The Second Heart (7 page)

Soon, all the animals were situated in Dr.
Whitney’s dark blue Ford Escape, which was parked behind the
clinic, and Meredith and Vi were able to take the cats out through
the front to their own vehicle. As they walked back through the
clinic, Meredith noted that the floodwater had come farther into
the building, and it was now soaking the base of the front desk
cabinetry and coming down the hall. Dr. Whitney was following them
with some food and litter box supplies.

“Do you think we should get sandbags or
something?” Meredith asked.

“Let’s focus on taking care of our patients,”
Dr. Whitney responded, not unkindly.

Meredith nodded and stepped through the front
door. “Well, let me know if you need anything else, okay?”

The rain still came down steadily, and
Meredith saw that they would need to leave soon or risk being
stranded in the flooded parking lot. They quickly put the cats and
supplies on the back seat of the truck and then jumped into the cab
themselves. Waving at Dr. Whitney, Meredith kicked her shoes out of
the way and started the truck, pulling out slowly to keep from
spraying him.

Vi remained silent while Meredith drove
carefully through the parking lot. The cats, frightened at being
taken away from the clinic, started to meow pathetically in the
back seat. Meredith tried to ignore them as she concentrated on her
driving.

The truck entered a depression in the
asphalt, and the floodwater came up to the lower edge of the doors
of the truck. They both held their breath nervously until they
reached a shallower spot. Meredith turned to Vi and said with a
guilty smile, “No need to mention that to my dad.”

“You think?”

They both sighed with relief when Meredith
pulled up out of the parking lot and back onto the street, which
was rain-soaked, but not flooded. Irritated at being ignored, the
cats’ meowing increased in pitch and intensity. Adding to the
cacophony, Meredith’s cell phone started ringing in her pocket. She
let it ring, and continued driving, looking forward to getting back
to her parents’ house and out of the horrible weather.

To take her mind off the stress of the noisy
car ride, Meredith thought about how she would use the remaining
hours in the afternoon. In her mind, she planned where to put the
cats’ food and water dishes, along with their litter box, in the
guest room at her parents’ house. She wondered how her parents
would react to their feline visitors.

Meredith looked at the clock on the dash and
saw that it was already four-thirty. She realized the only things
she’d had to eat that day were coffee and antacid tablets, though
she still wasn’t hungry. Her stomachache had robbed her of any
appetite she might have had, and she wasn’t sure she would want to
eat dinner, either.

After an uneventful ride home, Meredith once
again pulled into the driveway at her parents’ house. She reached
up and pressed the button to open the garage, and then pulled
inside.

Rob and Amelia came through kitchen door and
out to the garage as Meredith was climbing down from the truck.
Rob’s eyes darted around the truck, surreptitiously inspecting it
for dents or dings. Amelia was more curious about the animals
inside the truck, and she walked over and peered into the back
seat.

Upon seeing the cats, her lips pressed into a
thin line, looking at Meredith disapprovingly. “Did you know it
would be cats?”

Meredith smiled ruefully. “I might have had
advance notice, yes.”

“And you knew that if you told us the truth,
we would say no,” she surmised angrily.

Meredith nodded, saying defensively, “If you
didn’t have such a ridiculous and unfounded hatred of cats, I
wouldn’t have had to.”

While Meredith and Amelia argued, Vi
retrieved one of the cat carriers and the bag of cat food and
proceeded into the house.

Rob came and stood next to Amelia. “It’s our
house, and if we don’t want cats here, you need to respect that. We
don’t appreciate being lied to and manipulated.”

“Well it’s too late, now.” Meredith pulled
open the back door of the truck and picked up the other cat
carrier, while Rob and Amelia both glared at her darkly.

“Three days, Meredith,” Amelia said. “They
can stay three days, and that’s it.”

“That’s ridiculous! There’s no way the clinic
will reopen by then,” Meredith protested. Inside the cat carrier,
Sammy, sensing the tension, had wisely stopped her lamentations.
Meredith was glad her parents hadn’t witnessed the worst of the
wailing.

“Well, you should have thought of that before
you lied,” Rob chimed in. “If you’d been straight with us, we might
have said yes, for all you know.”

Meredith rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right.” She
let out an exasperated huff and headed into the house, annoyed with
her parents’ close-mindedness. She carried Sammy into the guest
room, where Vi had taken Sabrina as well. Inside her cat carrier,
Sabrina had calmed down, which Meredith was grateful for. She
closed the door behind her and set the other cat carrier on the
bed, sitting down next to it. “That was less fun in real life than
I had imagined it in my head,” she observed.

“So now would be a bad time to tell your dad
that we almost drowned the truck?” Vi asked facetiously.

Meredith chuckled and reached over to open
the door of Sammy’s cat carrier. Vi followed suit, and the freed
cats cautiously started to poke their way out into their new
surroundings. Sammy padded across the bed and shoved her head under
Meredith’s hand, demanding to be petted. Meredith indulged her
happily, scratching under her chin, while Sammy nuzzled her hand
and purred loudly.

Sabrina turned and hissed at Sammy before
jumping down onto the floor with a heavy
thump
. She sniffed
the floor curiously, and then wedged her large body underneath the
bed. Meredith stood up, saying, “We should keep them in here for
now. I’m going to go get the rest of their stuff.”

Twenty minutes later, the litter box was set
up on the floor in the closet and their filled food and water
dishes were set out on the floor against one of the walls. The cat
carriers were stowed on the shelf in the closet, and the cats had
disappeared to their respective hidey-holes in the room. Not
anxious to face her parents again, and with her stomach still
bothering her, Meredith lay down on the bed.

Vi went out to the kitchen and offered to
help with dinner, which was fine with Meredith. She wanted a little
time to herself to think over the day’s events. Sammy jumped back
up onto the bed from wherever she had been hiding and lay down on
top of Meredith’s legs, settling in and closing her eyes
contentedly. Meredith found the warmth of the cat’s furry weight
comforting. She petted the cat absentmindedly as she wondered if
the rain would ever let up.

Suddenly she remembered her unanswered cell
phone call, and she shifted to one side to dig the phone out of her
pocket. Miffed, Sammy jumped off her lap and onto the floor,
disappearing behind the partially open closet door.

Meredith saw that she had a voicemail from
Miguel, and she realized that she had completely forgotten about
her dinner with him. She dialed his number without listening to his
message. When he didn’t pick up, she entered the code to listen to
his voicemail.

“Hey Meredith, it’s me.” His voice sounded
strained, and there was a lot of noise in the background of his
message. “I hope you get this message soon, because I could really
use your help. I was coming home from work and got in an accident.
I’m fine, but my car isn’t drivable. I got a ride to the shop with
the tow truck, but I need a ride home. Call me back as soon as you
can. Bye.”

Meredith glanced at the time, seeing that it
was now well after five. He’d left the message almost an hour
before. She tried calling him again, leaving a message when his
machine picked up. She worried that Miguel was deliberately
avoiding her call, since it was rare for him to not answer his
phone.

Trying to shake off her feeling of
foreboding, Meredith rose from the bed, walking out to join
everyone out in the living room. She carefully closed the door
behind her so the cats wouldn’t get out of the bedroom.

On her way down the hall, she detoured into
the bathroom for another dose of antacids. She didn’t bother
looking in the mirror, figuring that she probably was looking worse
for the wear. “No need to depress myself further,” she muttered.
She washed the antacids down with a few gulps of cool water from
the sink and then left the room.

In the living room, Amelia and Vi sat on the
couch while Rob reclined in an armchair, sipping a glass of red
wine. The TV was turned on to the news, though everyone looked up
when she walked in.

“Hon, you’re not looking so good,” Vi
observed.

Meredith made a face. “Yeah, I don’t feel
that great. I think I might be coming down with something.” She sat
down on the floor in front of Amelia, who reflexively started
running her fingers through Meredith’s hair. Meredith leaned back
and closed her eyes, enjoying the feel of her mother’s fingernails
on her scalp.

“Well, stay away from me,” Rob said, leaning
away. “I don’t want to catch whatever it is you’ve got.”

“Your empathy is overwhelming,” Meredith said
sarcastically, without opening her eyes.

Amelia smiled but said with a chastening
tone, “Go easy, Mere. Getting sick at our age is a different story
from getting sick at your age.”

Meredith flicked her hand in the air
dismissively. “Fair enough.” She opened her eyes and sat upright
again, looking at the TV. “Any new news?”

“Nope, except now they’ve moved on to trying
to figure out who to blame,” Vi replied.

“Hmm. That didn’t take long.”

“It never does,” Rob added, standing up. He
went into the kitchen and refilled his wine glass. “Anyone want
some vino?” he offered.

“Sure, I’ll have some, Mr. C.” Vi sprang up
and joined him in the kitchen, pulling out a wine glass from the
correct cupboard and handing it to him to fill. She knew her way
around the kitchen as well as anyone else in the family.

Having a few moments to themselves, Meredith
said, “Hey Mom, I’m sorry about the cats. I just have a soft spot
for anything with fur.”

“Or scales, or feathers,” Amelia said with a
smile. “Thank you for apologizing, sweetie. I’m serious about the
three days, though. Got it?”

Meredith nodded glumly, pulling her knees
toward her chest in response to a stomach cramp. “Ugh, my stomach
hates me right now.”

“Did you get your flu shot?”

“Yes, like a month ago.”

“What have you had to eat today?” Amelia
reached around and laid a cool hand on Meredith’s forehead. She
shook her head slightly, as if to say,
No fever.

“Uh, not really anything. Coffee. I’ve just
had no appetite with this stomachache,” Meredith explained.

Amelia swung her leg up over Meredith’s head
and stood up. “Well maybe you need to get something besides coffee
in your system, hon. I’m going to make you some toast.”

“Okay,” Meredith agreed pathetically. She
turned her body and rested her forehead on one of the couch
cushions just as Vi came back with her full glass of wine.

Vi scoffed at Meredith as she sat down.
“Milking it for all it’s worth, huh?”

Meredith smiled abashedly into the couch
cushion; Vi was right. It was nice being taken care of by her mom,
even as an adult. Her voice was muffled as she replied, “You’re
just jealous.” Suddenly she remembered their earlier conversation
about Vi’s parents, and she looked up at her friend guiltily.

Vi, understanding Meredith’s look, replied,
“It’s okay. I’m doing just fine.” She reached up and petted her
wine glass, making a purring sound.

Meredith laughed, and then more seriously
said, “Promise me you’ll call your folks tomorrow if you haven’t
talked to them by then.”

Vi’s face looked rebellious.

Before she could say no, Meredith added,
“Whatever is happening in the world is bigger than your pride,
Vi.”

A host of emotions played across Vi’s face as
she moved from denial to anger and then to reluctant agreement.
“Okay, fine. But only if you will shut up about it.” She smiled at
Meredith to soften her last remark.

Meredith grinned and changed the subject. She
told Vi about Miguel’s message and how he hadn’t answered his
phone. Just as she finished talking, Amelia came back into the room
with the toast.

Amelia handed the plate to Meredith as Vi
peered over and looked at the snack. “Uh oh,” she quipped. “You
forgot to cut the crusts off.”

Meredith rolled her eyes and took a bite of
the toast, which was whole wheat with strawberry jam, her favorite.
The snack tasted delicious, and she realized that she actually was
quite hungry. She quickly devoured the toast, and then held the
plate out for Amelia. At Amelia’s irritated look, Meredith grinned
with a mixture of guilt and hope in her expression, lifting her
shoulders slightly.

“I’m not a maid,” Amelia stated
disapprovingly.

“I know, Mom, but I’m an invalid. Please?”
She wiggled the plate gently in her outstretched hand.

Amelia sighed and took the plate, returning
to the kitchen.

Meredith caught Vi’s eye as her friend
scoffed. “You disgust me,” Vi said with a soft chuckle.

Meredith shrugged, unconcerned with her
friend’s evaluation, and returned to their previous conversation.
“Do you think Miguel is avoiding my call?”

“How should I know? Maybe his phone is dead.
Maybe he can’t hear it because he’s busy walking home. In the rain.
Probably without a coat. Or shoes.”

“Way to make me feel better,” Meredith
grumbled.

Later, after a dinner of cold ham sandwiches
and promises to go grocery shopping tomorrow, the girls retired to
the guest room to keep the cats company. As they entered the room,
Meredith could see the silhouette of one of the cats on the
windowsill, and a dark blob was curled up next to the pillows on
the bed.