“Then you’re a skilled kitten handler,” Henry nodded, an impressed expression covering his face. “Exactly what we need, right, Nurse Kennedy?”
“Oh, absolutely!” Finn rose, putting his hands in his pockets. “How lucky that you came in today, Phoebe.” The child smiled at her mom, then back at Finn, her eyes dashing excitedly around the room.
“Can we go get the kitten now?” she chirped.
“We sure can.” Finn winked at Mrs. Ingalls, pointing at the examination room. “In here, ladies. Dr. Jenkins, will you go get our other patient now that our kitten specialist is here?”
“That’s me!” Phoebe yelled, limping towards the room.
“Absolutely,” Finn laughed, following behind her, Mrs. Ingalls throwing him a grateful smile.
“From what I understood, Mrs. Ingalls, Mr. and Mrs. Landon would be more than grateful to get a few of the kittens off their hands,” Henry leaned in, handing her a green Post-it with Mrs. Landon’s phone number on it. He’d already asked Finn to give the couple a call while he found a handful of animal stickers for Phoebe. Ruth and Carl Landon were an elderly couple and alitter of six kittens was a little much for them, with four other cats already.
“Thank you so much, Dr. Jenkins,” she smiled gratefully. “I’ll give them a call when the kittens are old enough to leave home.” She looked over her shoulder at her daughter, who was sitting on the couch in the waiting room, the kitten safely tucked in her arms while sheinstructedFinn on how to pet the small animal. “Without scaring it, Nurse Finn.”
“Like this?” Finn asked, brushing his fingers tentatively along the kitten’s back, its fur various colors of gray, the tips of its ears black.
“Yes,” Phoebe nodded, apparently satisfied with Finn’s ministrations. “That’s pretty good, Nurse Finn.” After Henry had removed the non-existent splinter from the kitten’s right paw, it had been no huge deal for Finn to pull out the actual splinter from Phoebe’s left foot with a pair of tweezers, then rinse the wound and wrap the foot in some gauze.
Henry and Mrs. Ingalls came to stand next to them, Henry holding a small carrier in his right hand.
“Phoebe, can you put the kitten back in the carrier now?” Mrs. Ingalls coaxed. Getting up reluctantly from the couch, the girl sighed, then limped to Henry and carefully placed the small animal on the towel at the bottom of the carrier.
“Goodbye, Rosie,” she whispered, kissing it softly on the head. “See you soon.”
“Rosie?” Finn smiled.
“Yes. Mommy says Rosie and maybe one of the other kittens can come live with us when she’s old enough. Maybe in a few weeks.”
“I think she’d love that.” Finn patted Phoebe on top of her head. “And that’s a really pretty name, too,” he said, holding out his hand towards Mrs. Ingalls. She accepted it, shaking it gratefully.
“Thank you so much, Nurse Ke—Finn—truly. Thank you to the both of you.”
“Anytime,” Henry smiled, closing the door to the carrier.
“So, unless the wound starts to feel hot or looks red or irritated, you don’t need to come back. You can change the gauze in a few days, and then the wound just needs to heal.”
“Yes, thank you again,” Mrs. Ingalls reached for Phoebe’s hand. “Come on, honey. Let’s go get Peter from school and tell him about the kittens.”
“Yay,” Phoebe squealed, yelling over her shoulder, “Bye, Doctor Henry, bye Nurse Finn!”
“Bye, Phoebe,” they replied in unison.
Henry chuckled, his voice light and melodic as usual, his blue eyes so similar in color to Cara’s that it hurt.
“That went great, dontcha think?”
“Yeah,” Finn nodded. It had felt good being back to his old professional self again, even if only for a few hours.
“Sure glad you could stop by with such short notice. I don’t often have kids at the clinic.”
“No worries. Sweet kid,” Finn smiled.
“Yeah, real nice family, that one.” Henry nodded. “Look, I’m just gonna tidy up before we close. You can go on ahead if you want.”
“Nah, I’m good. I’ll wait for you if you don’t mind. We can walk back together.”
Henry headed for the reception counter, speaking over his shoulder, “Colton usually picks me up.” A pink flush spread across Henry’s cheeks, a dreamlike smile curling at his lips. “We can drop you off?” Finn nodded. He usually walked back from town, but the weather wasn’t exactly inviting today, a harsh wind blowing from the north with promises of more snow. “You mind if I put on some music while I go over the paperwork? Help yourself to anything from the fridge while you wait.”
