on the floor.

There was a lot of shouting outside and Dan dropped his gun, raising his arms in the air.

Another siren came up the driveway as the officers put handcuffs on all four men. Two paramedics hurried in, leaving a stretcher by the door. One checked on Charlie while an officer pointed the other to Julie Ann.

After a drive that felt like forever, Don neared his home. He suddenly realized there were flashing lights, not just behind him, but in his driveway. He pulled in to find three police cars, another car, and an ambulance parked in the yard. He stopped and got out, waving and shouting to Cam, "Take her to the barn. First door in on the left has the equipment."

He drove the ambulance around and right up to the barn.

Mr Miller got out, "What's going on, doc?"

Don headed for the house without a word, but an officer came towards him with hands raised, "Hold it right there, I can't let you in."

"What happened?"

"Who are you?"

"This is my house. What happened?"

"Some men broke in and attacked a girl."

"Is she okay?" he started towards the back of the house again.

"I can't let you go back there," the officer held his hands up in front of the rabbit.

"Is she alright?

"I don't know."

"I have to see," he started again, but the officer pushed him back.

An EMT and an officer came around the house with a stretcher, but it had a large man on it.

Don stopped and watched them, then looked sternly at the officer, "What happened to the girl?"

"Sir, I don't know. You need to calm down and wait for..."

Three men were being led around the side of the house in handcuffs to separate police cars.

The officer called to another coming around the house, "Sir, this morph is..."

"Dr. Lem. Really hate to see you two days in a row like this."

"What happened? Is Julie Ann okay?"

"She's a little shook up, but she's not hurt." he offered his hand and Don shook it.

"What about the guy that left in the ambulance?"

"Resisted arrest and got shot. He was stone drunk and just shrugged off the taser. How did you take him down yesterday?"

"I don't know. Can I see Julie Ann and Molly?"

Who's Mol... oh right. The dog's fine. Julie Ann says she locked her in the master bathroom. Let's take you back."

Don followed him around the house, where two more officers were waiting. Julie Ann was sitting in a chair with no pants, talking with the other EMT. She looked up as he came in with a horrified expression on her face. Her eyes screaming that she wanted to run to him, but tears saying she was thinking of running away so she wouldn't.

Don held out his paws and nodded, "Its okay."

Julie Ann broke down in tears and rushed across the room to collapse in his arms, sobbing.

The EMT and two officers left. The other officer put his hand on Don's shoulder, "I have her statement and she's okay, so I'll give you two a moment." He closed the door and stood guard as Julie Ann cried against her rabbit.

"Why did they do this Don? Why can't they just leave us alone? They were going to rape me and kill Molly and kill you and I don't know..." She buried her face in his shirt, holding him tight.

He held her just as tightly, staring at the broken table on the floor, "I don't know why. None of their excuses ever make sense. They're just bad people." He thought a moment wondering if it was a bad time, but decided time was exactly why he needed to say it. "We can't let them control us with fear. We need to live our lives. Julie Ann, I need to marry you."

She suddenly went silent, then slowly raised her head to look at him.

For a moment, he wondered if he picked the wrong time or waited too late or she had changed her mind.

She reached up and grabbed his cheeks, staring into his eyes with a stern glare, "Yes you do!" She pulled his face down to kiss him passionately, then wrapped her arms around his neck as he returned the kiss. It seemed easier to focus on just the kiss, no longer feeling the pressure of their love being forbidden. When she finally released his lips, she laid her head against his chest and sighed, "Don, what about them?"

"We 'll deal with each day as it... Belle!" He pulled her off him and ran to the door, then flung it open and grabbed the officer as he jumped out, "Officer, I need your help with something else." He ran to the barn with the police officer running behind.

Julie Ann grabbed her pants and pulled them on, then tried to catch up, "Belle?"

"There you are!" Chelsea sounded relieved as he ran into the room, "We weren't sure how to work your equipment, but we put her on the table and kept the monitor on her and she seems stable. What's going on over there."

He rushed to the cat and looked her over as Julie Ann came in, gasping for breath, then in shock when she saw who was on the table, "Same guys came back with help to finish the job, but Julie Ann beat them. Looks like she's going to need another bag, do you have them?"

Cam spoke up, "We do, but we're risking it as it is. They're going to want somebody to bill for all this."

"Bill it to me," Mr Miller stepped out of the corner, pulling his wallet from his pocket, "What do you need?"

"We can get that sorted later, just get the bags. Now is when I wish I had my own stock, but who would donate to a vet?" He continued reexamining every inch of her under the sheet for something he might have missed.

Julie Ann stepped up, "I would. What happened to her?"

"She was attacked. What's your blood type?"

"Its ... AB positive."

"Its a risk, O would be better."

Mr Miller grumbled, "I'm B negative."

"I'm O negative. My blood's universal."

Everyone stopped and looked at the officer by the door.

"What? We're supposed to serve, right?"

Julie Ann broke the awkward silence, "Its ... just not common for folks around here to want to help morphs."

"Hey, I grew up in Sacramento; my best friend was a furry. Besides, it looks like you've got plenty of people here that care."

Don smiled and nodded, "Get him hooked up."

Cam dug everything he needed out of his bag as the officer came over and Chelsea pulled a chair from the corner, "You know, its nice doing this on someone healthy for a change and not bouncing in the back of the rig."

Don went to a cabinet and pulled out a black plastic suitcase, then set it on the counter and opened it. He pulled out a small screen and a bunch of wires, then a long, thin, coiled hose. He leaned over a small sink and poured alcohol over the end, then ripped open a sterile pad and wiped down the hose for a couple feet. He carried the hose and a cable over to a computer on a cart and plugged them together. A few taps and a light came on at the end of the hose and an image appeared on the screen.

"That looks awfully long," Mr Miller was watching intently.

"Its made for a horse, but its what I have. I won't be using it all."

"What are you doing?" Julie Ann was very confused.

"You don't have to watch this," Don looked at her and Mr Miller.

"She's my friend. I want to help."

"I'm not going anywhere."

"Alright," he slowly pulled the sheet up her legs.

Julie Ann gasped, "Oh, her tail." She gasped again when he uncovered her genitals and she saw the wadding, "Oh God! Randy did this, didn't she? This is all my fault."

Don glanced at her, but stayed with his patient.

Mr Miller wrapped his arm around Julie Ann, "No. I was saying that myself all morning, but its Randy's fault."

"I knew she was dangerous. I shouldn't have left."

"I was in the office until I locked the doors and back first thing this morning. I only stepped out when you were up there, so I don't know when she could have gotten in to do this."

"But if I had stayed with her, this wouldn't have happened."

Mr Miller pulled her into a massive hug, "No. She's a monster. If you were there, she would have hurt both of you and probably not have stopped. Neither of us could have expected her to do this. We're only blaming ourselves in hindsight and that won't help Belle or us."

Julie Ann just cried against him.

Don had cleared the wadding and carefully inserted the probe, "I'm not seeing anything severe and no active bleeding here, so we should try the x-ray or sonogram for other bleeding." The cat groaned and he pulled the probe out, quickly covering her back up.

Mr Miller moved to her side, "Belle, are you awake?"

Don motioned for Chelsea to help him get the sonogram set up.

Belle opened her eyes and smiled weakly at the big man hovering over her, "Hi, dad."

He started to cry and bent over to kiss her head, "My beautiful kitten, you're going to be alright. Dr Lem is taking good care of you and checking you all over."

"He's a good rabbit; and sexy, too."

He laughed through his tears and kissed her head again, "You just focus on getting better."

"And I'll have my rabbit back when you're done with him."

"Julie Ann," Belle tried to smile, but it came out as a grimace, "you're sexy, too."

"Oh Belle, I am so sorry. I should have stayed with you."

Her speech was weak and slow, "No. She was mad because you were there. I'm glad you left before..." She drifted off again.

Her father looked to Don, "Is she alright?"

Don looked at the monitor, "Her numbers look okay to me. Chelsea, what do you think?"

"I'd say they're a little low, but I don't know what her normal is."

"I guess I need to call my brother again." he pulled out his phone and started the call.

A white, female rabbit appeared on the screen wearing just a smile, "Hello, Don."

"Um, Pinny, this is a professional call. I need Ed's help with a patient."

She quickly passed the phone to her husband, but looked over his shoulder.

"How is she doing, Don?"

"I checked with the camera probe and didn't see any major tears or active bleeding, obvious stretch tears, of course, but they appear to be just surface damage. She was conscious for a moment, then passed out again. We were wondering what the normal numbers for a cat morph are." He turned his phone to show the monitor.

"Those look alright. She probably still needs blood."

"We have an O negative donor here."

Cam spoke from the corner with the officer, "We've almost got one bag. Should I start another?"

"Let your donor rest for a bit and see how she does.

"Why does she keep passing out?" Mr Miller included himself in the call.

"Her brain is probably protecting her from the pain."

"Can't you give her anything for it?"

"Most of the human pain relievers work with most morphs and cats are typically most like humans."

Chelsea grabbed her bag, "I can help there."

"Good. Have you checked for other internal injuries?"

Don held up the sonogram wand, "I was just about to."

"Those don't work very well through fur. You'll have to..."

"I know. I've used it on dogs and cats before, just not one this big. There are a lot of bare patches already. I can use those to start and clear more if I need to." He turned on the screen and pulled the sheet down to her waist.

Julie Ann gasped, seeing the cat's burned and cut front for the first time, and Mr Miller hugged her.

Don looked at the cuts on her belly, covered in a powdery gel, "What's this?"

Chelsea leaned in, "Oh, we were having trouble bandaging her with the fur, so Cam had the idea to rip open one of the clot-packs and dump it on. It'll be a mess to clean, but it worked."

"I see it did. Quick thinking." He brushed some aside to clean a bare spot and gently applied the lubricated head. He tilted and moved slowly, watching the screen, then paused, "What's that?"

Chelsea looked at the screen, "What's what?"

He pointed to the bottom of the screen, "There at the bottom. She's small enough, it could be her spine, but it shouldn't look like that. I need a better angle. Help me roll her on her side."

"No, wait!" Ed was shouting on the phone, "If there is pooling around the base of her spine, moving her could paralyze her. You said you have an x-ray. Can you do that without moving her?"

"Yeah, the table she's on has a digital x-ray plate built in. It must have cost Doc Tanner a mint, but..."

"Enough bragging and do it."

"Right. Right." Don put the wand down and swung the emitter head over the table. "Alright everyone step out. Julie Ann, why don't you take Mr Miller to the house and get him something to drink."

"I'd like to stay and see how my daughter is."

"Sir, why don't you come out and tell me what happened to her," the officer got up and walked over holding a bandage in his elbow, then leaned on the big man, "Whoa, guess I stood up too fast."

Mr Miller smirked, "Alright. Let's get you something to drink and I'll tell you what I know."

He and Julie Ann helped the officer to the house as Don finished setting up the x-ray machine. The EMTs walked out of the room and he stepped behind a wall to press a button, then called them back to see the results.

"What is that?" Don held his phone up so his brother could see the screen.

"Well, its not her spine. You can see that just barely beside it. It looks like its something in her intestine."

"Oh shit, is it another dildo?"

Chelsea looked at Cam, "Again with the dildos?"

"We already found two and well, look at it."

"But what's that hook at the end?"

"I don't know."

Don interrupted their argument, "Well, whatever it is, it needs to come out, but how are we going to get it without ripping her intestine to shreds or surgery?"

"What about a shoehorn?"

Chelsea looked at Cam again, "You're really starting to scare me, you know?"

"What?"

"You want to put a shoehorn up her butt?"

"I've got a long one in my bag," he hurried to it and dug to the bottom to pull out a foot and a half long, plastic shoehorn, "I've also got some long splints, but I figure this would work better. Just get the end over the hook and slide them both out."

Don took the shoehorn and thought about it, "Its not a bad idea. I can use the camera probe to see what I'm doing, hopefully without pushing it deeper. Good thinking, Cam."

"What else do you have in your bag?" Chelsea started to look.

"Later, lets get to work." Don pulled the sheet up, then grabbed the camera probe, plugged it in and set it between Belle's legs. "One of you hold her shoulders and the other hold her legs. You need to keep her still, don't let her twist reflexively, so I don't puncture her intestine. I'm glad she's already unconscious; this is not going to be comfortable."

The EMTs got into position around the cat and Don took a calming breath.

"Don't forget to lubricate the probe and shoehorn"

Don jumped at his brother's sudden reminder, "Yes, good idea." He got some lube from the case and smeared it liberally over the tools. Then took another breath to focus.

"I hope you wash that thing after you use it."

"Always."

"Would everyone please be quiet!" Don snapped and had everyone's attention, "Thank you." He leaned over the table and pushed the camera carefully into the cat's anus. He immediately saw the end of the object. It looked like the end of a tree that had been cut down with an ax, lots of gashes. He gently pushed the end of the shoehorn in with the probe and watched the screen as he used it to hold the object in place while he pushed the probe further. He walked them along the suspected dildo, moving one and then the other, until he saw the end.

"That looks like two fangs near the end. What _ IS _ that thing?"

"That's your dildo, Cam. Want to borrow it when she's done with it?"

"Uh, no thanks."

Don glared at them, "Hush, please."

"Sorry," Chelsea whispered.

He slid the shoehorn over the 'fangs' and sighed, then pulled the probe out and pushed two fingers in to grab the base of the dildo. He held his breath and slowly pulled it out.

Belle groaned and started to struggle.

"Hold her still, I don't want this to slip."

The EMTs held her down and Don continued pulling until the end came out with a splurt.

Belle was staring up at Chelsea with a terrified pant, "What happened?"

"Its okay. Its out now, kitten." she tried to be comforting.

Belle looked between her legs at Don examining the odd dildo and panicked, "No! You have to put it back. She said she'll kill me if I take it out. Put them all back!"

"Its okay, she's not going to hurt you. You're safe."

"You don't understand. I'm only safe if she's happy," she struggled as they held her.

Don grabbed his phone, "Sorry Ed." He quickly disconnected and called Julie Ann, "Get out here quick. She's awake and not doing well."

It was only a moment before Mr Miller was rushing into the room, "Belle!" He pushed the EMTs aside and wrapped his arms around his feline daughter, "You're okay now. Everything's okay."

She sobbed against him, "No. No its not. No its not. Make him give it back."

"Give what back?" He looked around, as Julie Ann and the police officer came in, and saw Don putting the dildo on the counter. "Oh, kitten, you don't want that."

"No. I don't, but Randy'll kill me."

"She can have it, but that girl is not getting near you ever again. I promise."

"No. She told me if I took it out before she came back to get it, she would use a knife next time."

The officer stepped closer, "If you tell me who she is, I can have her arrested for assault."

Belle held up her broken paw, "No, she's not a bad person."

Julie Ann scoffed, "Belle, she did this to you just because I came to visit. She's a bad person."

"Well, okay she's bad, but don't hurt her. She helped me, so she's not all bad."

"It was Randy Colm. I have everything you need to find her back at the store."

"Dad, no."

"I don't want her to hurt you again."

She pushed him away and frowned, "Mr Miller, I am done talking to you."

The big man sighed and stepped back, pain on his face.

Julie Ann stepped in,"Belle, don't do that. He cares about you."

"Julie Ann, he's going to get me killed. If anything happens to Randy, she's going to think I did it."

"She won't be able to do anything if she's in jail."

"You don't know her like I do. If she wants something, nothing can stop her."

"She'll have to get through all of us first."

"I don't want her to hurt you because of me."

"You've got the police on your side; Brian's dad will kick her ass if she breaks into my house; I watched Don take down two big guys at once yesterday; and your father's a big enough man to take care of himself. Don't worry about us."

"You can't fight a bullet."

"Will doing nothing stop her from coming after us?"

"Maybe she'll calm down now that she took out her anger on me."

"And what if she doesn't?"

Belle looked at her paws.

Julie Ann knew she needed to push the cat to face the truth, "What if she decides to kill me for getting between you two?"

Belle hesitated, not wanting to believe Randy would kill.

"What if she decides to kill your father for firing her?"

She looked up at the big man standing beside her.

"Will you still think she's good? Do you want to feel responsible for her killing him?"

Belle swallowed hard and looked at her paws again, then whispered, "But she made me feel good."

Julie Ann gently put her hand on the cat's paw, "Belle, you made yourself feel good. She was just along for the ride."

She looked at her friend and smiled, still whispering, "You make me feel good."

The girl looked at her pleadingly, "Belle."

"Okay, I'll do it, if you do something."

"What?"

She tried to wave her closer and raised her nose.

"You want me to kiss you?"

The cat blushed, "Well yes, but that's not it." She glanced at Don, then back at Julie Ann. The girl leaned closer and Belle whispered in her ear, "Marry your rabbit."

Julie Ann stood up with a smile on her face, "Done."

Belle smiled and looked at the police officer, "Go get that monster and make sure she doesn't hurt my family and friends."

He smiled, "Yes, ma'am. I'll get a statement from you and her details from your father."

"Belle, I'm proud of you."

"I don't want her to kill you, dad. I love you."

The big man broke into tears and hugged her carefully, looking over her shoulder at Julie Ann to mouth, Thank you.

Julie Ann looked over at her rabbit, smiling back at her, she decided she didn't need to tell him the terms of the deal.

Don mouthed to Julie Ann, I'm proud of you, then cleared his throat, "We should tend to her other injuries now. We need to set and brace those broken bones, but maybe we should get some more images first as evidence."

The officer agreed, "Good idea. We'll step outside again and I can get official statements from everyone."

"If you need some privacy, there's a room upstairs and of course back at the house."

"Thanks, doc." He led everyone out of the room, leaving Don alone with Belle, and started by taking Mr Miller upstairs.

"Alright. We'll start with your tail. Just lay back..."

"Don."

He stopped and looked at the cat staring at him.

"You know she loves you, right?"

He smiled, "Yes, I do. Now, lay back."

She let him gently push her down to the table, "No, I mean really. She wants you. I mean like to marry you."

"I know and I want her, too."

She seemed surprised, "You do?"

He nodded as he made sure her tail was laying flat and clear, "And I'll tell you a secret, if you can keep it."

She eagerly answered, "Oh yes. I can."

He leaned to her ear and whispered, "We're getting married."

"Really?!"

He stood up and held a finger to his lips with a smile, "Now hold still."

She watched him walk behind the wall and tried not to move, though she felt like she was vibrating with excitement. A buzz and a click and he came back, "So, you asked her?"

"Not exactly." He moved the emitter, "Now your chest, hold still again."

Now she felt like her heart had suddenly stopped. Not exactly? A buzz and a click and he came back, "Are you going to?"

"No." He moved the emitter again, "Turn your head to the side." He guided her gently.

"Why not?"

"Don't need to. Hold still again."

She wondered if he could see what she was thinking about. A buzz and a click and he came back, "So, she asked you."

"No." He pulled a small handle and a plate slid out beside her and he positioned her paw on it. She winced as he carefully spread her fingers.

"But you said you're getting married."

"Yep. Keep your hand still."

She was getting so frustrated and just wanted him to give her a straight answer. A buzz and a click and he came back, "So, when?"

"Soon." He aligned her paw on its side and moved her fingers again. "Hold still."

"But..."

He held a finger to his lips as he walked behind the wall. A buzz and a click and he came back.

"How soon?"

"There are plans to be made." He moved her paw back onto the table and pushed the plate in, then walked around to pull it out the other side.

"So, you're planning it. Can I help?"

"That's up to Julie Ann." He positioned her other paw and spread those fingers.

"I'll ask her."

He gave her a stern look, "Its a secret, remember?"

"But..."

He held his finger to his lips again as he walked around the wall. A buzz and a click and he came back.

"Doesn't she know?"

"Yes." He turned her paw and aligned her fingers.

"Then why can't I...?"

"She doesn't know you know. Don't move."

A buzz and a click and he came back.

"So, she wants it to be a surprise?"

"Kind of. How are your legs?"

"She didn't touch them. What do you mean kind of?"

He put her hand back on the table and slid the plate back in, then moved to examine her legs, "We're keeping it quiet for now."

"Oh. You mean because of people that wouldn't approve of a morph marrying a human."

He gently felt down her leg and back up the other one, glad not to find any problems or tender spots, "Something like that."

"Are you going to go someplace else to get married?"

He checked her IV and the EMTs had tied it to her furry arm, smart, and Chelsea had changed the bag of blood when she gave her the pain reliever, "We're thinking about it."

"I'd love to see you two get married. Can I come?"

He leaned on the table around her head and smiled down at her, "I don't see how we could possibly keep you away. Now, is there any other place I should examine?"

"I don't think so."

"Alright. I'm going to set your fingers and it is going to hurt. I want you to tell me everything she did to you, so I can take care of it. I know it will be difficult, but you'll need to tell the officer, as well."

She looked away, "I know, but I'll tell you everything if you kiss me."

He sighed and stood up, "I think we should let your face heal a bit first."

"Am I that ugly?"

"You're not ugly, you're injured. I don't want to give you an infection. On that note," he grabbed a jar from a cabinet and opened it, "Lets put some of this antiseptic gel on your wounds. I warn you, it doesn't smell great."

"Do it. I want to get better so you'll kiss me," she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"I'll save one just for you." He dabbed the salve over the wounds on her face, then put the jar down and put his paws on her cheeks. He stared at her as she stared at him, her heart starting to pound as she waited for his kiss, then he quickly pushed her nose back into place with his thumbs.

She let out a yowl and glared at him, but his smile disarmed her.

"We'll get you back to beautiful in no time."

Mr Miller burst through the door, "What happened?"

"He fixed my nose, dad."

He smiled at hearing her call him dad again and came over to give her a gentle hug.

"Its not fixed yet, but its in place. I need to set her fingers. Is the officer done with you?"

"I told him everything; now he's talking with one of the paramedics, the girl."

Chelsea stepped around Julie Ann, who was standing in the doorway, "We're done. He's talking to Cam now. How can I help?"

"Well, someone can help her hold still while I do this."

Mr Miller wrapped his arms around his daughter, "I can hold her."

"Alright. Chelsea, why don't you take a look at the screen where I have the x-rays of her hand up and tell me what you see to verify."

"Looks like two compound fractures and a simple. I don't see a break on the other finger or thumb, but I'm no expert."

"That's what I see, so we'll go with it. You hold her wrist while I straighten these two.

"Gotcha," she wrapped her hand around Belle's wrist and looked at the cat, "I'm sorry. This is going to hurt."

"I know it should all hurt, but I'm not feeling much of anything right now."

"That's overload, but this will be sharp and sudden. Just try not to yank your arm or bite me."

Belle smiled, "I won't bite you."

"I'll try to get them both quick." Don carefully took the damaged fingers, "One, two," he yanked one back into place and before she finished her first yowl, he had set the second.

Belle cried and buried her face in her father's shirt.

"That should be the worst of it." he looked at Chelsea, "Do you have any finger splints? We should brace and wrap them now."

"Cam said he did." She chuckled to herself at the chance to look in his bag.

"They're in the bottom front-side pocket," Cam was in the doorway.

She found them easily and handed them to Don with some tape and a smirk to Cam.

Don bent the splints to fit her fingers and wrapped them with the tape, "Now, what can we do about her tail? We can't use small splints, because it might do damage to the joints. Nothing I have is big enough. We have to use something that can hold it all together, but not be so heavy that it hurts her."

They all thought for a moment, then Cam spoke up, "I think there's some hose in the rig that might work. We can cut it open and wrap it around her tail. It's stiff, so it should hold the bones in place, but flexible and not too heavy."

"Sounds good, let's try it."

"Another winner from Cam," Chelsea slapped his shoulder.

"I'll be right back," he hurried out.

"Hey doc, what about her ear."

Don looked at Mr Miller and Belle's torn ear, "Well, I can't put it back together, but I can remove the loose piece." He pulled a pair of scissors from a drawer and rinsed them with alcohol. "How would you like me to cut it?"

She looked pitifully up at her dad.

"Just straight across here, so it looks even." he indicated with his finger.

"Alright, hold still. This will sting." He lined up and snipped quick, then covered it with a pad, nodding to Mr Miller to hold it.

Cam came running back in with the hose ahead of him.

"That looks like it might work. Cut it open on the inside of the curve and trim it to the length of her tail," he handed Cam the scissors, then looked back to Belle, "You've got five breaks in your tail, that I can tell. Three are out of place. We'll set those and put it in the hose to hold everything together. Are you ready?"

She gave him a slow nod, then looked up as Julie Ann and the officer came in.

"Okay. I'm going to work my way down, pulling your tail straight as I go. One." He set the first break and she yowled in surprise, but he kept going, quickly setting the other two and making sure everything was in place as he went. When he reached the end, he took the hose from Cam and tucked her tail into it. Chelsea handed him the tape and he wrapped up the cat's tail, then laid it on the table and stepped back.

"You do good work, doc," Chelsea patted the rabbit's back.

"How is it?" he looked up at the cat, but she had fallen asleep.

Mr Miller cradled his daughter, "Can we let her rest now?"

Don nodded, "I think we got all the major things taken care of. I'd like to put something on her chest and all the little cuts, so nothing gets infected."

"Show me what to do."

"Okay. Why don't we take her to the house. I have a spare bedroom available. I can keep an eye on her and she'll be safe here."

Mr Miller scowled, "Are you sure about that?"

The officer stepped in from the door with Julie Ann, "I can guarantee those men won't be getting out for a long while. I plan to hit them with B&E, assault with a deadly weapon, attempted rape, attempted murder, violent hate crime, terroristic threats, assault on a police officer, public drunkenness, and anything else I can think of. And when we find this Randy, she'll be getting most of the same, so you won't see her for a long while, either.

"Good. Let her meet somebody in jail that'll do the same to her," Chelsea snapped.

Cam elbowed her, "We should get going."

"Oh, right. Do you need anything else, doc?"

"I think we'll be okay moving her. Do you have everything you need?"

Mr Miller pulled a business card from his wallet and offered it to the EMTs, "I'll cover the bill, just let me know what you need. That goes for you, too, doc. Anything you need, just tell me."

"Right now, I just want to take care of your daughter. We'll get her in a bed and put this on the rest of her wounds," he set a short jar on the table by her hip.

I need to get going, as well, but first I need to get your statement, doc."

"Do you need it?"

"Professional opinion is always helpful in prosecution. I also want to talk some more about the guys that came back today."

"Alright. Julie Ann, do you think you and Mr Miller can get Belle settled in bed in the room across from mine."

She was looking distraught, but nodded, "Yeah, should be no problem."

"Hey," he took her shoulders and looked into her eyes, "You're going to be okay. I'll be back in a shake. Just focus on helping Belle right now." He pulled her against him and held her for a moment, then pulled her back before she could get comfortable. He kissed her head and headed for the door where the police officer was waiting.

They walked to the stairs to go up the the room, "So, I hear congratulations are in order."

"What?"

"Sorry, I couldn't help but overhear, with the window missing. I hope you were serious."

"What are you talking about?"

"You and her getting married. I think you'd make a great couple. You two obviously care about each other and work so well together. It'd be a shame if you didn't."

"I've been serious about it for a few days now. I was just afraid of things like today and yesterday," the rabbit sat down on the bed, wondering if he had made a mistake telling Julie Ann that they were going to get married.

The police officer sat in the chair in front of him, "Don't let drunks like that decide your life for you. If you need a witness," he laughed to himself, "or a security guard, just give me a call." He opened his notebook and pulled out a card, then wrote on the back of it and offered it to the rabbit, "I don't know if I gave you this yesterday, but here's one with my personal number.

"Thanks, Officer," he looked at the card, "Duncan?"

"Yep, Kyle Duncan. Just don't let my brother Rylie convince you it should be pronounced differently. Now, shall we get started?"

Julie Ann kicked pieces of the kitchen table aside as they rolled Belle through the house to her room. She tried to ignore the memories of why they were there and kept moving down the hall.

The room was a perfectly neat guest room, just waiting for a guest. They pulled the table beside the bed, then gently lifted her down to it, careful of all her injured parts.

"Mr Miller, would you..."

"Please, call me John. I'm Mr Miller at the store and I don't feel like I'm very in charge, right now."

"Neither do I," she whispered, but he heard it in the quiet room.

"Well, its a good thing your rabbit has things under control," he wrapped her in a giant, supportive hug.

"My rabbit?" She wondered if Belle had told him or if he could really hear them down in his office. Her imagination took the latter route and she started to blush, thinking about what else he might have heard.

"You two make a nice couple."

"But we're not..." she felt defensive, even though she new he wasn't a morph hater.

He let her out of the embrace, "I'm sorry, I'm not usually one to buy into gossip, but when I finally saw the two of you together, it just seemed right."

"It does?" It surprised her to hear someone else say she should be with Don.

"Absolutely."

"Even though he's a rabbit morph?"

"Hey, I know love when I see it."

As much as she had dreamed it and even after hearing Don say it, Mr Miller's approval finally let the reality of it sink in. She was actually going to marry her rabbit and spend the rest of her life with him. She jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Thank you."

He laughed, "You're welcome. Now, what do we need to do here?"

"Oh," she let go and turned to look at Belle, then grabbed the jar and pushed the cart towards the door, "I was going to ask if you could take this back to that room in the barn; and I'll start putting the cream on her."

"I can do that. I'll be right back," the big man pushed the cart out of the room and down the hall.

Julie Ann looked at the sleeping cat. Despite her injures, she looked like she was resting peacefully, even smiling. She noticed the gunk on her belly and decided to clean her up first. She ran across to Don's bathroom and stopped when she saw the desk in front of the door, "Oh, Molly! I'm sorry, I forgot about you."

She hurried to pull the desk out of the way and open the door. She knelt down and the lab greeted her with a lick to the face and a wagging tail. She hugged the dog and tried not to cry, "Its okay now, Molly. The bad men are gone and they're not coming back."

The words did more to comfort herself than the dog. She remembered her task and stood up, "We have a patient to take care of."

She found a washrag and wet it, then checked the medicine cabinet. It was stocked more like a first aid kit and she took some alcohol and cotton swabs, then headed back across the hall.

Molly followed and sat quietly in the corner while Julie Ann started cleaning the cat's belly.

The gunk was sticky and slimy and crumbly all at the same time. Most of it didn't want to come off, but was easier to clean when she added some alcohol to the rag. Once the wounds were clean enough, she used the cotton swabs to spread the cream into them. When she finished, she looked at the cat's chest. She saw the charred fur and red, blotchy skin and wondered how much it had hurt. She felt sorry for her friend and furious at Randy. As much as she wanted to give her a taste of a flamethrower and a knife, she more wanted to take away Belle's pain.

She scooped some of the cream out of the jar and delicately applied it to the cat's breast. As she smeared it around and added more, she noticed a soft purring coming from her friend. She smiled, knowing that the sound meant she was making the cat feel good. She used both hands and rubbed and massaged her friends breasts, enjoying the purrs. She looked over the rest of her body and touched a few more places to spread the cream, including the edge of her torn ear. She wiped the rest of the cream on her hands down her friend's belly, then leaned on the edge of the bed and stared at the purring cat, "You're going to be okay. I'll make sure of it."

"You have better bedside manner than I do."

Julie Ann jumped up and turned around to see her rabbit smiling behind her.

"Julie Ann, I love you."

She glanced at the police officer smiling in the doorway, then remembered Mr Miller's approval and smiled, "Don, I'm going to marry you." She rushed into his arms and kissed him passionately.

He wrapped his arms around her and returned the kiss.

Mr Miller came up to the doorway and smiled at the sight.

Their kiss continued as they pulled each other close. All their restrained passion begged for release, not just from their own courage, but with the encouragement of others. Their lips spoke in unison without words; their hands communicated their mutual passion in touch; their bodies radiated desire...

"Somebody get a camera, this could get good," the soft voice came from the bed.

Mr Miller chuckled, "Belle."

Julie Ann broke the kiss and blushed heavily, then glared at the cat, but she couldn't be mad at her injured friend.

"I guess the secret's out now," she was still weak, but talking.

"What secret?"

"You're getting married."

She looked at her rabbit, still holding her close, and stroked his cheek, "Yes, we are. Its no secret and I'm sorry we ever thought it should be."

"Good, 'cause I want to help you plan the wedding."

She looked back at Belle, "Don't go too crazy, we're not rich."

Mr Miller leaned into the room, "Don't you worry about that. You two are going to have the best wedding this town has ever seen."

"Oh, no, Mr..." Don turned around and Julie Ann looked at the big man. She saw the determined look on his face and sighed, "Thank you, John." She turned back to Don, "I'm sure we will love it."

"Everyone will. Everybody is going to be happy you're getting married."

"Belle, I can think of a half dozen people that won't."

"Well, they're not invited. We're going to..." the cat grunted as she moved and pain reminded her of her injuries.

"You just rest and think about it," she pulled away from Don to tend to their patient, "We won't do it without you, I promise."

"Well, I need to get going; got another call. Let me know when to come to the wedding," Officer Duncan put his phone in his pocket, waved and left.

Mr Miller came in and knelt beside his daughter, "How are you doing, kitten?"

"Better now that they're finally getting married.

"I meant your body."

"I know," she sighed with a sweet smile, "I'm your rough, tough kitten, remember? I can handle it."

"This isn't like anything that happened in high school."

"Remember when Janice Wasserkin and her friends held me down and covered me with hair remover?"

"Oh, Belle," Julie Ann covered her mouth as she imagined it."

"Or all the times the other kids stomped my tail or slammed it in doors or pulled it..."

"I noticed all the old breaks. It made it difficult to tell which were new," Don held Julie Ann as he also imagined the pains the cat had been through.

"Or when Gabby Bailor pulled out some of my whiskers or..."

"That's enough, Belle," her father put his hand on her arm, feeling guilty for making her endure that torture.

"But you were right. I was strong enough to get through all of that and I'm strong enough to deal with this."

"I shouldn't have made you stay through all that."

"But it made me stronger. Look, I survived."

"She could have killed you."

"But I learned how to get them to lose interest and give up instead of fighting back and giving them a reason to keep hurting me."

"You should've just kicked her ass," Julie Ann had her fists clenched.

Belle smiled, "Maybe next time I will, but she kept telling me to give her a reason to kill me and I wouldn't."

"Oh, Belle," her father wrapped his arm over her for a hug.

"Could I get something to eat? I haven't had anything since lunch yesterday."

John laughed, "My hungry kitten."

Don sighed, "I'd offer lunch, but my kitchen is a bit of a mess right now."

"Don't worry about it," Mr Miller stood up, "I'll go back to the store to get Belle some clothes and things and have the deli put something together for us. I also have a table in storage I can bring back for you."

"You don't have to do that, sir."

"What's the point of saving it and never using it? And don't call me sir. I'm John," he offered a big hand to the rabbit.

"Thank you, John. I'm Don," He offered his much smaller paw and John took it in both hands.

"No. Thank you for saving my daughter's life."

Julie Ann smiled, "I can drive you back."

"And I'll finish bandaging Belle. Its been a crazy morning and I'm sure my brother would have handled this much more efficiently."

"You did just fine, Doc." He pulled the rabbit in for a sudden, big hug, then turned to Belle, "I'll be right back, kitten. Don't you go anywhere."

"I wouldn't if I could... dad."

He put his hands on top of his head like ears and waved them at her.

The cat smiled and wiggled her ears back at him.

The big man turned to Julie Ann with tears in his eyes, "Okay, let's go."

They walked out to her car, leaving Don and Belle to stare at each other for a moment.

Mr Miller smirked at the little car for a moment before he opened the door and folded himself inside.

Julie Ann glanced over and saw the big man hunched over uncomfortably beside her, "I'm sorry. Do you want me to see if Don will let me borrow his truck?"

"No, I'm fine. Its a short trip."

"Are you sure?"

"Let's just go."

She started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

"How is she, really?"

"Oh, I'm not a doctor, but Don will take very good care of her."

"That's not what I meant. I know she's scared, because she's calling me dad."

She hesitated nervously, "Well, that may be some of my doing, too."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we were talking and she mentioned you and I asked why she didn't call you dad. She said it was because you deserved respect, but I suggested you might like being called dad; outside of work, of course."

John chuckled, "I do. I miss when she was a little kitten, small enough to curl up in my arms, so fuzzy and cute. I was her daddy, then. I never thought I'd love being a father this much, especially not with a morph child, but she won me. I can't imagine my life now without her."

"If you didn't want her at first, why did you marry her mother?"

"I'd known Karynn for years and finally got up the nerve to ask her to marry me after she came back from her vacation. I had no idea that Belle was already... It was a complete surprise to us both, especially when she was born with fur and a tail." He chuckled, "The doctor was really freaked when he saw that furry head coming out. I already knew I wasn't the father, because we were waiting and she found out she was pregnant just before the wedding." He took a deep breath and his tone changed, "She told me right there at the altar. My parents were upset, but I told her I didn't care and married her anyway."

Julie Ann listened quietly as the big man got lost in his memories while she drove.

"She told me the story about her trip and how the cat was so charming and attentive that she didn't realize how far she had gone until he was getting out of bed the next morning. I kind of understood. I played football in high school and sometimes, I would get so wrapped up in it, I would go from snap to tackle and have to think to remember how it happened."

"You should call her and tell her Belle's okay."

He sighed, "She, uh... we lost her a little over a year ago."

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to..."

"Its okay. I'm not surprised Belle didn't mention it. She took it pretty hard. We both did. They found the cancer early, but misdiagnosed it. When it started spreading quickly, reacting to the treatment opposite of what it should have, they finally figured out it was a different type, but by then... They said she was past the point that they could treat the kind she really had. She stayed for about three more months, just long enough to see her daughter graduate. Belle was going to go to college for writing or something. We used to make up stories together and she loved it, but when her mother died, so did her stories. I tried to comfort her, but it only seemed to make things worse. She couldn't stay at home anymore, that's why she moved to the store. She, uh..." he looked up as he realized the car wasn't moving and smirked, "I guess I talked all the way here."

Julie Ann smiled, "Its okay. I'm a good listener, just ask Belle."

He chuckled, "And she's a talker. Must've learned it from me. Let's get in and grab what we came for."

They got out and headed into the store.

Mr Miller unlocked his office and let Julie Ann in, "I'll go to the deli and have them get started on some lunch for all of us. You go pick out what you think she'll need until she can come home."

She nodded and hurried up the stairs to the small apartment. When she saw the mess on the bed, she froze. She had already seen Belle's injuries, but this made it seem even worse. She had been focused on helping her friend and not thinking too much about how it had happened. Even talking to the police officer, she had felt angry, not like this. Images of her own assault that morning rushed through her head, mixed with thoughts of Belle's. She held her arms tightly to her chest and squeezed her legs together, shivering as the memory of those four men assaulted her again. The bloody, disheveled sheet was a horrific background to the images. She wondered if they would have cut her and hurt her like Belle, if the police hadn't shown up when they did. She wondered if Belle would be better off if somebody had interrupted Randy. She watched in horror as the black-haired girl beat and raped and cut and burned her friend, wishing she could stop it from happening, then jumped as a large hand wrapped strongly around her shoulder.

"Are you okay?"

She looked at the hand, then up at the big man it was attached to and sighed in relief as the images left, "I'm okay. I'll be okay."

He frowned a little, knowing the first was a lie, "Let's grab her things and go. I don't want to spend more time thinking about how I found her than I have to."

He walked to the bathroom, where the closet was, but Julie Ann saw her friend's phone on the table. She walked over and picked it up, trying to focus on anything but the bed. There was a message. She wondered if she should read it and let them know what happened, or just leave it for Belle. Suddenly she remembered that the cat had been talking to their mutual friend, Robbie. She unlocked the phone and saw three messages from him. She pulled out her own phone and quickly sent him a message.

BunnyJAN [Are you there?]

She noticed the blouse and skirt still over the back of the chair and smiled, remembering her friend smiling.

Dit Da Dit [Yeah. Do you know what's up with Belle?]

B [Where are you?]

D [I'm at her store, but she's not at her register and she's not answering her phone.]

B [I have her phone. I'll be right down.]

D [You're here? What's going on?]

She put her phone in her pocket as John came out of the bathroom, holding a bag open.

"I got a few clothes together and her brush and toothbrush. I'm not sure what else she might need, what do you think?"

"Its fine. Take this, too," she grabbed the clothes from the chair and stuffed them in the bag with Belle's phone, then hurried to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"There's a friend downstairs," she hurried out and down the stairs, leaving him behind. She yanked open the office door and immediately started scanning the people as she walked past the registers.

"Julie Ann!" Robbie left his items on the belt and pushed past the man in front of him to run up to the redhead he recognized, "What's going on? Somebody said she was taken away in an ambulance?"

She hugged her friend, "I'm so sorry I didn't call you. Today has just been terrible. Randy attacked Belle last night and..."

"WHAT!?" He pushed her back to look at her face, "I was just talking to her last night."

"And I was here."

"You were? What happened?"

"I left and she started talking to you and her father said he was in his office until he locked the doors. We don't know how she got in."

"What did she do?"

"She... It was horrible," she fought back tears as she remembered all of Belle's injuries.

Robbie pulled her close again, "What room is she in at the hospital?"

"They wouldn't take her."

"Why not? Where is she?"

Mr Miller spoke behind them, "I called Dr Lem. She's at his house now."

"Dr Lem? That's your rabbit, right? Isn't he a veterinarian?"

Julie Ann stepped back and started to answer, but Mr Miller did instead, "Yes, but his brother is a morph doctor and he called him and he knew some EMTs that wouldn't turn her down."

"Turn her down? Why would they do that?"

"The first ones that came said she's an animal and the cops told me to call a vet, so I did; and I'm glad I picked Dr Lem. He took good care of her and even knew a police officer that treated her like a person."

"So they arrested Randy?"

"Not yet. He made the report, but they have to find her."

"If I knew where to find her, she wouldn't end up in jail. Where's Belle, now?"

Julie Ann finally got a word in, "She's at Don's place."

"I'll meet you there," he pushed past the small crowd that had gathered.

"Robbie, wait." Julie Ann started to follow, but a large hand stopped her.

Mr Miller handed her the bag, "Here, take this with you. Who was that?"

"A friend. I need to get there before he does," she hurried out with the bag.

"I'll head over once the food is ready."

"How is she, Mr Miller?" "What happened to her?" "Is she coming back?" "Was it Randy?" "Are you going to kill her?" "Did she do it because you fired her?" "Would she burn the store down?"

"ENOUGH!" The entire store fell silent, save for an instrumental rock song playing quietly over the speakers, "Carleigh, we'll have a meeting by the deli in 15. Pak, do you feel like helping me carry a table?"

"Sure. What's it for?"

"Payment for the doc. Don't worry, everyone, I'm not leaving without lunch. We'll be back. Come on, Pak," he headed for his office with the large, olive-skinned boy following behind.

Julie Ann shouted as Robbie sped past her and out of the parking lot. She hurried to her little car and drove faster than she liked, trying to keep up. She wondered how fast he was really going and why there were never any cops around when he drove. She lost him for a bit, but then stopped at a stop sign and he zipped past, he had gone the long way. She hurried after him and pulled into Don's driveway just as he was getting out of his car. She jumped out and caught him at the door, "Robbie, wait."

He stopped and stared at her, "What? I know its bad. That's why I'm here."

"Just let me go in first."

"Why? Blood doesn't bother me."

"How much time have you two spent together without a computer or cash register between you?"

He closed his mouth, but kept his annoyed smirk.

"Have you told her that you care this much about her, yet?"

His face fell, "She's a friend, of course I care about her."

Now she had the smirk, "I'm your friend, but you wouldn't drive like that if you heard I had been attacked."

"You don't know. I might."

The smirk was relentless.

"Okay, I care about her. Can I see her now?"

"Hold on, I've got to get her bag," she ran back to her car and grabbed the bag for Belle, then back to open the door. When they were in, she closed the door and grabbed his arm, whispering sharply, "Wait here."

He started to object, but she silenced him with a glare. He found another topic as she headed for the hall, "What happened to that table in the kitchen?"

She stopped, then walked back to him and stood on her toes, negating the two inches of height he had over her, to glare nose to nose into his eyes and whisper harshly, "That's where four men tried to rape me this morning, but I'm not hurt, so let's go bother Belle." She turned away, but he grabbed her arm.

"What? Wait a second. Why didn't you say that sooner? Are you okay?"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?"

"Yeah. I did and its not okay," he wrapped her in a comforting hug.

Julie Ann fell apart in his arms. He hadn't hugged her in over two years; she hadn't seen him since then, and she forgot how magical his hugs were. There was no ulterior motive and the world just disappeared. Her breath caught in her throat as she tried not to sob.

"You're my friend and I do care about you, never forget that."

A tall gray rabbit morph stepped to the end of the hall to look at them.

"Uh, you must be Do... Dr Lem."

Julie Ann turned and tried to wipe her tears away, but they kept falling, "Don, I'm not okay."

He stepped up and took her from the boy as she started crying again against his chest.

Robbie looked uncomfortably at the strange, large rabbit, "Um, I'm here to see Belle."

"She needs rest."

"I know. I won't bother her."

The rabbit tipped his head to the hall, "First door on the left."

Robbie started to go, but stopped and grabbed the bag, then put his hand on his friend's back, unsure of how to help her, and headed where the rabbit had directed.

Don moved to the sofa and sat down with Julie Ann lost in tears against him.

"Why am I such a mess? They didn't do anything."

"They did do something. They attacked you in my home and you were scared for your life. That's a lot."

"But the police stopped them before they raped me, so nothing happened. I'm sorry about your table."

He squeezed her, "It's just a table."

"Not anymore."

He chuckled, "I'm just glad they didn't break you."

"I'd probably feel better if they had. At least then I'd know why I felt bad. I still feel scared, like they're still here, and I feel like they took something, but I don't know what it is."

"Its okay. I'm sure I would have been scared, too."

"No you wouldn't. You would have kicked their asses."

"I don't know. Four big men with guns in my kitchen? Its a lot harder to fight in small spaces, but if I had come in while they were attacking you, I would have made a go of it. At least until you could get away."

"I wouldn't leave you like that."

He hugged her, "If it happens again, I want you to. Get away and call the police. Then I can try to escape. As long as you're there, I'd have to keep fighting."

"Oh, I hadn't thought of it that way."

"Well, now we have a plan. I hope we never have to use it."

she hugged her rabbit, "You make me feel so much safer."

"I'm glad. We should check on your friends."

"Oh," she suddenly pictured them in the throes of passion, despite her injuries, "Yeah, we should check on them."

They got up and she clung to his middle as they walked side by side.

Robbie stood in the middle of the room, watching his injured feline friend sleep. She had bandages wrapped around her torso and was covered up to her ribs with a light sheet. He wanted to wake her with a kiss and make her all better, but Julie Ann was right, they weren't at that point in their relationship. He loved talking with her and she was a beautiful cat, but could they ever be together? He thought about Julie Ann and her rabbit. Were they right to hide their love? Most of his friends liked morphs, but there were still plenty of people that would have a problem with it, including his parents.

Belle moved, then grunted and turned her head. She stared at the man standing in the dim room for a while before she recognized him and pulled the sheet up to her chin, "Robbie? No! Oh no, I look horrible. Why are you here?"

He stepped up and knelt beside her bed, "I'm here for you. I heard what happened and had to make sure you're okay. Is this what you didn't want to talk about last night?"

"No," she looked away, then back to him, "Kind of. Robbie, I'm sorry."

"Why should you be sorry?"

"I should have told you what was going on with Randy."

"Its okay. You don't have to tell me anything you don't want to."

"No, I want to. I just didn't want you to not like me anymore."

"That could never happen. I care for you."

She smiled, remembering Julie Ann's words "I want you to care about me."

"Belle, I do because I love you," finally saying it seemed to release a flood of emotion.

Her breath caught in her throat, "But..."

"I don't care what anybody else thinks anymore. I want you to know before its too late. I love you, Belle Miller."

She started to cry, "Robbie... I'm so sorry."

"What?" he suddenly wondered if he had waited too long and she had decided she preferred girls.

"I'm sorry I let her make me ugly."

His relief broke all his tension, "Oh Belle, you could never be ugly."

"But she tore my ear and broke my nose and my tail and my..." she looked down.

He reached up to touch her ear, then slid his hand down her cheek and smiled as he looked into her eyes, "In her jealousy, she may have tried to take your beauty from you, but she never could have. As beautiful as you still are on the outside, you're a thousand times more beautiful on the inside. Its you that I love, not just your gorgeous, soft fur or your fabulous blue eyes or your tantalizing whiskers, but the you I talk to and care about."

She stuttered as her emotions clashed between morbid depression and overwhelming joy, "But... she... broke... me..."

"You're not broken. You just need time to heal and I'll be here for you. If you're not strong enough, I'll carry you. And if I ever see her again, she'll be the one that's broken."

"No, Robbie. Let the police do it. If you go after her, they'll take you instead."

"You're right. I would much rather spend my time with you."

They smiled at each other a moment, then he leaned down and kissed her lips. She began to purr and returned the kiss, but when she reached up to hold him, pain reminded her of her situation. She tried to continue, but he stopped her.

"Didn't you say you weren't going to bother her?"

Robbie turned with a guilty expression, but Belle defended him, "He's not bothering me, he's helping me feel better."

Don chuckled, "That's a different kind of medicine."

Julie Ann smiled, "I could use some of that medicine."

Don put his fingers under her chin and leaned around to kiss her lips. She was taken by surprise, but held his furry arm and continued the kiss a little longer before he pulled away.

"So, are you two official now?"

"They're getting married."

"Oh really?! Well congratulations!" Robbie got up and stepped across the room with his hand out.

Don shook his hand, then Julie Ann hugged him and whispered in his ear, "Thank you."

He pulled back to look at her, "For what?"

"For being my friend. I never would have had the strength to make this real without the support from friends like you and Belle. I wouldn't have even met Don if you hadn't suggested veterinary instead of nursing," her brain put some pieces together, "Then when the school said I'd need to set up my own internship and the clinic turned me down, you suggested I offer to deliver Don's groceries as a way to meet him. Did you plan this?"

The rabbit gave Robbie a curious glance.

"Well, Belle had mentioned the trouble you were getting when you came to town."

"I didn't say somebody needed to deliver to him."

He smiled at his cat, "No, but I saw an opportunity for two people to help each other."

Don smiled, "Well, if that's true, then we owe you even more thanks."

A horn honked outside before any more could be said.

"That would be John with lunch," Julie Ann ducked under Don's arm and headed for the front door.

"Behave yourselves in here, kids," Don winked and followed.

Mr Miller was putting the lift-gate down on the back of his truck when they came out, "I hope its not too big. I can help you put it together, just give me a hand getting it in the door."

Don jogged ahead of Julie Ann and she stopped to watch his tail bounce by, "This should be just fine, thank you very much."

John lifted the table out of the truck, with the legs strapped to the bottom, then Don grabbed the other end and they carried it into the house. Julie Ann watched her rabbit's body flexing as it went by and imagined it without his coveralls.

"Hey Jules, the food is on the seat, if you want to grab it."

She blushed as Mr Miller brought her back to reality, then grabbed the box of food and followed them to the kitchen. She set it on the counter and watched as they cleared the pieces of the old table. Don put them just outside the back door and noticed her staring when he turned around. He walked up and wrapped his furry arms around her and she leaned against him.

"Should I give you two a moment?"

"She's still a little shaken from this morning."

"Oh, don't worry. The officer said they won't be getting out this time."

She stood up, staying close to her rabbit, "But they're not the only ones that think that way."

"What way, drunk?"

"They want Don to leave because he's a morph."

"Well, we don't want that."

"A lot of people around here do."

"I'd bet you there are more that don't."

"I don't know."

"I'll prove it to you. Let's get this table put together, then I'll head back to the store. I've got some work to do," he unstrapped the legs and started attaching one.

Julie Ann hugged Don, both wondering what the big man was planning, then he knelt down to help put the table together, while she found some plates to prepare their late lunch. When they finished the table and turned it up on its legs, she set two plates of food on it.

"Now that's how you celebrate a job well done," John pulled a chair up and sat down to eat.

"I'll take some in to Belle and Robbie," she started down the hall with a couple more plates of food.

"I need to meet this Robbie," Mr Miller stood up to follow her.

She stopped in the hall and turned to face him with a stern whisper, "They've known each other for a long time, but both were afraid to admit their feelings. Give them some time to get acquainted with this new relationship before you start playing father. He's a good man."

He held up a big hand defensively, "I promise not to scare him off on purpose."

She continued to the room, but stopped in the doorway. Robbie was sitting on the floor beside the bed, tenderly kissing Belle's lips.

"Looks like they're already pretty acquainted"

Robbie turned and Belle blushed, "Hi, daddy. This is Robbie. He's a friend."

"I see," he thought back to when she had said that about Randy.

"I brought you something to eat," she stepped ahead of him with the plates.

Robbie got up and took the plates, giving both to Belle, then turned back to Mr Miller, offering his hand, "Its good to finally meet you."

He took the boy's hand in a firm grasp, "I've seen you at the store. You always use Belle's lane."

Robbie blushed deeply, feeling caught in the big man's strong hand and stern gaze, "Yeah, I, well, ... Yeah."

Julie Ann smirked, she'd never known him to be speechless.

Mr Miller laughed, "I'm glad she has some good friends. Its just a shame you didn't step up before Randy."

"Dad!"

"Sorry, kitten. She made me uncomfortable from the start, but I gave her a chance. If I'd known she was this bad, I would have pushed harder, but I think if you knew, you wouldn't have gotten involved with her."

"No, I didn't want this. I just liked the good parts."

Robbie knelt down beside the bed and put a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, kitten. I'm sure you've got lots more 'good parts' ahead for you."

"I'm gonna go have some lunch. Do you two need anything else?"

Belle had already finished her plate and was working on Robbie's, "More pea salad, please."

Her father laughed, "That's why I brought two quarts: one for Belle and one for everybody else."

"I'll have to try some. I'll be back with more," Julie Ann headed back to the kitchen.

Mr Miller spoke as she left, "I should get back to the store; I have some things to do. Do you need me to bring you anything else, kitten?"

Don watched her come in and quietly fix herself a plate, then turn and realize there were only two seats. He stood up and offered her his place. She set her food on the table, then hugged him. He held her quietly until she slid down into the seat, then he stood behind her, gently rubbing her neck and shoulders. She stared at the food and tried some, but even though she was hungry and it tasted good, she didn't feel like eating. She just wanted to curl up in her rabbit's embrace and cry everything away.

"Alright, I'm heading out. Let me know if she needs anything, or you need anything, or anything. I'll come back by tomorrow to see her."

Julie Ann looked up, startled, as Mr Miller came out of the hallway.

"Just give me a call first and thanks again for the table," Don stepped around and offered his paw.

The big man shook the paw with a smile, "No problem, Doc. You take care of my kitten and my world is yours."

"John, don't worry about it. Doc Tanner keeps this place afloat. You don't need to break your bank to show your gratitude."

"Oh, I haven't even begun to repay you and believe me, this is going to be as big for me as it is for you," With a punctuating point of his big finger, he headed out the front door, leaving Don and Julie Ann to wonder what he meant.

Don chuckled uncomfortably, "Well, I'm going to check on our guests, you can take it easy for a bit." He walked down the hall, but stopped in the doorway. Robbie was sitting on the floor beside the bed, gently stroking Belle's good ear as he spoke softly to her. Even from across the room, he could hear the cat's purring, so he turned and opened the door to his room, closing it quietly behind.

Molly watched her mate come in and thumped her tail on the bed.

Don smiled, but kept his voice low, "There you are. I was wondering where you were hiding. Its been a stressful couple of days for you. How are you holding up?" He knelt by the bed and stroked her neck, leaning down to nuzzle her nose.

Molly turned her head away and huffed.

"Not talking to me? I'm sorry I wasn't here when those men came, but I'm glad you're okay." He scritched behind her ear, but she didn't respond. "Okay, I'm going to use the loo; we'll try again when I come back." He noticed the desk out of place as he headed to the bathroom, then saw the rug pulled aside and stopped in the doorway. He chuckled and stepped in to kneel at the door in the floor. There were scratches around the edge and he guessed what happened, "Were you trying to tell her how to get away?"

Molly peeked in the door

He smiled at her, "Good girl. You knew what to do. I should have shown Julie Ann, but things have moved so fast. I never thought something like this would happen to her."

The golden lab walked over and put her paw on the rabbit morph's knee.

Don rubbed her head, "Thank you for trying to protect her, you're both important to me." He scritched around to her chin, then lifted it up to kiss her lips. She licked back and he hugged her, then stood up. "Alright, let me drain this and then you probably need to go, too." he used the toilet, then stopped in thought on his way out. "Hey, Molly, let's have some fun." He unlatched the door and lifted it up, then climbed down to the basement. He helped Molly down and then closed the door.

The lab took off down the hallway to the barn, up and out to take care of her business.

Don laughed and headed for the kitchen door.

Julie Ann was slowly finishing her meal and trying to settle her nerves. Her emotions had been on a roller coaster all day, all week, even. Though, she definitely felt safer with Don. She watched the hall for him to come back. Even knowing he was nearby gave her a comforting feeling. She felt like he was behind her, his strong arms and legs ready to defend her and his gentle paws soothingly stroking her neck. She started to lose herself in the image of those paws touching her neck. She reached up and found his paws actually there, "Don! How did you get back there?"

"Come on, I'll show you," he led her back down to the basement and around a small wall at the base of the stairs to a set of thick shelves stocked with cans and hidden from the door. He smiled at her, then climbed up the shelves and pushed up the floor. He continued up, then turned and offered his paw back down, "Come on up."

She climbed up after him and took his paw to step out of the hole in the floor and into the bathroom.

Don closed the door behind her.

"I wish I'd known about that this morning."

He touched the scratches on the floor, "Molly was trying to tell you."

"I thought she was trying to get out. I feel so stupid."

"No, you didn't know about this. I should have shown you sooner."

"You didn't know I'd be here alone and those men would come back. I remember you mentioning this before, but I didn't think about it when I needed it."

He wrapped his arms around her comfortingly, "You were scared. At least you thought to call the police."

"Yeah, I'm glad they came in time. They could have done a lot worse ... like Belle. How are they doing?" she left the bathroom and he followed.

"She was purring when I looked in on them."

Julie Ann laughed, "That means she's happy. She asked me if you purr."

"No, but if you find the right spot, my nose wiggles."

"Oh? What spot?" she stopped short by the bed and started testing different parts of his body.

He retaliated with some prodding of his own, "I'm not going to make it that easy for you; and no asking my family, that would be cheating."

"I'm looking forward to meeting them. Do you keep in touch?" she leaned against him and stroked his chest.

"Well, my brother helped me with Belle and I called my mother just last night." he wrapped his arms around her again.

"Did you tell them about me?"

"Sort of."

"What do you mean?"

"Ed had already guessed and mentioned I was interested in somebody up here, but my mum assumed you're a rabbit."

"Did you tell her I'm human?"

"Not exactly."

"Would she be upset?"

"Well, she doesn't preach the Rules, but her mum is a rabid follower and her father wrote them."

"What rules?"

Don sighed and let go of her, "The Rabbit Rules, written by Walter Elliot, a human that liked rabbits so much, he wanted to fill the world with them. He was a sick man that had sex with any rabbit that would submit to him, which meant a lot of young, innocent bunnies. He got a lot of rabbits following him because of his flattery and how much he encouraged sex, then spent time in jail for seducing one a little too young. I don't remember all the rules, but some of them made sense, like don't have sex with family. The first one was only mate with rabbits. Which is funny because every bunny he got pregnant broke that one with him. There's one about having as many kids as you can. There's one about being nice to everybody, so everybody likes rabbits. I don't remember the rest, but I'm sure you could find them online."

"Do you follow the Rabbit Rules?"

He put his arm around her and smiled, "I'll be breaking the big one by marrying you, so what do you think?"

"How many brothers and sisters do you have?" she was remembering her conversation with Anthea.

"That's a difficult question. I think the last count I heard was thirty-six."

"You're not sure?"

"That's thirty-six actual brothers and sisters. Then there were nieces and nephews that came along and I think I have some half-siblings and then there's all the other bunny kids from the neighborhood. I'm not sure which of those were related and which weren't."

"Wow, I can't imagine that. How did your parents afford all those children?"

"Another part of the rules says rabbits help rabbits, so its like one big community all helping out. Lots of doctors and lawyers and anything you could need."

"Wow."

"I haven't scared you off, have I? 'Cause that's all down there. You won't find much of it up here."

"Is that why you came to America? To get away from the Rabbit Rules?"

"Well, it did seem a bit crowded, but I was looking for adventure up here. This is like a wild frontier for morphs, still dangerous, even with all the progress."

She leaned against him again, remembering the day, "I noticed. Are we just asking for trouble?"

He kissed her head and rubbed her back, "Its alright to be scared, but that's why we want to go forward. We have to teach the savages that our love is okay."

She smiled and toyed with the button of his coveralls, "Its more than okay."

"Well, they don't have to be happy for us, but I'd rather they didn't try to kill us for it."

She remembered the assaults and hugged her rabbit, "Yeah."

He hugged her and sighed, "Since I've killed the mood, why don't we go interrupt theirs. I should check her bandages."

"Alright," she squeezed him one more time as she shrugged off her thoughts, then turned to the door.

"Julie Ann?"

She turned back and he caught her lips in a kiss. When he released her, she smiled, feeling much better. Don opened the door and they saw Robbie sitting on the floor with his head on Belle's shoulder and his hand on her head.

"Don't they make a nice couple?"

"He seems to care about her."

"I think they'll be really good for each other. He can take care of her and she can inspire him and they can have cute little kittens."

"Aren't you rushing them a bit?"

"I'm ready to have bunnies for you. However many you want."

Don rubbed her back nervously, "Let's just worry about getting married before we repopulate Pennsylvania with rabbits."

Robbie lifted his head as he woke up, "What are we talking about?"

Don stepped into the room, "We were just coming in to check on Belle's bandages."

"Oh," he stood up, giving the cat's head one more rub before he stepped out of the way, "I've been watching and none of them are bleeding through."

"That's a good sign, but I should look a little closer," Don stepped up and knelt by the bed.

"She fell asleep while I was talking and I guess I did, too," he stretched and Julie Ann admired how much he looked like Don. He smirked when he noticed her staring and chuckled nervously, "What?"

Feeling caught, she tried to change the subject, "Oh, I was just thinking you look happier."

He got defensive, "What? I'm not happy to see her like this."

"No. I mean, you usually look like you have something else on your mind, but now you look ... relaxed. Is she what you've been thinking so much about for so long?"

He looked at the cat as she slowly woke up to the doctor's prodding and smiled, "Maybe. My parents have always been on me about my future and I never really liked the direction they were happy with." He looked at Julie Ann with a glowing smile, "I think I know what I'm going to do with my life now."

"Well, that should make your parents happy."

He laughed, "No. No, it won't, but I don't care. I love this cat and I hate that some people think she's not the person that she is. I'm going to become an advocate for morphs. I want to change people's minds. Its not right that they wouldn't even take care of her when she needed help. Morphs are people, too, and Americans need to wake up and learn to treat them with the respect they deserve. There are already groups changing laws to protect morphs, but that's just paper. We need to change how they think about morphs. From the EMTs and police, all the way down to the people that wouldn't use her lane at the grocery store."

"That sounds ambitious. How are you going to do it?"

"I already have most of this business degree done, so I'll finish it, then go back to learn about marketing and advertising and psychology and anything about affecting how people think. It'll seem like a natural addition. I'll contact some of the existing groups and find out what their goals and plans are and see what I can do to help. I know you're still busy with your own school, so I'll let you know what I find out. I'm sure you'll want to do what you can to help, since we're in the same boat."

"I don't know. I don't want to make more trouble by drawing attention to us."

"You're marrying a rabbit morph and having his bunny babies in the middle of nowhere PA. Trouble will find you. And if we do it right, you wouldn't be the center of attention. We just slip morphs into commercials and shows and ads and online and everywhere. Let people get comfortable with casually seeing morphs until its not a big deal when they see them in person; until they're no longer afraid of them."

Belle giggled, "He's ready to take on the world for me, but not ready to get married yet."

"I told you, if we get married too soon, people will think its impulsive and not take us seriously. We'll wait a little while, then announce it and plan it the wedding and show them we're serious."

Don spoke up, "Well, while you're waiting, could you step outside while I examine her further?"

"No, I..." Belle started to say she didn't mind, but then realized she didn't want to just play with Robbie and it mattered how he saw her, so she just nodded.

"Okay. Definitely. I'll just go out to the kitchen. I could use something to drink," he awkwardly stepped past Julie Ann and out of the room.

She gave Don a wink and followed Robbie to the kitchen, "There's the distracted Robbie I'm used to."

"Huh? No, I'm just thinking about all the things I have to do," he opened cabinets, looked inside and closed them.

Julie Ann opened a cabinet he had already looked in, pulled out a cup and handed it to him.

"Thanks," he stared at it for a moment, then filled it at the sink. "What am I doing, Bunny?" he stopped and looked up at her with a smile, "It seems weird calling you that now. Did you ever think you'd be marrying a rabbit?"

She laughed as she thought back to the third grade when they met and the spring play where they were Mr and Mrs Easter Bunny, "You were the only Mr Bunny for me. I was pretty sure we were both going to be alone until I met Don. Thank you for that, by the way."

"You're definitely welcome. It worked out for me, too. If you weren't with Don, I probably wouldn't be able to spend time with Belle like this. I would be home alone, wondering what happened to her. So, thank you."

She smiled as her mind wandered where she didn't want it to go, "Robbie, are we the freaks for falling in love with morphs? With animals."

He put the cup down and stepped up to hug her, "Hey, don't you think that. Love is a special thing and we're lucky to have found it."

"Do you think we would have made a good couple?" she laid her head against his chest.

He held her close and rested his chin on her head, "I think that, without Don and Belle, if we found each other again, we might have tried, but we don't have the right kind of love to make it work."

"What kind does it take?"

"Free, devoted, undemanding..."

She lifted her head and looked at him, "I don't expect anything from you."

He smiled, "And I only expect you to be my friend."

"So, why wouldn't it work?"

"Because... We're not _in_love."

"What's the difference?"

He struggled to think of something, but everything that he could think of wasn't true. He cared about her, he thought she was beautiful, he wanted to kiss her, he would drop most anything if she needed him. What was missing? He really wanted to kiss her. He stretched his neck and she did too. Their lips met and it was comforting. They deepened the kiss and it was a dozen years of tension finally released.

Don cleared his throat.

Robbie quickly pushed away from Julie Ann, "I'm sorry. I'm not trying to ... I'm sorry."

"Belle would like you and some more pea salad."

"Right," he grabbed the other quart from the counter and awkwardly ducked past the tall rabbit and down the hall.

Don kept his eyes on Julie Ann, "Is everything okay?"

She hoped her blush would fade soon, "Yeah, we just got ... a little emotional."

"Its been a stressful day. Maybe you should go home and get some rest."

"Don, I'm not interested in Robbie like that. I've known him longer than I've known my brother, we're just close."

"We can talk about it tomorrow, when we're both feeling better."

"Don, I'm sorry."

He walked up and put his paws on her shoulders, "Go home. Get some sleep." He put his paws on her cheeks and kissed her lips, then patted her shoulders with a weak smile and started cleaning up.

Julie Ann slowly smiled as the surprise wore off, then started helping clean.

"Don't worry about this, I can take care of it. Just go home. Drive safe. I want to see you back tomorrow. We need to visit a pregnant cow. She's about a week overdue now and I haven't been by to check on her." He put the leftovers in the fridge and walked past her to rinse the plates in the sink.

Robbie came out of the hall, "Um, I'm gonna go. To my house. Alone. Oh god, that sounds even worse. I'm just gonna go." He waved to Julie Ann and hurried out the door.

"Bye Robbie," she waved sheepishly as he left. "I guess I should say good night to Belle and leave, too."

Don didn't answer as he took his time tidying the kitchen.

Julie Ann walked back to Belle's room and the cat was scraping the bottom of the container with her spoon.

"I love this stuff. Its so good. And its so simple to make. Its just peas and cream of chicken soup and three shredded cheeses. They won't let me in the deli, but I make my own upstairs. I don't think they'd have any left to sell if I took theirs. But its funny, somehow things just taste better when somebody else makes them."

"Belle."

"I don't know why that is. Maybe its because you just..."

"Belle."

"Hmm?"

"I'm gonna go home now."

"You, too? Think you can trust me alone with your rabbit?"

"You do seem to be feeling better, but I doubt you'll be ready to fool around again for quite a while. Besides, Molly's here to protect him."

"Who's Mol... Oh yeah, the dog. Do you think he fools around with her?"

"Don't be silly. Just get some rest and I'll be back in the morning."

"Robbie said he's coming back, too. He only has a late class on Friday. I'm all giddy about seeing him again. I never felt that way with Randy. I just knew we were going to play around and I looked forward to it, but this is different. I know we can't fool around, but I still want to see him. Its like with you, but so much more. I just can't put it into words. I feel so ... much, when he's here with me."

When she mentioned Robbie, guilt rose up and Julie Ann started to feel like she should tell her friend that she just kissed her boyfriend, "Belle?"

"Hmm?"

"I kissed Robbie."

The sudden change caught the cat off guard, "What?"

"Well, he kissed me, but I kissed back, and ... I'm sorry."

"He's a good kisser, isn't he?"

"You're not mad?"

She laughed, "No. He told me you were talking about old times and he kissed you just when Don walked in. He left because he felt like he'd burned out his welcome for today."

"Don didn't kick him out."

"I know. He didn't want to push it that far, because he wants to be able to come back."

"He kicked me out."

"What?!" she started to sit up, but her ribs reminded her not to.

"He said I need to go home and get some rest."

Belle relaxed and smiled, "Don't scare me like that."

"I'm sorry. He was just so cold, I'm scared he's having second thoughts about marrying me. I didn't mean to hurt him. It just ... happened."

"You're both kind of irresistible. I've wanted to kiss Robbie since I first saw him and I still want to kiss you. I'm sure Don knows how irresistible you are and understands."

"I just hope I haven't ruined things when we were so close."

"You still want him, right?"

"Of course."

"Then you're getting married. I've already got plans and you're gonna love 'em."

"But what if he doesn't want me anymore."

"Oh, he does, no doubt about it."

"How do you know?"

"I talked him into kissing me."

"Belle!"

"There was nothing there. He kissed me like he was saying goodnight to his sister. I asked him about you and I could just see how much he wants you. And not just your body. You were telling me about love, well he's got it. If you told him you were marrying Robbie or joining the circus, he'd support you, just so you'd be happy."

"But I don't want to marry Robbie."

"Good, 'cause I don't want to have to fight you to the death for him," she shook her bandaged paw at her friend with a smile, then hugged it to her chest.

"I do love Robbie, like your father loves you."

"So you don't want to have sex with him?"

She didn't want to lie, but the truth wasn't the truth, "Well, he is an irresistible sexy beast, but I'm immune to his charms."

"Ooo, maybe we can get Don to join in and we can all play together some day."

"You just file that thought away under 'You're dreaming'"

"Mmm, sounds like a nice dream."

"You are one crazy cat. I'm gonna go now, so we don't have to talk about that."

Belle grinned, "Are you going to give me a goodnight kiss?"

Julie Ann smirked, then leaned over and kissed the cat on her head.

"Aw, come on, you gave Robbie a better one than that. Its just a kiss."

She frowned as she remembered how much trouble that kiss caused her, but sighed and decided that it wasn't the first time she'd kissed her friend and probably wouldn't be the last. She leaned over again and pressed her lips to those feline ones. Belle responded and she held the kiss a little longer before she stood up again.

The cat licked her lips with a smile, "Mmm, three kisses to dream about tonight and you'll all be here tomorrow when I wake up."

"I won't be kissing you good morning."

"Aw. Well, Robbie will."

"Goodnight, Belle."

"Goodnight, Julie Ann."

She closed the door as she left and found Don still standing at the sink.

When he noticed her, he turned off the water and put the two plates in the drying rack, "So, I'll see you tomorrow."

She stared at his back for a moment, missing stroking his tail and ears, then he turned around and she remembered to answer, "Yeah, I'll be here 6:30."

"Make it 7 to give Belle a little more time to sleep." He wanted her to have more sleep, as well.

"Seven? Okay." She felt like he was pushing her away, giving her less time to be with him. "I'll be here." She left with one last glace at him before she shut the door. She got in her car, on the verge of tears. They had decided to get married, but he was pulling away from her. He wanted to see her again, but not as early as usual. She knew she shouldn't have kissed Robbie, especially not in Don's house. Was everything falling apart or were they still okay?

She pulled out her phone and started sending messages. The first one went to Anthea, letting her know everything that had happened. The next went to Robbie, apologizing and thanking him. She sent Belle a goodnight. She sent her mother a message saying she was on her way. Finally she wrote a message to Don, apologizing again. Then she looked up and remembered that she was still in his driveway, so she started her car and headed home.

Don sighed. His mind was a mess. He still couldn't figure out what he had just seen. The boy said they weren't in love; was he talking about him and Julie Ann or him and Belle or him and somebody else? But then he kissed Julie Ann; was he trying to seduce her? They were both human; was he foolish to think she could resist the natural urge to mate with her own species? How could he be upset with her after he had just kissed Belle. His was innocent, why should he assume hers wasn't? He looked down and Molly was staring up at him.

"Oh, you didn't eat yet, did you?" He opened the fridge and looked for something for her. He pulled out a container from lunch, "Well this looks like a treat for you. It says 'BBQ Beef.'" he put some in a bowl and set it down for her, then watched her enjoy it. "Its easy to know where I stand with you. As long as I feed you, you love me."

She looked up at him, licking her lips over the empty bowl.

Don laughed and picked up the bowl, then put the container back in the fridge, washed the bowl and headed back to his room. He stopped at the closed door and opened it. Belle was smiling at him, so he leaned in, "Do you need anything?"

She timidly nodded.

He walked in and leaned down to her level.

She whispered, "I need to pee."

"Oh. I guess you would since you've been laying down all day."

"All night too," she interjected.

"I'm sorry I didn't think of it sooner. Do you think you can walk?"

"My legs are okay."

He helped her sit up, then after a moment of rest, she stood up, clinging to him. He led her to the bathroom in the hall and sat her down on the toilet, then unwrapped the bandages for her, "I really wasn't thinking about this when I wrapped these."

"Its okay," she couldn't resist reaching out to stroke his ears.

He pulled the last of the bandage out of the way and stared at her. His body was reacting to her touch, but he was not in the mood to go with it.

She pulled her hand back as she released a flood, "I'm sorry. You just have such beautiful ears."

He sighed and put the bandage on the counter, avoiding looking at her.

She watched his solemn expression as she finished, "I'm not trying to take you away from Julie Ann, I promise. She's a good friend. You're just the first other morph I've seen in person, since I was little."

He looked to see if she was serious and her face said she was. He couldn't think of what to say to that, "I ... I'm sorry."

"Do you know many other morphs?"

"I grew up in Perrin, in Western Australia."

Her face brightened, "Oh, that's one of the morph cities. How many did you know?"

He laughed and pointed to the roll of toilet paper hanging on the wall, "That's a difficult question, about like asking how many humans you know in America."

She pulled some off to use, "About thirty."

He was taken by surprise, "Oh, I guess you haven't gotten out much."

"No, I stay in the store mostly. I see a lot of humans shopping, but I don't know most of them."

"Its about the same with morphs down there. Lots of people that don't talk to each other."

"Are there any humans?"

"Of course, but there are more morphs."

"Do they get picked on for being different?"

"Not usually for being human, but there are bullies everywhere. Are you ready to go back to bed?"

She nodded, "Are there any cats like me down there?"

He leaned down and wrapped an arm around her, letting her cling to his neck as he helped her to her feet again and they walked back to the room, "Some. It was mostly rabbits where I grew up. I had five older brothers; five older sisters; my twin brother, Ed; and twenty-some younger siblings. Most of the neighbors were rabbits and had about as many kids, each." The room was darker than when they left, so he turned on the light.

"Wow. I can't even imagine having a family that big. It must be wonderful."

He laughed as he set her gently on the bed and helped her lay down, "I wouldn't go that far. It was nice having somebody around that could help you with anything and I miss that here, but it was a lot of personalities to keep track of and always noisy."

"The store gets noisy when we're busy, so I understand that, but what do you mean by keeping track of personalities?"

He pulled a chair from a desk under the window to sit by the bed, "Well, Van liked to tinker with electronics, but hated computer games. Bran was always coding something, but wasn't interested in the hardware. Dee liked racing games, but wasn't interested in fixing cars, like Ton was. Cera and Ceder like looking the same, but Cal and Centa hate it. Fred likes making clothes, but doesn't care about fashion like Ort and I don't think anybody has a unique sense of style like Da. Then there's favorite colors and foods and shows and games and anything else somebody could like or hate."

"How do you keep track of it all?"

He laughed, "I don't. Our parents had us decorate our own beds and it helped us remember what everyone liked. If you wanted anybody to remember something about you, you put it on your bed or wore something." He laughed again, "Winda is still making herself known. I called yesterday and she had dyed all her fur bright pink. She wants to be a style designer and is trying things out."

Belle giggled, "I think I'd like her. My mom was very particular about me keeping my fur looking nice and wearing clothes that made me look sophisticated. I wanted to shave it all off and do anything I could to look more human. Now, I like my fur. I'm still getting to know all my stripes and spots that I used to wish would disappear. Do you have any spots?"

"No, I'm gray all over."

"But its a nice gray," she brushed her fingers through the fur on his arm.

Don stood up and headed for the door, "Well, you should get some more sleep. I need to get some myself."

"Don."

He stopped at the door and waited.

"I don't want to be alone tonight. Can you sleep with me?"

"I don't think that would be a very good idea."

"But I don't want to be alone."

He turned around, "I'll leave the door open and I'm just across the hall. You're not alone."

She was still afraid of how she would feel when he left, but knew he wouldn't give in, "Can I have a goodnight kiss?"

"I already gave you one. Goodnight, Belle." He turned off the light and walked across the hall to his own room, leaving her to watch through the doorway.

Molly was waiting for him on the bed and she wagged her tail when she saw him.

He rubbed between her ears and sat down at his desk. The tablet was laying on the keyboard, everything was shuffled around and some things were on the floor. He picked everything up and put it back in place, but something still wasn't right. He stood up and realized that the desk was a few inches left of where it usually sat. He chuckled and moved it back, then sat down and stared at the screen. A couple dozen messages were waiting and a third were from his mother. He needed to know why it was so urgent, so he played the last one from just five minutes before.

[His mother was on the screen, "Windon, I ..." she gave an exasperated sigh, "I don't know why I'm even doing this. You're not going to see this and you're not going to call me because you're dead."

He heard his father in the background, "May, stop."

She looked off to the side, "Well, why won't he answer and let me know he's alright?"

"It has only been four hours since you sent the first one. Give him a chance. He's probably taking care of his patient."

"He doesn't have patients, he's not a doctor. Those monsters probably killed him for helping her."

"He's not dead, May. You kept telling him he should help morphs more and now he is. Be proud of that."

"I know, but a cat?"

"May, we're all in this together."

She started to cry, "I know, but they need more rabbits up there, then it would be a nicer place."

"He's fine, May, say goodbye."

"Goodbye? But you just said he's fine." she groaned and bent over, "Oh, Van, I think I'm in labor."

His father leaned in front of the screen, "Call your mother." and ended the call.]

Don stared at the screen, he hadn't even heard that his mother was pregnant again. He thought they were stopping after losing one last year. Then he remembered what else she had said and looked across the hall to see Belle's eyes shining in the darkness, "I'm sorry you had to hear that. She doesn't actually hate cats, she just wants me to find a rabbit to make bunnies with."

"Its okay. I've been called worse. It sounds like you should call your mother."

"Yeah," He hesitated a bit, then started the call. There was no answer. He hung up without leaving a message and sent one to Winda.

WindonLem [What's going on with ma?]

DaBeauty [We're on the way to the hospital. Dad says the baby didn't turn all the way around in time.]

W [Isn't that what happened last time?]

D [That's why we're going to the hospital. Dad thinks they can save him.]

W [I hope so. I don't think mum could take losing another.]

D [She wants to talk to you.]

W [Alright, but you should plug your phone in to do it.]

A moment later, a call came in and he answered it, "Hi, mum."

"Windon! What happened? Ed said you were taking care of a morph that got attacked and you wouldn't answer when I called; I was scared they'd gotten you, too. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine, ma."

"That's what your father keeps saying, but those Americans are so dangerous for morphs."

"Not all of them, ma. They attacked another human."

"See, they're even dangerous to their own species."

Ma, these were just bad people."

"Yes, they are. You need more rabbits up there, then things would be better."

"Ma, what about Kevin from up the road?"

"Don't bring him into this. There was something wrong with that rabbit."

"There was something wrong with these people, too. I've met lots of great people up here."

"So, why aren't there more morphs up there?"

"This is a small town, ma. There are plenty of morphs in the cities."

In the background, "Mrs Lem, you need to get out of the car, so we can get you inside."

"I'm talking to my son here. Windon, these people want me to hang up."

"Ma, go take care of your baby. I'm fine."

"You better call me if anything happens." The view moved away from her and a pale pink bunny appeared on the screen with a smirk while their mother kept talking, "Call me if nothing happens! Don't leave me thinking you're dead again!"

Winda sighed, "They got her out of the car and are wheeling her in now. She's going to give them an earful of 'call your mother' until the baby comes out."

Don laughed, "You're not as pink today."

"Yeah, I could tell you didn't really like it, so..."

"No, it was fine."

"Yeah, just fine. I'm gonna try for something else and this time its gonna be great. I want to try some different colours together, like mum's patches, but better."

"Well, send me some pics and let me know when the baby comes out."

"Oh, right, hold on." the call disconnected and he wondered what she meant until a picture showed up, followed by another and another... Twenty different shots of a bright pink Winda in front of a black cloth popped up and he laughed as he looked through them.

D [Jar took those. He's pretty good.]

W [Little Jarwin? How is he doing?]

D [Pretty good. He had a little trouble with his writing class, because he turned in photos instead of his last three essays.]

W [Really? I just remember him watching everybody with that funny grin of his.]

D [Still got the grin, especially when he has a camera. Its a little creepy sometimes, but he's our brother and I love him.]

W [These are good shots. How did you keep the bottom of your tail white?]

D [Oh, there's this stuff I can spread on that prevents the fur from taking the dye.]

D [Oh! I just got an idea! I'll send you pics when I do it.]

W [Alright, well I've got a couple days of work to catch up on. Keep strange.]

D [But not a stranger!]

Don laughed and sat back.

"How's your mom?"

He turned to see Belle's eyes shining in the dark. He had almost forgotten his guest, "They're taking her in now. Winda will let me know."

"I like her. Can I see the pics?"

"Sure." He got up and took the tablet across the hall to show her.

She scrolled through them, "She's cute and the pink does look good. I like the white, fluffy tail. She has a nice butt and pretty breasts."

Don took the tablet back, "She's my sister."

Belle smiled, "So, take my word for it. She's going to make some bunny happy someday."

He looked at the pictures of his pink sister and headed back to his room, "Maybe."

"I'm not a bad cat."

Don set the tablet back in its base and sighed, "I don't think you are. I'm just tired and I still have work to do. I'm sorry."

"Its okay. Maybe you'll like me better tomorrow."

He sat down and tried to ignore her eyes watching him as he went through the rest of the messages. He had missed four appointments in the last two days and they had sent messages asking about it. He apologized and let them know he would come by as soon as they wanted him to, just to let him know when they would be available. Two were from Mr Hess saying no progress with the calf; the second said the cow was laying down and not getting up. Don replied that that could be a good sign that she's finally ready and not the disaster that Mr Hess feared.

One was from Ed, warning him that he had accidentally mentioned the incident this morning and asking how the patient was doing. Good thing he hadn't told his brother about the men coming in the house to attack Julie Ann. He gave a quick update that she was doing well. There was a message from Mr Miller, thanking him again and reminding him that anything he needed, he just had to ask. The next message was from Chelsea Van Teel asking how Belle was doing. He gave her a more detailed update and thanked her for her help.

The rest of the messages were from other clients that had heard of the trouble and were asking if he was okay or needed anything and confirming later appointments. He responded to each one, letting them know he was unharmed and things should be back to normal for the next week. Then he wrote up another letter explaining the situation and sent it to the rest of his clients to assure them that their service would not be affected, no matter what rumors they might hear.

The final message that he had been putting off, was from Julie Ann. He wondered for a moment if he should wait until he was rested to read it, but decided that it might be something urgent.

BunnyJAN [I am so sorry about today. It was a disaster all the way through. I'm sorry I let those guys come in and break your table. I should have stayed hidden like your friend at 911 told me to. If I wasn't late to begin with, you could have shown me the trap door. I'm sorry Belle's troubles interrupted your day. I should have handled that better and she wouldn't have let herself get hurt so bad, but thank you so much for helping her. You are wonderful. I'm sorry I got so emotional all day. I was falling apart when you needed me the most. I'm especially sorry about Robbie. I shouldn't have kissed him. Definitely not in your house, with you standing right there. I wasn't trying to hurt you. I still love you, and I hope you still feel the same, but I understand if you don't trust me anymore and don't want to get married now. I will still love you and serve you faithfully as your assistant, if you still want me to. After watching you help Molly and Belle and your other patients, I know this is what I want to do, not just because its with you. I'm sorry for the long message, and I hope you're not mad that I sent it tonight, but I had to say this, so I can sleep tonight. Goodnight.]

BunnyJAN [I love you.]

He smiled and read the last one again before he responded.

WindonLem [Please don't blame yourself for what happened today. Those men were looking to hurt me and I'm sorry they decided to do it through you. I'm sorry for putting you in that position unprepared. They attacked you and nearly raped you and I wasn't very supportive. Instead, I expected you to just shrug it off and get to work and I'm sorry. If you want to take tomorrow off, you are welcome to. We both have things in hindsight that we should have done differently, but most of all, I'm sorry I sent you home without telling you I love you. I definitely still want to marry you and I definitely still want you here. Julie Ann, I love you.]

There was no response and he sighed, hoping she was sleeping well. He needed to get some sleep, himself, but first, he needed to wash off the day. He looked at Molly watching him from the bed, "Are you ready to get clean, girl?"

The lab lifted her head and wagged her tail, then followed the big rabbit as he walked into the bathroom to get ready for a shower.

The water felt good as it washed through his fur and he just stood for a moment, letting it soak in before he grabbed the shampoo. A lot had happened since he woke up and he let his mind mull over it. When all was said and done, the most important thing was that Julie Ann loved him and they were going to get married. He looked down at Molly with a smile and knelt down to lather her fur, "We're getting married, Molly. Julie Ann is going to marry me and no matter what happens, we're living happily ever after."

She licked his face and arched her back as his fingers worked through her fur.

"Don't worry, girl. I'll always love you, too." He kissed her lips, then rinsed them both off.

With nothing else to do, Belle watched the open doorway as Don took his dog to the bathroom. She listened to the water run and could hear him talking, but could understand what he was saying. She imagined seeing through the walls and watching him scrub his masculine body; washing his fluffy tail and stroking his large erection. The water stopped and she sighed. She would have to wait for her dreams to see him naked again. Then she caught her breath as the big gray rabbit walked out of the bathroom completely naked. She leaned over to keep him in view, but couldn't catch a glimpse of his parts, always his tail, as if he knew she was watching. Did he?

Don noticed a new message already on the screen and sat down at his desk. It was from Annie Gamble. He was supposed to check her daughter's horse's foot. She understood about him missing the appointment and asked if Julie Ann was alright, then said he could come by in the morning, if he was available. Since she was the first to respond, she got first pick. The only other appointment so far would be Mr Hess's cow in the afternoon. He sent her a message to let her know he would be there in the morning, then turned off the screen and looked at Molly, waiting for him on the bed.

He got up from the desk and she got up and made room for him on the bed. He reached over and turned out the light, then snuggled the lab as he stroked her fur. She licked his lips and he returned the kiss, letting her tongue slip into his mouth. She pulled back and wiggled and snuffled down his body, straight to his groin.

"Not tonight, girl. We need to get some sleep." She wasn't listening; she was too busy licking his balls and growing erection. "Oh alright. Just a little."

Belle tried to see what Don was talking about with his dog, but as far as she could lean without getting out of the bed, all she could see was the toes of his foot sticking off the side of the bed and occasionally the dog's tail. She became even more curious when he started to moan softly. Her ribs let her know that the awkward position was not a good idea and she lay back in the bed, just listening to his soft sounds of pleasure. She tried to imagine what he was doing, but she couldn't make sense of what it had to do with the dog.

Don was fully erect and throbbing. He reached down and scritched behind Molly's ears. She looked up at him, licking her lips, then walked up the bed, straddling him, to lay down on top of him. He rubbed her neck and down her body, then slid his paws around her thighs to guide his wanting erection into her. He moved slow and deliberately in and out of her, savoring the warm push and pull. It was a sensual relief from his stressful day.

Molly had other plans and nuzzled up his neck to lick his ear. He fought the reaction as her tongue teased the edge of his long ear with short, quick licks, until his body won and with a groan, he quickened his pace, pushing deep with each thrust. She continued her licks, inside, outside, teasingly almost where he wanted it. He held her rump as he humped up into her until she lifted her head. A few more thrusts and he stopped, holding his breath as he felt the edge of his climax.

Belle heard his breathing quicken and the sounds of rhythmic movement. There was no doubt what he was doing, but the only one with him was his dog. She watched his toes flex and the edge of the bed bouncing beneath them until his breath caught in his throat and he stopped. She smiled as she heard the long satisfied moan that came after, but it fell when she remembered where that bunny seed must be going. She wondered if Julie Ann knew that the rabbit she wanted so bad likes to have sex with his dog.

Julie Ann ate her dinner quietly. Her mother tried to start some conversation, but neither her nor her brother were in a mood to talk. Their little sister, on the other hand, had plenty to say. After dinner, both older kids quietly went up to their rooms, barely acknowledging each other.

She closed her door and sat down at her desk, staring at the blank screen for a moment before she turned it on. She got a weak smile for the picture that came up as her background in the random rotation. It was Robbie hugging her and taking the picture while they both were wearing rabbit ears. She remembered the party. They were dressed as rabbit morphs dressed as humans, pretty much just an excuse to be lazy with their costumes. She remembered it was the party that Richard Aelford had tried hitting on her and Robbie had kissed him to make him go away. It reminded her of the kiss she was trying to forget.

A message from Robbie was waiting.

Dit Da Dit [No, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kissed you. I was way out of line. I should have kissed you a long time ago and gotten it out of the way.]

BunnyJAN [You've kissed me before.]

D [Not like that. We've played around, but nothing serious. Everything that happened today just reminded me how much I care about you, but our lives are going in different directions.]

B [They don't have to. We can still be friends.]

D [We're going to be friends forever, but my life is pointed at Belle and actively improving morphs' image and yours is pointed at Don and a quiet life in the country.]

B [Sounds just right to me.]

D [We couldn't do the marriage thing, no matter how much we care about each other, We'd be pulling in opposite directions.]

B [I know. I still love you and Belle understands that.]

D [Ha. She probably wants you and Don to be swingers with us.]

B [She did say something like that. How did you know?]

D [I just know know her well.]

B [Why didn't you two hook up sooner?]

D [I guess its just all my practice at pushing people away, I didn't know how to take that next step.]

B [Until something like this pushed you two together.]

D [Exactly.]

B [If something had happened to me sooner, do you think we'd be together?]

D [Maybe, but that might have stopped us from going where we really belong. You and Don fit well together. I'm glad you decided to make it official and I hope Belle and I haven't done anything to get in the way of that.]

B [Oh no. Its not your fault.]

D [You're not splitting up with him, are you?]

B [No. I think he might be right and we just needed to step away from that moment. I'll see him tomorrow and everything will be okay.]

D [Be sure to give him a big kiss for me.]

B [He'll get a big one from me.]

D [Do I need to kiss him myself?]

B [NO!]

D [Okay. No kissing your rabbit. No problem.]

B [Sorry. There's just been enough wayward kissing. You should save your kisses for Belle.]

D [No problem. I could kiss her all day. If she wasn't wrapped up like a mummy, we probably wouldn't have stopped there.]

B [Good thing you did. Last time you took your pants off in somebody else's house, furniture got broken.]

D [OMG! You remember that? It wasn't my fault!]

B [You were the only one standing on the table.]

D [Okay, maybe it was my fault. Can you believe all the stupid stuff we did and never got drunk to do it?]

B [Yeah, we don't get to use that excuse. We were just stupid.]

D [But we had fun.]

B [And can still remember it.]

B [Thanks for cheering me up before bed.]

D [Remember when I used to offer to join you? The offer still stands.]

B [We did sleep together a few times and nothing happened.]

D [Exactly. I bet you couldn't do that with your rabbit.]

B [Not any time soon. Goodnight Robbie.]

D [Goodnight, Bunny. MWAH!]

She sat back and smiled, planning some good dreams.

Anthea [Holy shit! Are you okay?]

BunnyJAN [I'm fine. Belle is battered, but she'll be okay, too.]

A [But how are you doing? What's going on in your head?]

B [I'm alive. Everybody else is alive and the bad people are gone, so I'm okay.]

B [Well, Randy hasn't been caught yet.]

A [What's up with this Robbie and are you and your rabbit okay?]

B [Robbie is just a friend. Don and I are fine. We'll be okay in the morning.]

A [You're being awfully dismissive.]

B [No I'm not.]

A [...]

B [Okay. I'm trying to just forget today ever happened.]

A [If you bury it, it will just become a rotten piece of your foundations. Deal with it now.]

A [Who were those guys? They just barged into his house looking for a morph to kill?]

B [It was the same guys from yesterday with a couple more.]

A [And they just decided to rape you instead?]

B [They were drunk and were going to beat me up as a message to him, but somehow figured out that I love him and said they were going to make sure I had a human baby.]

A [That's horrible. But you said the police showed up before they did, right?]

B [Yeah, they shot the biggest one because he wouldn't give up.]

A [Is he dead?]

B [I don't think so, but they took him away in an ambulance.]

B [again]

A [Again?]

B [He left in an ambulance yesterday because he was screaming that Don hurt him.]

A [Serves him right for being an ass. Is Don okay?]

B [He wasn't there until after the police had arrested them all.]

A [I mean is he handling all this okay?]

B [I think so. I think he just needs some sleep. So do I.]

A [Alright, I'll let you go. I need to get to work, anyway.]

B [Shouldn't you already be at work?]

A [I am, but I should do some. I'll talk to you later.]

Julie Ann closed the messages and her computer and just sat at her desk. So much for going to bed happy. Now her brain was replaying the attack in overdrive, looking for anything she missed. She could see the big one, Charlie, more than she wanted to. She remembered him stroking his penis with his malicious grin and his friends laughing and pointing theirs at her. She remembered the one resting on her head and started to cry. She couldn't believe she had been in that position. She wanted Don to come rushing in and just slaughter them all. Then they could run away to Australia and live with his family, happily ever after.

A knock at the door snapped her back to reality, she tried to clean her face and catch her breath, but she still snapped, "What."

The door opened and her brother peeked in, timidly, "can I come in?"

"Oh, Brian, I'm sorry. Come here." She waved him over and he closed the door as he walked over and she pulled him in for a hug.

He was crying a little himself as he asked, "Are you okay?"

She didn't want to tell him about what happened to her, he had enough things stressing him, "I'm fine. I'll be fine. A friend got hurt."

He looked up at her with a worried expression, "Are they dead?"

She squeezed his head and rubbed his hair, "Oh no, no. Thanks to Don, they're going to be just fine."

"I thought he was an animal doctor."

"He is," she wondered how much to tell him, but decided she could trust him. "Belle is a morph and the hospital wouldn't take her."

He looked up at her again, "Another morph? What is she?"

"She's a cat."

"Can I meet her?"

"Well, I... Let's let her heal a little, then I'll take you to see her when she's feeling better."

He sniffled, "Okay."

She stroked his hair soothingly, "What's bothering you?"

"Why wouldn't the hospital take her?"

She stopped and gave him an annoyed look for evading her question, "Brian."

"Well, why not?"

She sighed, "They were afraid that their other patients might be allergic to her fur."

"That's stupid."

"No, not really. Some people's allergies can be pretty bad. Its just a shame there isn't a place to help morphs around here."

"Don can do it."

"He's not trained for it."

"He helped your friend."

"Yes, but..."

"He can get the training and then he can help all the morphs."

"Its not as easy as that."

"Well, why not?"

"It ... its a lot of training."

He laid his head on her chest, "Well, he better get started."

"Brian, what happened to you today?"

"nothin'"

She pushed his chin up to look at her, "You're not crying for nothing. What happened?"

His face twitched as he struggled with the thought and she wondered what could be so bad, "Some guy tried to kidnap me today."

"Oh, Brian! We should call the police!"

"NO! You can't!"

"Why not? Brian, this is serious, and I know an officer that is very polite and understanding."

"No, I don't want to do it."

"Why not?"

"Because he'll put me in jail."

"No. Why would he do that?"

"Because I punched the guy in the balls!"

She snorted as she caught her laugh and pulled his face against her chest as she fought more laughter. She wished she had been so bold with her attackers, but remembered there were four of them. The image of their penises around her came back and it sobered her. She took a breath to push it away, then grabbed his cheeks and looked at him, "He won't put you in jail for that."

"What if I did worse? What if I killed him?"

"What? Brian, did you kill someone?"

He looked down, "No, but I wish I had."

"No you don't. Never wish that..."

There was a knock at the door.

Julie Ann tried not to sound annoyed, "Yes?"

The door opened and their mother looked in, "Have you seen your ... Oh, there you are, Brian. Are you alright?"

"He's a little shaken up by something that happened." She rubbed his back as he stood up to look at their mother.

"Oh, I know. A young man just came by to drop off his bike and said," she looked at Brian, "he almost ran you over, then you just ran off and left your bike."

She felt him get tense, but he didn't want to tell their mother way and she let him.

"Is he gone?"

"Yes, he wanted to come in and see if you're alright, but I sent him away. I gave him some money for his trouble."

"Mom! He's an asshole!"

"Brian! Language!"

"Don't let him come back here ever again!"

"Brian, I don't understand why you're..."

"He's bad."

"Brian, accidents happen."

"Yeah, so do murderers, kidnappers and rapists."

"Brian, I don't think he was trying to kill you."

"Yeah? What does that leave?"

"Brian!"

Julie Ann caught her brother's arm and tried to calm him down while she spoke to their mother, "Relax, mom. I've got this. Just give us a minute."

"But I'm supposed to..."

"Yeah! Just go."

"Brian!" She sighed and gave in, stepping back out the door, "Alright, I'll be here when you're ready to talk."

"Just get out!" Brian charged the door and pushed it until she let it close, then leaned on it with both hands as he calmed himself down.

"Brian, are you sure you're alright?"

He grumbled harshly, "I'm fine," then pushed himself upright and turned to look at his sister as he swallowed his temper, "Can I sleep with you tonight?"

Her objection was brief and only compulsory. She pushed it aside as she realized she didn't want to sleep alone, either, "Alright, I could use some cuddle time, too."

He walked over and hugged her.

"Go get in bed." She patted his butt and stood up, following him to her bed.

He climbed in and turned around, "Aren't you going to change into your nightshirt?"

"No, I think I'll sleep in my clothes tonight. I don't feel like taking them off." She crawled in beside him.

"Are those your friend's cat hairs?"

She looked at her shirt and picked a gray hair off of it. It was lighter than Belle and solid gray. She decided it must be Don's and felt comforted having a piece of him with her and put it back on her shirt. She lied to her brother as she pulled him close, "Yeah."

Brian snuggled in with his head against her chest and she stroked his hair, hoping they could both sleep peacefully through the night and have a better day when they woke up.