“Yeah, not far from here“, sald another boy, a bit shorter then the cocky one and with curly black hair,
“Ok, I need a belt and maybe an old blanket, or something. We can put this little guy in my car and maybe you could show me the way to the clink?“, while one of the teens gave me his belt, I secured it around the foxes leg to stop the bleeding, and together we wrapped him in the old blanket
“Can you move my bag to the trunk of the car?“, I asked the redhead.
“I’ll hold his muzzle, and you put the fox carefully on the back seat“, I Instructed the boys. All the way I continued talking to the fox, the sound of my voice was calming him. Surprisingly the boys did everything as I said, and soon enough the fox was buckled up in the backseat of my car. The smell of blood was very intense now, so I opened all windows and hoped for the best. I rubbed my leg, which now hurt like crazy, because I limped all the way to the car without my cane, but the fox was more important for now, so I gritted my teeth and told myself to suck it up. The redhead shut the trunk, picked up my cane and handed it to me with a bright smile.
“Thanks“, I told her forcing a smile from myself as well
“Do your
want
me to drive with you? Just in case you need help?“, she asked.
“No, it’s ok. Just tell the guys to drive slowly, because I don’t want to hurt the fox.“, I answered.
The girl can to the car and soon our little cortege was on the way to the clinic.
We arrived some 10 minutes later, this town wasn’t big after all. The building was a pretty new and modern, with electronic doors, white plain walls and only two floor high. The redhead ran inside to get a doctor, the boys went to my car to help get the fox out. This time I grabbed my cane, because going without it now would be a suicide. I started talking with the fox again, and he kept looking me in the eyes. I held his muzzle, so that it wouldn’t bite anyone. The redhead soon returned with an old looking doctor, he was almost as tall as Jonathan, but seemed some 20 years older. Damn, why are all the guys in this town so small? I feel like a midget, really…
“Now what have you done no? Care to explain?“, he said in a stern voice. I guess the kids are troublemakers. I smiled to myself.
“We ran over a fox“, said the curly one staring at the floor.
“Ok, bring him in“, he said. But then his eyes landed on me.
“And who are you, young lady?“, his eyes were piercing, he was studying me carefully.
“She helped us with the fox, she’s good with animals! She says she’s a vet“, redhead intervened.
“A vet, huh?“, he said becoming suddenly interested.
“Your evaluation, please?“, wow, now that is a professional interrogation. Ok, I can handle it.
“Good morning to you too. The fox has a couple of broken ribs, a broken leg. I’ve managed to stop the bleeding for now, but this was a temporary solution, it would be best to do an x–ray, put the leg in a cast and stitch him up, I said in a calm tone.
“Ok, follow me and let’s see if your evaluation is correct. And why in the name of god are you holding his muzzle?“, his tone was stern, but quite positive, not scary at all
“It keeps the fox calm.“, I answered with a small smile.
The doc just smirked and motioned to follow him. Slowly we all went in. Thankfully the boys remembered my walking pace, so I didn’t have to limp hard, but the moment we got inside, and I spotted a high chair on wheels, I grabbed it and landed my butt on it. A sigh of relief escaped my mouth and I received I side glance from the doc, but he didn’t say a thing.
“Ok, boys, you’re free to go“, the doc dismissed the teens. “I believe having this young lady here will be enough to take care of the fox. Go and make yourselves useful somewhere else.” Surprisingly the teens obeyed him and disappeared quickly. I was still rubbing the foxes muzzle.
“Ok, let’s see what have we got here“, mumbled the doc and started probing it’s ribs. “How many you said were broken?“, he asked me.
“I didn’t say anything, but I’d say that 2 are broken and one is fractured.“, I said with a confident smirk.
“Uh–huh“, was all the doc said,
“So, what happened to you?“, he surprised me with a question.
“Uhm… an accident.“, I said quietly, I guess the fox felt my discomfort, because another whine was heard from him as he looked me in the eyes.
22
