Read Shorts: The Furry Years for Free Online

running down my chest. I was getting numb.
    "Yeah, but there are quite a few -- Oh shit!" she said as she turned and looked at me. "You're hit!"
    "Wait!" I said as she started over to me, "The doorway."
    She stopped and looked back at it. Then looked around the room. There was a sofa and a table which she quickly added to the barricade. "That should do it..." Then she headed over to me.
    I was getting pretty numb by then. She helped me lay down on the floor.
    "Damn, they must have used some kind of high-power rifle on you. There's a hole in the back of your duster."
    "That's not the worst of it," I gasped again and coughed.
    She blanched when she saw the chest wound. Then kneeled down next to me and started to chant. Shortly after that I passed out, wondering if I'd ever wake up again.
     
    #          #          #          #          #
     
    I came to slowly. I was tired and weak. I could feel a bed beneath me, blankets all around. I took a sniff. I was home in bed! I slowly opened my eyes.
    "Rasha?" I whispered.
    "John!" She flew in the door and landed on the bed besides me.
    I braced for the pain I thought would come from the wounds. Surprisingly there was none.
    "Wha.. What happened? I don't feel the wounds."
    "Of course not, silly," she grinned at me, then butted heads. "I fixed them."
    "Huh?" I tried to pull the blankets down, but I was having trouble untangling myself. "Why am I so weak?"
    "Randy said blood loss. I couldn't do anything about that. Plus I think I used more of your energy healing you then I should of."
    "Let me see," I said softly. She helped me pull the covers down and held my head up. Sure enough, I was whole if weak. I could feel her own arm trembling as she held me up.
    "How long since you last ate or slept?" I asked, looking up.
    "It's been two days," came Jackson 's voice from the doorway. "And she didn't look too good when we got there. Seems she used a lot of her own energy keeping you alive."
    "Is that true?"
    "What do you think? I'd let my mate die without a fight?" She growled dangerously.
    "No," I said softly and smiled. "But I was terrified you'd die too."
    "I just need to work on my magic some more, that's all. I wasted a lot of energy until I figured out what I was doing wrong. Next time I'll do better, I promise!"
    "Hopefully, there won't be a next time!" I grumbled and managed to get an arm around her and pull her close. "Come to bed, you need to rest too."
    "See you later, Boss," she said to Jackson as she snuggled close. "Lock up on the way out."
    "Sure thing, see you both in a few days, I guess." and he left.
    "So did we win?" I asked her as she settled down in bed.
    "Yup, the ones that got arrested told us where the girls were all being held. They're all safe now."
    "Well that's a relief," and I leaned over to kiss her. "Welcome to the wonderful world of sentience," I sighed and I closed my eyes laying back.
    "Some things are worth any price!" she said rumbling happily as I fell asleep.
     

 
    Old Business
    by John Van Stry
     
     
    I looked out the window of the plane as we flew over the complex. It really wasn't much to look at, a bunch of buildings, a runway, a fence. For all the controversy, the politics, the corporate maneuvering centered on those plain non-descript buildings below, I would have thought to have seen spiraling towers, large production lines, parking lots filled with cars, people bustling about every which way.
    But then the first atomic reactor was built under the school bleachers in Chicago I've heard it said.... Makes you wonder.
    "Sure does," said the passenger next to me, making me realize I had been thinking out loud.
    "Professor Shirley Tomil," she introduced herself, "And you are?"
    "Bill."
    "Bill...?" she hunted for a last name.
    "Just Bill."
    To her credit she didn't hunt any further. It wasn't like I was on any kind of secret mission, I just didn't want any more exposure here then I had to have.
    "So you here for the