Chapter Four

A/N: By far the longest chapter of the story. Which...isn't saying much since there's only four of them.

It takes fifteen minutes to wrangle Elsa back into her arms, twenty minutes to find a neighbor who has a spare leash, and then another fifteen minutes to get to the shelter. Surprisingly, Elsa doesn't pee until they're just about to be called in to the vet's office.

Even though the staff says they'll clean it up, it doesn't stop Anna from feeling guilty that her dog did that. Even though Elsa's not her dog…

Microchip. Right, that's why she was there. She has to check if Elsa is chipped.

As soon as the door closes, Elsa darts to a corner of the room to, of course, pee. And honestly, this time Anna doesn't blame her, because she'd be terrified of being in this room too if she was a dog.

Past the cheerful vet assistant cooing at and reassuring Elsa, the rest of the room is cold, tiny, and daunting. There's a big metal table in the center, counter space with medical equipment that Anna thought was only used on humans, and informational posters on the wall about things like dog teeth and, conveniently, microchipping.

"She is such a beautiful puppy," the assistant says as she steps away and types something on the computer.

"Thank you," Anna replies without thinking. "I-I mean she's not mine, but yeah she's really cute."

"So you're here for a general checkup and to see if she has a chip, correct?"

"That's right. I wanna make sure that whoever her owners are know that she's safe and sound."

The assistant beams at her. "Well, that's very thoughtful of you." She finishes whatever she's typing on the computer and places Elsa on the metal table, it takes her a second to get used to the smooth surface. Anna's afraid she might fall, but the smart puppy gets her bearings. "I'll be right back, I'm gonna let Dr. Maren know that you're ready."

The assistant leaves and Anna stays right next to Elsa so she doesn't freak out. Which, to her credit, she really isn't. She looks at the redhead curiously, and is whimpering a little bit, but settles down when she scratches her behind ears.

"Don't worry, when this is over, I'll get you...whatever the dog-version of ice cream is," Anna says. "Unless they find your owner right away and this is the last time I see you."

That thought sobered Anna up quickly.

What if this was the last time she got to see Elsa? It wasn't like she was her dog, so it shouldn't tear her up and she'd definitely have to go back to her owners. But Anna would be lying if she said she wouldn't miss her. Sure, it'd only been a day, but the pure white husky had added some much-needed color to that day.

Anna bit her lip, "On second thought, let's not think about that."

Elsa began nibbling on her fingers with her tiny, yet still pointy, teeth in response. It hurt, but it was also endearing. Maybe she should tell Elsa to stop? Man, she really didn't know a lot about dogs.

As if on cue, there was a knock on the door, and someone who hopefully knew a lot about dogs stepped in. And...oh dear.

She's cute.

Light-brown skin, gorgeous black hair in a neat and simple braid, and narrow yet striking eyes are all making Anna's heart race. And the white coat is the icing on the cake for Anna, considering her first crush was on Meredith Grey.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Maren," she says with this sweet contralto voice as she stretches her hand out. "It's nice to meet you. Anna, right?"

It takes an embarrassingly long time (two seconds) before Anna responds and shakes said hand. "Uh y-yeah. Yes, it's nice to meet you too, Dr. Maren."

"And I'm saying your name correctly?"

Not really, she was saying it like AH-nna, and not O-nna. "Mmhmm, that's my name. Anna Muenster, like the cheese." Oh goodness, she didn't break out the horrible cheese line unless she was really smitten.

Thankfully, the doctor didn't comment on it. "Well good." Dr. Maren shifted her gaze and attention to the puppy, "And this must be Elsa! Wow, what a gorgeous dog."

"Thank you," Anna smiled and then shook her head, "I-I mean she's not mine, but I figured you must have already figured that out. I did give her a bath, though."

"How thoughtful," Dr. Maren said with a warm smile that Anna absolutely wanted to see more of. "My assistant told me that you were wanting to check if Elsa was microchipped. I'll test for it, but first I'm going to do a routine checkup to see if there are any health concerns we should be aware of."

"That sounds good, I'm sure Elsa would appreciate that." Anna didn't want to risk any more nonsense coming out of her mouth, like assuming what a dog would appreciate, and reached out to pet Elsa. Unfortunately, she ended up bumping into the impossibly smooth hands of the veterinarian. "Oh jeez, I'm sorry."

Again, Dr. Maren didn't acknowledge her awkwardness, as she was already grabbing a clipboard and her stethoscope. "Now you said she's a stray, correct? So you're unaware of her birth date?"

"No."

"Hmm, well judging by her size I'd say she's about a couple of months old. Such a tiny thing." Dr. Maren's got an intense look on her face, but her voice is soft and calming. She handles Elsa with care, and the husky looks fairly intent on letting the vet do her job. "And so well-behaved too."

Anna chuckled and muttered, "Tell that to Jorgenbjorgen."

"What was that?"

Gosh, she's got the hearing skills of a rabbit. "Erm, n-nothing. That's just the name of a stuffed penguin that I gave her to play with."

Dr. Maren raised a perfectly-threaded eyebrow, "I was under the assumption that you gave her a bath and then brought her here."

"Actually no, she stayed the night at my house."

"So you've had her in your possession for a whole day?"

Anna shrugged, "Kinda. Yeah. Is that bad?"

Dr. Maren pursed her lips, but she didn't look as if she was judging the clueless redhead. "Not necessarily. How did she take to your home?"

"Pretty well, I think. I didn't have a lot of supplies so she kinda...peed everywhere. And aside from a chewed-up penguin, she didn't really destroy anything."

"And where did she sleep?"

"On my bed."

"Uh...hmm." She took a second to write something down on her clipboard and then resumed her examination of Elsa. "Well, she must have been lost for a while then, if she felt comfortable enough to stay in your home for even a day."

For some reason, that makes Anna feel very proud of herself. Like it dispelled the notion that she was, according to her ex-girlfriend, "clueless and non-sacrificing."

The checkup continues as normal. Dr. Maren only makes comments to herself about Elsa's condition, and Elsa remains silent and obedient throughout the process aside from a yelp when she got a thermometer up her butt. Anna stood and watched with a supportive smile, forcing herself to keep looking at the cute vet so much.

"Well, there are some cuts underneath her fur, but they aren't too deep and don't look infected," Dr. Maren remarked as she finished writing on her clipboard. Elsa's sitting on the table with her head down, looking like a depressed sphynx. "And there's early signs of gingivitis, likely caused by a lack of healthy food. But there's nothing I can see that can't be healed with some time and TLC."

"That's great!" Anna bent down and gently stroked the top of Elsa's head. "You hear that, Elsa? You're doing just fine."

Elsa responded with a quick huff from her nose, probably not feeling up to celebrating after the whole butt thermometer thing.

"Now I couldn't feel for a microchip, and there's no indication that she has one on her tag, but I wanna be thorough." Dr. Maren pulled a small device out of a drawer that looked like a remote without any buttons. "This is used to scan microchips, if Elsa has any then the device will beep and we can go from there."

Anna nodded, "And what if it doesn't find one?"

Dr. Maren smiled before turning on the device, "Then we can go from there."

She doesn't know what that means, but it sounds both positive and ominous at the same time. She watches as the vet moves the scanner around Elsa like a metal detector, her lips purse as the seconds tick by without any beeping noises.

After about a minute, and a second run-through, Dr. Maren put the scanner back and sighed, "No chip."

"...oh. Then what does that mean?"

"Well, it means that finding her owners will be a little more difficult than I'd hope." On the table is also a container with dog treats inside, she takes one out and gives half of one to Els, who happily eats it up. "We'll post a picture and her information on our website, and contact the shelters around the area to do the same."

"What can I do?" Anna asked.

Dr. Maren chuckled, "Get some rest? You did a good thing bringing Elsa here, now it's time for us to do our part. She'll stay here to get some more proper treatment, and hopefully, by the time she's fully healed, we'll have located her owners."

...oh.

Well, that's...good, right?

Elsa will be safe here, in the hands of the world's cutest veterinarian, and she'll be around other dogs and be fed properly. And Anna won't have to worry about any supplies, and getting pee on her carpet. This is a good thing. For both of them.

And yet it doesn't feel like it, because that nagging thought in the back of her mind that she tried not to entertain was winning out.

Anna didn't want to let Elsa go.

She bit her lip, "And what happens if...I want to keep her?"

Dr. Maren smiles as if she was expecting that question, "City law states that we're legally required to hold on to any strays for at least seventy-two hours. After that, they're either put up for sale or disposed of in a humane fashion."

Disposed of? Wait, no. "But-but that second one's not gonna happen, right? I-I mean you said so yourself, she's healthy."

"In Elsa's case, I don't think you'll have to worry about that." She stroked Elsa's back and smiled, but this time it was for Anna alone. "Besides, she's already got one potential owner, apparently."

Man if that doesn't make her stomach do somersaults.

"Regardless, she'll need to stay here for seventy-hours. After that, if we haven't found the owners, then we can contact you about, well, keeping her. Could I have your number?"

Anna shook her head, "Wait, what?"

"Your number. So we can contact you with any updates."

"Uh...oh! Right! Yeah, I have a number. It's on my phone." What? "Here, let me give it to you."

The appointment winded down after that bit of scathing, one-sided awkwardness. After finishing out the rest of the paperwork, and securing space in the shelter, Dr. Maren let Anna hold Elsa one more time.

And hopefully not the last time.

She didn't want to get so attached to this puppy, but the way she just melted and settled into her arms made Anna never want to let her go. Elsa's eyes were half-lidded, and she let out another nose huff while in her arms.

"Keep the leash just in case," Dr. Maren said. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of her."

And for the first time since she'd left her apartment, Anna let her true emotions show fully. She sighed, "I know you will. I'm just...it's stupid, but I'd hate if I had to say goodbye to Elsa so soon."

"I understand, believe me. But you did the right thing bringing her here, you gave her a second chance at life. You should be proud of yourself for that."

"I am," Anna said, getting the last of her petting out for at least the next seventy-two hours. "I am…"

To say that it was hard for her to relinquish Elsa would be an understatement. When both she and the doctor left through the door that leads to the main area of the shelter, Anna swore she saw the puppy look back at her.

The walk back to the car- alone- was tough, but Anna managed to do that, and make the drive back to her apartment. Part of her knew that this might be the last time she saw Elsa, even though most of her didn't accept that. She did say she needed a win, and maybe this was it. As short-lived as it was, a win is a win.

But it didn't feel right, no, it didn't feel complete. Not without the puppy, not without Elsa.

As she turned off her car, she realized that she had been clutching the borrowed leash this whole time. Her neighbor said to just keep it since she had extras anyway, and Anna was going to.

She looked at the blue nylon strap fondly, resting her thumb on one of the snowflakes patterned across it. At that moment, as unexplainable as it was, she knew that this wouldn't be the last time she was going to see Elsa. Seventy-two hours was a long time, and she could get that daunting call anytime before that saying they found her owners.

But Anna had faith, she had to have faith. Elsa was counting on her.

And besides, she would take any excuse to see Dr. Maren again.