The Summer I Fell (The Six Series) (23 page)

DR. ANDERSON WAS READY F
OR ME when I stepped inside the waiting room of his clinic.

“I’ve made a few phone calls and talked to the local ranchers. They understand that if it’s an emergency, they need to call Dr. Jenkins. His number’s on my desk, along with a list of numbers you might need while I’m gone. Most of the numbers are in here.” He handed me the cell phone he always carried on his hip.

I slid the phone clip on the waist of my jeans, as he pulled a set of keys off his desk and handed them to me. “The keys to the kingdom,” he said with a brief chuckle. “Okay, now as far as the animals in the back…”

I followed behind him as we went down the line of cages, and he rattled off what they were there for. I kept up with his speedy pace and all but stepped on him when he stopped quickly and turned around. His hand shot out and steadied me. “Sorry. Okay, now Becky will be in every Tuesday and Thursday to take care of the paperwork and stuff. Your main concern will be answering that,” he pointed at the cell, “and doing what you can here before Dr. Jenkins has to be referred.”

Becky had worked part time for Dr. Anderson for as long as I could remember. He’d joked that she came with the building when he’d started his practice.

“I got it, don’t worry about a thing,” I told him as I backed up a step and let him pass by.

“I have no idea what I’ll be dealing with when I get to my mom’s. She’s not good, Riley, and she needs me.” His face paled, and I noticed the deep lines bracketing the corners of his eyes. He was worried and trying really hard not to show it.

“You headed out now?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’ve got my bag in my truck, so I can leave straight from here.”

“Go, I’ve got it from here,” I said, waving him towards the front door.

He walked back to his office, grabbing a pen and paper off the desk. His hand flew along the page as he scribbled two phone numbers down. “This is my mom’s house number and my personal cell number. Call me if you need anything.”

I took the paper from him. “I’ll program them into my cell. Don’t worry about everything here, Dr. Anderson. Just go take care of your mom.”

He nodded his head. “Okay, I’ll call you in a week or so.”

He was out the door and in his truck before I knew it.

Seconds later, the phone at my hip rang.

Four phone calls later, I sat down at Dr. Anderson’s desk and rubbed my forehead. I never realized just how crazy people could be over their pets. It hadn’t even been an hour since he’d left, and I was ready to bang my head against the desk. If Mrs. Snyder called one more time about Muffin’s, her overweight tabby cat, bowel movements, I’d scream.

I busied myself by cleaning up the thick layer of dust that had accumulated over the years in Dr. Anderson’s office. It gave me something to do as I waited for five o’clock to roll around. I’d just finished wiping down one of the three bookshelves in his office when I heard the bell over the waiting room door jingle.

“Hello?”

I wiped my grime-covered hands on my pants, and went out to meet whoever the worried male voice belonged to. When I stepped out into the waiting room, my eyes landed on a young boy who couldn’t have been more than eleven or twelve. In his arms, he clutched a box against him. His eyes were pooled with tears as he rushed forward, almost shoving the box into my arms.

“My cat… she’s been crying a lot and panting. Dad said to put her outside ’cause he don’t wanna hear her goddamn caterwaulin’ no more. I put her in there and had to close the flaps, so she wouldn’t get away from me.” A fat tear rolled down his cheek, and he brought his shirtsleeve up to dash it away.

I bit my tongue when he cursed. He was clearly upset. Giving him a hard time about cussing would only make him more upset. “Come on, let’s go take a look at her.”

He stayed in the middle of the room with his head bowed and his hands fisted at his sides. “I ain’t got no money to pay you.”

“What’s your name?” My question made him snap his head up to look at me.

“Seth, ma’am.”

“Okay, Seth, let’s get…” I paused so he could tell me the cat’s name.

“Sammy.”

“Let’s get Sammy to the back and take a look at her, okay? Then we can go from there.”

He met my gaze dead on and set his shoulders. His chin came up with
a brief nod, and we walked to the back where I could set Sammy down and take a look at her.

I set the box on an examining table and could hear the soft mewling noises coming from inside. I had a feeling I knew what I’d find when I opened the box.

Seth skirted the room and went to stand on the other side of the table. He crossed his arms and chewed his thumbnail as his eyes darted from me to the box. I walked over to the sink, washed my hands, and then gestured for him to do the same.

“How old is Sammy?” I asked him as I dried my hands and then crossed over to the box.

“Not very old, I don’t think. I found her about a month ago. I sneak her scraps and stuff so she’s been kinda hangin’ around the house. My dad wasn’t happy about it, but since she stayed outside, he let it go. I found her like that when I went to give her some leftover meatloaf, and I snuck her into my room. When he heard her meow, he lost it, and I put her in that… I didn’t know what else to do. Can you help her? Please?”

His hand reached out to pull the flaps apart, and I put my hand on his. It trembled as he looked up at me. “It’s gonna be okay, Seth. I think you’re gonna find she’s having kittens.”

The flaps sprang free, and we peered inside. Sammy looked up at Seth briefly and went back to cleaning up the newly born kitten still covered in its sac.

“Kittens?” He stepped back and ran his hand down his face.

I reached in and ran my fingertips against Sammy’s head. She purred in response. “Hey there, Momma, you have a pretty little baby.”

When her breathing picked up again, I motioned for Seth to step closer. He paled, but did as I asked, and we watched as a brand-new life was brought into the world.

“Wow, that’s so awesome and so disgusting at the same time,” Seth said as he stared at Sammy without breaking his gaze as he spoke. “How many do you think she’ll have?”

“It just depends. Sometimes, they have just a few and sometimes, they can have a lot.” I gave him a shrug. “We just have to wait it out.”

He looked over my shoulder at the clock on the wall. “I have to be home soon. Can she stay here?”

“Sure.” How could I tell him no? “She’ll have to stay with her kittens for at least six weeks. Then you’ll need to think about homes for them and getting her fixed.”

His face fell, and he toed the ground. “Is it really expensive?”

I thought about it for a second. He really loved his cat, but there was no way he’d be able to come up with the money on his own. “I’ll tell you what. How about if you help me out here for the next week or so, and when it’s time for her to wean her kittens, then we’ll work something out?”

“I’ll talk to my mom and see if she’ll let me come over after my chores are done.” Seth leaned over the box and rubbed Sammy’s nose. She purred in response and licked him. His eyes darted to the clock again, and he frowned

“Head on home. I’ll take good care of her, I promise.”

He stuck his hand out, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from chuckling. He might be young, but he had such a grown-up way about him. I shook his hand and walked him to the door.

“See ya tomorrow,” he said with a wave as he jogged away.

I closed and locked the door behind me, heading back to check on my newest patient. By the time I made it back to the box, another baby was born with no signs of labor letting up. I crossed my fingers she’d only have one more and be done. I lifted the box off the table, carried her back to a cage, and slid the box inside. The last thing I wanted to happen was for her to decide to jump out and upend the box onto the floor.

Once she was settled, I checked the other three patients left into my care. My first stop was at
Shelby’s cage. The brown-and-white Cocker Spaniel lifted her head and wagged her tail as I spoke to her. Dr. Anderson had held her over for observation after removing a lump from her side. Nothing serious, just a fatty deposit that looked bad, but wasn’t. Her stitches looked good, but she’d have to wear the cone another day or so to keep her from licking at them. I checked her food and water and then moved on to the next cage, making a mental note to take her out before I left, so I wouldn’t have a mess to clean up in the morning.

The next cage down was Rodney, the chocolate lab who’d gone through a round of heartworm treatment. His owner didn’t want to take him home right then. Rodney wasn’t his only dog. He had two more labs at home that would want to play when they saw him, and Rodney needed to take it easy with the high dosage of heartworm medication in his system.

He stood up and pressed his nose against the door when he saw me. His tail wagged, smacking into the sides of the cage, eager to greet me. “Hey boy, you look good.” I reached my hand between the bars and gave him a scratch on the ear. He sat and lifted his paw up to the door. “You gotta go outside?” He yipped at me and shifted side to side in his cage. I grabbed the leash and opened his cage, keeping a firm grip on his collar. He pulled against the leash and practically dragged me to the back door. “Okay, okay, we’re going.”

After he did his business, he wasn’t ready to go back inside, but I made him go anyway. His head hung when I closed him back inside the cage. “I know, buddy, I’m sorry. Soon you’ll be able to break outta here and run like you want to. You just have to get better first.” I scratched his head when he pressed it against the door and whimpered.

I forced myself to walk away from him and check on the last patient. Inside the cage, curled up in the corner, was a baby raccoon. When he saw me, he hissed and pushed himself further back in the cage. Dr. Anderson had taken him in when he found him on the side of the road after being struck by a car. He was old enough to make it on his own as soon as his injuries had healed and he put on a little weight. I had a feeling that being stuck back with all the other animals stressed him out and kept him from packing on the pounds.

I walked back over to
Shelby’s cage, hooked her up to the leash, and took her outside before I went to check on Sammy and her babies. Being in the back seemed to stress her out. Her ears were pinned back, and her eyes darted everywhere. There was no way I could leave her at the office, so I flipped the lid to the box closed, carried her out to my truck, and took her home for the night.

ONE DAY TURNED INTO ANOTHER
and I fell into a routine as the days passed. Seth stopped by every day and helped me out with whatever I had going on. When he was done with whatever chore I gave him, he’d sit with Sammy and her six kittens for a little bit and then head home. I’d brought her back to the vet’s office, the day after the kittens were born, and fixed up one of the larger cages for them. The phone didn’t ring as much when word got around that Dr. Anderson had to leave town, but people still came in and called with non-emergency questions. Sometimes, they’d bring their animals in to see if they needed to go to Dr. Jenkins.

I didn’t mind the slower pace.

I hadn’t heard from my dad, which was weird since he usually tried to call me a day or so before he was headed home. I figured I’d wait one more day and if I didn’t hear from him, I’d call him.

That night when I got home, my cell phone rang. Dad’s ears must’ve been burning.

“Hey stranger,” I said when I answered.

“How’s my girl?”

“Good. Staying busy,” I said, explaining to him about helping Dr. Anderson out.

“That’s good, but isn’t that gonna keep you from school?”

I winced and curled my hand into a fist. I hated keeping things from Dad, but I didn’t want to explain it to him over the phone. I’d rather talk to him face to face, so I could gauge his reaction. My dad had an uncanny way of keeping his voice light and friendly, even when he was angry enough to spit nails. “Nah, you know me. I can do it all,” I said, tossing in a laugh to keep his suspicions down.

He barked out a laugh that ended on a wheeze. “Hey, you okay, Dad?’

“I’m fine. Just caught a little cold. Hey listen, I need to renew my CDL certs, and I put it off too long to make it back to my doctor in time. Can you do me a favor?”