Checking Up and Checking Out

For some reason, instead of packing crates, they all had to go to the hospital. Tepic had gone over a little early, he had been in hospitals before, and knew you had to get in with the nurses if you wanted to avoid complications. He had a small flask of urchin spirits which he offered to the nurse who was always a little lubricated. She took it and hid it away, promising any needles would be clean and sharp. Then he sat down against the railings and drifted into sleep.

He was woken by the other urchins when they were called into the hospital lobby to stand in line, waiting. Several others went in before him and he was almost asleep when the nurse materialised in front of  him and he was ushered into the first room.

It was odd, the doctor had been swallowed by a snake, which was standing up in the doctor’s clothing. It was a polite enough snake, and instead of eating Tepic it asked him to lay down on a nice comfortable bed, must have know he was a bit tired. It was just possible he dozed off for a moment, or there could have been some questions, he wasn’t quite sure, but at least there weren’t any needles or medicine. Then just as he was settling in for a good nights kip, they had him get up and go on to the next room.

The doctor there didn’t want him to sit in the chair for some reason, which was a shame as it looked very inviting. There was a strange nurse there, something in his nose was telling him to be careful around her, still, it hadn’t been so reliable since working in the factory with all those chemicals. Then the doctor had him look at some pictures. The first was just a couple of voles, strange a doctor would have pictures of voles, still, took all sorts, as he found out with the second picture. Well, Tepic knew little voles had to come from somewhere, but to have a picture showing that was just…. mucky! Then there was the last one. He took one look and screamed before he collapsed sobbing. He’d seen some bad things in his life, that was one of the worst, and those poor voles…..

The needles had come then, before the nurse had taken him to the elevator and up to the rooms upstairs. She had lifted him onto a bed and without realising it he was sound asleep. He was left alone, after all, it was obvious he was exhausted and full of sedative, enough to drop the strongest man. Of course, what they had failed to take into consideration was that Tepic was not the strongest man, he was the smallest fox, and they might have been better to take sedative advice from the local veterinarian.

So during the dead of night a small figure, confused and disorientated by the drugs, slipped out of his bed and by sheer instinct dodged the staff and made his way out of the building. As dawn broke he staggered to his feet and looked around to find he was by the open gate of the Asylum. Now why had they taken him there, he thought, he wasn’t supposed to go inside, Canergak would be angry with him and might stop their deal. It would be best if he went back to the factory and did another shift, to show he was a good and reliable worker.

He was on his way back, stopping and resting every few steps when he came across Myrtil and Jimmy outside one of the warehouses. He told them he had come from the Asylum, then slumped to the ground. Some time later he woke and realised he was in the Wax Museum. That was good, it was so much nearer to the factory that the hospital or Asylum.