Trials: Chapter IV-1
Authors Notes: This next chapter took a while. I didn't really have a solid idea on what to do after the previous chapter's hook, so I simply began typing something. I eventually turned out to be what it is. One thing to take notice during this chapter is that it takes place in one area and later switches over. I didn't want to break into a new chapter, so it is a split chapter instead!
Enjoy ^-^
IV - Alexander
I woke to the smell of cereal, which I was quite used too since I had smelled the same fruity frosted-bran cereal for the last year. My mom is an extreme breakfast-person, or one of those people that thinks without cereal, the day can't begin right. Before we moved here to Alvenia, she would eat a kind of cereal called "Seltan! Bran Flakes"; they were citrus and strawberry flavored, with a white frosty covering; I don't like their taste, but the smell is wonderful. The kind she eats now has freeze dried peaches and bananas in it. I lay for a few minutes, watching the ray of sunlight filtering into my room broaden and become sharper. The shadows that haunted the corners and crevices in my room began to shy away at a quickening pace, until the room was bathed in a bright orange glow; which would eventually wane and then reappear as radiant June sunshine. My bedside digital clock read '8:47 AM WED' in bright orange and blue numbers, which meant I had woken up reasonably on schedule; given the lag I've had since mom and I moved from Fye only a few months ago.
Fye is a smaller province than Alvenia, thereby having less strict law. Alvenia and Fye have a full four- hour time difference, even though their borders span hundreds and hundreds of miles touching. One of the few differences between Fye and Alvenia is the system of measurement the two use. Alvenia uses the Standard System of Measurement, while Fye uses a system similar to the 'metric' system, which is used by Innelia in the west. This of course throws me off, since it takes a moment for me to convert miles into grallals; Fye's measurement system. The conversion is for each three "Miles"; you're supplied two and a half grallals. Of course on a larger scale the conversion is a bit more difficult to do, like when calculating distances, as well as factoring the traveling speed. Luckily, my mom's car has an odometer marked in grallal-increments.
"Hey there little one"
'....Three times ten is thirty, and two and a half times ten is twenty five... so thirty miles is approximately twenty-five grallal units.. And the time to get there would be dependent upon parent speed'
"Alex; Sweetie?"
'... and traffic lights and traffic itself...'
I lost my train of thought as I felt a gentle paw touch my side.
"Huh..?" I asked somewhat confusedly, looking to my right to see my mom standing above me.
"Hey... ready to get up?" she rubbed my ears, causing me to shudder with pleasure.
"Yeah..," I said, sitting up after she stopped. "Morning momma..." She stood erect again and walked towards the door.
"Morning Alex... and Alright; come out when you're ready." She said enthusiastically, leaving the room and the door slightly open, humming softly to herself as she went.
Lily, my mom, is generally a very sun-shiny person. Though she is ate up over our recent past with dad, she does her best to remain as happy as she can; while maintaining the level of toughness parents require through tough times. I swiveled around in bed, then hung my legs over the edge of the bed and waited for a moment as the fluids in my ears swished around, causing me to feel dizzy. "Ugh... I hate that feeling." I mumbled, letting my feet touch the floor and then putting weight on them. I'm not much of a morning person, but this morning I felt a heaver weight than usual resting on my entire body. I decided against taking a shower, since I had one last night when I came home from seeing Lewis.
'Lewis...' I sighed heavily as soon as thought of him crossed my mind; reawakening the concern I had when I arrived at the park only a day ago to find him absent. I remembered what happened yesterday:
_ I had gotten to the park about twenty minutes after Lewis and I talked; and when I arrived he wasn ' t there. I walked around for about five minutes and eventually saw a woman with two younger kids near the swings and decided to ask them if they had seen the slim, black and light brown fox-wolf cross I was looking for._
_ " Uhm... have... have you seen a fur around here... he um... he ' s tan and black..?_"
"... _..The big guy with the poofy tail!_" said a young raccoon, who was now beside who I thought to be his mother.
I knelt to his level, nodding. " __Yes, did he have a scar on his arm? No fur in a small place?"
He put his claw to his mouth and appeared to look at something in the distance, then averted his gaze and looked to me again.
" __Uh- huh. Right here." He said, stepping closer and putting his paw on my left forearm, his tail swaying low in the air behind him.
" __Andrew, sweetie. Go and play with Jacob okay?" The woman said, ruffling his ears. He smiled and skipped off to play with another boy in the distance, whom was spinning himself on the merry-go-round by running in circles, then jumping onto the moving plaything. I smiled a little, thinking of how I _'__ ve done the same._
" __I' __m sorry... would you care to join me?" The lady requested, and I nodded in response.
Once we made our way to the pavilion that housed rows of picnic tables, she sat by her belongings and beckoned me to sit as well. Once I did, I realised I was a complete stranger to her, and vice versa.
" __Oh! Uhm... I' __m really sorry. My name is Alex... I hope I didn' __t upset you by walking up and acting like tha-"
She chuckled, " __Oh don' __t be silly. My name is Mary Carlyle. It' __s pleasant to meet you, Alex."
" __and don' __t worry, Andrew is such an good kid... I hope he didn _'__ t bother you any. He doesn ' t quite understand the concept of personal space._" She said with a small laugh.
" __Oh... oh! No no, it _'__ s perfectly okay. I was just looking for a friend and I figured you may have seen him. I mean... you ' re the only people here and all... so I figured I would... " I cut myself short as I realised I was ranting._ " __ask you.." I finished, flattening my ears shamefully.
Mary smiled at me, then nodded her head,
" __Ha-ha, you' __re alright. No need to feel pressured dear. Now, about your friend... I believe we are on the same page as to who we' __re discussing; about an hour ago, a young man was attacked by another group of teenagers. I called the ambulance and police, and they arrested the kid that did it apparently... Poor guy was all torn up..."_ _
My heart fell to the bottom of an icy well as I absorbed what she had said.
" __Poor Andrew didn' __t want to leave the guy alone when they got here. He said he wanted to give him a hug when he woke up. He thinks he' __s taking a good nap" she continued, looking over to the boys; Jason was now putting the pebbled-gravel in his shirt and then dumping them at the top of the slide. " __Anyway. I' __m so sorry about what happened. If I could I would go visit him... but I really don' __t know him, and I' __m sure his parents would have questions on that." Andrew sat down (after encouragement by Jacob) and scooted to the edge, sliding down alarmingly fast on a blanket of rocks. Andrew screeched with joy, and with apparently newfound enthusiasm, he hollered for another round. " __Get more wocks Jasonn!!"
I sat for a moment before replying. " __Yeah... They don' __t know me either... _."_ I sighed quietly and rose to my feet, _" __Uhm... thank you Mrs. Carlyle. It was nice meeting you... And you too Andrew."_ (Who was now by his mom again, his fur sporting a coat of dust) He smiled and waved at me as I walked away,
" __Nice meeting you too dear. I do hope your friend gets better!"
I turned and departed. Andrew began complaining that Jason wouldn _'__ t help him 'carry wocks_'
_ When I finally got home, I laid in my bed for a while, my mind racing with possibilities. After a while, I suddenly remembered what technology was and I grabbed my phone to call Lewis._'
As my thoughts began scrambling into different places and gearing towards more recent plans, I stretched out, wincing as my leg popped painfully. I began to make my bed up, where I found Nathan stuffed between the wall and my bed. Nathan is a plush animal, a leopard be exact. Nathan holds a special place within me. Sounds strange; yeah.. but I'm certain there are other people that are my age and older that still like stuffed animals still. I mean, people collect things for reasons, don't they? My mom does know about it, and while she seems fine with it, I still don't feel comfortable just leaving him lying around.
Eventually, I left the room and went into the kitchen where mom was sitting at. I smiled, my tail wagging wildly behind me.
"About time, mister; did you get lost in there?" She said, putting down her glass of tea and standing to hug me.
"No momma," I replied, "I just stretched a little and made my bed up."
"I see... good job then. Now dear... let's get ready. Your appointment is at noon, so we need to leave here shortly" She said instructively, though in a pleasant manner.
"Okay. I'll go get dressed and I'll be ready... can we get some food while we're out please!"
"Yes Alex. We'll eat. Now go get dressed and stop dilly dallying!" mom chuckled.
I retreated to my room, pulling off my pajama bottoms and underwear, and to replace them, boxer briefs, jeans, socks, and finally a loose t-shirt. I used a bit of cologne and brushed down my tail fur, then checked my handiwork, and once satisfied; gathered my dirty clothing and put it into the basket by my door.
"Ready ma!" I called out, going outside to the car to wait.
*---*
I sat quietly, watching the dark brown door that would lead to the interior of the clinic from which a nurse would exit, holding a clipboard to read off whichever person was to be seen next. A number of rooms behind her were either occupied by furs here concerning the virus that had been spreading around with the temperamental weather, or a scheduled follow-up from a previous visit. As was my case.
'My appointment is in like... four minutes? They should be calling me....' I mused, somewhat impatiently.
As if on cue, a male husky opened the door no more than a minute later and looked around the room and smiled as he caught my gaze. "Alexander?"
The somewhat portly male husky in question is a relation of one of my mom's friends, who works at the high school as the vice principal. Mel, as his nickname is, almost always calls my first name rather than one of the four other nurses that summon me by surname. Although I was still somewhat distraught over this whole visit, Mel lightened the mood somewhat because I actually felt comfortable around him, rather than the other nurses who are all female
.
"Alriiiiight" he said, stretching the word out as he skimmed the clipboard in his left paw "nice to see you back again. Hope it isn't for anything too bad though!" he finished, now beaming at me.
"Okay, take off those shoes and empty your pockets so we can weigh you in bud." He instructed, setting the scale back to '0lbs' with a button on the LCD.
I stepped on making the reading reach '104lbs'; which he wrote on the yellow paper attached to the clipboard. Afterward, he checked my height; 5' even, and my vitals, which I'm sure were bumped up from anxiety.
"Excellent. I'll be back in in a little bit for your appointment okay? The room to the left at the far end of the hall, if you would." He said pointing and walking towards another room in the opposite direction.
Mom led me to our room and shut the door lightly behind her; then she nodded towards the table and sat in the grey, plastic chair aside the desk where the doctor would soon be sitting, firing endless questions to both her and myself.
"Oh, by the way dear, Doctor Garrison isn't around so Melbourne is taking his place. He is qualified too." She smiled at me, then spoke softer, more to herself than me "he is qualified... I honestly don't see why they won't allow him a doctor position!"
"Oh... really?" my tail fluttered a little and I felt more relaxed; At least Mel wasn't as much of a stranger as my new doctor. Mel knew more about me than Dr. Garrison personally; though less about my medical history. I started to feel uneasy again.
A while later, a knock on the door awakened me from a small nap I decided to take. I had no idea how long I was asleep; possibly only a few minutes even, but I felt better nevertheless. I sat upright and on my tail, which was now flitting around between my legs. Mel enthusiastically grasped my paw and shook it. "Ah... Hello there Mister Alexander; missus Matthews! My goodness how long has it been!" He exclaimed, sitting down and shaking my mom's paw as well.
Mel asked the usual questions: "Allergies? Any current prescription drugs?"
"Mmhm, he's allergic to cherries... the fruit is fine, but the leaves and stems seems to arouse a bad case of hives; As well as blueberries. He's also allergic to scented latex gloves"
"Ouh, boy. I'll just use the poly, then; our latex's smell of lavender." Melbourne interjected with a slight chuckle.
"And he isn't taking medicine as of right now." My mom finished, reciting something she and I were both used too.
He sat at the computer for a moment entering in values and updating growth charts, before speaking again. "Alright Alex... looks like since we last saw you here; you've stayed the same height, and gained about two pounds."
He entered more values, and then swiveled around to face me. "Hey there big guy... still as light as a grasshopper eh?" he smiled, and then groaned in exasperation as he stood from the low-level chair to wash up. He pulled on a pair of dark-grey gloves and walked to me, setting the clipboard on the edge of the counter to my right. "Okay then... you know the first part of this by now." He smiled, checking my ears, eyes, and breathing.
"Everything is good there..." he said, thinking aloud. "Alright then... can you lie down please?"
I complied, my stomach flipping about as I did. He took ahold of my right paw and closely inspected my claws and in between them, and did so for the remaining three paws. He commented that they all appeared fine, and then continued with the examination.
I sighed silently.
"Okay, I know you won't like the next part, but you know how it goes." He sympathized; I only nodded in reply. He pulled my shirt upward and opened my pants up slightly, examining my groin. It only lasted five seconds, but it seemed like it was minutes before Mel re-buttoned my jeans. I sighed in relief, while he started prodding my belly, asking if any places hurt or felt uncomfortable. He then examined my tail and back before telling me I could sit up again.
"Okay... All done with that." he exclaimed, pulling off his gloves and lightly clapping my shoulder. Mom looked up from the magazine she had brought with her as Mel returned to his desk. "Alright... Alex seems to be developing slowly still, although of course he's behind on puberty; he is beginning to shape out as he should." He clicked the computer mouse a few more times. "Hmm... How have the nighttime accidents been lately?" he looked to me with the last part. My ears almost fused with my skull.
"U-uhm. Well... I haven't had any problems for a few days... kinda often still..." I stammered, refusing to look at neither him nor my mom but instead at an unfamiliar white streak in one of my usually black claws.
"Okay..." he said in a normal but surprisingly reassuring tone. "What about your leg buddy... has it been bothering you lately? I have on record that you have problems with your knee quite a lot."
"Oh right... when I bend it too far; it pops and hurts like crazy... It used to do it only when I turned it sideways though"
He stood and nodded, and began inspected my leg for a few minutes, flexing and asking if it hurt or not.
Afterward he smiled and clapped his paws together. He mumbled to himself, quietly enough that I only caught a few words. "Well... I think you are set my man. I think we'll see you back in about a month to check up again. Now, about your knee... I suggest trying a bottle full of hot water... just wrap it in a cloth and then wrap it along with the side of your knee, or you could just take hot baths. I would order a prescription and an X-Ray, but I can't... Otherwise I would order a bit of physical therapy. I think it would help a bit." Mom and I both stood as he opened the door. He lowered his voice and bent closer so only I could hear him. "I know you're sensitive about this, but could you maybe get a notebook or calendar and write down what nights you have an accident for me, and maybe keep track of anything you drink after seven or so?"
My ears flattened and I looked to the floor, feeling somewhat defensive; Mel caught on before I responded.
"Don't worry. If you promise to do the best you can with that, I promise I'll persuade Doctor Garrison to let me see you again next month. I know you get anxious with him more than me." He smiled at me in a way that was more friendly than professional.
I nodded after making a decision. "Yeah.. I will" My ears flattened again embarrassedly as he shook my paw. Mom apparently hadn't noticed our private conversation, but was now beside us.
"Okay then. I believe that's all we need today. You can go up front and schedule an appointment and take off now." He smiled and shook my paw again, then mom's. "Have a wonderful day!"
He left the room and walked down the hall where he stopped at the nurse's station,
"Bye Doctor. " I said as we followed him out and went through the door to the lobby.
*---*
Mom shut the car off and reached to the back seat to grab the food we had stopped to get. I took both of our drinks and waited by the front door, my tail swaying around quickly behind me. As she unlocked the door, I became aware that the day had considerably darkened since we left the clinic. "Maybe it's supposed to rain' I wondered slightly aloud, surveying the now slate grey sky. My suspicion was confirmed as a 'bang' declared the coming storm. The crushing rumble rolled off into the distance as mom shut the door behind us. After we both ate, I decided to go to my room and relax. The storm had intensified, though it wasn't even five grallals from Lowellville. The lightning and thunder were nearly constant, while the winds whipped around so violently I was surprised it hadn't been a tornado cell that was speeding our way.
As I walked into my room, a flash of lightning illuminated for a split second the dresser, the mirror reflecting the light and showing the door to my bathroom on the opposite side of the room. I winced a little as the crash of thunder broadcasted the ever approaching storm.
'I hate storms...'
I definitely wasn't going to take a shower during an electrical storm, so instead I resigned to my bed where I pulled my iPod from under my pillow. I had no headphones, but I did have a handy dock designed to serve as both a speaker system and a charger, which my device desperately needed anyway. 'Seven percent. Really!?' I frowned, "I swear this thing is losing more and more battery life...." After docking my iPod, I pulled my shirt off and tossed it into my bathroom, retired my sore feet from my shoes and socks, and changed into a pair of emoticon pajama pants before pulling the blankets back and laying down. Another cackle of thunder began a quick decrescendo until only the pouring rain was tangible of the storm.
I tapped Shuffle on the display of my iPod and the intro to one of few songs by Breathe Carolina that I like; Blackout, began playing. I closed my eyes, reveling in the sound of music. I had listened to the title to the point of being able to sing along, though some verses still tripped me up. I mumbled some of the words as I traced the lines on my ceiling.
"...Only getting started; I won't black-out . . . let's go a little harder!; I won't black-out
I'm on my way, I'm only getting started.
And I can't see your face. . .
And when you say I'm not okay. . .
I'm only getting' started."
I closed my eyes and sighed, hoping the next song on the shuffle list was one favorable for my mood. I never found out, since I drifted into sleep during the synth solo of Blackout.