We're Only Animals: Book 2 - Part 1: Building the Tower

Chapter 14 - Kiss and Tell

Pina stepped off the train, tugging his hoodie close. His heavy boots clanked heavily on the metal platform as he looked at which way to go.

He had called Legosi the previous night asking where Louis was staying. He got that information and much more. He knew he had to see how the deer was doing immediately.

The dall sheep brought a hand up to cover his eyes from the bright morning sun as he emerged from the underground station. He was lucky that the hospital was just down the block from it. He hurried his pace, despite being there fairly early. "Louis, what's going on..."

He pushed through the glass doors and brought his phone out. 9:45. Visiting hours wouldn't start yet, but maybe he could check-in, still.

The sheep walked up to the receptionist, fluffing his wool to fix what the wind did to it and putting on his prettiest eyes. "Hello."

"Hello, how can I help you?" The receptionist asked, with a smile.

"I know visiting hours don't start yet, but once they do, I want to visit my friend Louis. He's a red deer who was admitted here two days ago." Pina felt the eyes of some of the herbivores in the waiting room on him. Of course, he was used to all the admiration.

The woman nodded, sliding him a clipboard with a piece of paper on it. "Fill this out and hand it back to me, hon."

Pina did so, writing both classmate and friend in the relationship line.

"Alright, have a seat and we'll let you know when you can see him."

The sheep followed directions, catching more attention from the animals there. If this had been a normal situation he would have flaunted himself as he sat down, putting on a show for his audience. But instead he sat heavily, pulling out his phone to see if Bill had messaged him. He didn't tell him about his excursion today, since he didn't want the tiger skipping class. Unfortunately, there were no words from the tiger. He was terrible about texting, after all.

Pina tapped his prosthetic foot. He hated hospitals.

Some time passed, but just a little after ten, a doe nurse came out of the door that led deeper into the building. "Louis the red deer?"

Pina stood up and walked over, his limp almost completely gone, now. "Hi, that's my friend."

She smiled. "Please follow me." The deer waited for him to get closer and then walked through the door, beginning to walk through the bright halls. "You get twenty minutes. When you get in the room, the patient will be handcuffed. You can touch the patient, but if you yell at him, you will be removed from the room. We want to make sure this visit goes as safe and smooth as possible. Do you understand?"

"Of course, ma'am. Thank you." Pina swallowed. He suddenly felt very nervous.

"The whole visit will be recorded, so there's a security camera in there. Do you have any other questions?" They arrived at the door.

"No. Thank you."

She pushed it open, revealing a handcuffed and still bandaged Louis inside. He stayed looking at the ground.

"Hey." Pina waved casually as he slid into the uncomfortable plastic chair in front of him.

"Hey..." Louis spoke.

The other herbivore got right to brass tacks. "Talk to me. What's going on."

"...I belong here," Louis whispered. "I feel like I'm broken and can't be fixed."

Pina leaned back and crossed his arms. "Well, of course, you're going to feel that way while you're recovering. You're not going to snap back to 100% right away. Or whatever you were functioning at before."