A Friend In Need...

Plus there were the other scheduled appointments for the day. Half a dozen cats in for a regular check-up, two dogs for a rabies shot, and a rabbit that was slightly pregnant. Plus the infinite number of walk-ins.

"What a day to overbook," Theresa sighed as she sank into a chair next to him. She looked as exhausted as he felt.

"I think I'm going to go to bed tonight and sleep for a month," Joel declared.

"I'd join you," she replied with a tired smile. "If I could, that is."

"At least we're finished with the regular stuff for the day," Joel pointed out. "Now we just have to see what happens with that dog."

"Yeah," Theresa replied. She frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just worried about him."

"Oh?"

"I don't know, it's the strangest thing, but I just have this feeling like I've seen that same dog before," she finally explained.

"Well, you have seen lots of golden retrievers over the past ten years or so," Joel agreed.

"No, it's not that." Theresa shook her head. "I just have this feeling that I've seen that exact dog somewhere before." She sighed. "I know, it doesn't make sense."

Joel shrugged. "I think maybe you might be sleep deprived," he informed her, and she had to laugh at that.

"Could be," she agreed.

The door to the waiting room opened and both turned to see the small boy and his uncle that had come knocking at their door at one in the morning.

"You guys look exhausted," the man commented.

"I am," Joel and Theresa replied in unison, and then both laughed.

The four made their way to the back room where the dog was staying. He seemed to be in about the same state as he had been at one in the morning.

The boy, Theresa noted, seemed extremely anxious about the dog. He hugged the dog around the neck even though it was asleep.

"No change?" the man asked, and Joel shook his head.

"He's still sleeping like a puppy," he replied.

"The blood tests will be back in the morning," Theresa explained. "They'll probably be able to tell us just what's going on."

"Right," the man agreed.

Joel turned to the boy while Theresa explained the technical aspects of the evaluation to the man.

"How long have you had him?" he asked the boy quietly.

The boy looked up from the dog. He was silent a moment. "As long as I can remember," he replied finally, his voice very soft and quiet.

"What's his name?" Joel was certain that the boy must have told him before, but he had been too tired to notice.

"Peanuts." This reply was even softer than before.

Peanuts?. Joel was surprised for a moment.

'I keep feeling that I've seen this exact dog somewhere before,' he remembered Theresa saying only a few minutes earlier.

It's a common name, Joel assured himself. It couldn't be the same dog. No way. That was, what, ten years ago? Before we were married. Couldn't be. That dog would be ancient.

But still....

"Are you okay?" the boy's voice asked, pulling Joel out of his confused state. He must have noticed that he had drifted off.

"Yeah," Joel replied. He shook his head. "Just thinking. I'm Joel, by the way," he added. "And that's Theresa." He gestured towards the other side of the room.

"I'm Thomas," the boy replied. "And that's my Uncle Mike." Joel nodded.

"I think there's something Tom and I should tell you both," Mike spoke up then, catching Joel's attention. He and Thomas both looked up. "It's gonna be hard to believe, but it's true, and it might be important."

Theresa and Joel exchanged glances. A single thought passed through both their minds. Something strange and important? What could it be?

"I think you might want to sit down for this," Thomas spoke up in a soft voice.

Joel and Theresa both agreed, sitting down in a few nearby chairs.

"What is it that's so weird?" Joel asked. Thomas looked at him with eerie eyes, and he shuddered.

"It's gonna be hard to believe," Mike repeated himself. "But it's the truth."

Joel and Theresa looked at each other and nodded. "Okay," Theresa replied. "Go ahead."

"The dog on the table is not really a dog," Thomas informed them in a straightforward voice.

"It's not?" Joel asked.

"No," Thomas replied.

"Ah-hah," he declared jumping up. "I knew it!"

Mike and Thomas stepped back a few steps. "You did?"

"Of course," he replied, stepping over to the "dog". "It's not a dog, it's a mutant hamster."

Now Mike and Thomas exchanged glances. Then muffled laughter. Then both burst out laughing.

"Um...not quite," Mike replied when they had finished.

"Oh." Joel frowned and thought a moment. "Not a mutant hamster?"

Both shook their heads.

"Oh. Then I give up."

"It's a human being." Thomas informed him.

"It is?"

Joel examined the dog with some scrutiny. He looked under his ear flaps and lifted an eyelid. "You sure?" he asked after a moment. "I could have sworn it was a mutant hamster. Or a dog, even."

Theresa rolled her eyes. "Joel," she said in a warning voice.

He took that to mean he should stop making jokes, so he did. Reluctantly. He sat down again with a sigh. "Coulda sworn it was a mutant hamster," he mumbled softly.

Theresa sighed. "It's not a dog?" she asked Mike.

"No. It's a human being."

"I'm afraid I don't see it."

"It's kind of a long story," Mike told her. "I hope you've got time."

Joel glanced at his watch. Theresa elbowed him. "Yeah, we've got time. Just let me lock the door."

Mike nodded, and Theresa got up to shut the door and close the office for the day. Thankfully there were no other patients in the waiting room. She returned a moment later, and Mike prepared to begin the story.

"Okay. I'm ready."

Thomas sat on an examining table behind Mike. "It all started before I was born," he began.

"Yeah, that's why I'm tellin' this part," Mike interrupted. "About a year before Thomas was born I gave m'self a birthday trip up to Alaska."

"Alaska?" Joel interrupted.

"Yeah, Alaska. Don't ask why. I don't know why. But I went to Alaska and it was cold. Got lost in the woods and nearly froze to death. Thankfully I found a small cabin where a nice lady lived and she let me stay there."

Joel and Theresa nodded. So far the story seemed plausible.

"While I was up there some weird stuff happened. But we won't get into that. Not important right now." Mike waved his hand aside to show that the matter was of little interest to the story. "Friend of mine came up looking for me. Since I didn't tell anyone where I was going."

"That's when it starts to get weirder. He rented a dog sled to get up here, and while he was on his way the driver of the sled was attacked by a ferocious wolf."

Both the listeners gasped. "Dangerous," Joel commented.

"Yep. The driver ended up getting killed and my friend was badly injured. Thankfully it was near where I was staying and so I found him and took him in."

"That's when it gets weird," Thomas interrupted.

"Right," Mike agreed. "See, me and Pete had both managed to come down with a nasty little disease."

"Werewolf," Thomas interrupted again.

Both Theresa and Joel jumped. "You're joking!" Joel gasped.

"Werewolf?" Theresa asked. "That's...that's not possible!"

Mike shook his head. "It is," he replied.

"But...he's not a wolf, he's a harmless dog!" Theresa pointed out.

Mike waved it aside. "I know," he replied. "I'm not sure why. All I know is that dog happens to be one of my best friends."

"And my dad," Thomas added softly.

Theresa and Joel stared at Mike, then at Thomas, then at the dog, at each other, and then back at the dog.

"I know it's hard to believe, but that's the truth," Mike replied.

"Why are you telling us?" Theresa asked.

"You have a right to know," Mike replied with a shrug. "You are his doctor, for the moment, and whatever's affecting him could be related to that."

"But it's not a full moon right now," Joel pointed out. "It's the middle of the day. And anyway isn't that how it works out? That they're only a werewolf...weredog...whatever...during a full moon?"

"Not this time," Thomas replied. "He has a limited amount of control over it."

"He and I were both cured of the full moon stigma about a year ago," Mike replied. "But Peter can still turn into a dog. When he got sick he figured it'd be safer to come here than a human doctor."

"He wanted to come here?" Joel asked.

Thomas nodded. "He asked specifically for this place. Gave us directions here."

"But why here?" Theresa asked.

"He said that he used to know you guys and that you'd be the best ones for the job," Mike replied.

There was a long silence. Theresa stared at the dog and Joel stared at the storytellers, neither one believing entirely what was going on.

"Okay," Theresa replied finally. "I'll buy it."

"You'll what?" Joel asked.

"I'll buy it," she repeated.

"Why?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Either way I think I'm gonna keep doing what I was doing...trying to figure out what's wrong with this dog. But I think I'm gonna keep what you told me in mind. He does seem a little strange in a way that I just can't define."

Thomas and Mike nodded. "Don't tell anyone," Thomas warned in a low, deeper voice.

Theresa and Joel both shook their heads. "I don't think anyone would believe it," Joel stated. "I'm not sure I do."

"You will. When he gets better then you'll believe it," Thomas answered knowingly.

It was dark when Peter finally awoke. He wasn’t sure where he was at first. His eyes opened slightly and he looked around him. There wasn’t much to see, especially in the dark.

’Where am I?’ he wondered. Using his extra sensitive nose, he sniffed the air. He smelled a few people that he knew, but they hadn’t been there for a few hours. And he smelled medicines and cleaning supplies.

’The vets!’ he remembered suddenly. ‘I’m at the vets!’ He tried to get up, but then gave up. He was still in pain. Bones, muscles, and tendons – everything hurt. With a sigh, he sank down again.

‘Wonder how long I’ve been here,’ he thought to himself. There was no one to answer him, so asking it was pointless. ’And I wonder what’s wrong with me.’

Still exhausted, the half dog, half human called Peter slowly fell back to sleep for the rest of the night.

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On to part five

Author's Note: Sorry, but there are No mutant hamsters in this story. Hate to dissapoint.

:-)