Morningside Cuesta different now; better than

Grayday was doing better - in a physcial sense. Dawn could hardly hurt him by playing, unless she bit him directly on his scabbing flank. The male was feeling a little bit stronger each day, but his heart was healing far more slowly than his body.

Still, he managed to grin at his daughter, and his tail wagged in unfeigned happiness at seeing her.

"Hey, honey," he greeted, smoothing a lick over her temple. "I'm doin' much better. Still sore, but I'm sure it'll fade." He was wrong, there. The wound (and the joints around it) would always twinge, and come winter, he'd have an undeniable limp. It would fade again with the warmer months, but it would take longer and longer every year. Thankfully, neither of them could know that.

"How are you?" he asked, concern lacing his words. He'd been a little more caught up in his own woes than he should have; he had no idea how his daughter was taking all this. "With Sunny and Steady - and Addie, now?"