Chapter Five

First thing in the morning Aaron called Dr Bellamy, she was actually pretty eager to talk to him about David and was immensely interested in everything he had to say. David himself was still asleep, that blue pill from yesterday clearly helped him sleep.

“So he’s having bad dreams?” Dr Bellamy asked him over the phone.

Aaron was describing it poorly. “He was terrified, even before that.” He tried to explain. “He gets angry in quick sharp bursts.” He swore he could hear the scribbling of her pen through the phone.

“We have another appointment tomorrow, just observe him for another day.” Dr Bellamy told him. “This could simply be a side effect of The Treatment.”

Aaron was actually a little relieved. “So it can be fixed?” He asked.

“Maybe.” She dismissed it rather simply. “Just try to do something relaxing.”

“Like what?” Aaron said.

He heard pages flipping. “He likes the Zoo.” She told him.

Aaron was a little floored with that information. For one he wasn’t sure if this was breaching some kind of Doctor-patient confidentiality. Also this was actually useful information which is not what he was really expecting. “The Zoo?” He tried to confirm.

“Yes. He mentioned on many occasions he used to enjoy the Zoo.” Dr Bellamy told him.

“I don’t remember Dad or Mom really taking him that often, maybe on a field trip or something.” Aaron said.

“His first hospital used to bring in animals to the kids section, then he went alone a lot while in foster care.” Dr Bellamy informed him. Now he was sure it was getting too personal, but he supposed this wasn’t exactly secret information.

“Thanks. I’ll suggest it to David.” Aaron said and ended the call shortly after.

It was still morning so Aaron decided to make some coffee and look up the Zoo, he hadn’t been there himself in over a decade so was actually getting into the idea of going again.

David woke up to the smell of the coffee maker brewing a fresh pot of coffee. He groggily pushed himself up off the bed. The pill he took in the middle of the night left his head a little heavy but he knew it would wear off. Other than that he actually felt a little good, at least he seemed to feel alright.

He lifted himself up thinking a cup of coffee would be perfect, there was a lot he wanted to do now that he didn’t need a cane and could walk around perfectly fine. When he got to the kitchen he noticed Aaron looking at him with concern.

“Good morning?” Aaron said cautiously.

“Hey.” David replied and went to get a cup of coffee. He poured a full mug of black coffee from the pot and sat down at the table where Aaron was. He took a sip of the drink and winced, it was so bitter!

“What’s wrong?” Aaron noticed David’s discomfort.

“Is something wrong with the coffee?” David asked.

“No, it's the same as always.”

“Well this is gross.” David complained and slid the mug further away from him.

“We can get you a fresh cup when we go out.” Aaron told him.

“Where are we going?” David asked wondering what Aaron was planning, he had his own plans.

“Dr Bellamy recommended the Zoo. She wants you to relax today and we will see her tomorrow.” Aaron told him.

David bit his bottom lip. It’s not like it was surprising that Aaron called his therapist in fact he said he was going to after last night. He liked the Zoo but he hadn’t been back to it since the fall. It was too big to walk around without being in tons of pain. But now that didn’t matter, so that's probably why Dr Bellamy suggested it. “Okay.” He agreed. He took a deep breath, breathing in sharply. He caught the feeling of anger inside him before he yelled. He wanted to tell Aaron he was going to go by himself and he wasn’t allowed to come. He didn’t though. He didn’t even feel that way, not really. He just felt very angry with his brother.

David must have seemed a little strange since Aaron asked. “Are you okay?”

“Fine.” He grumbled. “I’m going to go get ready.” David abandoned his coffee at the table and went back upstairs to change.

David went upstairs to pick out an outfit for the Zoo, there wasn’t much to pick from. He figured he would have to do some shopping online for some new outfits. He dug through his closet looking for something to wear but his taste in clothing had drastically changed since he was thirteen. He decided to just wear the Batman T-Shirt and his black jeans, both of which Aaron had purchased yesterday.

Aaron started packing some things for the two of them, water, a snack and he figured they would eat at one of the restaurants in the Zoo. He also packed some sun screen for them since it was a nice day out.

David came back down the stairs a little bit excited, he didn’t really know why he was so against the Batman shirt at the store, he did like Batman. He hurried to put on his new shoes while Aaron finished getting ready. Pretty soon the two of them were back in the car.

Being away from the house made David feel immensely better. He was getting anxious standing around the house that had caused all his problems. Although it wasn’t the same house, theirs had been rebuilt, it was still a bit too much.

As Aaron drove he could tell David was excited. He was practically bouncing in his seat. “You okay?” He asked his younger brother.

“Yeah.” David said and fiddled with the radio in the front seat. “I just like the Zoo, hopefully some of the employees are the same.”

“You know some of them?” Aaron asked. “How often did you go?”

“Like… Every weekend…” David admitted.

Aaron was shocked, how had he and his brother never talked about this before. “You must really like the Zoo then.”

“The people are nice,” David told him. “and I like animals.”

Aaron smiled a little, learning more about what his brother liked made him feel closer. “You liked animals when you were little.” He reminded him.

“Yeah.” David agreed. “I wanted to work at the Zoo.”

“Really?” Aaron said. This was the first time David had spoken to him about the future. “You never told me that.”

“Well…” David trailed off. “It would have been hard to do… With the injury.”

Aaron went silent for a moment. His brother’s medical troubles had caused him a lot of pain but after the treatment he should be able to get back on track. “Well what about now?” He asked. “Still interested?”

“Yeah.” David said and smiled. “Let's talk to the staff.”

Aaron paid for two adult Zoo tickets. For a moment he considered that given David’s new size he could get an under twelve ticket but thought better of it and purchased the correct ones. It also wouldn’t be worth it to annoy his brother for a couple extra dollars.

David led Aaron through the entrance of the Zoo. It had a gift shop on one side and the food court on the other. David grinned freely as he ran toward the ‘America's’ exhibit. “I want to show you the wolves!” He told Aaron as he ran ahead.

Aaron struggled to keep up. He couldn't help but smile at his brother's enthusiasm. It reminded him of when they were kids and the two of them would go bike riding together.

David stopped a bit away from the wolf exhibit though. The viewing area was packed with younger kids trying to view the Zoo's pack of wolves. He could tell they were pretty rowdy.

Aaron finally caught up to David and looked at the wolves. “Want to show me?” He asked him and looked at his brother.

“Nevermind…” David said and looked around.

“What's wrong?” Aaron asked. His brother had been so excited only moments earlier.

“It's busy… People will make fun of me.” David admitted then got embarrassed and darted off in a random direction.

Aaron tried to stop him but was now in a chase with his younger brother through a crowded Zoo. He didn't want to cause a scene so didn't yell at him but made sure to follow. David kept having these outbursts and he was worried this was another one.

David ran through the crowds until he got to a corner of the Zoo he knew people didn't really go to. No one really comes to a Zoo to look at rodents. Sure the otters were cute but David was staring at the raccoons, a small family of them had a spacious pit and they were asleep. No one else was there. He hated crowds.

Aaron finally caught up to David who was leaning on the fence looking down at the raccoons. “Hey.” He said cautiously.

“Hey.” David said back inviting him to join him. “Sorry I ran off.”

“It's okay.” Aaron said. “Why did you say they would make fun of you?”

David shot him a glare. “Isn't it obvious?” He told him annoyed and gestured to his face. The prominent scar from the fire had left its mark down the right side of his face. It looked bigger than it had a couple days ago. “They'll say I'm a freak or some kid will cry.”

Aaron didn't like where this was going. He had never really seen this side of his brother, he never talked to him about this kind of thing. Maybe at sixteen he had just gotten over it and now due to the treatment it came back? “Do people make fun of you?” He asked him. He was worried his little brother was being bullied. He felt guilty that this had never occurred to him until now.

David frowned and looked back at the raccoons. “Sometimes.” He admitted. “We should find some staff.” Clearly he didn't want to talk about it.

“Why is that?” Aaron asked.

“I want to ask them about volunteering.” David said. “They said I could when I was older.”

Aaron agreed and followed David through some of the hallways until they got to an information building. David led Aaron into the building and he approached a young woman with dark hair sitting at a counter. “Umm, Hi Lyla.” David said sheepishly.

Lyla looked up at David a little surprised. “David?” She asked curiously. “Oh wow, it’s been a while.”

“I umm.” David stammered. “I was busy for a while, but I'm back now.”

“You don’t look like you have changed at all.”

“I’m sixteen now.” He told her. “I want to volunteer at the Zoo now.”

“Oh!” Lyla said surprised. “I don’t know if we have an opening.”

David’s face went from a nervous smile to a disappointed frown. “Oh…” He said. “I just thought that I would be able to now. I’ll do anything!”

Lyla smiled at David. “Anything?” She asked.

“Yeah anything!” He said again. “I want to work at the Zoo.”

“What about helping with the Kid’s Kamp?” She asked him.

David felt a little self conscious being around kids. “I’ll just scare them.” He told her.

“Oh I don’t think that’ll be an issue.” She told him.

***

Aaron leaned against the wall of the backroom as he watched one of the employees paint his face. He looked adorable. The employee was painting his face to match the fluffy costume he was wearing. He was honestly surprised he even agreed to it. Usually the idea of doing anything that put him in the spotlight was completely out of the question.

David sat on the tall stool, he had his hands placed between his legs and leaned forward while Kira painted him. The employees had pulled out a red panda costume for him to wear. They told him he would be playing the Zoo’s mascot and really just needed to say ‘Hi’ to the kids and take some pictures. He was honestly just happy they were letting him volunteer at all. “That tickles.” He told Kira.

“I’m almost done.” She told him. “Just be ready to smile and put your arms up in the air.”

“My arms up in the air?” David said, confused.

“It’s just what red pandas do when they are scared.”

“Oh.”

David finally slipped off the stool. The outfit now complete, he looked at himself in a mirror. The fluffy costume covered his whole body except for his face which was painted to look like a red panda. He looked closely at the scar that was on his face and smiled at the fact that it was hidden, even if it was under childish face paint. “It looks good.” He told Kira.

“Well let’s get you out there.” Lyla told him. “Remember you’re Rupert the Red Panda.”

David nodded and followed Lyla.

Aaron didn’t have anything to do so went to the adult waiting area where some parents were waiting for their kids to be finished with the event. He could have gone exploring but didn’t really want to leave David out of his sight. If it was up to him he never would have let David do this to begin with. One moment David was worried he would get made fun of and the next moment he was dressing up in a ridiculous costume, he really didn’t understand how much the scars bothered his little brother.

David followed Lyla in front of the group. As discussed he waved and said “Hi” to all the kids and followed the Zoo Keeper’s instructions. He got laughs and smiles from the kids. They seemed to range in age from as little as four all the way up to ten. He was so popular after all the introductions were made and his performance was done that he took pictures with all the kids.

“Can Rupert come with us around the Zoo?” One of the little girls asked. Lyle didn’t know what to say and looked at David, the look was pretty much asking for permission. David looked at Aaron who nodded to his little brother, he then nodded to Lyla.

“Yes, he can come with us.” Lyla told them.

David didn’t really know what he was agreeing to but pretty quickly he was ushered along with all the little kids around the Zoo. Being the only one in any sort of costume got him a lot of strange looks but David seemed almost relaxed. The costume gave him the ‘right’ kind of attention, people were happy to see him. Occasionally he would break away from the group just to take pictures with random guests.

Aaron followed along watching it unfold, also getting the full tour made for little kids while he was at it. He watched his little brother enjoy himself, getting lost in the moment.

After what felt like a few hours the parents collected their kids and David was allowed to get lunch. He got changed again but hesitated before taking off the facepaint, he did clean it off though.

“You didn’t need to hang around all day.” David told Aaron, who sat across from him as they had lunch.

“It was fun.” Aaron said truthfully. “You looked like you were having fun.”

“I guess.” David agreed.

Aaron wanted to ask him about the scars but after yesterday’s breakdown it felt like he would just be opening a wound, he resolved himself to at least bring it up with Dr Bellamy tomorrow.

The two were planning on wandering around the Zoo a little now that they were free to do so. Aaron made the suggestion to visit the gift shop first though.

“Remember you used to collect stuffed animals?” Aaron asked him.

“I guess.” David said as he ran his hand over them.

“Want one?” Aaron offered.

“What? I’m not seven.” David said and recoiled his hand.

“Come on.” Aaron encouraged him. “What about the red panda?”

David rolled his eyes but Aaron picked it up anyway. He wanted something to remember the trip so bought him the stuffed animal. After the fire Aaron tried to buy him more of them but he had lost interest in them after they burned away. Truthfully though Aaron suspected he missed a lot of his things from before the fire.

Aaron carried the stuffed animal in a bag as they finally returned to the wolf exhibit. David clearly had more confidence after being on display all morning and walked through the crowds to get a good look.

“MOMMY!” A little girl shrieked, the same girl who had asked ‘Rupert’ to join them on the tour. “HE’S SCARY” She squealed.

David’s face went pale. “Let’s go home.” He told Aaron miserably. Aaron wanted to stomp over to that girl and their mother to tell them how rude they were being. David was clearly on the verge of another tantrum though and decided to let it go.

David’s good mood had turned into a sour pout as they headed to the car. “It’s not fair.” He scowled at Aaron.

Aaron looked at him knowing what he was talking about, the scar on his face. It was more than his face. You could see it on his hand too and if he took off his shirt it was all over. “Do you want to talk about it?”

David looked at him and scoffed. But as they got in the privacy of the car he considered again and started to open up. “Before everything healed people were nice to me.” He told Aaron. “Like people didn’t make fun of me right away. But after I took the bandages off people were uncomfortable.” David looked away from Aaron. “People think I’m ugly.”

Aaron swallowed. He didn’t know this bothered his brother so much. There was a long time after the fire David wouldn’t talk about anything that happened. David started crying. He was trying to force himself to stop but kept hiccupping. “Hey.” Aaron said and brought his arm over his shoulder as they sat in the car. “I’m glad you told me.” Aaron took out the red panda stuffed animal and pressed it into David’s chest until he took it.

David snivelled and leaned into Aaron. Between the stuffed doll and his brother he was starting to calm down. He didn’t usually cry like this but it wasn’t entirely foreign to him. Even Dr Bellamy knew he was upset about this.

After David calmed down Aaron finally drove the two home. He didn’t think the trip was a complete failure, David managed to have a little fun. He wanted to talk to David about more things but decided that having Dr Bellamy there would probably be for the best.