FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Slice of Lex Ch. 9

By: Jen Harlow

Victoria's phone rang early in the morning, and at first both Lexi's and her own heart sank. When she picked up the phone she turned to Lexi. "I don't think it's James." She said, looking at the screen. "It's a Dallas number, and he'd likely call your phone." She shrugged, "I can't help but think it's Liz." She said, answering it on speaker. "Hey Liz." She kicked back on her bed.

"Hey Vic." An almost identical voice responded. "How's it going?"

Lexi was momentarily baffled. "How'd you know?" She asked.

"I just did." The vixen said shrugging.

"Is that Lexi I hear? Hi!" The other vixen said. She was an engineer, who attends college in and now also works in Virginia.

"Hey Liz," The wolf said, leaning her head on Victoria's shoulder, the fox idly reached up to stroke her ear.

"So anyway, guess who's going to be in town for a couple months?"

"Ah sweet!" Victoria said, her sister rarely getting back down towards Texas. "Where are you going to be staying?"

"I'm hoping to come home." She laughed slightly, "Is our room still the same as I left it?"

"No, my room is completely redone without all your crap in it, and a full queen size bed to serve the royalty I am." Victoria said, her tail twitching happily as Lexi tried to stifle a giggle.

"So is the living room couch still the big comfy brown one?" The twin vixen said defeatedly.

"Yep, and that's where you'll be staying."

"Ah come on, I've traveled so far to be here. Can't I just share the queen with you?"

"Sorry sis, but that option's been taken." The fox said, audibly kissing her wolf.

"Well, fine then. I guess it's the couch for me then." Elizabeth said with a sigh. "So what are your plans for today?"

"Spending noon until midnight dressed like some sort of faerie princess." Victoria said, making a fake gag noise.

"Ahh, I was hoping to hang out with you more, but I'm glad I'll get to see you in a show! I haven't seen you act since high school."

Victoria stood up and stretched. "Yeah, what brings you down this way anyway?"

"Actually, it's Ring of Steel." Elizabeth was absolutely bubbling. "VA Tech has entered our bot and we've made nationals!"

"Well that's exciting, I'm happy for you." Victoria said, sitting nude in her computer chair.

"So what about that brother of mine? I haven't seen him in forever!"

"He's free, he'll be home around the time I'm getting ready to leave for class today."

"Excellent, I'll see you in a couple hours, even if it is just long enough to meet you before class. Don't tell mom and dad okay? Especially do not tell Kylie."

Victoria turned to her wolf, even with the events of yesterday she was extraordinarily happy. Both canines showered and ate hurriedly, the parents staring at them as they scoffed down their food. "What are you two in such a rush for?"

"We're just really excited for class..." Victoria said, milk running down her chin as she rushed her cereal. Lexi nodded. "Hey Lex, I need a hand with the something in my truck. Would you mind?" The fox said, smiling as she indicated her watch.

The fox and the wolf walked outside, both sat out on the tailgate of the truck. The air was suddenly filled with the telltale rumble of a motorcycle approaching. The bike was black and shiny, even though it looked older. As the bike approached, Victoria recognized the rider. Elizabeth stopped in front of the truck. The rumble stopped and she climbed off. Before she could even remove her helmet, Victoria wrapped her in a tight hug. The vixens both giggled. Elizabeth looked a lot like Victoria, except that she has a cream colored patch that runs from her chin to her navel. She was dressed in a pair of brown leather pants, and a black bomber jacket, her helmet was blue with a pink peace sign on the back. She stood about an inch or two shorter than her twin, even in her thick boots. She walked over to Lexi, an arm around Victoria. She placed her other arm around the wolf and the three walked quietly into the house. "Don't you girls have to get to-" The words caught in Mrs. Adam's throat as she came around the corner. Without saying another word, she pulled her into a hug. "ELIZABETH!" She said, hugging her daughter. She kissed her face repeatedly, even though the vixen was protesting loudly.

"I'm glad to see you too Mom." Liz said, "I'm starved, I don't suppose there's any breakfast left is there?" She said as she put a hand on her stomach. Their mom rushed into the kitchen, prepared to fix anything her daughter desired. Elizabeth took her jacket off, she was wearing a black tank under it, which ended above her navel, showing off the cream patch.

Victoria and her sister kissed each other on the cheek. "I love you Liz, but we've got to go soon, I'll be freer tomorrow and so will Lex, we're not called until five thirty." She hugged her twin sibling tightly.

Liz hugged Lex too, "I'd really like to hang out with you too, we've barely even met." Liz had really only talked to Lex over Discord when she was on with her sister.

"Yeah, I'd like that. I'll be staying here until sometime next week anyway." The wolf said, turning around to leave.

Just as the two started to walk out, the twins' brother walked up the driveway stopping to admire the bike on his way up. "You like it little bro?" Elizabeth said, as she walked down the driveway. "She's a nineteen thirty seven Indian Scout. It took me a few years to restore her, but she's a beaut isn't she?" Ryan looked up, he ran up the slope. He tripped as he went in for the hug, and knocked her to the ground. Elizabeth laughed as she landed on her butt. There was no real harm done. "Would you like to go for a ride, maybe catch a movie? I'll treat you to lunch."

The boy scrambled to climb up, "Sure, just let me tell mom and dad I'm going back out first."

"Woah, slow down there Flash." Liz said, walking into the house again. "A girl's gotta eat and mom's making me breakfast. Plus I've got some unpacking to do." She took the saddlebags off her bike. and licked her lips thinking about the food she was about to receive.

Victoria giggled as her siblings walked back into the house, Ryan looking longingly back at the bike. "We'd best go." She said, turning to the wolf.

Lexi nodded and leaned in to kiss the fox. "I love you." She said as she headed down the curb to her car.

"I love you too." Victoria said, as she climbed into the truck.

Lexi drove to her apartment and stopped outside, taking out her phone. She blinked as she pulled up Christine's number. "Oh, right." She said quietly to herself. Instead she turned to James's number. The squirrel picked up, he sounded better than he had the entirety of the day before.

"Hey!"

"How's Missie Mousie doing?"

"She's doing alright, they've decided to keep her under until tomorrow as they're still concerned about her seizing, but according to her doctor all of her vitals look amazing." He sounded as if he was almost bouncing on the bed. "Her parents are here, they're staying nearby. It took her dad a while to convince her that she was safe with me watching, and even longer for me to convince him." James laughed softly.

"That's good buddy, you both hang in there okay?" Lex said. The two made their goodbyes and Lexi hung up. She sighed as she drove out towards the campus, it was a bit of a lonely ride over. She arrived for call, sitting down next to her brother. She filled him in on what the squirrel had said.

"That's good news," He said, wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

Mark walked in, he looked tired, but he still had that small smile on his face that came when he saw his students. "Alexi," He said, motioning her towards him. She came down next to him, "How's Ms. LeBlanc today?" He said, his smile faltering for a moment.

"She's doing better. According to her boyfriend she'll be in the hospital for a couple more days, but she's doing well."

"That's good." Mark pulled out his clipboard and made a note. "Alright folks, let's get to business, actors should be ready for warm ups at twelve thirty, crew should be in positions by twelve forty five. Corina, you'll be filling in for Christine today, she left a copy of her plans and notes with me."

The badger nodded, and she and the otter headed out towards Mark's office in the scene shop. Lexi sat in the small green room in the basement with the rest of the crew. She was talking Jack over the cues again and making sure he had them down. Her brother sat moping in the corner. "Why does Front of House need to be here? I've got virtually nothing to do."

"It's okay, at least you get to chill for the most part." Lexi said, kicking back and looking at the massive list of cues before her, all neatly bound in a large black binder. There were a couple hundred cues in there, and it made her the tiniest bit nervous. She had sat through rehearsal after rehearsal, and felt relatively confident in her abilities. Still, she swallowed hard.

Lexi set her phone out on the table, silent alarms set for every five or so minutes. As each alarm popped up, she'd call it out to cast and crew at large. Finally it was the tech's turn, and the wolves climbed up the stairs with the techs. The actor's still sounded like some bizarre war band as their warm-ups finished. Lexi walked up to the booth with the badger and the squirrel following her, as well as the three spot operators. The wolf pulled the chair out and slid in it, her face sunk with the chair. She ended up nose even with the table. "It's going to be one of those weeks, isn't it?" The badger said, helping her up.

"Yeah I guess it is, let's hope the run goes smoother, this is the first time we've gone with everything working." The wolf folded her binder out on the table. She pushed the button on the small ClearCom panel, "This is your stage manager ladies and gentlemen, requesting a general check. Sound?"

"Check, check." Corina said, it sounded audibly into the headphones.

"Lights."

"But I'm right here," Jack said with a shrug.

"Check in anyway please." The wolf said, turning her eyes towards him.

"Check, check." He said, pushing the button.

"Good, ASM: Stage Right."

"Check, check." The ocelot said, stepping out on the stage.

"ASM: Stage Left."

"Check, check." The mouse said, stepping out on stage.

"Spots."

There was a chorus of "Check, check."

Mark came on, "Alright, Alexi the actors have ten 'til places."

"Thank you ten," Lexi said. She leaned over to check the ClearCom panel, the intercom light was on. She gave the badger a thumbs-up.

"Stand by for show entrance," Lexi said, as the actors started filing backstage. "ASMs, headcheck please."

"All actors accounted for," The mouse said, his script rustling quietly.

"Thank you sir," She checked the time, "Cue Rona, stand by for 'SQ-One, ready mics one and two, and standby for LQ-Two. Spot one, be on Rona when she hits the stage." The wolf said, as she looked up towards the stage.

Lex jumped at the sudden replies of "Standing by."

The actress playing Rona stepped out onstage, she heard the spot operator call and the light came up. "Go lights and sound." The wolf said. She smiled happily as the first lines came out of the speakers, and the lights dimmed, so that only a single spot illuminated the cheetah. "Very good guys, sound standby for Song One, Lights standby for LQ-Three." She listened carefully. "Go on winner." She said, looking at the page. So far, so good, she thought as she turned over to the next section. The day passed smoothly, Lexi occasionally feeling a small pang of sadness whenever she didn't hear Christine's clicker in response to a cue being called. She thought about the mouse often, planning on going for a visit tomorrow before call. As she stepped into the parking lot, waving her brother and her friends off, she looked at her phone. There were no missed messages, or texts. At this point she just assumed that no news, was good news. It had begun to rain outside again, the fickle weather unsure of what it wanted to do. The wolf pulled up on the curb, and made a dead run for the house as the torrent increased. Her glasses fogged as she walked into the cool house. She sat at the table, in the kitchen, fiddling with cleaning the lenses.

"Welcome back," Victoria said from behind her.

"Thanks babe, glad to be done for the night." The wolf said, squinting into the dark room.

She heard a soft giggle, "Why Ms. Asher, I am a betrothed lady." It was only then that she realized who was standing behind her. Silhouetted in the light from the TV, she looked a lot like her twin, especially since the cream patch was harder to distinguish.

"I'm sorry, you just sound so much like MY lady." The wolf said, her face reddening under her fur.

"So I've heard. Dad left dinner for you, a big ol' mimus pot pie, he said to take what you want." Elizabeth pulled a chair out from the table and sat down. "Victoria's in her room, she was waiting to eat until you got home." She pulled out her phone, leaned over, and snapped a picture with the wolf. She giggled as she sent it to Victoria.

Lexi's mate emerged moments later from the top of the stairs, she had clearly been napping while waiting for the wolf to come home. It was nearly two in the morning, and the wolf's tech had run long. Victoria sat at the table, resting her head on her lady's shoulder. "Would you be ever so sweet to me, and fix my dinner for me, I'd appreciate it." She kissed the wolf on the cheek as extra incentive.

"Alright, it would be my highest privilege to feed you." Lex stood from the table, even though she felt every ounce of her body weight at this point. She returned a few minutes later with two steaming bowls filled to the brim with filling and the crust resting gently on top. "It kind of fell apart on me." She said, as she passed Victoria her bowl.

Elizabeth sat next to them, listening to them chat about their day and their rehearsals. They talked awhile about Ring of Steel, as well. She smiled, it had been a long time since she had seen her twin so happy, in fact it had been a while since she had seen her sister period. She lay her chin on her arms, she was quite tired, but had waited all night for Victoria and Lexi to come home. "If you ladies will excuse me, it's not that I don't want to stay and chat." She stood up, stretching. "But this gal's hit her limit." She bent down and hugged the wolf, then walked over. Victoria stood and the two hugged for a while, "I'm so glad to be back home, and I'm so glad to see you happy again." she whispered into her twin's ear.

"Goodnight Liz," Victoria said, as she started to turn towards the stairs. She turned around though, with her tongue stuck out. "I hope you enjoy the couch loser."

Elizabeth giggled as she shook her head. The wolf soon followed Victoria up the stairs. As they settled into the bed. Victoria pulled out her book again, now further behind on her assignment. This time, there was little in the way of conversation. Lexi drifted off to sleep while Victoria sat awake reading, and occasionally playing with the wolf's tail. She awoke sometime later, not even bothering to set an alarm as she didn't have to be at school until late. She sat up, Victoria had gotten up earlier and likely gone down stairs. She pulled her phone off the headboard and rubbed her eyes as she attempted to read the time. It wasn't too early, about ten in the morning. The wolf stood up, and carefully peaked around the blackout curtain on her vixen's window. The sky was still gray, but the rain had stopped, judging from the slight chill it was going to be cool outside today. The wolf dressed in a set of black thermal PJs, and headed down the stairs. Elizabeth was still softly snoring on the couch in the living room, Victoria sat quietly eating a couple hard-boiled eggs and some toast. Her textbook was open on the table in front of her. One of her ears had been turned at an odd angle, but the fox hadn't noticed. Lexi sat down quietly next to her, gently fixing her ear while reading over her shoulder. The vixen looked up and smiled before turning back to her book. "I'm going to see Christine today/" She said quietly, leaning her head over onto the fox.

"That's good, I'll come with you."

The wolf stood up, and headed into the kitchen to fix her own breakfast. She returned with a frozen dinner and a can of soda, not really in the mood for eggs and breakfast type foods. Instead she had a mimus and potato meal. Elizabeth awoke smelling hot food, and walked over to the table. Her long black hair was a mess, she was wearing a loose white t-shirt that she had likely borrowed from her dad, the poor man would have no shirts left if his daughters kept taking them, and a pair of blue and white striped panties with a small bow on the front. She looked at Lexi's food, and the wolf met her eyes. "There's another one in there if you'd like it, your parents have fed me more than enough."

"You sure," Liz said, running a brush through her hair.

"Yeah go for it." The vixen smiled and patted the wolf's shoulder as she walked into the kitchen.

Liz returned with food, and Victoria closed her book. She rubbed her eyes as her twin sat next to her. "So what's on the plan for today? I don't have much to do, a trip to the shop later to meet with my class, but that happens about the time you guys go to school anyway." The vixen said as she tucked into her breakfast. "Heck, I'd even be okay staying home and playing board games, especially now that Ryan's done with classes."

"The first thing we've got to do is go visit our friend Christine in the hospital." Victoria said, as she took another bite of her egg.

"I thought you said she'd gotten out of the hospital, what happened?"

"It's a long story, but she's a tough little mouse." Lex said with a smile.

"Mmm, well okay. I don't want to rush your visit, I'll be here all day after all." She said smiling, even though she looked a little disappointed.

Victoria and Lex arrived at the hospital to find James waiting for them at the door. "They're waking her up soon." He said, a large smile on his face. "They've already started prepping her to wake up. They fed her earlier, and recently came back to take the tube out. She's doing really well, they took the staples out and said that her wound's healing nicely. She can likely go home tomorrow." Lexi couldn't help but smile, not just for Christine, but for James as well. He had stuck by the mouse's side for days, rarely leaving. Even though he was smiling, his eyes still had dark circles underneath them. Lex put her arm around her friend's shoulder.

"That's great, I can't wait to see Missie Mousie up and around again. I missed her yesterday." The wolf said, with a sigh.

"Yeah, and it helps that she's got a boyfriend who knows what she's dealing with." Victoria said quietly to the squirrel, as she patted his back.

James nodded, wide-eyed. "You know, it's odd, up until now I've never considered that." He said with a smile. "Then again when I had my umm... You know... It wasn't as major, they went a different route, so to speak." He said, rubbing the back of his head. "Still, you're right though, and I intend to be there for her."

Christine's mom was sitting on one side of the bed, her daughter's hand in hers. James sat on the other side, taking the mouse's open hand. The nurse who had worked with Christine just last weekend walked in, a small smile on her face. "Well, look who's back. Guess she just missed me." The mouse said, laughing softly. She checked Christine's chart, and nodded. "She should be coming around in the next little while, but she'll be heavily sedated for the first hour or so. Until we're absolutely sure she's not going to seize." Britney said, her smile growing broader. She wrote something on the chart and walked outside, flagging down another staff member. "We've got to turn her over onto her side, she may vomit as the anesthetic wears off." The gently rolled the mouse onto her side, carefully pulling the blanket up so it covered the gap in her hospital gown. Britney patted her on the shoulder, before walking out again. "If she needs anything, don't hesitate to call."

James took her hand back, and stood. He indicated to her mother that she could sit in the chair he'd just vacated. It was maybe about a half hour later while everyone was talking quietly about Christine, that the mouse took a deep breath as if she were waking up in the morning." Her eyes fluttered slightly as they attempted to open. She sat up slowly, almost mechanically. James put his hand on her back. "Christine..." He said smiling. The mouse turned her head towards him, a faint smile growing. Her expression shifted quickly though, and she threw up all over James's short-exposed legs and his shoes. She looked mortified, as she stared fixedly at him. The squirrel's whiskers twitched slightly, unsure really of what to do. He reached over and pressed the call button. "It's okay," he said softly stroking her hair. "It's okay, really. I'm just glad you're awake." Christine's smile returned, she swayed slightly under the sedation. She leaned over, and pulled James into a tight hug. She pulled his shirt up to her muzzle, breathing in the scent of the squirrel. Lexi giggled at the sappy grin on the squirrel's face, he put his arms around the mouse in return. "I'm so glad you're awake again. I've missed you so much." He said, rocking her gently.

Christine's mom put her hand on her baby's shoulder. The mouse looked up, her mother smiled at her. "I've missed you too baby." Christine was then sandwiched in between her mom and James. She eventually leaned back, looking exhausted, her hand strayed to the incision. It was odd for her to realize that was there, thanks to the medicine she hadn't really noticed much pain.

"Phone." She signed to James. He passed her phone to her, at first she dropped it, a little shocked that she failed at doing such a perfectly normal thing. James just rubbed her shoulder, as she picked it back up. She squinted at the phone, not having her glasses on. She then attempted to type out a message. The result read "Went happens Toby." James stared at the text for a second, blinking.

He smacked himself when he figured it out. "You were attempting to take some ibuprofen and you passed out. Turns out you were bleeding really badly, on the inside. They um... They had to do emergency surgery, and they were afraid that with the blood loss and the physical trauma that a seizure would have hurt you, so they kept you under to recover." He said, rubbing the mouse's back. "I have your glasses." The squirrel said, pulling them out and handing them to her. She put them on, and looked around, she noticed the small bear sitting next to her on the dresser. The wolf sitting behind it, just looking at her. The mouse looked alarmed suddenly. "What is it, what's wrong?"

"Rehearsals." Her text was getting clearer, even though her movements were still lethargic.

He showed Lexi the text, and the wolf started giggling, she passed the phone to Victoria. "She's a theatre kid alright." The wolf said, hopping down off the other bed. "It's alright, Mark had Corina fill in for you. If you'll be up for it, he said you can run UIL, but he also said that he understood if you need to recover." Lexi stood smiling for a second before her face faltered. She bent down, resting her head on the mouse's shoulder, one arm around her. "I missed you yesterday. Next time something's wrong with you tell someone alright?" The wolf said, the mouse nodded. She put her hand gently on the wolf's shoulder, shaking it slightly.

"Tired," She signed, then she smiled. "And you're heavy."

Everyone in the room laughed, as the mouse settled back onto the bed, her eyes closing again. This time it was under her own command. The doctor came in to check on her later, and smiled at her patient. "Looks like you'll be leaving us tomorrow." She said. Christine smiled, now more awake, and content to be surrounded by her friends and family. Eventually the wolf checked the time, and her heart sank. It was nearly four thirty, and she and the vixen had to leave in a hurry. They both hugged the mouse before leaving. They held hands on the way back to the truck, glad to know their friend was back with them.