Eventually, I arrived at the animal hospital, it almost looked like a regular one. You had some people with white coats, others in scrubs, and more in those decorative shirts nurses wear these days. The other owner and I walked in together.

"I hope she's alright!" the woman lamented.

"With Dr. Core she will be" I said, and found myself meaning it. We found the right place, and she went in, promising to let Natalie know that I was here, waiting.

As I sat waiting, I found myself thinking about how well Natalie had handled the situation. After a while, she came out.

"How is the dog?" I asked.

"A few broken bones and internal injuries among other things" she sighed.

"Are you gonna stay?" I asked.

"The attending is in charge now. Besides, I don't have privileges here" she said.

"I could take you to your car" I offered.

"Really? Thanks!"

"You did great out there, with the dog!" I said.

"Glad ya think so" she smiled.

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I had been both surprised and grateful that Charlie had offered me a ride to my car. This change of attitude was like night and day!

"It must have been hard" he commented in the car. "To learn the anatomies of so many species"

"Yeah it was; med students have it so much easier!" I told him.

"What made you decide to become a vet?" he asked.

"I always loved animals, like my grandmother and I had a knack for science, like my Dad.He was a dentist" I replied.

"I see."

"Have you gotten injured a lot in your line of work?" he asked. Looks like Charlie remembered how the dog growled a few times.

"Yeah" I nodded. "My body is a living journal of my career. It's not the patient's fault, most of the time. Imagine getting hurt, and being taken to an alien hospital to be treated. That's how animals often feel when coming to the vet. Bedside manner is key with animals." He seemed to have more of an understanding of my job. That's always a good thing.

"You did say, when we first met, that Vets had to be animal profilers" He remembered.

"We sure do" We were both now at the elevator. A woman with a cat in a leg cast came in with us. "So you'll come over soon?"

"yeah"

Charlie and I had rather pleasant conversation on the way to the car, and in it. It wasn't chummy chummy, but we seemed to have reached a middle point. Being around him wasn't so bad anymore. Soon, I was in my car, going home. Neither of us wanted to push things.

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"How did dinner go?" Don asked me the next day at my office.

"Good, we saved a dog"

"Really?" he sat on a corner of my desk, looking like Johnny Cash with black pants and black shirt.

"It was the victim of a hit and run" I explained. "Natalie did a great job of taking care of it until the ambulance arrived."

"Is that right?" Don looked surprised at what I said.

"The dog was scared, but Natalie pulled through even though it tried to bite her"

"How's the dog?"

"Recovering I guess" I said.

"So..you guys worked things out?"

"We've got a truce" I said.

"So, you'll visit Dad with me tonight?"

"Sure!" I said. That was my plan anyway.

9999999999999999999999999

I was surprised to see Charlie walk into my place with Don. What's going on? What had Don done or said to get his little brother to come here?

"Hey Dad?" my youngest told me tenatively.

"I thought you weren't ever going to visit here" I said carefully.

"I may have been hasty in saying that." he told me lamly.

"What about what you accused Natalie of?"

"Charlie and I had a talk, it's all good!" Natalie told me.

"You two had a talk?" I asked with surprise.

"It wasn't my idea. Charlie asked me to have dinner with him" Natalie said.

I deadpanned. "Why do I get the feeling that Don had a hand in this 'dinner'?"

Charlie then said "While we were uh...about to order, someone came saying that their dog was injured. So, Natalie and I worked together to help the dog until help arrived."

"Working together under those conditions, we had to put aside our differences" Natalie continued.

"Really?" I looked at Natalie. "You didn't mention this"

"I wanted to surprise you when Charlie came to visit.!" she told me. "Telling you about the dog would have ruined the surprise. "

"Okay..." I gave her a look. That made sense, in a way. "I'll go make dinner"

TBC

Author's note: The tension is not totally resolved. They're not friends.