The Box of Little Critter

Chapter Eight

"No," Adam said, shaking his head. His voice was quivering a bit, but he tried to hide it so Tianna wouldn't hear. "How did he just die?"

"He was growing weaker with each passing day sir," the doctor explained. "He passed in his sleep. We tried to do everyth-"

"NO!" Adam yelled. Tianna and the doctor both jumped. "Don't just say you guys did everything you could. If that was true, he wouldn't be dead!" Adam stormed out of the room. Tianna looked at the ground in silence. The doctor sighed, then turned to Tianna.

"I really am sorry for your loss," he said. Tianna didn't respond. "Please see the receptionist for the rest of the paperwork." The doctor then left the room. Once the door shut, she couldn't hold it in anymore. Tears slowly fell down Tianna's face. She didn't cry out. All she did was sit there and cry in silence. She couldn't believe that the last time she saw him was in the hospital. 

Critter is the last thing he gave me, Tianna thought. I'll have to take good care of him. Then Tianna slowly stood up and headed outside to check on Adam. Outside, Adam was sitting on the curb in the parking lot, back facing toward Tianna. Tianna slowly walked up and sat down next to him. After a minute, Adam sighed, then wrapped his arm around her. 

"I'm really sorry this happened," he said. Tianna didn't say anything. "I know how close you two were." 

"Critter," Tianna muttered. Adam looked at her.

"What?" He asked. 

"Little critter," she responded a bit louder. Tianna lifted her head a bit to face Adam. "Little critter was the last thing uncle gave me." Tianna sighed then looked at Adam again. "Ik ga goed voor kleine beestjes zorgen*." Adam gave Tianna a blank stare.

"What did you say?" he asked her. Tianna stood up.

"Don't worry about it," she answered. "Let's go. Kom nou*." Adam stood up, shaking his head, then followed Tianna to the car. 

Once the two got home, Tianna set her purse down then looked around the room.

"Critter!" she called out. "Where are you?" Adam went toward the bedroom and there was little critter, watching the news on tv. 

"What're you doing?" Adam asked. 

"Watching this channel people call the news," critter said. 

"You shouldn't watch that," Tianna said, entering the room. "It's kinda boring to be honest." Adam chuckled. 

"May I eat something?" critter asked.

"Yeah of course," Tianna replied, nodded. She picked him up and headed toward the kitchen. As Adam was about to turn the tv off, something caught his eye. He grabbed the tv remote and turned up the volume.

"..And there have been a couple reports of home owners dead inside their own homes," the reporter said. "There have been claims of them not being normal murder." 

"Weird," Adam muttered, turning the tv off. Then he headed to the kitchen. 

*translation: 

1- "Im gonna take good care of little critter."

2- "Come on"