WARNING: This story may contain content of an adult nature. If you are easily offended or are under the legal age to view adult content in your area, please exit now. This text is intended for adults only and may include scenes of sexual content or graphic violence. Reader discretion is advised.
Revelations by IndigoNeko
Chapter 33 – Conspiracies and Cover-Ups, Part 2
Tuesday, June 9th, 2015
A black Nissan S.U.V. pulled into the tiny parking lot in front of Byrom Elementary, coming to a stop in one of the two empty visitor’s spots. Classes had started about twenty minutes ago, and the tigress in the driver’s seat figured now would be the perfect time to drop in and get the suspension paperwork for her daughter. After switching off the vehicle’s ignition and unbuckling her seat belt, the tigress pulled the door latch and pushed the door open, stepping out of the car and straightening her black knee-length dress.
Once out of the car, she picked up her purse and checked to make sure her phone was on and had sufficient battery. Last night after she had found the YouTube video that Officer Hoffman had mentioned, she had downloaded a copy of it to the family computer, then transferred it onto her phone, just in case it got taken down. She couldn’t wait to rub the stupid cow’s face in it.
‘Lesson not to attack other students’ my furry ass, Raenne thought to herself, slamming the car door. Her daughter Alex had never bullied, harassed, or attacked anyone else. Ever. At least as far as she knew. She and David had taught the cub that hurting others was never acceptable from an early age, even if others did it to hir.
The tall tigress walked up to the school, walking past the beige-painted cement pillars that supported the arched covering over the front walkway. Once she reached the main entrance, she pulled one of the doors open and walked across the ventilated grating and over to the main office. She stepped in, walking up to the counter where the visitor’s list was and picking up a pen to sign her name.
The bird behind the counter looked up. She was a cute girl with spotted black and white feathers atop her head and bright yellow feathers running down her throat. “Hello. Can I help you?” the secretary asked.
“Yes,” the tigress replied. “I’m here to pick up my daughter’s suspension paperwork and any schoolwork or paperwork that shi may need to do. If the principal happens to be in today, I’d like to speak with her for a moment as well regarding the suspension. My name’s Raenne Andreyev.”
“Certainly, Miss... umm... How do you spell your last name?” the meadowlark asked.
Raenne held the clipboard with the visitor’s list out, a fake smile on her face.
“Oh,” the bird said, taking the clipboard and reading it. “Got it. Give me a moment to see if the principal is in, and then I’ll get the paperwork.”
Raenne tapped her claws on the counter as she leaned against it, waiting. The bird was quick about her business at least, hopping up and walking over to the principal’s office and poking her head in.
The mutter of conversation reached her, but she didn’t even care enough to try to figure out what the bird was saying. A second later she walked back over. “The principal’s just wrapping up some paperwork. Her office is right there,” the bird said, pointing. “Go on in. I’ll print out the suspension form while you’re talking.”
“Thanks,” Raenne said, even though she didn’t feel very thankful at all. Still, it didn’t hurt to be polite. Her beef was with the principal, not the secretary. Not wasting any time, she walked over to the principal’s office and stepped in, closing the door behind her.
“Mrs. Andreyev,” the principal said, motioning to one of the two chairs sitting in front of her desk. The female bison glanced back down at the form she was filling out, writing quickly and with surprisingly fine handwriting for someone with such large hands.
The tigress sat in the nearest chair, pulling her phone out of her pocket and holding it in her lap.
After a few seconds the bison looked up. “Sorry. I’m still dealing with the paperwork from yesterday’s events. How can I help you?”
“Mrs. Sihásapa, I just wanted to say I was sadly disappointed with your careless investigation into the events that occurred yesterday and your hasty presumption of guilt on behalf of my daughter,” the tigress said slowly, leaning forward. “The way you approached the investigation almost makes me believe that there was some sort of conspiracy at work. A deliberate attempt to cover up the truth and give my daughter a bad name while you’re at it.”
“Mrs. Andreyev, we did no such thing,” the Principal replied. “There was no video footage on the security system of the event, and the other students we asked who were nearby did not see the beginning of the alter-”
“I find that very difficult to believe,” the tigress interrupted, unlocking her phone and pressing play on the video that she had already pulled up. “Especially since there are at least a dozen other students playing soccer on the field when it started.”
The volume on her phone was turned almost to max, and the sound of students laughing and yelling came out loud and clear as the tigress held the phone up, turning it so both of them could watch.
“And as you can see, my daughter just sat down on the grass. If you pay attention, you’ll notice that hir crutches are still there on the ground exactly where shi left them when we see hir again. Yes, see? And... oh, see those three children standing around hir...”
Raenne trailed off as the altercation was caught loud and clear, starting with “Would you look at that? The faggot hasn’t got his little rich bitch with him.”
Having already watched it a half-dozen times, Raenne had no need to watch it again herself. Instead, she turned and watched the principal’s reaction as the drama unfolded. When her daughter asked “Who are you, and why are you picking on me?” she reached up and tapped the screen, pausing it.
“Certainly sounds like my daughter didn’t know any of them when this started. Let’s see if she assaults them with those crutches like your ‘official story’ says she did,” Raenne said, starting the video again. Another minute passed, peppered with comments like “Nothing like a good game of smear the queer.”
In the end one of the teachers came flying in, tackling the deer and dog that were kicking and stomping Alex. The video continued for another few seconds, then Raenne paused it again, taking her phone down and pushing it into her pocket.
“Well, it would appear that we were indeed hasty in giving your daughter a suspension,” the bison said slowly, turning to her computer. “I’ll have the suspension removed, and amend your daughter’s record.”
“Thank you,” the tigress said, standing up. “Though... I wonder... You said there’s no security footage. Is that because no cameras cover that area? Or is that because you deleted it? That was a pretty impressive tackle that the wolf made.”
The bison said nothing, glancing up at the tigress for a moment, before looking back at her computer and clicking a few more times. “The suspension has been removed, Mrs. Andreyev. If you don’t mind, I have a lot of paperwork to do, thanks mostly to you. Good day,” she said, picking up her pen once again to finish filling out the school district's incident report paperwork. Most of it was done online now, but they still hadn’t gone completely paperless.
Raenne gave a half smile, nodding her head, then turned and stepped out of the office, closing the door behind her. Then she walked back over to the bird behind the counter, who turned and held up the promised paperwork, pink slip and all.
“Sorry about your daughter receiving a suspension, Mrs. Andreyev,” the secretary said, handing the paperwork over.
“No problem,” the tigress replied with a smile. “It’s all taken care of. I just needed this for my records. I’ll be back with a copy of Alex’s medical paperwork and a doctor’s note when shi’s released from the I.C.U.”
“I.C.U.? Oh no, is she okay? Is that from yesterday?” the secretary asked, concerned.
“Shi’s recovering. Shi needed surgery to fix multiple rib fractures and a punctured lung. Hopefully shi won’t have any further complications. Actually, I’m heading back to the hospital right now to check on hir,” the tigress said, stepping away from the counter.
“I hope she recovers quickly,” the meadowlark said, watching as the tigress stepped out of the office, and a few seconds later out of the main entrance.
Back inside the office, the principal was busy talking on the archaic office phone. “Just disconnect the south field camera enough that it can’t capture video, but leave the wire in place. Then wipe all the west field video records from the server and backups for the past couple of months... Yes, I know it’s a lot of work, Tim. Just make it look like the camera was never recording in the first place. It’s not just Kyron’s job on the line now, it’s yours and mine as well.”
After a few moments the bison hung up the phone, running her hand over her curly brown hair and sighed. “No good deed goes unpunished,” she muttered under her breath.
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Raenne knocked on the door to the I.C.U. room, and when there wasn’t any answer forthcoming, she pushed the door open. Alex was clearly unconscious, but the display next to the bed showed a strong, steady heartbeat, and her blood pressure had gone up closer to normal parameters.
The older tigress stepped in and closed the door, then set the extra change of clothes and the McDonald’s breakfast she’d brought on a chair. After walking over to the bed, she laid one paw on Alex’s head, and bent down to give the cub a kiss. When Alex didn’t stir, she went back over to the chair and sat down, figuring she’d let her daughter rest, and pulled out her phone to waste time surfing the internet.
Just when Raenne was starting to get a bit bored, the phone began to buzz in her hands. The phone number was local, so she answered it. “Raenne speaking.”
“Hello Mrs. Andreyev. I’m Richard Franklin, with the Chase, Franklin, and Young law firm. Your husband indicated we should contact you instead, regarding the ongoing litigation that the Stouffer’s have against the Tigard-Tualatin School District. Do you have a few minutes?” the red-feathered cardinal asked on the other end of the line.
“I do, though I’d prefer to discuss legal issues in person if at all possible,” the tigress said. “Would it be possible to meet with you sometime today?” she asked.
“Umm... Certainly. I was planning on taking a short break around three this afternoon to get a coffee, but I can meet with you instead. Our office is located near Century Hotel, in the Tualatin Commons. Do you need the address?” the attorney asked.
“No, I know where that is; at the corner of Martnazzi and Tualatin-Sherwood road. If you’d like I can get coffee or lattes for each of us on the way over. Starbucks or Dutch Brothers?” the tigress asked.
“Dutch brothers is good. They have a fantastic caramel latte,” the cardinal replied.
“Done then. I’ll drop in with a caramel latte from Dutch Brothers at three,” Raenne replied.
“I look forward to it, Mrs. Andreyev,” the lawyer said. “Have a good day.”
“You as well,” the tigress replied, then hung up and leaned back against the chair with a sigh. After a moment she picked the phone up again, going back to looking up the cost of medical procedures.
The cost of Alex’s surgery wasn’t exactly small, though they did have insurance. When she’d tried to estimate the total cost of the ambulance ride, rib fixation surgery, lung surgery, anesthesia, repairing Alex’s cast, pain medications, and the cost of staying in the I.C.U., the total was astronomical. She wondered if the lawyers she would be talking to would be willing to handle a personal injury case against the parents of the bullies who’d assaulted Alex as well, to recoup some of the medical costs.
“Mommy?”
Alex’s voice jerked Raenne out of her reverie, and she looked up from her phone. Alex hadn’t moved. The tigress stood up and walked over to the side of the bed.
“Good morning, love,” she said, resting her paw on Alex’s head. “Feeling okay?”
“Hurts,” the tiger-cub whispered, with a pained expression, a tear running down the side of hir face. “Hungry, too.”
“Yeah, I’ll bet it does, love. I’ll get the nurse to see if we can’t get you some pain meds, and see if we can’t help you sit up for breakfast. Kay?” the older tigress asked softly.
“Kay,” Alex said, closing hir eyes again.
Raenne bent over and gave her daughter a quick kiss, then stood back up and walked over to the door. Pulling it open and peering out, she caught the eye of one of the nurses sitting at the monitoring station.
“Yes?” the fruit bat in green scrubs asked.
“My daughter just woke up. Was wondering if it’d be possible to get hir some more pain meds and if we can get the bed upright so shi can eat something for breakfast,” the tigress asked.
“Certainly,” the nurse said, standing up and walking over. “After shi’s had breakfast we can give her a shower too,” the fruit bat recommended.
A minute later the upper half of the bed had been raised and Raenne had pulled out the breakfast tray she’d picked up at McDonalds on the way over here from the elementary school.
Alex gingerly picked up the fork, then tried to move hir other arm and visibly winced.
“Here, I’ll get it,” Raenne said, taking the fork from Alex’s paw and leaning over and picking up the plastic knife as well. Alex sat quietly as hir mom spread the butter over the hotcakes and poured some syrup over them as well, then went to work cutting everything into bite-sized pieces.
“Thanks, mom,” Alex said, waiting. Once she was done cutting up hir breakfast, Alex picked the fork back up. Shi’d not eaten McDonald’s breakfast before, but it wasn’t bad. It didn’t remotely compare to mom and dad’s french toast though.
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Alex sighed and flipped off the television. There wasn’t anything to watch on the hospital’s cable network bundle. Not that shi watched much television anyway; movies and videogames were more her thing. Besides, shi had to use the bathroom, and mom had left to go talk to some lawyers and dad was at work.
For a minute, Alex wrestled with hirself, trying to decide if using the bathroom was worth the pain of getting out of bed. Practically every part of hir except hir face hurt from where shi’d been kicked or stomped, but the chest was definitely the worst. At least it didn’t hurt so much to breathe, like it had in the ambulance ride.
Eventually shi realized shi was going to have an accident if shi didn’t do something. Trying not to cry in anticipation of how much this was going to hurt, the tiger cub reached out and pressed the little red button on the side of the bed. There was a soft chime, and the red button lit up.
Fifteen seconds later, there was a knock at the door, and the door opened to reveal the fruit bat in green scrubs who had helped mom give hir a shower that morning. “Hi Alex,” he said, walking over to the bed. “Whatcha need?”
“I’ve gotta use the bathroom,” Alex said a little nervously.
“Would you believe that I’ve been waiting for you to say that for two hours now? You must have a bladder made of iron,” the fruit bat said, reaching down for the bed remote. “I’ll just raise the bed here a bit, hook you up to the sling, and then drop you in the wheelchair. Then I can take you into the bathroom.”
“Okay,” Alex said, waiting as the fruit bat did exactly that. There was a neat little crane-like system with hooks on the ceiling that he attached to rings on the straps that she was laying on. He took a moment to step out of the room, coming back with a wheelchair, and then used the crane to lift her out of the bed and onto the wheelchair. Being lifted with the straps was painful, but not as bad as shi had feared it would be. Shi tried to ignore the chilly sensation of the chill hospital room air at hir side; they’d shaved a patch of fur on hir chest under hir arm where they’d needed to operate.
The nurse detached the crane from the hooks on the carry straps and quickly wheeled the cub into the bathroom. Then he locked the wheels on the wheelchair and explained how he planned to move hir. “Okay. So, I’d recommend not putting any weight on your arms, cause it’ll make your chest hurt. Instead, lift with your hips. I’ll help. Just go slowly,” he explained.
Alex tried hir best to follow those directions as the nurse put his gloved hands on hir hips and helped lift a little bit to make it easier. Then shi turned around and sat down on the toilet. Considering the hospital gown shi was wearing was open in the back, there wasn’t much shi had to do except lean forward and do hir business. That was the painful part. “Thanks,” shi said.
“No problem, Alex. Just rest your arms on the bars here when you bend over. If you need anything or when you’re done, just press the little button on the wall there,” he said, stepping out of the bathroom and closing the door behind him.
Alex set hir arms on the bars he’d mentioned and then leaned forward, gasping as hir chest began to throb painfully. Tears fell almost unnoticed from hir face as shi leaned forward, tail flagging instinctively.
A minute later, the little cub flushed the toilet, sitting upright on it while waiting for hir chest to stop throbbing. Shi pressed the button again, and the nurse opened the door a few moments later.
“All done?” the fruit bat asked. “Let’s get you over to the sink here,” he said, helping hir stand once again, then sit down on the wheelchair. He wheeled hir a few feet over next to the sink, then helped hir stand once again. Shi washed hir hands and then dried them on a paper towel from the dispenser next to the sink. The nurse helped hir sit once again.
“Okay then. Back to bed?” the fruit bat asked, wheeling hir back into the room.
“Do I have to?” shi asked plaintively, looking up at the nurse.
“Well, no. But it does make it easier for us. Tell you what... if you’ll wear this little oxygen monitor on your finger, then you don’t need to get back in bed,” he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling a small white plastic clip out of one of his pockets. He squeezed it, opening one end and held it out for hir to put hir finger through it. “Deal?”
Alex nodded. “Deal,” shi said, sticking hir finger into the offered oxygen monitor.
“Okay then. Just holler if you need anything. Is there anything you need before I go do my rounds?” he asked.
“Just my phone, up on the shelf there,” shi said, pointing.
The nurse picked up the phone and handed it over to hir.
“Thanks, umm... What was your name again? I forgot,” the young tiger said.
“It’s Douglas,” the fruit bat replied. “But you can call me Doug.”
“Thanks Doug,” Alex said.
“You’re welcome,” Doug replied with a smile. Then he turned around and stepped out of the room, walking over to the station in the center of the area. He quickly added the oxygen monitor he’d given the cub to the list of tracked devices for hir patient listing. The warning light next to hir patient listing went from red to green again and the audio alert icon flashed. Now ready to do his rounds, the fruit bat typed a quick message in the hospital message system, then stood up again.
It didn’t take too long to check in on each of the patients in the small ward that Doug was responsible for. There were only eight rooms, each of them opening up to the common area with the station in the middle, and only half of the rooms were occupied. He knocked on each door and peered in, asking the ones that were awake if they needed anything. All except Alex.
He’d intended to skip hir room as he’d already checked on the young tiger, but as he finished checking the room next to hirs, hir door swung open with a mechanical whirring noise. Curious, he stopped and waited.
Alex was getting bored of the small I.C.U. room. It didn’t take hir too long to figure out a way to move the wheelchair around, though shi had to move slowly; moving hir arms would make hir chest hurt. There was a metal plate next to the door with a wheelchair icon on it. Figuring it had something to do with opening the door, she wheeled hirself over to it and pressed on it. Shi moved the wheelchair back a bit as the door swung open, grinning to hirself. Freedom.
Not knowing how long the door would stay open, shi wheeled hir way through it, only to stop as she realized the nurse was standing a few feet down the hallway, staring at hir with his hands on his hips and one eyebrow raised. He blinked at hir, saying nothing.
“I... um... I just wanted...” Alex stammered, realizing shi’d been caught. After a second shi hung hir head. “Nevermind,” shi said, turning the wheelchair around.
“I never said you had to stay in your room,” the nurse said, stopping hir from turning around. “You just need to stay where I can keep an eye on you. And keep that oxygen monitor on your finger. If you want to stay out here with me, you’re welcome to do so. Just promise you won’t go out into the hallway there,” he said, nodding towards the hallway. “Deal?” he asked, kneeling down and holding one hand out.
That was when Alex noticed his extraordinarily long fingers with the webbing between each of them. His fingers must have been easily three times longer than hir own, with each bone being at least two inches long. It was kind of creepy, but shi reached out and shook his hand anyway. After shaking, shi held onto it for a second, looking at it. The skin of his fingers was slightly darker than the fur on the back of his hand, and there were dulled claws at the end of each finger, kind of like hir own. Except for his fingers being really long and being a different color, his hand was actually just like hir own paws.
“Noticed my freaky hands, huh?” the fruit bat said with a smile. “At least I have hands. I could be stuck with flightless wings. I couldn’t have been a nurse if I had wings.”
“They’re kind of cool,” Alex said, letting go. “Bet it makes typing on a keyboard really easy.”
“A little. It definitely makes playing the piano a lot easier. I’ve gotta go sit at the station there, if you want to join me,” Douglas said, gesturing to the console with a half dozen computer screens in the center of the room. He turned around and walked over, sitting down at the computer chair.
Alex slowly wheeled hir way over to the station as well, glancing at the computer screens. Parts of them showed heart rate monitors like the one in hir room, but there was a lot of other stuff as well, like lists of devices, patient names, oxygen levels, and more. Each screen had two sections on it. Four of the sections were mostly green and showed active heart rate lines. The other four were blue, with no names and a flat heart rate line. “Neat,” shi said quietly.
“Yeah, it is pretty neat,” Doug confirmed, pointing at one of the green sections. “That one’s you. Keep your eyes on it and take that oxygen monitor off your finger for a moment.”
Alex squeezed the clip on hir finger, taking it off. After a second the section turned from green to red as the heart rate line went flat and the various numbers went to zero. A harsh beeping noise sounded. Startled, shi quickly put the clip back on hir finger. It took a few seconds, but the screen went back to green and the alarm went quiet.
Doug turned around and typed a code number into the hospital messaging system. “So... that’s how we know if a patient needs help,” he said, turning to face the tiger cub.
“Cool,” Alex replied.
“Most of the time being a nurse is pretty boring and tedious. You help people move around if they need to, get them food or medicine, and occasionally clean up after they make messes. There’s a lot of stuff you need to know though, especially about the medicines you give them,” the nurse explained. “For example, you know that vicodin I gave you earlier? The recommended dose for someone your weight is one tablet every four to six hours, no more than six per day. There’s about six hundred other drugs it can’t be used with, and it can’t be used if you have liver or kidney problems. In your case, I have to be careful with it cause it can cause respiratory depression. I’ve memorized all the information on about two thousand different drugs so far.”
Alex’s eyes were wide. That was a ton of stuff to know.
When the tiger cub didn’t respond, he pointed over to the wooden chess set sitting to one side of the station. “Do you play chess?” he asked.
Alex shook hir head.
“Do you know how to play chess?” the fruit bat asked.
Alex shook hir head again.
“Want to learn?” he asked.
After a moment shi nodded. “Sure.”
Douglas smiled. Maybe this shift wouldn’t be so boring after all.
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At 2:58 PM Pacific Standard Time, Raenne walked into the two-story building with a cardboard cup holder in hand and a purse on her shoulder, walking down the ornately-decorated hallway until she found the directory listing. Suite 204: Chase, Franklin, and Young Law Firm. A few feet past the directory was an elevator.
Thirty seconds later, the tigress stepped out onto the third floor, picking strands of white fur off the black dress she was wearing. It could have been a mirror image of the first floor, except that there was a window down the hall where there had been a glass doorway on the first floor.
The entrance to suite 204 was identical to the other doorways in the hallway, except for the gold-leaf lettering on the glass that read “Chase, Franklin, and Young”. Raenne used her free hand to turn the knob and pushed the door open.
Unlike the hallway, which had been decorated in mostly black, white, and modern, the inside of the law firm’s office was very conservative, with dark emerald carpet and wall-paper, and dark mahogany furniture. Half of the walls were obscured by bookshelves, packed with heavy looking leather-bound books and ring binders.
Across the room, in front of a pair of windows, was a heavy-looking desk with a pair of leather-upholstered chairs in front of it. A european badger in a black suit was sitting behind it, tapping away at a keyboard and staring at the monitor to one side.
When Raenne stepped in, the european badger looked over at her, then stood up and adjusted his red tie while walking around the desk with one hand out. “Mrs. Andreyev. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m Mr. Chase. Stanley Chase,” he said in a crisp oxford accent.
Raenne smiled, taking his paw and giving it a firm shake. “Pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Chase. I spoke with Mr. Franklin this morning and he said it would be okay to drop by around this time to discuss matters. I wish he’d mentioned you would be here as well; I’d have picked up an extra latte or two,” she said, glancing at the tray in her other hand.
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” the attorney said reassuringly. “I don’t drink coffee after lunch if I can avoid it. Keeps me from sleeping at night. Richard’s office is right over here,” he said, leading the tigress to one of the side doors and pushing it open.
Richard’s office was much like the main room, identical carpeting and furniture, though there was a small hutch in one corner that had several bottles of expensive liquor and some fine crystal glasses.
The red feathered cardinal behind the desk stood up as the door opened. “Ah, Mrs. Andreyev. Come in, come in,” he said brightly, stepping around the desk to shake her paw just as the badger had. He was wearing a black suit and red tie identical to Chase’s, though his jacket was draped over the back of one of the chairs.
“I’m Richard Franklin. It’s good to finally meet you, though I wish it were in happier circumstances. Here, have a seat,” he said, picking up his jacket and motioning to the chair. “Thanks, Stan.”
Raenne sat down on one of three leather chairs sitting in front of the desk, glancing over her shoulder as she heard the click of the door. The badger had just closed the door, leaving the two of them alone.
“I don’t know if Terrence mentioned it, but we both went to the same fraternity. We’re practically family,” the cardinal said as he draped his jacked over his own chair and sat back down behind the desk. “He’s mentioned your family several times now; he thinks that meeting your daughter is one of the best things that’s ever happened to Elizabeth.”
Raenne set the beverage tray down on the desk and took the drinks out, setting one closer to him while he finished seating himself.
“So... Terrence told me that there was a fight at school and Alexandrea wound up at the hospital with some broken ribs, possible lung injury as well. What exactly happened?” the lawyer asked, getting right down to business. After a moment he reached out and picked up the coffee that the tigress had set in front of him. “Thanks, by the way.”
“You’re welcome,” Raenne said, picking up her own coffee and taking a sip. Then the tigress took a deep breath and started explaining what had happened the previous week at school, with the goat and badger cubs harassing Alex, filing a police report, and ending with the child revealing that shi was a hermaphrodite to hir entire class the next day. Raenne did admit that perhaps calling the police was a bit excessive and had probably earned the enmity of the principal. The cardinal waved it off though, asking her to continue.
Raenne continued on to explain what had happened yesterday, including the attack at school, calling the police for a second time, the surgery at the hospital, and talking to the principal that morning. Once she was done, she held out her phone, which had the video of the incident and started playing it for him.
Richard was silent, listening intently as the beautiful tigress told the story, then watched the video. He couldn’t believe that the little tiger cub had been so horribly abused, all for something shi wasn’t in any way responsible for.
From the way his nares were twitching, the tigress knew he was angry. To be honest, watching that video had made her angry too. Once the video was finished, the cardinal leaned back with a deep sigh. “Poor cub. Is Alex doing okay?” he asked.
“At the moment, yes. So far shi’s showing no signs of any complications, so the surgery was a success, and they’ve got hir on antibiotics to ensure shi doesn’t come down with pneumonia,” Raenne explained.
“Good,” he said, leaning back into his chair. “So I don’t know how much Terrence explained, but he’s got ongoing litigation with the Tigard-Tualatin School District after what happened to their maid, Charlotte. Mostly it’s to encourage the school district to take accusations of harassment and bullying more seriously and do something to prevent escalations. He indicated that you and your husband would be interested in either joining that litigation or starting your own. Is that correct?”
Raenne nodded. “Yes. He called my husband yesterday about it, and spoke to me in a bit more detail around lunch today. I’m fairly well acquainted with the case at this point, and wholeheartedly approve. However, I do have one question for you.”
The cardinal gave a quick nod. “Yes, go on.”
“The medical bills for my daughter’s surgery are, quite frankly, well beyond what we can afford without draining most of our savings. I know the litigation against the school district has nothing to do with recovering medical costs... but is there a way to do that?”
“Ah. Yes, there is. However, not against the school district. Since the injury wasn’t the direct result of the school’s negligence, they have immunity. However,” the lawyer explained, taking a sip of caramel latte before continuing. “We could file a civil suit against Alexandrea’s attackers to cover the cost of medical care as well as pain and suffering.”
“So, we could file a civil suit in addition to the case we’ve opened with the police department?” Raenne asked.
“Exactly. The Stouffers did that for Charlotte, against her assailant. If the criminal prosecution is successful, either by pleading guilty or by a guilty verdict, it makes the civil case much, much easier. It may be possible to resolve both of them in the same court case with the same judge, since it will most likely be handled as an adjudication hearing. Would you like to do the same?” the attorney asked.
“Yes,” the tigress replied.
“Great. Now, before we go any further, I need to let you know that our retaining fee is one dollar. If the case is successful, the law firm gets one-third of the amount of restitution awarded. Do you agree?” he asked.
Raenne opened her purse and reached in, pulling out her wallet. She pulled a dollar out of it and handed it over. “Yes.”
“Excellent,” Richard said, taking the offered dollar bill. “In that case, here’s our standard procedure for a case like this. Since we’ll be filing the civil suit against three parties...” the lawyer started explaining, pulling some paperwork from one of the desk drawers.
Raenne leaned forward, paying close attention as the cardinal began laying the outline of how the civil case would go.
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Approximately an hour after school let out, David arrived, pulling into the half-empty parking lot. He felt a bit regretful that he had to come talk with her after the last full day of school; no doubt she’d been looking forward to going home.
Still, there was no way around it; Alex had missed four tests today and another test yesterday because of being in the hospital. After he’d put the car in park and gotten out he walked into the school, stopping in the office briefly to sign the visitor’s list. The secretary, a bird with speckled black and white feathers atop her head and a yellow-feathered throat, nodded at him. “Can I help you?”
“I’m just here to see Mrs. Eaglantine,” he said as he finished signing the visitor’s list.
“Oh. Mr. Andreyev. I should have guessed,” she said, nodding at him. “I hope that Alexandrea is doing okay.”
“Shi is. So far, anyway,” he replied, dropping the pen and waving to the bird as he turned around and walked out of the office. “Catch you later.”
Walking through the empty elementary school was a very strange experience. At least he had no trouble finding Mrs. Eaglantine’s room. Once there, he knocked on the doorframe. The slender bald eagle sitting at the desk on the far side of the room looked up. “Ah, Mr. Andreyev. Come in. How is Alex doing?”
“Shi’s doing well enough,” the white tiger said, walking into the room and making his way past the absurdly tiny chairs and tables. “The surgery was a success. The doctor had to use some titanium plates to secure hir ribs, then sealed the puncture in hir lung and reinflated it. Right now shi’s in the I.C.U., so they can keep an eye on hir. Hopefully I’ll be able to take hir home tonight.”
“Ouch,” the teacher said, wincing visibly. “I wish I’d been outside to keep an eye on hir. Unfortunately I wasn’t on the recess roster yesterday.”
David stopped at the side of the desk, leaning against it. “So, I know Alex had a few other tests to take that shi missed. Is there any chance that shi can make those up?”
The bald eagle ran the tip of her tongue along the edge of her beak. “Yes, there is, but the system is going to lock down data entry for this semester on friday evening. So if shi wants to take any makeup exams, it’ll have to be by then. However, Alex is doing very well in hir classes. Even with a zero on the exams, she’d still be sitting at a 3.2 GPA. If shi does well, shi’d probably be sitting around a 3.8.”
“So shi’d go from an A average to a B average by not taking them. Is there any way to simply have the tests not count against hir grade?” he asked.
The bald eagle shook her head. “The system’s configured so that if I have an assignment or test, every student must have a score or a zero. I can’t add or remove assignments for individual students. Sorry.”
“No, it’s not your fault; you didn’t write the software you need to use for grade-keeping, and you certainly didn’t kick Alex in the ribs. Though I do feel like someone should have been paying closer attention to hir, especially with a broken leg and the events that happened last week.”
Mrs. Eaglantine nodded. “If I’d been outside, I would have been watching hir. But as I said, I wasn’t on the recess roster. I let the principal know that shi needed to be watched, but that’s really all I could do.”
David sighed. “Okay then. Can I have Alex come in on Friday to take those exams? I’d like to give hir a few days to recover before we take hir off the vicodin, and it takes a while for vicodin to make it out of hir system. Until then, shi’d have a hard time figuring out 2+2, much less doing fractions.”
“I can come in on Friday, then,” the bald eagle said. “The school’s technically closed on Friday, but I can get the key to unlock the front doors. I’ll meet you and Alex at the front entrance at 8 A.M. sharp. Does that work?”
“Yes, ma’am. Either me or my wife will come drop Alex off, and shi can just call us when shi’s done.”
“Sounds like a plan then,” the bald eagle said, holding out one scaled hand. The white tiger gave her a firm handshake and pushed himself away from the desk. He turned around, heading back through the nearly empty elementary school.
__________________________________________________
“Well, Mr. Andreyev, I have to admit, I didn’t expect Alex to recover quite so quickly. Then again, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised; Dr. Tawfeek is probably the best surgeon here,” the fruit bat in green scrubs said, pushing a wheelchair into the room.
Alex had just finished getting dressed with hir father’s help, and was near tears with how much hir side hurt. But the last thing shi wanted to do was stay another minute in the stupid hospital. Shi eyed the wheelchair with a combination of relief and anxiety.
“Thanks, Douglas,” David said, helping his daughter sit down on it. “I’ve gotta admit, I’m rather surprised that the hospital actually sells wheelchairs.”
“Well, people need them often enough, and they don’t take up too much space when they’re folded. Oh, do you know how to fold this thing up?” the nurse asked.
“Yeah, I’ve had to use wheelchairs before,” the tiger replied as his daughter settled in, wincing.
“Excellent,” the fruit bat said, taking a moment to kneel in front of the wheelchair. “It was nice to meet you, Alex. I wish all our patients were as easy to take care of as you were. If you start having problems breathing, let your parents know immediately. You take care of yourself, and try to stay in bed as much as possible for the next two weeks, okay?”
“I will, Doug. Promise,” Alex said, nodding to him.
“Good,” the bat said, standing back up and moving out of the way. “Get well soon, Alex. Have a good evening, both of you.”
“You too,” both of the tigers said as David pushed his daughter out of the I.C.U.
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Wednesday, June 10th, 2015
The last day of school was only a half day, but it seemed to drag on and on. After they’d been handed back their test results and gone over the tougher questions, there was really nothing left to do. Mrs. Eaglantine gave them all free reign to do whatever they wanted to do (more or less) as long as they all stayed in the classroom.
Some of the kids were playing Uno, others were playing checkers and other games. Most of them were playing games on their phones or handhelds. Elizabeth had neither a phone or handheld, and without Alex there, she felt more alone than ever. Alex never had any problems making friends, it seemed, but Elizabeth had no such skill.
The little stoat-hybrid had wandered around the room, asking if she could play with some of the other cubs, but the answers were always variations of the same: “Sorry, we’ve got enough players.” In the end, Elizabeth went and sat in the small vestibule that led from the classroom to the playground outside, watching the rain falling outside.
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“David?”
The white tiger turned his head to the side. After having Alex sleeping in bed with them for the past week or so, it felt strangely empty with only himself and his wife. Alex was in her own bed, where shi’d spent most of hir time since getting home from the hospital.
After shi got back from school on Friday, he was going to put hir back on the vicodin they’d gotten from the pharmacy; NSAIDs seemed to do nothing for the amount of pain the poor cub was in. He’d actually resorted to giving hir half a dose of benadryl and melatonin to knock hir out a few hours ago.
Realizing that he was musing, he shook his head. “Yes, love?”
“I’m really worried, for Alex,” the tigress next to him said, still staring up at the ceiling.
“We’ve got hir on an O2 monitor and antibiotics, and we live less than two minutes from the hospital. Alex will be fine,” he replied.
Raenne turned to look at him. “I meant next year. And the year after that. Cubs are cruel; you know that.”
“Yes,” he said with a deep sigh. “I do. Though there’s been a pretty big anti-bullying push lately, and hopefully this lawsuit Terrence has cooked up will help further protect hir.”
Raenne frowned. “All it takes is one second while a teacher’s back is turned for a kid to get knifed, and Alex has made enemies who have already demonstrated that they’re willing to seriously hurt hir, if not kill hir. Do you really want to take that chance?”
The white tiger’s teeth clenched. He hadn’t thought of it that way, but it was true. There might be more ‘friends’ of the three who’d attacked Alex earlier that thought the same way. “No. I don’t,” he replied. He’d never imagined that something like this would happen in the sleepy Portland suburb; beatings and knifings were what happened between inner-city gangs, not small suburban elementary schools. Still, he couldn’t deny it had happened.
“I don’t either,” the tigress said, looking back up at the ceiling. “If something like that happened to Alex, I don’t know if I’d be able to leave it to the police... and If Alex died because of it, I wouldn’t.”
A shiver ran up David’s spine and he immediately thought of the locked gun-cases under the bed. “Raenne...”
His wife didn’t respond, rolling over and pulling the covers up. He knew that this conversation was over, and there was no point in arguing. There had to be something he could do though. There was no way he could protect their daughter when shi was at school, and he certainly didn’t trust the teachers to do so.
No, the only way to keep hir safe would be to take hir out of school altogether. Homeschooling had potential, but he knew Raenne valued the socialization that cubs got at school; it provided them with exposure to different perspectives and worldviews. So did he, for that matter.
The only other option, then, was moving to another school district altogether. Something came back to him, what one of the doctors had said when Alex was born, about the prevalence of gender-assignment surgeries in the pacific northwest, and how it was very possible that shi would be bullied or worse.
For all the forward-thinking liberal sentiment in the pacific northwest, there was a surprisingly deep-seated culture of intolerance dating back to the time when Oregon had been a klan stronghold in the 1920s and 30s. Interspecies couples still got dirty looks out here, and sometimes even got attacked.
If he could get a job out in one of the other more liberal, educated states, moving was definitely a viable alternative. California was too expensive though. So was Washington. New England had some potential, but there was some serious anti-herm sentiment out there too. He mentally started ticking off states, until he remembered Colorado.
Colorado was surprisingly liberal and had a good school system, and there were some small towns outside of Denver and Colorado Springs that were probably inexpensive to live in. They had mountains too, which Alex would love. The snowboarding up in the rockies was considered to be some of the best in the world.
The only real problem was that Alex wouldn’t have any friends out there. More specifically, shi wouldn’t have Elizabeth.
__________________________________________________
Thursday, June 11th, 2015
“Hey James. Got another batch for you,” a dark-colored finch said, walking in the office doorway with a stack of manilla envelopes in one hand. He set the stack of envelopes atop the district attorney’s inbox pile, and turned around and walked back out, adjusting the cuffs of his dress shirt.
“Thanks, Kurt,” the sea lion sitting behind the desk said, not really meaning it. It was nearing the end of the week, and all he really wanted to do was go home, watch some TV, do a few dozen laps in his swimming pool and maybe have some grilled salmon and a glass of pinot noir. His current boyfriend, a white-tail named Greg Winters, fixed some of the best grilled salmon that James had ever tasted.
James wondered where the deer had learned to cook salmon, since it seemed that Greg preferred salads more than anything else. Once he realized his attention was drifting, the sea lion jerked his mind back on task; it had tended to wander since he’d started dating the handsome stag with the texan drawl.
The sea lion sighed and closed the folder in front of him. There were too many inconsistencies in both the husband and wife’s stories; nothing but a he-said she-said. He wrote “Conflicting stories. Too little evidence.” on the stack of sticky notes next to him, peeled the topmost one off and stuck it to the front of the folder, then picked the folder up and set it on the rejects pile.
After taking a breath, he reached out and lifted the stack of envelopes in his inbox, pulling out the folder on the bottom. He lifted the prongs and pulled the flap open, then spilled the contents out onto his desk. Surprisingly, a CD came out with it along with several photographs. Hmm. Video footage or audio meant this one might actually go somewhere.
He set the envelope off to one side and flipped open the manilla folder, quickly skimming the incident report, then set it aside and started skimming the witness testimonies. After a moment he glanced back over at the incident report, confirming the reporting officer’s name. He’d seen Hoffman’s work before, and had to admit it was pretty damn solid.
Skipping the rest of it, he flipped immediately to the summary at the end; If Hoffman thought there was a case, then there was a case. Paying attention, James began reading the summary. As he’d expected from Hoffman, it was clear and concise. It clearly outlined Hoffman’s timeline of investigation, listing suspects and witnesses and identifying them by number, and also referencing the attached forms and the video files on the CD. The sea lion frowned when he read the conclusion, along with the accompanying recommendation which was definitely not standard protocol:
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t| " | \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tConclusion: Suspects 1, 2, and 3 performed unprovoked (premeditated?) assault of Suspect 4, in retaliation for Suspect 1’s significant other being suspended from school and arrested (See case #5426). Suspect 4 sustained serious bodily harm requiring immediate life-saving surgery.
Recommend obstruction charges against suspects 1, 2, and 3. Recommend Assault II or Assault III charges against Suspect 1, 2, and 3. Recommend Federal Hate Crime charges against Suspect 3, possibly Suspect 1 and 2.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t | \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
Eyes narrowing, both at the list of charges and at the fact that a police officer had recommended specific charges, the sea lion picked up the CD and stuck it into the laptop sitting to one side. After it had loaded, he clicked the video labelled ‘Witness 8 - Original Video of Incident’. As the video continued to play, the district attorney’s expression turned grim.",
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