Henry Rider and the NuYu Prescription

Chapter Five

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Chapter Five

The bell above the door jingled as I led the way into New You. It was a small place, but every inch of it was being put to use. Shelves stacked on shelves stacked on shelves, with plastic medicine bottles crammed into every nook and cranny they could fit in. I noticed Ethan looking at them with interest as we passed, but the only description they had was a series of tiny labels beneath each row.

"Banshee, centaur, goblin, slime" he read them under his breath. "Leprechaun? Henry, what kind of pharmacy is this?"

"Henry? Did I hear you say Henry?" a high pitched voice squeaked, and a tiny bald head poked up from behind the counter. "Ah, Henry Rider! Welcome, welcome! It has been three months, hasn't it?"

I smiled as he scuttled out to shake my hand. He was a klaon, like me, but his thinning hair was a bright green. The fluorescent lights reflected off the two and a half inch thick glasses that covered his eyes, and his white lab coat dragged on the floor behind him. In fact, all of his clothes seemed to be about four sizes too big for him.

"Hi, Doc," I said, then pointed at my friends. "These are Ethan and Jade. Guys, this is Dr. Elle."

His eyes lit up. "Oh please, call me Jack. These two, are they...new customers, perhaps?"

"Nope, no, no," I nipped that line of thought in the butt. "I'm just here for the usual."

"Ah, young Mr. Conrad, yes." He studied me for a second, his glasses making his eyes look five times bigger than they were. "How is he? Has he been adjusting well?"

"Yeah. Ever since he..." I paused and looked at Ethan from the corner of my eye. "...started taking his medicine, he's been a lot happier. How's Heidi, by the way?"

"As wild and free spirited as ever" Jack said wistfully. "I'm lucky if I can get her to keep the store open instead of running off to...well, anyway, shall we go to the back? You know the procedure."

I nodded and let him lead me behind the counter. Just as we were about to go through the door that led to the back room, though, I glanced back and saw Ethan stepping behind the counter too.

"Why don't you wait out here?" I asked. "I'll just be a few minutes."

He frowned. "But you're not supposed to—"

"Ethan, nothing is going to happen!" I snapped, more angrily than I meant to. "Just hang tight for a minute, and then we can go home."

"Okay, I guess..." He went to stand beside Jade, who was inspecting the bottles on the shelves.

I turned to find Jack looking at me with an eyebrow raised.

"He doesn't need to know," I said softly.

Jack shrugged and led me to the back, where a cushioned dentist's office-style chair waited for us. He waved toward it, and I sat down.

"How has business been?" he asked absentmindedly while fiddling with a shiny machine nearby that was as tall as I was.

"Fine," I lied. If I'd been honest, I'd have had to tell him about Cousin Gumdrop's little visit today, and I didn't feel like crushing him with all that emotional baggage. I needed him alive to make Con's medicine.

"Hold out your arm, please." I did, and he quickly jammed a needle into it. Being a big girl and not a little baby, I didn't even flinch. "Perfect! You can relax now."