For those who haven't read "Moon Lake, Andersons: The Crossover, Part 1", Doctor Frances Twist went to check on her patient Jenny Harper, who was with the Jenkins family in the ICU Waiting Room of Moon Lake General Hospital because Henry Jenkins, Junior (aka Huck) was shot in a case of mistaken identity.
Having discovered there are TWO Jenkins families in Moon Lake now, Henry Senior is discretely following a distracted Doctor Tachibana as he leads Doctor Twist to consult on the other Harold Jenkins, who has just accidentally been turned into a weretiger...
After having changed back into his normal human form, provided the word "normal" still had any meaning for him, Harold Jenkins tried to get dressed to accompany a police officer to the hospital for an examination, but discovered none of his old clothing fit him as well as they used to.
I'm a bit taller and more buff now, he realized, staring at himself in the bedroom mirror.
Even unfolded, his pants legs were now a bit away from the edge of the top of his socks, and even t-shirts felt tight around the upper arms, because Harold couldn't completely button any of his dress shirts any more.
As if our budget wasn't tight enough until either the money comes in from selling our old place or I start earning my history professor's pay this January, now I've got to buy new clothes, he grumbled. But I do look good. I wonder what Virginia thinks of the new me? Harold asked himself, but the question reminded him of everything going on, so he finished getting dressed the best he could and went with the officer to the hospital.
There, he was personally examined by Doctor Tora Tachibana at the request of his grandmother, Tachibana no Akane, the leader of the Moon Lake Skulk (werefoxes and werevixens).
When the exam was done, Tora went outside to call his grandmother and told her the same thing he told his patient.
"Other than the fact he keeps asking about someone named Virginia McCoy, physically, Harold Jenkins is perfectly healthy and a fine example of a weretiger in either form."
"I know who the lady is, yet do I sense a but at the end of that sentence?" asked Akane over the phone.
"Regardless of the circumstances, considering his first transformation was unplanned and basically thrust upon him, I'd like to call Doctor Twist and have her check his mental state. Purely precautionary, of course."
"Agreed. Please let me know how that turns out," requested Akane, before ending the call.
Tora went to the closest nurses station to make arrangements to have Doctor Twist called to the hospital, only to discover she was already there "checking on Jenkins".
But there turned out to be a slight mix up, since there was now more than one Jenkins family in Moon Lake.
Yet, as the two doctors went inside Harold Jenkins' room, unbeknownst to them; Henry Jenkins, Senior noted where they went, then moved to the closest public area where he could still keep an eye on the room.
When the doctors left, Henry planned to go in and meet the other Jenkins.
"Mister Jenkins? This is Doctor Frances Twist," said Tora, introducing his colleague.
"Twist? Any relation to Samantha Twist?" asked Harold, who was currently sitting on top of an exam table in his new fursona, with just a towel draped across his waist in an attempt at modesty.
"She's my wife," replied Frances proudly. "How are we this evening?"
"Worried," answered Harold frankly.
"Oh? About what?" asked Frances in return.
"For one thing, I haven't seen my daughter Melissa since she left for school this morning, so I doubt she knows about this yet," said Harold, waving his furry arms in the air.
Frances looked at Tora, who said, "I've been told that your daughter is being escorted here even as we speak. How much she knows about what happened I'm uncertain of though."
"Well, at least now since I'm the Family Were, she doesn't have to become one unless she really wants to. Now that I'm furry myself, I can see the attraction to an extent, but other than the fact I had no intentions of ever becoming a wereraccoon for Alice Decrux; whether or not I ever would have joined you folks is not a decision I was prepared to make right now."
"I see," said Frances, nodding her head. "Why don't you tell me everything, from the beginning if you don't mind."
"Well, I moved Melissa and myself here to Moon Lake in hopes of getting a fresh start on life," began Harold Jenkins, as he started recounting everything that had happened to what was left of his family after his wife Eliza passed away from cancer.
When Harold finally finished, Frances said, "And you were starting to develop feelings for your next door neighbor, Virginia McCoy, before the accident?"
"Yes," admitted Harold. "She teaches history like me, but at the high school level, and I was starting to develop an interest in her before," he said, waving his paws in front of the doctors. "Those weird dreams I had over the last night or two were really something. Between that, still trying to come to terms with Eliza's passing, and then being warned about Decrux by Dean Myers was a lot to take in over such a short period of time, even before I was foolish enough to attempt breaking up the fight between them."
"And you didn't know getting scratched by either of them would cause your first transformation?" asked Frances.
"No. I was under the impression it had to be initated under more... intimate circumstances," replied Harold.
"And how do you feel about Alice Decrux now, compared to before the fight?" wondered Frances.
"Part of me hates her guts and I want to maul her to pieces," admitted Harold. "I know that's wrong, but considering what Myers told me and the fact that woman's managed to escape justice for so long..."
"I see," said Frances, nodding affirmatively. "I don't know all the details yet, but I can tell you that the police are working on trying to grant your wish and theirs about making sure Decrux finally gets the justice she deserves."
"Good," growled Harold.
"Now then. How do you feel about Virginia McCoy right now, compared to before the fight?" asked Frances.
"The fight wasn't her fault. Decrux threw the first punch, and I'm certainly not going to press any charges against Virginia. In fact," began Harold, as a smile formed on his muzzle, "when this is all over, I'd love to ask her out on a real date."
"Really?" replied Frances.
"My change happened prematurely, and considering my feelings towards the ladies, I'm just glad I'm a tiger instead of a raccoon. From what I've been told, if it had been Alice who scratched me, I would have wanted nothing to do with her after she completed my induction into were society and kept my fingers crossed Virginia would still be interested in me in that form," said Harold.
"Seeing Eliza again, even if it was just a fevered dream, brought my past to a conclusion and gave me closure. She said it was okay for me to go on with my life and that I looked good as a weretiger," he continued. "Despite the circumstances, my short time with Virginia was magical, and I would love to do it again, let alone see her outside the bedroom furry or otherwise."
"So you love her?" asked Frances, studying Harold closely.
"Love? Not totally. At least not yet. I certainly have some very strong feelings toward Virginia and I'm certainly not against the possibility and do want to find out if it can be so between the two of us. Besides, I'm wondering about this cub we're allegedly supposed to have one day, although where the name John Sebastian Jenkins came from is beyond me. As far as I know, there's never been a John nor a Sebastian in my entire family history."
Harold and Frances talked a couple of more minutes.
Doctor Twist asked a few more questions to ascertain Harold's current mental state before she and Doctor Tora left the room.
"Well, what do you think?" Doctor Tachibana asked Doctor Twist when they were alone.
"A bit of shock, which is natural under the circumstances," began Frances, thinking it over. "Yet all his dreams happened before his transformation. If that's what they truly were, I've never heard of a normal having prophecy dreams* before."
"Yes. I found that a bit odd too, but therapy is your specialty, not mine," said Tora.
"Other than possibly being a bit too focused on both Virginia McCoy and Alice Decrux right now, Harold Jenkins appears perfectly normal under the circumstances," Frances decided.
"So do you think Jenkins might be a danger to either himself or one of them?" asked Tachibana with concern.
"To himself or McCoy? No," answered Frances. "If anything, Harold might truly be falling in love with Virginia. Besides, it's not uncommon in some cases for a former normal to fall in love with the were who turned them," she added, thinking of herself with Samantha and her next door neighbors Nate and Eric Anderson with their respective mates. "But even if Harold didn't see Virginia as his potential future mate, he definitely considers Decrux as an enemy towards the two of them, so I would caution the police about that. Otherwise, unless there's some medical issue that you need to keep him here for, there's no reason not to release Jenkins," said Frances, as she and Tora went back toward his office to confer about Harold and other patients.
Henry Jenkins, Senior had kept his back to the doctors the whole time they were in that room, pretending to read the various notices on the bulletin boards along the windowless wall.
Now that Twist and Tachibana had left, he took a quick look around, then walked over and entered Harold Jenkins room.
TO BE CONTINUED IN PART THREE, WHOSE OPTION IS FIRST ON THE LIST BELOW.
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*Prophecy dreams are when (usually weres) have visions of the future in their sleep when faced with difficult decisions or other serious problems.—tmw.