Cabin In The Woods

by Kristine Robinson

  I knew my day was about to change when Krystal Parker barged through the front door of my clinic, holding her three-legged Pit Bull, Titan. He had just been hit by a car and his unconsciousness worried me. Luckily, however, after a few tests and a night of observation, it was determined that he had walked away from the accident Scott-free.

  However, even after Titan was released from my care, Krystal Parker was determined to stay in my life. Determined to repay me for helping her dog. I don’t know how it happened, but one thing led to the next and all of a sudden, I found out that I’ve been naively looking for Mr. Right all my life when I should have been looking for Ms. Right. Would Krystal be the one for me – the soulmate I’ve been looking for? Or would Elijah, my ex-boyfriend once again ruin my life when he barges in on us?

  * * *

  Chapter 1

  For once, I was having a quiet day at work. All the dogs were behaving calmly as I checked their vitals and gave a few of them a new IV tap. “Slow day, huh?” My veterinary assistant asked me as she pulled out a pair of Husky pups and prepared them for a flea bath. “No one’s come in all day.”

  I shrugged. “Maybe that new clinic up the street finally opened up.”

  “You mean Pawsivitely Perfect? I think it’s more of a spa than a clinic.” My assistant snorted with derision. She pushed a few stray strands of hair off her face as she lowered the pups into the warm water. They howled in surprise before they adjusted and started wobbling about. “Anyway, do you mind if I take the rest of the afternoon off? I have a date with Damien and I wanted to doll myself up. It’s our anniversary, y’know.”

  “Oh, congrats, Missy,” I responded, my voice falling flat. “Yeah, I don’t mind. You can go once Jack and DJ are cleaned up.”

  “You’re the best, Nora!” She exclaimed. The pups barked in agreement. The other dogs joined in and soon enough, it wasn’t quiet anymore.

  I forced a smile and walked away. “I’ll be at the front desk, filling out some paperwork.” I walked through the double doors to the front of the clinic and sat down. I sighed and sat down behind my desk. I stared at the computer screen in front of me for a moment, thinking about Missy. She had been dating Damien for two years now. For two years, she had been in a happy, successful relationship, and what had I been doing that whole time? Going home alone to my boring, single life.

  I let out another sigh before I grabbed a pile of paperwork that still had to be done. Absentmindedly, I started to fill it in. Where had I gone wrong? I was a young woman with a successful career as a veterinarian. I had my own apartment. Overall, a good life. But no one to share it with… I had been single for over three years now. And trust me, I’ve tried to put myself out there. Dating websites, blind dates, bar crawls, you name it. I just couldn’t find Mr. Right. Sometimes, it felt like he didn’t exist.

  Missy suddenly broke my train of thought as she barged into the reception room. “Well, I’m off! Thanks again for letting me take the afternoon off.”

  I nodded and waved her off, quickly immersing myself in my paperwork. Maybe if I kept myself busy, I wouldn’t focus on how lonely I was.

  I was just finishing my first folder worth of papers when someone stormed through the front door. I looked up to see a gorgeous, red-haired woman holding an injured dog in her arms. Blood covered her white dress. The dog’s head hung limply over the side of her arm. My eyes grew wide with alarm and I quickly jumped up, rushing over to her.

  “You have to help me! My dog just got hit by a car! Please… I don’t think he’s breathing.” Just as she finished her statement, two large men in black suits came into the clinic, stern expressions on their faces.

  “Miss Parker, you can’t just go running off like that.”

  “Don’t tell me what to do! Can’t you see that my dog is dying here?” She snapped. Tears welled up in her vibrant blue eyes. “Please. Do something.” She looked at me, her voice desperate.

  “Right this way.” I guided her to the back of the clinic, toward the operating room.

  “Miss Parker, let us help. We can carry the dog.” One of the men offered.

  “Don’t you dare touch him.” She hissed, holding the canine even tighter against her chest. The dog looked like a large Pit Bull and yet, the small-framed woman was adamant about carrying him herself.

  “I think it’s best if you two gentlemen just stay out here,” I said in a professional voice before I gently guided her into the operating room. “If you could place him down on the table. Gentle now. He could have internal bleeding. You said he was hit by a car.”

  “Yes. Some fucking idiot. He blew a red light and hit my dog! We were crossing the street together.” Her words were rushed, almost slurred.

  “Ma’am. Please calm down. Were you injured in the accident?”

  “Don’t worry about me.” She grabbed my arm, digging her nails into my skin. “You have to help my dog. Please. He means the world to me.” I could see the fierce dedication in her eyes and nodded.

  “I will do everything I can.” I started to move around the room, grabbing everything I needed for treatment. Finally, I moved toward the dog, pressing my stethoscope against his chest. “He’s still alive.”

  The woman breathed a sigh of relief and burst into a fresh set of tears. “Oh, thank god…” She collapsed into a nearby chair. I looked at her for a fleeting moment before I started to move the dog’s joints, looking for any sign of discomfort. I checked all three of his legs and found no broken bones. His eyes were closed, but his reflexes were still good. He didn’t seem to have suffered any sort of concussion. I pressed down on his stomach and still, nothing happened.

  I ripped open an IV kit and grabbed a nearby shaver. When I turned it on, the woman’s head jolted in my direction. “What are you going to do with that?”

  “I need to sterilize his skin before I give him an IV. In order to do that, I need to shave away a bit of his fur.”

  “So, you’re not going to hurt him?”

  “Of course not,” I assured her with a warm smile. She watched me as I cleared away a patch of his skin and wiped it down with an alcohol swab. I then gently pushed in the needle and started the tap, hanging the IV bag from a nearby hook.

  I then started the oxygen machine and got a mask around his muzzle, hoping that would bring him back to consciousness. As I waited a few minutes for a response, I ran my hands over his sleek fur. He was a beautiful dog with a black and white coat. Most of his face was pure white, but his left ear was completely black. “What’s his name?”

  “Huh?” The woman sniffled and looked at me, seemingly confused.

  I walked up to her and handed her a box of tissues. “His name.”

  “Oh… it’s Titan.” She blew her nose and dabbed the corner of her eyes. “Is he going to be okay?” She stood up and stepped closer. I could smell her vanilla-scented perfume in the air and for a moment, my heart skipped a beat. I stared at her porcelain skin before I quickly regained my composure.

  “He seems to be okay. From what I can tell, there are no broken bones or a concussion. We’ll get him into an X-ray in just a few minutes. I just want to see if he’ll wake up first.”

  “Do you have any treats or biscuits?” She asked.

  I nodded. “Of course.” I walked over to a shelf and grabbed a bag, handing it to her. With shaky fingers, she placed her fingers on the oxygen mask and looked at me, asking for permission. I sighed but nodded, helping her remove it. She then reached into the treat bag and pulled out a few pieces of bacon treats and waved them around the dog’s nose.

  “He might not respond in his current state.”

  “Just wait.” She said with a firm voice. The dog’s nose started to twitch. “That’s it, Titan.” She cooed. She ran her hand along his neck.

  “Careful,” I warned her. My skin crawled with excitement as I stepped closer to her. I stopped a few inches away as a cold shiver ran down my spine. Why was this woman making me feel oddly excited?

  Before I co
uld figure out the answer, however, the dog opened his eyes and gobbled up the treat. “Titan!” She squealed with excitement, gently hugging her dog around the neck. As he sat up, he whimpered softly. She pulled away quickly, thinking she was hurting him and looked at me.

  “I should be able to handle things from here. Why don’t you go out and wait in the reception room? You can get some coffee from the machine and there are some crackers. Make yourself comfortable and I’ll call you when I’m done checking him out.”

  The woman bit her bottom lip, getting lipstick on her teeth. “You’ll call me the moment you’re done?”

  “I promise.” I placed my hand on her shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. “I’ll make sure he gets the best care possible.” She looked at her dog one more time before she finally left the room. I turned to face the dog myself and smiled. “Hey there big boy, let’s make sure you’re okay.” I checked his temperament and after learning he was quite docile, I picked him up and carried him to the X-ray room.

  I stood him up, straightening out his hind legs. “You’ve been through a lot, haven’t you?” I eyed the spot where his left leg should have been. “I wonder what happened to you.” I scratched him behind the ears before I wrapped a collar around his neck so he wouldn’t jump down. Moments later, I returned with a heavy vest, specially designed to protect canines from the harmful effects of X-ray radiation. “This won’t take long, I promise,” I assured him before I walked out of the room and pressed a button on the wall. There was a click, followed by a bright flash of light.

  I repositioned the vest. “Just a few more.” I stepped outside again and repeated the process until I had all the X-rays I needed. I moved my laptop onto the table and gave Titan a treat. “You were very good.” He wagged his tail and looked at me expectantly as I surveyed his X-rays for damage. “It seemed you were a very lucky dog. No broken bones, no trauma. Just those cuts and bruises, but those will heal in no time.” I closed my laptop and grabbed my disinfectant kit as I started to clean his wounds. “I’m sorry boy, I know it hurts. It’s just for a minute.” He whimpered but didn’t give me a hard time.

  Once I was finally done, I put him on the ground and guided him to the waiting room. The minute he saw his owner, he charged forward, dragging me along.

  “Titan!” She smiled and hugged him tight, rubbing his body as he ran all around her, happy to see her. I smiled.

  “Your dog is perfectly healthy. He has a few cuts and bruises from the impact, but other than that, I don’t see anything wrong with him. However, I would like to keep him here overnight, just in case he has any internal bleeding I’m not aware of.”

  The woman straightened herself out and held my gaze as I explained her dog’s situation. “I don’t know how I’m ever going to thank you…” She ran her fingers through her disheveled red hair. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes were still red and puffy from crying.

  “Oh, it’s nothing, just a day’s work.”

  “No. It was more than that. You saved my dog’s life.”

  “I just did what any good vet would.” I shrugged.

  The woman shook her head. “Stop being so modest.” She reached into her bag and pulled out a checkbook.

  “Oh, you don’t have to pay me right now. I can send you a bill and you can pay us in installments. I wouldn’t want to burden you. Right now, you should focus on the recovery of your dog.” But the woman kept filling out the check before she finally ripped it out and handed it to me.

  “That should cover it, shouldn’t it?” I looked down at the check and saw it was written out for five thousand dollars.

  “Ma’am, I can’t accept this. All I did was give him an IV and take an X-ray. This is way too much.”

  “I don’t care. Take it.”

  “I can’t.” I tried to give it back to her, but she crossed her arms over her chest.

  “I’ll be back tomorrow morning.” With that, she left the clinic, leaving me with a hefty sum of money in my hand. By my feet, Titan whimpered as he saw his owner leave.

  Chapter 2

  My mind was in a muddle for the rest of the day. I couldn’t help but think that I recognized the beautiful woman from somewhere. Had I seen her at a bar maybe? No. She didn’t seem like the type that would go to a bar. The grocery store? Couldn’t be. I had all my groceries delivered. I couldn’t put my finger on it, no matter how hard I tried. And who were those two men who accompanied her? They looked like bodyguards, but why would a woman need a bodyguard if she was just walking her dog? Something didn’t quite make sense.

  Finally, my replacement walked through the doors. My partner, George, was a middle-aged vet with years of experience under his belt. “Hello, George.” I smiled at him and got up.

  “Hey Nora, how were things today?”

  “Pretty quiet for the most part, but we got an emergency case in the late afternoon. A Pit Bull named Titan was brought in after being hit by a car.” I explained.

  “That’s terrible. Any broken bones? Did he survive?”

  “Amazingly, he seems to be just fine. A little sore, but that is to be expected. No broken bones or muscle trauma.”

  George nodded. “Good. I expect you asked to keep him overnight for observation.”

  I nodded. “I’ve been checking on him every hour, but he seems to be coping well. Gets along fine with the other dogs.”

  George nodded again. “I’ll be sure to keep an eye on him.”

  “Thanks, George. Do you need me to stay until Luke comes in? He just texted me and said he’d be an hour late. His son’s basketball game went into overtime.”

  “No. No. I can handle things on my own. You work too much, Nora.” He said with a friendly smile. “Why don’t you go home and have some fun?” He winked.

  I rolled my eyes and laughed. “I have a tub of ice cream waiting for me in my freezer. That’s about the extent of my fun.”

  “Oh, come now. A pretty girl like you…?” He raised a bushy white eyebrow in my direction. “I’m sure you could go out on the town and have a blast if you wanted to.”

  I shrugged and disappeared into the back. I entered the staff room and opened my locker, pulling out my coat and bag. Now that the day was over, I was eager to get home.

  ***

  I turned on the TV and browsed through the channels. “Nothing’s on… typical.” I groaned, popping a spoonful of strawberry ice cream in my mouth. On the ground, a little fluffball of white suddenly appeared. It looked up at me and yipped softly.

  “You can do it, Snowflake. I’m not falling for that ‘I can’t jump onto the couch’ trick of yours. I know you’re just being a lazy brat.” I spoke to my dog, but it just barked at me again. “I mean it. I’m not picking you up. Use your stairs.” I pointed to the doggy stairs I had bought a few weeks ago.

  Snowflake just stared at me with her big eyes. “Nope… not going to happen.” I crossed my arms over my chest, trying to be firm. She sat down and whimpered. I sighed and picked her up. “You’re a pampered brat, you know that.” She responded by licking my face all over. “I love you too.” I laughed and played with her for a moment before she settled on my lap, curling into a tiny ball. I ran my fingers through the Pomeranian’s fur and smiled. At least I still had Snowflake to keep me company…

  With my dog fast asleep on my lap, I finally settled on a rerun of one of my favorite shows. Still, I couldn’t engage. I had seen this particular episode a dozen times before. I could almost recite the lines word for word. Soon enough, I zoned out, thinking about Titan’s owner. All I knew about her was that her last name was Parker. Did I know anyone by that last name? Not that I could remember… So why did she look so familiar?

  Eventually, I got up and put my ice cream away. Outside, it had begun to rain. Raindrops ran across the window pane above my sink and I sighed. I heard the soft pitter-patter of Snowflake’s feet against the kitchen floor. She wagged her tail at me, thinking I was going to feed her. “I already gave you dinner.” She just kept waggi
ng her tail.

  “Alright. One treat. One.” I grabbed a bag off the counter and she started to do twirls in her excitement. I laughed and crumbled the large treat in my hand before scattering the pieces all over the ground so she could find them. With my dog now preoccupied, I started to do the dishes, my mind still wandering.

  After a while, I made it into bed. I didn’t realize how exhausted I was until I felt my body ease into the mattress. I sighed and looked up at the ceiling. Seconds later, I heard Snowflake enter the room and walk toward her bed. I thought about Titan, wondering if he was okay back at the clinic. As I replayed the day’s events in my mind, I slowly drifted to sleep.

  I dreamt of her. She looked so beautiful. Her skin seemed to glow as she stood under the moonlight. Her natural red hair shimmered as the wind whipped it behind her shoulders. My eyes wandered her naked body, taking in her every curve. Her perky breasts were round and about the size of small melons. Her nipples were dark and puffy. I could already imagine myself reaching out and grabbing them, slowly rolling them between my fingers even though I had never done that before.