For All His Feathers - Chapter 1: The Vet
The Avian Center buzzed with excited energy as Sarah's colleagues packed up their belongings for the day and prepared to head home. A few popped into the exam room that doubled as Sarah's office to wish her a good weekend before departing.
She was sitting at her desk, eyeballs deep in a new peer-reviewed study about corvids, when her favorite colleague, Maggie, stopped in.
"I'm heading out, Sarah," the jovial vet technician told her. "Have a good weekend!"
"Night, Maggie," Sarah said distractedly. "I'll see you on Monday."
"Tuesday," the woman corrected, peering at her through her too-large, wire-frame glasses. "Monday's a holiday, remember?"
Sarah heaved a sigh. She never knew what to do with herself on the weekends, always so eager to get back to where she could help. Make an impact. Three days away from the aviary, her research, and her equipment sounded terrible.
"Oh, right."
Maggie lingered near the door with a concerned look on her face. "Sarah," she began. "You could be a bit more excited about the extra time off. You work harder than anyone else here."
"I'm the only avian veterinarian on staff," Sarah reminded her. "It's hard to think about time off."
"I know," Maggie said in a soothing tone. "But you don't have any patients at the moment, do you?"
Sarah shook her head. "We were able to re-introduce that injured red-winged blackbird into the wild yesterday."
Maggie sent her a smile. "There you have it, then. Sounds like you have a restful weekend ahead of—"
The phone in the lobby rang.
"I'll get it on my way out," Maggie said as she bustled through the swinging doors of Sarah's office. "Have a good, long, weekend Sarah."
"You too," Sarah called after her, grateful to have the building to herself for a bit. She loved it most when things were quiet, just her and the birds.
She was just about to make her way to the main enclosure to check on some of her recently rehabilitated patients when Maggie entered the room again.
"Animal Control is sending an officer over here with an injured owl," she informed Sarah with a remorseful little frown. "He'll be here in a few minutes."
Sarah groaned. "Don't tell me it's—"
"Jude," Maggie confirmed. She glanced furtively at the clock on the wall. "Want me to stay? I know he can be…" She trailed off as if searching for delicate wording.
Sarah had no patience for delicacy. "The worst?"
Her friend tutted. "He's sweet, Sarah. He's just awkward around you because he's got a little crush on you."
Sarah pulled a face. "Spare me the 'he's a nice guy' bit, Mags. He gives me the uh-ohs, and I trust my gut."
Maggie shrugged. "I said I'll stay." Another glance at the clock.
"No, it's fine," Sarah assured her. As much as she didn't like the idea of being alone with Creepy Jude, she knew her colleague had a family to get home to.
Maggie's skeptical expression was replaced by one of surprise as the swinging doors swung open and bumped her shoulder.
Jude pushed into the room with a cardboard animal carrier under one arm. "Oh, Margaret, I'm sorry." He flashed a saccharine smile that made Maggie grin and Sarah scowl. "I didn't see you."
Sarah bit her tongue before asking aloud how he could have possibly seen Maggie on the other side of the windowless door. She considered informing him that it was simply best practice not to go blasting operating room doors open willy-nilly.
"Just Maggie," Maggie said, a blush painting her cheeks.
"Maggie," Jude cooed, rolling the name around on his tongue like a fine wine. "I'm unworthy of uttering such a beautiful name."
Sarah fought back a gag as Maggie became visibly flustered. Watching this dude weasel his way into everyone's affections was nauseating. It wasn't just Maggie, either, it was the whole staff at The Avian Center. She didn't get the appeal. Sure, he was annoyingly handsome. And charming, too, but in that sickeningly cloying way that reeked of insincerity.
"Oh, you," Maggie demurred, waving a hand at him before sending a meaningful look Sarah's way. "Tuesday, Sarah."
She nodded. "See you Tuesday, Mags."
Jude turned to Sarah as the doors swung closed behind Maggie. "Hi Sarah," he greeted with a smile that would have been a winning one if Sarah didn't hate the look of it on his dumb face.
"Officer Colby," Sarah acknowledged icily.
His face crumpled at the formality. "You can call me Jude," he said, a little pout on his lips.
"And you can call me Doctor Williams," Sarah returned with a forced smile that threatened to crack around the edges.
Jude laughed. "You're spicy today," he told her, and Sarah fought the urge to roundhouse kick him back out through the double swinging doors. She didn't know how to roundhouse kick, but she felt sure she could figure it out with him as a motivator.
Seemingly undeterred by what Sarah imagined to be a look of revulsion on her face, Jude continued, "I really like your hair like that, by the way, it's really—"
"What have we got here?" Sarah interrupted, taking the animal carrier that he'd all but forgotten.
Seriously. He had one job.
She placed the carrier on the exam table and opened it before peeking inside. A barn owl blinked back at her.
"An owl," Jude explained absently as his gaze roamed over Sarah.
She didn't bother hiding the impatient way her eyes rolled. "Yes, but, what happened?" she asked, taking in the owl's low-hanging left wing, awkwardly bent leg, and singed feathers.
"Someone called it in," Jude told her. "She said kids were setting off fireworks, and then this fellow showed up on her neighbor's lawn."
Sarah grit her teeth, beyond disappointed in people, and not for the first time. Many of the injuries she saw were due to human carelessness.
"Where did he come from?" she asked.
Jude shrugged. "He's not tagged."
Sarah, who could see very clearly with her own eyes that the owl was not tagged, huffed in irritation. "I mean, where did he get picked up from?"
"Oh," he said with a self-deprecating chuckle that she didn't buy for a second. "Over on Juniper Street."
Sarah looked up at Jude in surprise. When she searched his face, he showed no signs of knowing that Juniper Street was, in fact, the very street she lived on. Deciding quickly that she could do without him knowing that detail, she schooled her expression and cleared her throat.
"What part of Juniper Street?" she questioned in a tone she hoped sounded casual, even as her fist clenched. If it was her neighbors setting off fireworks, she planned on giving them a scathing earful.
"Between Spruce and Cedar," he informed her.
She tried to maintain a neutral expression, but inside, she seethed. That was her block, a sleepy little street tucked into the trees. It backed up on a nature reserve, and there were strict laws in place about fireworks.
Jude glanced at his watch. "It's late," he told her. "The rest of your staff was already gone when I got here."
Sarah looked back at the owl. He stared at her with a calm intensity that was unusual for an owl in distress. His wing looked like it might be broken, and probably his leg as well. One of his eyes looked injured, too—the pupil slightly dilated more than the other.
"I'm going to stay and do what I can to fix him up," she said, hoping her tone was dismissive enough for Jude to get the message that he, too, could leave.
He did not leave. Instead, he hovered, and asked, "Want some company? I can help." He edged closer. Uncomfortably close. "Walk you out after."
Sarah slithered away from him. "No thanks," she said, putting space between them. "I prefer to work alone."
Jude straightened awkwardly, a frown on his face that told her he wasn't expecting her to turn down his offer. "Shouldn't you call a vet?"
She felt her eyes bulge with barely contained annoyance. "I am the vet."
"Right," he said with a teasing smile she detested. Like he didn't quite believe her. "I always forget, sorry. It's just-" That teasing smile split into a grin. "You don't look like a doctor. Honestly, Sarah, you could model."
"If it's all the same to you," she bit out, "I have an injured owl to tend to. Alone."
Jude held up his hands defensively and let out a chuckle as if Sarah rebuffing his unsolicited compliments was an inside joke between them. "Easy," he said in a placating tone that set her nerves even further on edge. "I was just trying to be nice."
"Goodnight, Officer Colby," Sarah said with a finality she hoped was inarguable.
His face fell. "Tough crowd," he muttered, shaking his head as he pushed back through the swinging doors and exited the room, leaving Sarah blissfully alone with nothing but her new patient for company.
A/N: Thank you, Geliot99, for all of your incredible beta wisdom and support.
Credits: The title of this work comes from the poem 'What Sees The Owl' by Elizabeth Sears Bates
Hi! First of all, I want to promise you, from the bottom of my heart, that I am absolutely NOT abandoning Fade or Glimpse, or any of my other projects. Thank you to everyone who is reading those stories and being patient with me.
This is intended to be a short fic with short chapters. I've already written five chapters and I don't plan on it being super long. I hope you enjoy it! Please let me know what you think.