"And that's that. Should be over in about four hours, so I hope you brought something to keep you occupied this time Lucas."
"Yeah, yeah, I know the drill," Lucas acknowledged, not even looking down as the bunny finished up with the usual banal procedures with checking his arm. "Four hours, don't squirm too much, relax and don't make work for you. Haven't you got another invalid to bore with your copy-and paste information or something?"
She let out a laugh as she hopped down from the chair, and, pulling a small step ladder from beside the colourless contraption, set about making final checks to the vital hunk of equipment.
"Well yeah," she admitted, nodding her head as her eyes scanned the digital face her paws delicately checked coiled tubes. "But none of them are as fun as you. It's as if they're all sick or something."
Lucas let out a snort. "It may have escaped you're notice, but I'm sick or something too."
"Nah, you're definitely something."
"You rabbits are so weird."
"Hey!" She scolded playfully, swivelling round on her heel, with her paw on her hip and a snap of her fingers. "That's Nurse Weird Rabbit to you. Thought you'd figure out my name by now."
"Your badge says your name is Nurse Bounds."
She let out a little sigh as she rolled her eyes. "Well, yes if you're going to be boring about it!"
Lucas let out a little chuckle at that. She was a weird nurse, no doubt about that. Her fur was clearly dyed a deep black, with a few stray strands of tan brown poking out around her eyes showing her truer, plainer colours. Her uniform always looked like it had just come out of the washing machine and only had a nodding acquaintance with the iron.
And then there was her personality. Though her appearance had been a bit odd when Lucas first made the bunny's acquaintance, it had been her unique way of saying everything without even the vague suggestion of a filter that had really thrown him for a loop. In the presence of others, she was a consummate professional, pretty much like any other nurse in the hospital. But, as soon as she was left to her own devices, she'd just gossip about everything and anything. God only knows how she managed to keep patient confidentiality.
"You're such a weirdo." Lucas smirked, shaking his head as he leant back in the chair.
"Well, duh! That's why you love me!" Spreading her arms out, Holly eyes were bright and full of mirth, a buck-toothed grin plastered across her face.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Lucas replied, a smirk spreading across his face as Holly gently hopped off the step ladder. "Now are you gonna tell me about what mammal you violated the other night in hideously graphic detail or not? I got three hours and fifty-seven minutes left of being hooked to this thing and I might as well get traumatised while I'm here."
Pushing the step ladder back to its usual home, Holly quirked her head back with a puzzled expression.
"Wait, you didn't bring anything?"
"Why would I bring anything?" Lucas scoffed. "I'm not allowed to be left alone while this is happening and you're always sticking to me like glue so what's the point of bringing anything in? So, regale me then. Honestly, I've been lacking in the way too much information department about you and what happens when you get six Carrotinis down you near literally any mammal."
"Well," Holly began, sucking in a breath between her buck teeth. "No stories today I'm afraid. I guess you'll have to get your traumatising Carrotini stories elsewhere today."
At this, the lynx lifted his head up as he saw the bunny began to walk away, her hips swaying a little too much and light skip in her step.
"You're kidding me, right?"
The bunny swivelled round on her heel. "Afraid not. I swapped shifts with Herdowitz. I got to go to this thing today so I'm on the night shift."
"Herdowitz?" Lucas' eyes bulged wide open, his golden eyes contracting in horror. "How the hell is he still a nurse?! He's in worse shape than I am!"
Holly rolled her eyes as she lingered near the door, a hindpaw beginning to tap impatiently.
"Oh, stop your complaining. Herdowitz is a very experienced nurse and he said he'll be here in a few minutes. I'm sure you can survive on your own that long."
"You know he'll fall asleep before he gets here?"
"Okay that was one-" Holly paused, briefly counting on her paws as a look of mild embarrassment crept over her face. "Okay, he falls asleep a lot, but he promised he would be here. He doesn't break a promise, I'll give him that much."
"Alright, fine." Lucas crossed his free arm across his chest in a huff. "Guess I can deal with talking about the good ol' days, even if those old days included more overt specism and the latter days of TAME collars."
"That's the spirit!" Holly cheered enthusiastically, getting a smirk out the lynx.
"Well, if you're sticking me with Herdowitz, you've got to let me know why you're bailing out on me."
"I don't think I do, you know."
"Please!" Lucas' pupils dilated as he assaulted the jet-black bunny with his cutest kitty eyes he had in his arsenal.
"You think those are gonna work on me?" Holly laughed derisively. "Please, I grew up in a fluffle of bunnies. We all have those cute eyes, so you have no chance!"
"Aww," Lucas moaned, slipping back into his usual demeanour. "You're no fun Holly."
"Biggest Buzz Kill in Otterbridge Hospital!" she stated proudly.
"Literally the worst!" Lucas playfully griped, before looking at her more softly. "But seriously, is everything okay?"
As much as Lucas liked to rib his renal nurse, he did care about the crazy bunny. She'd been by his side three times a week for the past four years. She'd been there when he'd been shell-shocked by the diagnosis, his first, nervous visit to his now usual chair, their first 'taking the mickey' sessions, talking about hopes, dreams, past relationships, the glorious highs, the embarrassing lows, opinions, family, anything. It was cliché, but she really was the sister he never had, and he would never wish any ill on her. No matter how bafflingly mad she was at times.
"I know we joke about and stuff, but if there's something going on, you know you can tell me, right?"
"Awww, my favourite lynx cares about me!" Holly laughed as Lucas shook his head, almost regretting having asked. "But don't you worry, there is nothing to worry your fluffy head about. Well, probably not anyway. We'll just have to see how it goes..."
The bunny eyes averted him, almost looking shy at bringing it up. Her ears dropped a bit, and, despite the black fur dye, Lucas could see the beginnings of a blush forming. Then the scent change hit him like an atom bomb.
"No way!" Lucas exclaimed, his ears perking up and jaw hanging open in disbelief.
"Don't you dare-"
"But you've got a-"
"I swear to God Lucas, I will come over there and I will-"
"You've got a date, don't you?!" The was a beat of silence before two things happened. Lucas let out a long, hearty laugh and Holly's red glow of shyness began to turn to the beet red blush of embarrassment and anger, with it almost overtaking her dark dye as it spread up to the tips of her ears.
"Who'd have thought it, eh? Little Miss One Night Stand going on a date! Oh, some mammal does not know what they're in for!"
The bunny catapulted herself across the room, landed on his chest, and hoisted him up by his shirt so their muzzles nearly touched.
"You shut your mouth Lucas!" Holly seethed, a quiet rage seeping out of her. "I have a good reputation to maintain here, you know, and I do not need a bothersome lynx spreading rumours about me to Herdowitz or anyone else for that matter. So, you are going to keep quiet about this, capisce?"
Holly, not relaxing her grip in the slightest, her knuckles going white under her fur, felt a certain measure of victory when Lucas' face dropped from hysteria to apparent submission. But then he opened his mouth.
"You have a good reputation?" Lucas remarked, completely deadpanned but his eyes gleaming with mirth as the frustrated bunny released him from her grip and he fell back into his chair with a soft thump.
"I DO!" Holly's eyes raged with indignation, releasing him and hopping off his lap, landing with practiced ease on the floor. "Better than some other mammals I could name around here!"
"If you're referring to me I can assure you I am a refined lynx." Resting a paw on his chest, Lucas closed his eyes as he tried to look as smug as possible. "I have an impeccable reputation."
"Oh yeah, really." The sarcasm was practically dripping off her tongue. "Says the mammal who was practically drooling over my story with my lovely friend Melanie... and her equally charming friend Kimani."
The snow-white fur inside Lucas' ears began to turn a crimson red, his maw suddenly clamping shut.
"And if you ever want anything near the level of detail of that memorable day, you will keep schtum, okay?"
"Fine! God, go on your little date then. I'll just sit here and count the ceiling tiles before Herdowitz comes. If he ever comes. At least that'll keep me-"
"One hundred and sixty-eight."
Looking down at the bunny, who had swiftly moved over to the door, propping it open with an extended paw, Lucas tilted his head in confusion.
"Huh?"
"The number of ceiling tiles. One hundred and sixty-eight."
Lucas eyes widened as he stared at the bunny. He quickly scanned the ceiling before returning his gaze to the vainglorious bunny.
"How did you-"
"Length by width and times them together." Holly tilted her head ever so slightly, letting her ears flop to her side. "I mean, we bunnies are just as good at adding as we are at multiplying, you know."
And with Lucas appropriately slack jawed, Holly gave a little bow, turned on heel and pushed through the door.
"Have fun with your non-ceiling counting!" Holly shouted back as the door slowly closed behind her.
"Hate you so much!" Lucas called after her, already feeling the boredom sinking in as the jet-black rabbit left him alone, his only company being the beeping machine and the pre-counted ceiling tiles.
It hadn't taken long for Lucas to run out ideas. He counted the ceiling tiles, the damn bunny having been bang on, counted the seconds between clicking sounds of the machine he was hooked to, and after that the idea train had ground to a screeching halt. Devoid of anything fun to do, and Herdowitz predictably having forgotten about his promise or more likely fallen asleep in his cosy chair in the staff room, Lucas began to mentally organise the chores he had to do in the coming days and weeks.
"Pay the rent. Move the sofa. Call mum. Fix the shelf in the bathroom. Clean out the back of the fridge. Have that meeting with Dennis down on 12th about renegotiating the contract."
"Can you look at this?" a small voice asked, holding out a blurry sheet of paper.
"Sure." Lucas mumbled, taking the proffered paper and setting it on his lap before continuing with his internal list making.
"Sort out that issue with the rubbish. Twenty-two divided by five is four point four. Ask for an extension on the Griztovsen Advertisement. Four point four as a fraction is four and two-fifths. Ask Nali if she wants to get a portrait of just her kid or the whole family. Eighty-four divided by nine is not nine point seven, it's- wait, what?"
Blinking out of his automated thoughts, Lucas' eyes finally focused on his surroundings. Siting on his lap was a sheet of incomplete maths homework, a messily spelled name and date scrawled across the top, and a young fox in a faded teal hospital gown standing by his bed, her eyes looking up with vague interest at the lynx.
"It's okay," she chimed in, glancing at the paper in his paw. "They're super hard. If you don't know the answers that's fine. That's what my mum says."
"What?" Lucas looked at his paw, noticing the miniscule pencil between his fingers and his refined cursive on nearly a third of the paper, a stark contrast to the fox's own irregular and disjointed handwriting.
"Erm, that's not really the problem here, little 'un."
"What's the problem then?" The fox cocked her head to the side as she gave a slightly confused and somehow endearing look at the lynx, which was made all the cuter by the fact that she barely came up to the arm rest of his chair.
She looked normal, for a fox kit. Her russet fur, although a little long due to the dying winter, still looked soft and well-groomed. Thin, or at least lost in her hospital gown, she still looked healthy from what Lucas knew about fox physiques which, admittedly, wasn't much. Her one defining feature though, that Lucas could see as the fox pressed up against his arm rest, was her ears. Unlike the foxes he had passed by, most of them having black tips on their ears, Ellie's lacked that distinct feature, with her dark orange fur creeping up right to the very tips of her ears, and even slightly invading her otherwise cream coloured inner ears.
"Well, I mean," Lucas replied, shaking himself out of his inner monologue. "Sorry but, who are you?"
"I'm Ellie!" the little vixen beamed, nodding her head towards the sheet on paper in Lucas' golden brown paw. "It says so on the page!"
Lucas squinted at the scrawl. Honestly, it could have been hieroglyphics for all he could tell. The kit seemed nice enough but, if this was her best work, she wasn't about to win any Neatest Handwriting Awards any time within this century. Lucas squinted at the name for a few seconds, only being able to decipher an I and an E at the end.
A sly smirk descended on the lynx's face.
"Are you sure your name's Ellie?" Lucas questioned, staring intensely at the name. "Because I'm pretty sure this here says Jennie."
The vixen laughed. "No, it does not! It says Ellie!"
Lucas dramatically smacked his forehead. "Oh! I'm so sorry. How silly of me. Not Jennie. Obviously! This says Macie!"
"No, it doesn't! It says Ellie, not Macie! Read it!" The fox giggled as she rapidly pointed to the page, her paw returning to her side after a brief second before shooting back towards the page again. "It says Ellie! Ee-Ell-Ell-Aye-Ee!"
"Oh, okay. Let me try this again." Lucas said, grinning too as he scrunched his eyes, so they almost looked painfully closed. "Lindsey?"
"Ellie!"
"Suzie?"
"Not Suzie!"
"Julie?"
"Noooooooo!"
"Suzie?"
"You already said Suzie!"
"Did I?"
"Yes!"
Lucas stroked his chin with his free paw, pretending to mull it over dramatically as then little vixen giggled next to him.
"Oh, I see it now!"
"You do?"
"Yep!"
"Really?"
"Absolutely!" Lucas proclaimed dramatically, a mischievous glint playing in his golden eyes as he lent his free paw over. "It's a pleasure to meet you Suzie!"
The little vixen's paw almost met his, a 'Nice to meet you too' clearly on the tip of her tongue before the realisation hit her like a falling anvil.
"It's not Suzie!" the little vixen all but barked it out, her laughter soon joined by Lucas' own grinning titter. "It's Ellie!"
"Oh, Ellie!" Lucas looking to the ceiling as if it had been written there all along before looking back down at the little girl. "Why didn't you say so?!"
"I did!" Ellie howled, her eyes filling up with tears of laughter."
"I'm still pretty sure that says Suzie, but okay. Nice to meet you Ellie." He set down the paper on his lap and moved his free paw out, offering a pawshake which the little vixen eagerly, if a little slowly, returned, her own paw being completely enveloped in the feline's.
"Nice to meet you too Mr Lynx!"
"Oh, you know your mammals, do you?" Lucas commented, releasing the kit's paw which she quickly put back to her side.
"Uh-huh!" Ellie nodded enthusiastically. "My mum gave me book on all the mammals in Zootopia. It's got pictures too! It's awesome!"
"Good to know," Lucas smiled back. "But you can call me Lucas, by the way."
"Okay Mr Lucas. I like your fur! It looks soft!"
"Erm, thank you. It is. And just Lucas is fine."
"Okay! Can I touch your fur?" Confusion slapped Lucas straight across the face as he looked down at the vixen, as she gave inconspicuous glances to his paw resting on his armrest.
"This is a weird kit." Lucas thought, the fox kit mot even remotely aware of the odd nature of her request.
"Erm, sure, I guess." Lucas hesitantly answered.
"Yay!" Before Lucas could even think to change his mind, the fox's paw shot out and started gently stroking his paw, her tough paw pads running through his golden-brown fur.
"Whoa!" she whispered with glee. "It's so soft!"
"Well, I mean, yeah I groom it and stuff…" Feeling weird was an understatement for the lynx, hoping that this wasn't the moment that Herdowitz finally decided to arrive to see a kit with her paws plunged into his thick pawfur.
"So erm," Lucas began, trying to distract himself from the weirdly soothing paw stroking. "What are you doing here anyway?"
A flash of realisation crossed Ellie's face and, releasing his paw, Ellie looked up at the lynx.
"I needed help with my homework." Ellie stated simply, a smile still on her face.
"Yeah, I get that," He waved the homework that had been resting in his lap. "And anyway, why am I helping you with this? Aren't you supposed to be with your mum or something? Couldn't she help?"
"She's at work. She's coming later, though."
"Oh, okay." Lucas nodded to himself. Looking at the square, whitewashed clock screwed to the wall, its paper face haphazardly pushed in to form high ridges at its edges, showed that it had only just gone half one.
"When is she getting here then?"
"I dunno. She said soon though. She works late sometimes."
"I see." Lucas honestly didn't want to pry too much into an unknown kit's family history but, knowing her kit was in hospital while she had to work, was probably an upsetting thing for any parent. Lucas could hardly imagine how he would cope knowing he had to leave his kit in hospital all day while he worked.
"So," Lucas asked, once again remembering his point. "What are you doing here then?"
"I need help with maths."
"Yeah, but what are you doing in hospital? It's not exactly the most exciting place to visit?"
"I'm under observation!" Ellie stated loudly and proudly, puffing her chest out and looking to all the world as if it were some major life achievement.
"Under observation?" Lucas' brow furrowed in confusion. "For what?"
"For this!"
Taking a step back, Lucas' ears pinned back at the sight. Supporting herself with crutches, Ellie's left leg was covered in a cast that started from her heel which went past her knee and under her flowing hospital gown, stopping who knew where. Despite looking as if it had only just been applied, the cast being a pristine white, Ellie smiled as if it were badge of honour instead of a symbol of discomfort, itchiness, and pain.
Grimacing, Lucas mentally berated himself at being so unobservant of the fox's blatantly obvious injury. "Are you okay. Should you even be walking around?"
"I'm okay. It doesn't even hurt." Ellie shrugged and swung her leg back and forth to prove it. Lucas sucked in air through his teeth and tensed up, waiting for what he thought would be the inevitable wail or grunt of pain. But it never came. Elie swung her casted leg back and forth like a metronome, Ellie's goofy, open mouthed grin showing all the while.
"Well, that's good at least," Ellie stopped swing her leg and settled back on her crutches as Lucas relaxed, comforted after seeing the fox deftly controlling her broken limb. "But shouldn't you be in bed? You know, getting better?"
"But it's boooooooooring!" Ellie's head tilting back as she drew out the out the 'o' sound like a nurse drew blood. "There's nothing to do in there! And I still have to do homework. Ms. Fianna gave it to me last night and I have to finish when I go back. But it's so hard! I'm rubbish at maths. My mum helps me usually but she's at work today. So, I went to get help and I found you Mr Lucas!"
Scratching the back of his head, Lucas couldn't really fault her for being so mind-numbingly bored. He'd been in hospitals enough to know they weren't the most exciting places in the world, despite all the claptrap that gets shown medical dramas like Mouse. It was usually drab, sterilised walls and floors, the vague sounds of machines beeping, shuffling hindpaws and clacking hooves, and mammals talking or groaning in the distance. Nothing really to write home about, really. If it weren't for Holly's stimulating conversation, he'd have probably become as joyous as the walls that surrounded him.
"Couldn't you call a nurse or something?" Lucas inquired. "They're probably better at maths than I am. At least one bunny I know is. And, again, just Lucas is fine."
"Well," Ellie sighed slightly as she adjusted her crutches. "The nurses don't really come to my room. Probably because they know my room is the most stupid, boring, dumb room in the world! Besides, exploring is way more fun!"
"Wait, do you mean no-one knows you're here?"
"Uh-huh!" Ellie nodded triumphantly. "They didn't even see me leave!"
Lucas looked down at her, dumbfounded at what he was hearing.
"No-one stopped you in the hall? Like, at all?"
"Nope."
"Not even like, to ask you where you were going? If you needed help? Anything?"
"Nah, they're all bigger than me anyway. They don't pay attention to little kits like me."
"Yeah, little kits like you…" Lucas felt an uncomfortable weight shift in his stomach. Sure, he'd never been actively associated with foxes or anything. He'd seen a few about the place, being a lot more common than lynxes, but he'd never really made the time to chat to any of them. Sure, it would be a bit weird for a random lynx to start making small talk with a fox he saw on the street or in a bar, but it still didn't sit right that he'd never even said anything more than 'sorry' or 'thanks' in passing to a fox. But, even with reputation of foxes being shifty and sly, who ignores a lonely kit on crutches?
"Would I though?" Lucas frowned at himself. "I mean, I like to think I would, but would I? Maybe, I mean, she's just so small." Lucas pondered, his face becoming serious, the atmosphere verging on becoming tense.
"Doing a great job of observing you, aren't they?" Lucas finally said, trying to alleviate the self-imposed tension.
"It's 'cos grownups are stupid."
It happened slowly, rumbling out of his lungs, purring in his throat, and dancing on his tongue, before his maw opened and let out a load roar of a laugh. It ended as quick as it came, with Lucas looking down at the surprised, yet intrigued fox, with a wide, toothy smile.
"Yeah, I guess we kind of are, aren't we?" Lucas rumbled, the faint traces of his laugh still clinging to his throat. Ellie only nodded back earnestly.
Looking down at the homework in his hand, then back at Ellie, he let out a long, post-laughter sigh. "Alright kit, I'll help you. Just don't expect me to be any good at this."
The fox's face twisted a little in confusion. "I thought you were already helping me?"
Lucas rolled his eyes at the fox's unwittingly pedantic comment. "Okay, I'll keep helping you. But only helping mind. You've got to do this stuff yourself. Otherwise you'll never learn."
"Fiiiiiiinne…". Handing the paper and pencil back to the little kit, Ellie let go off the paw grips and stared intensely at the paper, end of the pencil already in her maw as the crutch pads began to press into her armpits.
"You okay there, Ellie?"
"I'm fine." Ellie's face already looking uncomfortable as she chewed even harder on her pencil, with little wooden shavings fluttering to the ground and she ground her fangs against it.
"You sure?"
"Yessss."
"You don't look fine."
"I'm-"
"You can sit up here if you want."
"Huh?"
Lucas patted his lap. "You can sit here. I've got this little tray you can do your homework on if you want." Lucas leaned across, careful not to pull any of his tubes, and showed the little tray that slid out from the side of his chair.
"I mean, you don't have to if you don't want to. I just thought it might-."
"Yes, please!" If the vixen could bounce with happiness, she would be right now. She looked like she wanted to leap into the lynx's lap then and there.
Lucas smiled and shook his head. "Alright, come over here then."
Moving as close to the chair as she could, Lucas reached over and wrapped his free paw around the vixen's waist.
"Jeez, she's thin! Are foxes meant to be nothing but fur and bones?"
Keeping his thoughts to himself and waiting for Ellie to gently let go of the crutches. Letting go of her crutches, Ellie grabbed onto Lucas' proffered arm and, while her crutches fell to the floor with a dull clunk, Lucas easily lifted Ellie over his armrest and plonked her into his lap. As Lucas attempted to move to slide up the plastic tray, his arm was quickly pulled back down.
"Just let go for a sec, Ellie. I need to get the table."
Looking up at him, he eyes shining with amazement as she ran her paws through his fur.
"You're so soft!" Ellie marvelled,
"Err, thank you?" Lucas replied, a little weirded out at the fox kit gently running her paws through his fur once again, but now with more freedom to run against his entire forearm. Though the odd feeling slowly gave way, a warm sense of comfort slowly beginning to rise. Maybe it was instinct that evolution had bestowed upon him, but Lucas couldn't deny the pleasantness of having his fur so gently stroked. It had been a while since he'd had any sort of innocent, platonic contact so, resting his head back Lucas began to relax.
Then suddenly, the stroking stopped. Lucas' eyes perked open and glanced down at the little fox.
"Hey, are you o-"
Then the stroking started again, sending Lucas back into a sea of relaxation.
"No way…"
Lucas's eyes popped back open, with Ellie looking up at him in pure joy.
"You can purr!" Ellie squealed.
"Okay, I think that's enough of my fluffiness for today Ellie!" Lucas spluttered, his face almost as russet red as Ellie's fur. "Time for homework!"
"But you can purr!"
"Yes, and I'd rather you not speak of it again!" Lucas' hissed, feeding the amused vixen's glee.
"That's soooooooo cute!" Ellie's squealed, jaw wide open and paws balled up, shaking with excitement.
"I'm never going to live this down..." Lucas lamented, taking his opportunity to grab the table as Ellie was too focused on his unintended purring to notice his arm had moved.
"Please," Lucas bargained, locking the table in place. "For me, just do your homework."
Ellie looked like she was about to make a loud protest, but Lucas quickly interrupted her.
"If you get it all done, I'll let you stroke my fur again."
"And you'll purr more?" Ellie's eyes shining with hope.
Lucas ran his now free paw across his face. "Sure! Fine! Whatever! But never tell anyone about this, okay?"
"Okay Mr Lucas! I promise!" Crossing her heart with a claw, Lucas chuckled and, satisfied that Ellie would hopefully keep his accidental purr to themselves, began to busy herself with her studies.
"Let me know if you need any help or anything."
"Okay." Ellie replied as she chewed again on her pencil.
She worked in silence for a time, only asking a couple of times for help as her pencil scratched away at the paper resting on his plastic tray. Lucas spied over her shoulder, casually observing her work before letting his eyes drift around the room.
It was a wonder that Lucas had managed to swing himself a single room at all, with most mammals having to sit in long, dismal rows on perpetually sticking and uncomfortable plastic green chairs with mammals that had about all the grace and charm of a gutted fish. He never would have known it at the time, but after that dumb goat decided to physically ram the lynx out of the room one too many times, Lucas was afforded his solitary ward with his own personal weirdo bunny nurse.
The room was nothing to write home about. Ceiba green coating the walls, a double-glazed window looking out into the sprawling urban metropolis. The light and life from without, the noise and spectacle of mammalian normality outside did not deign to peer past the sheer, floral white curtains, which only allowed a slither of late light to breach the threadbare barrier, the rest of the world unwilling to investigate the truth within. The light spread into a lazy heap on the faux wooden linoleum floor, unwilling to venture further into the sterilised room or, as Lucas idly thought, had become caught on the strange, unearthly stickiness it had that, no matter how vigorously cleaned, still made mammals hindpaws stick to it with a vague sense of discomfort.
The stickiness was almost an ever-present feature on Lucas, the many hours spent away from the hospital never quite purging the sense of discomfort it caused his golden-brown paws, the stickiness causing his fur to always feel ever so slightly, yet constantly, congealed. Yet even that ever present discomfort was pushed back to the recesses of his mind as the little auburn fox began to fidget in his lap, her tail slowly, yet erratically, swishing against his belly.
"What's up little 'un? Got stuck on something?"
"Mr Lucas?" Ellie asked, her voice holding a strange seriousness.
"Yeah?"
"Are you dying?"
She looked up at him with eyes brimming with tears, like dams on the edge of bursting. Her usual joyous face having been replaced by one of piteous sadness.
"Hey, hey," Lucas soothed, instinctively hugging the emotional vixen. "It's okay. I'm not dying. I'm okay. Honest."
"Then why have you got tubes in your arm?" She pointed at his right arm, resting comfortably on the arm rest, an array of crimson coloured tubes wiggling their way out of his arm and into the large machine that stood ominously close to them, overshadowing everything in the room.
"Oh… yeah. Kind of forgot it was there to be honest." Lucas chuckled awkwardly, though Ellie did not seem the laughter turned to ash as the kit did not join him in his mirth.
"Don't worry little 'un, I'm not dying. I'm just ill."
"Bad ill?"
"Well, sort of. But don't worry, I'm not contagious."
"Is this making you better?" Ellie gestured at the machine which, compared to her, was a behemoth in size and just as incomparable in her aqua eyes stared up at it.
Lucas sucked in air through his teeth. "Sort of."
"Why sort of?"
Lucas sighed. Was this really something he should be telling a little kit? A little stranger kit at that? Surely this is a parent's job, not his. But, at the same, he didn't want to lie to the kit. That just seemed worse somehow.
"Well," he began, weighing up how much grim truth he should bestow upon her. "This machine here is called a dialysis machine."
"A what?" Ellie's head cocked in confusion. Lucas would have thought she was being cute again if it weren't for the weird seriousness of the conversation he had landed in.
"A dialysis machine." Lucas repeated, his mind trying to make his explanation as short and palatable as possible.
"You see this tube?" He pointed to the tube closest to his wrist, the fox's eyes following his extended claw.
"Uh-huh."
"Well, there's a needle at the end of that tube and it takes the blood out of my body that's all nasty and dirty and puts it into that machine over there."
"Why is your bloody nasty?" Ellie interrupted. "It looks fine to me."
"Trust me, it's not." Lucas sighed, deciding what was the most honest, yet simplest version, of how to explain the cause to Ellie. "You see, a few years ago, I was in an accident and my kidneys got really bad."
"What kind of accident?"
"A big one, but I came out pretty okay. Thought I was damn lucky despite all the bruises and cuts. But then I found out my kidneys got really poorly because of the accident."
Lucas paced his free paw on Ellie's shoulder, regaining her attention away from the machine, as well as steading himself mentally.
"Now, kidneys are very, very important. They clean your blood so that you can stay nice and healthy. Even one is okay to keep you going. But, both my kidneys are poorly so they can't clean my blood anymore. That's why I use this machine to help me."
"So, it cleans your blood and then you're okay?" Ellie asked, a spike of positive in her voice as her ears perked up a little.
"Yeah, mostly okay. It takes my blood, it goes through this machine, and it comes back into my arms through that tube," Lucas gestured to the other tube connecting to the crook of his arm, before regaining Ellie's attention. "This machine keeps me alive so I'm not dying. I just have to come in here three times a week while this machine cleans the nasty blood. It's more boring than anything else but my friend Holly, she's a nurse, usually keeps me company so it's not too bad."
"Oh, okay," She seemed to be taking the information well, her ears not pinned back with sadness, though nor were they up and happy. "So, do you have to be here forever?"
"Hopefully not!" Lucas laughed, trying to brighten the mood a bit. "I'm just waiting so I can get a new kidney."
"You can get a new kidney?!" Agog, Ellie looked up at the lynx as if he had suddenly sprouted a new head.
"Yep. Just have to wait for a kidney that I can use and then the doctors will put it in me. No more dialysis and I can do what I want. Within reason. I just have to be patient that's all."
"Can you have any kidney?"
"Afraid not," Lucas let a reassuring smile cross his face. "It has to be a lynx or a feline close enough to my species so the doctors can trick my body into thinking it's a lynx kidney with some tablets I have to take. I'd have to take tablets anyway, but I'd prefer a lynx's kidney all the same, so I can take less."
"But why doesn't a lynx give you a kidney then?"
"Oh, if it were only that simple," Lucas smiled, wishing that the world could be that easy. "It has to be a match and, since not many lynxes are around, it's hard to get one donated, let alone for it to be a match to mine. But fingers crossed I get one soon, so I don't have to be on this machine anymore. But until then, I'm okay to stay on this thing for now.
Ellie took the information in, her face going through a few emotional contortions before settling on a soft smile. "Okay. I hope you get a kidney soon."
"Me too little 'un." He ruffled her headfur, making Ellie smile a little more. "Me too."
They sat together in silence again, with Ellie returning to her homework as Lucas just sat and let her get distracted from the strangely serious talk they just had.
"Finished!" She raised both paws in the air in triumph and, though Lucas couldn't quite see, he knew she would have an open-mouthed grin of victory.
"Okay, let's have a look."
Quickly she handed Lucas the homework. Her handwriting still left much to be desired, but her numbers were at least legible.
"Well, look at you." Lucas smiled, getting a smile back from the vixen on his lap. "Looks like we've got a future mathematician in our midst."
"Huh?"
"Like a maths teacher." Lucas quickly clarified.
"Eww!" Ellie's gagged in revulsion, her muzzle contorting at the allegation. "No way! I don't wanna be a maths teacher! That's boring!"
"Yeah, maths is pretty boring, isn't it?"
"Suuuuuuuuuper boring!"
"Definitely suuuuuuuuuuuper boring." Lucas copied, getting a giggle out of the kit.
"So, what do you want to be when you grow up then? Doctor? Firemammal? Astro-"
Ellie abruptly twisted herself around, so she was sat sideways on his lap, with one leg dangling off the side, while the other jutted out ramrod straight over the edge.
"A ninja!" Her face was full of such conviction that Lucas genuinely forgot to laugh and just stared dumbfoundedly at her.
"A ninja?"
"Yeah!"
"Like in the stories?"
"Yeah! I wanna be a ninja!"
"Well, I guess foxes would make pretty good ninjas." Lucas admitted under his breath. "Okay, but promise you only use your ninja powers for good, okay Ellie?"
"Well duh! I'm gonna be a hero! I'll use my ninja and magic powers for good only!"
Lucas' head titled slightly. "Magic powers?"
"Obviously! I'm gonna be a ninja magician! They're both so cool! Wizard by day! Ninja by night!"
Lucas chuckled at that, imagining Ellie in a ninja garb and wizard hat going around the playground of a school casting spells and throwing ninja stars.
"You sure you can hold down two jobs?" Lucas playfully chided. "It's a lot of responsibility to be a ninja magician."
"Mum works two jobs, so I can do it too!"
"Oh, does she?"
"Yeah, and when I'm a hero I can make lots of money, so we can get a nice house and stuff. It's gonna be awesome!"
"Why can't you just magic stuff up?"
"Wizards can't do that! I need to follow wizard law!"
Lucas nodded. "Yup, makes total sense."
"Duh!"
"You're such a weird kit, you know that?"
"Weird is good, right?"
Lucas snorted out a laugh. "Yeah, weird is good."
Looking down at her homework, Lucas suddenly had a moment of inspiration.
"Hey, want to see something cool?"
"How cool?"
"You'll see." Lucas said with a smirk.
As the hours crept away, the hands of time joining and parting as they continued their endless march around the wonky face of time, the automatic doors swooshed open and a vixen walked through and headed straight to the reception desk.
"I'm here to see my daughter." The vixen adjusted her shirt, trying to disguise the stain from her lunchtime bug wrap's honey mustard sauce.
Sat behind the sterile counter, the overly made up, middle-aged beaver, the name tag Dolores clipped to the pocket on her chest, gave the new visitor a cold glance before sighing briefly.
"Name?"
"Morgan Blakemore, as always." She replied politely, ignoring the receptionist's blatant rudeness that she had come to be familiar with.
"Just the surname is fine," Dismissing her polite behaviour, clacking away at the keyboard before narrowing her eyes at the screen, then at the vixen across from her.
"Remind me," Dolores said, her glossy red lipstick staining the fur around her mouth. "Your daughter's surname is the same as yours, isn't it?"
The vixen bristled a little at the jibe, but just politely smiled back, her lips forced into a closed lipped beam.
"Yes, she does. Her name's Eleanor Blakemore. She's in with a broken leg. Did it while messing about with her friends. But you know kits, they always bounce back stronger than ever, don't you agree?"
"Uh-huh." The beaver, the name tag revealing her as Dolores, no last name given, tutted a little before resuming her work at the outmoded desktop.
Rummaging in her handbag, the vixen pulled out a small compact mirror and gave herself a once over, giving her auburn fur a touch up. There wasn't much she could do about her uniform until she got home, but there was always something she could do to divert the attention.
"Okay, Miss Blakemore," her tongue hissing out the honorific. "You check out. Nurse Lupercal will take you to her room."
Before Morgan could rebuttal that she knew the way, Dolores swiftly turned away, continuing to feign productive activity and wholly ignoring the agitated mother.
A little peeved, she turned before almost bumping muzzle first into a large nurse's uniform. Taking a step back, she looked up at the towering lupine figure in front of her.
"Miss Blakemore, I'm Nurse Lupercal."
Her voice was so sweet it could almost be called saccharine, yet somehow not sickly. She smiled kindly enough, lips pressed together so no passing prey would be frightened, yet broadly enough to not alienate predators. She was young enough to not know everything, but experienced enough to command a degree of respect.
"Would you please follow me?" The tone of voiced suggested she'd said it more than once, so, nodding quickly, Morgan followed the nurse up the all too familiar staircase.
"Sorry about Dolores," Nurse Lupercal whispered as they rounded the staircase. "She can be a little…"
"Specist?"
"I would have said set in her ways, but…"
Nothing else needed to be said. Even respected predators like wolves knew that the world wasn't all rainbows and sunshine. They smiled at each other before letting the conversation turn towards the reason for the mother's visit.
"As you know, an tibia shaft fracture is one of the more common ways to break your leg. Playing sports or something, was she?"
"Something like that." Morgan pursed her lips at the thought. Ellie should have known better than to play football with the older kids. Especially with the Tlodi twins. Nasty piece of work those two. Bloody feral, the both of them.
"In any case," the nurse continued, either not noticing or deigning not to comment on the vixen's changed demeanour. "Her fracture was not so severe. I'm sure you've been told all of this before, but this kind of break is pretty common."
She pulled the chart from under her arm and skimmed through a few pages, her eyes whizzing over medical data that Morgan would not have a clue how to decipher.
"She seems to be recovering well. Four weeks and she's already comfortable moving around on crutches. I think she'll only need a few more weeks of rest before she'll be allowed back home."
Morgan sighed in relief. Money was hard enough already without having to cut down her shifts so she could visit Eleanor. There was no way she wasn't doing it, but the lost pennies from the shortened hours would bite if this were to go on any longer.
"Thank goodness for that. She's been doing alright then?"
"Oh perfectly fine," Lupercal reassured, pushing Eleanor's door open and blithely waving Morgan in. "We've been keeping a close eye on little Eleanor and we are confident she'll be out soo-".
The mid-afternoon sun lingered lazily in the nondescript hallways as the late winter day began to slink away into the coming darkness. This was normally a soothing time for the mammals of Otterbridge Hospital. Everybody could relax comfortably in the soothing light. Staff were brighter as their shifts were drawing to a close. Visitors were beginning to slowly make their way through the hospital to see family and friends in their time of need. Whether it be words of comfort, idle chat, or merely their presence, it was a comforting time during the usual Otterbridge day. That was until a shriek reverberated throughout the building.
"ELEANOR!" Morgan cried, the sounds of clacking claws accompanying it with rhythmic precision.
Rounding the corner, her muzzle pointing in every direction, Morgan's eyes darted from corridor to corridor, trying to divine which way she should proceed.
Coming into the centre of the medical intersection, Nurse Lupercal hesitantly approached the frazzled fox. She easily stood a whole fox tall than the worried vixen before her, yet the larger canine's wavering steel blue eyes held the inner dread at knowing all too well that all the fire and brimstone of whatever underworld there was could only pale in comparison with volcanic vengeance of a mother frightened for her lost kit.
"Miss Blakemore," she began tentatively, holding her open paws in front of her, as if to shield herself from the inevitable. "I assure you we'll find Eleanor, now would you please come back with us? A little kit like that couldn't have gotten fa-"
The words died in her mouth as the trembling mother stopped and swung herself round with such a glare of disgust that it would turn hardened mafia mammals into hunched and broken wrecks.
"You said you were keeping an eye on her." The vixen spat as she glowered at the wintry wolf with piercingly cold eyes that reminded her of a blizzard back in Tundra Town. "She was meant to be under observation. Under your observation. Do you even know what observation means?"
"Miss Blakemore, I'm sure she-"
"No," she returned curtly, not even deigning her with a look as she retrieved her phone from her small forest green handbag, casually slung over her shoulder. "I don't think you do. Let me show you."
"Miss Blakemore, I know what observation means and I cannot apologise enough for-"
"Oh, look-ie here," she exclaimed, producing her phone from her handbag, waving it up to the increasingly embarrassed nurse. "It says, and I quote: 'the action or process of closely observing or monitoring something or someone'. Do you think you, or any of your staff, have done anything close to this description?"
She shuffled awkwardly, unable to meet the rightfully infuriated mother before her, but managed to give a sullen nod.
"She may just be some fox to you, but she's my daughter," Miss Blakemore's eyes narrowed as she returned her phone to its usual place. "She is my kit. I wasn't expecting much in the way of respect since she was born to be something this world won't love, but I expect some goddamn professionalism from a hospital!"
Her deep sapphire eyes burned with fierce intensity that the tears forming in the corners, nor the chocking cries creeping into her throat, could not dissuade.
"She's my child. And you just let her go Gods know where! With a broken leg! How can you lose a kit with a broken leg! She's nine for Karma's sake!
"So, and I say this for your sake as much as anyone else," she continued, an accusatory claw pointed directly at the she-wolf's throat. "If I do not have Eleanor back in my paws by the day's end then so help me I'll-"
The end of the vixen's threat, with the wolf almost cowering down to her height, was summarily cut off by a shrill sound resounding down the ceiba green lined hallway behind them. The wolf's face turned from sheer horror to mild confusion.
"Was that your-"
But, looking down, the she-wolf nurse saw an absence of where the vixen had been mere moments before, her head shooting up to see a black-tipped tail zip around the corner at the end of the corridor.
The vixen dashed down the hallway, passing confused looking nurses and patients as she hurtled passed them, only acknowledging their presence enough to avoid careening into them. Her ears flicking this way and that, she locked onto another cry before rushing down corridor after corridor before finally bursting through a single wooden style door.
"ELEANOR! Are you o…kay?"
The anger died in her throat as the vixen froze, staring dumbfoundedly into the room as her kit, who appeared not only fine, but all smiles and happiness, as she guffawed in pure joy while sitting in the lap of a feline, who's paw was wrapped round his daughter's sides.
"Do you surrender?" the lynx smiled, his large paws working against her daughter as she burst out laughing again.
"NEVER!" Ellie laughed, tears of joy streaming from her soft blue eyes as she squirmed, half seeking freedom.
"Are you sure?" the mammal asked, before beginning to tickle her kit with extra fervour, making her kit howl louder than she had heard in a while.
"So, you surrender?!" the lynx cried again, a smug, fang-filled smile crossing his muzzle.
"ALRIGHT!" she finally relented. "YOU WIN!"
With that the lynx released Ellie, breathless yet grinning widely throughout it all.
"That's no fair Mr Lucas!" Ellie complained. "Ninjas don't get tickled!"
"Well, this one did, and she did not do well," Lucas playfully mocked, booping her on the nose with a claw. "Guess you've still got some practice until you're going to be as good as this Ninja Wizard Tickle Master."
"Still not fair." She sulked, through with a faint smile still on her lips as she crossed her arms in a pretend huff.
"All is fair in tickles and war!" Lucas stated dramatically, getting a laugh from the kit as she here eye glanced over to the door.
"Mum! You're here!" Lucas' head swivelled up to meet the confused vixen's gaze as the little kit smile excitedly as her mum slowly edged forward, before sprinting towards her kit and wrapping her in a hug.
"Eleanor Kitsu Blakemore," she said with a tired vulnerability. "Why did you leave your room? You scared the living daylights out of me."
"Sorry mum..." Ellie weakly replied, tilting her head down as she attempting to disentangle herself from the hug before her mum pulled back in tight.
"Hey, hey, hey," she soothed, stroking her head methodically. "I'm not angry. I was just worried. You shouldn't be wandering around a hospital by yourself. Especially without telling anyone, okay sweetie?"
"Okay," Ellie nodded, squeezing her mum back before they both finally withdrew from the hug. "I just went exploring anyway."
"Well you shouldn't go exploring without asking a nurse," she chided. "That's what they're here for. To make sure you get better."
"Yeah, but they take ages and I needed help with my homework, so I asked Mr Lucas."
"Mr Lucas?"
Her attention was once again drawn to the large feline who looked rather embarrassed to be privy to this emotional family scene, his ears tilted down, and his eyes averted from looking directly at the pair.
She hadn't really seen a lynx before, a strange rarity in Zootopia despite their large numbers in other parts of the world, but she took a moment to take the strange feline in. Though half reclining in the large, green plastic chair, she could tell that he was a good head and a bit taller than she, without including the flicks of black fur atop his pointed ears. His black shirt and stonewashed blue jeans hugged his slender frame closely which, although showed no muscle density beneath it, showed his lithe form off quite nicely. Yet, it was his face that held her attention the most. His feline eyes, though trying their best to avert from staring at her, kept glancing back over, the honeyed pupils giving her a soft, tentative look. His fur looked addictively soft, especially where it puffed out over his shoulders.
"Oh erm," she stammered, realising she had been quietly staring for a little too long. "Thank you for looking after my daughter. I don't know what I'd do if I lost her."
Lucas waved his paw dismissively.
"It's absolutely fine. I needed the company anyway. It's boring being on my own in here."
"I can imagine." The vixen answered, involuntarily glancing down at the lynx's arm, full of tubes.
"Oh, sorry. Where are my manners," Morgan said, re-shouldering her handbag, before extending an open paw. "Morgan Blakemore."
"Pleasure to meet you Miss Blakemore," Lucas replied, accepting the proffered paw and giving it a firm shake. "Lucas Lodjar. Sorry we made you worry. She just turned up looking for help with her homework. You've got a lovely kit here, by the way. Not too good at maths though."
"Hey!"
"What? It's true!"
Lucas' snickering and playful tussling of her kit's headfur had Morgan holding in a little giggle of laughter, made all the harder as Ellie sat with her arms folded, trying desperately to look annoyed, but the grin across her muzzle failing to give her any credibility.
"Hey mum!" she cried, her pretend anger vanishing as quickly as it had arrived. Look what Mr Lucas drew for me!" Ellie called out proudly.
"I told you just Lucas is fine." he batted back, seemingly completely comfortable with her child resting casually on his lap.
"Okay Mr Lucas but look at this mum! He's soooo good!"
"I mean, it's alright…" the lynx waved off, scratching the back of his head with a sheepish grin coming over his muzzle.
"Oh, I think you should let me be the judge of that." Morgan said with an impish grin.
"Yeah Mister Lucas," Ellie piped up, mimicking her mother's voice. "Let her be the judge of it!"
"See," Morgan replied smugly. "now are you going to say no to this little kit?"
Morgan bent down, her head level with her daughter's and, as if though telepathic agreement, both unleashed their wide, pleading canine eyes upon the reticent lynx. Morgan's deep sapphire eyes, coupled with Ellie's cyan eyes had their effect with Lucas, squirming under the adorable onslaught, let out a defeated sigh.
"Fine!" Lucas exclaimed, his fur turning a cherry red as the two foxes grinned triumphantly. "Just don't expect anything good from me. Ellie did great, though."
"I'm sure you both did wonderfully." Morgan assured, giving Lucas a sly grin as she raised her head. "Okay Ellie, let's have a look at your work then."
Quickly grabbing a few pawfuls of paper, Ellie gleefully shoved a selection of their afternoon's artistic labour into her mother's waiting paws. Flicking through each sheet of paper, it became pretty clear that Ellie had done the lion's share of the day's drawing. Each one a variation on the same theme, ninja wizard battles. Every page was littered with stick mammals engaged in a life or death struggle with other vaguely differentiated stick mammals, with ninja blades and magic wands attacking one another. Wizards in pointed hats zapped ninjas. Ninjas sliced wizards with their exaggerated knives. Stick mammals had grey, pencil blood pouring out of them, while others were collapsed on the floor with the word 'DED' written above them or x's drawn in place of their eyes.
"Truly, a future Pigasso." Morgan thought, a smirk curling the ends of her lips as she flicked on to the final page and her face dropped and eyes bulged in shock.
"Wow," she breathed out. It's all she could say. It was a perfect rendition of her daughter. True, she was adorned in a ninja garb and had a stylistic wizard hat adorning her head, but it was unmistakably her daughter. The detail in her eyes, catching each distinct mark of her pupils, each stand of fur drawn with immaculate precision, her claws drawn so accurately, even down to the finest detail like her blunt fang on her right side. Her stance was powerful for her fantasy, yet still retained her realistic playfulness, a kit with the world at her feet and a playful grin adorning her young, vibrant face.
Looking up at the lynx, the amazement still written all over her face, Lucas just gave a casual shrug, all the while sheepishly smiling at the reaction she was giving.
"So, what do you think mum?" Morgan's eyes were drawn down to her excited kit, her eyes brimming with anticipation
"Well," Morgan began, shifting through the papers. "He's very good, but I think this is my favourite sweetie."
Morgan held out Ellie's picture, a wizard and ninja in a life or death conflict, with spells being shot in all directions while ninja stars were hurled back in the opposite direction.
"Thanks mum, I did my best!"
"You sure did little 'un." Lucas chuckled, giving the kit a tussle on the head, with Morgan smiling as the lynx shot her a thankful wink.
"Absolutely," Morgan praised, giving Ellie a tussle of her own. "And you know what? I this one is going straight on the fridge door."
"Woohoo!" Both arms shot in the air, her mother and Lucas smiling at the pleased vixen. "Can I put Mr Lucas' on the fridge too?"
Morgan's eyes glanced over to him, who merely just gave a shrug.
"It's your picture Ellie, you put it wherever you like."
"Thank you, Mr Lucas!" the kit cried, bringing the lynx into a hug which, although a little shocked, the feline reciprocated as well as he could. Morgan smiled at the sight as she carefully put the pictures into her purse, making sure not to crease them.
"Thank you for looking after my daughter," Morgan chimed in, Lucas eyes finding her as Ellie released him. "I'm sorry if she disturbed while you're erm…"
Morgan gestured to his arm and the dialysis machine, not really sure what to say about it. Lucas swiftly dismissed with it with a wave of his paw. "It's fine. It was nice having her here to keep me company. I would have been bored out of my mind otherwise!"
"Well, Ellie's good at not being boring."
"The best!" Ellie bragged getting a giggle out of both the adults.
"Okay, I best get you back to your room. You don't want to injure yourself anymore than you have already."
"Alright mum." Ellie, with the help of her mum, slowly slid down off Luca's lap and picked up her crutches. "Bye Mr Lucas."
"See you later Suzie."
"Ellie!"
"Of course, it is." Lucas chuckled. "Nice to meet you as well, Morgan."
"Nice meeting you, too Lucas." Morgan replied, smiling as she guided through the door. Lucas settled back in his chair, the loss of the furry weight noticeable as her began to count down the minutes of his session for the day. Then, just as Lucas got used to the silence, the door swung open again.
"Finally found me Herdo-" The words failed in his throat as the two vixens reappeared in the room.
"Go on, ask him." Morgan coaxed, a reassuring paw on her kits' shoulder.
"Mr Lucas?"
"Yes Ellie?"
Looking to her mum for further approval, Morgan nodded for Ellie to proceed.
"Is it okay if we visit you again?" Ellie asked brightly.
Lucas eyes widened in surprised before looking up to Morgan, deep, blue eyes staring back at him.
"Only if it's okay with you," Morgan continued. "I mean, you can help her with her homework and draw more with her. We need more ninja wizards on our fridge, anyway."
Lucas smiled, taking in the excited kit and caring mother.
"Sure, no problem."
"Really?!" Ellie cried in disbelief.
"Really. I'm in here twelve to four on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays."
"Can we come Saturdays, mum?" Ellie asked, pulling at her uniform.
"Are you sure? We won't be a bother or anything?" Morgan inquired, not wishing to bother the lynx while clearly undergoing a medical procedure of some sort.
"Not at all." He beamed in reply. "You can both can come if you want. It's not as if I'm going anywhere else."
"Well, this little monster has school on Monday and Wednesday, but I think we can manage Saturdays. Again, if that's okay with you."
"Not a problem at all." Lucas smiled as Ellie bounced up and down on her good leg in excitement.
"Okay, well that's that then. I'll guess we'll see you Saturday." Morgan smiled. "And you're absolutely sure we won't be a bother."
"Quite sure," he replied. "I'll just remember to bring a notepad next time."
"Yay!" Ellie sang joyously. "See you soon Mr Lucas!"
"See you soon, Ellie." Lucas replied, not bothering to correct her anymore.
"See you later, Ellie. Again, lovely to meet you too Morgan."
"Likewise." Morgan said with a smile, finally steering her grinning daughter out of the room, the clack of her crutches fading as they made their way back to her room.
And with that, Lucas was alone. The clicking of his machine reverberating around the room, the late day sun hanging low in the sky, the slightly deformed clock tick in time with the machine, his tiny plastic table strewn with stick mammal drawings, complete with ninjas and magicians. Picking up one of Ellie's works, he snorted as a thin grin formed.
The doors then swung wide open, a decrepit zebra, his wrinkles outnumbering his stripes and glasses with rims so large they looked like the cause of his stoop, shuffled into the room, with an arctic white she-wolf following behind, a reticent look pasted across her face.
"Okay Mr Lodjar," Herdowitz whistled through his remaining teeth. "Let's get this observation underway! Nurse Qannik, could you check his vitals, I think I need a sit down."
"I'm sorry about this Mr Lodjar," the she-wold apologised, trying her best to wrangle Herdowitz out of the room. "We didn't know Holly had changed the rotas. It wasn't until he woke up and started babbling about 'needing to watch some cat or something' that we saw the change."
"It's alright ma'am," Lucas reassured, thankful as the clueless nurse was slowly guided out of the door, his feline ears catching the vague promise of a nice pile of steamed grass for the septuagenarian zebra's dinner. "Ellie observed me today."
"Oh, that's good," the she-wolf sighed with relief as she turned back to the lynx as she began to disconnect him from the machine, before her face scrunched in confusion.
"Wait, who's Ellie?"
"Just a fox kit I know." Lucas replied with a grin, turning the paper to the nurse who chuckled at the sight. The large self-portrait of herself, with bubble writing squeezed onto the page proclaiming Ellie Blakemore as the 'Grund Highe Ninjuh Wizzard'.