Redhawk Caldera i can feel your halo

The quiet of the proverbial hospital wing was disrupted by a loud roar in the distance. Meerkat tensed, her blood running cold at the familiarity of that noise. Bear, she thought, her heart abruptly pounding in her chest. The bear followed me here, came a second and slightly inaner thought as her breaths came fast and shallow. Then her thoughts simply whirled into static chaos.

Then two things happened in quick succession, both of them grounding her. First, Niamh appeared in the doorway, signaling at her. Nearly at the same time, Bronco roused and asked her a question. If the roar had woken him, or perhaps his mother's arrival, he didn't seem to have registered these things consciously. Maybe he was simply too out of it to really have any bearings on his surroundings.

Putting a toe to her lips, Meerkat hunkered closer to him, after shooting Alyx a quick glance. She was still sound asleep. Good. "Shhh, Alyx is sleeping right next to you." She paused, swallowing thickly and glancing at Niamh. "I've been here a couple of days. How're you feeling?"