Sitting in the examination room, with his white furry paws dangling as he sat on the examination table; Eric holds his nose with his hand paws as he waits for the doctor to help set it. Having it broken earlier at school, by his teacher no less; Eric roiled over in anger as he exploded into his fursona, read to rend strips of flesh off the teacher. If it wasn’t for the security guard, Eric would have succeeded; shocked that a teacher would lay hands on a student, his emotions got the better of him.
After trying to shift back in the school’s nursing office; Eric had to be transported to the hospital. The effort to take him to a discreet exam room was comical in its own right. Straight out of a Marx Brother’s short featurette prior to the movie matinee; Eric would have laughed if it didn’t hurt. Instead he looked sullen as he sat on the examination table; his furry paws dangling over the side.
“Well Eric,” a doctor entering the room and closing the door; “sorry to keep you waiting. I had to gather a few items to help deal with your current predicament,” the doctor looking at the were-panther before him; his eye brow arching up slightly as he see the pure white furred were before him.
“Ids naught as if I hab anythig else to do,” Eric trying to respond. (“It’s not as if I had anything else to do”.)
“I understand you couldn’t shift back,” the doctor looking at the initial assessment information; “you had your nose broken?”
“Frob mi teacher,” Eric mumbling; “id waz an umpravoked attack.” (“From my teacher; it was an unprovoked attack”.)
“Well can you lower your paws so I can take a look,” the doctor putting down the file; “let’s see what we are dealing with.”
*******
Frances Twisted pulled up to the parking lot of the hospital. With her office compromised after being told of the surveillance devices put in place; the therapist had to make arraignments to visit several of her patients at the hospital. Just coming from making a house call at the Knight estate, Frances knew she was running late to see her first patient at the hospital. Getting out of her car and heading to the administrative entrance, she was surprised to see both her older brother Samson and her father Joseph heading to the hospital.
“Why are you two here,” Frances catching up to them; seeing Samson out of the sling he was wearing last Sunday. Frances knew that was a testament of a were’s hardy constitution and their ability to heal quickly. Frances knew her brother got shot at by one of Frederick’s men on Sunday; fortunately he was only hit in the shoulder and the FBI agent that was accompanying him was able to deal with the man in a swift fashion.
“Mom has been here at the hospital overnight,” Samson answering; “for her cancer treatments.”
“Why wasn’t I told,” Frances glaring at her father; the elder man with a full beard implying of his Amish past.
The two have only been on speaking term for less than a year now. After getting kicked out and disowned for becoming a were-cat and coming out of the closet; Frances and her Father Joseph have been struggling to reconnect, ever since Angelica was first at the hospital to deal the ovarian cancer. That was last December; now with it September, the news that Angelica’s cancer returned, in her pancreas no less; the family tension has been palpable at times.
“Why didn’t you tell us that Samson was shot,” Joseph responding back; “seeing him walk up to the front door with his left arm in a sling…”
“Oh great,” Samson rolling his eyes; “not this again. Dad,” Samson shutting the elder Carter up; “its not Frances’s responsibility to tell you of my health."
“I’ll say,” Frances looking at her father; “but that doesn’t explain why I’m finding things out about mother out of sheer happenstance. Again,” Frances pointing out.
“I don’t have your phone number,” Joseph grumbling; “and your office is locked up.”
“You could have had had Samson contact me,” Frances not letting her father off the hook; “did you not think of that?”
Before you two start,” Samson getting between father and sister; “don’t. Mom is in the hospital finishing up her chemotherapy and she doesn’t need to see the two of you going at it like the Borgias on a good day. So let’s get in and make nice.”
'This smells of Marcus Huntington's scheming machinations,' Frances glaring at her brother as she follows him and Joseph inside.
********
“Ok Eric,” the doctor grabbing a needle on a steel surgical tray; “I’m going to give you a small shot of Demerol. That should help with the pain as you shift back so we can reset your nose.”
Eric winced as the doctor swiftly jabbed him through the fur; pushing the plunger down and watching the liquid shoot into his body.
“Alright,” the doctor removing the needle and swabbing the injection site; “you are going to feel a little woozy, but I need you to focus and shift back. Can you do that?”
“I’ll try,” Eric already feeling the effects of the pain killer. Breathing through his mouth, as he lets the fur retreat back into his body. It was a strange sensation as his bones shifted and reshaped; before Eric found the feeling pleasurable, now all he felt was numb and cold. Seeing the bag of clothes behind the doctor; Eric didn’t realize that he was now in his human form, or that his shifting has started his nose to bleed once again. Before Eric could react, the doctor swiftly grabbed Eric’s nose and wrenched it back in place; straightening the bridge and quickly staunching the blood flow with a few cotton swabs.
“Just let me bandage this up,” the doctor speaking; “and you’ll be able to put your clothes on.”
Eric just mumbles as the doctor tapes up his nose; surprised that it didn’t take long , Eric looks at the doctor as he steps back.
“That’s it,” The doctor commenting; “a good night’s rest and you should be fine in the morning. I’ll leave so you can get dressed. Is a parent coming to pick you up?”
“My Bab,” Eric answering; the bandaged nose making it difficult for him to speak properly still; “he waz steel talking to Principal Andrews when I left.”
“Just take it easy as you get dressed,” the doctor nodding; “the Demerol will make you feel light headed and a bit giddy. Once it wears off, you might feel a dull ache in the back of your sinuses. This is normal,” the doctor continuing; “just take an aspirin if the pain gets unbearable.”
Eric just nods as the doctors leaves the room; letting him hop off the exam table to grab his clothes.