Blood Against Ivory

Love Puppy

Lunch was over, and that meant putting aside my nocturnal thoughts and getting back to work. I had a patient in the afternoon that needed some blood tests. I was about to head back down the hall when I heard a noise to the opposite of me.

"Disgusting!" A screech filled the air, toned with the same malice I have heard before. I spun my heels around and walked towards the waiting room, where the voices were coming from.

"I saw that!" It was shrill, crazed with lunacy. I could only sense a bubbling fight ready to boil from those words.

I burst through the corridor, recognizing the voice that followed.

"Ma'am, I-"

"Keep your mangy mutt away from my daughter!" A maniacal woman screamed at the nurse. Her eyes were the size of dinner plates, her mouth chucking out missiles of anger. Rage was screaming across her face, startling everyone in the waiting room. She was clutching a toddler to her side, who looked mortified of her mother's outrage. The nurse who she was yelling at, was pleading, worry building up in her big black eyes. 

I recognized those eyes. The eyes that made me feel like my hands were firecrackers and my chest a roaring ocean.

"Your slobbery dog is gonna give her rabies! Where's a doctor!? She needs a doctor, it's an emergency!"

The waiting room had little to no patients, and the ones that were there were just watching in awe or terror. There were no staff watching this go down except for the nurse being ridiculed. If I stepped in, I wouldn't know if it would escalate or deescalate the situation. You must be very mindful of what species you throw into the mix.

"Rabies I tell you!" The woman was screaming at the top of her lungs, inches away from the poor nurse's face. With her dark hairy arms, she held onto her own infant. No more than a few months old, pressed into her mother's chest.

Yeah, it doesn't matter what species I am, that's my co-worker. She's more than that... She's...

"I'm a doctor," I stepped in, trying to block the crazy woman from lunging at the innocent nurse. My mind went blank. My frustration is suppressed by my medication, so it silences my inner thoughts. "What seems to be the problem?"

I could feel the staff's heavy breathing on my back. But what was more important was the hideous woman in front of me.

"This lady!" She sputtered. "No, no- This werewolf! Her spawn has contaminated my child! Her creature grabbed my baby girl and started biting her! This is inexcusable! She needs rabies treatment right away!"

"Ma'am," I explained politely, feeling a bit out of place. "Vaccinated werewolves don't carry rabies."

"Where are the receipts? How do you know she's clean?"

"Ma'am, we're in a public space, a clinic, in fact. Can you please lower your voice, and explain to me what happened."

"How many times do I have to tell you? Her spawn!" She pointed over to the daycare center behind me, where the nurse was now cradling her crying baby. "That tiny werewolf bit my daughter! With no warning! She should be wearing a muzzle!"

"Let me see the damage," I spoke in a calm manner, reaching my hand out to check the little girl's limbs for any marks. Of course, I was just biding my time. Eventually someone in the waiting room must have called for security. All that I need to do is pretend like I'm doing my job. Her skin remained the same shade and no injuries were visible. But she looked shaken. Maybe from the monster child or from her monster of a mother.

"Ma'am, I see no blemishes or anything. Are you sure she was bitten? It's not a good moral standard to falsely accuse the innocent."

"She's not innocent! Fire her!" She demanded. I gritted my teeth awkwardly.