Morningside Cuesta bone marrow pen

He licked gingerly at the fluid leaking from his flank - much of it was simply blood, but there was now some foul-smelling discharge dribbling down his fur. It was bitter to taste, but he cleaned it anyway, wanting to see the extent of the damage. His ears flickered toward Dawn when she spoke, but he heard her words in a hazy sort of way, too focused on how hurt he was, and how he needed to go after Sunny.

The wound was just two angry, red puncture wounds, but beneath his skin, the tissue was quickly swelling.

"Just stay with me," he managed to say, tearing his eyes away from his leg to rest on his daughter's shaken form. I'm okay, he wanted to tell her, but he wasn't. He didn't know how this would end, and there was still so much he needed to teach his daughter, to tell her. "Dawn, I - " But he didn't want to scare her. He didn't want to see any more fear in her eyes. He was supposed to protect her, but how could he if this bite was the end of him? For a moment, panic fluttered like a trapped bird in his chest - but then he remembered this was Dawn, his little rebel. "I love you," he said, stretching his neck toward her even as he beckoned her nearer. "You and your brother make me so proud - and I know that things aren't the best between you two right now, but I need to know that, if somethin' happened, you'd take care of him. No matter what."