„Daddy! Daddy, come!" Annabelle Lennox cried out, waving her hands impatiently. „I need a doctor, daddy!"
William Lennox looked up from the book he was reading and hurried to his daughter, worried. When he appeared in her room, he gasped.
Annabelle was standing by a small table, pointing at the round aquarium with blurry eyes.
„Daddy, Fishie is sick!" A few tears rolled down her cheeks.
Will raised an eyebrow. A goldfish named Fishie was floating on the surface, upside down. Obviously dead.
„Anna, Fishie is-"
„Call a doctor, daddy! Fishie's sick!"
„But Anna-" How in the Hell could he tell his daughter that the fish was dead?
Oh God...
Sighing, he took his cell phone from his pocked and dialed a number.
„Yes?" Ratchet's voice picked up, grumpy as always.
„Umm... Ratchet, I need your help. Please come to my house, I will explain it to you when you arrive. YES, this is important."
„ETA: 10 minutes. You better have a good reason to call me, because fixing Ironhide's aft once again can't wait."
„Thanks." Will hung up and patted his daughter's shoulder comfortingly. „Ratchet will be here soon, honey. He will help Fishie."
Jesus.
Exactly 10 minutes later a neon-yellow Search and Rescue vehicle arrived in the yard. A man in his thirties, wearing a white doctor's coat and glasses stepped out. His expression was crearly telling that he wasn't amused.
He knocked to the front door. Sarah Lennox opened, her eyes widening.
„Ratchet? What are you doing here?"
„Ask your husband." He snapped and stepped in. „Lennox? What is it?"
Will ran downstairs and almost fell over at the last step.
„Ratch', man, thanks for coming. Well, I have a problem. Anna's goldfish is dead, but I can't tell her that. Please, pretend that you're healing it..."
The medic growled.
„For Primus' sake, Lennox! You think I don't have better things do to? Ironhide's laying on my operating table, his sparkchamber opened, and you called me to resurrect a dead fish?"
Will's eyes were almost pleading.
„Ratchet, please... Annabelle's just five. Just a moment."
Ratchet threw his hands up.
„Fine, fine." He followed Will upstairs, where his crying daughter was waiting.
„Hello, Annabelle." Ratchet forced himself to smile. The girl looked up at him with teary eyes and pointed vividly to the corpse in the aquarium.
„Fishie's sick. Can you help him?"
The CMO raised an eyebrow.
A dead fish. Primus...
He poked the dead body with his fingertip and sighed.
„Well, Annabelle, I need to take him to the hospital. I will bring him back when he's better, okay?" He picked up Fishie's miserable being in his hand.
Annabelle's face brightened a bit.
„Will he be fine?" She asked hopefully, her huge blue eyes lighting up.
„Yes, of course he will. I will heal him and bring him back to you immediatelly, I promise." Ratchet hid the corpse in his pocket and turned to leave. „Be a good girl and stay patient, okay?"
The five-year-old hugged him tightly around the waist.
„Okay."
The medic cast a one final look at Will, who responded with a mute „Thank you."
One day later Annabelle looked out of the window, jumping.
„Daddy, Ratchet's back with Fishie!"
Indeed, the CMO was holding a small bag filled with water, where a goldfish was swimming around, probably on the edge of a heartattack.
„Hello, Annabelle. Fishie's fine now. Come on, let's put him in the aquaruim." Ratchet smiled at the girl, allowing her to lead him to her room.
Carefully, he released the goldfish and looked for a moment as it made a few movements, obviously happy to be in a bigger place than a plastic bag.
„See? He's healthy now." He stroked the girl's head gently and watched with amusement as she started poking the glass, a huge smile on her face.
„You are a good doctor." She said sincerely and grabbed a small flower from the vase standing on the table. „I don't have money, but I have this." She handed him the flower.
Ratchet felt his spark melt.
„Oh, thank you. It's very pretty." He stuck the flower into his pocket. Annabelle smiled broadly and began poking the glass again. „Take care of Fishie." He said, turned around and left her room.
Will approached him as he was on his way back to the car. He patted his shoulder in a thankful manner.
„How did you do that?"
„I just bought a new one." Ratchet smirked. „Tell her to feed it sometimes."
Lennox almost laughed his head off.