“No, it’s not that, I mean-” Gwen started to say, but Bridget cut her off.
“-why would Ragon tell you to stop us?” she said, ignoring April and advancing on Ari. “I will get you back for this!”
A shiver crept down Ari’s neck and she backed away towards the club entrance, keeping her hands raised, just in case she needed to stop time.
“Don’t you blame her,” screamed April, taking Bridget by the wrist, so as to grab the camera she held. “You knew I liked him. You knew and so you lulled him to trick me? Well your plan worked. I guess I’m the stupid one for…”
Instantly the three girls began yelling at each other. Seeing this, Ari motioned for Rick to follow, before racing towards the rear entrance and back into the club. She was gripping Rick’s arm forcefully, trying hard to pull him with her as he fought to go back outside.
“Where are you taking me?” asked Rick. “I want to go back to April.”
Ari rolled her eyes. Vampire toxin really was a bitch to deal with sometimes; clearly Rick had been lulled into thinking that he was in love with April.
“April is meeting us inside,” Ari lied, turning back to face him as she took his hand and began pulling once again.
“Excellent! She’s so beautiful. Don’t you think Ari? Like a mermaid.”
“Yea, Ariel with fangs,” Ari muttered.
Ari was still making her way through the bar when Ragon spotted her from outside.
“What’s going on?” asked Ragon, his eyes fixed angrily on Ari’s hand, which was still clasped firmly to Rick’s. “Who is he?”
“This is Rick. He’s been lulled. Bridget and Gwen were playing a trick on some vampire called April. Something to do with their not approving of vampire-human relationships. Anyway, that’s not important. You need to bite him and make him forget everything,” Ari explained. “Also, just so you know, I told Gwen and Bridget that you lulled me to warn April.”
“You did what? You just can’t seem to stay away from trouble, can you?” Ragon said, as the trio walked towards the men’s bathroom.
“Is April in here?” Rick asked hopefully.
Ari scoffed but did not retort, and watched as Ragon dragged Rick inside, a hungry expression on his face.
Chapter 2- Waere problem: STAT
When Ari woke the following morning, her head aching and her mouth parched, she was definitely regretting the three hurriedly drunk glasses of Jack Daniels from the previous night. She wasn’t entirely sure why at the time, Chris’s idea of drinking before their first clinical rotation, had seemed like such a good idea. It certainly hadn’t been made any easier, refusing the drinks offered to her, not with Ryder handing them out like they were water, no doubt trying to impress Glen, the soldier he had spent most of the night with. Now, as she sat in bed, fighting the urge to fall back to sleep, she realised that having a hangover would most likely not impress Dr Fraser Fellow, and it certainly wouldn’t warn off any animosity from him. In hind sight she probably should have had an early night, an early and alcohol-free night, so as to ensure she was bright and bubbly for her first stint at clinical rotations, but it was too late to change that now.
Being half way through fourth year vet, meant that she along with the rest of her year would now be participating in clinical rotations. The class had been placed into pairs so that they could rotate through various clinical enterprises, hopefully to give them some hands on experience before graduating.
“Good morning my love,” said Ragon, when Ari could no longer put off opening her eyes and facing the morning.
He handed her a bottle of water, watching as she greedily gulped it down, then said, “You’d think you haven’t drunk in days.”
“Just the alcohol poisoning, I guess.”
“You make it sound like you were tricked into drinking those cans of Jack Daniels,” he said, looking at her sternly.
“Ryder practically held a gun to my head. Or a fang to my neck, I guess.”
“Oh really?” Ragon asked, his voice delicately reflecting his disbelief. “And here I thought that Ryder spent most of the night buying naval officers drinks.”
“Well, he might have done that too,” she admitted, “but I think I felt obliged to join him. Maybe he lulled me?”
“Nice try, but we all know that vamp toxin doesn’t work on you. Well, time for you to get up. You told me to wake you at 8 and it’s 8.”
“Can’t I just stay in bed today?” she asked, knowing full well that wasn’t an option.
“Deal! There is nothing I would rather than to have you curled up with me, instead of going to a clinic with a wraith. Want me to bite one of your teachers? That’s better than a sick note. I could make him think that you spent the day with him.”
“Tempting, but I don’t think you should lull for evil. With great power comes great responsibility... or something like that. Besides, this is like the first useful thing I’m going to do since starting vet. I am actually going to get to see how a real clinic works. It’s going to be a nice change, getting to deal with real, live animals, not dead ones we are dissecting.”
“Well then,” he said, pulling the sheets away, “why don’t you go and put your scrubs on. I have been dying to see what you look like in them.”
When Ari had finally pulled on the marron scrubs she had bought for her placement, she turned expectantly to look at Ragon. He pulled her closer, his strong jaw supporting a wide smile. His eyes were so large and green, that Ari felt she could sit and stare at them all day.
“God you look sexy,” he said. “A little too sexy actually... maybe you were right. You should just stay in bed today. We could play doctor and nurse.”
“Would I be the doctor or the nurse? I mean, I am almost a vet; that kind of makes me a nearly doctor.”
“I have a PhD from Princetown, remember?” said Ragon.
“How could I forget? Lisa is still going on about the mysterious tutor who taught us for one day. I’m pretty sure she thinks your little stint in our parasitology practical was her own version of Cinderella. Except you are Cinderella and she is the prince. She keeps mentioning you whenever we have class in the labs, wondering when the tall dark and handsome lab assistant will come and see her again. She’s kept the gloves that you used, asking tutors to try them on, hoping they will fit.”
“Such a wonderfully creative mind you have,” said Ragon. “But my gloves are only for you.”
“They had better be!”
“Well, I had better get going too,” he said, springing from the bed. “I have a meeting with Bridget.”
“Oh well, wouldn’t want you to be late for her.”
“Don’t be like that cranky-bum,” Ragon said.
“I’m just saying. Lisa may have a few old gloves of yours, but Bridget has a whole suitcase of Ragon paraphernalia.”
“I think you are being a little eccentric,” he said, reaching for a clean shirt.
“Yea, you are probably right. It’s probably a hell of a lot more than a mere suitcase. I’m guessing she has her own dominatrix shop of horrors in store for you.”
“Well, I had better hurry then,” said Ragon, shooting Ari a cheeky smile. “Wouldn’t want to be late for Mistress Bridget.”
Ari aimed a pillow at Ragon’s retreating back, hitting him softly from behind. When he had left, Ari moved from her bed, reaching for the runners Ragon had given her when they had gone to town during the holidays. Slowly she tied them up, then, thinking she should force herself to have breakfast, grabbed her phone to check the time. Her mouth fell open; it was almost 9am. Where the hell had the time gone? She needed to be at the clinic, like now!
“Are you planning on being late for our first consult?” asked Chris, banging on her door. “What’s taking so long? I’ve been waiting for you outside.”
Ari threw the door open, adjusting the drawstring on her scrubs.
“Do I look stupid?” she asked, indicating the maroon scrubs that she was wearing.
“We
match,” said Chris, pulling at his own scrub top that was the same shade of red. “Now stop worrying about how you look and hurry up; the clinic is at the opposite side of the campus. It’s gonna take us at least 10 minutes to get there.”
Ari swung her stethoscope around her neck, another present from Ragon, and raced with Chris from her room.
“Maybe I should drive us,” Chris suggested, glancing nervously down at his watch as they descended the stairs.
Ari nodded and they jogged to Chris’s car in the parking lot, finally speeding off towards the Small Animal Clinic a few minutes later. It was only a few minutes past 9am when they arrived, a little breathless but looking thoroughly excited. The thrill of getting there on time had woken Ari in a way that no cold shower could.
Ari had never been inside the campus veterinary clinic before. The building was large, though only single levelled, and compared to many of the buildings on campus, modern looking. At their approach the automatic doors opened, and they walked into a large reception area, lined with many shelves of dog and cat food. Seated on chairs around the edge of the room were a few clients, each clutching onto their animals as they waited. Behind the front desk sat a plump woman with dark hair and glasses.
She had the phone pressed up against her ear and was staring off into space, wrapping the long coiled phone line around her index finger, as she occasionally said, “Yes,” or “I see,” into the speaker.
“This is so awesome,” said Chris, looking around excitedly.
Ari nodded enthusiastically, quickly advancing near the receptionist when she saw that the woman had finished with her tedious conversation.
“Where here for our first rotation,” Chris said brightly.
The woman stared at Chris, not bothering to smile as she said, “Name?”
“Christopher Bolt,” he said, accepting the name badge that she handed him.
“And Ariana Sol,” said Ari, also taking a name badge.
“Have a seat. I will tell Dr Fellow that you are here,” she said, reaching for the phone again.
Together the pair took a seat in the reception area. Nearby a young woman was weighing her dog, while a nervous elderly man sat with a rustic bird cage propped on his lap. Inside, perched on an old branch, was an almost entirely featherless cockatoo, chewing solemnly on sunflower seeds.
Before long one of the consult doors swung open. The elderly man with the cockatoo looked up eagerly.
“Good morning,” said a short and rather plump man, walking into the reception area.
The man moved over to Ari and Chris, who stood immediately, while the elderly man looked down glumly at his bird.
“I’m Dr Fellow but please call me Fraser,” he said politely, directing the pair towards the back of the clinic and into a large hospital.
Ari had heard many tales concerning Dr Fraser Fellow, none of which were very nice. During a barbeque at the end of last semester, all of the final year vet students had warned the eager listening fourth years about him. Dr Fellow looked to be in his fifties and was dressed rather casually, wearing a pair of grey shorts, sailing shoes and a red collared shirt. Like Ari, he too had a stethoscope swung round his neck, though his did not have the same shiny appearance as hers but was a dull black, giving it a worn and well-used appearance.
“Today you’re going to be shadowing me during my consults,” he explained. “Have either of you got any experience in the veterinary industry?”
Both Ari and Chris shook their heads and Dr Fellow’s eyes, previously hopeful, now looked away in disappointment.
“Unless you count transforming into a dog,” Chris whispered under his breath, so only Ari could hear, earning him a hard nudge in the ribs.
“No matter, no matter,” said Dr Fellow, directing them into the back of the hospital, oblivious to Chris’s comment. “This is the hospital. You’ve already seen the reception area. The nurse’s station, over there, is where you can wait between consults,” he added, pointing to a small room opposite the hospital, where large glass walls allowed people inside the room to look out.
The hospital was essentially a wall of cages. The room itself was reasonably large, with laminate flooring and particularly bright lighting, which illuminated the few sick animals that had been admitted. Small oxygen bottles hung above the cages, some turned on and whistling lightly, while other cages had towels hanging in front of them, aimed to stop the occupants from seeing out. At a large stainless steel treatment table in the corner of the room, Ari saw Lisa and Rick. The pair appeared to be examining a cat. Mid-way through her examination, Lisa winked at Chris, before glaring angrily at Ari. Though Lisa had always been bitter towards Ari, this feeling had been exasperated when Chris had chosen Ari as his partner for their clinical rotations instead of her.
“Easy with that thermometer,” said Rick, glancing nervously at Lisa, while the cat he was trying to restrain began spitting and hissing.
Looking at Rick, Ari noticed two small pin prick marks on his wrist. When Rick smiled at her warmly, she knew that he had no memory whatsoever of the events from last night; Ragon’s disassociated had clearly worked a treat.
“How are you Chris?” asked Lisa, handing Rick the thermometer distastefully and swaggering away from him and the cat on the table.
“Yea, pretty good,” Chris replied, shrugging.
Just then Dr Fellow walked into the hospital. He took one look at Rick, who was muttering under his breath nervously, saying, “Nice kitty,” then stalked over to Lisa.
“Ms Livingstone,” Dr Fellow said, squinting to read her name badge, “you should not let your social commitments outweigh that of your patients. Please return to your partner and continue your TPR.”
Lisa blushed furiously, then raced back to Rick, quickly snatching the thermometer from him, just as the cat let out a hiss and scratched her on the wrist.
“Right, well, if you two would follow me; we have our first consult,” said Dr Fellow, leading Ari and Chris back towards the reception area, just as Rick and Lisa began arguing loudly.
Chris and Ari spent the rest of the day following Dr Fellow around like obedient puppies. The first thing that they learnt to do was how to take a TPR: temperature, pulse and respiration rate. Ari found this more difficult than she thought it would be. She wasn’t use to using her stethoscope, and struggled initially to even hear the heart beating. Dr Fellow’s response to this was to suggest she make sure it was turned on.
“They turn on an off?” asked Ari, when the vet had walked away.
“Yea, just rotate the head,” said Chris, shaking his head as he laughed.
After that Dr Fellow had showed them how to give sub cutaneous injections, something she found much easier, and finally they topped off the day with Chris being allowed to take blood from a greyhound’s jugular vein. So far in their course they hadn’t really practiced any of these core skills, and it was a nice change to be able to interact with animals that were still alive, as opposed to ones that they were examining on a slab.
They had just gathered their bags and were leaving the clinic for the day, when the familiar jingle of the bells at the front reception door rang.
“Can someone help me? I hit this fox with my car and…” said a woman’s frantic voice, ringing out through the empty reception area, “Hello? Is there anyone there?”
It was just before 6pm and most of the staff had gone home for the evening, leaving the reception area empty. At 5.30pm, the day clinic became an emergency centre, at which point the staff, vets and nurses, would hand over to those relieving their shift. At the woman’s plea for help, both Chris and Ari looked around, checking to see if anyone else had heard her. No one else was around.
“Where are you going?” asked Ari, grabbing Chris by the hand and stopping him.
“We have to help her,” he said, pulling Ari with him.
“But we aren’t vets yet. We need to get Dr Fellow or someone else.”
“Ari, its wildlife! Do you think that they
are going to drop what they are doing to help save a fox?” Chris asked. “Besides, she said that it had been hit by a car! It needs help now.”
Ari looked back towards the door that would lead them to the hospital and then out to the reception area. Shaking her head, she followed Chris; they could get into serious shit for this.
“Hi,” said Chris, moving towards the woman in the front reception area.
“Thank God,” said the woman.
“Not God, just a vet,” Chris said smiling.
“Student,” Ari coughed under her breath.
“Right, err, well, err… if you would just follow me,” said Chris, leading the breathless woman into one of the consult rooms. “Just pop him down here.”
Bound (The Grandor Descendant Series Book 3) Page 4