I woke up in the base hospital, still in my full morph form. I'm sure the doctors had a fun time with me. George and Me'Neath were sitting asleep in the chair. George had me surprised. He was human... mostly. He had a mule's muzzle and ears. Me'Neath was quite amusing. He was lying sprawled out across a chair, not looking completely comfortable, but trying in any case. A quick chuff woke both of them up. Me'Neath recovered the fastest from being caught in a rather embarrassing position. George looked at me, put a hoof-like hand up to his muzzle, and groaned.
Me'Neath and myself looked on as his muzzle slowly shrank into his normal, human face, the hoofs splitting and lengthening to become fingered hands, but his ears stayed put. Quite fascinating. George shot us nasty looks. "What's so intriguing?" He asked, with a bit of a glint in his eye. I looked at Me'Neath, and replied, "I was waiting for the ears. But I find it nice to look at how others change, especially when one is so used to how one does it himself. In any case, how did I end up here? And where is here, anyway?"
Me'Neath answered while George got his ears changed back. "Well, what do you last remember?" I thought a bit, and grunted. "The grenade punching through my armor, I think. Along with several fragments of the guy we were after. After that was the red haze of pain, and then nothing." Me'Neath grimaced at the thought. "Yes, but it was half a box of grenades that he had rigged to all go up at once. You were the only person caught in the blast radius. It's a miracle that you survived." The doctor came in at this point. He spoke. "Mr. Hunt, you are mostly healed. I have never seen anything heal as fast as you." I snickered. "Yeah, but tell me what else got blown off, besides my tail, gonads, and my back legs. I was sitting on the box of grenades when it blew. That also explained why the bastard was smiling the whole damm time." The doctor said, "That's about it. Didn't even have to perform surgery to remove the shrapnel. Your body rejected it." This got a whistle from George. Now it was my turn for the nasty look. "Well", I started, "One of the tweaks I got was an enhanced healing power. Most Weres have a weaker version of it. It does have one side effect though, and you've figured it out. Otherwise, the IV sticking in my neck would not be there. I take it my body chemistry was a challenge?" A note of amusement followed the question. The doctor nodded. "Yes, quite difficult. Fortunately, we had both your records and baselines from both your friends here. Oh yes, and the fact that you talked a bit in your sleep, which also explains your friends presence."
Now it was my turn to turn beet red in embarrassment. George spoke up. "Don't worry too much about it. The only thing you said was 'iv food', repeatedly, and in a rather large multitude of languages. Must be one of your mother's tweaks. Still, you should be good to go shortly, unless the good doctor here has any other reason to keep us?" The doctor shook his head no, but stated simply, "Mr. Hunt. I suggest that you get some food first. You should be ok for solid food."
An hour later, and several large slabs of unappetizing, but filling, hospital food later, We left and got in the truck. Unfortunately, as George and Me'Neath filled the cab, I got to ride in back. This was not too big a deal for me. I Just dropped to all fours and jumped right in. My major concern was Me'Neath's driving. Tigereans tend to drive on earth like they've just stolen the vehicle and are being pursued by half the cops in the state. George did ask him to slow down a bit on the back roads though. 90 was a bit much for that big truck. Fortunatly, we made it back to the base without incident, and went back to my research and training.