The Ties that Bind

Chapter 3 | Radiation

"Help me, please!"

The clinic door rattled furiously against the force of her fist. A huge sign above the door read HAVEN VET CLINIC and she could hear dogs begin to bark and howl at the intrusion. The rain had settled slightly but the sky still rumbled. "Please, it's an emergency!"

She flinched away from the blinding light of a bulb flicking on above her and watched hazily as someone raced to the door. "Thank God," she clutched her chest before she had a chance to make out the doctor's face.

Mr. Levi went for the lock and swung the door open. Before she could let him get a word she was already talking and gripping onto his arms for dear life. "Mr. Levi, thank God. I don't know if he's still alive, you have to help me..."

"Selene, your head," his heavy brows furrowed together, and he scanned her head. Gingerly, she reached up to touch the cut above her brow where and it came away wet with blood. She gulped, ignoring the pulsing headache that suddenly enveloped her brain.

"I'm...I'm fine. Listen, I hit something, I—"

"Where is he? I can send someone out to get him..."

"What?" her eyes were beginning to water from the sheer intensity of her headache. Blood pulsed in her ears and the oddest sensation of euphoria engulfed her entire body. She wondered if it was her body's last hurrah before it completely shut down. "No, he's in my car."

"Okay," Without wasting any time, she raced towards the car and opened the doors. "Okay, okay. Was it a deer? Or..." he bent his head to investigate the car and jumped backwards, startled violently, "Ay dios mio," he straightened his square glasses, "This isn't good."

"I'm so sorry for bothering you so late at night but he just came out of nowhere and--"

Mr. Levi spun around and grasped her shoulders gently. "I'm glad you brought this to me," the resoluteness in his voice cut through the hazy veil of her mind, "Take a breath. You've been through a lot tonight."

Forcing herself to take a breath and relax for a moment, she closed her eyes and nodded jerkily. "What do we do?"

Mr. Levi looked at the wolf and blew out a determined breath, "I'll need a sedative, so he doesn't try to eat me," she sputtered out a pained laugh and was comforted by Mr. Levi's smile. "Come inside, you must be freezing."

She followed him inside, past a small reception desk and into the back room. In the middle of the room was a steel table and the walls had an assortment of animal posters about fleas and dogs showing big human smiles to extenuate the fact that dental care was important. She sat down when he offered her a seat and slapped some gloves on to inspect her head, "Quite a knock," he said, gently touching the afflicted area. "No stitching, luckily. I have some paracetamol, though I would see to this getting looked at."

"I feel okay now, a headache before but it's fading," she assured him.

"Still, get it looked at, for me."

The light must've caught its eyes in a strange way because she could've sworn they were glowing. He moved before she could get a closer look and pulled out a first aid kid. "What about the wolf?" she questioned.

"He'll be okay, you come first." He cleaned the afflicted area with a clean antiseptic wipe and stuck a white gauze bandage over it.

"He came out of nowhere," she said again, "The road was clear one moment and he was just there the next. No warning."

"It's not your fault, these things happen. That seems to be okay, let's see how our patient is faring."

They headed outside, and the wolf was where she'd left him, alive and blinking at them from inside the car. "You're lucky it wasn't worse," the doctor said to the wolf and Selene took a step back when he growled. "You're lucky it was Selene who found you." He held up the syringe and the sound of growling immediately filled the air. Mr. Levi was composed and collected, like he dealt with huge dangerous creatures on a daily basis. He gently pressed it into his leg, "I'm entirely surprised you managed to get this thing into the back of your car. He must weigh a ton."