Chapter 9: Els
It had been two weeks since Els's attack and since Jack declared his love for Legosi in front of everyone. These events had turned all of Cherryton High on its head. Twenty percent of the student body had gone home due to the attack and the rest of them were either holed up in their rooms or gossiping about the two male students that were dating.
To make matters worse, some groups of students had been starting fights and arguments throughout the school. Herbivores were accusing carnivores of being the attacker and carnivores either defending themselves or accusing each other.
There were also carnivore students who accused the herbivore students for the attack. They claimed that it had been a setup to frame them so that the school would have no choice but to segregate. They stated that herbivores always hated them even though they hadn't done anything. That a plan like this was just the kind of underhanded thing an herbivore would come up with.
Many students, including some herbivore students, rallied behind this idea because they had experienced or witnessed this kind of behavior before. They had stories of their own about how adult herbivores would often harass them for no reason.
Two of these students were Kai and Kibi. The duo told everyone about their wolf friend who was the target of an unprovoked attack from three herbivores during the festival, while he was buying a snack. They explained how they, along with Bill and Louis, had intervened and how Legosi could have been seriously hurt if they didn't make it in time.
While this did give some credibility to the idea of an herbivore setting all this up, that actually wasn't the duo's intention. They had to explain on multiple occasions that everyone was jumping to conclusions.
Kibi tried to explain that the attack could have been anyone, even an outsider. That they shouldn't go accusing each other like they had been. This however, did little to stop the fighting.
Kai on the other hand, acted as the anteater's bodyguard. This ended up being a full time job as he had to get confrontational numerous times. It seemed that whenever Kibi tried to explain himself or try to defuse a situation, an angry student would confront him about 'just whose side he was on', forcing Kai to intervene.
This caused a lot of trouble for the interspecies clubs like the Drama club. To make matters worse, the club was blacklisted by every student since this was the second of their members to be attacked. There were also rumors that all interspecies clubs may be closed down.
"DAMN IT!" Kai shouted angrily. "What the fuck is wrong with everyone? It's like the whole school's gone insane!"
"I know what you mean, but can you really blame them?" Kibi asked as he put a hand on the mongoose's shoulder. "No matter what we say or do, the simple fact is, another herbivore was attacked at this school and she was a part of our club. I really hate to say it, but it's possible our club will be dissolved."
"So what, that's it?!" Kai growled as he slapped the anteater's hand away. "Are you saying we should just accept it?! Accept that the school is going to get rid of our club for something that isn't our fault?!"
Kibi shook his head. "I didn't say that. I don't want our club to disband either. I mean, it's thanks to this club that I met you and Legosi. It's just that we should be realistic. Els was attacked, and because of that, the school will most likely think that the culprit is either someone in our club or they're targeting its members."
Kai growled to himself before banging his fists on the club lockers. "You think I don't know that?! I know that's what they're thinking and do you know why I know that? It's because that's what every last fucking idiot in the school is thinking!"
"They think that having carni/herbi clubs is impossible now and that we would be better off separated!" the mongoose snarled. "All because of one damn guy… It's like they've forgotten all the good the club has done. It's thanks to this club that all of us have been able to do what we love."
"Sure, I hated it at first, but that was because of that arrogant prick Louis! Now that he's gone and I'm working with Legosi, I have a place where I can have some peace. It's the only place where everyone is cool with each other and now we're about to lose it because of some FUCKING MORON!"
Kibi could only watch as Kai punched the wall in frustration and looked down at the ground. He'd seen Kai lose it plenty of times by now, but it was never this bad. Something about his reactions seemed… strange.
"Hey Kai," the anteater said in a sorrowful voice. "I know I said I get how you feel, but something tells me I don't quite get the full picture."
The mongoose looked at his friend with a raised brow. "What do you mean by that?"
"Kai, let's face it, you being a hot head has become something of an inside joke for the club. That said, I've never seen you so upset. So I have to know, is there something else bothering you?" Kibi asked as he looked down.
Kai gave Kibi a weird look before lowering his head, his ears folding back. "It's just… it's nothing alright. I'm just really frustrated."
"Kai…"
"Kai, Kibi, there you are!" a voice called out.
The two turned their heads and saw Legosi walking towards them, Jack trailing close behind.
"Legosi!" Kai said happily as he ran over to the wolf, ignoring Kibi's line of questioning. "What's up?"
"Well, I'm going to visit Els again after we finish our work at the club today and I wanted to see if you wanted to come with me," the wolf said,his tail wagging.
"Again?" the mongoose asked. "Seems like you go every other day."
Legosi looked down as his ears folded back and his tail went limp. "There's… there's a reason for that."
"Hey Legosi, how have you been?" Kibi asked as he walked over, trying his best to appear less upset.
"I've been alright. It's… just been hard lately, but I doubt I have to tell you that," Legosi replied in a melancholy voice.
"Legosi, how many times do I have to tell you, what happened wasn't your fault," Jack said as he looked up at his lover.
"Oh great, the mutt's feeling responsible again," Kai said as he rolled his eyes. "What happened this time?"
"You know what happened Kai," Legosi answered.
Kai and Kibi looked at each other in confusion before Jack stepped forward with an answer.
"It's Els. Legosi feels responsible for what happened to her," the labrador said sorrowfully.
"What?!" the two asked in surprise.
"Legosi, you can't be serious," Kai said angrily.
"Why on earth would it be your fault? It's not like you attacked her," Kibi said in a shocked and concerned tone.
"You don't understand," Legosi said as he looked at the ground. "I may not be the one who attacked her, but I'm still to blame."
"How? How are you responsible for what happened?!" Kai asked, becoming more agitated.
"I'm to blame because… I had a suspicion she was being stalked," the wolf answered.
"WHAT!" the two shouted.
Legosi explained to his clubmates that the night before her attack, Els had told him everything. Shefelt like she was being watched and seeing things from the corners of her eyes. He then explained that he walked her back to her dorm as a precaution and even promised to keep her safe.
"So you see, I share the blame because not only could I not keep my promise, but I didn't say anything as soon as I found out. I can't stop thinking that if I told someone what Els told me about the stalking then maybe she wouldn't have been attacked," the wolf said sadly..
"BULLSHIT!" Kai yelled, clenching his fists in an attempt to hold himself back. "YOU REALLY THINK THAT WOULD HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE!?"
"I thought we talked about this already, Legosi! You can't blame yourself for everything that goes wrong! For fuck's shake, you're the one who saved her!" the mongoose growled.
"Put as elegantly as ever Kai," Kibi sarcastically said. "He is right though. You're the reason Els is alive in the first place. How is she by the way?"
Legosi looked down. "I uh… I couldn't tell you. I haven't been able to talk to her that much. I only just saw her the other day. She said she was ok, just really sore and still scared."
Kai and Kibi gave the wolf a look of confusion while Jack became visibly agitated.
"How is that possible?" Kibi asked. "With how often you visit the hospital, you must've talked to her at least a few times by now."
"Yea, what's up with-"
"It's because those bastards kept refusing to let him in!" Jack barked angrily.
"What?!" the duo asked in shock.
Legosi's ears folded back as he squeezed his mate's hand. "Jack, please, What happened, has happened, and we got it sorted out, so it's fine."
"What do you mean it's fine?" Jack snarled. "What they did was wrong and you know it! Seriously, why is it that you get upset when someone bullies or harasses us, but you just lay down and take it when you're on the receiving end!"
"It's just like what happened with those adult herbivores. If you had stood up for yourself, they would have left you alone! I know that you only confront someone as a last resort and I love you for that, but I wish you would speak up when these things happen to you!"
"I know you do Jack, but what could I have done?" the gray wolf asked. "That hospital isn't the same as our school. It's a hospital specifically made for herbivores and since it's a business-"
"They have the right to refuse you, I know that! You think I don't know?!" the labrador said in frustration. "But that doesn't mean they get to treat you like trash!"
"HOLD IT!" Kai shouted. "Can one of you explain what the hell is going on?!"
"Isn't it obvious Kai?" Kibi said as he looked down at the ground, clenching his fists in anger. "That hospital has spiecist staff and they did everything they could to keep Legosi away."
"Are you serious?" Kai growled. "What the fuck!"
"Everyone, please calm down," Legosi said as he motioned with his hands for the others to relax. "Why don't I start from the beginning so Kai and Kibi can get caught up."
It had been three days since Els's attack and two days since Legosi and Jack told their roommates that they were dating. When the school had gotten word that Els was stable and it was okay for her to receive visitors, Legosi was among the first to try and see her.
"So this is an herbivore hospital?" the wolf said to himself as he looked up at the white building, his tail wagging excitedly. "It smells so clean, even from out here."
The wolf went inside and was taken aback by how nice it looked. He could tell that a lot of care was put into maintaining this place. It made him feel a lot better about Els chances of recovery.
"Um… Hello there," Legosi said as politely as possible.
"Oh, hello ther…OH MY!" the gazelle receptionist said in a startled tone. "Uh, um… can I help you sir?"
The wolf nodded, taking extra care to hide his carnivorous features like he used to. "I'm here to see a friend of mine. Her name is Els, she's a dall sheep."
"I-I see," the adult herbivore said, trying her best to hide the terror she was feeling. "Let me just look her up."
She pulled up Els's file and her eyes widened. Upon reading the description, she looked at Legosi with disdain as she realized what she needed to do.
"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you can't see her right now. She is currently with her doctor and will be for sometime," the gazelle explained.
"Oh, ok then," Legosi said as his ears folded back, his tail droopy and lifeless. "Well, uh… do you know when she'll be done? I heard that she's allowed visitors and I just want to know if she's ok."
The receptionist, still keeping a stern look on her face, let out a huff. "I can assure you that your friend is getting the best care there is. Why not go home for now? We'll let you know when she can have guests."
"Please, wait a moment," the large carnivore, doing all he could to keep himself from slamming the desk. "I uh… can I… wait here? You know, until Els is done with the doctor? I'm just… really worried about her."
The receptionist, seeing there was nothing she could do, let out a sigh. "Very well, please take a seat in the waiting area and we'll call you when she's ready."
Legosi gave her a gentle smile and nodded before taking his seat. He waited to be called, watching patients and visitors entering and getting strange looks from some of them. Before the wolf knew it, several hours had passed. Just as he thought he was about to be called a male stag, now sitting behind the desk, announced that visiting hours were over.
Legosi, who was distraught by the news, stood up and walked over to him.
"Um… excuse me, but I'd like to know about Els."
The male nurse, who was taken aback by the young canine, quickly recomposed himself and spoke.
"I'm sorry sir, but as I said, visiting hours are over, I'm afraid you'll have to leave," he explained.
"I'm aware of what you said, but I'd still like to know about my friend," the large carnivore answered. "I've been waiting for a long time and I just want to make sure she's alright."
"I understand sir, but you'll have to come back another day to find out. At this moment, all our patients are either meeting with their doctors or they're getting ready for bed," the stag replied.
"Alright, I understand," Legosi said sadly. "I'll come back tomorrow."
"You do that," the nurse said as he watched the teenage wolf leave.
For the next few days, Legosi repeated the same process. He would go in to visit Els, only to be kept waiting until visiting hours were over. He quickly figured out what was going on, yet persisted nevertheless. His wanting to see his friend had become a peaceful protest and a show of his determination.
Things finally came to a head when Jack, Sheila, and even Bill came with him. Dom and Fudge wanted to come too, but were too busy. Legosi also tried asking some of the other herbivores to come since he thought it would make it easier to see Els. However, due to the drama the attack had caused they were unable to make it.
Truth be told though, what the wolf was most worried about was the fact that Bill came along. Sure he had become friends with the tiger, but he knew Bill still had a temper when it came to dealing with herbivores.
It also didn't help that Bill had been messing with him, more so than usual, ever since he and Jack came out. The tiger would congratulate the wolf on getting a girlfriend but then correct himself and say boyfriend. He also asked Legosi if he's 'tapped' Jack yet, or pretend to flirt with him. It was just some playful teasing, but it still made the wolf nervous.
Legosi knew that his clubmate was a good man, even though he didn't understand the concept of 'personal space' and was a little perverted. The real problem was his pride and his attitude towards herbivores.
Unlike Legosi, Bill had always been proud to be a carnivore and wanted other carnivores to feel the same way. It's honestly the reason why he used to pick on Legosi and got into arguments with Louis.
Bill didn't like that Legosi would hide himself away and pretend to be weak and he hated how Louis would look down not just on him, but on the other carnivores too. Now, he was in a hospital that was prejudiced towards carnivores, which Legosi knew would only lead to trouble.
"So this is the place, huh?" Bill asked as he looked up at the building.
"Yea, this is it," Legosi answered.
"Seems like a nice place. You can tell it's well taken care of," Sheila said cheerfully.
"Yea, it would be great to work in a place like this!" Jack said excitedly, his tail wagging with joy.
"Figures the nerd would say that," Bill teased.
"Bill, be nice, and I don't just mean with Jack," Legosi said in a stern voice.
"I know, I know, I promise I won't cause any trouble," the tiger said as he rolled his eyes and waved his hand dismissively.
"You better mean that you lughead," Sheila said with a glare. "If what Legosi said is true, which we know it is because he would never lie about this, then we need to be careful."
Bill let out a sigh as he shrugged his shoulders. He then walked through the entrance, the others following close behind.
The four carnivores walked up to the reception desk where the same Gazelle that had been giving Legosi a hard time was sitting.
"Oh, you're back again I see," she said with a raised brow.
"I am," Legosi answered as politely as possible. "And I brought some friends."
The receptionist's eyes widened in alarm. She tilted her head to see past Legosi and to her horror, there were three more carnivores standing behind him. What's worse, one of them was a tiger that looked particularly strong.
The gazelle shook her head in disbelief and recomposed herself. Before she could say anything, she got a good look at Legosi. She hadn't noticed it before since she tried to ignore him as much as possible, but she quickly realized that Legosi was also very bulky. After seeing these two, all she could think was that her fate was sealed.
"Um… excuse me, m'am?" Legosi asked, snapping the adult herbivore out of her head. "We're here to see Els. Can you please let us through?"
"I uh…" the herbivore stuttered. "I-I'm sorry sir, but Els can't be seen right now."
She took a deep breath and gave the wolf a serious look. In her mind, she had to protect the young girl even if she needed to give up her life. There was no way she would let Els be devoured by monsters like these.
"She's being seen right now, so you'll have to leave," she said and rudely waved him off, angering both Bill and Jack.
"Excuse me," Sheila said calmly as she walked forward. "Can we speak with someone else? We know that Els is allowed to have visitors and we actually have some stuff for her from school."
The older herbivore's ears folded back. Until now, she had been able to hold Legosi off, but if they really had school work for the dall sheep then she was obligated to let them through. Still, she wasn't about to let them in just like that.
"If that's true, then you can leave them in that bin," she said as she motioned to the container next to her. "I'll personally make sure she gets them."
Sheila shook her head. "Sorry, but this is too important to just leave it with you. What's more, I don't believe I can trust you. So you can either let us speak to someone else or you can let us through."
The receptionist, clearly offended, gave the cheetah girl a look of dismay.
"And why is that?" she snapped. "I'm a respectable member of this hospital and-"
"And yet you can't see past your own prejudice!" Jack barked, surprising everyone. "Legosi has been coming here to visit his friend and you refuse to let him in. Simply because he's a wolf! This hospital may be for herbivores, but that doesn't mean you can discriminate against us!"
"Damn straight!" Bill cheered with an angry browed smile.
"Anyway, I think it's safe to say that we've been more than patient with you, and you've only been unreasonable to us," Sheila said, still keeping calm.
"Sheila's right," Legosi said with a nod. "I just wanted to see Els and make sure she's alright. I mean, has she even had any visitors? I haven't seen her family here at all."
The wolf's companions looked at him in shock. How was it that someone who came as often as he did missed seeing Els's family?
Before the female herbivore could respond, an old but strong looking stag with glasses approached the group.
"My, my, seems like we have a lot of visitors today," the gentleman said with a close-eyed smile. "It does my heart good to see young folk taking time out of their day to visit their sick friends!"
"S-Sir!" the gazelle said in surprise.
"Um… not to be rude, but who are you?" Jack asked.
"Oh, pardon me, where are my manners? I am the director of this hospital. There have been many herbivores coming in of late you see and I've heard of a wolf boy who comes every day. Naturally, I wanted to meet this young man myself," the stag explained.
"Well gramps, look no further than this guy right here," Bill said as he placed his hands on Legosi's shoulders.
"B-bill!" Legosi brushed the tiger's hands off of him before bowing his head. "H-Hello, my name is Legosi and I'm sorry for any trouble I might have caused."
"Please, no need to apologize. If anyone should apologize it should be me," the director said in a monotonous voice. "It has come to my attention that one of our receptionists has been adamant about keeping you away from your friend."
"Yea, it's this gazelle right here," Bill said as he pointed to the receptionist with his thumb.
The female herbivore looked at her boss nervously. "Sir I-"
"Oh Carol," the large herbivore said sadly as he used his fingers to adjust his glasses. "I had hoped you'd move past your disdain for carnivores. I suppose this is why we haven't had any visitors for so long."
"What do you mean sir?" Jack asked with a raised brow.
"We are a hospital that's exclusively for herbivores, however we've never deterred carnivores from visiting. There are many patients who enjoy the company of their carnivorous friends, you see," the older man answered.
He looked at the receptionist with disappointment . "It saddened me to know that our guests haven't been able to see their friends for some time and I now know why. I'm sorry to say this Carol, but I think it's best if you went home for today."
The female herbivore, fully understanding what the Stag meant by this, folded her ears back before she stood up and walked away.
With the gazelle gone, the director once again apologized to Legosi and his friends. He directed them to Els's room where they finally got to see their clubmate.
"So in the end, we were able to see Els thanks to that director. She wasn't able to say much since she was drowsy thanks to the pain medicine, but she's recovering and was happy to see us," Legosi explained, wrapping up his story to Kai and Kibi.
The duo stared at their large friend. Kibi was relieved to hear some good news for once, but Kai on the other hand was seething with rage.
"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Kai shouted, startling the other three. "So you couldn't see Els just because that bitch was anti-carnivore?! What in the actual hell?!"
"I know right? How could they let someone like that work at a hospital of all places?" Jack barked. "Still, she got fired so we can at least take some solace in that."
"I agree, she got what she deserved and that's what matters," Kibi said as he nodded in agreement.
"Damn it, this is why I hate adults, especially herbivore adults," Kai said as he scratched the back of his head.
"I get what you mean," Legosi said as he put a hand on Kai's shoulder before giving him a smile. "I was attacked by three of them and was stopped from seeing my friend by another one. Still, that stag helped us and we have a lot of herbivores in our club."
"I know that and I'm not talking about them. I just think that adults suck," Kai joked.
"Right, which is exactly why we can't rely on them," Jack said in a serious tone, catching everyone's attention. "I know this is weird coming from me, but I don't think we can't trust the adults to help us. That's why Legosi and I are taking things into our own hands!"
"I hate to say it, but he's right," Kibi said sadly. "I don't know what you two are planning, but I do know that I don't want our club to close! So I think we should do whatever it takes to keep that from happening."
"You bet your rope of a tongue we will," Kai responded. "No way am I gonna let that happen."
"Me neither," Legosi said happily as his tail wagged. "Let's make sure Els has a place to come back to when she gets out!"
"RIGHT!"
Here's this chapter's secret
Did you know that Els started trusting Legosi a lot more than even her own roommate? This is because after Legosi started coming out of his shell more, she saw how much of a nice guy he is and that he could keep a secret. (In her eyes anyway.) It's also because of how loyal he was and that she knew he was the kind of person who would never break his promises.
