CHAPTER FIVE
THE ARENA
'Are you sure they're okay this time?' Alex croaks.
'They're always extremely hot-tempered animals,' I assured him. 'You just gotta be lucky to catch them on a good day.'
Yesterday, I'd still tried introducing Alex to the raptors against Owen's advice, and it hadn't gone well. I'd done my best to stay optimistic, but all of them were fiercely riled up from their encounter with the intern falling into the pit, especially Blue. It had been stupid in hindsight, really. I of all people knew that disrespect for nature resulted in a cascade of bad outcomes. The anger from my conversation with my Uncle had clouded my judgement of that.
We'd arrived at the compound extra early so I could properly introduce Delta to Alex without anyone else around. I hadn't slept well. I'd tossed and turned all throughout the night, with the strangest sense that I couldn't fall asleep until I went through with making sure Alex was introduced properly.
I wouldn't be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, even more so now that we were actually here, hours before anyone else would be. I'd never introduced Delta without a cage or muzzle to anyone but Owen, and he was imprinted to her. I'd kept fidgeting with my wrists and fingers all morning.
'Look,' he says, stopping short. There was a silent plea behind his eyes, curls blowing in the early humid winds. 'If they get angry again or anything just, I don't wanna make them feel threatened so, we don't have to do this. It's not fair to them. They'll understand in my report.'
'They're fine, Alex. I promise,' I say. 'You're only meeting my raptor anyway.'
He raised his eyebrows. 'And has she met anyone else before?'
I internally grimace. 'Lots of people,' I lie.
A faint peach light began to illuminate the arena as I quietly opened the gate so not to disturb them. 'We keep them in separate pens to sleep now that they're fully grown, but most of the time they're together unless Delta is training with me or Owen is one on one with Blue,' I whisper as I walk, careful of big gestures with my hands.
Minimising the bark crunching under my feet as best as I could, I approach Delta's gate, Alex carrying my training kit. We stop several yards back, quietly unpacking the instruments.
'Pass me the blue clicker,' I instruct. He fishes out the blue pen and holds it out it to me.
Hitching my breath, I took it between my fingertips, rapidly clicking down my code on the plastic with my thumb until I heard the faint sound of scales brushing the iron walls. 'If I wake them earlier than scheduled, I need to let them know it's me. Owen and I have different sets of clicks so they know who is who.' I slowly shift to unlock Delta's door, pulling the latch away.
'That's incredible,' breathes Alex. 'I'm not surprised though, they're meant to be insanely quick at remembering patterns.'
'Alright, step back,' I say, both of us giving room for Delta to slowly make her way out of her pen.
For a few seconds, we stared into a pitch black holding stall. No movement of any kind. Cautiously, a figure ever so slowly prowled out into the light, a set of sleepy eyes still blinking themselves awake in the early morning setting. Alex's body language stiffens like a solid chunk of arctic rock, trying his best to subtly scuttle behind me.
'It's okay,' I assure. 'She's still waking up.'
It took a moment, but Delta began to recognise my presence, stance softening as she shook out hear head and stretched it back. 'Hey girl,' I coo, extending a palm out to her.
Sniffing the air, she slowly trots over to me, Alex taking several steps back with his breath in his throat. She made a slight sound of confusion, getting close enough that I could gently place a hand over her back. Scales still warm from her being curled up asleep for hours. I ran my fingertips slowly along the scales before bringing them to her cheeks, gently scratching. A soft purr hums from her throat.
Alex stood rooted to his spot, open mouthed and adjusting eyes still pinned open in slight shock. 'She's real,' I assure him. He tucked his hair behind his ears, swallowing loudly.
'C-Can I? Should I-?' he asks, gesturing a quivering hand to indicate patting something.
I swallow. 'Of course.'
Alex mutters something to himself as he wondered how he should go about it, mimicking everything he'd seen Owen and I do over the last couple of days. He made sure to press his shoes firmly into the bark and made his way towards her, jaw clenched and eyes wide. 'Bend your knees more, keep your palm flat and directly up,' I tell him.
A slight snarl was beginning to form in the base of Delta's throat as started to watch Alex move towards her out of the corner of her eye, muscles tensing under my hand.
'Shhhh, hey hey hey, it's okay,' I soothe, gently stroking her cheek. 'It's okay.'
He inches closer, patiently waiting for something to indicate whether he was on track. He seemed terrifyingly alert to the idea the reality of what he was patting, going by everything he'd likely read on a animal like Delta. Wallowing in the idea that it could all go terribly wrong in a matter of seconds if he made the wrong move, no matter how slight.
But there was also an eagerness to him. He had a small stretch of exciting stirring somewhere around inside him; you could just see it in his expression. The upturned, nervous mouth that was almost but not entirely a smile. That the adrenaline he was feeling was exciting him in some way, and it inched him closer, letting his own fascination overcome him, even if he could get him killed. Slowly but surely, Alex was in patting range. He looks to me.
'If she flinches or hisses, back away low to the ground,' I reply.
Alex's shaking fingertips reach out to Delta, hanging in the air for a moment before he brought them down onto the scales. He lowers them down slowly, followed by a palm, until a full hand was on her scaled skin. She remained totally still. Not a flinch or a snarl. Just a quiet blink; a chest rising up and down as she breathed naturally.
Crinkles form around Alex's eyes, a wide, dazzling smile spreading over his entire face, lighting up his eyes as he gently stroked Delta's rib cage. I couldn't help but feel warm—and intensely relived—to see him so excited by her.
His eyes wander over the animal in front of him. 'My Dad would kill me if he saw me doing this.'
I chuckle quietly, watching Alex breathe in his disbelief as he stared and observed. So many things must be going through his head. I could see it in how he stared, working things out, mentally jotting things down, comparing it to what he'd seen and how nothing like this would come close to it.
But a cloud of concern begun rolling over Alex's bright eyes, his gazed now focused on her left hind leg. He bit down on his bottom lip, eyebrows furrowing deeply.
'Everything okay?' I ask, chest hardening a little.
He pulled his hand away from Delta's side, frowning. 'She hasn't been sick in the past couple of months has she?'
My stomach drops. 'Why?'
He looks at me, gesturing for me to come kneel beside him. There was an instant shift in him as I squatted down to his level. He was calm, intently focused on the knowledge swirling around in his head. The kind of calm that the first aid patrons up at the park always had whenever I'd bumped a knee or twisted an ankle as a kid. The kind needed around these animals that people almost always never displayed. He points at a bright pink tissue just above Delta's ankle. It had dozens of tiny bumps running through it, a bone coloured gash running directly through it.
'Oh god,' I breathe, hesitant to put a finger on it. It took up almost half of her ankle. How the hell hadn't I noticed it up until now?
'This scar right,' he explains. 'We see it all the time in animals that are raised in wildlife parks. It's from some sort of injection which, I'm guessing was an immunity jab against an illness she'd been struggling to recover from on her own, but it hadn't been sealed properly after it was done.'
He ran a finger over the scar. 'When animals get sick and need any form of shot, the tiny wound left over needs to be sealed immediately to avoid bacteria getting in. Especially in humid climates. Otherwise, it starts to spread and eat away at the skin, which, it looks like here, dirt has gotten into the wound and made the bacteria spread twice as rapidly because it wasn't sealed.'
My heart started racing. 'So, w-what happens if it gets worse?' I ask.
Alex looked up at Delta, frowning once more. Not at the scar, but at the discomfort it must bring. 'It could start eating away at the bone or spread to the upper body, especially in a humid environment.'
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I KNEW the doctor we'd called in last week was pathetic and couldn't do his job properly. He was chicken shit scared of getting close to her. 'So, what do I need to do?' I ask him.
Noticing my panic, he softens his tone even more. 'There's tonnes of antibiotics you can get, but... in the meantime...'
Alex shrugs off his jacket and began tearing off the left sleeve, yanking away the fabric with a clean rip. He gently folds out the strip of cloth so it was a thin, neat rectangle.
He sits down on his knees. 'Is she alright for me to-?' he asks. I nod.
Cautiously and steady handed, Alex began to slowly wrap the fabric around her leg, tying it sturdily into a double knot. I watched his eyes expertly manoeuvre the fabric around as quickly as possible without disturbing Delta.
'This will keep enough pressure so that it doesn't spread through the blood flow,' he says calmly. 'I'll check with Claire about what antibiotics are available here. She wouldn't be on them for more than a few weeks, and it shouldn't disrupt the cognitive training.'
I look at Alex in disbelief as we stood, mostly at the state of his incredible intellect around an animal he'd been in contact with for barely a few minutes. He watches Delta fondly as he kept stroking her, brushing a hand over her cheek. Next to each other, their frames almost compared up equally. I pick up the training equipment, trying to ignore the sinking feeling of guilt I had once more for how I'd treated him yesterday.
'Thank you,' I say. And I meant it. I was so grateful to have had someone look after Delta in the way almost every damned doctor we'd called in here couldn't. He turns with the same grin that crinkled around his eyes in a formation remnant of a home stitched patch blanket draped over your knees.
'No problem,' he replies softly.
We hold that stare for a second, another thought passing through his eyes. 'If you don't mind me asking,' he says. 'Who treated her?'
'As in what doctor did?'
He nods. 'I mean no offence to this person or anything but...' he looks down at Delta's leg again. 'Not even interns do a job as bad as this.'
I think back to the day. Three weeks ago, hovering closely over Owen's shoulder as we watched the guy dance tentatively around the cage. The needle shaking between his fingertips as he quickly jabbed her, more attention on her teeth than the job at hand. How he quickly backed away from the cage, and how I swore I could hear him whimpering under his breath, but Owen claimed I was hearing things because of how mad I'd gotten silently watching him.
'It was some doctor Ingen sent out to us,' I tell him.
He raises an eyebrow. 'Ingen?'
I grimace. 'My Uncle approves any external service that comes out to our raptors for medical stuff.'
He thought about for a moment. 'Huh,' he huffs gently.
'What?'
Delta's muzzle nudged Alex's lightly in the shoulder. He smiles gently, bringing a hand up to the side of his face to stroke it, eyes going back down to her bad leg.
'If you hadn't of told me that,' he says. 'I'd assume someone did that bad of a job on purpose.'