Broken and reborn ? See the doctor (a Tom Hiddleston Story)

"Otters ? Why otters if I may ask ?"

"What are your favourite places to go ? Where do you go to relax ?" He looked at her curiously.
She bit her lip and looked thoughtful. "Hmm I always loved the zoo, but I don't know if that is a bit childish".
His face lighted up in a big smile. "There is nothing childish about going to the zoo, lets get going".
He grabbed her hand and she let him, a little uncertain at first, was it okay to hold hands ? She never really had any male friends and wasn't sure what was normal.
They walked through the park and talked about all and nothing and he asked a lot of questions about her childhood, but keept from the topic of Jerry, for which she was grateful.
"I am so very sorry Sarah, it must have been devastating for you". He squeezed her hand and looked at her with compassion, she had told him about the loss of her parents.
She smiled sadly. "Thank you, it was incredible hard when it happened and I was at a very dark place for some time, without Jerry I would never have pulled through".
He nodded slowly and then said lowly, talking to himself. "Well then it makes a whole lot more sense".
There wasn't very far from the park to the zoo, so they just walked and when they reached the zoo he insisted on paying the tickets.
Sarah could see almost right away that the zoo had been a perfect choice, Tom was like a big happy kid and his joy was infectious, she hadn't felt this happy and relaxed in a long time.
"What is your favorite animal ?" They were leaning on the bear enclosure, watching the two bear cubs playing wildly and now he looked at her.
She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Well that is a hard one, I love dogs, but I also really like horses, I used to ride when I was younger and I think tigers are so beautiful, but I would probably have to go with otters".
"Otters ? Why otters if I may ask ?" He looked very surprised and she almost wished she had just said dog or something else normal.
"I don't really know, i think it is because the always seems so carefree and playful, like they have nothing to worry about, and they make really cute faces". She said.
He smiled at her. "You are so absolutely not like anyone else Sarah and I mean that in the most positive way".
"What about you ? Do you have a favorite animal ?" She wanted to shift the focus away from her.
"Hmm there is so many amazing animals, beautiful in their own right, for example dolphins, I know it might be a little cliche, but you can almost feel their intelligence and personality when you are near them". He answered.
"I have always dreamed of swimming with dolphins one day". She said dreamily.
His eyes lighted up. "It is so amazing, I have tried it three times and it is just as special every time".
One of the bear cubs tried to hit its sibling, but missed and tumbled down a little hill and Sarah couldn't help but laugh, it just looked so sweet and silly.
Then she realised that Tom was looking at her, a thoughtful smile on his handsome face. "What ? Do I have something between my teeth or did I snort ?"
"I was just mesmerised by your laughter Sarah, you have the sweetest little laugh i ever heard". His hypnotising eyes looked into hers and her stomach did a back flip.
"Bollocks, come on lets go into the reptile house". She hurriedly looked the other way and told herself not to read anything into it.
They went into the dimly lit house, it was still early and a work day and the reptile house was empty.
"Wow this one is beautiful". Sarah was looking at a very big albino constrictor snake, rolled up in its glass cage.
Tom leaned closer to the glass, eyeing the snake. "Yeah and really big, I am pretty happy that it is behind unbreakable glass".
"You wouldn't happen to be a tiny bit afraid of snakes ?" She looked at him teasingly with one eyebrow arched.
"I wouldn't go as far as saying afraid, but I wouldn't like to meet that one on the loose". He shuddered and looked at the snake again.
Sarah was looking at a very big and very hairy spider, it gave her the chills, she hated spiders of every kind, but couldn't stop herself from looking, suddenly she felt something crippling with a lot of legs land on her head and she screamed and jumped around waving her arms.
Tom almost doubled over laughing and he almost couldn't talk. "But I guess someone is a bit scared of spiders".
"Arg you.. You.. You.. Arg I thought it was a spider". She put both hands on his chest and pushed him away, but he grabbed her wrists and held her there.
"Hey there little miss wild cat". He said with a lopsided grin, Sarah was panting from the scare, but the way his eyes had locked into hers didn't help her get her breathing back to normal at all.
She could feel his chest very clearly through his thin sweater and she caught herself wondering how it would feel to let her hands run over his naked body.
He took a step forward towards her and she swallowed nervously, he was suddenly very close, she wanted to ask him to let her go, but her voice didn't seem to work.
Right then the door was opened by an angry looking zoo keeper. "What the hell is going on in here with the screaming, this is a quiet area".
Tom let go of her, but grabbed her hand, pulling her with him past the confused looking zoo keeper, out into the sunshine.