Chapter 5
|Third Person's POV|
|Animal Clinic|
The car parks in the lot in front of the clinic. Nate and Allison see the closed sign but the light is still on so there is a possibility that the vet is still there.
"I--I'll go see if the vet is still there" Allison says and gets out of the car towards the clinic door.
"Well, I guess I'll check the dog" Nate wonders out loud and gets out of the car. Opening the hatchback, the dog aggressively barks and makes a move to get out but can't so it lays downs again whimpering. Nate takes a step back from the sudden movement and barking, he tries again to comfort it by petting it as he reaches outs his hand the dog starts snarling at him.
"Well, let's hope the vet knows how to handle you baddy if he's even there"
In the meantime, in the clinic we see Scott backing down a corridor hauling a huge bag of kitty litter. Setting it against the wall he takes out a set of keys and unlocks the next door. He barely has a foot inside the room when one of the cats hisses in terror. The cages filled with cats come alive with activity. The frightened felines suddenly bare their teeth, hissing and clawing frenetically at the cage doors. All of them focused on Scott, their backs arched, struck with absolute terror. Stunned, he staggers out of the room, slamming the door shut.
Retreating into the waiting room, Scott can still hear the pandemonium coming from inside when a hammering spins him around. Standing outside and banging on the glass door with her fist is Allison. Rain-soaked with red eyes and in a visible panic and worry. Quickly unlocking the door, Scott lets her in as she tries to explain but it feels like a Lumb is stuck in her throat so with some difficulty she manages to say.
"I didn't see it. I took my eyes off the road for like two seconds to switch songs on my iPod and this dog--it came out of nowhere--"
"it's all right. Do you remember where it happened so I can send Animal Control to find it?" Scott tries to calm her down as Allison gets worked up.
"No. I mean yes, I know where I hit it. But the dog--"
"Right. Where is it?" "In my car."
Following Allison to her car while holding an umbrella, Scott sees Nate there and starts to wonder what he was doing with Allison. the frightened lab mix is clearly in pain. Allison reaches in to pick him up.
"Hey wait a second" Nate takes a step towards to stop her as the dog snaps at her. She flinches back, stepping right into Nate's arms.
"You okay?" Nate asks. She nods, looking up at Nate behind her, his hands on her forearms, fingers lightly touching her soft skin.
"He's just frightened. Let me see if I have better luck." Scott says.
"That makes two of us." Allison adds.
Handing Nate the umbrella, Scott steps toward the open door, oddly calm.
"Careful."
As he connects eyes with the dog, something happens... sound drops out around him, all except for the dog's nervous panting. Then its harsh gasps begin to ease as some sort of primal communication occurs between them. for the briefest moment, his eyes take on a strangely yellow tint, like that of a wolf.
In response, the dog lowers its body submissively, yielding to the obviously dominant animal. With Allison watching in amazement and Nate putting on a poker face as he stares at Scott, Scott gathers the dog into his arms and carries him into the vet's office.
Inside, Scott gently lays the injured animal down on the examining table. Allison stays back, watching him inspect the dog while petting it, doing an expert job of calming it.
"I think his leg is broken. I've seen the doctor do plenty of splints. I could try it myself and give him a painkiller for now."
Allison steals glances at him, looking on with admiration as he works.
"Hey, do you have a spare Shirt or something" Nate asks for Allison. When Scott finally does look up, he too sees her hugging herself, soaked and obviously freezing.
"Yes I have a shirt in my back one second"
"Oh, I don't want to trouble you." Allison says But Scott is already reaching into his bag for the shirt. Allison takes it and smiles at them.
"Thank you" And steps into the hall for privacy. As she's pulling the wet shirt off, Scott catches glimpse of her bare back. Quickly looking away, he notices the dog staring up at him. And when he looks at Nate, he sees him staring at him sort of glaring too.
"What? I didn't see anything." Scott whispers. And Nate huffs at him, he doesn't look convinced. Allison comes back into the room, now wearing his shirt and no longer shivering.
"Thanks for doing this. I feel really stupid."
"How come?"
"I don't know. For freaking out like a total girl."
"You are a girl."
"I freaked out like a girly girl. And I'm not a girly girl."
"What kind of girl are you?"
And that's the moment for Nate to go into the waiting room. He leaves the room quietly and lets the two continue flirting with each other lost in their little world. He didn't want to see them all fluffy and cheesy.
"Tougher than that. At least I thought I was."
"I'd be freaked out too. In fact, I'd probably cry. And not like a man. I'd cry like the girliest girl. It would be pathetic."
"Yeah, right." she laughs. Scott finishes wrapping the dog's leg.
"So, it looks like he's going to live. And I'm pretty sure he'll even let you pet him if you want."
"I don't think so."
"Come on. You don't want him to sue. This breed is very litigious"
Allison approaches, tentatively reaching out to stroke the dog's neck. Calm now, the dog even licks her hand.
"See? He likes you." He watches Allison. Unable to take his eyes off her.
"What?" "Sorry. You have an eyelash on your cheek."
"Oh. From the crying." She wipes at her cheek. But the lash is still there. Scott shakes his head. She tries again. Still there. So, Scott reaches with his thumb to brush the lash from her cheek.
"Thanks."
He nods, hand coming down like he's not quite sure what to do with it.
"Are you done flirting you two? Allison we got to go your mom said to be back at 9 and we are late and I don't want to end on her bad side on the first day a met her." Nate says and watches them blush and look the other way with their heads down.
"And thank you..." "Scott" "Scott okay, then see you at school" Nate says and goes out to wait by the car with the rain stopped for some time now. Allison starts to follow him but hears Scott call her out.
"Um... I was wondering--I mean—is it really Family Night on Friday or do you think maybe you'd like to go to that party with me?"
She throws him a curious look. How did he know she said that?
"Family Night was a total lie." "So, is that a yes? You'll go?"
"Definitely yes." Allison answered and get out quickly and towards her car.
"So, everything's good?" "Yes, totally everything is fine"
"Okay, cool so what did he say?" "He asked me out to the party"
"And?" "I said yes" Nate laughs lightly.
"what?" Allison glances at him
"So, you like the innocent-looking type of guys?" Allison keeps quiet.
"With puppy eyes" Nate adds and Allison tells him to shut up blushing a little. He laughs a little more and they stay quiet for the rest of the road. Allison parks the car in front of her house and suddenly the door opens Victoria Argent comes out and stands still under the door. Nate follows Allison to the door.
"You're late" Victoria says with a strict tone. Allison looks down at her feet.
"Am sorry Mrs. Argent we were coming back when a dog jumped in front of the car, fortunately we were going slow and managed to hit the brakes in time. We took it to the vet and he said it had a broken bone so we stayed there to make sure it was alright and the rain was over.
"Is that so" she looks at Allison. Which she replies with a small yes.
"Ok then go inside and take a shower before you catch a cold. That goes to you too young man and good night" Allison goes inside with a small goodbye.
"Yes Madam, you too" and he goes to his house. He takes a shower and makes himself some snacks for the night before he goes to bed. He looks out of the window and sees Allison in her room. Allison while moving around her room notices Nate and sees him wave at her with a devil-like grin and then closes the curtains, she does the same and goes to sleep.