Chapter 14
Some weeks have passed since Horace represented his school at the music competition and by now it's already October. The weather has gotten colder but compared to any other places on earth it's probably still warm. Miss Peregrine still goes swimming from time to time but as always hasn't got too much time left while caring for her children.
A few weeks ago she has finally dragged them all to the dentist, except for Millard and the twins of course. This time no one could think of a way to let them be examined without showing their peculiarities. But Ethan has assured her that he will try to treat them if they'll get problems with their teeth.
None of the children wanted to go of course but in the end they all had to say that it wasn't too bad. A few of them had to endure a treatment but nothing major. Even if Miss Peregrine has always been strict with them when it came to their oral hygiene, 100 years of living doesn't leave any peculiar unaffected. Only Emma came back a bit terrified as the dentist told her that she will have to have her wisdom teeth removed when she wants to avoid the damage of her other back teeth.
Of course she has been really shocked and scared in the beginning but Jake could take her worries away by telling her how it was for him. He assured her that she won't feel anything as she will be under anaesthesia. And afterwards it will be painful but not for too long and when everything is over she won't feel any consequences.
Emma was still a bit nervous afterwards and wanted it to be over, so she was glad that the dentist had an appointment for her very soon.
The surgery had been on a Monday morning and as all the children were in school, Ethan had driven Emma and Miss Peregrine to the dentist and picked them up again as it was over. For Miss Peregrine it was nearly as scary as Emma when she had to watch her wake up from the anaesthesia. She felt so helpless as her girl was tossing and turning until she was awake. The wounds in her mouth have been bleeding slightly which could still be seen on Emma's lips. On the way back home Emma was still slightly dazed but at least she still didn't feel any pain as the earlier infusions were still wearing off.
At home Emma lied down in her bed immediately and Miss Peregrine was fussing over her. Bringing her cooling packs to help with the beginning swelling or helping her drink some cool water.
Soon the other children came back from school and Jake took over from Miss Peregrine. He spent every free minute at Emma's bed and saw to all her requests.
During the first day, Emma didn't dare move her mouth much, afraid that the wounds will open up again but soon it gets slightly better. Only the immense swelling is a big problem for Emma as it makes the whole thing more painful and it looks quite stupid.
As the younger children saw her first, they had to hide the grin on their face. But as Miss Peregrine glared at them they remembered that Emma was in pain and that it was completely inappropriate to laugh.
Miss Peregrine and even Jake had been quite worried about the swelling, especially after Jake said that it wasn't that bad for him, but Ethan could calm them down and explained that it's different for everyone. They can only help her by giving her something to cool her jaw.
All the time, Jake is really sweet with Emma. He stays at her bed and brings her something to drink or some iced fruits to cool her mouth from the inside.
Miss Peregrine helps her girl by caring for her when Jake is in school and by cooking her food that she can eat, like soups or porridge.
And after some days Emma already feels better and can help her ymbryne in the house- if she lets her that is. She's still staying at home though as she needs to rest for some time and can't really talk much but she doesn't have to stay in bed all the time.
On Thursday, as all the children have left for school and Alma had breakfast with Emma before doing the laundry she knocks at her girls door.
"Come in" is the answer so Miss Peregrine enters her room.
"I wanted to let you know that I'm going to meet Ethan for lunch now as I've told you yesterday. I hope it's still alright if you're here alone? There are also some sandwiches in the fridge when the others come home" she says.
"Alright and of course it is. I already feel much better, Miss P. and even if it still hurts sometimes, you can't help me with that anyway," Emma answers winking at her ymbryne.
"Ok, if you're sure. But if anything happens, you have Ethan's phone number, right?" Miss Peregrine wants to make sure.
"Yes, I do," Emma laughs and rolls her eyes at Miss Peregrine's mothering. "Have fun and say hello to Ethan from me."
"I will," Miss Peregrine says and leaves Emma to herself. She walks through the living room towards the terrace door. As she sees their new family member, the young cat, in the garden Miss Peregrine shakes her head. She's gotten used to her presence by now and admittedly, the cat is quite cute. But when transforming she's still annoying. Therefore Miss Peregrine locks the cat inside the house and transforms in the back yard. She always prefers flying to Ethan's office to taking the bus as she loves the feeling of being free and it's her workout at the same time.
Soon Alma arrives in front of Ethan's office. Approaching the house she sees a small crowd, which has gathered next to the front door. Alma has wanted to land in the small garden on the left side as always but today that seems to be impossible. Slightly annoyed she flies around the building. Why are these people standing around there and what are they doing anyway?
As Alma flies around the corner to the window of Ethan's office, she already sees the small bag, he has hung out for her. They have established this strategy so that she doesn't have to carry something to dress with her but still has some clothes. Carefully so that no one notices this strange behaviour for a bird she takes the bag in her beak and flies to the other side of the building. Luckily she finds some free bushes there and transforms back before putting on the dress Ethan has picked out. It's one of the dresses she has given him a few days ago. Sometimes though she would find new dresses in the bag that Ethan has bought her and very rarely he even encloses some sexy undergarments he got which leaves Alma wondering what he has in mind for the next evening they spend together.
As she's dressed again, Alma walks around the corner of the house to use the front entrance. The people are still standing on the sidewalk obviously looking at something in between the bushes Alma usually transforms in. But Alma is already a bit late because she quickly hung out the laundry so she ignores the crowd and walks straight into the building.
On the front desk, Amelia greets her very friendly.
"Oh hello Alma! Ethan is just seeing his last patient but he will be ready shortly. Just take your seat here," she says and points at one of the two chairs in the corridor.
Alma quickly gets a magazine out of the waiting room and sits down opposite of Amelia, who's just finishing some paperwork before taking her lunch break as well.
But suddenly there's starting a turmoil in the corridor coming from the entrance.
An older woman, around 50 years old, storms inside, followed by a few other people who are all talking loudly. The woman has a big blanket or something like that in her arms and starts calling.
"I need help. Here's supposed to be a doctor, right?"
Amelia walks over to her. "Yes, you're right here. What's wrong? Do you need a doctor?"
"No, not me," the woman says. "Her!" Then she reveals what's wrapped into the blanket in her arms - a small child, maybe 3 years old.
"Oh," Amelia exclaims, approaching them and also Alma places the magazine on the second chair and stands up to inspect the child closer.
The little girl wears old and dirty clothes, as dirty as her face. Her blonde hair is quite dishevelled and all in all this child seems neglected. Furthermore she looks very thin and fragile, even for her age.
"She's so cold, I don't know what's wrong with her but I'm sure she needs a doctor," the woman keeps talking.
"What happened? Is she your girl?" Amelia asks her.
"No, of course not! Do I look like that kind of woman?" she retorts offended and all the other people behind her start protesting as well.
"Ok but where did you get the child then?" Amelia keeps asking while Alma pushes away a bit of the blanket to look into the warm brown eyes of this young human being. She looks sad but at seeing Miss Peregrine her face lights up a bit.
"I've just found it, here outside," she says and points towards the front door. "So where is this doctor now. What if her condition is serious?"
His attention drawn to the racket outside Ethan opens the door of the examination room and steps outside.
"What's the matter?" he asks and takes in the sight in front of him.
"Here!" the woman says and steps towards him. "She needs a doctor."
Taken by surprise, Ethan hesitates for moment, looking at Alma and Amelia and then approaches the woman and the bundle in her arms.
"What happened?" Ethan asks professionally - back in his doctor mode and starts unwrapping the girl.
"How do I know," the woman says arrogantly. "You're the doctor and I've only just found her."
Confused Ethan looks at Amelia again who just shrugs and raises her eyebrows.
"Speaking of which: As it's not my child and I've already done my part. I'm in a hurry and she might be wetting herself or worse by the smell of it. I just can't use that right now. So would someone please take her?" the woman continues and holds the child out, wrinkling her nose. The other people go back a step as well.
Miss Peregrine who's the closest to them takes the child in her arms, ignoring the other woman's behaviour.
"I just couldn't leave her like that," the woman justifies herself but leaves at the same time, again with the whole crowd.
Puzzled, Ethan looks around again. He still doesn't understand everything that's happening around him, as well as the patient that comes out of the examination room behind him and says goodbye after excusing himself.
"Ok," Ethan begins. "Then let's take a look at this child." Then he leads Alma into one of his examination rooms. She holds the child close to her chest, hoping that it might give her some security.
Entering the room Alma sits down on the gurney and unwraps the child completely, sitting her down on her lap for Ethan to see her.
She looks even worse than expected, probably hasn't eaten for a long time or at least not enough. Her skin is really dry indicating that she hasn't drunk either.
"What do you think happened to her?" Alma asks and Ethan shrugs.
"I don't know. But it definitely looks like she's been on her own for too long. Maybe she got lost or something..." Ethan guesses.
"Maybe," Alma agrees and rubs the arms of the young girl. "She really does feel too cold. What might be wrong with her?" she asks concerned.
"Let me take a look at her," Ethan says and kneels down in front of them. He touches the girls skin which is definitely abnormally cold before examining her eyes, mouth, ears and then checks her temperature.
"That's strange," Ethan frowns. "Her temperature is completely normal, not too low neither too high."
"How can that be?" Alma asks. "I've got no idea," Ethan answers.
"But what I know is that she's seriously dehydrated." Then Ethan walks over to the sink to fill a glass with water, which he hands Alma so she can make the child drink.
"I'm slowly getting the impression that this poor child has been abandoned," Ethan sighs and walks back to his chair.
Greedily the girl swallows some water as Alma places the glass in front of her lips and as that doesn't seem enough she grabs for the glass with her little hands. Miss Peregrine can barely hold onto the glass but suddenly she lets it drop and it falls to the ground, shards flying around everywhere.
"Alma!" Ethan shouts and storms to her. "What happened?" he asks concerned. "Are you hurt?"
Miss Peregrine just shakes her head and looks at the ground in disbelief. "I...I don't know..." she stammers. "The glass suddenly got really cold."
Confused, Ethan kneels down again and inspects the glass on the ground. There is no puddle of water, which is strange as the girl hasn't barely drunk half of the water. Then he takes a shard in his hand to take a closer look but as soon as it touches his skin he sees that it's not glass but ice.
"How is that possible?" Ethan asks and looks back up at Alma. Alma as well doesn't know what to say as her brain tries to process what just happened.
"She's peculiar," she finally manages to say and Ethan looks back in shock
