Crazy Stories With The Crew

The Good Doctor - Big But Tame: Part 4

Meanwhile, Shaun and Dr. Glassman were calling Pepper's name and looking everywhere for her.

"Pepper! Come here, girl! Come here!...God, you'd think that a trained dog like her would come once her name was called..." Dr. Glassman said, angrily.

"She's far away. Pepper! Pepper? Come, Pepper! Pepper!!" Shaun yelled.

"If she's far away, then you shouldn't be yelling!" Dr. Glassman said, nudging him. Determined to find her, Shaun continued to call her name. Dr. Glassman rolled his eyes at Shaun's hypocritical nature. As they walked, Shaun started to hear barking coming from a side hall. He eagerly grabbed Dr. Glassman's wrist and followed the sound.

"Shaun, where are we going? Tell me where we're going!" Dr. Glassman yelled. Suddenly, the black and beige dog popped out of the corner and started sprinting towards Shaun. Shaun ignored Dr. Glassman, let go of his wrist and ran towards Pepper. Shaun reached her and hugged Pepper's neck.

"You ran away. Why?" Shaun asked. Pepper barked and looked towards the corner. Shaun looked at Pepper and looked up. He saw Dr. Melendez and Jessica standing in front of the corner. Jessica walked up to them and knelt down.

"Hey, Shaun. I guess you looked after Pepper today?" Jessica asked. Shaun shook his head.

"Dr. Glassman did. I just got tackled. I now know how Frank Gifford felt." Shaun replied. Upon hearing him, Dr. Glassman burst out laughing at the reference. Jessica and Dr. Melendez became very puzzled and they both looked up at Dr. Glassman for help.

"Frank Gifford...That was a good one Shaun." Dr. Glassman said, trying to calm down. He looked at Jessica and Dr. Melendez, and read their expressions of confusion.

"Frank Gifford is a football player that played for the New York Giants for 12 years." Dr. Glassman explained.

"He was a halfback for the Giants and was tacked onto the white line by one of the scariest tacklers in the NFL. His name was Chuck Bednarik." Shaun explained further.

"Huh. Okay." Dr. Melendez replied, very confused, but shoving it off. Jessica put Pepper's collar on, put a brown retractable leash on her and stood back up.

"Alrighty. Thank you, Shaun and Aaron, for looking after my little peppercorn. I'm gonna drop her off at my grandparent's place for now. When my workday is done, I'll pick her up again and take her home." Jessica explained. Shaun nodded and turned the other way.

"Alright. I'll see you around Jessica." Dr. Glassman said before turning around and leaving.

"Alright. Come on Pepper. Let's go to Gigi and Papa's." Jessica said and lightly tugged on the leach.

'But...but Shaun...I never got to say bye to Shaun. Let go of the leash! I wanna say bye!' Pepper thought and started pulling on the leash.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Pepper! Calm down!" Jessica said, clicking the button and pulling back more. Pepper started to bark and push against the leash at the same time.

"Pepper! No!" Jessica yelled and stomped her foot to make her obey. But for the first time, the stomp did not work.

'Just let me say bye to him, and then I'll listen to you! Let ME GO!' Pepper thought and started growling.

"HEY!" Jessica shouted and stomped her foot again. It was ineffective once again. Pepper started whimpering frantically and turned her head to grab the leash.

"HEY! STOP THAT! NO!" Jessica shouted again. She hit the dog's nose to make her behave. Pepper stopped for a split second, but it didn't stop her for long.

Pepper started aggressively growling and biting the leash. Jessica was starting to get nervous about everyone's safety being at risk, because of her dog's rogue actions. She started biting the leash over and over again, to break the one thing stopping her from getting to Shaun one last time. Finally, Pepper separated the black, thin string from her neck. Jessica screamed.

"Pepper's gone crazy!" Dr. Melendez said nervously. He watched as the dog started charging at Shaun and Dr. Glassman.

"SHAUN! LOOK OUT!" Jessica shouted. Pepper turned herself towards Shaun and jumped. Shaun turned around.

"Not again." Shaun thought and covered his eyes this time.

BOOM!

Shaun opened her eyes and looked at his chest. Pepper's face was laying on his chest. He tried to get up, but it felt like an entire whale was lying on top of him. He looked at Pepper from a different angle. It appeared that not only is Pepper's head on his chest, but her entire body was lying down on top of his! Shaun tried to lift himself up again, but the weight was too much. He flopped his head onto the ground.

"I can't get up," Shaun said, slightly smiling at the circumstances. Everyone laughed at Shaun's ridiculous situation. Pepper moved herself up a little and started licking Shaun's face. Shaun smiled more as he tried to stop her slobbery tongue with his hands. Jessica knelt down to Shaun's position.

"Would you like to keep him?" Jessica asked. Shaun looked at Jessica.

"Are you being sarcastic or serious?" Shaun asked.

"First of all, I wouldn't call that sarcasm. I'd call that a joke. Second of all, I'm being serious anyway." Jessica replied. Shaun nodded.

"I would take care of Pepper. But St. Bonaventure Hospital gives me long hours. I don't want to starve her." Shaun explained.

"I understand," Jessica replied. Shaun attempted to push Pepper off, and she soon got the message. Pepper quickly jumped off Shaun and accidentally kicked Shaun's stomach with one of her back legs in the process. Shaun yelped at the sudden loss of breath.

"Yikes!" Dr. Melendez winced, sympathizing with Shaun's sudden pain.

"Oh goodness! Shaun, you okay?" Dr. Glassman asked as he walked over to help him up. Shaun let out an aggressive cough to try and bring some more air into his lungs. Shaun slowly pushed himself up and coughed again.

"I'm okay," Shaun said. His voice had become a little off from the sudden kick to the stomach. Shaun looked down to see Pepper jumping up onto her back legs. He grabbed her paws. He looked into her eyes.

"Goodbye Pepper. I'll miss you." Shaun said. Pepper barked in response.
'Bye Shaun. I'll miss you too.' Pepper thought as she barked once in response. Pepper licked his cheek and brought her front paws onto the ground again. She walked up to Jessica and sat down beside her.

"Oh, now you're gonna listen?" Jessica asked rhetorically. Pepper barked in response.

'Yes. Lead the way, Jessica.' Pepper thought as she followed her owner towards the exit. Dr. Melendez caught up with Jessica and walked beside her. He looked down at her hand.

"So, I guess you won't be needing the leash anymore?" Dr. Melendez asked. Jessica looked at him and smiled.

"Well...Maybe not. But I'll still buy one, just in case." Jessica replied.

"WAIT!" Shaun yelled. Jessica, Dr. Melendez and Pepper turned around. Shaun put his hand down and started fiddling with his fingers.

"P-Pepper has a mind of her own. That's...why she ignored your orders." Shaun stated. Jessica looked down at Pepper and back at Shaun.

"Mmmost owners train their dogs and feel satisfied with presenting less freedom to the dog. But g-good owners...They give the dog a balance of freedom. I told the dog to be quiet, and Pepper went quiet. But she also walked up to me. She felt free to walk up to me, along with quiet." Shaun explained. Jessica looked at Pepper and nodded.

"Alright. Thank you." Jessica said. She looked at the broken leash in her hand and dropped it onto the ground.

"No need for that now. Come on Pepper." Jessica said. Pepper barked and followed her owner.

THE END!