Shy Deer Steppes Shake your cake.

The pinching sensation at her scruff startled her, prompting a full body flinch. Towhee obeyed the unspoken command and shakily raised upright, trying her damnedest to focus on the stranger's face even as she fought down the feelings of panic. She needed to keep her eyes on this lady's lips, if she wanted a fighting chance at seeing her children again.

"My leg is tingling," she reported faintly, "but my foot is numb. I—" Her voice cut off in a sharp gasp as the most excruciating pain she'd ever experienced shot through her afflicted leg. A scream wrenched from her, orange eyes bulging as she slumped forward into the medic.

Openly sobbing at the agony of it, Towhee cried, "I don't want to die," into the other woman's furry shoulder. "Please help me." She could feel herself getting lightheaded from the fear and pain both, though she clung fiercely to consciousness. Her kids didn't have a dad anymore, dying wasn't an option.