Max

Convincing Dr. Green

Upon entering the foyer of the hospital, Max paused at the threshold where the low pile carpet of the vestibule ended and the decorative tile began. Sang bumped into Max's back, unable to cease her momentum. Max didn't budge; he was that solid in his stance.

Except for the whole-body shaking. He vibrated from the tips of his orange-blonde hair to his toes hanging over the edge of the borrowed flip flops..

After a few wrong questions and a liberal attempt to interpret Max's choice of words, the rest of the team eventually figured out why he was so apprehensive to enter the hospital.

"The vet office has the same floor tiles," Kota explained, "and the last time Max had to go there was after the junkyard incident." The hint of extra inflection in the words was the only clue that 'incident' was Academy related.

Whatever that incident entailed, Max must have gotten the short end of the stick. Kota had to lead Max by his hands across the lobby and past the Welcome Desk as Sang and Victor alternated tapping the underside of his chin to remind him to look up at the ceiling instead of the floor.

Poor Max fared worse in the elevator. He simply did not understand the sensations of the car moving and changing elevation to descent to the basement level. On top of that, he could not seem to be able to wrap his mind around how the outsides of the little room changed in the few seconds the stainless steel doors were closed.

Dr. Green was waiting in the hall, just in front of the sign that said the floor was for employees only. His first glimpse of Max was the frightened man on his butt, hyperventilating and scrambling back into a corner of the elevator.

Kota had to say, "Heel!" in his team leader voice to get him out as Victor held the doors from closing.

Dr. Green ignored the oddities and held out a hand toward the strange man. The doctor was not give a single clue as to why his friends were bringing a stranger to their office, and he did his best not to make any judgements until he was briefed.

Yet, his green eyes with the hint of a hazel circle in the middle still observed quietly, noting things like how this newcomer stared awkwardly at the offered hand until Kota told him to 'shake.' Then the handshake was one-sided, as Dr. Green was the only one to facilitate the up and down movement.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Dr. Sean Green," he introduced himself with a smile that did not betray that his mind was already whirling with thoughts, analyses, and possible explanations to the situation.

Mr. Blackbourne nodded his head toward the office his team claimed as their own. "Let's finish acquainting ourselves in a moment."

Dr. Green understood the unspoken message behind his best friend's words: we need privacy.

Whatever was on their plate was very interesting if the boss wanted to hide this person from the eyes the Academy had everywhere. How exciting!

When everyone piled into the office with the window painted on the back wall, Dr. Green stood by the table covered with stacks of paper files and watched the flip-flopped stranger move to all four corner of the room. Without being asked, the man inspected the space in a way that resembled their own method of a quick security sweep.

One he was done, he stood in front of Kota and reported an, "All clear."

Interesting, Dr. Green thought to himself. He already recognizes Kota as leader. Maybe the boys were thinking of adopting this guy.

"So!" Dr. Green clapped his hands together to draw everyone's attention to his beaming smile. "Who do I have the honor of meeting today?"

"Well...ah..." Kota flustered.