Vet's Desire (6 page)

Then he laughed
at himself. Women like Cindy didn’t go for men like him, not when
they knew how callous he could be with the so-called fairer sex. He
steered clear of the good girls, and even though Cindy was brazen,
she was a good-type girl. There hadn’t been a hint of scandal
attached to her name, and if there had of been, he’d have been one
of the first to hear of it. Her family was rich, she was rich, and
scandal always had a way of reaching far and wide when it involved
the rich.

Nope, Cindy was
a good girl and out of his reach. If he’d wanted to reach for her,
which he didn’t. Good God, no. Not Cindy. Not luscious, full-blown,
curvaceous Cindy.

Maybe he needed
to go out and get laid.

The thought of
finding a woman in a nightclub, no matter how exotic or upper class
it was, was suddenly unappealing.

Okay, a night
in with the giggle-box was the go. Pulling on a pair of boxers, he
strode barefoot down the stairs and put his dinner in the oven.
Yum, home-made lasagne.

Going through
the dining room and into the luxurious lounge, he threw himself
down into his comfortable armchair and tilted it up, resting his
heels on the footrest that rose up as he leaned back. Grabbing the
TV remote that lay on the little table beside his chair, he flicked
it on. The news flashed across the screen and he watched it with
lazy interest.

In the quiet of
the house, the grandfather clock in the foyer bonged the hour.
Everything was quiet apart from the low drone of the TV. Leaning
back in the armchair, Tim wondered why he didn’t do this more
often.

Maybe it was
time to bring home a dog, one of the strays brought in to be
euthanised at the vet clinic. Yeah, a dog would be company. Or a
cat, God knew there were a lot of them coming in over the summer
period, homeless, un-sterilized and abandoned.

Eventually the
oven chime rang out and he got out of his chair and padded back
into the kitchen. The delicious smell of lasagne filled the big
room as he took it out of the oven and set it on the wooden block
on the bench.

He had just cut
into it when the phone rang. Choosing to ignore it, he carefully
ladled the big chunk of lasagne onto a plate and listened as the
answering machine kicked in. The voice he heard had him jerking his
head up.

“Tim?” There
was a definite wobbly tone to the normally happy voice. “This is
Cindy. I hope you’re there. Can you pick up? I don’t know who else
to call. I-”

Tim practically
leaped at the phone and snatched it up. “Cindy? It’s me.”

“Oh, thank
goodness.” Relief was evident in her voice.

“What’s wrong?”
Tomato sauce dripped onto the counter.

“We found a
kitten. Two, actually.”

“Kittens?” Tim
relaxed a little.

“They’re really
tiny, their eyes are shut. One is crying a lot, the other one isn’t
making much noise.”

“Okay.” His
mind was already falling into vet mode. “Bill’s on call
tonight-”

“I tried your
clinic but there’s only an answering service, he’s out of range
somewhere.”

Obviously on a
call-out in the country or in the middle of an emergency. “Right.”
He was already putting the spoon down.

“I’m sorry.”
She sounded desperate and definitely unhappy. “I’ll call another
clinic-”

“No.” He
glanced up at the clock on the wall. “I’ll meet you at the clinic
in twenty minutes.”

There was a
slight pause. “Are you sure?”

“I’m sure.
Twenty minutes.” He hung up the phone, put the lasagne back in the
oven and ran up the stairs.

Fifteen minutes
later he was pulling up outside the vet clinic. Unlocking the door,
he deactivated the alarm and heard a car pull up just as he was
about to walk around the reception desk. Glancing outside, he saw
that it was Cindy’s Hyundai under the light, and as he watched, she
got out of the car and hurried around to the passenger door,
opening it and leaning inside, coming back out with a shoe box.

Turning, she
rushed across the parking lot, and he half expected her to go arse
over tit in her high heels, but she missed nary a beat as she
hurried to the door.

Tim held it
open as she entered. “Follow me.”

She did as
bidden and he flicked the light on as they entered a consult room.
Moving to the other side of the bench, he watched as she placed the
box down on the surface. As she lifted her face towards his, he
could see the sheen of tears in her eyes.

“Are you all
right?” He pulled the box towards him.

“Yes. Just
worried. One of them...” She swallowed and cleared her throat. “I
don’t think it’s made it.”

Gently, Tim
took out one of the kittens, a tabby, and it lifted its tiny head
and meowed weakly. He looked at the other one, a little
tortoiseshell, but it lay unmoving and he couldn’t see it
breathing. Passing the meowing kitten to Cindy, he took out the
tiny, unmoving kitten. It was cool to touch and he knew without
even having to listen that it had died. Nevertheless, he took the
stethoscope and gently laid it under the kitten, listening for a
heartbeat he knew he wouldn’t hear. There was nothing. He turned it
gently, checking its skin and looking in its mouth and, as he
suspected, it was dehydrated. Going by the umbilical cord still
attached, it was only a day or two old.

“I’m sorry,
Cindy.” He gently laid it aside and held out his hand to her.
“Let’s have a look at this other little scrap and see what we can
do for it.”

Silently she
handed the kitten to him, and he placed the stethoscope in position
and listened. The little heart gamely beat and the kitten cried
weakly and struggled. A check of the skin proved dehydration. The
stomach was quite distended, and he checked the kitten’s mouth. It
seemed healthy enough and there were no sores or signs of problems
with the umbilical cord.

Taking a gauze
packet, he broke it open and took out a square of gauze. Wetting it
under the tap, he squeezed out the excess water and wiped the
kitten’s bottom. Immediately he felt the warm trickle of urine.

“What are you
doing?” Cindy queried.

He glanced at
her, taking in the wet tear track on her cheek and the way her hand
rested protectively on the still body of the kitten on the bench.
And his heart clenched a little.

Reassuringly,
Tim smiled at her. “Kittens can’t pee on their own. Their mothers
stimulate them by licking, so I’m mimicking it with wet gauze. A
wet cloth will do the same thing. Going by the amount of pee, it’s
been awhile since this little scrap was last attended.”

“Will it
live?”

“I think it
stands a chance. I’ll get some milk into it and get it warm and
we’ll see.”

“So it’s not a
guarantee.”

“No, it’s not.”
Seriously, he regarded her. “But I’ll do my best, I promise
you.”

She nodded.

“I’m going to
get a bottle ready with special formula, and we’ll see what it
does. Okay?”

She nodded
again.

Tim went out
the back and made the formula, ensuring it was warm, and poured it
into a small bottle with a little kitten teat. Carrying a clean
towel, he returned to the consult room and saw that the kitten was
cuddled up to Cindy’s cheek. As he watched, she turned her head and
nuzzled the kitten’s cheek, and it meowed.

As soon as
Cindy saw him, she handed the kitten into his waiting hands.
Placing it down on the towel, he bent over the tiny animal and
carefully opened its mouth to put the teat inside.

The kitten
tried to turn away, but he persevered, managing to squeeze a drop
of milk from the teat into its mouth. Still it tried to turn away
from the strange taste of the teat.

“Is it going to
work?” Cindy was bent over the other side of the bench, her head
close to his as she watched anxiously.

The scent of
cashmere powder drifted to his senses. He couldn’t help but notice
that her other hand remained firmly over the dead kitten.

She cared so
much and he glanced up to find himself close to her face, the blue
of her eyes almost startling in their clarity. Her long lashes were
still damp. How he wanted to see her smile again.

“We’ll get
there,” he assured her.

The kitten
tugged on the bottle, drawing his attention down, and he saw that
it had latched onto the teat and was sucking.

“Success.” He
grinned, feeling the familiar sensation of satisfaction when
something was going right with a patient.

“It’s sucking?”
Hope filled her voice.

“Yep.”

“So it’s going
to live?” Reaching out a finger, she gently touched the little
head.

“It’s not out
of the woods yet.” He didn’t want to build false hope. “But it’s
got a chance. I’ll take it home and see how it goes tonight.”

“You’ll take it
home?”

Tim glanced up
at her. “We’re not open at night, Cindy. Trust me, every vet and
nurse here has taken animals and other things home that need
attention.”

“But what about
the animals here?”

“Either the vet
or the nurse on call comes in and attends to them, depending on
what is needed.”

She was silent
for a few seconds, watching the kitten drink, before she said
softly, “I’m sorry I got you out on your night off.”

“It’s not a
problem.” The kitten pulled its head back and he let the teat slip
free. “I’m glad you called me.”

“You are?”
Again there was surprise in her voice.

“Yes.” Picking
the kitten up, he cradled it in his hands and looked at her. Really
looked at her. Her mascara was a little runny around her eyes where
she’d wiped tears away and her nose a little red from crying. She
looked so soft and concerned and uncertain that it made his heart
warm.

It had been a
long time since anyone had made his heart warm.

“Yes,” he said
again. “I really am glad you called me.” And he really meant
it.

She smiled a
little, a soft curve of her plump lips, and he felt something
inside his chest shift.

Dropping her
gaze, she reached out and ran her fingertip along the kitten’s tiny
head. “This kitten…”

“Yes?” He
looked down, watching how carefully she touched it.

“If it’s
okay…if it makes the night…” Her voice grew a little wobbly again
and she cleared her throat. “If it’s okay, I want it.”

“You do?” This
time it was his turn to be surprised.

“Yes. My old
cat died a few months ago and I’ve been thinking about getting
another cat.” She glanced up at him and smiled. “Why not this
one?”

“Why not
indeed,” he echoed, and then regarded her seriously. “Bottle
feeding a kitten so young can be very time consuming and
tiring.”

“I guess
so.”

“In the case of
this little scrap, maybe every hour, depending on how dehydrated it
is.”

“I’ve got an
alarm clock.”

“Speaking of
clocks, hourly to two hourly feeds
around
the clock.”

“I can do
that.”

He studied her
closely.

“I can do it,”
she stated firmly.

“Okay.” He
nodded slowly. “I’ll see how this scrap goes overnight and if all
is okay, I’ll call you.”

She reached out
and touched his arm. “Let me know either way.”

He felt the
warmth of her fingers clear through to his bones. “Okay.”

“Can you ring
me in the morning?”

“Sure. I come
in at seven thirty, so I’ll give you a call.” He stepped back and
she took her hand away. “Let me put this kitten on a warming pad
and I’ll be back to get your details.”

By the time he
had the kitten snuggled on a warming pad and covered with a fluffy
sheet, and returned to the consult room, he found it empty. Poking
his head out, he saw that Cindy was waiting patiently by the
reception desk.

Coming out, he
went behind the desk and revved up the computer. While it warmed
up, he looked curiously at her, realizing how little he actually
knew about her but how much he wanted to know. Now how to ask
without sounding nosey?

Ahhhh… “So,
what’s your work number?”

She looked
blankly at him.

“To ring you
tomorrow.” He held up a pen.

“I’ll give you
my mobile.”

Damn.
“Okay.”

She rattled off
the number and he wrote it down along with her address, which he
already knew.

“For now we’ll
enter the kitten as just ‘kitten’ on your records until we know if
he’s going to make it.” Tim continued to jot down notes. “You can
name him when you take him.”

“Him?”

“Yeah, I had a
quick look. Your stray is a boy.”

Genuine
pleasure was reflected in her smile. “I’ll think of a nice
name.”

“Cindy…” He
hesitated uncharacteristically.

“Yes?”

“I just want
you to understand that the kitten has a tough fight ahead of him,
okay?”

“I know. I
understand.” She looked gravely at him. “He’s in the best care,
right?”

“Right.”

Taking a deep
breath, she stepped back from the counter and now he noticed that
she held the shoebox in her hands. Inside was the unmoving body of
the dead kitten. He felt a little twinge of sadness at such a young
life cut off so callously.

“I’m taking it
home to bury it.” There was a sudden sheen of tears in her eyes.
“It deserves that much.”

That just tore
his heart in two. Moving around the counter, he laid one hand on
her shoulder. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” She
glanced down at the kitten. “I’m not going to desert it.”

“I’ll follow
you home and bury it.”

“No.” She
smiled up at him reassuringly. “I buried Bast myself; I can do this
little darling as well. It can rest beside Bast under the lilac
tree.”

“Are you sure?
I don’t mind doing it.”

“No. You take
of the living, and I’ll take care of this one.”