Desheera stepped into the house, carrying a blanket that had been wrapped around something.
"William?"
She called.
He appeared and saw the blanket. He instantly knew what was inside of it and looked at his wife.
"Where..."
"I heard her crying when I was leaving Wendy's. She was in the dumpster, William. Can you see if she needs a doctor?"
William reached for the baby and held her close, sniffing and listening to the infant's internals.
"Her vitals are strong, however, she seems to be in the beginning stages of diphtheria."
He shortened and narrowed his upper canines and bit the child. No pain, no crying. The child recovered as the regenerative cells took over and the white blood cells killed off the bacteria.
William handed her back to Desheerah then vanished.
He reappeared in an alley and saw a woman sobbing hysterically. He could tell that she couldn't afford anything, not even food.
Psychically knocking her unconscious, he picked her up and could tell that she was seriously ill by how little she weighed.
"I thought so."
He said, returning home with the transient woman.
"Well, I found little Hope's mother, here. She was crying in the alley behind Walgreens. She's not doing well at all. It's a miracle that she's alive. She was perfectly healthy up until she was raped by her cousin-in-law."
"Seriously?"
"Yeah. Nothing I can't handle."
With that, he bit her too.
... Later ...
She woke up slowly, wondering if she was even alive anymore. It had been years since she felt so warm, comfortable and peaceful. Sitting up, she realized that she was in a very large bedroom. Seeing the crib nearby, she threw the blanket aside and ran to look in it.
Smiling sadly, she picked up her daughter and said.
"So, you died too, huh?"
"Define died."
She heard.
"Well, I don't feel sick. In fact, I feel better than I can ever remember feeling. My daughter is apparently healthy again. We must be in the afterlife."
"No. Neither of you are dead. After my wife found your daughter, I took care of both of you. I'll be up in a few with your meal."
"Why would you help me? My own parents blamed me."
"Thirteen is far too young to be going through all of this. Hope is barely a year old. I'll see to it that your cousin-in-law is dealt with."
"No, don't! No one will believe it!"
"They'll have no choice but to believe it. Are you comfortable around furred people?"
"I like them. They're really nice."
"Alright, I'm coming in, then."
William opened the door and pushed a hotel food cart in.
"My name is William Frederick. This is my home. You are a part of my family for as long as you want to be. Your daughter is as well."
She started crying again.
"My name is Teresa Davis..."
Was all she was able to get out and she sat down, quietly crying.
William gently lifted the sleeping infant out of Teresa's arms, laid her back in the crib and picked up Teresa.
He sat down, holding her like a baby and said.
"You aren't going to be held responsible for Hope, for now at least. Like I said. You are both my family. Let my wife and I take care of her. You can start going back to school. Do not misunderstand me, you can have her whenever you want and I certainly will not tolerate you ignoring her. However, we'll help you manage both. I've boosted your cognitive abilities astronomically and you'll find you barely have to read something to remember it."
"How did you do that?" She asked, sniffling.
"Don't worry about the details. You'll never get sick again. Hope won't, either. You both had diphtheria and you had HIV as well."
"Had?"
"You're cured."
"That's not possible, there isn't a cure for HIV."
"Not a medical cure, no. However, my biology allows me to heal anything wrong with any animal or person. Like I said, don't worry about the details."
"Thank you."
He hugged her.
"You're welcome, Tessa. Are you hungry?"
She nodded.
"The food is getting cold."
She reluctantly climbed out of his lap and went over to the cart.
William stood up and then went down on all fours. Shaking his fur out and fluffing his feathers, he stood back up. Whether he was standing upright or on his hands and paws, it looked natural to Teresa either way.
He looked at Teresa and said.
"I'll be back. My wife, Desheerah, is outside if you need anything."
"Thank you so much, for everything."
William smiled and said.
"No. Thank you. I haven't had a good fight in eighty years."
He vanished, ignoring her stunned expression.
He reappeared in the principle's office of the Petal Middle School. Principle Fitch shouted in surprise.
"What do you want!?"
"Please forgive me for frightening you. I need you to see something."
"Why me?"
"It involves Teresa Davis's Cousin-in-law, Mathew Jordan."
"The English teacher? What's going on?"
William turned the light off and held his hand toward the wall.
Suddenly, the wall lit up.
"Hey, Matt. Whatcha doing?"
Teresa's voice was heard. The view was her own.
"Oh, nothing. Just watching a show."
"Can I watch?"
"Sure. You can learn from it."
The principle didn't like how that sounded and, when the monitor screen came into view, he knew exactly what was going on.
He watched up until Mathew began coercing Teresa into taking her clothes off.
"I've seen enough! I'll call him in here after the police arrive."
The view vanished and William turned the lights back on.
