“Your dog is being prepped for surgery now.”
“Oh God,” Jackie gasped. “Did the doctor figure out what’s wrong?”
The vet tech shrugged. “The scans aren’t giving us a clear view. Could be a bile duct blockage caused by any number of issues. Or maybe he swallowed something at daycare. Either way, we have to operate to find the obstruction. It’s going to be a while—at least a few hours.” The vet tech hadn’t even tried to use an ounce of bedside manner. In any other circumstance, Jackie would have checked them for that. Instead, she tried tocalm her anger and not panic at the thought of PeeWee having such major surgery.
“Okay, I’ll be here,” Jackie said. She wasn’t going to move a muscle until she knew PeeWee was out of the woods.
“Also, I’ll need you to sign here to approve the estimate. For something like this, the cost will be…” The tech took a dramatic pause, then whispered, “Steep.”
Jackie snatched the pen out of the tech’s hand and signed the estimate without reading it. “Do I look like I care about the cost?” Her tone must have given the tech pause, because she grabbed her clipboard and retreated as quickly as she had appeared.
Jackie went back to her seat. She willed her tears not to fall as she thought about how much pain PeeWee had to be in. He was such a playful, easygoing dog. Sure, he liked to chew a designer shoe or two. Shoes could be replaced; PeeWee couldn’t. As she closed her eyes to say a silent prayer, a scratchy voice interrupted her thoughts.
“Your pampered pooch is going to be fine, doll. I’m sure of it.”
Jackie slowly opened her eyes to see a red-haired woman seated next to her, dressed in a patchwork skirt and dusty combat boots. Had she been there the entire time? Jackie had been so out of it she hadn’t paid much attention to her surroundings.
“I hope so,” sighed Jackie.
“Oh, I know so. PeeWee just swallowed a bead from a keychain. A yellow bead. He’ll be alright. Just like I know my bird Daisy is going to pull through. She had no business eating my palo santo in the first place.”
Jackie’s eyes widened. “How the hell do you know my dog’s name? Look, if you were listening that closely to my conversation with the tech, that is probably some kind of HIPAA violation.” Jackie knew she wasn’t making sense. She was a lawyer. She knew she couldn’t sue a bystander for being nosy about her dog’s health. But she really didn’t appreciate this stranger in her business.
The lady laughed roughly, sounding like she smoked five packs a day. “You talk a lot, huh? Do you ever just listen?”
“I listen when it’s something worth listening to. Right now, lady, you aren’t it.”
“Oh yeah?” the woman huffed as she folded her arms. “So, you’re a skeptic. I’m beginning to understand.”
“A skeptic?” Jackie laughed. “Listen, I don’t know if you’re running some kind of hustle in this waiting room, but I’m not the one. Now if you don’t mind, I’d like to sit here in silence.” Before Jackie could turn her back, the woman had grabbed her hand. Jackie tried to pull away, but the woman held on tighter. “Lady, I’m going to scream my fucking head off in this animal hospital if you don’t let me go!”
This strange lady, while ghostly pale, looked unphased as she unfurled Jackie’s clenched fingers. Jackie felt herself surrender, her open hand palm-up in front of her.
“You like to jump to conclusions, huh?” the woman said, staring at Jackie’s hand. “So much so that you’ve blocked your heart from receiving what you need. You need to quiet your tongue and speak with your heart. Everything that you think is true isn’t. In time, love will reveal itself. But until you learn to listen and to speak your own truth, there will only be silence.”
What?Jackie’s eyes widened as she snatched her hand away. “Lady, what the hell! You don’t just grab on people like that.” She examined her hand, looking at it over and over again.
“This is going to be a difficult test for you, I fear.” The woman picked up her ragged tote bag, draped it across her body, and sighed. “Well, I gotta go. My bird is ready.”
No sooner than she spoke the words, another vet tech brought out a bird in a cage. A gorgeous white and yellow parakeet. “Mary Easton?”
The woman grabbed the faded gold cage and turned to Jackie. “I’ll see you again, doll. Sooner than you think.”
Jackie dropped her gaze, eager to escape the woman’s intense stare. What kind of madness was this? When she glanced back up, the woman and her parakeet were gone. Jackie looked around the waiting room; everyone looked unfazed, as if that wild exchange hadn’t happened.
“JACKIE?”
The sound of her name pulled Jackie out of her trance. She wasn’t sure how long she’d been sitting there when Tanika and Bronwyn showed up. She looked up into their concerned, puzzled faces.
Bronwyn sat and wrapped her arms around Jackie. “Oh Goddess! I’m so sorry I didn’t come earlier! The distributor for our new chickpea pasta was so long-winded! How is PeeWee?”
“I don’t know,” Jackie said, on the verge of tears again.
Tanika sat on her other side, grabbing her hand. “He’s going to be fine, Jackie. He’s a little fighter.”
“Did you all pass a red-haired lady in a patchwork skirt carrying a bird?” Jackie asked, still in a daze.
Bronwyn shook her head. “I didn’t see a red-haired lady.”
