Prisoner (Werewolf Marines) Read Online Free Page B

sweat.
    DJ forced his mind away from those memories.
Answering the doctor’s question was probably the quickest route to
getting some answers himself. “If I drink too much coffee, sure I
get insomnia. But not otherwise, and no nightmares. Speaking of
coffee, would it be possible for me to get some? Like, right
now?”
    It was another cup poured into the ocean of
DJ’s frustration when the doctor ignored his request for a caffeine
hit. “Do you ever have things that you can’t stop thinking about,
even if you want to?”
    “Not the way you’re thinking of.”
    “What way are you thinking of?”
    “Song lyrics cluttering up my head. Tunes I
don’t even like. You know, earworms.” DJ couldn’t stand sitting
still any longer, so he got up again. Then he remembered that he
was trying to convince the doctor that he wasn’t anxious,
and stood awkwardly, forcing himself not to pace. “Do you even know
what happened to Roy? Should I be asking someone else?”
    Dr. Semple ignored his questions. “Tell me
what combat stress feels like to you.”
    DJ was way too stressed out to keep track of
complicated lies, so he stuck to the truth. “Like everything’s
going too fast.”
    “Such as?”
    “My heartbeat. My thoughts. The rotation of
the Earth.”
    “The rotation of the Earth?” Dr. Semple
repeated, sounding fascinated.
    “You asked. It doesn’t happen very often, and
it only lasts a couple hours. I don’t get flashbacks. I don’t get
panic attacks. I don’t have trouble eating.” He caught himself
pacing, and shoved his palm against the wall to make himself stop.
“Losing my shit in the helicopter was a one-time incident because I
was upset that my buddy stopped breathing , now will you
please fucking tell me if he’s still alive!”
    Dr. Semple didn’t reply for long enough that
DJ knew what she’d say before she spoke. “I’m very sorry to inform
you...”
    But I saved him, DJ protested to
himself. His thoughts were so loud that they drowned out whatever
the doctor was saying. I carried him out of the helo and I bit
him and I got him through the change. He was breathing when I saw
him last. I saved him.
    “How did he die?” DJ’s own voice sounded as
if it was coming from a long way away. “I mean, where? In the helo?
In the hospital?”
    The doctor tilted her head, as if considering
how much to reveal. “In the hospital. His heart stopped after
surgery.”
    “I didn’t save him,” DJ said numbly. “I did
everything I could. And he still died.”
    “What did you do for him?” Dr. Semple
asked.
    For a brief, despairing moment, DJ didn’t see
any reason why he shouldn’t tell the truth. Nothing mattered except
that the best friend he’d ever had was dead. He couldn’t imagine
anything ever mattering to him again.
    Except his pack. He still had to protect
them. “I got him out of the helo. I bandaged his wounds.”
    “What else?”
    I talked to him to keep him awake. I wrapped
my shirt around him to keep him warm. I turned him on his side so
he wouldn’t choke on his own blood. I held him in my arms so he’d
know he wasn’t alone.
    “What else?” Dr. Semple repeated.
    DJ shook his head, unable to speak. The
everlasting whirlwind of thoughts in his head had changed, not to
the elegant simplicity of combat where they laid themselves out
like beads on a string, but to a book he couldn’t read and didn’t
want to.
    He hoped Roy hadn’t been left by himself in a
bed, but had some nurse or medic to hold his hand at the end. Roy
hated being alone.
    “You did everything you could,” the doctor
said. “You even made him into a werewolf.”
    Automatically, DJ nodded.
    “Was it the first time you’d done that?”
    DJ’s head jerked up, his mind abruptly
spinning into gear again. He’d been set up! “I’m sorry, what were
you saying? I wasn’t paying attention.”
    “You heard me,” Dr. Semple said. “And I saw
you nod. You’re a werewolf.”
    Adrenaline flooded DJ’s veins,