Katie woke up the next morning feeling unbearably hot. When Laura noticed her whimpering pathetically, she once again grabbed the thermometer to find her girlfriend at a toasty 109. Frowning, she brought over a bowl of water with another pill, which Katie lapped up grateful, waiting until the heat subsided to move an inch.

“I don’t think this is normal, Katie,” Laura commented as her girlfriend finally shook off her covers.

“I mean, nothing about this is, right?” Katie replied nervously.

“You’re not wrong, but still,” Laura replied with a sigh. “I think you should get checked out by someone at the clinic. The heat and the fact that you haven’t changed back aren’t the experience of anyone I’ve heard of on the study.”

“Oh, um, what do I do then?” Katie asked sheepishly.

“Look, I’m going to drive you down to the clinic, you’re going to talk to Dr. Hernandez, and we’re gonna figure this out, okay?” Laura calmly explained as she began to gently scratch through Katie’s back fur.

Katie stopped what she was doing and hazily leaned into the scratching. The heat had begun to subside already, and she was grateful for the soothing that her girlfriend’s gentle stroking had brought to her. Laura began to slow down, and finally stopped with a kiss on Katie’s forehead. They hugged for a moment before both getting ready.

As Katie finished smoothing out her new shirt, she looked over at Laura. She noticed her girlfriend’s gently sloping curves, her sweet heart, and how the light’s sheen on her head fur made her look like she had a little gleaming halo. Noticing her stare, Laura smirked and picked Katie up, much to Katie’s pleasant surprise.

They both giggled and kissed again, before Laura let Katie down and began to gather things to go. Katie rummaged through the paperwork she’d thrown all over a table a few nights ago to find the medical documentation, finally finding it a little coffee-stained but still good.

Climbing in Laura’s car, they drove down to the clinic. Katie mindlessly stared at the billboards and highway signs, thinking about her angel. Absentmindedly, she began to hum a show tune, and she found Laura singing along as they got closer. She hadn’t realized she’d been singing the woman’s part until Laura started coughing struggling to reach as low as the song went. Katie stuttered, and noticing, Laura gently scratched her behind the ears again. They finished the song out in harmony and sat contentedly in the car without saying another word until Laura pulled up to the clinic.

“I’ll get you in with Dr. Hernandez immediately, she’s very good about seeing her patients on time,” Laura said as they began their mosey towards the front doors.

Walking in, Katie couldn’t help but notice just how many people were at the clinic. Were there really this many people who wanted to be lycanthropes? Then again, maybe there were more people like her, people just looking to make it in a world where normally there wasn’t an easy way to live anymore, especially not in a city like LA.

She did a double take as she realized Laura had left her behind, and she scurried to keep up, finally arriving at a door labeled “Maria Hernandez”. Laura knocked, and spoke, “Maria, it’s Laura, are you free?”

The door unlocked, and a mousey blonde woman stepped out of the office meekly, clearly frazzled from something or other. She gave a weak smile to Laura as if to say “please make it quick”.

“This is Katie, she’s a patient here,” Laura explained.

“Well, I’m glad to see it worked out so well! Now if you’ll excuse me I–”

“She’s in heat, Maria, and she hasn’t changed back at all,” Laura hissed. “Want to explain what the fuck is going on?”

The doctor’s sleepy hazel eyes widened as she mouthed an ‘oh’, and ushered them into her office. Paperwork, files marked ‘confidential’, and various awards and pictures littered her office. Laura gaped at the scene along with Katie, clearly just as surprised at the doctor’s mess and flustered demeanor. Maria gestured for them to sit in the two chairs not covered completely in paperwork or coffee mugs, and they reluctantly complied.

“So, off-season heat and no reversal?” Maria asked sharply, breathing in as she composed herself.

“Yeah, uh, it’s a lot,” Katie muttered as she squeezed Laura’s paw tightly.

“I see, I see, hmm,” Maria replied as she walked up to Katie and began to examine her closely.

Katie shifted uncomfortably. She didn’t like how the doctor was looking at her. It was like she was just an experiment to this woman. She looked nervously to Laura, who gently put a paw on Maria’s shoulder, sensing Katie’s discomfort. Katie sighed a breath of relief as Laura spoke up.

“Maria, could you please just run some tests to make sure she’s okay?” Laura asked pointedly.

“Oh, um, right, sorry! I get so carried away, gosh, right,” Maria replied as she ran out of the office.

Just as she ran out, another woman walked in, a demeanor of extreme confidence permeating through her well-fitted pantsuit. She gave both of them a grin, lingering for a moment on Katie, causing her to shiver. She wasn’t used to feeling so vulnerable in the presence of others, and the fact that this woman oozed wealth didn’t help at all.

“Is Dr. Hernandez in?” the woman asked.

“She’s busy dealing with something right now, she’ll be back in about an hour,” Laura lied.

“Well, perhaps I’ll introduce myself to you then. I’m Carolyn. Carolyn Ellison,” she said as she shook both of their paws.

“I’m Laura, and this is my girlfriend Katie,” Laura curtly replied with a strained smile.

“Both patients?” she asked.

“No, just me, ma’am,” Katie replied, Laura giving her a concerned look as she said it.

“I see, I see. Well, do let Maria know I stopped by, and frankly, that she should take a vacation next week,” Carolyn said with a hearty chuckle as she gestured to the mess.

“I’ll be sure to. A pleasure meeting you!” Laura said.

“Likewise. Do keep in touch,” Carolyn said as she walked out of the office, her heels clicking on the tile as she went into the distance.

A few moments passed in awkward silence before Maria came rushing back in with a few tubes and medical supplies, nearly spilling out of her arms. Calming herself, she turned to Laura. “I’m sorry, I’m not in the best state of mind to be doing blood draws, would you mind?”

Laura sighed as she nodded, pulling a pair of gloves onto her paws and beginning to test Katie’s arm for veins. Finding one, she marked the spot with a sharpie and grabbed the needle. Katie winced as it entered and the tubes were filled. She breathed a sigh of relief once her girlfriend finally pulled it out and wrapped gauze gently around the spot, giving it a kiss and returning to sit in her seat.

Katie rubbed her arm as Maria ran off, presumably to run the tests. About a half hour later, she return with a much more relieved look on her face, and a vial of a sickly yellow fluid.

“Thankfully, it looks like your hormones are just off. I expect the full moon might have something to do with it. I’ll give you this injection, which should stabilize things long enough for you to change back, and we’ll see how it goes next month when you change again. Does that sound good?”

“Yeah, um, so I shouldn’t change back into a wolf until next month?” Katie asked nervously.

“Not at all, you’ll be perfectly fine,” Maria explained.

“Maria, do you have a pair of clothes she could borrow? She’s um…” Laura whispered into her ear, causing Maria to go wide-eyed and nod.

“What’s your old size? Sorry, I get ahead of myself sometimes,” Maria said, flushed with embarrassment.

“Uhhh, 36/36 and medium,” Katie said as she began to anxiously tap her footpaw.

“Alright, I’ll be back with that,” Maria replied.

Katie looked anxiously at Laura. “Do I really have to go back?”

“I…I’m sorry, Katie, if I had known I would’ve–”

“It’s okay, Laura,” Katie said as she made a grimace. “It’s not like my dad would’ve believed it was me if I couldn’t have. At least now I’ll get time to explain to him.”

“Is he…”

“I don’t know, I don’t know,” she began to choke out. “He’s always been so disappointed in me, I just feel like this is another failure of mine.”

“Hey. No.” Laura said sharply.

“I’m baaaack!” Maria cried before reading the room and awkwardly handing the bag of clothes to Katie, who meekly took them and offered a silent thank you.

Maria nodded as she motioned for Laura to do the injection, as she dutifully did, holding Katie the whole time.

“Now, it should take a few minutes to take effect. I have a private restroom behind me. I’ll warn you, it’s rather dirty but–”

Katie was in the bathroom faster than lightning, clearly not wanting to even consider the possibility of anyone seeing her changing back. The door locked and jumbled several times, Katie clearly anxious that it hadn’t locked fully. After a few minutes, the door silently unlocked, and Katie stepped out, looking just as she had before. She winced as Laura gave her a hug and a kiss.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Laura whispered.

“I know,” Katie said in reply.

They shared a look, and Laura tilted her head, understanding. She sighed as she turned to Dr. Hernandez. “Maria, thank you for everything.”

“No, um, thank you! This will help people in the future who encounter this, and I’m glad it was a success!” Maria said smiling as she waved them out.

“Oh, by the way, Maria,” Laura said, “who is Carolyn Ellison?”

Maria froze and stared at her, then replied, “a donor.”

“Not from the government after all, then?” Laura asked, staring at Maria until she slumped away back into her office.

The drive home was uneventful, none of the joy or life remaining in either of them. When they got to Katie’s dad’s house, Katie gave Laura an awkward hug, and said ‘love you’ as she turned to leave. Laura stopped her, and then handed her the napkin with the forest scene.

“You’re worth more to me than anything in this world. Your beauty is clear to me, even when you can’t see it.”

Katie blushed, thanked her, and ran inside, as if she were allergic to being seen at all. Laura drove off wordlessly, holding back tears. As Katie closed the door, she found her father sitting in his chair as always. He grunted to her as he gestured to the pot of neon orange mac n’ cheese on the stove. She thanked him for making lunch as she poured the lukewarm noodles into a bowl, sitting across from him.

“Your girlfriend drop you off?”

“Girlfriend? How’d you–”

“Son, I’m no fool. You stay one night with a girl and it’s just one night, you stay two nights and she’s your girl.”

“Yeah, well I–”

“Son, please,” he held up his hand. “I don’t need to hear it. I see you looking at the door. I know you love her. That’s half of what matters.”

“What’s the other half, dad?” she asked anxiously.

He looked her dead in the eyes and replied. “That she doesn’t hurt you like that last girl did.”

“She won’t, I promise I–”

“I should think not if she’s willing to take you under her wing for two nights. You better be shaping up and treating her right. I know this medical study is a way for you to get back on your feet, but what comes next?”

“I…we were discussing that. I was thinking about doing art.”

“Art, hm? How good are you at it?” her father asked, seeming a mix of skeptical and genuinely curious.

She took out the napkin and shakily handed it to him. He looked at it, grunted, and then walked out to the garage. She heard the sound of whirring tools and hammers, and then heard her father rummaging through what she thought sounded like sheets of glass.

He came back in with a picture frame, and in the middle of it was the napkin. He hung it on the wall over the television, then went back to watching without a word. Katie began to smile, and for a moment, she could’ve sworn she saw her old man smiling back at her in a way he hadn’t for years.

“Not bad for a napkin,” he said, “just make sure you spend some of that money on paper.”

“Sure thing, dad,” she replied with a grin as she continued to munch on her mac n’ cheese.