They finished up at the craft store, getting paper, glue, and cardboard for their project. The whole thing seemed pointless, but Hannah knew she would jump through whatever hoops she had to in order to complete the intern project.
Back at home later, she laid out all the items on the kitchen table and tried to visualize the new elephants’ enclosure. She knew it needed to be spacious so the majestic animals had plenty of room to move, but it also needed to be interesting for them. Animals could get bored too, and that led to mental issues like anxiety. They needed to be mentally and physically stimulated to be happy.
Elephants loved playing in water, so she knew she should incorporate a pool into her dream enclosure. She could make it so the elephants always had something to do, including sleeping and resting when they were worn out.
As she worked with the paper and glue, Hannah found herself a little bit excited. Not about the competition, because she still thought that was stupid, but about the possibility of the elephants actually getting her enclosure. If she won, it would become real and the animals would get a brand new house that would be perfect for them.
Instead of trying to win for herself now, she was trying to win for the elephants. She would love for them to be able to play in a mud bath and rest amongst shady trees. They would love it, which would make the whole thing worthwhile.
Coco joined her daughter, watching her work over her shoulder for a while before she couldn’t stay silent any longer. “What are you doing?”
“Designing a new enclosure for the elephants.”
“Why?” Hannah sighed and told her the whole story. Just like she hoped, her mother was on her side. “What an idiot. He can’t do that, can he? He can’t take away something you’ve all worked so hard for all summer. Can you complain to someone?”
“He’s the head of the intern program now, he can do whatever he wants.”
“But he’s not the head of the zoo.”
“No.” Hannah wondered if it was worth speaking to Mr. Ralph and seeing what he thought of the whole thing. She had never spoken to him before, rarely even seen him over the summer.
She figured he would probably support his head vet and throw her out of his office. She wasn’t sure if she had enough courage to speak with him anyway, he was too busy and important to be dealing with lowly interns.
“There’s nothing we can do, Mom,” she concluded. Her best bet for getting the recommendation was to work really hard on the new enclosure model and then somehow convince people to vote for it. That was how she could do it by playing by the rules.
“Don’t give up, honey. You deserve that recommendation, remember that.” Coco kissed her on the forehead and picked up Billy, cooing to him about having dinner.
CHAPTER 3
“This is horrible,” Alicia whined as she threw down the green construction paper and tried to pry the glue from her fingers. “I’m never going to get this enclosure done and there is no way I’m going to win the recommendation. I can’t do anything right!”
Hannah watched the meltdown take place, not saying a word. She knew Alicia needed to get her frustrations out of her system before she would listen to reason. They’d only been friends since they met through the intern program but they knew each other as well as lifelong best friends.
Alicia flopped down on her seat and crossed her arms, shooting glares at the pile of paper that would become her enclosure model in the future. “I hate this. I don’t even deserve the recommendation. I shouldn’t even bother trying.”
“Of course you deserve it,” Hannah started carefully. “You’ve worked just as hard as the rest of us all summer. Plus, you’re awesome at the job, the animals love you. Don’t be so silly and talk yourself into a state.”
“I suck at everything.”
“No, you don’t.”
Tears were starting to brim on Alicia’s eyelashes. There was something else up and Hannah suspected it had nothing to do with the recommendation. She knew she needed to proceed with caution, otherwise Alicia was likely to bolt for the door and then she wouldn’t be able to help her. It was like dealing with a scared animal, and that was something Hannah knew how to do.
“I can help you, if you like,” she offered.
Alicia’s arms remained crossed over her chest. “You’ve got your own work to do. It’s a waste of time helping me.”
“I’m sure it’s not a waste of time. It will be fun if we do it together. Maybe we could call it a night tonight and then start again fresh tomorrow?”
Alicia reluctantly nodded. “Okay.”
It was a small win, at least her friend wasn’t giving up entirely. Hannah strongly suspected Alicia’s problem had nothing to do with the stupid competition. She hadn’t spoken with her father since she moved out, and that was probably playing on her mind more than anything.
Whatever had triggered Alicia’s bad mood, Hannah would bet it had something to do with her family. Maybe she’d tried calling her dad again and he had refused to speak with her. Or maybe she just missed her family, they were a big part of her life and it must have hurt deeply to be shunned by them.
The next day, Alicia still wasn’t herself. It hurt Hannah to see her friend so melancholy and not like her usual positive self. Summer was coming to a close and she needed to enjoy her last few weeks at the zoo, not be worrying about her family.
After her shift, Hannah snuck away before Alicia could find her. She headed for Alicia’s former home, the one she lived in with her father. He didn’t want her to go to college, he wanted her to seek employment instead and start earning money to contribute to the household. Her father had been so determined that he kicked her out of home instead of accepting her choice.
But it was time their rift was mended, Hannah thought. They were probably both hurting and they needed to heal their relationship. Otherwise it could last a lifetime and life was too short for that kind of trouble.
It took all Hannah’s courage to walk up to the front door and knock. She’d gone over in her head many times what she wanted to say to Alicia’s father, but her mind was threatening to go blank on her as she waited for the door to be answered.
It finally swung open and Alicia’s father stood in front of her. He was older than she expected, probably about fifty with grey hair and a grey moustache. Even with the facial hair, she could see the resemblance to his daughter in his eyes.
“Hi, Mr. Samburu. I’m a friend of Alicia, I was hoping I could talk to you for a few minutes? I promise I won’t take up much of your time.” Hannah held her breath as she waited.
He stared at her without saying a word. She wasn’t sure if he hadn’t heard her, or was hoping she’d leave, or what. Alicia hadn’t mentioned her father was deaf, so she thought he must have heard her but was choosing to say nothing.
That was okay, he didn’t have to speak as long as he listened. “Sir, Alicia is really upset about what is going on between you two. She’s distraught and misses you so badly. She will be finishing at the zoo in two weeks and then going to college. I know you don’t think she should, but she’s really great at her job. She’s going to make the best vet one day, and she loves it so much. Being with the animals makes her happy, but missing you makes her so sad.”
All the words fell out of her mouth like a waterfall. She wasn’t sure if anything was getting through to him, or what would help, but she had to say something. It was ridiculous that a father and daughter that both loved each other weren’t talking to one another. If her father lived close to her, Hannah knew she wouldn’t want to be estranged from him.
She continued. “Sir, I know making money is important, and that’s what Alicia wants to do. She’ll make so much more after getting an education and doing what she loves, rather than taking a job now. You’ve raised her to be sensible and trustworthy, now you have to let her make her own decisions. But she still needs you, she can’t do it without your love and support.”
Alicia’s father remained standing there, as still as a
statue. The only indication Hannah had that he had been listening was a steady increase in his breathing rate. She was obviously having some effect on him, she just wasn’t sure if it was anger or regret.
“I just needed to tell you that you’re missing out on having a really great person and daughter in your life. Please don’t make this something that stops you having a relationship for the rest of your lives,” Hannah finished. She knew firsthand what it was like not having a good relationship with your father, she didn’t want that for Alicia too.
Hannah turned and walked slowly back to her car, slow enough that Mr. Samburu could stop and call her back at any time. But he didn’t. The thud of the door closing was all that followed her back to the vehicle.
Back home, Hannah didn’t mention the visit to anyone, especially Alicia. She hadn’t done any good so there was no point in upsetting her further. They both worked on their enclosure in near silence, their minds elsewhere.
The next day, Hannah went to the zoo and hoped to work her shift with more animal company than human. She wanted to savor the last few weeks and not get caught up in human drama. The animals always made her feel better.
As she headed to the sloth enclosure, Hannah was staring at the path instead of where she was going. She ran directly into someone, bumping backwards from the impact.
When she looked up, she was staring into the bright blue eyes belonging to Harry. “Sorry,” he said. “Totally my fault, I was thinking about the macaws and got completely lost in the colors of their feathers.”
“No, it was my fault, you don’t have to make up a lie to cover for me,” Hannah mumbled. She suddenly remembered seeing Jasmine and Chris kissing near the elephants. It reminded her why she was avoiding Harry.
“It wasn’t a lie. But I’m glad I literally ran into you. How have you been?” His eyes sparkled the way they always did when he was happy. She hated thinking about what his girlfriend was doing to him behind his back.
“I’ve been okay. How about you?”
“Great, except I can’t think of anything for this enclosure competition thing. It’s kind of driving me insane.”
“Yeah, it’s not the best thing in the world,” Hannah said before things went quiet. She ventured to address the issue on her mind. “How are things going with Jasmine?”
“Jasmine? I’m sure she’s fine.”
“Shouldn’t you know?”
“Know, what?” Harry’s forehead wrinkled with confusion.
“Aren’t you together?”
He smiled, showing all his pearly whites. “No, Jasmine and I are just friends. What makes you think we are together?”
Hannah could feel her cheeks start to burn. She didn’t want to admit she’d seen them together at the mall. It would sound like she was spying on them – which she wasn’t. “I heard rumors, that’s all.”
“Well, you shouldn’t pay attention to rumors. The parrots spread a lot of gossip here. None of it is true,” he teased. It was a running joke at the zoo that the talking parrots gave away secrets. Everyone knew not to have a conversation near them if it needed to remain private.
“Yeah, of course.” It was a relief to know Jasmine wasn’t cheating on him behind his back. She knew Harry deserved better. She also knew in the back of her mind why it had bothered her so much. Impulsively, she spoke next without thinking. “Would you like to catch a movie this weekend? Maybe? You don’t have to.”
Harry studied her for a moment, staring at her with those beautiful blue eyes Hannah had got lost in so many times before. She found it difficult breathing as she waited for his response. She had to bite her tongue so she didn’t take it all back and ramble for a while longer.
The weight of the question hung heavy in the air. She wished she hadn’t asked it at all. She had tried to make it sound casual, like it wasn’t a big deal, but she knew it would be a big deal if he said no.
He opened his mouth and finally words came out. “I’d really like that. How about we have dinner too? You know, the two go hand in hand.”
“That sounds nice.”
They parted ways with promises to check the movie guide and see what was on before the weekend. Hannah’s cheeks were still burning as she continued on to the sloths. Her head was giddy with the thought that she had a date with Harry. She couldn’t believe she’d actually asked him out.
She wasn’t even sure what had come over her. The thought of asking Harry out had popped into her head so suddenly that she didn’t have a chance to think about it. The words had flowed out of her mouth and entered Harry’s ears.
There was no regret. Hannah was looking forward to hanging out with him outside of the zoo. It felt like it had been a long time since they’d been alone without a bunch of animals around them.
Hannah finished feeding the sloths – they didn’t even wake up for the occasion – and continued on to the reptiles. There were dozens of snakes in their enclosures, all looking at her with black eyes that would have once terrified her.
Now, she thought the snakes were cute.
Thankfully, she wasn’t there to feed them, but clean out their habitats. They generally didn’t worry about her as she moved about, making sure their homes sparkled with cleanliness.
Through the front of the enclosure, she could see the faces of children staring up at the animals with a look of wonderment in their eyes. She used to look at the snakes like that, now she had spent the summer with them she had come to know them. Every animal was unique, had its own personality, regardless of the species. Whether it had scales, feathers, or fur, she loved it all the same.
“Can you believe I asked him out?” Hannah asked Jack, the green python. His tongue slid in and out of his mouth but he was otherwise silent. “He could have said no, but he didn’t. He said yes, which means he wants to hang out with me too. He wouldn’t have agreed if he didn’t want to. Right?”
Again, no answer.
Hannah returned to the office toward lunchtime to report in and get her afternoon schedule. She was surprised to see she was due in the operating theater with Dr. Johnson. She hurried to get there, not wanting to be late and make a bad second impression. She doubted whether the head vet had noticed her good work yet.
Dr. Johnson was scrubbing-in when she arrived in the theater. She hurried to catch up, peeking a glance at the stainless steel table to see what kind of animal they were operating on. A large reddish-brown kangaroo was asleep, partially covered by a blue sheet.
“What’s wrong with the kangaroo?” Hannah asked one of the other assistants. She didn’t dare ask the vet, she was too intimidated to talk with him yet.
“He’s got a broken leg. Poor thing tried to jump over the fence and didn’t make it.”
Hannah cringed, hoping he wasn’t in pain for long before he was placed under the anesthetic. The animals in the zoo were watched so closely that he probably wasn’t, but she felt for him anyway.
She shuffled to the table with the others and stood a respectful distance away so she remained out of the way. She could see Dr. Johnson working on the broken leg and didn’t want to interfere with what he was doing.
“Hannah, Dr. Barry’s notes say you are quite skilled in the operating room,” Dr. Johnson said, his paper mask ruffling as he spoke. “Is this true?”
She was shocked just to be spoken to. “I observed a few of his surgeries. Occasionally he let me help him and I tried my best.”
“There is no try, Hannah. You either do your best or you don’t. Which is it?”
“I did my best, sir.”
“Good. Now come over here and help me with these stitches.”
She didn’t need to be asked twice to get moving. Hannah took over from Dr. Johnson and continued on with the long row of stitches he had already started. If it wasn’t for Logan teaching her how to sew such tight, little stitches, she never would have been able to do them now on the kangaroo.
Dr. Johnson watched over her the entire time, scrutinizing every stitch to make sure it
met his high standard of approval. He was satisfied, if not slightly impressed, with her level of quality.
Just as she was finishing, an alarm sounded on one of the machines. Everybody in the operating room sprang into action with no time to spare. “His heart rate is declining,” one of the assistants said grimly.
Hannah was pushed back and away from the table. Stitches were something she could do, but save the animal’s life wasn’t on her list of skills yet. One day, but not today.
Everyone hurried, playing their part for the kangaroo when he most needed it.
But it looked like they might not be able to do enough.
CHAPTER 4
Hannah stood as still as she could as she watched four people as they tried to save the kangaroo’s life. She silently prayed, hoping a higher power could assist too. Every animal was too precious for even one life to be lost.
The heart rate monitor was beeping with the alarm instead of the steady, rhythmic beat of his heart. It was too noisy, blaring in her ears when her own internal alarm was screaming at her. Something was wrong and she couldn’t do anything to help, it was all up to the others.
She felt so useless standing there.
Her heart was in her throat while they continued on. Every moment felt like one too long, that the animal shouldn’t be in cardiac arrest for such a long time. Everything she learned from Logan told her it was too long, that the kangaroo couldn’t fight for life much longer.
The alarm stopped.
All the blood ran cold in her veins.
“He’s back,” Dr. Johnson declared with relief. Everyone stopped to thank their lucky stars for a few seconds. It could have gone either way and they had been blessed today. “Let’s get this guy comfortable so he can recover in peace.”
They all moved, including Hannah. She helped them transport the large animal onto a sheet so they could transport him to a holding cage. When he finally awoke, he wouldn’t be happy so he needed to be contained so he couldn’t hurt himself or anybody else.
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