Page 91 of Escape for Christmas
‘I’ve disrupted your life again,’ Sophie said.
‘You haven’t. This is my job. It’s what I spend my life doing.’
Twenty minutes later they were carrying the cats into the surgery. While Sophie helped Jingle out of his carrier, the vet nurse coaxed out Belle, who crawled out and flopped down on the treatment table. She made a pathetic attempt to bite Brody, then gave up.
‘I know you don’t want to tell me they’ll be OK. I understand.’ Sophie swallowed back her tears. ‘But what can you do to help?’
‘We’ll need to induce vomiting, then give them activated charcoal to help mop up the toxins. They should pass that through their digestive systems. Please try not to worry too much. You did the right thing to call me.’ He smiled reassuringly, but Sophie still felt sick to her stomach.
‘You are in a sorry state, mate,’ Brody said to Jingle. ‘But we’ll do our best to make you feel better. You won’t think that for a while, though.’ He turned to Sophie. ‘The first thing to do is make them sick up anything inside them. You might want to wait outside or go for a walk or something. There’s nothing we can do until they’ve vomited the full contents of their stomachs. I promise we’ll call you in when there’s anything you can do.’
Sophie nodded and stroked her cats, knowing it was best to give Brody and the nurse space to treat them. ‘Get well, you two. I can’t bear to be without you.’
Knowing she couldn’t sit still, she walked into the chilly streets of Bannerdale, hardly knowing where she was going. It was only as she’d said, ‘I can’t bear to be without you’ that she fully realised how much of a comfort her pets had been, after she’d split from Ben. Thank God he hadn’t wanted them. Sophie would have never let him, anyway. She’d have gone on the run rather than part with them!
Yet now she felt guilty for bringing them to a strange place with hordes of strange people coming in and out – and all the unpredictability of the guests bringing stuff into thehouse that might hurt them. She’d have to be so much more careful in future, making sure the cats were kept safely in her flat, out of harm’s way.
In the village the lights were shining and there were plenty of Christmas visitors in boots and coats, picking up supplies in the outdoor stores, queuing at the bakery and packing the tea shops. Life went on as normal for them, but all Sophie could think of was her poor pets feeling sick and in pain. She’d done a couple of circuits of the village and had somehow found her way back to the surgery. Despite Brody telling her not to worry, her heart rate rose as she approached the entrance, fearful of what she might find.
The nurse showed her into Brody’s room, where the cats were lying on heated mats on the exam table.
‘They’ve been sick again,’ he said, ‘and now we’re going to give them the charcoal. They aren’t going to be too keen on it, but the good news is that they’re conscious, so we can syringe it into their mouths rather than using a tube. After that, we might have to repeat it every four to eight hours, and I’m going to give them some intravenous fluids to make sure they aren’t dehydrated.’
‘I’m staying.’
‘There’s no need. They’ll just be resting in the pens, feeling sorry for themselves. I’ll let you know if there’s any news, but for now, I’m afraid, we have to let them recover. Please, go home and have a rest and some food. I promise I’ll stay here overnight with them.’
‘Are you actually on duty tonight?’ she asked, feeling relieved Brody would be keeping a close eye on them.
‘Not technically.’ He shrugged. ‘I was on evening late surgery anyway, and I want to stay. Now go … No arguments.’
‘OK, but please let me know how they are, and thank you. Again.’
‘You won’t thank me when your cats are doing black poos for a few days,’ he said.
Sophie nodded. ‘I think that’s the least of my worries.’
With the heaviest of hearts, she decided that Brody was right, although she was still astonished that he’d offered to stay at the surgery overnight. She phoned Vee, who insisted on collecting her from the village and taking her back to Sunnyside.
‘That’s a forty-minute round trip. I’ll get a taxi.’
‘You stay where you are. I’ll come for you. I won’t hear any arguments.’
‘Everyone is bossing me around today,’ Sophie said, with an attempt at humour.
‘Sometimes we all need bossing and to be looked after. Wait there and I’ll see you soon.’
When they arrived back at Sunnyside, they found a large cardboard box in the porch.
Sophie picked it up. ‘What’s this? I didn’t order anything?’
Vee opened the front door. ‘Dunno. It wasn’t here when I left.’
‘It looks like a hamper,’ Sophie said, carrying the box inside. She was surprised when she opened it to find theparcel crammed with festive treats, such as mince pies, chutney, wine and a mini-fruitcake. She found a slip of paper on top and read it. ‘Oh, it’s from the Nowaks – a thank you. They needn’t have …’
‘Yet they wanted to.’ Vee delved inside. ‘It’s fantastic. Even if it is Christmassy.’
‘I gave up avoiding Christmas some time ago,’ Sophie mumbled. ‘And really this should be for Kev and the mountain-rescue team who hiked up here in the terrible weather.’
