Саманта Сильвер: Busy As A Beaver

“Ok, we’re going to X-ray the front right leg first,” I said to Sophie. “While you do that, I’m going to get him some painkillers.”

Sophie nodded and started instructing Buster to stay still while she got him into position. I made my way to the medicine cabinet, unlocked it, and pulled out some NSAIDs and opioids for cats. Buster was obviously in so much pain that opioids were definitely on the table, and by combining their use with NSAIDs I could use lower dosages for both painkillers, which was safer for cats.

Double-checking I had the dosages right—half a pill of one and a quarter pill of the other—I grabbed a couple of pill pockets, stuffed them with the medicine, and brought them over to Buster, who ate them happily.

“Ew, what did you put in that?” he asked, scrunching his little face as I heard the familiar beep of the X-ray machine.

“Medicine. It’ll make you feel better soon.”

“I can’t believe you’d betray me like that. Don’t you know I’m a hero?”

It was no wonder Bee and Buster were best friends. They were just like two peas in a pod.

“I know. And trust me, that was the best treat I could possibly give you. Come on, let me grab you a different one to get the taste out of your mouth.”

“I’d like some of those sushi treats Bee tells me you keep here,” he said weakly before putting his head back down, and I couldn’t help but smile. Even though he was in a ton of pain, he knew exactly what he wanted.

I made my way to the box of treats and got him out a few—KittiSushi was a Portland-based company that used the run-off from sushi restaurants, the stuff they would normally throw out, like fish skins, and dried them out to make cat treats. I took out a piece for Buster and brought it over to him, and he munched it up happily.

“That’s better,” he said softly, almost to himself.

“Good. Now stay there while I go have a look at your leg,” I said, making my way over to the machine. A quick look at the result told me everything I needed to know: Buster had a hairline fracture in his ulna. That was good news: as far as kitty ‘arm’ bones went, the ulna was less weight-bearing than the radius, which would have been a more difficult fracture to deal with. I knew I could try to put a cast on Buster, but in my experience, cats were incredibly skilled at getting out of casts, and he would need to be sedated to put one on. A splint was another option, but I figured that in this case, a prescription of bed rest for a few weeks while the bones healed was what was on the table.

Being an active cat, Buster wouldn’t be happy about it, but it would have to be done. I made my way back over to him to give him a more thorough examination. After all, while we had discovered one problem, that didn’t mean there weren’t more lurking inside of him. Hitting that cabinet had obviously been traumatic.

After a thorough inspection, including a full ultrasound to check for internal bleeding, I discovered that apart from the broken leg and the bleeding wound on his side, Buster was going to be ok. Sophie helped me bandage up his wound, and I went to text Gloria the results.

Thank you, dear. I’m at the clinic now. I should be released later to come and get him.

Sure thing. We’ll come and see you as soon as the clinic closes .

“How is mom doing?” Buster asked weakly as he saw me texting.

“She’s at the hospital. She’s going to be ok, and so are you,” I told him. “That was very brave, what you did to save her.”

“It didn’t work, though. He still hit her, and he was asking questions.”

“Like what?”

“‘Where is it?’ He kept asking that. ‘Where is it? Where’s the money?’”

My heart broke for Buster. “Did he find any?”

“No. Mom doesn’t keep money in the house. She does have jewelry, but I don’t know if he got to it or not. He kept hitting her, and that was when I jumped in. After he threw me against the cabinet, he looked around for the gun, and while he was going that, Mom just grabbed me and ran out the door as fast as she could.”

“Good,” I told Buster. “You may have saved Gloria’s life.”

“That sounds about right. I am descended from the ferocious hunters of old, after all.”

I neglected to point out that I had once seen Buster and Bee lying together in a ray of sunshine in the lobby for a full six hours without moving an inch.

“I’m glad you saved her, and I’m glad you’re both going to be ok,” I replied instead. After all, it was the truth. I gave him a few soft pats on the head before loading him up into one of the crates we kept animals in until Gloria could come back and get him.

Chapter 2

As soon as the vet clinic closed for the night, Sophie and I packed everything away, got ready for the next day, and decided to stop by the clinic to see how Gloria was doing.

“I’m going to keep you here for now,” I told Buster. “However, if it turns out Gloria’s spending the night in the clinic, I’m going to come back and take you home, ok?”

“Why can’t I come with you?” Buster whined.

“Cats aren’t allowed in the hospital.”

“Please. I’m cleaner than most humans.”

“That may be true, but some humans are allergic to you, and it’s not fair to bring a cat into a situation where they’re already not feeling their best.”

“Isn’t that what you call Darwinism? Anyone who’s allergic to such a majestic creature as myself should be considered inferior anyway.”

I smiled as I rolled my eyes. Cats certainly had an interesting way of viewing the world.

“Maybe, but I don’t plan on getting myself kicked out of there, either, for sneaking you in. So stay here and I’ll come back later, either with Gloria or to come and get you.”

“Fine, but I’m starving here.”

“You’ll get dinner after I get back.”

Buster stalked to the back of the cage he was in and turned his back to me, obviously unimpressed with this turn of events.

Well, he was going to have to get over it. As much as I wanted to sneak him in to see Gloria, I was all too aware that the rules were there for a reason.

Ten minutes later Sophie and I drove up to the Willow Bay Medical Centre. It wasn’t a full-sized hospital—our small town definitely didn’t warrant that kind of infrastructure—but because of the frequent surfing tourism in the region, and some mountain biking as well, we did have a bit of a miniature emergency room with ten beds, X-ray capabilities, and a CT machine. Anyone requiring more complex emergency care was taken by ambulance or helicopter to Portland, but basic emergency needs could be taken care of here.

We found Gloria in one of the emergency beds, having her blood pressure taken by a nurse. Her face was covered with a bandage but she smiled as soon as she saw us, her brown eyes shining with questions.

“How is my little Buster?” she asked as soon as Sophie and I made our way towards her.

“He’s doing great,” I said to her with a smile. “He’ll have to be kept inside with minimal exercise for at least a month, possibly longer. We’ll re-do the X-rays in three weeks to see how the fracture is healing. Other than that, just make sure to change the bandage on his side daily, and he’ll be fine. How about you? How are you holding up?”

“So much better now that I know he’s going to be alright,” Gloria said, leaning back into the pillows on the bed.

“Have you called the police yet?” Sophie asked.

“One of the nurses did, about ten minutes ago,” Gloria replied. “They wanted to make sure I was taken care of first, but it looks like I’m going to be fine. No broken bones for me, luckily, just a few scrapes and bruises and possibly a very minor concussion from where he hit me over the head.”