...jumped on top of me.
She just leapt right and me and easily pinned me to the ground. It hurt quite a bit as she easily outweighed me. I saw Bozantum stand up and it appeared he wanted to pull Theresa off me but he was unsure of how to accomplish that. I was about to make a wish when Theresa leaned her head closer to me and began to lick my face.
Through the pressure I felt from being stuck underneath her impressive frame, I was able to start laughing. Of course she didn't want to hurt me. She was simply expressing her gratitude.
"Theresa..." I struggled to speak. "I'm glad...that you're...happy...but this hurts. Please...if you under...stand me...get off...please."
Theresa ceased licking me. She now had an expression that appeared to be one of worry. That is if I could actually read the facial expression of a tiger, I really had no idea after all. She slowly pulled herself off me and made sure not to scratch me with one of her thick claws. I was able to take several deep breaths and felt somewhat normal again. Bozantum gently picked me up from the floor as I continued to breath heavily.
"I'm sorry," I said to Theresa the tiger. "I wasn't ready for that." She walked back over to me and licked my hand. I decided to scratch the top of her head in order to show her that I understood. "Can you still understand me?" I asked her. Her head bobbed up and down. "I'll take that as a 'yes.'" Her head continued to bob.
"How does it feel?" I asked. She replied with a quick roar and took a few large leaps around the room. I interpreted that to mean, "Awesome."
I looked over at Stephen. He still appeared utterly shocked. Theresa walked back over to me and then looked at Stephen as well. He cautiously walked to us but never stopped looking at Theresa. "Is it really still you, Theresa?" he asked. Theresa bobbed her head again. He stroked her head a few times and she responded with a contended purr. He looked at me again. "You really weren't lying, were you?"
"I try not to, when I can," I said. I figured that was about as accurate as I could be on that statement given everything I'd done today.
Theresa started to lick Stephen, but she did not lick his hand. She licked at his groin. "Whoa, easy!" he said. Theresa did not comply and continued to do as she pleased. "Can you help?" he asked.
I cast a devious smile at him. "Oh, I'm sure I can," I said.