Page 34 of Burn With Me

“Yeah, but I’m working with the fire investigator today for some training, so I just took a long lunch so I could be here with you for the kitten, and we can pick a name,” I say.

“You didn’t have to do that,” she says with a smirk that makes me realize I made the right decision.

“Sweetness, I know I didn’t have to, but I wanted to be here. You don’t have to do everything by yourself anymore if you don’t want to,” I say as I tuck a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Penny nudges my leg, and I squat down to give her some love too because while I’m fairly certain I can win Amelia over, the way to guarantee it is to win over the animals. “Did you miss me, Penny? Are you excited to make sure your new sister is healthy, and then you can give her all the cuddles you want?”

“Amelia! So good to see you! Let’s see this kitten you found and get her a full workup to make sure this little baby is happy and healthy.” I hear a deep voice come from behind the counter, and I stand up.

Bending over, I pick up the cat carrier and follow Amelia and the vet to the exam room.

“Hi.” The vet turns to me. “I’m Dr. Jesse, the vet for this town. I don’t think we’ve been introduced.” He sticks his hand out to me.

I place the cat carrier on the table and shake his hand. “Yes, sir. My name is Luke. I just moved here. Am and I found this little girl next to my truck when we were out last night.” I smile and look down at Amelia, who looks nervous.

“We couldn’t just leave her there, and it was too late to call you for something that wasn’t an emergency,” she tells him.

“Now, Amelia. You know you can call me day or night, but let’s start with scanning to see if she has a chip, and we can go from there,” he says with a smile.

Looking over at Amelia, I see her biting her thumbnail. I reach over and grab her hand to hold it as I look around. I haven’t been to a lot of vet offices as my parents always took care of the dogs we had, but this looks like a standard exam room with posters lining the wall, a sink on the opposite side of the room, and treats on the counter.

“No chip. She looks young, probably less than six months. Where did you say you found her again?” he says as he starts checking over the rest of the small kitten’s body.

“By the mini golf place just outside of town. We didn’t see any others around, so I’m not sure if she wandered away from her mom or someone just dumped her,” Amelia says.

“Hmmm, I’ll make sure to let the owners of the place know to keep a lookout. I’m guessing you want a full blood workup, deworming, and a first round of shots.” He lifts his head and looks between us.

I look at Amelia because while I’m here and supporting her, I’ll fully admit I’m out of my element.

“Yes, if she were older, I’d say we should do a titer test, but I think it’s safe to assume she hasn’t had her first round of shots yet. When do you think we can get her spayed?” she asks.

“Because we can only estimate her age, I would feel more comfortable with waiting two months before doing it. I believe she’s of age to do it now, but I’d rather get her vaccinated with the first two rounds of shots and a round of deworming before we put her under.” He walks over to the cabinets and opens one, which shows a hidden fridge with the shots he needs. He walks back over and sets everything down that he grabbed. “Overall, she looks and sounds healthy. I’m going to take some blood to run quickly, then we’ll get the shots done, and you both can be on your way. Have you thought of a name yet?”

“Ginny,” Amelia says quickly, and I look at her and smile.

“Ginny sounds perfect and fits her well, but why Ginny?” I ask.

“She has some orange, and that reminds me of the Weasleys from Harry Potter, and it just popped into my head. Do you not like it?” She looks at me kind of nervous, and I give her hand a squeeze in reassurance.

“It’s perfect.”

Just as we look back at the exam table, Ginny makes the saddest noise, and I realize that Dr. Jesse started taking blood. The moment Ginny made that sound, Penny put her two front paws on the exam table and started sniffing at her. Ginny immediately tries to go to her. While in Boston, I didn’t think it was possible to get a pet with my schedule. I’ve always wanted one, and this interaction is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen in my life.

“I shouldn’t be surprised Penny is already the best big sister,” Dr. Jesse says.

“Yeah, I felt bad keeping them separate after letting Penny sniff the cat carrier last night when we got in, but Penny slept by the bathroom door all night,” Amelia says.

“Okay, I’m going to run this back to the in-house lab quickly, then we’ll get her shots going, and by then, we should have the heartworm and Lyme disease results back. The rest I’ll email you, so I don’t hold you up. Be right back,” he says.

As he walks out the opposite door we walked in, I look over at Ginny, who has walked up to Penny’s face on the exam table and is rubbing on her. I look over at Amelia, who has the softest look on her face.

“I’m glad I’m here, but I’m totally out of my element. It’s like you’re both speaking another language,” I say.

“Yeah, when I first got Penny, I felt the same way. I’m just glad Dr. Jesse was patient with me and explained everything. I also did a ton of research because Penny had tested positive for heartworm before I adopted her, so I called him to give him a heads-up, and he went over everything with me so well and so in-depth that I knew everything would be fine,” she says as she reaches down to pet Penny.

Bending over, I go nose to nose with Ginny, and she rubs her face on mine as I run my hand down her little back. “That’s a sign of a good vet. One day, I’ll understand some of what he says.”

“I just hope she doesn’t have heartworm. While it’s hard to get, if she was outside her whole life without any form of protection, it’s possible. It was hard to watch Penny go through the treatment, and she was almost two. I can’t imagine going through the treatment with a kitten,” she says with a nervous smile.

“It’ll be okay. Regardless of the outcome, she’s loved and will have the best treatment,” I say as I stand and bring her body closer to mine so I can half hug her.

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