A Fine Thorny Mess

Thornson Throckmorton raised his hand ready to smack the side of his hospital bed. TT, or Thorny as his off kilter pard called him, cursed under his breath. Of all the dumb lame assed things to happen, he wished he had listened to his gut better than he did.

He tugged at the sheet covering him trying to get more of his lower half covered. Too Toxic and a giggle ran through his mind. Crap one of his fellow felines decided to make contact. How lovely! The weekend of his high school class reunion and he laid here in this blasted bed with his little bits as Nana called them hanging out catching every draft that wafted under the sheet. Fucking hospital gowns didn’t cover much and with his six-foot-two torso, even extra-large didn’t come close either. And his junior year nickname called out by his former soccer teammates. . .Too Toxic was another lifetime ago. One of his nine lives he preferred to not remember.

“You had to wax your snowboard and try Suicide run. What an ass!” TT looked around the room. Who could hear him in a private room? His mental companion and maybe a nurse if one even bothered to check on him. The last one that had he had growled and hissed at. She fled stating he must be looped on the pain meds the prior shift had given him.

He cocked his head toward the open door. He caught bits and pieces of the conversation going on at the nurses’ station slightly down the hall.

“Yes, he is due for another x-ray in an hour. Re-cast his leg up to his thigh? I’m sure we can find someone on duty to assist with that. Up his pain meds? Certainly doctor.”

Oh flying cat shit! Litter box from hell happening! Up his pain meds? And no food to go with them? Hell, he was so horny his dreams set his cock and libido on fire. With his leg hoisted in the air and this blasted draft, how was a guy to deal with getting some relief. He’d asked for a blanket and got told that his leg needed to be unencumbered for the sling. Where the hell was his personal vet? So what if he charged double for hospital calls? The dude had license to practice on animals and humans. This human hospital stunk. TT wanted a shifter hospital and soon.

“Right give me more screw with my brain drugs. Rate things are going and I will have to morph my lower half to keep warm. I will scare any help away with that.” TT groaned as he tried to sit up more in the bed.

“Psst, Too Toxic,” a voice muttered. TT looked up. His old college roommate, Tomas, stood in the door. “I send you on a scouting mission and this is where you end up?”

“Look you scrawny piece of tomcat get your arse in here and get me out of here.” TT sneered and scowled. “And close that door behind you, please.”

Tomas grinned hoping he didn’t burst out laughing. Poor Thorn as he preferred to be called wasn’t weathering his indignation well. Tomas could smell his male pheromones all the way down to the hall to the elevator and men were not on either of their radars. Poor tomcat was on fire and needed dousing soon.

Closing the door behind him, Tomas sauntered across the room. The lower forty-eight states were having a mild winter compared to Anchorage. He missed Tongson, Octavia, and the triplets. Even though they communicated frequently, their physical presence was sorely missed. The comfort and relaxation family permitted made up the difference. Still they had a war to wage and a power hungry control freak to dethrone. Khan’s decision to up the ante and take out a mother and babe raised the bar on needing to take him out.

“Thorn, I can’t say I blame you for taking time to relax. But like this?” Tomas waved his hand over Thorn’s leg. “A bit much on the dramatics, eh?”

“Oh shut up,” Thorn spat out. “I wish I could say I was paying attention but when a cute thing in red tight ski pants crosses your run, well what would you do?”

Tomas tossed back his head and burst out laughing. “I’d look and appreciate. Though I am sure Octavia would grouse at me for not paying attention to where I was going too.”

Thorn smiled and patted the mattress. “Have a seat or pull up a chair. We got a few until they decide to shoot me full of more human drugs. Man can those mess with a tabby’s mind!”

Tomas dragged a chair across the floor and straddled it. Before dropping into it, he sniffed the air. “Can you turn your Too Toxic persona down a few? Your pheromones are kicking ass if any receptive females are around.”

“Too Toxic hung up his tom catting ways two decades ago. Since college, I’ve been doing no more than two to three females at once thank you.” Thorn’s Cheshire cat grin was infectious. Tomas couldn’t help snickering. He motioned for Thorn to continue.

“TT aka Thorny heads up his own harem mixture now thank you. With a few stray males thrown in for balance to keep the females happy when I’m busy otherwise.” Thorn fold his arms across his chest and smiled what Tomas suspected was his self-satisfied smirk.

“Well your highness, care to enlighten your liege lord on what is going down in Talbot’s Peak? I did send you there on a reconnaissance mission. Not a fucking mission.”

Thorn gulped and tugged at the sheet hoping his dangling bits didn’t freeze as another burst of cold air filtered through the room and not from the overhead duct.

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Happy New Year Everyone! Be safe and sane! Don't drink and drive! Keep you and your loved ones safe!

Solara