Chapter 5 5: Chrissy

“Chrissy, let me come with you.”

“Let me think about it…” I say, slowly getting out of my car. My puppy puts his head hanging out the window of my little Nissan Juke as I close the door and lean back against the car. He immediately slips his head under my arm and watches Johnny like a predator. “Yeah… I’m gonna go with no. Now, give me the rope, please.”

“You can’t seriously be thinking that you are going to put this rope around that wolf’s neck and walk him into the vet right now.”

My puppy jerks, pulling his head away and looking around. He lets out a little whine and pulls his head back in the window, looking at the building we’re parked in front of now with hunched shoulders.

“Oh, please, if he were really a wild wolf, would he react like that to the word ‘vet’? I don’t think so.

“Chrissy, look at you! You’re soaked! Your dress is muddy and torn, and you’re limping with every step. We barely made it out of the woods!” he puts his hands on my shoulders and tries to pull me close, but I lean away. “You really should have let me drive you to the hospital first.”

“And you really should have listened to me when I told you to go home and not followed me an hour back into the city!” I stomp my foot as I shrug his hands off of me and take the rope from him. “Go home, Johnny.”

“Wait!” he grabs my elbow as I turn away, pulling me towards his chest. “Will I see you again?”

I don’t even have to think about it. This big, dumb, boulder for brains took a city girl out to the woods and lost me. I nearly got hurt, I could have died! And he thinks he’s getting a second date. I scoff and say dryly, “Maybe when hell freezes over. Next time, get yourself a country girl instead of the city girl who's just at your competition because her horny best friend brought her to stare at bulging muscles and not have to worry about the teeny tiny brains inside those giant heads!” I stand up and poke him between the eyebrows to emphasize the last few words.

With a flick of my nearly dry hair, Iturn my back on him and loop the tied rope around my puppy's neck, easing him out of the car with gentle care. 

“That’s not fair, Chrissy. I was just trying to show you a romantic night! You’re the one who wandered off!”

“And thank goodness I did, because I found something that needed me more than you did.” I scratch behind my puppy's ears and start walking toward the front door of the vet. 

Turning, I take one look at the man I thought I’d be riding all night. The sunrise is behind him, his head blocking out the bright flaming orb. He looks handsome, but none of that matters now. I know I dodged a big, sexy bullet. Pussy, be damned, but my puppy is worth more than any romp in the woods, no matter how handsome the man is.

“See ya!” I fake a smile and walk in.

It’s an emergency vet, open twenty-four hours, so of course, the sinny tall woman behind the counter looks like she hasn’t slept in a year. He straight blonde hair is tied up in a messy bun, a pen in her mouth as she studies some papers on a clipboard and talks to someone with the landline phone tucked between her shoulder and ear. Her back is to me, so she just waves at the sound of the doorbell jingling as I walk in.

My poor puppy’s head is held low, his ears back. He seems tense as we approach the counter. I lean on the counter and wait, flicking through the pamphlets of information and business cards and the cute pens they have in a jar with the vet’s name and a wolf printed on it. Adorable. The place is called Wild Wolves Run Free. What a perfect place to bring him. I metaphorically pat myself on the back. With wolf in the name, and given how wolfish my new husky puppy looks, this was the first and only choice for me.

“Yeah, I don’t know, Bane. I haven’t seen him.” The vet says, worry in every syllable. She pauses, listening. “He is not going to be found on the side of the road, Bane! Even if he was, he wouldn’t be—”

The vet turns, the long spiral cord of the phone twisting around her. 

“I have a customer, I really have to go. Be right with you, ma’am. Is your pet ready?”

I tap the counter, and after a few moments, my puppy jumps up and puts his massive paws on the counter. He lays his head down, eyes averted, as if he doesnt want to look at the lady. Poor guy must have been to the vet before. I pet his soft head, soothing him as best I can.

“This is…umm, Fluffy? He hurt his legs.”

The vet drops her phone, and it clanks loudly on the floor. Her jaw drops in shock as she looks up at Fluffy.

“Emma? Emma! What’s wrong? What happened?” The guy on the phone, looking for his pet, is shouting so loud I can hear him.

Fumbling, red-faced, Emma pulls the phone up by the cord and says hastily, “I’ve gotta go. Maybe you should come in? I have a feeling I’m going to need a second pair of hands.”

She hangs up without another word. Her lips roll so tightly her mouth appears as a straight line as she looks from my puppy to me. She stifles a laugh, covers her mouth, and then focuses on me. Her sense of professionalism is kicking in really fast.

“Welcome in, we are so glad you came. Is…Fluffy…vaccinated?” She turns to her computer, sitting as she types in some information. Her shoulders are shaking. Is she scared? I mean, I know he’s big, but he’s clearly friendly.

I give the rope around Fluffy’s neck a little tug, and with a heavy sigh, he gets back on all fours and leans against my side. Even sitting, his head is just a little too high for me to rest my arm on, so I wrap my arm around his neck and lean back into him.

“I’m not sure. I found him in the woods, trapped under a fallen tree. I just want to make sure he’s not seriously hurt.”

“Oh, of course!” Emma coughs, but it sounds suspiciously like she’s trying to mask a laugh. I feel my eyebrows knit in confusion as she walks around the counter and crouches in front of Fluffy with a big smile. 

Her eyes seem to glimmer with humor as she pets my puppy, then she looks at me and asks, “Would you like to have him vaccinated? Maybe microchipped? We have a special chip with a tracker. I can even make him a little dog tag with his name on it. Fluffy, was it?”

I nod and smile. “Oh, absolutely! Once I know he’s all good, he’s coming home with me, aren’t you, buddy?” I scruff up the top of his head and give him a little hug. “I don’t ever want him to get lost or hurt again!”

“You are so right! It’s so important to make sure our beloved pets are safe. Isn’t it, Fluffy?” She boops his nose and gives him a wink before standing. “Come right this way?”

We follow the odd nurse down a short hallway, and she leads us into a room. 

“You wait right here, and I’ll be right back with everything we need, alright?”

“No problem. I have all the time in the world for my new best friend!” I tell her with a smile.

“Best…friend…” she chokes on a laugh, and I narrow my eyes at her. “Alrighty, I’ll be right back!” 

The moment the door closes, I hear Emma bark a laugh. She keeps laughing as she walks away, the sound growing more and more faint.

“That is the oddest vet I have ever met…” I whisper, taking a seat in the only chair. 

Fluffy falls on the floor with a loud huff and puts his massive paws over his nose and whimpers.

“Aw, Fluffy, it will be ok! Don’t you worry! There is nothing to be afraid of!”

In the distance, I hear the roar of a motorcycle. It gets closer and closer until it’s so loud that it seems to shake the building. The sound cuts off almost the same time as I hear the bell on the door jingle and the door itself smash into the wall.

“Emma? Baby? Where are you?” A man cries. 

“Over here, our patient is right this way.”

I sit up straight, pulling Fluffy up too, so he’s sitting between my legs. “You be a good boy, ok? I know you’re scared, but we gotta put our big boy pants on and do what we gotta do.”

Fluffy whimpers, hanging his head.

The door opens, and Emma leads a man dressed all in leather with long black hair and a beard into the room. He tucks his helmet under his arm as he scans the room like a Navy SEAL before his hands land on Fluffy.

“Is that…” he asks, shock and surprise and once again, some sort of weird glee, take over his face that looked threatening a moment ago. He strokes his beard, hand covering his mouth.

“This? Oh, this is Fluffy. He’s her new puppy.”

“He’s beautiful,” the man chokes out, clearly trying not to laugh.

“Did I miss something?” I ask. Is this the dog you were talking about on the phone? Is he yours?” Nervously, I wrap my arms around Fluffy’s neck and hold him tightly. Possessively.

“Oh, no, not at all,” Emma says.

The man nods before having a coughing fit and waving as he sees himself out of the room. Still laughing.

“I’m sorry, but what’s so funny?” I ask.

“Oh, it’s nothing really. It’s just…” she pauses, looking from me to fluffy with a grin she’s failing to hide. “It’s just he’s so big compared to you! We’re just surprised you leashed him and brought him in here like he was your everyday lap dog!”

She chuckles, patting Fluffy on the head as she walks over to the exam table.

“What do you think, Fluffy? Can you jump up here, pretty boy?”