At the medical center, in the emergency room:
"What's going on here?" Adam asked as he hurried over.
"Doc, clean this woman up quick so I can take her to give a statement. It's Thanksgiving today, and I'd love to get home early to celebrate," grumbled an older cop. "Ugh, she got blood all over my patrol car!"
"Adam…" The woman, her head covered in blood, looked at him with a pitiful expression.
"Phoebe," Adam sighed helplessly. "How'd you end up like this again?"
"You know her, Doctor?" the older cop asked, surprised.
"She's my friend," Adam replied, turning to the cop. "What'd she do this time?"
"She got pecked by a turkey," the cop said, barely holding back a laugh.
"Pecked by a turkey?" Adam's lip twitched.
"You shouldn't be shocked," the cop teased. "Your friend's a total nutcase about animal rights!"
"I'm an activist for all living things—animals, plants, you name it," Phoebe shot back. "Not a nutcase!"
"Officer, she just has a heart that overflows with love," Adam said, trying to defend her, though his tone wavered. "She's not crazy…"
He trailed off, clearly not fully convinced himself.
"Whatever," the cop shrugged. "Some mall set up a Thanksgiving display—dry corn, straw, people dressed like pilgrims, and a big, live turkey!"
"They were exploiting and abusing that poor turkey!" Phoebe yelled. "Those capitalist jerks are just cruel!"
"Calm down," Adam said, wiping her wounds while signaling a nurse to grab some stitching supplies.
"So your friend here decided to steal the turkey," the cop said with a grin.
"I was saving it!" Phoebe corrected him. "If you were trapped there, gawked at by everyone, how would you feel?"
"Then why don't you go liberate the zoo animals?" the cop mocked. "Try setting some tigers and lions free—see if you're still alive to preach about 'saving'!"
"It's not the same," Phoebe argued. "Zoo animals have protection groups looking out for them. But this turkey? All alone, exploited, abused, stuck in a tiny cage without even a sip of water! It'd be dead from mistreatment before any group could save it."
"So you grabbed the turkey, tossed it into a car, and tried to bolt," the cop said with a smirk. "That's theft!"
"And then what?" Adam cut in. "How'd she get pecked?"
"While she was running, the turkey fought back—clawing and pecking her," the cop chuckled. "And here's the funniest part—guess what your friend did next?"
He couldn't hold it in anymore and burst out laughing. "Hahaha! The girl who wanted to 'save' the turkey snapped its neck! Hahaha!"
"…" Adam's lip twitched again as he shot Phoebe a speechless glance.
Classic Phoebe! 😂
Just then, the older cop's partner—a younger officer—walked in, holding a huge white turkey upside down by its legs.
"Look at this! Guess your Thanksgiving dinner's sorted now!" the older cop said, pointing at the turkey and cracking up.
"Oh, God…" Phoebe hung her head in shame, unable to look at it.
"Officer, maybe take that outside?" Adam suggested.
Phoebe might be a total weirdo, but she was still his friend, and he'd help where he could.
"Huh, is that a Narragansett turkey? It's huge!" a passing doctor chimed in, strolling over. "Perfect for a little extra meal for us staff stuck here."
"The cafeteria won't prep it this late," a nurse pointed out.
"No worries," the doctor said, taking the turkey with a grin. "I used to pluck chickens as a kid. Now that I'm a doctor, my feather-pulling skills are top-notch. Leave it to me—this turkey's a beauty!"
With that, he walked off, turkey in hand.
"Officers," Adam said, stitching Phoebe up while addressing the two cops waiting nearby, "it's Thanksgiving. Why don't you head home early? The statement can wait until tomorrow. It's not a big deal—don't let this ruin everyone's holiday vibe."
"No can do," the older cop shook his head. "Duty's duty. Your friend stole in public—that's pretty bad!"
"Al," the younger cop said, glancing at Phoebe and tugging at his partner's sleeve. "Maybe we can do it tomorrow? No rush."
The older cop eyed his rookie partner, catching the hint of a crush in his tone. It wasn't a huge deal anyway, so he decided to play nice.
"Fine. Leave a number, and we'll do the statement tomorrow after the holiday," he said, nodding at the younger cop to get it.
The young cop blushed a little, pulling a pen and paper from his pocket and handing them to Phoebe. "I'm Gene, by the way."
"Phoebe," she replied with a knowing smile. She'd been around the block enough to spot a spark. Gene looked kinda cute in his uniform—shy, but charming. She scribbled her number with a grin.
"Make sure you remind me, Officer, or I might forget! Ouch—Adam, easy!" she yelped.
"Stop moving!" Adam snapped. "I'm stitching your face here. You keep grinning like that, it's gonna hurt more."
"We're outta here," the older cop said, waving his lovesick partner along as they left.
"Gene's pretty nice, huh?" Phoebe said, beaming as she watched him go.
"What's this?" Adam teased. "Already forgot about your turkey?"
"…" Phoebe clammed up.
"Look, you should find a boyfriend," Adam sighed. "Fall in love, get married, have kids—pour all that extra love into them. Stop pulling stunts like this. Remember a few Christmases back when you tried to save those wilted old trees from being trashed? All you did was get Joey fired from his tree-selling gig. What's the point of these random crusades?"
"I'm done," Phoebe muttered, sounding defeated. "I can't keep doing this."
"Why not?" Adam asked, genuinely surprised.
He hadn't expected her to give up so easily. This wasn't like her—maybe she'd finally hit her limit.
"Okay, real talk," Phoebe said, lifting her head with a conflicted look. "When that turkey was pecking me, my fight-or-flight kicked in hard. I couldn't control it—I turned into a total beast. And when I grabbed its neck and heard that crack…"
She lowered her head, ashamed. "I kinda… enjoyed it."
"Hey, don't sweat it. That's a normal reaction—no shame in that," Adam said, fighting a grin. "You did so much to save it, and it turned on you, pecking you to bits. If it scars your face, that turkey's the real villain here. Feeling good after getting even? Totally human."
"Wait—scars?!" Phoebe shrieked. "That damn turkey! I'll skin it alive!"
Adam: "…"
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