Edited! :)

Hope you all enjoy this book! Jim comes next chapter, but give it a try! :D

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Natalie Blackwood rolled up her sleeves as she examined the Byers dog, Chester. The shaggy dog whined as she pulled back his lips to check his gums before patting him on the head, "He seems fine to me Joyce." she said with a shrug and pulled her gloves off and threw them into the trash bin.

Joyce Byers wrung her hands nervously, "I know it's just after our other dog passed, I want to make sure nothing happens to Chester. It would crush Will."

Natalie nodded, "Well, you've got nothing to worry about. He's got a clean bill of health, except some fleas, but ill give you some shampoo to help with that." she offered and wrote down the name of the product on a sticky note and handed it to the vet tech next to her, who retrieved the bottle and handed it to Joyce.

Joyce let out a relieved sigh, "Thank you, Natalie," a small smile grew on her face, "It just seems like yesterday when you were babysitting Johnathan and Will, time goes by so fast now."

A toothy grin appeared on Natalie's tan face, "Oh those boys were rascals, well Johnathan was." she said with a snicker.

Joyce laughed along with her and clipped Chester's leash on to his collar and stood up, "Would like to come over for dinner sometime? If I remember correctly your birthday is coming up." she asked her.

Natalie smiled widely, "that would be wonderful and yes the big 28 is coming up." she said with a shudder.

"you're still so young Natalie, enjoy it while you can!" Joyce said with a bark of laughter and waved to her as she walked out the door, "Give me a call when you want to come over!"

The vet smiled to herself and cleaned off the metal examination table before walking to the back of the clinic and taking her lab coat off and shrugging on her worn leather winter jacket.

"Is it closing time already?" Elle, her secretary asked from the table next to her.

"yes, it is!" Natalie said with a broad smile and pulled her chocolate hair from its ponytail and let the long waves fall down over her back, "Have a goodnight Elle!" she said as she exited the building and walked to her ford pick up truck. She slid into the cloth covered seats and turned on the car, the engine sputtering to life with a groan. Natalie reversed and began driving home. After a good fifteen minutes, she pulled into her driveway and got out of her truck and was about to walk into her home when she heard a yell from her neighbor next door.

"Oh! Dr. Blackwood!" Ms. Henderson called from her right, "I know this is very informal, but can you please take a look at Mews? He isn't acting right!" she cried desperately from her front lawn while holding the large orange tabby.

Natalie pinched the bridge of her nose, she really liked Ms. Henderson, but she was by far her neediest patient. "Yes, I'll be right over," she called back and walked over to her sniffling neighbor.

"Thank you so much!" Ms. Henderson cried as she led Natalie into her house. She set Mews on the counter and beckoned her over, "He has all these bumps in his abdomen..." she trailed off, "Is it cancer?"

Natalie grabbed Mews and felt around in his abdomen and shook her head, "No not cancer, just fatty tumors. They are non-cancerous and develop when your cat gets older. Completely normal, although if they get larger we may have to take them out, I'm not worried." she said with a small smile.

Ms. Henderson let out an excited shriek, "Oh thank you! You are a Godsend, sweetie! Why don't you stay for dinner? I'm making spaghetti and Dustin should be home soon. he's got a little crush on you- oh! I shouldn't have said that." she said with a giggle.

Natalie let out a chuckle, "sure ill stay, thank you" she said kindly and took a seat at the table. Natalie would never pass up on an opportunity to have free food, and everyone in Hawkins always seemed to invite her over to dinner for helping their animals.

About thirty minutes had passed and Dustin had not shown up, so they decided to eat without him. It was a little awkward, to say the least. Natalie was still in her scrubs and Ms. Henderson had placed Mew's cat bowl on the table so they could all eat together. Natalie was pretty relieved when she left the Henderson home, but still thankful to have gotten a free meal.

Her front door creaked open and she flicked on the light to see her dog, Bucky, waiting for her on the couch. She snapped her fingers, "You know you're not allowed on the couch, Buck"

The black German shepherd tilted his head before hopping off the couch and bounding towards her with his tongue hanging from his mouth.

"You want to go for a walk?" she asked him while going into her room to get changed.

Bucky barked loudly and she chuckled, "Okay let me get changed, just wait a sec, Buck."

Natalie quickly threw off her scrubs and pulled on a pair of snug black jeans and pulled on a worn university sweater. She grabbed her gloves and then walked towards the laundry room where she kept Bucky's leash. The German shepherd was right on her heels, letting out an excited whine as she clipped his leash to his collar and walked outside.

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Sorry, this chapter is really boring, it's just setting up the scene and characters!