Firefly Glen Or need an escape just because

He didn't react or respond to her, which was honestly ideal, because if Fennec was really being honest with herself it wasn't him she was yelling at.  Her relief that he was alive was too twisted up with the horror of the what-ifs, and as much as Fennec might wish she was, she wasn't the type of wolf who could just collapse next to him with relief and enjoy the fact that he was still alive.  That'd be too simple, and instead, her brain played on repeat;  if you'd just taken a few seconds longer.

Fennec couldn't think of a single time in recent past when she hadn't been able to handle a joke like that.  But for some reason, when Bronco said it, she felt her entire stomach drop into her paws.  The expression on her face when she looked at him was haunted, oddly muted after the fury of just a couple of seconds ago.  His voice sounded awful, and she could hear the effort of breath the last few minutes had been, but he was alive.  In the wake of the frenzy of panic, nothing was left, and his humor fell resoundingly flat.

Without another word, she turned around and began to limp away.  He was going to be fine, but she wasn't right now, and in true Fennec fashion that meant she needed to be alone to deal with this.  Her duty was to stay and check, to ensure that his lungs were okay, that the cough meant nothing serious, that the collapse hadn't harmed him.  She just couldn't.

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