Second Heartbeat

I ran quickly ran the hallway, screaming bloody murder. Of course, I was. Who wouldn’t be?

“Jewel, Zuna’s ready!” I screamed.

I quickly took a right, nearly falling over, when I bumped into someone.

I smiled wide, when I saw it was Jewel.

She had short blond hair that barely touched her shoulders, and there were two streaks of violet on the left and right side of her face. She had bright blue eyes, and she had a bubbly personality.

“Emma, don’t kill yourself. Zuna will be fine; this isn’t her first time you know.” Jewel said. I nodded.

I guess I didn’t need to worry too much. I was overreacting again. It was hard not to do that, when you worked here though.

“Can we go watch on the TV?” I asked quickly. Jewel nodded, and she grabbed my hand, dragging me to her office.

I felt my heart pounding against my chest, as Jewel and I entered her office room. She let go of my hand, and she turned her TV on, switching it to the right channel.

I gasped loudly, when I saw Zuna. She was breathing quite heavily, but she looked pretty good to me.

I smiled happily, and I felt myself sigh in relief.

“I told you she’d be fine.” Jewel said grinning like a child. I smiled back at her.

“I was just worried. You’re acting like you’ve never been worried over them before,” I said pouting. She rolled her eyes.

“Yeah, I’ve been worried about them, but I never cried because one of them wouldn’t eat.” She said sticking her hand on her hip.

I huffed loudly. She had me there, but in my defense… I was worried.

“I thought she needed to eat every hour or so,” I said. “Three hours,” Jewel corrected me. I rolled my eyes.

“Still; I thought if Sasha didn’t eat it, she would die. I was just being a good caretaker,” I said.

“Big ol’ worry wart,” Jewel muttered. I rolled my eyes again.

“Now watch the damn screen for me. I’m gonna go get Anthony to go help me with Suki out back. Call me if anything bad happens,” Jewel said. I nodded happily.

“I’ll do that,” I said softly.

I grabbed a chair, and I sat down, eyes glued to the screen.

I watched as Zuna slowly but surely gave birth. So many people told me that the first time I saw one of them giving birth that it would be at least a little awkward for me to watch. That wasn’t the case for me at all.

I felt like I had to watch. I wanted to watch the miracle happening before me. I watched in awe as three no, four baby little cheetah cubs were born.

I watched in anticipation, wondering how it would feel to stroke their soft fur. I wondered if I would feel even softer than Zuna’s own fur.

I watched as Zuna carefully licking, cleaned her babies with her tongue. I could feel the huge grin on my face. I could only hope and wish that I would be able to get close to those baby cubs.

I smiled happily as I saw that all of the cubs were drinking happily from their mother. I sighed happily, slouching comfortably in the chair. I brought my hands to my face, sighing deeply.

I loved this job.

I didn’t need this job, but I wanted to have it. I wanted my very own money to buy my own things with. I didn’t want Zacky giving me money, like I was his kid and I needed his money. That would be like allowance, and I never had that as a kid, so I didn’t need it as an adult now.

I took my hands away from my face, looking back at the screen. The happy family was asleep now.

I smiled. Why couldn’t life just be that simple?

I shook my head. Even this family was going to be broken apart.

I knew once the cubs were a week old, they would be taken from Kayla, their mother. It was the necessary thing to do. Kayla was taken from her own mother at two weeks old.

It was something that was needed to be done. But at least they were together, happy for now.

I smiled softly.

I heard someone walk into the room, and I turned around slowly.

It was Josh. He was some other part time helper like myself. He had short brown hair with little blond hairs in parts. He had light brown eyes that shined brightly, when the sun hit them just right.

But Zacky told me that he didn’t like him. I wasn’t entirely sure why. Zacky only talked to him for five minutes once.

Josh smiled at me, but then he groaned shortly after.

“I missed the whole thing?” he whined. I nodded slowly. He pouted.

“I guess there’s always next time though,” he muttered. I nodded. Suki was a pregnant tiger we had here.

“There’s Suki,” I said. He immediately brightened up. Suki was his favorite in the whole sanctuary. I guess he was a big fan of tigers then. I preferred cheetahs though.

“You’re right!” he said happily. He squealed loudly, and he ran over to me, hugging me tightly.

“Emma, you’re amazing.” He said, letting go of me.

He was on his right knee in front of me now, and it was sort of awkward for me. He was a little too close for comfort right now.

“Emma,” he said softly. I felt my face go red.

I needed to get away from this situation as fast as possible.

I was just about to say that I had to go use the bathroom, but I heard the door slam shut.

It made both me and Josh jump up, causing Josh’s head to hit mine.

“Ow,” we said together.

He looked at me, and he smiled happily. I smiled softly back at him, but I was worried inside.

I heard someone clear their throat.

Shit, someone slammed the door shut? I thought it was the wind.

We both looked up, and I bit down on my lip. I quickly stood up, nearly elbowing Josh in the head in the process.

“Zacky,” I said. I wrapped my arms around his waist, hugging him tightly. I was worried, when he didn’t hug me back.

I bit down hard on my lip, as I backed away from him.

Zacky was staring down at me. He wasn’t smiling.

“Josh, I gotta go now. Can you watch Zuna and the cubs for me until Jewel gets back?” I asked.

“Sure,” Josh said. He was grinning like a maniac.

Why?

I grabbed Zacky’s hand, and I waved good-bye to Josh.

Zacky didn’t say anything, while we walked out of the building. He didn’t say anything, while we got in the car.

Zacky started the car, and I looked down at my hands. I was waiting for him to say something to me. Why couldn’t he just break the ice for me?

I was nervous. Why wasn’t Zacky saying anything to me? I didn’t do anything. I didn’t, did I?

I felt my eyes water.

Don’t cry, Em. Don’t make things worse than they are.

I felt the car stop, and I didn’t pay any attention to it, thinking it was a red light or a stop sign.

“Why are you crying, Emma?” Zacky asked.

I was expecting him to at least say something with a irritated or annoyed tone, but it wasn’t.

I looked over to my left.

Concern.

That’s what was on his face. It wasn’t anything that showed he was mad or angry at me.

“Why aren’t you mad at me?” I asked quietly.

Zacky grinned at me, causing me to smile back at him. It was almost contagious, when he smiled.

“I was mad at first,” he admitted. I squeezed my right hand over my left, applying pressure slowly.

“But then I realized you wouldn’t do that to me. You love me, and I love you. People who are in love don’t cheat, right?” Zacky said. I nodded.

“Then I don’t have to worry about anything then. You wouldn’t cheat on me. I know that for a fact, Emma.”

Zacky brought his hand to my cheek. I smiled at him.

How was he always so perfect?

Zacky kissed my forehead.

“Besides, I don’t have to worry about that asshole. He’s fucking ugly anyways.” He said grinning. I rolled my eyes. I was waiting for that one comment.

“I love you, Zacky.” I said.

“I love you too, hun.”