The Good Doctor

Life hasn't been easy for Mrs. Rebecca Robinson and her son, Alexander ever since she lost her husband to the cold hands of death. It's been over a year now and Alexander had to quit vet school in his 5th year, because his mom wasn't able to raise the fees.

Alexander is an odd 23 year old. He already has pinches of grey hairs with his natural black curled hair on his head. He is more fond of animals than humans, and that explains why he lacks many friends. The only friends he has, he says are exceptional and that could be a reason to love or hate him.

He is at the backyard with Juno, his pet cat when his mom calls,

"Alex, come in. You have a message."

He could hear the excitement in her voice. It must be a wonderful news. Well, he hopes it is.

"Here, read it, there's a letter. You know I can't read without my glasses."

Alexander takes the letter from her hands.

"Mom, it's from a Dr. Jeremiah August. Do you know him?"

She taps her head continuously," Yes! He's your dad's maternal cousin. No one ever hears from him and he doesn't live anywhere close. What does the letter say?"

Alexander reads,

Dear Alex,

How are you and your mom doing? My name is Dr. Jeremiah August.I am so sorry I could not attend your dad's funeral and hadn't contacted earlier. I was not in the country and I wasn't informed early about his death. He was not only my cousin but a good friend.

I hear you are studying to be a veterinarian. I am willing to help you realize your dreams and more but firstly, you must meet me at my home in Oregon County. I do hope you come. I will have someone pick you up from the bus station, so call me when you get there. This is my contact number, (555) 576 - 2124. You must have seen the money in the envelope, it's for the journey. Some of the money is for your mom. I hope to send more in due time or preferably give it to you by hand. I will be expecting you before the end of the week.

Yours sincerely,

Jeremiah.

Mrs. Rebecca pulls out the money from the envelope. She hands the money to Alexander. " Count it."

He lubricates his fingers with saliva and starts to flip the notes till he get to the final one. He is noticeably happy as a wide grin appears on his face. " Mom, it's two thousand dollars."

She smiles and collects the money. " I would be going to the market. We are eating something different and delicious tonight. I will cook your favourite, it's been a long time."

Alexander hugs his mom.

"But about his offer, will you go?"

"If it's going to help me further my education and career, I have to. For the both of us. What do you think?"

"I think you should, she says satisfyingly." Tomorrow should be fine and you don't need to worry about me, I will be busy restocking the house and shopping for clothes and doing other womanly things, now that there's money." She laughs, " I should be going to the market. Take care of the house."

Alexander, filled with joy, starts arranging the house. After that, he heads to his room, picks up his phone, lies on his bed and begins researching on Oregon County. Oregon County is about 800 miles from his town, Berkeley and it would take about 14 hours to get there by bus." I have to prepare myself for such a long journey", he thinks to himself.

After a lot of cheerful thoughts, he falls asleep.

Alexander wakes up to the mouth-watering aroma of fried chicken, coming from the kitchen. He looks outside the windows. The sky is dark. A lot of time has passed while he was asleep. He puts on his phone, it's 7:34p.m.

" Mom !", he calls loudly.

" I'm in the kitchen.", she answers.

Alexander walks to the kitchen.

"When did you get back?

"About two hours ago. You were sleeping, so, I decided to start cooking the meal."

"I think it woke me. I am already salivating, I can almost taste it."

They both laugh.

"No need for your gut to grumble. The food is almost ready. Just help me set the table."

Alexander sets the table and goes to find Juno. The black chartreux is caught laying under Alexander's bed with its hind legs out, allowing Alexander to easily grab him and take him to the dining for his dinner.

Alexander returns to the dining to find food already served, boiled rice with tomato sauce and fried chicken garnished with roast fish cuts and cabbage. Fresh orange juice in a transparent glass jar is placed on the table. His favourite has truly been served.

He places Juno by his bowl having fish cuts in it,then sits with his mom, prays, and begins digging into his meal.

Dinner time is over. Alexander carries the plates to the sink and washes them. His mom had already gone to bed. He switches off the unused lights and retires to his bed. Tomorrow is going to be a long day and he will be leaving as early as 6a.m to catch the early morning bus for the long journey.

Alexander wakes up to his alarm which is set to 4:30a.m. This morning, he isn't as weak as he normally is on every other morning. It must be the excitement of travelling to a place where his life would be changed forever.

He quickly prepares himself - bathes, packs a bag with his phone, headphones, a few clothes and cosmetics. He goes to greet his mom. They pray together and have a few laughs. She hands him some money for his journey. He goes back to his room. Juno is still sleeping. He pets him and says, "I'm going now, protect mom and the house."

A taxi to the bus station. Luckily, he is the last passenger needed for the morning trip. He buys a ticket and walks into the bus, settling for the rear seat close to the window. "Fourteen hours on the road, what does someone do with such time?", he thinks to himself. He looks at the passenger sitting beside. It's a young woman with her baby. " The innocence of ignorance. How beautiful life is when you have no knowledge of anything, so you have nothing to worry about."

Alexander sets out his phone and headphones. He will finally be able to hear all the songs on his playlist, multiple times even. He plays the first song, 'Alec Benjamin - I Built a Friend' and lets the rest play on after that.

After fourteen long hours of music, snacking and slumber, the bus arrives at the bus station in Oregon County by 8:30p.m.

Alexander enters the bus station and takes a sit by the entrace. He calls Dr. August, who picks up almost immediately.

"Hello sir, it's me, Alexander Robinson. I'm sorry, I failed to call you at the inception of my journey. I am calling to tell you that I have arrived Oregon County."

"Don't worry about that. Are you still at the bus station?", a deep growly voice responds.

"Yes, I am.", he says swiftly.

"Ok, I am sending someone to pick up right now."

Dr. August hangs up.

After twenty minutes, Alexander receives another phone call.

" Hello, who is this?"

"Is this Alexander? Where are you? I was sent to pick you up.", a gentle female voice replies.

He stands up, "I'm at the entrace to the bus station. Can you meet me here?"

"Ok", she says.

The door opens and pretty girl in her mid-20s walks and asks,

"Alex, right?", stretching forth her hand for a handshake.

"Yes.", receiving the handshake and feeling her soft, sweaty palms.

"I'm Isabella August. Let's be going to the car, it's already late".

They arrive at a mansion at the top of a hill, which is surrounded by a tall, vast fence. Driving in, Alexander is fascinated by the wide portion of land surrounded by the fence. Glorifying lights giving a beautiful view of the entire structure. Yards away, he spots a large cornfield, silos, barns and stables.

Isabella guides him into the house and into the room he would be staying in.

"This will be your room. Dad will see you tomorrow. Let me get you something to eat."

She leaves him, coming back few minutes later with bowls of broccoli chicken casserole and fruit salad.

Alexander collects the bowls from her before she leaves,"Thank you. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She leaves for her room upstairs.

He sets the bowls on a bedside table before pulling his phone from his pocket to call his mom.

"Hey, mom."

"How are you? Are you there yet?"

"I'm great and yes. I hope everything's alright over there."

"You don't have to worry about anything. We are all fine here."

"Ok. Mom! The house is huge. I haven't seen him yet but I'll surely do so tomorrow.", he says excitedly.

"That's nice. Don't forget to thank him for me and be nice."

"I won't forget. Its late, I have to go to bed. Goodnight, mom."

"Goodnight, son. I love you."

Alexander drops the call and digs into the food on the table. He had never eaten such before but it was nice and tender on his tongue. He ate it all, leaving nothing in the bowls before going to sleep. He would be meeting his supposed helper the following day and wouldn't to be seen as lousy or lazy.

Alexander wakes up to the sound of cattle mooing, sheep bleating, dogs barking.

"What sort of zoo is this?", he asks rhetorically.

He picks up the bowls and leaves his room, in search of the kitchen. After walking past a lot of rooms and walking in squares, he is attracted by a certain voice and walks in the direction of the voice. Luckily, he finds himself in the kitchen. He is met by the woman of the house. She looks like her daughter's twin. Long black hair, brown eyes, beautiful round face, with a smile sticked to her face.

"Alexander, is it?", she asks inquisitively.

"Yes. Good morning.",he stutters.

"Good morning. I'm Judith August.", she graciously replies.

"I'll have that.", pointing to the bowls in his hands. "My husband is in the barns outside. He should be waiting for you already."

"Oh, thank you."

"No need to be scared. He's no mean fellow. He loves vets and I'm sure he'll like you."

"Ok, I'll go meet him right away.", smiling hopefully.

Alexander walks out the front of the mansion and heads into the lengthy cornfield. At the end of cornfields, he meets the herd of cattle, flock of sheep with dogs chasing after them. He is marvelled by such beautiful, lively sight under the yellow sun.

"Join me in the barn", Dr. August calls unto him.

"Good morning, sir.", he greets as he meets the mysterious man picking up eggs from the chicken coop. Unlike his voice, he looks quite friendly with his short white beards and firm stature.

"Ah, yes. I hope you had a good night rest."

"Yes, sir. I'm grateful for everything you've done for my mom and I."

"Don't worry about that. You're both family and I'll do anything for my family."

"So, you wanted to see me, sir."

Quickly, from smiling to becoming serious as he drops the crate of eggs on the floor and sits on an old brown bench beside him.

" Sit with me."

Alexander sits immediately, listening effectively.

" I have a clinic in town and I'm looking for who to pass it on to. As you can see, I'm getting old and I can't be spending any more of my life working or looking after earthly things. I want to spend the rest of my days with my beautiful wife, now my baby girl has grown up to be a gorgeous woman. I am, as you are, in love with nature and her creatures, so I became a veterinay doctor. I was extremely glad when I heard someone in my family wanted to become a veterinarian. I have also heard about your challenges with continuing your education but that won't be a problem anymore. You could ask why I didn't give it to my daughter. Well, she decided to become a musician and although she loves animals, we know that just loving them is not enough to treat them or solve their problems and that's why I think you'll be the best person to take care of my clinic but before I give it to you, you'll have to work for me, in the clinic and on my farm for three years."

Years?, he screams in his head. Alexander surely had the love and passion for animals but like most of his colleagues in the field, he also wanted to become a veterinarian for the money. He wanted to graduate, take a loan and build his own clinic and make money to solve his family financial issues forever. After some minutes of deep thinking, he decides to take up the offer as he hadn't seen anything better coming his way.

He sighs, " I may not be so glad saying this but I will do as you ask."

"You didn't have to rush to give me a reply, Dr. August says with his normal admirable smile. "Even if you decline, I'll still pay for your tuition until you graduate."

"I don't need any more time to think. I'm sure of my answer. It's just the thought of working on your magnificent farm that weakens me.", Alexander replies politely.

"Dr. August laughs. You won't be the only one working on it and you'll learn to have fun with it."

"I'll have to call my mom to inform her about the forthcomings."

"Lest I forget. I already discussed this with her. I just told her not to tell you about it."

"Oh my goodness.", Alexander says in awe. "So that's why she was already smiling when she gave me your letter, even without reading it."

Dr. August chuckles. "Mothers are quite the joy." He picks up the crate of eggs and stands up. " Let's head in. Breakfast must be ready."

Alexander quickly follows. Dr. August tells him some silly stories of his younger self as a veterinarian as they walk back to the house through the lengthy cornfield pathway.

Alexander and the Augusts eat toast bread with jam and scrambled eggs for breakfast. He uses the rest of the day to get acquainted with the whole family and master the environment he will be working in after he graduates. He is also taken to the clinic that day as he will be leaving the next day for Berkeley. He will be back after he graduates, in two years time.

*Two years later*

As it would happen, Alexander excelled at the top of his class. He was naturally intelligent and he had the help of a certain family member who made sure he came out top of his class. He went to work for Dr. August, but that didn't stop him from visiting his mom and his best pal, Juno when he had the chance.

*Three years later*

It may have all started tough but Alexander was able to overcome, especially with the help of his family.

On his last day working for Dr. August. On a cool orange-skied evening, he is sitting under a mango tree by the house fence, admiring the animals in their uniqueness and calmness. These years have taught him to really understand and love these animals. He is lost in thoughts, he doesn't see Dr. August coming.

"This is the real reason I wanted you to work for me. To be able to see the beauty in nature and understand the dominion we have been given to embrace and live with them in harmony."

Alexander turns to him. "Thank you so much for everything".

"Dr. August chuckles, "This is every man's dream- to pass on his knowledge to someone who will use them wisely." He pulls out a cheque from his black nylon jacket and hands it to Alexander.

Peeking at the figures written on the cheque, he begins to cry, then hugs Dr. August "Thank you so much."

Dr. August chuckles, "It's nothing. You deserve it. My wife and I will be travelling to our special place tomorrow, very early in the morning. You can leave whenever you like, this is your home too."

He begins to walk away, back to the house, then he screams, "Take good care of the clinic."

Alexander is left smiling. He says to himself, "I will."