Infirmary
#8 of Box of Chocolates
Chapter 8: Infirmary
Daniel helped Victor out of the passenger side and handed him his crutches. "Those things are a bitch. I can walk on my own just fine."
"Doctors orders. Now why do you say that? They were never a problem for me."
"You don't have wings protruding from your body." He stretched his back in an attempt to readjust his wings.
"What good are those things?"
"They're good for scaring people. Just think about it. Sneaking up on people late at night and popping up in front of them with them folded out."
"Two things Victor. One, that's what you did back at Eisenhower and you can get reported for it. And two, who would possibly fall for that?"
"The same canine we just dropped off."
"Yeah, that's believable. So, are we going to go to work now or listen to you complain?"
"What's worse, hearing me complain or hearing that badger who proclaims himself to be a 'superior' cartoonist."
"True, but it's the price we pay for this project. Equivalency and all."
"Now you sound like Andrew. That's scary."
"Shut up." He raised his leg to kick at Victor's bad leg but pulled it back when he got him to flinch. They walked up to the studio with Victor still complaining about needing to keep his crutches.
. . .
Jason looked up at the clock on wall. "The pup's gonna be late again. I wonder what the reason's going to be this time." He sorted the rest of his paperwork and stored it in the file cabinet. Then he heard a knock on his door. "Come in."
The door opened a bit slowly, but Matt soon walked in.
"Hey there Matt. Need something?"
"No, not really. Andy hasn't been here in a while. For his workouts or work."
"Oh. He asked me for a couple of days off cause he was moving."
"He moved away?" He sat down across from Jason's desk with a deep frown on his face.
"Well, yes and no. He moved out of the apartments he was living in and back into the dormitory at the college he attends. It's strange though. He told me he'd be back today and work hard for the days he missed."
Matt opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by another set of knocks on the door.
"Come in," called Jason.
A shady lion stepped in and walked directly up to Matt and stared him down. Matt was stunned. "Who is this guy?"
"I see," said the lion. Then he turned his attention to Jason. "I would like to open a membership here please."
Jason stood and said, "Alright sir." He pulled some papers from his desk and handed them to him. "All you have to do is fill this form out and take it to one of the furs up at the front."
The lion took the papers and stared at Matt again. "Be there for him." He brushed some of his mane from his eyes and exited the office.
"Another weirdo."
"Now that's not nice Jason."
"I thought you would think so since he seemed to be fixated on you." He leaned back in his chair and stretched.
"I'll admit it was odd. What do you think he meant by 'Be there for him'?"
"Who knows? I always neglected those kind of things."
"Still. It's got me feeling uneasy. Do you have Andy's number? I want to give him a call."
Jason looked up Andrew's information on his computer. "Well I don't have his new home phone number but I do have his cell. Here you go." He turned the monitor around for Matt to see.
Matt added the number to his cell and thanked Jason for the number. He left the office and dialed the number.
. . . . . .
Andrew was speeding down the sidewalk on his blades. "I'm going to be so late. I can't believe what Rai and Lex did. If they say anything to Matt or anyone for that matter. Damn it all. I'm gonna have to go down that hill."
The hill he had in mind was actually a bridge over a freeway. It was very steep and he was never very good at stopping.
"I hoped I wouldn't have to do this." He raced up the hill and stopped at the top and looked down. "I'm gonna hate this." He folded his ears and started down. When he felt gravity push him down he tucked his knees and let gravity do the work.
When he came close to the end he straightened up and adjusted his right skate to slow down. But he didn't. He wasn't slowing down fast enough. His eyes widened when he came to the intersection and the opposite light turned green
. . . . . .
"Hi this is Andrew. I can't come to my phone right now. Leave your name and number and I'll get back to you when I can." Matt hung up.
"Could be he's still sleeping. I'll see him when he comes in."
He walked over to the gear shop and found that lion sitting at the counter still filling out his paperwork.
"If you want, I can fix you something to drink."
"No thanks."
"Okay then."
"Andrew's the one in charge of this section isn't he?"
" Yeah, I guess you could say that. So how do you know him?"
Ned ignored him and handed him his forms. "Here you go." He looked Matt over once more and left.
"He is a strange one." He looked over the papers. "Ned huh? I wonder what's gonna happen around here now." He looked up at the clock and frowned. "Andy's pretty late. I know. I'll call one of those tigers."
After the third ring, someone answered. "Hello?"
"Hey Lexin. This is Matt from Burn Out."
"Hello Matt. What can I do for you?"
"I'm hoping you can help me. If I'm correct, you and Andy live in the same dorm right?"
"Um yeah. Why is that important?"
"Well I'm actually calling cause I tried calling him a little while ago and he didn't pick up. Have you seen him?"
"Yeah. We bumped into each other. Said he had to hurry and get to work." An audible laughter could be heard in the background.
"He said he was hurrying? When was this?"
"Umm about twenty-thirty minutes ago?"
"Then he should have been here by now," the otter thought to himself.
"Matt, is something wrong?"
"I hope not. I just have to look into something. Thanks Lexin and see you later."
"Umm glad I could help. I'll see you later. And call me Lex."
He hung up and ran into Jason's office, nearly breaking the door off its hinges and made Jason jump.
"Whoa, Matt. Where's the fire?" he asked as he tried to straighten himself up.
"Jason, I think something's happened to Andy!"
. . . . . . .
Daniel was typing away on the computer when Victor came limping in.
"So how are things going in here?"
Without taking his eyes from the screen he answered, "Things are going great. I beat FFX again for the fifty-third time."
"Daniel!"
A grin spread across his muzzle. "Relax. I'm just taking a break. I got done with the configuration and toning fifteen minutes ago. What's up?"
"I've been meaning to ask, did you ever get my cell phone back from Andrew?"
"Oh crap! I completely forgot. I'll call it right now." There was a long series of rings but after awhile, someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Andrew?"
"No this is Dr. Regal. I'm watching over Andrew Allison."
"Watching over?" Daniel jumped so fast from his chair, he nearly knocked the computer monitor off the desk. "What happened to him?" Victor had a slight look of concern on his face.
"Mr. Allison collided into ongoing traffic while rollerblading. He has fractured two ribs and his arm, a gash to his head, and has been unconscious for the past hour."
"Where is he?"
Daniel wrote down something on a receipt he had handy, thanked the man, and hung up. "Andrew's in the hospital."
"Him now? What happened?"
"I'll fill you in on the way."