The giraffes had gotten their heads over the enclosure’s fence and were staring at Nikola. He backed away from them. He couldn’t feed them or pet them. Furthermore, he wanted to avoid getting their hopes up.

After the tour guide was done with telling the group about giraffes, they moved on to the bear. It was pacing back and forth. In a circle. Nikola felt sad for it. Upon seeing him, the bear stopped and let out a whine.

“This is Ivar the bear. He is here all the way from Alaska,” began the tour guide as the bear kept on whining.

“Poor animal. It is a shame that it can’t be out in the wild,” said the mother of the twins.

“Niki,” whispered Sadik in his ear. “Do something. Tell the bear you are not going to let it loose.”

Nikola tried to smile at Ivar the bear, but it got on its back legs and began to whine harder.

“I am sorry for this,” said the tour guide. “He should have been fed just an hour ago.”

Just as she said so, a zookeeper threw a slab of meat in the enclosure. The bear ignored it and kept whining. Nikola took a closer look at it. Then, he let his power wash over it. There was sickness in the blood. He leaned into Sadik.

“Ivar is sick. I don’t know from what, but it pains him,” one of the twins heard him and called to the tour guide.

“This mister here says Ivar is sick!” Nikola winced, and Sadik looked at the little tattler with barely veiled disapproval.

“I am sorry,” said the boy’s mother. “Nick, don’t eavesdrop!”

The boy looked sheepish, but, after the bear whined again, he went to the tour guide and tugged her sleeve.

“Ivar is sick, Miss,” the tour guide looked at the bear, which was still whining, and considered the boy’s words.

“I suppose I can get him checked out,” she pulled out her clipboard and made a note of it. She opened her mouth, probably to continue with her lecture, but then the bear collapsed on the ground and gave one, pained, huff.

Nikola’s eyes widened. He wanted to go to the animal and heal it, but he was surrounded by people. He needed contact and, while he knew the bear won’t maul him, he knew that he couldn’t just get it to come to the bars with everyone watching.

“Move along,” said the tour guide after she finished a call. Her voice was shaky. Nikola looked at Ivar for one last time and let himself be led around the zoo. The animals gave him their undivided attention, but his mind was with Ivar.

When the tour was over, the group was left at the zoo’s restaurant and the tour guide left them. There was an artificial creek along the eating area and the pines were rustling gently. But, Nikola’s mind was a bundle of plans.

“You want to go back to the bear?” Sadik had looked around for the noisy kids before speaking. Their table was secluded. At the back, and there were at least three empty ones between them and the next diners.

“He is in pain,” Sadik grinned.

“You will be breaking the rules,” Nikola found that he didn’t care much for that. The goal justified the means and all that. When Sadik saw Nikola’s determined look, he grinned wider. “Tonight then. I can get the door open.”

Sadik took out his phone and quickly texted someone. He got a text back soon after.

“It is arranged,” he said, smugly.

“If someone finds out, we will both go to jail,” said Nikola, worry sipping into his voice.

“Too late to back off now, Niki. We will be good Samaritans and give the bear a second chance at life. And, while we are there, we can check out the other animals,” Nikola nodded. They hadn’t behaved like Ivar the bear, but, maybe they had not thought that Nikola could help them.

They went out of the zoo with the rest of the group. Buying matching T-shirts with giraffes on them from the gift shop. Sadik drove them to the park, where they would wait for the zoo to close up for the day.

They sat on a bench and Nikola stared at the yellow flowers growing around them. Sadik picked one when he saw Nikola staring and gave it to him.

“Those can be turned into jam. I remember picking them for my mother to make them into it. It is delicious,” Sadik nodded.

“Well, there are the same flowers around the cottage. We can spend tomorrow picking them and making them into jam. If you don’t have work?” Nikola stared at his phone.

“If they don’t send me anything today, they will fill up my day tomorrow. It is how the company acts,” Sadik supposed that was about right. He relaxed in the benched and pulled Nikola closer.

“You are still worried about the bear?” He could still see the way Nikola’s eyes would stare at nothing. He was deep in thought, Sadik knew.

“What if he is terminally ill? For me to heal, the person who is supposed to be healed should have a chance at life. If he is days away from death, there is nothing I can do,” Sadik shook his head.

“I am sure you can numb the pain. Give the ball of fur a respite from it. And, it will be grateful,” Nikola looked at Sadik with wide eyes.

“Do you think that will be enough?” Sadik sighed.

“You are not God. You can’t expect to be able to save everyone. So, don’t be too hard on yourself. Anyway, I think I should ask you about what you will like in a house. I have to admit I haven’t been searching,” Nikola send him a knowing look.

“I have been thinking…” began Nikola, but Sadik placed a finger on his lips.

“Let us just discuss our new home and leave the elephant in the room for when we move in. Just like we agreed,” Nikola smiled at that, and Sadik supposed that it was good that he hadn’t pushed for an answer too soon.