Quintessential | Joshua Washington

Understanding - XVII

"Quinn..." A soft voice was calling to her, but she couldn't quite bring herself to respond. "Quinn." She was so warm and comfortable; she wished to remain so and hugged herself tightly, determined to ignore whoever or whatever was trying to drag her from her happy place. "God dammit Quinoa, wake up!" A hand firmly gripped Quinn's shoulder and gave her a shake for good measure.

Grumpily she cracked open an eye, "Whaizzit?" She grumbled, waiting for her eyesight to focus in on her surroundings.

"Afternoon sleeping beauty." A rather sarcastic voice greeted her, a sarcastic and familiar voice at that.

Quinn opened both her eyes and groaned at the bright light that assaulted her retinas. "Chief?" She mumbled, slightly disorientated, "Am I dreaming?" Josh smiled down at her for a second before reached towards her and pinching her arm sharply. "Ouch! A simple 'no' would have done." She hissed, swatting his hands away and sitting up. Turning her neck from side to side to work out the cricks she quickly scanned the room; Dr Greene was sat at her desk, staring at the two clearly torn between frustration and amusement. "Oh, hey there Doc."

"Afternoon, how does your neck feel?" She stood from her desk and walked over, carefully turning Quinn's neck; she gently peeled back the dressing and examined the wound.

"Feels like I had a chunk of it ripped out by some rabid animal." Josh caught her eye, and though he was remaining silent for the time being, she had a sneaking suspicion she would get a mouth-full off of him when they were alone. "Other than that I'm pretty chipper."

Vanessa re-did the dressing, "It should be fine, it appears to be uninfected so just keep changing the dressing to ensure it remains that way, okay?" Quinn nodded. "Well then if you're quite rested up..." She trailed off but Quinn understood and quickly hopped off the bed, Artemis was already on the floor and immediately brushed his head against her.

"There you are...thanks a million Doc, I owe you." Dr Greene gave her a thin-lipped smile, evidently extremely tired.

"Pay me back by never going back to Blackwood Pines again; it's bad for your health."

Quinn grinned at her and made her way to the door, "I'll try...no promises though." Before she could leave Josh grabbed her wrist and produced a collar and lead from his coat. "Wha...?"

"You can't just wonder around with a wolf and not have it on a lead." He informed her; Quinn frowned and scratched behind Artemis' ears.

"He's a Tamaskan not a wolf..." Josh continued to hold her gaze until she sighed, "Fine, but he's not used to collars or leads, he won't be happy." Josh rolled his eyes and thrust the items at her. Quinn kneeled down and fixed the collar around Artemis; he whined in protest but otherwise allowed her to do it. "Sorry boy, major buzzkill over here seems to think you'll go on a murderous rampage if I leave you unchecked." She shrugged apologetically.

"Yeah, yeah I'm a buzzkill now come on we've bothered Dr Greene enough." Josh rolled his eyes, "Bye Doc, thanks for taking care of this pain in the ass." Quinn looked mildly outraged and turned to the doctor with a frown.

"Cya." She hurriedly followed Josh out of the door, slamming it closed behind her. "I am not a pain in the arse you ungrateful heathen."

"Heathen? Has Blackwood Pines converted you?"

Vanessa Greene listened to the two adolescents bicker as they walked down the hall, away from her office; alone at last she collapsed into her chair and pinched the bridge of her nose. "Never mind bad for her health, I think it's worse for mine." She sighed and stared up at her ceiling, hoping half-heartedly that that would be the last she would see of the troublesome Willow Quinzel.