2020-06-08 - The Doctors Healing - Simon, Theodore, Kiwi, Lroy, Roxy and the Grey Lady

Theo Alvin entered the Avila Animal Care clinic through the back door.  He didn’t even take off his jacket, he just got to work.  Cleaning out the cages .. the empty ones first . the ones that didn't need it.  He paused at the great grey Weimaraner and struggled a bit cleaning its cage.  The dog was cooperative and even nuzzled Theo in sympathy.  Theo choked a bit on the compassion, but woodenly cleaned, fed and watered her.  Clearing his throat roughly, he double checked everything and then headed out to the lobby of the clinic to clean Kiwi’s cage.  He moved almost like a zombie … on auto-pilot.

Simon was still tidying the exam room after the second round of the Brate cats. Bellatrix had gone a bit wild and trashed the supplies up on the shelves so he was trying to put it all back in order. He heard Theo come in and in the back and then heard his footfalls go by and quietly huffed. Nice of him to join the workday now.

Kiwi was cleaning his feathers when Theo walked up. He stretched his neck and preened and then squawked “Hello….Hello….hello….Where the hell is Theo…”

Simon overheard the parrot and cringed. He had said that a lot today. Then he awkwardly walked out and stood nearby, waiting for his brother to notice him.

Theo heard it the second he arrived in the lobby.  He didn’t react, he just went about the business of cleaning, feeding and watering the age and bird within.  Finally done, he looks upland around for something else to clean and spies SImon.  That must be where the words came from.  Completely devoid of emotion, Theo speaks to his brother and partner.  “I’m here.”  but he doesn’t feel like he is and probably doesn’t look like he is.

Simon has that look on his face like he’s annoyed but trying to be polite about it “You’re late. Are you sick or something? You can call in you know…..just so I know when I’m solo...with the Brate cats…” There’s a bit of a guilt dig in it for sure.

“Where the hell is Theo……” Kiwi parrots again. “Hello hello…”

Simon snaps at the parrot “Shutup Kiwi..”

Kiwi parrots that back too “Shutup Kiwi..” He rocks back and forth pecking his head “Shutup Kiwi…”

Theo sighs deeply when Simon lays into him. “I renewed my licence then …”  he pauses significantly.  “Then I took a walk.  I guess I turned my phone off and didn’t think to call or check in.”  His voice is still wooden and shocky.  He looks at the banter between brother and parrot.  Normally that would have gotten a laugh out of him, but not tonight.

Simon still looks a little annoyed but now confused “Was there a problem with getting your license sorted? Theo...what the hell? You look like someone died….”

Kiwi hears Theo and hell and parrots again “Where the hell is Theo…..hello hello…..Shutup Kiwi…..”

Theo shakes his head.  “Nope.  I’m Dr Alvin again.”  and then SImon goes on and Theo leans heavily on the counter.  “Died?  Sort of ….  I … um … saw Sarah today …” he inhales and exhales hard.  “She aborted the baby.”

Simon watches his brother with a frown and then his entire demeanor changes when Theo tells him he saw Sarah...and that she had an abortion. He deflates and softens, looking compassionate and reaching out to rub Theo’s shoulder “Holy shit….I’m so sorry.” There are windows on the clinic and this is a very private and emotional topic “Theo let’s pop upstairs ok? I’m here for you man…”

Kiwi has gone back to cleaning his feathers.

Theo is still for a minute … no that the words are out, it almost feels more real.  He nods and straightens.  For a second, it looks like he’s headed out the froon doors, but then he turns and heads for the back, climbing the stairs to Simon’s miniscule apartment, where he sits on his brothers bed and buries his face in his hands.

Simon sighs deeply and follows. Once he’s upstairs his two dogs try to engage. Leroy jumps up on the bed nosing his slobbery face into Theo as he wiggles his butt and tiny tail. Simon gently pulls him off by the collar. “Leroy down…” He tosses him a biscuit. Roxy is fussing in her crate but he waits to let her out, tossing her a cookie too and sitting down beside Theo, patting his back. He doesn’t know what to say so he just sits with him for a while, letting him do what he needs to to process.

Theo hugs Leroy more on instinct than anything.  “Um … yea … that … she told me that I ghosted her.  And .. I guess that was the deciding factor?  Bob Barrow went with her.”  he snorts.  “Bob, the ever present best friend comforting my girl in her time of need.”  he clears his throat, gruffly.  “Oh and then she married him … they have two and a half kids now…”  he lifts up his hands and balls them into fists.

Simon sighs again, shaking his head “There’s always those guys waiting in the wings...fuckers…” He blinks “Two and a half? They were quick about that….it’s only been three years….I’m so sorry Theo.”

Theo scoffs.  “Maybe twins?  Or they sharted working on them before they got married.  Fuck if I know, Simon.”  he opens his fists and rubs his face.  “I mean, I know I .. I didn’t even know if I wanted a kid.  That’s why I wanted to come home and talk to you … and you sent me to Mom and … then I told Ziggy and Gareth … and I was kinda warming to it.  You know I asked her to marry me when she told me … and she said we should wait and see … if this was right for us.  How we felt.”  he growls in frustration.

Simon nods “I remember you saying you proposed. I forgot about her answer other than it wasn’t exactly a yes. I mean during the fog it all felt so...the world was gone...how do we ever explain it to anyone who wasn’t in it? I mean clearly Sarah has moved on...but she's still angry? I guess I get that….not that it’s in any way your fault…..damn…”

Theo sighs.  “I tried to explain it.  That I didn’t mean to ghost her but .. my phone didn't work.  I couldn’t get off the island.  By the time I stopped trying I barely believed me.”  he throws himself backwards onto Theo’s bed.  “And I guess I moved on too … I mean .. I know a lot of folks .. me included .. figured we were just on our own.  But .. I don’t know.  Why am I so upset she aborted a kid I was barely half on board with?”

Simon looks kindly at Theo “You’re allowed to mourn it. I mean if part of you was thinking you had a son or daughter out there growing up in the world...this is a loss. And this island is an anomaly. It’s going to be some weirdness for everyone.” He sighs “The other day when I took off to the mainland...I was thinking I’d go see Kelly’s family. They run one of the little shops at the Vancouver airport. I couldn’t go in…..and I had no plans to marry her, no shared kid….or thought of one. I just stood there in the hall watching like a creep and then left. Do you think you’ll try and talk to Sarah again? Or Bob? You guys were friends…”

Theo stares at the ceiling and closes his eyes a moment at ‘son or daughter’, then goes back to staring at the ceiling again.  “Yea … how do you explain it?  We don’t even know why or even what happened.”  he blows out a breath.  “Not a chance.”  he announces at the idea of seeing Sarah or Bob ever again.  He slaps his arms on the mattress and grips it.  “I’m staying right here.  Forever.”

At the arm slap on the mattress Leroy peeks his head up again, thinking he’s being invited to come back up. Leroy is a huge dog. He jumps up past Simon before he can be stopped and climbs in between them, expanding his body and then if he can he’ll lick Theo’s face.

Simon had been looking pained for his brother but then had to chuckle “If you stay RIGHT here, you will have to share with Leroy. But I get it.”

Theo is almost drowned in Dane slobber, but Leroy did much more than he thinks he did.  Grabbing the dog around the neck, Theo hugs him and laughs.  “Just me, you and Simon, Leroy.”  he announces.  “Right here in this bed forever.”  he play growls and wrestles a little.

Leroy loves the play and begins jumping around.  Inevitably a paw stomps down on Theo’s crotch.

Theo stops wrestling immediately, curling up into a ball and cupping his crotch, moaning in pain.

“Oh!!” Simon looks sympathetic “I hate it when he does that...Leroy...you’re a dude….” He chuckles a bit and then goes to let Roxy out “She probably needs to pee if she hasn’t done it already. When your balls recover….you want to walk them with me? We can take them both if there’s two of us.”

Theo rolls a bit.  The pain is bad, but it is also focusing for him.  “Yea …”  he grunts.  “Gimmie a minute.”  he slowly feels a little better.  “Let’s take the Grey Lady, too.”  he suggests as he gingerly stands.  “See, this is why I prefer cats.”  he grouses.  Then he looks at Leroy.  “Thanks for the gelding.  I feel much better now.”

Simon has  to  laugh now “The grey lady..I like that…..and I can’t say I have a love of cats after the Brate cats today, but I know you did round 1. Bellatrix went a bit ape shit up in the shelves. Minerva’s so old I thought she was going to die right there on the table. Megan was asking me how long she has...what do I even say…” He grabs a frisbee and a ball and the leashes. Leroy sees him preparing and starts jumping around and barking. Roxy pees and leaves a big puddle on the floor. Simon has shop towels and disinfectant ready because she does this a lot “Roxy….we’re a minute from the grass sweetie….” He pets her and then cleans.
 
Theo grins.  “Well she is grey.”  he protests and then sighs.  “I’m sorry I left you alone with the Brate cats.  I got Voldemort, if that helps.”  Bellatrix was a runner while Voldemort was a scratcher.  “So I bled?”  He watches his brother with his dogs until Roxy pees.  “See you downstairs.”  he heads there and stops by the Grey Lady’s kennel.  “Come on, lady.”  he opens the cage and the dog bounds out, thrilled to be out of the cage.  He sets her up with a collar and leash and then hugs her.  “Don’t worry, girl.”  he pats her head.  “We’ll find you a home.  I promise.”

Simon comes down with Leroy and Roxy. He’s carrying Roxy to start and Leroy is on the loose because he knows the place. He gets really happy to see the grey lady and circles her sniffing every part he can. Simon then leashes him  and gets ready to head out. He’s wearing a backpack for the frisbee and ball as well as a water dish if they’re out for a long one and they find a shop or restaurant that will accommodate it. “She’s a nice looking dog…” He comments about the grey lady as he holds the door.

Theo watches as the larger dogs greet each other.  “She’s beautiful.  Damn Covid.”  the dog’s owner had been a loner who had died of Covid.  The dogs' whines had aerated neighbors and the dog had been at the clinic ever since.  He moves along the drop off to the Bottoms until they are near the kids park.  “Beach?”  he suggests, just glad to be able to concentrate on something.

Simon nods “Yeah beach would be good for Leroy.” He was in a precarious balance now between the happy bounding Dane and the reluctant nervous pug dragging behind. He picked up Roxy again “It’s ok there little girl….I really hoped she’d mellow out by now. I’m beginning to think someone hurt her…” He looked pained and pet Roxy with the leash hand held steady that attached to Leroy. His furry children having such different needs. When they reached the beach he pulled out the frisbee and tossed it, seeing who would get there first, Leroy or the grey lady.

Theo nods and heads down the incline to the old hotel parking lot and the beach.  “Yea,I was thinking that, too.  Poor girl.”  he unleashes the Grey lady and watches the dogs race for the frisbee.  Then his eyes wander out to the water.

Simon looks at his brother and sighs a bit “Yeah….” He puts Roxy down and she digs a bit in the sand. “How can I help you with this Theo?” His voice sounds helpless. “What do you need?”

Theo sighs a bit, having been startled out of his thoughts.  “I wish I knew.”  he replies.  “It’s … water under the bridge but for me it may as well have happened this morning.  I keep telling myself ho I can’t fit a baby and women in my place.  You know.  The cats wouldn't like it.  And I tell myself that if she moved on that fast, she didn’t love me.  And I tell myself … that none of it fucking matters cause I was in this fog and now I’m out and I should just suck it the fuck up and move on…”  he covers his face with his hand and cries.  The Grey lady sees the crying and comes over to nose at the kind human.

Simon listens and tosses the frisbee again when Leroy brings it back. The dogs run for it again and he focuses on Theo. He lets him talk and puts a hand on his back when he starts to cry and notices the grey lady comforting him and gives her a little look of approval. This dog had intuition. “You’ll never know what was in her head….that’s the hard part man. You can only deal with the stuff in yours. And for the record, or for the future...you could fit a woman...and even a baby in your place if the woman was the right one...and liked cats.” He’s trying to lighten it but it may be too soon he knows.

Theo pats the Grey Lady before both she and Leroy go frisbee chasing again.  He sniffs and wipes his nose with his tshirt.  “I don’t blame her.” he decides.  “I want to, but I can’t.  If she’d up and vanished on me …  I’d be pissed too.”  he doesn’t address the baby issue on that.  He snorts at his brother.  “Maybe.  Someday.  But for now … I dont know.  I have the cats and the clinic and …”  he watches the grey dog.  “Foster animals looking for good homes.  That needs to be enough for me right now.”  He swallows hard. “This ll hurts more than I thought it would.  I mean .. the baby and losing Sarah … to Bob, no less.”  he sighs deeply. 

Simon nods “I can see how much it hurts. It might for a while. That’s ok….I mean it sucks but you just need to let it do it’s thing right? Sarah didn’t know, not that I’m defending her...Bob didn’t know even but I’m gonna go with he might just be a dick….I couldn’t do that to a friend, even if he bailed. I’m here for you Theo.”

Theo snorts at Bob’s name.  “He always warned me to watch out.  I should have known he’d …..  Ahhh it doesn’t matter.  I have patients aplenty to keep my mind occupied.”  he looks down the beach at the grey dog.  “She needs a home, for one.  And thank goodness the cat population seems under control.’

Simon looks after the grey dog too “Yeah she’s special, intuitive. She was comforting you. Maybe someone needs a sort of service dog?” He laughs about the cats “After Lorna got all 12 of hers fixed finally….”

Roxy finds a clam and really starts digging down into the sand.

Leroy bounds around all up and down the sand, sort of almost tags the grey lady and then jumps into the sea splashing around. He was an overgrown puppy sometimes despite his age.

Theo watches Leroy tagging a dog that is barely a year old and they start playing.  It makes him smile and his brother's words make him laugh.  “Remember when Ziven fixed all of the Brate cats after Voldemort had kittens?  He said we’d never see the like.”  He smiles a bit, missing their mentor.

Simon cracks up “I still can’t hear the line Voldemort had kittens without laughing, especially when Gareth came to us in a panic when he was checking their house….god.”He snorts “Ziven did them in one day….I don’t even think he stopped to eat or take a wizz….I miss that guy.”

Theo laughs.  “Man that was something else.  I don't know why we worked in Vancouver and White Rock all those years when Ziven was right.  Alexandra needed vets.”  he chuckles.  “Ziven was the best.  I still don’t know I’m as good as he was.”

“He was a legend to aspire to. It’s a good goal for me too. And you are a good vet, a great vet Theo. I mean we learned from all those places. I guess it’s like everything, even love, even the shitty parts, we learn and eventually we grow...I hope.” He laughs “God we should be so fucking transformed by the time we’re 40 right?” Leroy is now wet and rolling in sand “But sometimes I’d pay to have that...instead of all this growth…”He points at the happy wet dirty Dane.

Theo chuckles.  “Yea … you’re right.”  he claps him on the shoulder.  “Tell me hat 40’s like when you get there, big brother.”  he grins.  “You missed your calling, Simon.  You should have been a shrink.”  he looks at Leroy and then at the grey lady who joins in.  “This is what you're teaching future generations, Leroy?”  he calls out.  “Well I guess it’s time for doggie bath time…”

Simon laughs “A shrink hey? I’ll take the animals over the humans...you get a free pass though.” He chuckles and picks up Roxy who’s muzzle is now sand caked. She sneezes on him repeatedly “Aw thanks Rox….yeah bath time all around.” He whistles for Leroy and he runs up to them and shakes, covering them with wet sand. “Maybe just the hose for you you big brat…..that’s what mom used to do to us.”

Theo laughs.  “Yea .. and we liked it just as much.”  he reaches out for the big grey dog when she comes up to him,  She nuzzles his hand, then licks it.  “Yea.  I’m feeling better.”  he tells her.  “And you might just get a bubble bath, because I think you are about to undergo some training as a service dog.”  he mock glares at Leroy.  “If you haven’t been ruined yet.”  he snorts.  He’s not happy again … but he’s healing.