Chapter 2
"My wing itches." That was the first thing Jewel thought when she woke up on the cold, hard operating table. Blinding overhead lights caused her to tilt her head to the side. As she did, she saw some kind of strange material surrounding her injured wing. Jewel would have shrieked but felt too out of it to do much of anything but move her eyes and scope out her surroundings. She was in some kind of small doctor's office. The walls were painted an ugly cream color and the floor appeared to be made of linoleum. Posters of a typical bird's anatomy and common diseases they sustain lined the walls. Small scalpels and pairs of rubber gloves took up residence on built-in shelves, and there was even a sink in the room. Jewel had no idea how long she had been out since they arrived at the aviary. When they had entered into the waiting area, Tulio had passed Jewel to a woman in scrubs and told the woman to prepare Jewel for examination. Meanwhile, he would be setting up Blu in the artificial rain forest where Blu and Jewel had first met. The woman took Jewel through a set of doors and administered some kind of shot to her. Within minutes she began to feel woozy and passed out. Now, here she was. Besides thinking about if she would ever enjoy flying again, Jewel couldn't help but wonder what Blu was doing. "He's probably pacing like the nervous nellie he is" she thought with a smile. Before that might have annoyed her but the whole game was changed now. How many birds would jump out of a plane for you? It wasn't just that either, there were several things about Blu she was beginning to like. He had a good sense of humor, was incredibly sweet, and his nerdiness was unique to say the least. Jewel became a little sad; however, as her thoughts turned to the fight they had outside Luiz the bulldog's garage.
Luiz had just managed to free them from the chain the smugglers had used to prevent them from escaping. Jewel had been so excited to be able to fly again that she forgot that Blu had never learned how. When she saw him walking away she asked him what was wrong. It became clear that he thought things couldn't work out between them since Jewel could fly and he couldn't. She had been hurt but thought that if that was how he felt, there was nothing she could do. Jewel flew away but it wasn't long before the smugglers' cockatoo Nigel snuck up from behind and grabbed her. He had tracked them down and despite Jewel's attempts to fight him off, carried her to the smugglers who once again locked her in a cage. Jewel thought all hope was lost. After all nobody knew where she was, alone in a dark, smelly undercarriage of a parade float heading who-knows-where. But then, Blu showed up. She had been so excited to see Blu that she forgot all about her anger. "But does he know that I'm over it," Jewel thought with her good wing over her mouth. Suddenly Jewel realized that she had to see him. Blu needed to know that she wasn't mad, and she needed to thank him. "Where is Tulio" she thought.
Moments later, as if her thoughts had conjured him up, he burst through the door. He was carrying a clipboard and adjusting his glasses. When he saw Jewel, he gave her a pleasant smile. "Why hello Jewel," he said, "I'm pleased that you are awake." Jewel squawked in response as Tulio began to walk around her. "Luckily Jewel, your break hadn't been that bad" Tulio said. "You should be able to fly again in only a couple of weeks." Jewel's face lit up with this news. If she had been able to, she would have done a loop-de-loop in the air. "Blu is looking forward to seeing how you're doing, would you mind if I took you to see him?" Tulio asked. "Yes!" Jewel exclaimed, even though she knew Tulio couldn't understand her. "Wow" he said. Tulio usually experienced Jewel in one mood, angry. "I think the only other time I saw that much passion from you was when you were attacking my interns. You must have really missed him." I did indeed, thought Jewel giddily, I can't wait to see my favorite nerd bird.