BEGINNINGS
11 - Vaccination Day
Hammond impatiently stood outside the animal loading dock of his zoo as he checked his sliver linked wrist watch. "Where the hell are you, Robert?" It was nearly eight in the morning, and he should have been there ten minutes ago for Pet's quarterly checkup.
Five minutes later, the warden Jeep pulled up to the loading dock as Hammond could see the fourteen-year-old hybrid in the front seat with bare, clawed feet propped on the side-view mirror. Muldoon cut the engine and glared over at the teenager still singing to the song just playing on the radio.
Hammond hobbled to the driver's side of the Jeep, being mindful of the front door opening. "What is your excuse for being late this time?" He intently studied his most senior game warden and looked over at Pet.
The teen stopped singing to give a fake, teeth-baring smile. She wiggled her prominent, sickle-clawed toes, knowing how much it bothered him. "Good morning to you too, Mr. Hammond."
The hybrid reached in the back of the Jeep and got a beige cloth sack carrying something alive and heavy. Hammond eyed the bag. "What is that?"
Pet didn't respond as she climbed over the Jeep's still closed passenger door. Seeing how she wasn't, Muldoon replied instead. "A young African Rock Python. Found her sunning herself on a rock not far from the warden shack on our way here, so we pulled off to catch her." Muldoon watched Pet disappear behind the large double doors leading to the holding pens in the back of the zoo. "She's old enough for breeding, so I'm hoping she'll do something with the male."
Inside, Pet passed several holding pens containing jackals as well as a warthog in the far pen as she proceeded through the holding area and into the examination labs. There she found one of her veterinarian friends.
Pet smiled and laid the bag down on a table close to her. "Got you a little something I thought you might like."
Liz glanced at the bag and reached for a pair of thick leather hide gloves she used to handle snakes. "Oh, how sweet." The woman giggled and started to untie the bag. Pet hoisted herself on top of the table to watch a TV mounted on a nearby wall of the lab. "Well, well, well what do we have here?"
Pet blew a bubble with her gum, watching the commercials pan through on the TV. "Merry Christmas, Liz."
"Very nice." The veterinarian held the python behind its neck as it hissed at her, baring its many rows of sharp teeth in its mouth. "She just ate too. I would say earlier this morning if not late last night." She studied the shape of the lump in the midsection of the snake. "Judging by the shape and size, I would say a Meerkat pup."
"Yummy."
Liz shrugged. "If you say so."
"Oh, I think very much so." The commercials ended, and the show's title came up afterward, reading Paleo Science. Pet beamed. "I love this show."
The vet glanced up at the hybrid who seemed entranced by the TV. "You love the educational value of the show or the lead dinosaur guy?"
Pet blushed. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Uh huh."
Pet was so focused on the TV program that she didn't notice Muldoon enter the lab and head in her and Liz's direction. Otherwise, the hybrid would've noticed a faint sparkle in her guardian's eyes while talking to the veterinarian. "What do you think of Pet's little surprise?"
Liz smiled, her green eyes wide with excitement. "She's a beauty and I hope will be very promising with Bruno."
Muldoon began to help the vet remove the snake from the sack when he noticed Pet entranced by the TV and not helping him. "Anytime you feel like helping, Pet, feel free."
"Yeah ok." She kept her attention locked on the TV and mindlessly reached for the bag.
"Will you stop screwing around?" He then looked at her face to see her ever rarely seen blue-green eyes stare, unblinking in the direction of the TV. "What the hell has you soft all of a sudden?" He glanced over his shoulder to see what she was looking at in curiosity. The program flashed over to the paleontologist who was leading the excavation site, Muldoon grumbling. "Oh…right. Well you'll be about as useful as a dead rat for the next little while."
Liz snickered and whispered into Muldoon's ear, "At least she's all googly over a guy and not some iguana or Komodo dragon..."
Pet chimed in behind red filled cheeks. "Hey now, I heard that." She shot the two a narrow glare and looked back at the TV.
The game warden smiled in amusement at the hybrid. He found it rather interesting too, knowing her eyes only changed from the raptor-like ones to the normal blue-green ones in rare situations. Only when Pet's defenses were utterly down or when she was sick did her eyes change. A hiss from the python got Muldoon's attention and quickly, held the snake down the best he could so Liz could get a blood sample of the creature.
A few minutes later, Hammond entered the lab with the usual white lab-coated Dr. Jacobs following him. Snapping of blue latex gloves startled Pet and she turned to look at the approaching man.
She questioned. "What do you plan on doing with those, exactly?"
Jacobs was taken by surprise when she saw the hybrid's human-like blue-green eyes. "It's time for your annual checkup and everyone knows how much you love vaccinations!"
The man stated sarcastically towards the end. Pet's eyes shifted back to the commonly seen raptor ones, the hybrid releasing a sharp snort in annoyance. Jacobs approached the hybrid and removed his examination flashlight from his medical robe pocket.
He flashed it into her eyes as he questioned. "Anything unusual feeling or just the typical same thing?"
Pet broke her chilling stare off the man to resume watching the TV. "Nothing new."
Jacobs pressed a thumb down on her chin and stated, "Open wide." The hybrid did as Jacobs shined the light into her mouth to look at her gums, teeth, and tonsils. "Good." He then began to feel the glands in her neck followed by examining the inside of her ears. "Need to keep your ears cleaner. I tell you this every time, Pet." He then took his sphygmomanometer and wrapped the cuff around her arm and started to pump air into the cuff. The man then took the girl's temperature and wrote the results from that as well. "Hmm...ninety-three point two. A little higher than normal."
Muldoon joked, "Maybe it's the TV getting her all worked up."
Pet slapped the man on the shoulder and snorted a bark louder than the first one. "Shut up, Robert!"
Liz stiffened back a laugh. "Come on, now, Robert. All girls have to have their hotties."
The hybrid growled under her breath. "You're not helping, Liz."
Hammond shook his head. "Oh, for crying out loud." He brought his attention from the TV to a flustered Pet before shifting his attention to Liz and Muldoon. "Where's that snake? I want to see it."
Even Jacobs had to chuckle and patted the girl on the head. "Okay, Pet, deep breath." The cold metal of the stethoscope startled the girl, her giving the doctor a harsh stare that he ignored. "Exhale." Pet did as asked and did it several times until the man was satisfied. "Ok now for the fun part."
The hybrid grimaced. "I hate needles."
"Sorry, but it has to be done." Jacobs removed a syringe from his coat's side pocket and took off the needle's cover. "You know the drill."
She whimpered. "I hate needles." Pet tried to remain relaxed as Jacobs tied an elastic band around her arm and swabbed the area he would puncture on the inside bend of her elbow.
"Relax." Jacobs then injected the needle as the hybrid gritting her teeth. "Doing good." He got two samples of blood and extracted the needle. "Well, I got good news and bad news. Which do you prefer?"
"Surprise me," Pet flatly stated.
Jacobs extracted three other syringes from his lap coat and waved them in front of the girl's face. "It's vaccination time!"
Pet's expression sunk into a frown. "Which ones?"
He read the labels on the sides of the syringes. "Rabies, TB and Hepatitis B."
"I hate the rabies shot. It screws with my stomach."
Muldoon snorted. "I don't know why you're bitching. You're not the one who has to clean up the messes afterward."
Pet broke her gaze off the TV when it went to commercial again. "Can we just skip the rabies shot and call it done?"
Muldoon picked the young python up and placed it back in the sack. "And have you turn on me in the middle of the night? Like hell."
Pet hung her head down low and whimpered. Liz picked up the beige snake bag and walked away with Hammond on her heels.
By the time they arrived at the zoo employee dorms, Pet's head was hung over the Jeep's passenger door. Muldoon studied the teen and frowned. "Well, better out than in I guess."
He got out and went around to the passenger side only to find the side of the Jeep streaked with Pet's breakfast. She burped and studied her friend's gaze, locked on the door handle with uncertainty. "Sorry." Pet opened the door from the inside and crawled out with the assistance of her best friend and legal guardian. "I feel like crap."
"My Jeep looks like crap."
The two walked to where Pet's room was, Muldoon, guiding her to the bathroom. "I hate vaccination day." She plopped down in front of the toilet as Muldoon started the water in the tub.
Once the water temperature was right and the stopper in place, he left the girl alone in the bathroom to wash up and relax. An hour later, she emerged from the bathroom, looking dreadfully pale and wearing a large tee shirt stretching down to her knees. She gave a weak smile to Muldoon, lounged out on the couch, and shuffled over to her bed to lay down. Pet couldn't help but genuinely smile when she saw the TV on and showing a marathon of the Paleo Science show.
The hybrid snorted a weak laugh and lazily rolled her gaze over to Muldoon, trying to hide an amused smile behind his hand he had his head propped on. She joked, "I hate you." The game warden snickered more.
Roughly thirty minutes later, Muldoon noticed Pet had stopped being restless and seemed to be asleep. He shifted his attention from the TV and over to her to see she was almost asleep with half-lidded, blue-green eyes trying to focus on the program. Ever so faintly, he could hear what sounded like purring on soft, steady breaths. It brought a warming smile to the man's face to see something potentially so deadly be so at peace.
Muldoon questioned. "You look like you're about to pass out over there. Want me to turn off the tele, then?"
Pet responded in a groggy tone of voice. "Do it and it'll be your end."
Muldoon snorted a laugh and observed the hybrid from the corner of his eye. Seeing how it was a commercial anyway, he turned off the TV regardless of the girl's threat. Blue-green eyes instantly shifted to their golden yellow raptor ones and locked onto the man's gray ones not far away. Pet snorted. She drew a shaking hand out from under the covers and reached for the man seated roughly five feet away. Muldoon didn't move or even flinch as he watched the hybrid exhort what effort she could. She soon gave up and allowed her arm to hang limply off the side of the bed.
Muldoon chuckled. "My end, hmm? Before that can even happen, you'll have to get off your ass first and well, it seems moving, in general, is too much for you right now."
The two stared at each other for a moment. Pet mumbling, "Bastard," was barely audible. The TV clicked back on, and Pet snorted at the man. "That's what I thought..."
