Read Online Vet's Desire by Angela Verdenius - Free Book Online Page A

find
out.” She slammed the car door shut, flicked on the air conditioner
and pressed the remote for the garage door.
    When she pulled
out, Ruth was approaching for breakfast. She nodded to Cindy in her
usual stoic way and continued on into the house.
    By ten to eight
she was pulling to a stop in front of the vet clinic. One of the
vet nurses must have been watching for her, because she was holding
the door open by the time Cindy was out of her car.
    “You must be
Cindy.” The vet nurse smiled.
    “I am.” Cindy
stepped through the door into the waiting room.
    The vet nurse
led her to a different consult room to the one she’d been in the
previous night. “Just wait here and Tim will be in to see you with
your kitten.”
    Your
kitten. Cindy couldn’t help the smile that curved her lips. It
felt so good. My kitten. Yes, the little scrap was all hers,
and it was up to her to see that he lived.
    The door in the
back of the consult room opened and Tim came in carrying the cat
carrier basket in one hand and a small bag in the other. “’Morning,
Cindy.” His gaze went from the top of her head and swept downwards,
a small smile crinkling the corners of his eyes.
    Cindy smiled
back at him. “You look a little tired.”
    “Tough Stuff
here kept waking me up.” Tim placed the basket on the examination
table. “He drinks like there’s no tomorrow.”
    “Thirsty?”
Eagerly she watched as he opened the lid and reached in under the
blanket, withdrawing his hand with a squalling kitten gently, but
firmly, held in his grasp.
    Handing it to
her, Tim smiled as she snuggled it against her cheek and the kitten
turned and bunted its little nose along her skin. “He’s a hungry
boy. But you need to be careful not to over feed him or he could
end up with diarrhoea.”
    Nuzzling the
top of the kitten’s head, she looked at Tim. “How often do I feed
him, and how much?”
    Reaching into
the bag, Tim drew out a small glass bottle and a teat. “I’ve marked
on the side of the bottle for you. If there’s any left, you can pop
it into the ‘fridge and warm it up for his next feed. For now, I’ve
been feeding him every hour, but I reckon by tomorrow you can
stretch that to two hourly.”
    “Last night you
mentioned making him pee?”
    “Yep. You’ll
need a warm, damp, soft cloth.” He showed her what to do and the
kitten rewarded him by squalling, stretching out his little legs
and producing a warm trickle.
    Cindy couldn’t
help but laugh.
    “Trust me,” Tim
said dryly, “At three in the morning, this stops being a laughing
matter.”
    “I’m sure.”
Cindy took the bottle that Tim handed to her once he’d finished
toileting the kitten.
    “Hold this to
his mouth,” Tim instructed.
    Within seconds
the kitten was blissfully sucking on the bottle, little paws
stretched straight out in front of him.
    Taking a deep
breath, Cindy inhaled the scent of milk, kitten, and Tim’s cologne.
It was such a nice mix.
    “Now,” he
continued. “The warming pad is electric, so just plug it into the
power at home. It can’t burn him, it’s not set high enough, but it
will keep him warm. Don’t put him in direct line of air
conditioning, and just check him now and again to ensure he’s
warm.”
    “How will I
tell if something is wrong?”
    “He’ll go very
quiet, he’ll stop drinking or moving. If he’s unable to urinate,
bring him in and one of us will see him straight away.”
    Looking after
this little boy was going to be a bit more involved than she’d
first thought.
    “Cindy?” Tim
studied her. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
    “Absolutely,”
she replied, and meant it. “He’s going to take a bit of work, but
it’s going to be…I can’t think how to describe it.”
    “Basically,
you’re going to be his mother.”
    “Thank God the
poor little scrap doesn’t take after me!”
    “Oh, I don’t
know. You’re pretty easy on the eyes.”
    Surprised,
Cindy glanced up to find Tim gazing directly at her,