Doc Featherstone's Return Read Free Page B

headed was the infirmary. He wanted to see for himself the condition that Ash was in. As he walked in and got his first view of the Hawk, Joshua swayed and had to grab the wall for support.
    Ash was so thin that he looked emaciated. His skin was so pale that it resembled rice paper that would shred if touched. His eyes were overly large, ringed in black, and his lips were chapped from dehydration.
    He sat in a wheelchair, facing a window, but he didn’t appear to be really looking at anything. His gaze was vacant and almost dead. His once lustrous brown hair, now hung in his face without any care to it.
    Various IVs ran into his thin hands, and he had a blanket draped over his legs. Legs that no longer worked. To think of the once boisterous, bouncy medic reduced to this nearly brought Joshua to tears.
    Jacyn saw Joshua and came up. “At least he’s keeping the IVs in today. Usually, he rips them out. So maybe we can get some fluids in him.”
    “How much weight has he lost?”
    “Thirty pounds.”
    Joshua muttered a curse. Ash had been thin to begin with, so he didn’t have ten to spare, let
alone thirty. At this point he would starve himself to death before anybody would have a chance to cull him or not.
    “Our next step is going to be to force a feeding tube on him,” Jacyn said.
    “He’ll hate you for that,” Joshua stated with firmly.
    Jacyn shrugged. “He already hates me for not letting him die. So I have nothing to lose at this point.”
    Jacyn turned to Joshua, a look of surprise on his face that was obviously fake. “Hey, when did you get back here? Nobody told us you were coming.”
    “Shane came to fetch me because of Ash, but you already knew that, didn’t you?”
    Jacyn shrugged away the question. “Good luck.
    Maybe you can get through to him. We sure as hell can’t.”
    “I don’t know if I can be of much more help, but I’m willing to try. We can’t just let him waste away like this,” Joshua said firmly.
    He walked over to where Ash was sitting and knelt down by the chair. “Hey, Ash. How are things going?”
    Ash’s gaze flickered his way ever-so-briefly before going back to the window. Not exactly a stellar start, but Joshua would take it. It was better than no reaction at all.
    “Why aren’t you eating? You know what’s
going to happen if this keeps up? We’re going to have to strap you to the bed and force a feeding tube down your throat. You don’t want that, do you?” Joshua pressed, hoping to get through.
    “Fuck you,” Ash finally bit out.
    Well, that was two words. Not the ones Joshua would have chosen, but it was a something.
    “Then stop with the pity party and eat something.”
    “Why should I? Just because you decide to show up and tell me to? Well, I don’t have to listen to a damn thing you say. You came and saw that I didn’t die saving your life, so you don’t have to feel guilty anymore, so you can go back home and keep on ignoring me again. I don’t need you. I have another doctor who is taking care of me.”
    The venom in Ash’s voice was so strong that it was nearly a physical blow to Joshua. Especially when the words were accompanied with a glare of pure hatred. It was so raw that had Ash had a weapon in his hands at that moment, Joshua would have been looking for cover.
    “Ash, you know I was hurt, too. I didn’t leave because I wanted to. I had to go heal myself. With the staff already overwhelmed here, I thought it was better if I went home and was treated there.
    I’m here now, that’s all that matters. What you need to focus on is getting out of that chair and getting better.”
Ash gave a bitter laugh. “They keep saying that.
    I even believed them at first. But I know it’s a lie.
    No matter how hard I tried, I never felt a damn thing in my legs. Face it, Doc, I’m broken, and there is no fixing me. Now, why don’t you do us all a favor and just OD me on some drugs and put us all out of my misery. Then you can all move on with your