Zephaniah

"Blood," I whispered, intensely staring at the humid substance Cooper just threw up. Crouching down in front of it, I observed the stain while reaching for Cooper's ears, fiddling with them.

"What's wrong, Coop?" I asked sadly, trying to observe his behaviour, to see if anything was odd or off, to see if he was acting differently than he normally did, but, I couldn't see, and, he couldn't talk.

Standing up, I motioned for him to follow me, slowly walking down the stairs. "Baba!" I said loudly. "Baba! Dad!"

"Yeah?" I heard from over the small office we had in our house, mostly for my dad's job, but he gave me the opportunity to use it as my study room as well.

Walking into his office, I fiddled with my fingers as I looked at him, noticing the pile of papers on his desk. I didn't mean to bother him, so I hesitated to speak up- not wanting to upset my dad by intruding and interrupting his work.

"What's wrong, Zephaniah?" He asked softly, encouraging me to speak up further, as I couldn't quite read his expression.

I swallowed, blinking my eyes as I turned my attention to Cooper. "He threw up and- and there was blood also,"

"He did?" He asked with a frown, standing up only to crouch down in front of Cooper after that. "Let me see," he mumbled, opening Cooper's mouth.

Baba inspected his mouth for a minute or so long, my mind wandering to completely other things such as how sad Tara's behaviour had made me a few days ago.

I had been excited telling Haven about Cooper, but felt stupid afterwards as usually no one understood why he meant so much to me, how an animal could mean more to someone than a human.

Keeping my mouth shut after that as that was probably better, I did like the help she gave me, as I finally understood the given lectures much better. She was very chatty, though, which made me slightly upset as I couldn't always follow her words.

It made me feel a little helpless, and I'd stay awake longer than usual, worrying about if she maybe asked me some questions and I didn't hear because I couldn't follow- and therefore didn't answer. It'd make me rude, perhaps.

"Zeph?" Baba waved his hand in front of my face, dragging me out of my stare moment.

"Baba," I answered, looking at him.

"You probably need to go to the vet. I thought maybe it could be a tooth, or something, but I don't see anything so it must've been his.. puke, yeah." Dad gave me a sad smile, his hand resting on my cheek briefly.

I swallowed, "Now?"

"It'd be the best, I think. Better too early than too late." He said, his expression making me feel nervous as I, again, couldn't quite read it.

I moved myself closer to him, wanting comfort but not really knowing how else to make that clear. Staring down at Cooper, I slowly petted his head, feeling how dad wrapped his arm around my neck.

"It will be alright, Zeph." He mumbled, pressing a kiss to my head. "Go on. You know the way, yeah? Will you be alright?"

I hummed sadly and walked over to the front door where my shoes and jacket were. Putting them on, I attached Cooper to its leash and walked outside the door, starting the exhausting journey.

It wasn't exhausting because it was slightly far, but it was exhausting because I'd be focused on too many details, I'd hear too much, I'd see too much and that made me tired.

Going to the vet on my own wasn't something I feared anymore, as dad and mum had encouraged me to go when I was younger for Cooper's checkups and vaccinations. They thought it was an important responsibility as well as a good opportunity to help me feel more comfortable going places I didn't know.

It had surely helped me, but now that the reason wasn't as nice as a simple vaccination, it made me fear it all.

Cooper noticed and stuffed his snout into my left hand, whining a little. I stood still, crouched down and wrapped my arms around his neck, burying my face into his fur. "Be fine, okay? Please, I don't know w-what I'd do without you, okay."

I felt the need to cry, but told myself to man up and continue walking. Taking a deep breath, I continued my journey, trying to ignore the misplaced tiles, busy streets and breeze that hurt my ears due to its loud sound.

Finally, after twenty minutes, I arrived at the small local Vet and opened the door, the small bell startling me each time I entered.

Sitting down with Cooper, I felt uncomfortable with the strange people sitting near me. I started petting Cooper so I didn't have to look at them, didn't have to make contact with them as that was still one of the hardest things for me to just do.

"Sick as a dog as well?" Somebody said, sitting down beside me with a small dog himself.

Looking up, I glanced at him, my cheeks turning pink as he was already looking at me, a grin on his face. Sick as a dog? What'd he mean by that? I thought, the words processing in my mind, trying to find the right folder.

Oh. Wait, it's the saying that means-

"Another young man that can't talk. Kids nowadays," he grumbled, giving me a hard glare out of nowhere.

I swallowed, not understanding what he meant with that too.

"If that isn't our Zephaniah with Cooper!" The vet exclaimed, a wide grin visible on his face as well. "Hi, bud. How have you been?" He asked more slowly, knowing my situation.

I smiled, briefly looking at him. "Fine." I answered simply, not understanding the necessity of adding more words with no purposeful meaning.

"That's awesome. Let's get into the check- up room." He instructed, Cooper and I following him behind as we entered the small, white and blue themed room.

A few posters were stuck to the wall, all the dog and cats breeds with a drawing of them printed onto it. I stared at them, naming all the breeds by looking at the drawings only, in a whisper.

The vet glanced at me, an amused smile on his face as he watched me. I simply blushed, cleared my throat and waited for him to ask me something as I never knew when or how to speak up. What was I supposed to say?

"So, Zephaniah, what brought you here today?" He questioned, placing the just cleaned tools away on its designated places.

"Uhm," I parted my lips, staring at Cooper for a few seconds long. "Cooper has thrown up quite- quite a lot and uhm, blood, also." I stammered out, wanting to slap myself because it wasn't needed.

Just in situations like these, when I was slightly nervous, the stammering and stuttering seemed to be worse. Which I knew, and which I, therefore, disliked a lot.

"Oh yeah?" The vet frowned and crouched down in front of Cooper. "Hi, buddy." He mumbled, opening Cooper's mouth and inspecting it.

"At certain points? As example, after he has been fed? It can be, because he's getting older after all, that his stomach cannot handle the certain food you're giving him anymore." He explained slowly, giving me time to process his words.

I blinked, my eyes falling on my dog. "Uhm, he has thrown up in the nights, and an hour ago. Not after he has been- been fed."

"Okay, I see." The vet spoke, stuffing the stethoscope into his ears and pressing the cold, metallic thing to Cooper's belly. "Alright, heartbeat is okay. I'm just going to do some tests. You want to help? You'll have to wear the rubber gloves, though."

My tongue immediately moved around in my mouth, disliking the feeling of those rubber gloves around my hands and fingers. "Uh, I- can I watch instead?" I asked quietly, my voice barely above a whisper as I felt rude- he hadn't asked me nothing. It was a big thing to help the vet, and although I'd love to do that, those rubber gloves held me back.

"It's okay, Zephaniah. You can watch." He gave me a soft smile and after he had dragged a chair from over the waiting room for me to sit on, he started to work, starting with some blood tests first.

It made me sad as Cooper kept whining and peeping. It looked as if he was in pain, but I just didn't know what or why or where. It was another helpless situation, another situation I didn't have control of and that made me upset.

Tears started to form in my eyes and I unconsciously started to bite the fabric of my coat, staring up at the ceiling as I couldn't bear seeing Cooper like that.

It was after half an hour that some of the necessary tests were done and after the MRI- scan as the vet told me he just wanted to make sure, we were dismissed.

"Can I call you for the results? Or your father?" He questioned, making me frown.

"Me," I said simply, uncertainly looking at him. Why my father? I wasn't dumb, I could understand everything perfectly fine. I was just like everyone else, how many times did I still need to say that?

"So, this is your phone number?" He showed me Cooper's profile on the computer and I nodded once I saw the right numbers. "Alright, Zephaniah. The results will come in a few weeks. Don't worry, though, everything will be fine. See you later, bud."

"Bye," I whispered, turning around to walk away. Where are your manners? "Uhm, t-thank you," I said as I turned around, but he was already gone, making me gulp.

What if he's mad, now? I didn't say thank you.

Cooper pulled at the leash, wanting to go out as quickly as possible so I simply followed him and let my mind wander to the unnecessary details I picked up from our walk back home.

Eventually arrived, I neatly took my shoes and coat off, placed them on the designated places and slowly walked into the living room, where mum was reading a book while dad was preparing some food.

"Hey, Zephaniah." Mum said softly, giving me a warm smile as she scooted to the right side, making place for me to sit.

"Hi," I answered, sitting down close beside her while watching the busy, flickering images of the television go by without actually seeing what was displayed on the screen.

"You okay?" She asked, wrapping her arm around my neck. Mum placed a kiss to my cheek and kept staring at me.

I bit my lip and shrugged, staring at Cooper who had, after he had drank some water, lied down at our feet. "Doctor, uhm, vet did some tests. Will hear the results next week, probably."

"Oh, that's tough, Zeph. The wait," mum frowned, wiping my fringe off my forehead as it almost covered my eyes.

I hummed and scooted even closer, resting my cheek on her warm shoulder as I was seeking for comfort. Mum wrapped her arm around me, starting to play with the strings of my hoodie.

"You're upset, aren't you?" She asked quietly, intensely looking at me as if she was observing my expressions.

"Why?" I wondered.

"I can tell you've bitten the strings," she gave me a small smile, stroking my left cheek with her warm hand.

I simply leaned into her tender touch and glanced at Cooper, "I don't want him to die. What- what if I need to put him down?"

"You don't know, Zephaniah. Try not to worry about it too much, okay? You can make up all the scenarios, but you will not know until the vet calls you, love." She calmed me, tying knots in the strings attached to my hoodie, something she unconsciously did.

I knew she was right, but, how did I tell my mind that?

~~~

Ugh Cooper.. poor Zeph. What do you think? Will Cooper have something bad?

The man saying that to Zeph?

Another question for you: who is your favourite character so far?

If you didn't understand anything, please don't hesitate to ask me! I didn't put info because I had already explained about Zephy needing time with processing and giving meaning to words.