PART TWO
It’s nearly 5pm. I’m sitting on the family bed, sweating from the heat of the sun blazing against the curtains on my right. My stomach feels like it’s twisting in knots and doing flips and my hands are unsteady. Despite being up until 2am, and then getting up twice in the night, I’m barely tired at all. It’s only adrenaline, only that fear coursing through my veins that’s keeping me upright. I’m checking my watch, swallowing hard, looking out the window, unsettled, barely able to focus. My mind’s wandering in between sentences, and sometimes even between words. I can almost feel the tenseness of my muscles. I don’t know if I’ll sleep at all tonight. The vet rang us just after 5pm and said Sparkie is very dehydrated, but her organs are ok and it’s not parvo. So now I wait until the morning and hope she survives the night. I couldn’t settle. It’s now 9:30pm and I’m just started to flag.
After a restless night, I woke at 7am aching all over and totally exhausted, but I was still fidgety and kept looking at the phone. Finally, at 9am, it rang. Mummy answered it. My stomach did a few flips before tying in another knot. My hands shook. Then Mummy grinned and gave thumbs up to me. I let out a sigh of relief, feeling weak all of a sudden. The vet said Sparkie had bled a lot during the night, but was better this morning, ate allher breakfast and hadn’t thrown up. We went to see her an hour later. I wasright behind the vet nurse, first to see Sparkie lying in her cage. She wasdrowsy, eyes half closed. “Hey Sparkie!” I called out hesitantly across the room. Her eyes flew open, ears turned. “How you doing girl?” I said louder, voice cracking slightly with emotion. At this she raised her head, met my eye, and then her tail started wagging. The cage was opened and she sat up. I was so happy to see her again, alive, that the half hour of patting her came to an end far too soon. “We can come back later, right?” I asked. “Sure. After 2:30,” the vet said.
We spent the next few hours at the library. Bang on 2:30 I ran back to the bus to ask Mummy if we could visit Sparkie. She said the vet had called a few minutes earlier and we could take her home at 4:30! I was so happy I threw my arms around Mummy. All at once I was starving. After a big lunch, I was longing to see Sparkie. Time ticked by so slowly, I was amazed when it was finally 4:30. We went to the vets’, and he brought Sparkie into the consultation room. Her eyes scanned over everyone, we were all crowded into the small room, and then her tail started wagging as she saw me. I pushed my way towards her, out of the corner, and hugged her, and clipped her lead on. After giving us a brief rundown on home care, we were given some tablets to give her, then Daddy opened the door and we started to walk out. Sparkie sat dejectedly on the floor at the end of her lead and I felt so bad for her. She obviously thought we were going to leave her behind again. “Come on, let’s go, Sparkie!”and I headed for the door. At once she stood up and followed, and her tail wagged like crazy nearly the whole way back to the bus. That night I hugged her and told her over and over again how good it was to have her home again. I told her about the collar I was getting custom-made and sent over from New Zealand for her. I told her how I’d cried buckets of tears that night without her, how hard it had been and how I never wanted to spend a night apart ever again. “You didn’t really think I was gonna leave you behind forever, did you?” I asked, playing with her ears, “You’re my partner, pretty girl. And I’ll never leave my partner behind.”And with that I gave her a hug that lasted at least five minutes, but it might have been longer.
The vet says it could have been a virus or bug she picked up from somewhere, or something she ate. I'm just glad she's ok!
After a restless night, I woke at 7am aching all over and totally exhausted, but I was still fidgety and kept looking at the phone. Finally, at 9am, it rang. Mummy answered it. My stomach did a few flips before tying in another knot. My hands shook. Then Mummy grinned and gave thumbs up to me. I let out a sigh of relief, feeling weak all of a sudden. The vet said Sparkie had bled a lot during the night, but was better this morning, ate allher breakfast and hadn’t thrown up. We went to see her an hour later. I wasright behind the vet nurse, first to see Sparkie lying in her cage. She wasdrowsy, eyes half closed. “Hey Sparkie!” I called out hesitantly across the room. Her eyes flew open, ears turned. “How you doing girl?” I said louder, voice cracking slightly with emotion. At this she raised her head, met my eye, and then her tail started wagging. The cage was opened and she sat up. I was so happy to see her again, alive, that the half hour of patting her came to an end far too soon. “We can come back later, right?” I asked. “Sure. After 2:30,” the vet said.
We spent the next few hours at the library. Bang on 2:30 I ran back to the bus to ask Mummy if we could visit Sparkie. She said the vet had called a few minutes earlier and we could take her home at 4:30! I was so happy I threw my arms around Mummy. All at once I was starving. After a big lunch, I was longing to see Sparkie. Time ticked by so slowly, I was amazed when it was finally 4:30. We went to the vets’, and he brought Sparkie into the consultation room. Her eyes scanned over everyone, we were all crowded into the small room, and then her tail started wagging as she saw me. I pushed my way towards her, out of the corner, and hugged her, and clipped her lead on. After giving us a brief rundown on home care, we were given some tablets to give her, then Daddy opened the door and we started to walk out. Sparkie sat dejectedly on the floor at the end of her lead and I felt so bad for her. She obviously thought we were going to leave her behind again. “Come on, let’s go, Sparkie!”and I headed for the door. At once she stood up and followed, and her tail wagged like crazy nearly the whole way back to the bus. That night I hugged her and told her over and over again how good it was to have her home again. I told her about the collar I was getting custom-made and sent over from New Zealand for her. I told her how I’d cried buckets of tears that night without her, how hard it had been and how I never wanted to spend a night apart ever again. “You didn’t really think I was gonna leave you behind forever, did you?” I asked, playing with her ears, “You’re my partner, pretty girl. And I’ll never leave my partner behind.”And with that I gave her a hug that lasted at least five minutes, but it might have been longer.
The vet says it could have been a virus or bug she picked up from somewhere, or something she ate. I'm just glad she's ok!