The L in Animal Means Langauge

It was a chilly morning for the 9th District. The sun has yet to come up and the streets were still lit up by the streetlights. Amy, a 14-year old girl, was walking with her pet puppy's leash on hand. 5 a.m. walks was their thing ever since day 1.

Amy was admiring the morning sky when she felt that their movements were growing slow.

"Kei, come here, boy," she called out to the dog. However, the said pet kept on walking, somehow weakly. After a few more sluggish steps, Kei seemed to have fell. Amy rushed to his aid in panic.

"Kei! Kei! Wake up! What's wrong?" she shook his body but he didn't budge.

"Excuse me, may I help?" A voice surprised Amy as she turned back to see a man in his early 30's, wearing a lab coat.

"My dog suddenly fainted! What should I do?!" she cried in despair.

"My clinic is nearby, why don't we bring him there?" he offered as he picked up the fainted pup and walked towards a certain direction. Amy followed without any hesitation because her dog's health is her current priority. 

After a few strolls, they arrived in a small building which seemed to be a veterinary clinic. The man laid Kei on the table and began examining him. 

"Sir, are you a veterinarian?" Amy asked. 

"Oh, right. I haven't introduced myself. My name is Toby Lee, and yes, I am a veterinarian."

"Thank, God we bumped into you. So, how's my Kei doing, doc?"

"Hmm, I'm still not sure yet, but I may be able to treat him properly once he wakes up," the man answered as he kept on examining the girl's pet. "Oh, would you look at that, he's gaining consciousness."

"Kei!" Amy called and ran to her dog's face.

"Okay miss, when was the last time your dog ate?" the doctor asked. Before she could answer, the dog barked loudly. The doctor stood up, fetched a bowl of water and laid it near the dog. Then, Kei immediately drank from the bowl.

"I think it was last night when he ate some biscuits as late snacks," the girl answered.

"Haha! What an adorable dog you have. He was just thirsty and probably fainted due to dehydration. You didn't give him a drink before you took a walk earlier?"

"Now that you mention it, I haven't," the girl responded while looking back to a few minutes before her current situation.

"Well, now that he's all filled up, you can continue your morning stroll," the doctor said as he led the puppy down from the table.

"Umm, I don't have a lot, but how much do I owe you, doc?" the girl asked. The doctor could see that the girl really didn't have much. He might've saw her somewhere before. After all, 9th District is a small village.

"Thank you so much, doctor!!" the girl grinned at him while she ran off waving with her dog.

"Aah, what a cute puppy indeed," the man muttered to himself as he saw the girl off. The sun was now slowly rising and the residents can now hear the birds chirping. Well, except Dr. Toby Lee. Unlike any other villager in the 9th District, or probably the whole world, he could understand all animal languages. 

When normal people hear birds chirping, what Toby hears is something along the lines of "Ah, good morning, world! Another day of chirping away!"

That's why he became a veterinarian. 

When Amy's puppy was barking earlier, the doctor actually heard, "Ah, I'm so parched. I haven't drank a drop of water since last night." That's why Dr. Lee immediately got him water to drink.

This was such a small ability, but as an animal person, it really sparked joy within him.

Whenever he would visit a zoo back in his childhood, his eyes would glimmer as he could hear and understand what the animals are saying. He once heard a dolphin saying "Look at me! Look at me!" and young Toby just glued his eyes on the sight.

Maybe this ability was also the reason why his business as a veterinarian was skyrocketing. He had 9.8 ratings, he doesn't overcharge, and gives really accurate diagnosis. He is the dream veterinarian every pet owner could ask for.

Once, a rival wanted to sabotage him and sent over an undercover trying to poison the doctor with a venomous snake. To his rival's dismay, Dr. Lee was able to tame the snake and even warm up to him. To an animal's eyes, he is the best owner they could ask for.

However, even though he loves and can understand animals, and animals want and would love to be with him, he can't.

Why, you ask?

Because his wife is allergic to animals.

That's right. 

Even though the great Doctor Toby Lee is the epitome of an "animal's best guardian", his wife can't stop sneezing when there's a fur baby within 5 meters. It really made the doctor sad, but he really loved his former high school girlfriend, now wife, so he chose to involve himself in veterinary instead.

The doctor's thoughts were interrupted as his phone rang. Without looking at the caller ID, he answered it.

"Hello?" he started.

"Hey, honey," he could hear his wife's voice from the other line. 

"Yes, darling?"

"Nothing. I just thought you might be spacing out and lost track of time and didn't se your alarm, but it's time for you to open your clinic," he glanced at his watch to see that his wife was right.

"Oh my, you're right. You see, as I walked to the clinic, there was this girl who was walking her dog and her dog fainted so it just made me remember a lot of things. Anyway, I gotta go now. Bye, I love you."

"I love you too," then, the call was ended by a beep.

The doctor then got up and opened his clinic and flipped the sign that now says "open".

"GOOD MORNING BOTH PETS AND OWNERS! THE LEE ANIMAL CLINIC IS NOW OPEN FOR BUSINESS!"