Chapter 25

The Cost Of A Life

We found Mike in the waiting room sitting in a chair with his head buried in his paws. Gwen knelt in front of the ferret placing her paws around him, and he melted into her embrace. We sat on ether side of him as Mike wept into Gwen's shoulder.

"Oh, Gods, what have I done, what have I done..."

"You stopped a robbery." Gwen offered.

"But he _shot_her, he shot _Cassy--i_t's all my fault!" Mike wailed.

"Mike,_listen_to me..."Gwen held him at arms length.

"It was an accident! Was he aiming at her? Well, _was_he?"

"Um, no...but--"

"No buts, Mike. Did you ever stop to think what may have happened if you_hadn't_have acted so quickly?" Gwen asked, her voice calm.

"No, that's just it Gwen, it was instinct, I didn't have time to think. I just acted...and Cas got shot because of it..." Mike said with such finality, it was chilling. Gwen nodded her green eyes flashing. "True...but what would have happened if you had done nothing? He could have killed you all, did you ever think of that Mike? LOOK AT ME!" Gwen ordered, and Mike locked eyes with her. They were silent for a few moments; Gwen's eyes positively glowed with intensity. "...OH...God...NO!" Mike moaned. "Yes." Gwen answered, and then broke the hold on him. Mike visibly deflated.

"But? No! I don't want to know _how_you know. But it doesn't change the fact that my beloved Cassy is in emergency surgery...because of me." The last words were uttered barely above a whisper. Suddenly, a fox in surgical scrubs interrupted us. "Mr. Ferretti? I'm Dr. Vulpas, the surgeon who worked on Miss Bhunny. If you will come this way we can discuss her prognoses." We were led to a small consultation room.

"She's out of surgery, and will be in I.C.U. overnight. She lost a lot of blood, but we were able to repair the damage. And I expect--barring complications--her to make a full recovery. That's the good news..." he paused. Gwen grabbed Mike's paw.

"The bullet is lodged in her lower spine, and due to its proximity to the spinal cord the surgical team felt it may do more damage removing it. There was a risk of paralysis if it is removed."

"But she's going to be okay, right Doc?" Mike said, almost pleading. Dr. Vulpas nodded. "Yes, barring complications." He flipped on an X-ray viewer. There was a glaring light spot on one of the gray vertebrae near the hips.

"As you can see here, The bullet is lodged in the vertebra, it was a full metal jacketed round, copper, so there is no chance of residual lead poisoning--but..." We all looked at Dr. Vulpas. "It is not recommended that she be allowed to bear children." That hit us all like a hammer blow.

"W-w-what?" Mike whispered hoarsely.

"I'm sorry, but medically it is recommended that should you two marry, that under no circumstances should she be allowed to have children, there is a greater than 80 chance of paralysis to the lower extremities. For if she were to become pregnant, the fetus could conceivably put pressure on the bullet driving it into the spinal cord, causing permanent paralysis. I'm sorry, Mr. Ferretti. But she is expected to make a full recovery...you should be able to see her in about twelve hours. If you would like to come back then?" the doctor asked, getting no response. "Well, you can speak to the duty nurse on your way out. Good evening, Mr. Ferretti." The doctor left the room.

The ghostly images of the bullet lodged in Cassy's spine were a silent horror glaring down at us from the wall.

"Oh, Michael..." Gwen said softly. Mike's face was hard and unreadable.

"She's alive and will recover...I love her too much to--"

He bit off what he was going to say as a single resilient tear slid down his cheek.

Gwen just held him as we all did our best to accept the news.

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