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Chapter 3

Awkward was an understatement when I got out of the shower. Seth was still watching tv and Dad and I sat in the living room sneaking glances at each other – wondering what to say – at least I was trying to find a safe subject because soon Dad would start yelling about Doug and I wasn't exactly ready to get mad all over again.

"Is is wrong that Cruella De Vil still scares me?" Seth asked hugging a pillow.

"Who was that guy earlier – the one I talked to on the phone?" I asked.

"When? When did you call?" Dad looked at me, urgently.

"A few hours ago. He said you were resting."

"Uh oh…" Seth spoke lowly and I wasn't exactly sure if he was listening to our conversation or if he was naturally responding to Cruella De Vil.

"Seth… can you go find Paul for me? Now."

"Sure sure," Seth popped up from the couch and disappeared out the back door.

Dad was angry. He wasn't the type of man known to have a temper. The only people to have ever seen him get really mad were his family and close friends, and the reason for him being angry was usually me. You'd think that being in a wheelchair for the rest of his life, he'd have some bad days – get tired of it all and just hate the world. No, he wasn't like that. Only his eldest child could do that to him… why couldn't Rebecca have been born first?

"I was just wondering…" What had I been wondering? Not his stupid face or his extremely muscular body. His name, who he was – that was what I was wondering. But it didn't matter or at least I didn't want it to. "Don't worry about it Dad. I-"

"No it is not okay. They know to wake me if something important happens."

"Okay," I nodded as he wheeled himself out onto the front porch looking angry. I did see a point of arguing and putting myself in the line of fire.

It wasn't too long before I heard other voices and Dad indescribable yelling. The volume doubled as Seth snuck in through the front door and joined me in the living room as nothing was happening.

"So…" I looked at him, waiting for an explanation but he kept on watching the movie. "Seth?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah?" he made eye contact with me.

"So who was that?"

"Oh you don't know who that was?"

"Would I be asking if I did?"

"That's Paul," he said ignoring my sarcasm. He turned back to the tv like that was supposed to explain everything.

"Okay… Paul who?"

"You really don't remember him, do you?" he turned back to me.

"No, I don't remember any Paul's your age. I… What?" I trailed off as Seth started laughing.

"Well you wouldn't remember him then, would you? Paul is Paul Lahote," he continued laughing.

"Paul Lahote? Wait, that was Grumpy?"

"Yep…"

"But – but he looks so… young," I settled on a harmless word.

"Yeah we work out together," he shrugged like that was a perfect explanation. I was a RN; I knew that only lifting weights couldn't make you look like that young. Paul Lahote must have found the fountain of youth or something.

We watched the rest of the movie in silence and Dad eventually came back in alone as if nothing had happened. He started dinner – pan fried fish with a mixture of random vegetables – which oddly made me feel homesick even though I was here. Thankfully or strangely or both, Seth stayed for dinner filling the awkward silence with his random stories and noisy digestion. After dinner I sat outside on the back porch on the wooden railing that had been replaced so there wasn't any risk of splinters. It was cold and I should have worn a sweater, but it was worth it. I forgot how beautiful the stars were and that there were so many…

Movement near the tree line startled me, and I held my breath as a large wolf wandered towards me. It walked with a limp and a soft whimper sounded from it. It was injured – I was already off the railing in the house tripping over furniture to get to the bathroom where the first aid kit was. I grabbed the aspirin from the medicine cabinet, the kit from under the sink and the hand towel hanging on the wall and made a stop at the kitchen before going back outside. I pulled out a hot dog from the half-empty pack and carefully made my way to the large dog laying in the yard.

I was relieved when it ate the piece of meat – a sign that it wasn't deathly ill. There was a large piece of dark glass imbedded in the bottom of its paw – probably from a broken beer bottle. I stuffed an aspirin into another piece of hot dog and watched as it was eaten quickly. I should have been scared or at least nervous that I was going to be bitten as I held its paw and pulled out the glass. It might have needed stitches but no way was I dragging this animal to a vet. I'm not sure if they would even treat it… I poured peroxide on the cut over the hand towel and tried wiping away the dirt and dried blood. Thank god it wasn't the rubbing alcohol that Dad always used on us – I would have been dog food if I had. I fed him – I'm sure of it now – another hotdog after I finished wrapping his paw in gauze. I wasn't sure if it was ideal to wrap up a wild animal, but at least I did everything I could to help him. To fix something was a good feeling and I wouldn't feel guilty or wonder later about him if I just let nature take its course. The wolf turned and nudged my hand with his nose wanting another hot dog but he'd eaten the last one.

"I'm sorry that's it," I shook my head at him.

He nudged me again and I scratched behind his ears. When I stopped he moved to nudge me again, but I moved my hand out of the way.

"What?" I laughed when he looked at me with wide eyes like I had done something wrong. He leaned over and licked my hand and even nibbled on my finger.

"Ow! That hurts," I told him when he struck a nerve in my pinky.

Warm hands pulled me up from the ground and I felt like I was flying backwards. I was dropped onto the porch railing and I blinked up at Paul Lahote as he flipped my hands over and over.

"What are you doing?"

"What were you doing?" He shot back. "You can't just play with wild animals, they-"

"I wasn't playing, he had piece of glass stuck in his paw. I was helping him," I argued as he turned his head to look at the wolf.

"And you fed him?"

"I had to give him the aspirin somehow, and I had to show him I wasn't going to hurt him."

"Well you should have gotten me or Seth or -"

"Because you guys have so much medical training…"

"I think I can pull a piece of glass out," he sneered, leaning down at me.

"Fine, next time I'll get Seth!"

"Next time? How many animals do you think come hobbling into the backyard?"

"Depends on how many broken bottles stupid drunks leave out there!" I shouted back, pointing toward the trees.

"What's that suppose to mean?"

"Hey what's – oh sorry!" Seth popped his head out the back door. "I thought I heard my name…" He stared at us with wide eyes and then he shared a strange look with Paul.

"You better…" Paul started, before chasing Seth into the house.

"Ass," I grumbled at him. I turned back to look for my patient, but he was gone.

Figures.

Edit: This chapter has been fixed because I had used a fake last name for Paul and I hadn't known that it was Lahote.

Thanks for reading!