Page 83 of The Baby Dragon Cafe
“Ready to go in?” Saphira asked. Aiden opened his mouth to reply when his phone rang. He pulled his phone out, then winced.
“Ah, it’s my father,” he said. “I have to take this.”
“No worries,” she replied. “I’ll go check us in.”
Saphira headed inside with Sparky while Aiden answered his phone. She walked up to the receptionist who was busy typing something into her computer.
“Hi! I’m here to check Sparky in for his appointment.”
The receptionist looked up, then did a subtle double-take, blinking; she was clearly surprised to see Saphira with a dragon.
Saphira bristled.
Before the receptionist could say anything, Aiden rushed in, coming to stand beside Saphira. “Sorry about that.” He put a hand on her back. “Checked in okay?”
“Just a moment.” The receptionist did something on her computer, then gave Aiden a big smile. “You’re all set. You can go to the waiting room and you’ll be called in.”
Aiden kept his hand on Saphira’s lower back as they walked over to the waiting room, where there were other small animals like baby chimeras and baby griffins and baby phoenixes. The Animal Hospital on Main Street was mainly for the babies; the veterinarians did house calls for the fully grown animals whenever there were any problems, since they couldn’t exactly easily fit into a small building.
When they sat down in the chairs, Sparky leapt from Saphira’s arms.
“Sparky!” Saphira chased after him, and he growled at her, trying to fly away. Despite all of his training, he really did not want to be here. The medicine Aiden had given him this morning was supposed to help him relax, but it had only succeeded in making him more agitated.
She caught him in her arms, and he squirmed, inhaling as if to blow a puff of smoke at her. Saphira gave him a frown.
“Sparky, no,” she scolded, and he acquiesced, though he clearly was not happy about it.
Saphira sat down again with a sigh. “I don’t get it,” she said to Aiden. “He was fine on Mount Echo, which was so much worse than a few shots.”
“Don’t worry.” Aiden put his hand on her thigh. “It’ll be over soon.”
A few minutes later, Lavinia poked her head into the waiting room, scanning. When she spotted Saphira and Aiden, her face lit up.
“Hey guys!” She came over.
“You look so official!” Saphira said, impressed. Lavinia wore a white coat with a name tag and even had a stethoscope around her neck. “I’m so proud!”
“A real professional,” Aiden added.
“Thank you, thank you.” Lavinia did a little bow, smiling. “You guys can follow me.”
Saphira stood, still holding onto Sparky so he wouldn’t get ideas about running away again.
“And how’s our little baby doing?” Lavinia asked, petting Sparky with both her hands. She looked up at Aiden and Saphira then. “You know a lot of the babies try running away or setting things on fire when they’re getting checked in, but Sparky-Pie is being such a good boy.”
Sparky was pleased by the praise, even if it was false, and he settled in Saphira’s arms, enjoying the attention. As they followed Lavinia into one of the rooms, he remained calm.
It helped that he already knew Lavinia as a friendly face, and though he fussed a bit on the hospital cot, he stayed largely well-behaved as Lavinia ran the preliminary checks and took his vitals before the veterinarian came in to administer the shots.
As Lavinia checked the inside of Sparky’s mouth, Saphira’s phone buzzed. Checking it, she saw a text from Calahan, asking where the napkin refills were stored.
“I’ll be back in a sec,” Saphira whispered to Aiden. He nodded, and she slipped outside, walking down the hall a bitso they wouldn’t hear her in the room and get distracted. As she instructed Calahan on precisely where to look, she saw the vet going into the patient room that Sparky was in.
“Cal, hold the fort a little longer, okay?” she said into the phone. “Sparky’s about to get his shots, so I have to go.”
“You got it, boss.”
She hung up, then headed for the room.
