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Waking up after a small nap, Omar Monterey slowly tossed around in bed. It was about the only thing he could do right now. The last few days were boring and confusing to the otter. He had been confined to his bed by his doctor for fear that he might collapse at any moment. With all his injuries still healing as well as some abnormal brain scan results, his doctor had labeled him a fall risk, keeping him from doing anything that could hamper his recovery, so everything was off limits to him until he was better.

Recovery seemed to be on everyone's mind. Monte had been subjected to a battery of tests over the last few days. What exactly they were all for no one told him. Besides the brain scans, a team of doctors came into his room at odd hours to check for muscle irregularities and vision and skin reactions and range of movement and who knows what else. About the only respite from that madness was when Davrin came to check up on him.

The fox nurse was his only real friend during his recovery. Their friendship started oddly. He was the second being he saw after he had woken up from his coma. Their first encounter was fairly short, only consisting of some small talk while the nurse drew some blood and took some readings off of the many monitors around him. After he had delivered his first real "meal" to the otter, he stuck around to make sure that his patient could eat his generous portion of chicken broth. "Gotta make sure you don't accidentally knock it all over you and burn yourself," the fox said with a chuckle. His genuine care for him separated him from all the other nameless doctors that came to fix him.

His mind wandered back to last night and smiled. Davrin was able to sneak him away from his room for a nice twilight stroll around the hospital grounds. "Doesn't do you any good to be shut in your room all day. You need to get your fresh air." When the otter asked if this was even allowed, the fox simply shrugged it off. "You're here to get better. If being wheeled around a tranquil garden at night isn't supposed to do that, why even bother having it? Why bother even saying we're healing you if we aren't taking care of all of you?" In only a short time, they had gotten along so well. It's gonna be a sad day when I'm well enough to be released. I'm gonna miss that fox, he thought to himself, his smile now twinged with a sense of sadness.

Speaking of friends, his savior, the High General Ernest Cruz had yet to come back after his initial visit like he said he would. Then again, he had called him a few times to check up on him. Other than the usual questions over how the young otter was dealing with the doctors and the hospital, he seemed to not even notice when Monte hinted that he visit him again. Only on his last call did he directly ask that question, yet the general claimed he was busy. "Tryin' ta get ya all fixed up," he said. "I'll get ta seein' ya real soon."

Monte still hadn't figured out why he was taking such a shine to him. Does he really wanna know what happened that day I crashed and is this his way of trying to get "the truth?" He knows by now that I have amnesia and I'll probably never remember anything from then, so doing that is just barking up the wrong tree. So...does he really genuinely care about me? That would explain why I'm still here at this hospital. I'm not a soldier and I'm pretty sure I'm stable enough to be moved to a civilian hospital, yet here I stay thanks to the general's orders. I really gotta thank him for that. He's really been too good to me after saving me.

The opening of the door caught his attention. Half expecting another round of odd tests by that swarm of doctors, he resigned himself by flopping back into his bed. The less he resisted and the more he cooperated, the faster he would be left alone.

"Well, don't we seem dejected now?" a light voice said chuckling.

Quickly sitting up, Monte found nurse Davrin standing in his room, carrying a tray with several covered plates.

"Lunchtime!" the fox said.

Sliding over a table and stationing it over his patient's bed, he set down the tray and some utensils. "No, wait. I lied. Before you get to eating though, I need to get some more blood from you."

"Again?" Monte was agitated. "What happened to the other three samples you got from me already?"

"Well," the fox went on. "Like I told you before, the first one went missing somehow. We're still working on how that happened. The second sample had an accident in the lab. As many times as those techs are told to keep their claws in order, one of them cuts open a sample & contaminates everything on the table ever now and again. Your last, or should I say, first real blood test came back a bit abnormal, so we need to check again, for clarity you know."

The otter rolled up the sleeve of his hospital gown of his right arm. "Fine, just get it over with."

"Don't worry. I'm sure we'll get through this one without any problems."

Although these blood draws were the calmer part of his days in the hospital, they seemed to be trouble to him. During his first test, Davrin wasn't able to poke the needle through Monte's skin until he put in some effort on his part, leaving some pain on the otter's part. "Seems like you're a bit thick skinned there Monte," the fox had said, trying to alleviate the uncomfortableness of the situation. Getting a better, more sharper needle for the second test didn't go over too well either. It was more painful than the previous attempt, but at least it was quick. Monte had to wipe a tear from his eye after they were done. On their last blood draw, the needle actually got pushed out of his arm, leaving the nurse frantically trying to clean up some spilled blood while still having to get more out of his patient. They still didn't know what had caused that, or any of the previous incidents, but it was getting to the point where Monte wanted as few blood tests done as possible.

Davrin prepared the otter for a quick blood draw. Gingerly tying a string around Monte's forearm, he got to cleaning a patch of thinly furred skin just above the inside of his patient's elbow. Returning to a table beside him, he started labeling a few medium sized glass vials before opening a fresh, sterile needle. "Okay Monte, hopefully this will go smoothly. Just tell me if it hurts." He placed the needle above the cleaned spot and pushed down firmly.

The otter closed his eyes tightly. He expected a bit of pain, but to his relief, only the small prick of the initial insertion of the needle had registered any discomfort. His nurse expertly grabbed vial after vial of his blood in quick order, occasionally spouting a small word to tell him of his progress. This had gone better than he had hoped.

With a swift pull, Davrin extracted the needle from Monte's arm. He placed a small piece of gauze around the injection site and taped it to him. "All done here," he said cheerfully. "Now, you may eat." He reached over to the tray and lifted the cover from the biggest plate. Underneath lay a large slab of golden tilapia, a lemon placed delicately to the side. Another plate next to it was soon uncovered, showing off a small assortment of vegetables. Another plate hid a small slice of a decadent chocolate cake until Davrin removed its cover. To drink, the nurse produced a large, carefully sealed cup of water with a straw. "Eat up!"

The otter didn't need to hear that. As soon as the nurse left the room, he grabbed his fork and dug into the fish. Cutting apart a generous portion of the fish, he quickly thrust in into his mouth. Even though it was hospital fare, it was perfect. Fishy lemony goodness melting in his muzzle made him smile & tear up a little. Why am I about to cry? There's no reason for that. It's just fish after all.Sure, I haven't had anything too solid since I got out of the coma and as an otter I do love fish, but...is there something else going on? This meal feels special. It's almost as if the fox himself had made it... Taking another bite of the fish, the light & buttery taste hit all the right notes. Tears were now running down his face. If someone were to have seen him like that now, they'd be sure to laugh at the reason for his tears, but he didn't care.

Speaking of appearances, Monte didn't even know what he looked like. Ever since he woke up, everyone he'd come in contact with had no desire to tell him anything about his appearance. They had even gone so far as to keep him away from any mirrors, polished surfaces, anything that could give off a reflection. Apparently it was doctor's orders. All he could gather was that his amnesia would leave him disjointed from his current looks, whatever that meant. Everything would be solved by the therapist that he would soon be seeing once he was well enough and prepared for this revelation. Whatever this "revelation" was had to be important, and it kept bugging him. I have to know what I look like. What's so wrong about looking at my face?

He took another piece of his fish. His gusto from just a bite earlier had gone away. Those errant thoughts took its place, beginning to occupy his mind again. Maybe the doctor's right. Maybe I'm not ready to know these things. I can't handle looking at myself. He tried to take another piece of the fox's fish, but it now tasted bland to him. Dejected, he pushed his food away. In his move, he knocked over the cup of water, a few drops spilling to the tray it was on. Trying to take his attention away from his problems, Monte stared at the slowly growing puddle. With a few more drops, the glow from the ceiling lights was visible from the watery spill.

Wait. Water...I can use that water to see myself and no one would ever know.

Reaching over to the table with his dejected food, he rolled it back toward him. I can use the tray to keep the water. Just need to move these plates...

The shuffling of plates was interrupted by the creaking of the hospital room door. In walked General Cruz. Although he was not in his military garb, the smile on his muzzle and the cap on his head gave off his status and power. Wearing a simple white shirt and some khakis, he was showing off a pair of impressively toned arms, arms more than capable of lifting the small bag he had brought with him. After not seeing him for a few days, Monte just froze in place, staring at the elder otter.

"Am I interruptin' lunch?" He said simply.

"Um...yeah. Was just getting to it," the young otter spouted uneasily. His plan would have to wait, but if it meant finally getting a moment with his hero, that was just fine. Fixing the plates back into a suitable position, he once again dug into the fish. It was cold by now and he wasn't really hungry, but he needed to keep up appearances. He couldn't let the general know anything was amiss.

"Oh, I di'n't know they served fish 'ere. How's it taste?"

"Good sir." It was slimy now, but channeling the taste from earlier allowed him to lie good enough.

"Ah, I see ya spilled some of yer water. Let me clean it up." He grabbed a napkin and dropped it on the pool of water, soaking it up before tossing it aside. Monte stared at the crumpled up napkin, seeing how easily his plans could get thrown away.

"You okay there boyo?"

Taking a moment to recover from his daze, he simply respond to the general with a half hearted yes.

"Anyways, I got ya a present." The general lifted the small bag up and placed it on the food table. Reaching inside, he pulled out a jewelry box. "This isn't som'thin' I normally do, but ya need a pick me up." Carefully opening the box with a lone paw, he revealed that within it was a rather large silver chain necklace. "I want ya to take this as a memento to ne'er forget tha' life is precious. It can be taken away at any moment, so live life to the best. Be strong enuff to keep goin' on when things get tough. Always have yer wits with ya for no problem can't be solved. Most of all, be good, for ye gets all the good 'n' the bad ya give out." He handed the jewelry over to its new owner and placed it in his paw. "I'm sure it'll look great on ya. Don' lose it now," he said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, gonna put it on right now so I don't lose it." Monte forced a smile while unclasping the chain and draped it against his neck. Reaching behind him, the otter joined the two necklace halves, carefully using his claws to put the clasp in place, before admiring his new gift. The necklace was made to a fine quality, easily slipping in his grasp as he ran his paws along it. Its shining silver color contrasted well with his tan fur upon his chest and neck. That was a long speech for such a simple gift. Why'd he even say all that? Still, he's spoiling me with this gift, but he still deserves more thanks. "I wish I could see myself with this on..."

"Ya know ya can't see yerself. Doctor's orders."

"But why? No one's ever been able to give me a decent answer." the young otter had a whiny and demanding quality in his voice.

"It's fer yer own good. Ya gotta trust us boyo. We don' think yer ready to face...um...yer face." The general tried to be humerous, but he seemed to know from the start that it wouldn't work now.

"I am perfectly good enough to take whatever happened to me. You gotta believe me. I don't see what the problem is with me looking now. What your doing is only causing more problems."

General Cruz grew more uneasy. "Tha doctors all agreed that..."

"I don't care what the doctors agreed to," Monte grew furious. "I just need to see my face. I know practically nothing else and you're all keeping me from looking at the only thing I have that tells me who I am. You said I'd be able to solve any problem if I thought hard enough. Don't tell me that I can't see myself before 'the right time' comes, because I'll find a way." He paused to collect himself. "Now, please, I gotta see myself."

The general sighed. He knew he had been defeated. He turned to the door and made sure it was locked. "Alright. Ya win. But don' say I di'n' warn ya. Ya really need ta wait fer the therapist ta help you once ya find out, but I'm guess I'm gonna havta help ya myself." He turned back to the table and started removing the plates from Monte's food tray. Once it was clear, the general grabbed the water cup and started to spill it on the tray without another word.

Monte just stayed in place in his bed. He didn't expect the general to actually help him like this. He just stared at the water slowly dripping from his cup and filling the tray. Once all the water is gone, I'll finally know. He cracked a genuine smile, knowing that he'd finally get to the bottom of his face issue in mere moments.

The dripping finally stopped. The general moved the water cup to the side and gestured the young otter to the water filled tray. "Lookie here. Stay calm 'n' be careful."

Monte pushed himself up to reach the pool of water. What awaited him in his reflection caused his smile to fade away. While at first glance his face had looked normal, it was merely an illusion. A large gash defined his forehead, devoid of fur, something that most likely pointed to the severity of his accident. His ears, supposedly small and round, were instead unusually large and somewhat pointed. Other scrapes were scattered across his face, looking like they were healing well. What surprised him most was the shape of his muzzle itself. Unlike the short and round muzzle the general before him had, his was long and rectangular, covered with lacerations leaving it uneven and damaged, something unfitting of an otter. Realizing that everyone had been right, that he should have waited, that he wasn't ready to know, tears filled his blue eyes, his despair too much to hold back.

Monte lifted his arms quickly to hide his face, to shield the general from his outburst, knocking the water tray off its table and spilling it all over him. Monte didn't care though. I'm a freak. What happened to me? How am I gonna get on with my life looking like this!? He didn't know when he started sobbing, but it stopped once he felt the embrace of the general.

"I'm sorry ya had ta see yerself like that, but yar gonna recover okay. Those cuts 'n' gashes'll heal, but..." he paused. "Yer muzzle, that's, that's you now. The doctor's did e'erythin' they could, but yer injuries were very severe. They had ta reconstruct yer face quickly ta keep ya alive, 'n' that's the only way they coulda made sure ya'd survive."

Monte's had slowed his weeping. He rested his head on the older otter's chest, trying to calm himself down more. I can't believe I look like this. This can't be happening to me. This all has to be a bad dream. General Cruz cradled the younger otter's head. "Son, listen ta me. There's no way I can know or feel what yer goin' through right now, but there's a lot of us here ta help. Don't ya forget that. It may seem hard now, but yer gonna get through this." His crying stopped. The comfort the military otter had given him had soothed him enough. He's saved me twice now.

"I'm sorry for all this," a raspy voiced Monte said. "I shoulda waited, but I...I just wanted to know right away." He pushed himself away from the general, collapsing in his bed.

"Ya were followin' what ya thought was right. I'm not gonna knock ya fer that. Jus' remember that yer also a soldier. 'n' that soldiers follow orders from their commandin' officers." The general placed a paw on Monte's shoulder and sighed. "Get some rest soldier. That's an order."

Monte had no emotional strength to retort. He simply stared at the caring and understanding eyes of the general and nodded. I've still got a ways to go on the road to recovery, but with caring beings like the general and Davrin, I'm in good paws. His eyes soon grew heavy and he drifted off to sleep.