Dr. Chlorophylls walked back into the hospital room where Rose and Richard were patiently waiting. She took a moment to shuffle through her papers before addressing the couple. "Well, Mrs. Van Direstag, the good news is that we can't find anything broken. You have some bruised ribs and more than a few cuts. But with some blood transfusions, we were able to keep you from bleeding out." She took a second look at the couple before continuing. "But I would like to keep you overnight, just to be sure that there aren't any complications. We'll be giving you shots for tetanus and rabies just to be sure. If things look good in the morning, we'll go ahead and discharge you."
"I see," Richard said, "Thank you, doctor. For everything."
"My pleasure," Dr. Chlorophylls replied, "And I'll see you in the morning." She walked back out of the room, leaving Richard and Rose alone in the room.
"I'm sorry," Rose said, "Maybe I should have..."
"Shhh..." Richard said as he put a finger on her lips, "I should be the one apologizing. If I hadn't given in to my instincts, I wouldn't have..."
"No," Rose said interrupting, "Maybe if I didn't lose my cool, I wouldn't have taken you out into the forest, and then you wouldn't..."
"No, you were right to call me out," Richard said in response, "If I weren't so...bull headed, I wouldn't have this bad idea of fleeing town." He took a deep breath as he ran his hand through his brown hair, "One of the cops that drove me here told me that they send police to new residences. Just to check on them. If...if they'd caught us, they'd transform the entire family."
Rose took a deep breath when she heard that. "But now that you're a werelion, we don't have to worry about it?" she asked.
"I suppose so," Richard said in response. "Although, now the question is what to do next. I mean, if we want to have sex with each other again..."
"I know I know," Rose interrupted. "I'm going to need a new fur coat." She took a look at Richard as she said, "It seemed that you changing did you good. I mean, you haven't looked this good since we were in college."
"Hey," Richard said with a bit of a grin, "I tried keeping in shape."
"Try being the operative word," Rose said with a teasing smile. "But seriously, it looks like you de-aged by about 20 years. And put on some muscle. I'd bet most women would say that you'd be handsome." She put a hand on his chest, feeling the muscle underneath his shirt as she continued. "I won't lie and say that I wasn't tempted to join you and Sheila. But seeing you with her...having sex with her...I...I...just..."
"It's okay," Richard said putting her hand in his, "And I'll admit that fighting these new instincts...It's rather hard for me. When I first started changing...I had this overwhelming urge. Even then, after that..." He sighed, "I hurt you...I hurt you emotionally...I hurt you physically...And I just..."
"Shhh..." Rose said, putting a finger to his mouth, "I understand. And I forgive you. Frankly, we're in a rather strange situation." She sat back in her bed as she continued, "We can't change the past, and we can only move to the future. The only question is where do we go from here."
Richard nodded and said, "And no matter what happens, you'll always be my wife. You'll always be first in my heart."
"Oh Richard," Rose said softly as the two of them grew closer together. Their lips locked in a passionate kiss. It grew from a single kiss to another, to another. As the two of them kissed, Richard started to climb in bed with Rose, before Rose stopped him with a gentle push. "I...think we should stop now. I mean, if we keep this up, I'm going to be wearing a fur coat myself."
"Ah, sorry, you're right," Richard said as he got back onto the floor. "I guess, we were having a moment, and I just got carried away."
Rose giggled and said, "It's okay. Although I think you should probably leave before things get too heated. I'll be here in the morning."
"Yeah," Richard replied with a bit of a sigh. "I'll call Frank and have him pick me up. I'll be here after I get the kids to school tomorrow morning."
"Sounds good," Rose said, "And stay safe."
"You too," Richard said as he got up. He walked to the door, but he took one last look at Rose as he smiled at her and walked away. Rose, at the same time, smiled back before relaxing back into bed.