“No, I’m open four days a week and have an assistant on two. That’s barring emergencies. I’m always on call for those.”
Makai put the carrier on a high table and opened it carefully. The doors were closed, and the examination room didn’t have windows, so he let the cat step out on her own.
Doc Donovan whistled quietly. “That’s one pregnant kitty.”
Makai laughed and blocked her way with his hand. “Yep. Does she look familiar?”
“No, never seen her before. She’s really tame, though, which would suggest she hasn’t been alone for long.” He reached a hand for the cat, letting her sniff him, and she headbutted his fingers gently. “Yeah, friendly feline…. Where did you say you found her?”
“Oh, I bought the old Berg cottage, if you know where that is? On Maple Hill Road?”
Doc thought for a while, then frowned. “You know, the road that connects to Maple Hill goes through to the camping site eventually. Might be she’s been left by campers.”
“Yeah, Mr. Miller said the same thing.”
Doc started to check the cat through, and she let him do pretty much anything, even when he pressed on her stomach gently on different spots.
“Is it many or just a few big ones?” Makai asked, scratching under her chin to keep her purring and happy.
“It feels like bigger kittens.” Suddenly it seemed like something clicked for the doc, and he looked up from the cat. “She’s too small to have kittens this big in her, unless the sire is really large, and I know just who to call about that.” There was a certain snap in his tone, and Makai’s eyes widened a bit as he watched the man pick up a cell phone from the nearby counter.
“Mary, this is Doc, hi,” he started, and slowly but pointedly paced across the room. “Yes, I have a question for you. You did get Archie neutered when you took him to Mercer for those extensive blood tests, right?”
Makai could tell what the answer was when a vein on the vet’s forehead started to throb.
“Right. Well, I’m ninety percent sure that he’s been outside and knocked up a stray, Mary. So once these kittens are born, and they’re part ginger and long-haired, I will be sure to give the cat’s new owner your number. You get to help him rehome the kittens to good,responsiblehomes.”
Makai looked at the man, half-horrified, half-amused. The cat had sat down on the table and watched the proceedings with Makai, as if she too was interested in what was going on.
“Do not ‘little brother’ me, Mary. We had a deal, and you fucked up. Do not expect me for dinner on Sunday.” He all but threw the phone on the counter, then took a few deep breaths before turning to Makai. “I’m so, so sorry about that.”
“It’s okay. Family, right?” Makai shrugged in what he hoped was a casual way, and the subtle aggression hadn’t poked at his PTSD at all.
Doctor Donovan wiped his forehead and nodded with conviction. “My sister. She has a handful of these massive Norwegian Forest cats, Ragdolls, or mixes. Only one male hasn’t been neutered, and it’s….” He went back to the cat and petted her as he continued the examination.
“Do you think she might have trouble with them if they’re so big?” Makai felt scared all of a sudden.
“Well, for what it’s worth, I think she’s pretty close to giving birth, so it shouldn’t take weeks of you watching her every movement, but I’d keep her inside until the kittens arrive. When she goes into labor, and you can’t miss it, you just have to call me. I’ll come by to check on her if it looks like the labor takes too long. I’ll print out some general notes if you need them?”
“Yes, please. I’ve never had a pet before, so I know nothing about this stuff.”
“As long as you know help is always here. I live outside town a bit, opposite way from you, so if I’m off duty, we can even meet up halfway here at the clinic.”
They talked about vaccinations and deworming and whatnot, and Doctor Donovan took care of all the things they could right then. He asked if Makai wanted to get an X-ray to see how many kittens there were, but in the end, he decided not to. It wouldn’t make a difference, as long as they were all okay once born.
The doc went and printed him a few pages of “What to expect when your cat is expecting,” and gave them to him. Then they went to settle the bill for that visit in the front, the cat firmly in the carrier.
“What do you call her?” Doc asked as he was putting Makai’s information into the system.
“No idea yet,” he confessed.
“There’s no rush. I’ll mark her as gray female for now, if that’s okay?”
“Sure.” Then something occurred to him. “Hey, why is there a human on the sign?”
Something on Doctor Donovan’s face changed for just a moment, and then he looked at Makai sadly.
“My husband used to run a health clinic for people, so when we moved here, we put together a clinic for both animals and humans, just separated by a wall.” He glanced quickly at the wall that must’ve been the dividing one. “He passed away three years ago very suddenly. I haven’t had the heart to change the sign.”
