Stonetor, Canada.

Chapter 4 - Animal Emergency

Denis and Albert walk into the vet's office and are greeted by a woman in blue scrubs, her brown hair tied in a neat bun.

"Hey Albert, we just finished stitching his leg up." The lady notices Denis. "Oh hello there! I'm Dr. Doe. What brought you here today?" She asks.

"Well, my name is Denis, and I was out and about with Albert when he got the call."

"Nice to meet you, Denis." Denis and Dr. Doe shake hands.

Denis and Albert are led into the room where the dog lays on a metal table. It's a mutt like most strays around here, but has a distinct black and white pattern. Upon further inspection, Albert notices that this poor dog has pretty matted fur. One of the doctors standing at the table realize what he's staring at.

"Don't worry, we'll work on getting him shaved right away. He doesn't have any fleas or anything like that to worry about." She says to him. Dr. Doe walks in the room.

"How's he doing?" She pets the dog on the head.

"Oh, he's doing alright." The other vet says. "He's being very calm."

"So, I guess he doesn't have a name." Albert says.

"No, he didn't have a collar on and isn't microchipped." Dr. Doe says to him. "So how many animals are you holding?" She asks.

"Two right now." Albert says, looking at the dog.

This entire time, Denis has been watching this exchange in fascination. Albert is clearly familiar with the vet's office, and it seems like they have a routine down.

"Well, you guys can sit in the waiting room, this may take a minute." One of the vets says to him and Albert. Once they get in the waiting room, Denis is the first one to speak.

"So how do you guys pay for this?" Denis asks.

"Well, we have a monthly payment deal going on." Albert says. "We collectively pay for this every month so we can do this free of charge. Kind of like a subscription."

"Oh, that's neat." Denis says.

They sit in silence for a minute, then Albert speaks up.

"Sorry for making that bowling alley thing end early." Albert apologizes.

"It's okay, I didn't mind coming here with you." Denis reassures. "I think this is neat, and it's cool that I got to see the whole process."

Denis and Albert keep chatting, and Dr. Doe steps out of the small room.

"He's ready!" She announces from the door. Denis and Albert follow her into the room. Already, the dog looks much more happy to be there now that he's been shaved of the matted fur, even though he's wearing a cone because of the stitches.

"He's a really cute dog." Denis says, petting him.

"And we just finished giving him all of his shots, too." Dr doe says.

"Well, now I gotta take him home and get him situated." Albert notices.

"What are you gonna name him?" Denis asks.

"I don't know yet. Let me go get my pet carrier from my car." Albert says before he briefly walks out of the vet's office.

Now it's just denis and Dr. Doe in the room. Dr Doe attempts to make small talk with Denis.

"So, how long have you and Albert known each other?" She asks.

"Oh, just a couple days." Denis answers.

Albert comes back with the carrier and sets it on the vet table. There's a treat inside of it, so the dog walks inside to eat it. Albert closes the carrier's door and picks it up.

"Thank you Dr. Doe!" Albert says.

"Thank you for taking him! I wish you luck finding a name!" She calls out.

Denis and Albert step out of the vet's office.

"Well, I guess now's the time we part ways." Denis says.

"Yeah, I guess so. I hope I see you soon though" Albert says.

"Hope the new dog gets along with the others."

"I hope so too. Bye Denis!"

"Bye Albert!"

Albert puts the carrier in the passenger seat of his car and places it in a way where it won't move around. "Hate to keep you in here, but it's a safety precaution." He says to the dog.

He starts the car, and begins to drive home. For some reason, he wanted to give Denis a goodbye hug. They've only known each other for a few days, but Albert feels a strange connection to Denis, a feeling like he just wants to be by his side constantly.

Albert's not In love with him or anything. He just thinks Denis is cute, that's all. Albert doesn't even think he has a chance with him whatsoever. His last relationship was with that douchebag a couple years ago that he told Denis about, and he's just been rejected ever since. Three times, by three different guys.

Albert shortly gets home and brings the new dog indoors. He has a guest bedroom for new animals, because sometimes immediately putting new dogs with the dogs he already has doesn't go well. But first, he needs to give this dog a bath, since the vet's office doesn't do that.

As he makes his way to the bathroom, He's greeted by socks. The little dog sniffs at the cage excitedly. "Hey Socks!" Albert greets as socks wonders who's in the cage. Albert puts the cage in the bathtub and opens it, where the new dog walks out into the tub. Socks sits outside of the tub and watches what's going on.

Albert has had Socks for over a year now. He's up for adoption, but everyone always glosses over him for "cuter" dogs or "better" breeds. Socks most closely resembles a fat little chihuahua, but like most of Albert's dogs, he's a mutt of sorts.

Albert removes the cage from the bathtub, and the new dog gets more comfortable in his surroundings. He turns the water on through the shower, and waits until the water warms up to begin washing the dog, being careful not to disturb the newly stitched wound. Socks watches, tail wagging as Albert does his thing.

Albert thinks of Denis again. He wonders what that man could be doing right now, and if he'll come up with a name for the dog. Albert is pretty bad at naming things, especially animals. You'd think he'd get better after doing it for so long, but he can't just instantly name an animal like Kaden can.

Should he even put all of his trust in Denis anyways?

Albert finishes washing the new dog, and quickly wraps him in a towel before he shakes and gets water everywhere. He takes him to the holding room and sets him on a dog bed. "There you go." Albert says while petting him. Socks waits outside the door with his tail wagging, knowing he's not allowed into the room.

Albert continues petting the dog, thinking of what he'll do tomorrow. He needs to go by the grocery store in the morning...