Christmas With The Single Dad
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He could only hope that the veterinary surgery was still open.
IT HAD BEEN a long, tiring day. After her doctor’s appointment Sydney had come back to the surgery and seen her first ten patients, and then she’d got round to her surgeries—a dental clean, two spays on cats, a dog to be neutered. Lunch had been quick, and then there had been more appointments: kitten visits, puppy checks, suture removals, an elderly dog that had had to be euthanised. Then she’d returned phone calls, given owners blood test results and now she was finishing off her paperwork. Filling in records. There were three animals being kept in overnight, but Lucy, her veterinary nurse, was giving them their final check before they left for the evening.
‘I’ll be ready to put my feet up tonight. Have you seen my ankles?’ said Lucy.
Sydney smiled sympathetically. Lucy did seem to be suffering lately.
Almost all the lights were off, except for in her office and at the surgery entrance, and Sydney was just debating whether to have a cup of tea here or go home and have it there when she heard a loud banging on the surgery’s front door.
A last-minute emergency?
She hurried through, switching on the lights as she went, and stopped when she saw who was on the other side of the door.
Dr Jones.
Oh.
Her pause was barely noticeable. At least she hoped so. Then she was rushing to the door, her cheeks flaming at having to let in the dishy doc. Though, judging by the look of worry on his face, he wasn’t here to continue his conversation about warm milk.
She opened the door and Dr Jones came in, carrying a pet carrier. Behind him, a little uncertainly, followed a little girl with chestnut-brown hair in two ponytails held by pink bobbles, her face tearstained, pale and stunned. Seeing the little girl, so like Olivia—no, so like her father—startled her and her stomach twisted painfully. As if she’d been punched in the gut.
She dragged her gaze away from the little girl and looked over at the doctor. ‘Dr Jones? Can I help?’
Am I stammering? I feel like I’m stammering.
‘My daughter’s rabbit. I think it’s been attacked.’
He lifted up the carrier, so she could see through the barred door, but it was impossible to gauge the extent of the animal’s injuries.
Sydney glanced quickly at the little girl. She looked around Olivia’s age. Maybe a bit older. She wasn’t sure. But she was young, and she didn’t need to see Sydney examining the rabbit if it was in a bad way. There were a lot of foxes out here in Silverdale Village. It was a very rural area, surrounded by farms and woodlands. Occasionally they even saw deer. The likelihood that there were animal predators around was very high.
All business now, she took the carrier from the doctor. ‘Maybe your daughter should sit in the waiting room whilst I take a look?’
The little girl slipped her tiny hand into her father’s. ‘Don’t leave me, Daddy.’
Dr Jones looked torn, but then he nodded. ‘I’ll sit with you.’ He looked up at Sydney. ‘Is that okay? If I sit out here with Anna?’
Anna. A lovely name.
‘Of course. I’ll just take a quick look.’
She hurried the rabbit through to the surgery, closing the door behind her and leaning back against it for a moment whilst she gathered herself.
That’s Anna. Anna! Not Olivia.
The table where she usually examined pets had already been cleaned down, so she laid the carrier upon it and opened it up.
Inside was a very scared, very shocked black rabbit. From what she could see at this stage it had injuries to the top of its head, its left eye looked damaged, and there were other fine puncture marks across its back and legs. Sydney held it gently whilst she checked it over. The ears looked okay, as did its throat, and it seemed to be breathing fine, if a little loudly. She listened to its chest through her stethoscope and tried to get a better look at the eye, but she couldn’t tell if it was ruptured or not.
Poor thing.
She suspected it might die of shock. She felt for its pulse. It was slow and faint, but that was typical for an animal like this in such a situation. Its gums were pale, too and its ears cool.
There wasn’t much she could do at this point. Technically, she couldn’t see any fatal injuries. The shock itself might be the killer here. All she could do at the moment was give the rabbit a painkilling injection and some antibiotics. But she’d need to check with Dr Jones first, in case they requested euthanasia.
Sydney put the rabbit back into the carrier and secured it, then headed to the waiting room, her own heart thumping rapidly at the thought of returning to speak to him.
‘Dr Jones?’
He looked up when she called his name and then patted his daughter’s hand and told her to stay in her seat before he came over to her and whispered in a low voice, ‘How is she?’
Sydney also kept her voice low, not wanting to upset Anna. ‘She’s in a great deal of shock. Can you tell me what happened?’
He shrugged. ‘We’re not sure. I’d been at work all day and then went to pick Anna up from school. She found Lottie like that when we got back.’
She nodded. ‘She has sustained a great deal of damage to her left eye, but it’s hard to see at the moment whether the eyeball itself has been ruptured. If it has, we might have to remove it, but at this stage I think we need to see if she’ll survive the night.’
Dr Jones let out a heavy sigh and glanced at his daughter. ‘Do you think Lottie might die?’
‘It’s fifty-fifty. I can give her a painkiller and some antibiotics if you wish. The bite marks are quite small and thin, possibly caused by a cat or a fox. Their mouths are filled with bacteria, so the chance of infection is high. There aren’t any fatal injuries, but shock can kill an animal like this. It’s up to you what measures you’d like me to take.’
She left the implication hanging. Did he want to see if the rabbit survived? Or did he want her to put the rabbit to sleep?
Dr Jones thought for a moment. ‘Lottie is Anna’s world. She loves animals. If there aren’t any fatal injuries I think I owe it to her to see if Lottie makes it through the night. She won’t be in any pain?’