Chapter 1: One of These Days
It was early morning in Brisbane, Australia, the sun was rising from the horizon, shining its light on the buildings and houses in the city. Birds were awake and chirping, and dogs were waking up to take their kids to school and head to their jobs after a good night's rest. However, at the top of a hill in a cul-de-sac was a house, and inside that house was a 17-year-old Siberian Husky with Heterochromia, who did not have that luxury. The dog spent all night tossing and turning, trying to get to sleep but to no avail. The alarm on his phone went off, telling him it was time for another day. He groggily sat up on his bed and groaned as he held his hand to the left side of his stomach, where the scar of a bullet wound was. Even though it's been five years since the incident, the pain still lingered. The Husky slowly got off the bed to try and lessen the feeling, He grabbed a bottle of pain pills, which only had two left, on his desk and took the last of them before making his way to the bathroom. When he was finished, he washed his hands and splashed cold water on his face to wake him up more.
"Man, I look like shit." Shaun said to himself as he looked at his reflection. His grey and white fur was still messy, but he had bags under his eyes that showed no emotion behind them. He exited the bathroom and headed into the kitchen, where Chilli was making bacon and eggs with Bluey and Bingo sitting at the table eating.
"Good morning sweetie, I almost have your brekkie ready!" Chilli said with a smile, seeing her son.
"Sorry Mom, I have to get to work." Shaun replied not looking at her, and just took an apple off the table and headed out the door.
Chilli looked at the food she made for her son and her ears went down. Bluey and Bingo knew what to do and went over to her and hugged her.
Bluey spoke. "He will be okay mum."
Chilli spoke with sadness in her voice. "I know, I just miss how happy he used to be."
"Me too mum, we all do." Bingo added.
They all stayed there to hug for a few minutes.
Shaun walked to his job; it wasn't too far away. He finished his apple and tossed the core in the grass. He walked through the sliding doors of the petrol station. He knows this is the place where he was shot but he couldn't care less about it. He put on a fake smile and greeted his co-worker.
"Hey Carly, how's it going?"
"Not good, I barely got any sleep last night. This is gonna be another slow Monday."
Shaun nodded. "Same here. Can't wait for this day to go by quickly."
"I hope so as well." The voice inside Shaun's head spoke.
"I don't need your input." Muttered Shaun.
"Did you say something?" Carly asked tilting her head.
"Oh, no I didn't." He replied looking away.
"Nice save." it said sarcastically.
Shaun did his best to ignore the voice and got positioned behind the counter. He kept that fake facade of a smile as he greeted dogs who came in to get something for breakfast on their way to work or get petrol. It wasn't until lunchtime that someone came in who made Shaun genuinely smile.
"Hey Jules, what are you doing here?" He asked with a tail gently wagging.
"I came by to get something to drink, it's a pretty hot day today." Judo replied before walking away to the soft drinks and coming back with a Pepsi. Shaun took it and scanned it.
"Doesn't your mom not let you drink sodas?"
"Well, no, but I've been drinking them when she isn't around. Please don't tell her."
"Don't worry I won't." He said with a smile.
"Thanks, Shaunie." The two dogs shared a quick kiss.
"I got to head back out. It was nice seeing you today."
"You too, love you, Hun!"
"Love you too!"
As soon as Judo left the smile on Shaun's face went away and he sighed. A few more uninteresting hours passed by until an alarm went off on Shaun's phone.
"I'm heading out Carly, I got that appointment with my doctor."
"Lucky, now who I have to keep me company until my shift is over?"
Shaun chuckled. "I'm sure you'll manage just fine, see ya tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow!" Carly waved bye as he left.
Shaun walked back home and entered the house. Where he was greeted at the door by his dad, all ready to go.
"Hey Shaun, you ready to head out?"
The Husky shrugged his shoulders. "Yeah, I suppose Dad."
"C'mon mate, it'll be fine. It's just a checkup and to refill your prescription."
Shaun simply nodded as he and Bandit walked out and got into the car, starting the drive. After a while, they arrived at the hospital, it was a basic building made out of bricks and it was connected to a parking garage. Bandit pulled into the garage and found a spot near the entrance and parked his car. The two dogs entered the building and got Shaun checked in. He and Bandit sat down in some kinda uncomfortable chairs while they waited for the doctor.
"So, are you happy you get to see Dr. Zach this time?"
"Yeah, I am. He's pretty cool. The last one I saw was a real jerk. Saying this pain I feel, I just made it all up."
"And him saying he's been a doctor for over 20 years proves anything."
They continued talking for a while, mostly about Shaun and how he was doing in school and his friends until a nurse called his name.
"See you soon Shaun."
Shaun looked at his dad and gave him a smile before standing up and following the nurse. She led him through a couple of halls and into a room with the number 3 on it.
"The doctor will be here soon." She said before closing the door.
Shaun sat in a chair and looked around the room, there wasn't much really in here. Two chairs, a small model of the dog skeleton placed on a desk, and a couple of informational posters.
"Sure is fun waiting around huh?"
"Ugh, can't I go one day without some smart-ass comment from you?"
"Nope sorry, you would be bored without me."
Shaun rolled his eyes and ignored the voice. He scrolled through his socials on his phone until there was a knock. He turned to look at the door and in walked a Doberman with green eyes, holding a laptop. He wasn't dressed in a uniform like doctors should be but instead sporting a black leather jacket, greeted Shaun.
"Hey there Shaun, how you been?"
"I've been alright Zach, I'm glad it's you I'm seeing."
"Yeah, I heard about that other doctor, he was a real ass huh?"
"Totally." Shaun chuckled.
Zach took a seat on the chair at the desk and opened his laptop. "So, how's the pain? Feeling any better?"
Shaun shook his head. "No, I still hurt when I wake up and during the night."
Zach typed some things into the system. "Hmm, since you need a refill, I'm also gonna up the dosage. Hopefully, this will take care of your trouble."
Shaun smiled, "Thanks Doc."
"It's no problem, and you don't need to call me doctor, Zach has been fine, or just Z."
"Alrighty then Z, anything else you need to know?"
"No, not unless there was something else bothering you."
The Husky hesitated for a moment.
"Don't tell him."
"Uh, no just wondering."
Z eyed Shaun for a moment, like he wasn't telling the truth, but shrugged it off for another time.
"Well then, that was all I needed to do, just stop by the pharmacy and pick up your meds."
"Thanks, Z." Shaun put his fight out for a bump which Zach returned. "See ya around kid."
Zach watched Shaun leave and waited until his footsteps were far enough away before taking out a device from one of his jacket's pockets and speaking into it.
"Hey, it's me. …. Yeah, I think I got a lead, maybe I don't know. …. I'll keep an eye on him. …. Yeah, gotcha. …. Alright talk to you later.
He pocketed his device and sighed.
"I really hope I'm wrong about this."
Back at the house, Shaun is lying on his bed, sketching out some ideas in his book.
"Hey Shaun, I need to tell you something."
"Ugh, what is it?"
"I don't think you should trust that Doctor Zach guy."
Shaun covered his mouth to laugh so he wouldn't alert his family. "Yeah, fat chance. Like I ever listen to you."
"I'm being serious, something is off about him, I just want to protect you."
"You haven't been doing anything of that, this whole you've been a pain in my ass and literal head. So, if you don't mind, I'm going back to what I was doing."
Shaun put his headphones on and played some music to drown the voice out, which seemed to work, or it just stopped speaking, but either way, Shaun was happy to get rid of it for a bit. He was working peacefully, until he felt a pillow get thrown right at his face. He removed it and saw Bingo standing in front of him, tapping her foot and arms crossed.
"Shaun, we've been calling you, trying to tell you that dinner is ready, are you coming down?"
"Oh, sorry Bingo, I couldn't hear y'all."
Shaun placed his sketchbook down on his bed and stood up while stretching. Bingo got a look at what was on it and saw a drawing of his human mother.
"Still thinking about her?" Bingo pointed to the drawing.
"Yeah, all the time. Ever since I had that dream after what happened to me years ago, I want to believe she's always with me, watching me, but some days it gets hard."
"I'm sorry Shaun I wish there was something we could do to make you feel better."
"You all already do, I know I'm not the same as I used to be and I don't show it as much, but I'm trying to feel better, and you all being there for me helps a lot, don't forget that." Shaun pulled Bingo into a hug. "Love you, little sis."
Bingo, of course, hugged back. "Love you too, big brother."
Shaun pulled away. "Enough sappy stuff, let's go eat, I'm hungry."
Bingo laughed and they both went into the kitchen to eat dinner with the rest of the family.