I N S T I N C T | Jackson Whittemore

50: i hate u

I Hate U
Chapter 50

Annie sat on Deaton's counter, doing some of the homework she had successfully been pushing off till the last minute before summer break. This kind of behavior was typical for most teenagers, but not for Annie.

She was the star student, whose grades had recently plummeted to a less than 2.8 average. It's not that she didn't know the material, she could fly straight through biology and chemistry and geometry, but it was the simple fact that she had no time to focus, to be reverent in the learning.

So when Scott had to go to work and offered to take her with him, claiming that Deaton wouldn't mind, she absolutely took the offer.

Deaton being the kind man he is, knows when someone's heart is true, and let her right through the mountain ash gate and into his facility.

So while Scott and Deaton were in the clinic room with Polly, one of their patients, Annie sat at the front desk and manned the phones while doing her homework. Polly's parents weren't supposed to come pick her up from the clinic until later that evening, and Deaton specifically told Annie her job would be excellently easy because no one else would be coming in.

So imagine her surprise when not just anyone walked in... but her one and only ex-love, Isaac Lahey.

Deaton had just injected Polly with her first dose of chemo-therapy for her cancer. This is the one time he disliked his job, when the loss of life played in. Especially to something as nasty, and as incurable as cancer.

Hearing the bell on the door, Deaton called out to Annie, "Annie, who is it?" politely.

When he got no response, he figured the young girl had just fallen asleep. He couldn't blame her after everything she'd been through recently. Scott told him the story of her coming over to his house, her grandfather, about everything. Although, Deaton somehow already knew.

Deaton always seemed to know everything, before everyone else.

"Scott, do you mind seeing who that is?" he smiled, asking his young prodigy.

Soon, he hoped, Scott would take over his place in the veterinarian clinic once he was too old for the job. He could only hope Scott would find his true potential by then.

Scott nodded, finding no problem in going and checking for his boss and friend. Although, he was quite shocked to open the door and see Annie hugging Isaac tightly around the waist.

It was strange, seeing Isaac without the commands of Derek resting on his shoulders. Really, he looked like the average boy, but it was still strange to see him at the clinic.

What would draw him there?

Deaton knew Isaac's heart was true, so he smiled, and stepped forward to open the door, "It's okay, Isaac... We're open."

Annie pulled away from her hug, giving the boy a small smile and entering the gate into Deaton's clinic. She wasn't sure what suppressed her to hug her ex-boyfriend, but she felt like she should, and actually... that was exactly what Isaac needed.

Following Annie into the clinic, the four of them all joined in one of the lab rooms, where Polly was still laying, working through her treatment. As soon as Isaac stepped into the room, his nose stuck up, "Why does it smell like that?" Annie immediately smirked, looking at Deaton. "What?" Isaac questioned.

"Scott said almost the same thing to me a few months ago," Deaton said, looking down at Polly. "One day he could somehow tell the difference between which animals were getting better..." he paused, giving Polly a soft stroke between her eyes, "and which were not."