Page 33 of Chaos

24

Drex

Day 40

A Little Later

Lexie eyedmy busted up knuckles and silently wrapped them in gauze as she shook her head in disapproval. I think she still tried to be there for me, but seeing me like this overwhelmed her. I knew it, and if I’d known she was working today, a fact Henry conveniently left out when giving me the report on our current patients, I wouldn’t have come in to fill this shift. I owed him, but I didn’t want to further disappoint my sister in the process. She’d tried so hard and long to help me that when I was like this, I avoided her, more so than I normally did. Regardless of how rude I usually was to her, I didn’t want her to feel sorry for me. I could take the intolerable glares and cuss words she spat out of hate toward me, but I loathed the pity that constantly lingered in her eyes. It made me want to write her completely out of my life, and I tried multiple times, but she was so dammed stubborn. She fought me each time and somehow found a way back in… She forced herself back into my life. She was pushy like that and always had been. When we were kids, I was certain she’d become president someday. It was still a possibility in my mind.

I examined our patient and listened to his owner rattle on about her concerns. I loved animals, but their owners, not so much. Well, people in general I didn’t care for, but they were a necessary evil in this line of work. I nodded my head every now and then when I thought I should to let her know I was actually paying attention, even if it didn’t seem as though I was.

“And he’s been chewing on my shoes,” the white-haired woman, whom I didn’t care to learn her name, complained, grabbing her necklace that probably cost more than my entire outfit. Her eyes watched my bandaged hands work, and the judgment was clear in her constant scoffs and held breaths caused by the tiniest movement of my fingers.

“It’s normal. He’s bored or it’s anxiety. Jasper is perfect, ma’am,” I said with little to no emotion, finishing his examination. I gave him a treat, scratching him behind his ears.

“There’s no way my baby has anxiety.” She nervously twisted the charm between her thumb and pointer finger. “I always kiss him before I leave and give him plenty of food,” she hissed while the smell of cigarettes rose from her teased hair as she scooped him into her arms and tightly against her chest.

“Does he have toys?” Lexie interrupted, not giving me a chance to be a dick, which I would have been. We both were very aware of that fact.

“Of course!” She coughed and looked down her nose in our general direction.

“What kind?” I asked, guessing they were expensive things most dogs didn’t care for, judging by the amount of money that was spent on his jeweled collar alone.

She named dog toys that took more effort to pronounce than a dog toy should and I stopped her.

“Does he play with them?”

“Well, no…” She chewed on the inside of her cheek.

“Spend ten bucks on a few toys that only takes one syllable to say their name and he should leave your Louie’s alone,” I unintentionally snapped at her and pointed to the roughened spot on the tip of her pointed shoe, which I was sure she had hoped no one would notice. At times, it was more than difficult for me to be nice to people. Often I came off sour when I didn’t intend to do so.

“I’m sorry. I’m not feeling well,” I apologized and Lexie’s mouth dropped, as she’d not heard those words come from my lips often. “Please call us back and give us an update on Jasper’s chewing if it doesn’t improve.”

Jasper’s owner nodded and stood to leave the room.

“I’ll get you all taken care of at the front.” Lexie followed her out the door and wrinkled her nose behind the woman’s back. She couldn’t stand the woman any more than I could, but she had a clear charisma with people, and it was undeniable that we didn’t share that trait. Hence the reason she worked the front and dealt with them so I didn’t have to.

A raspy meow came from the floor as Wiz wrapped around my right leg and then followed with the left one. I bent and picked him up from the floor, nuzzling my face to his, and supported his back with my forearm as I carried him into my office, closing the door behind us. He curled onto my lap and loudly purred. I knew he missed me, and I definitely missed him. I wished he hadn’t tried to kill Cheddar or he’d still live at my house. It was a hard decision to move him to the vet, but there wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Henry and Lexie would show him the love he needed.

After jottingdown a few notes that I would later type into Jasper’s chart, I lay down with Wiz on the couch.

I wanted to forget my sour mood, but it was a little difficult, considering I hadn’t done so in a long time, other than when I was with Eris. Being near her brought out a blizzard of emotions. Hate. Annoyance. Lust. I cared for her, but I wasn’t willing to accept the depth of how much. Willingness to deny myself happiness was second nature to me, but I couldn’t deny Eris, even if I wanted to. She was a weak spot in my jagged façade. I imagined myself as a black cloud floating in the darkest of nights until Eris. She’d etched the slightest fault line into my otherwise blackened walls, and each time we were near one another it grew, letting the tiniest of sliver of light creep out. Once it was out, I didn’t know how to draw it back in. Now, crepuscular rays battled through the grayest of my edges, giving a silver lining to them. The thing about silver linings was, even if they found themselves unlucky enough to outline a black cloud, they couldn’t prevent the rain. That was the sad truth. Even if Eris brought happiness, she’d never be able to prevent the dreadful storm of my past. At this point, I wasn’t sure I could keep her out of the rain.

The door cracked an inch, and then Lexie’s fingers curled around the edge of the door. She flung it open wide, startling Wiz by the loud creak. He hurried to push his paws off my stomach, nearly knocking the wind from my lungs and then shot around her and out of the office as fast as he was able. I grunted at her and rolled over to face the couch, knowing she wanted to talk about something. The subject didn’t matter. I wasn’t in the mood. She always wanted to talk when we were alone. If I had to guess, I’d think she would question me about my injured knuckles that she’d bandaged for me.

“Sorry,” barely left her lips before someone else completed her statement.

“Wiz,”a faint voice echoed from the front desk, and a familiar giggle soon filled the musty air surrounding me. My teeth gritted with betrayal. Of course, Lexie called Eris. I mean, why wouldn’t she call the one person I didn’t want to see me like this, especially here?

“For fuck’s sake, Lexie. Why in the hell did you call her?” I growled under my breath, got to my feet, and stared into her shocked brown eyes. “You just had to stick your nose in my business, like always, didn’t you?” I slowly shook my head and sharply exhaled, running my hands through my beard out of frustration.

“Listen.” She paused, gathering her thoughts, and I knew she was about to explode as she closed the door behind her. No doubt to keep Eris from seeing her unleash every ounce of hate she held onto. “Drexell Alexander Howell, don’t you fucking dare take this out on me! I didn’t call Eris.” She took two steps toward me, and I took three away from her. Tears swelled beneath her thick lashes, and her lower lip twitched.

“Maybe if you had been more honest and open with her, she would have known you work here, or that you’re a fucking doctor for that matter. She thinks you’re a fucking farmhand.” Her voice shook as she choked out the words while her lip continued to twitch, something it only did when she was beyond pissed and trying to hold back her full anger.

“She comes here to see Wiz. I’ve told her nothing.” She poked my chest with her rounded fingernail and stared upward at me, grinding her teeth, waiting for me to speak.

“Lex.” I started backpedaling, and fast. My temper was horrible, but hers was far worse than mine. I guess she had to get one of the more negative traits, considering I had inherited most of the others. Offering a truce, I held my palms up and took a step backward, my heel hitting the bottom of the couch. Everything she pointed out was the truth. I couldn’t even argue with her.

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