AMA-Con: The Compilation

Kibbles Chapter 5

v105.1: Three at Three

Everyone was there, thought Philip -- his master, Miss Maine, and Mr. Nico. Even Snoodles and Pettigrew rushed to the clinic, to see how things were. Philip heard his master saying that Globie, along with his master, Richard Sr., will be dropping by later this evening. However, while Philip found a bit of comfort in all of them being there, he couldn't sit still. The image of Nini's face this morning -- trying to remain calm but obviously in great pain -- pricked his brain like porcupine needles. That was this morning. Philip looked up the clock. Short hand on two. He could hear every tick like a hammer.

For the love of God, Philip swore under his breath, what's taking her so long? Can't she just puke them out, or pop them out? Dammit, Body-Joint, hurry up!

He saw Snoodles and Pettigrew talking to Miss Maine. She seemed to have bitten all her nails, and twisted all the tissues she could find. His master, on the other hand, was beside her, trying to calm her nerves, and giving her a wide smile every now and then, while squeezing her tense shoulders.

"Hmpfh. Let's see if you'll still be all smiles when this happens to HER, dimple face," Philip muttered.

His master, then, met his eyes and walked to where he was, crouched down, and gently ruffled the reddish-brown fur on his head.

"Hey, buddy," his master said, in a low tone. "Don't worry. We prayed about this every day, remember? Everything will be fine, no matter what."

Philip stood up and put his head on his master's arm. I don't know about you, master, he thought, but 'no matter what' doesn't cut it for me right now.

A block of minutes went by, then another, and then another. At three PM, Dr. Yan stepped out of the operating room and approached the group. Philip saw his face, but he couldn't figure out whether things were good or bad. The doctor's expression gave nothing away.

He heard the doctor speak. "Well, Nini now has three small puppies. Two boy puppies and one girlie puppy. We've put them in the in the incubator for a few hours before bringing them back here, just to make sure they are all right. After all, it took quite a while to get them out."

Then, he heard Miss Maine speak. "That's great, doc, I'm so relieved that the puppies are okay. Is Nini all right? Can we see her?"

The doctor didn't answer right away.

"Pete," said Philip's master, calling the doctor by his given name and putting a hand on the doctor's shoulders. "What is it?"

The doctor let out a sigh.

"Bloody hell, doctor," growled Philip, trying to restrain his compulsion to bite the doctor's legs out of impatience, "Out with it!!! Leaving us hanging, why don't you?"

The doctor looked at Philip, then looked at the rest. "Remember that twenty percent I told you about the last time? We crossed it. We tried to box in the effects of the C-section, but – "

When Philip's ears picked up that three-letter word, he ran past everyone else and barged into the room, where Nini was.

He saw her.

And he let out a long, primal howl.

*bark*