Bound (The Grandor Descendant Series Book 3) by Bell Stoires Read Free Book Online Page A

alright. Calm down. Let’s have a look at the poor beast,” Dr Fellow said quickly, cutting off Ari’s ramblings and removing the stethoscope from around his neck. “Hmm,” he said, placing the stethoscope against the fox’s chest. “Ariana, come and listen to this. What do you think is going on?”
     
    Ari moved over to the fox, who was staring back blankly at her, it’s large round eyes fixed desperately on her. As she placed her stethoscope to its chest, the animal let out a small whimper.
     
    “Haemothorax?” whispered Ari. “Or, maybe pneumothorax?”
     
    “What’s that? Oh yes, pneumothorax, exactly, probably happened when it was hit by the car,” said Dr Fellow. “This means that air is separating the pleural surface of the lung lobes from the thoracic cavity.”
     
    “So what do we do?”
     
    “Nothing we can do,” he said. “The air in its lungs is preventing it from ventilating properly. It would need x-rays, a chest drain placed and intense hospitalisation to try and save it, and because it is wildlife and considered a pest in this area, our hands are tied.”
     
    She watched with horror as Dr Fellow began searching the cupboards, finally retrieving a large bottle of thick green liquid, lethobarb, the barbiturate that would give the animal an overdose of anaesthetic and put it to sleep. Ari was just about to ask if there was some way that might be able to justify treating it, when the fox began to growl and convulse.
     
    “Why is it doing that?” she asked, looking down at the writhing animal.
     
    “It may be rabid, or having a seizure from increased intracranial pressure. Have you had your rabies vaccinations?”
     
    Immediately Ari nodded, though this wasn’t true. Australia didn’t have rabies, it had Lyssa virus, and it was not a requirement of the course back home to get vaccinated for it, as it was such a rare disease. She did not however want Dr Fellow to know this.
     
    “Hold the vein up for me Ariana. I don’t think we should make it suffer any longer. Make sure it doesn’t bite you,” he said. “I’m just going to get some gauze.”
     
    Ari moved cautiously back towards the small animal, feeling a great sense of grief. She knew that death was a part of this job but there was something cruel about euthanizing this animal; it just didn’t feel right.
     
    “But couldn’t we just…” Ari began to say, until she noticed something strange around the fox’s neck. Looking down more carefully, Ari realised that there was a small silver chain around its neck. “What the?” she said, staring at the jewellery in absolute confusion.
     
    “Have you got it?” asked Dr Fellow, still with his back to her as he reached for a pair of clippers. “Just give me a moment.”
     
    “Yes, but…” said Ari, about to make mention of the silver chain, until something very strange happened.
     
    The small fury arm that she was restraining was becoming larger. Within her grasp she could feel it expanding, pushing her fingertips further and further apart, until she could no longer wrap her hand around the animal at all. At exactly the same time, she felt the animal go limp in her arms. Then the sound of a thousand tiny snaps and an odd tearing noise filled the small consult room. Looking down, Ari gasped, threw her hands into the air and stopped time, just before Dr Fellow turned around to administer the lethobarb.
     
    “Jesus Christ! Chris, get in here!” Ari screamed, now looking down at a naked girl lying on the table, whose brown eyes exactly mirrored the same shape and colour of what the fox’s had been.
     
    Ari moved to the girl quickly, sweeping her long hair out of the way so as to place her stethoscope against her chest, listening carefully for a heartbeat and making sure her stethoscope was turned on. The heart beat was there but it was faint, and Ari knew that they had to get this girl to the hospital, quickly. As she placed her fingers near the girl’s neck to