technoWriter15 requested this one. Here you go, Amigo! Sorry it took me so long!

I only own Rachel, the Jocklin Brothers, Joseph Jockling, and Dr. Andrew Farrener.

Good To Have A Doctor On Your Side

Ultimate Wildmutt lay down by his brother, who was looking very ill after a mission gone wrong. They had been going to stop Dr. Animo and the mad doctor had sprayed some kind of gas at them. Ultimate Wildmutt had dodged it in time, but Wildmutt got hit with it head on and he was now feeling very sick. Rachel came in with a cold washcloth and another pillow. The orange alien whimpered gratefully to her as he was in a lot of pain.

"I don't know what that gas did to him, but judging from what I've read on some animal sicknesses, I think he's got parvo," she said.

Ultimate Wildmutt was shocked. "No," he said in disbelief. "Please say it's not that."

She looked at the red Vulpimancer. "I'm sorry, bro, but the symptoms are too close to be anything else," she said. "Frankenstrike checked his lab, but he doesn't have anything to help."

"And the Plumber Base can't get any medicine in right now as they're off helping another world," he said. He looked at her. "Rachel, I can't lose him."

She nodded. "Neither can we," she said. "And we won't. We'll help him pull through it."

But he shook his head. "It's gotten worse," he said. "If he doesn't have any medicine soon, it'll go critical. It nearly did for me when I was a pup, but our parents had the cure on hand, thankfully."

Rachel gently brushed the cold cloth over Wildmutt's forehead, hearing him whimper and feeling the warmth of his fever through his fur. She watched him as he moved a little before whimpering in pain. This sickness was getting worse and she watched as the older brother stayed by his little brother the whole time. After a bit, she placed another bowl of fresh water in front of them. "See if he'll at least drink some water," she said to the older Vulpimancer. "That might help his fever a bit too."

She then headed for the living room and paced the floor, worried. Wildmutt needed medicine, but he wouldn't make it if they tried to take him to Plumber Headquarters and the Vulpimancers' home world was too far away. Her mind coming up empty on what to do to help her friend, she saw the phonebook nearby and picked it up, quickly going to the yellow pages to look for a vet. Maybe she could get medicine from the vet for parvo. She called a few vets, but the receptionists said there was no space available to see a vet at the time. Rachel felt her heart drop a bit more before she saw a new ad. It was another vet, one that had just moved to Staybrook. A hometown vet.

She quickly called and a male's voice answered. "Dr. Farrener's office," he said.

"Are you the new vet in town?" Rachel asked curiously.

"Yes, ma'am. Just moved here. Can I help you?"

Rachel quickly told him the situation while not telling him that her friend was an alien. The vet quickly agreed that it sounded like parvo. "I'll need to see him," he said.

Rachel froze at that, worry filling her. "Miss?" she heard the vet ask.

She cleared her throat. "Uh, can't you just give me the medicine instead?" she asked. "He's in a lot of pain."

"I understand, but I don't dare prescribe any medicine without seeing the animal first," he explained patiently. "I can't treat an animal properly without seeing it. If I did that and found I gave the wrong prescription to an animal, they could die."

Rachel felt stuck. "I'll have to call you back then," she said. "I have to go. I hear him calling for me."

With that, she quickly hung up and called her uncles. Uncle Joseph answered the phone. "Uncle Joe, it's Wildmutt. I think he's got parvo," she said.

"Oh, dear," said her uncle. "Can Frankenstrike help him?"

"He doesn't have the medicine," said Rachel. "There's a new veterinarian that moved into Staybrook, but he insists on seeing Wildmutt before prescribing any medicine to him."

The unspoken dilemma hung in the air. Could they trust a stranger with the Grant Mansion's secret? Joseph then cleared his throat. "Wildmutt needs help," he said. "Would you feel better if we called him and told him the situation discreetly?"

That meant they would reveal what they could without telling the vet the animal was an alien until he arrived. Rachel gave it some thought. "Okay," she said. "Please?"

He immediately agreed to do so.

Dr. Andrew Farrener was a bit confused when the young woman had abruptly said she'd call him back and then he got a call from the Jocklin brothers, telling him to go up to the Grant Mansion and to bring the strongest medicine for dogs that he had. He gathered his bag and headed up for the huge mansion. "A bit back here, hmm?" he asked himself when he saw how far the mansion was from the road and the wrought-iron gate that was at the end of the driveway. He soon made it up to the mansion itself and went into doctor mode. From the way Joseph Jocklin had spoken, the animal's sickness was very bad.

He knocked and a young woman answered. "Dr. Farrener?" she asked.

"Yes," he said.

The blonde-haired woman looked hesitant before taking a deep breath. "Come in," she said and let him in before closing the door and locking it. Her behavior was confusing him. She then turned to him and her face hardened. "I'm taking a huge risk having you come here, Dr. Farrener. Don't make me regret it."

Those words made him pause. For a woman with a sick pet, she was acting very unusual, but as he was coming to the conclusion it was from worry about her pet, he felt something grab him.

"Who is this?" asked a voice.

"A stranger," said another.

The young woman looked at the vet, who was now looking a bit stunned to see a mummy and a Frankenstein behind him and they looked mad. He tried to pull away, but the mummy growled. "Why are you here?" he asked.

"I…I was called here to take care of a dog who might have parvo," he said. "And I need to get to him or you'll all lose your pet."

They both growled when the young woman stepped up to him. "Guys, Uncle Joseph called him and Wildmutt needs help," she said. "He was the only vet available and he insisted on seeing Wildmutt before treating him so that he can treat him properly."

The Frankenstein took a step back. "Snare-Oh, get this stranger to my lab," he said. "I'll bring Wildmutt down."

The mummy nodded and wrapped one of his tendrils around Andrew's arm. "Follow me," he said.

Rachel followed them to the lab and Dr. Farrener looked at her. "Is this dog…a special species?" he asked curiously.

She nodded. "One you haven't heard or dealt with before," she said.

"Oh?" he asked.

She glanced at him. "He's a Vulpimancer, an alien that looks like a dog," she said seriously.

Just then, Frankenstrike came in with Wildmutt in his arms and placed him gently on the exam table. Ultimate Wildmutt also came in and suddenly growled at seeing Dr. Farrener, who flinched a bit at seeing how large they were and at the red one's growl.

Rachel didn't flinch. "This one is the orange one's brother and he's very protective," she said.

Andrew took a deep breath and remembered the important thing was to gain the animal's trust. Or in this case, an alien's trust. He kneeled down and held out a hand, trying to keep from shaking as he knew that protective dogs could get aggressive if they felt threatened.

Ultimate Wildmutt sniffed at the vet's hand, sensing him to be a good vet and a good person. "Alright," he said, nearly making the vet jump in alarm that he could talk, but he only gently grabbed the sleeve of Andrew's lab coat and gently tugged him to the exam table before letting him go. "Can you help him?"

Andrew looked at the orange alien and quickly went back into doctor mode, placing one hand on Wildmutt's head and running his hand gently over the orange back, hearing the alien whimper in pain. He then very carefully and gently pried the huge mouth open to check the inside of it. After that, he gently set Wildmutt's head down. "I'll need a blood sample to clarify if it's parvo," he said. "Although other signs point to it."

Frankenstrike immediately drew a blood sample and put it in his computer. Andrew looked at the computers in amazement. "I've never seen such advanced computers before," he admitted as he watched the results come right up. "Or results come up that fast."

"I built it myself," said the scientist alien as he magnified the results. Andrew looked at it and his face grew more serious before turning to the others.

"It's a very strong strain of parvo," he said gravely. "Regular medicine won't heal him, but I do have something else."

He pulled out some plants in bags from his vet bag. "He needs an herbal medicine to help him out," he said and then turned to Frankenstrike. "Is it alright if I use your equipment to make the medicine?"

The large alien nodded and stood nearby, watching carefully. Andrew got the impression the alien was memorizing what he was doing and learning. He soon finished and held up the beaker full of herbal liquid. "This isn't going to be pleasant, but he has to drink it all now," he said to Frankenstrike. "Can you hold his head while I give it to him?"

"Yes," said the alien and did so, gently prying open Wildmutt's mouth. Ultimate Wildmutt whimpered worriedly when he saw his brother was looking really bad. Rachel stood nearby and heard Wildmutt weakly growl.

"Brother?" he asked.

"He's right here, Wildmutt," Rachel said. "Dr. Farrener has medicine for you."

Andrew felt the orange alien's gaze on him, even though the alien didn't have physical eyes. "It won't taste great, but it will help," he said.

Wildmutt didn't protest as the medicine was poured down his throat, although he did grimace a bit, but swallowed the herbal liquid. The vet then began patting him gently, as was a habit of his after he treated animals. "It's a twenty-four hour wait now," he said. "I wish I had better news."

Wildmutt whimpered and Rachel went up to him, rubbing his head gently. "It's okay," she said to him in a comforting whisper. "We'll be right here. Just rest."

Ultimate Wildmutt jumped up on the exam table and lay down beside his brother to offer more comfort. Dr. Farrener looked worried. "Won't he get sick too?" he asked.

The red Vulpimancer turned to the vet. "No, because I already had it when I was a pup, and the medicine I took on our home planet became an immunity booster," he said gently.

Andrew nodded. "Okay," he said. "I must admit I've never met a dog-like alien that could talk. Then again, I've never met an alien before until I arrived here."

Wildmutt suddenly started whimpering and Rachel quickly moved toward him, as did Ultimate Wildmutt and they listened. "He's dreaming," said Rachel. "Something about…a female Vulpimancer?"

Ultimate Wildmutt let out a huge laugh and fell over the side, but landed on his feet on the floor. "He still thinks about her, even though she snubbed him," he said.

Rachel looked at him. "A girlfriend?" she asked.

"Nah, just a girl he really liked, but she always said terrible things about him, like how he wasn't as strong as me, how he didn't have a tail, and worse that he never paid attention to her because whenever she walked into a room, his 'eyes', for lack of a better term, weren't on her. She could turn every head but mine and his and she made us feel like we were being rude if we didn't notice her right away."

Rachel shook her head. "Reminds me of Ken," she said. "But it's okay. Ken got what was coming to him."

"Yeah, and so did she," said Ultimate Wildmutt. "But it's okay. Wildmutt then chose to wait. And someday, a female Vulpimancer will notice him."

"That's always best."

Snare-Oh stepped forward and placed a hand on Rachel's shoulder. "I think now that this man has helped our friend, we now have to decide what to do," he said.

Andrew looked at them confusedly. "What do you mean?" he asked.

Rachel took a deep breath. "When I said I was taking a huge risk in having you come, I wasn't kidding," she said. "The Grant Mansion is rumored to be haunted, but the truth is, it's a home for aliens and humans."

He looked confused, but nodded to show her he was listening to her. "I own this mansion," she said. "My family consists of both humans and aliens. We called you here to help Wildmutt because we had no other choice, but now our decision is up to you."

"What do you mean?" he asked her.

Rachel was quiet for a moment. "You can promise to keep our secret," she said. "Or…decide to betray us, in which you'll force us to do something drastic, like wiping your memory."

"Whoa!" Dr. Farrener jumped back. "That's…a little too drastic."

"It's how we protect ourselves from those we can't trust."

Andrew looked at her and then at Wildmutt, who didn't look much better, but it was still too early to give an honest answer about if he'd make it or not. That gave him an idea.

"How about a deal?" he asked. "If Wildmutt doesn't pull through this, I'll willingly let you erase my memories of today, but if he does pull through, I swear I will keep your secret. Deal?"

"Very interesting proposal," said Frankenstrike. "We've yet to have a stranger willing have his memories erased."

"True," said Rachel. "What do you think?"

"Sounds reasonable," said Snare-Oh.

Rachel nodded. "Okay."

Wildmutt woke up that morning feeling a lot better. He was only in a little pain, and his fever had gone down. He then saw Frankenstrike sleeping in his lab chair, Snare-Oh was laying down on the therapist couch with Rachel sleeping on his chest, Ultimate Wildmutt was sleeping beside him, and a man with a white lab coat was sleeping on another exam table. He then looked at his brother and remembered something he used to do as a pup when he wanted more room to sleep on the bed.

He playfully pushed his brother out of bed.

Ultimate Wildmutt was sleeping soundly when he suddenly felt like he was falling and he hit the floor with a loud 'THUD'. He thankfully landed on his feet, and to Wildmutt's surprise, no one else, beside his brother, woke up. So he did the next thing he remembered doing long ago.

"YOU'RE TAKING UP ALL THE ROOM!"

That shout caused Rachel to scream in alarm as she was rudely awoken and she accidently kneed Snare-Oh in the stomach, making his groan in pain as that woke him up. Frankenstrike jumped so hard that the legs of the chair he was sitting in broke away from the seat and he crashed to the floor with a thud, and Dr. Farrener jumped a few feet off the exam table he was sleeping on. The four rudely awoken people took a moment to collect their wits and get their hearts to stop pounding so hard.

Wildmutt laughed aloud. "Bro, you gotta quit hogging up the bed!" he said in a playful manner.

"No, you've got to-," Ultimate Wildmutt began but then stopped. "Wildmutt?" he asked in surprise before letting out a happy cry and glomping his brother so hard that they both fell off the exam table. "YOU'RE ALIVE!"

Rachel looked over at them. "He's okay!" she said in happiness.

Snare-Oh and Frankenstrike temporarily forgot their rude awakenings as they smiled at the scene of Wildmutt trying to wrestle his brother off him and Ultimate Wildmutt hugging him and crying in relief.

Dr. Farrener smiled and waited until things had calmed down a little and watched Rachel check on Snare-Oh and Frankenstrike, who assured her they were alright as the mummy sat down and took deep breaths to get his stomach to quit hurting and Frankenstrike began repairing his chair with Rachel helping. Ultimate Wildmutt suddenly tackled Dr. Farrener and licked his face. "Thank you," he said. "Thank you for healing my brother."

Andrew laughed a little and patted the red dog-alien's head. "Glad I could," he wheezed a bit as the Vulpimancer was leaning on him and was heavy. "Uh, you're a bit strong."

"Oh, sorry," said Ultimate Wildmutt as he helped him up and Wildmutt came over to have another checkup. Dr. Farrener smiled.

"Well, looks like you're back one hundred percent," he said with a smile.

Rachel went up to Dr. Farrener. "You saved our brother," she said. "Therefore, you are no longer considered a stranger to us, but as a friend. Thank you."

He smiled. "You're welcome," he said. "And I swear, I will keep your secret."

She nodded and he got another call for more animals that were sick and he bid them all farewell as he went to help the other animals that needed it, glad that he had been able to help an alien and see the others smile when they saw their friend was better.

And the owner of the Grant Mansion and the aliens were glad to have gained the veterinarian as another ally.

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GoldGuardian2418