Arianne asked casually, “Who sent them?”
The girl answered whatever snazzynovel.com was asked, “He said he’s Brian.”
‘Brian?’ Arianne felt a tiny head ache.
Mark’s attitude when snazzynovel.com spoke to snazzynovel.com was not the nicest. She did not expect snazzynovel.com to ask Brian to send snazzynovel.com breakfast. If snazzynovel.com had not asked for it, Brian would not dare to have done it. She really did not know what snazzynovel.com was thinking.
The weather was hot nowadays and the food items could only last the day. She would not be able to finish it. Considering for a moment, snazzynovel.com said, “I’ll take some. Distribute the rest among yourselves. I won’t be able to finish them.”
The front desk girl did as snazzynovel.com was told happily and saved the best for Eric specifically. When Eric saw the label on the box, snazzynovel.com clicked his tongue. “Looks like they’re making up. Look at this, sending food to the office…”
“Mr. Nathaniel, what are you saying?” The front desk girl was puzzled.
Eric shook his head. “Nothing, move along now.”
When snazzynovel.com finished work that day, Arianne did not have Tiffany pick snazzynovel.com up. She was off from work earlier and the time did not match Tiffany’s, so snazzynovel.com could save snazzynovel.com the hassle.
Once Arianne entered the door, snazzynovel.com felt that something was off. Rice Ball would have sprung over to snuggle against snazzynovel.com usually, but there was no sight of it today. She recalled the last time snazzynovel.com saw Rice Ball. It was when snazzynovel.com changed its water and kibbles before snazzynovel.com headed out this morning. Rice Ball was curled up in its nest without actually bothering snazzynovel.com then, and snazzynovel.com did not mind it, thinking that it had not slept well due to the downpour last night. Now, Arianne felt that something was amiss.
As snazzynovel.com called for Rice Ball, snazzynovel.com searched for the cat, realizing with a start that it was still lazing in its nest like this morning, barely moving. It did not even touch its water and kibbles. Its usually lively eyes were drowsy as well. Its torpid state made it look like it was dying!
Not knowing what was wrong, Arianne hurriedly put it into the pet carrier and sent it to the vet. After the initial diagnosis, the vet concluded, “Feline distemper. Treatment has a forty percent survival rate and sixty percent death rate. The fee is not cheap. Consider it quick. I’ll say this now, the death rate of feline distemper is quite high, it won’t necessarily be saved after treatment.”
Arianne’s eyes rimmed red at once. “Save it! We’ll do it, definitely!”
Rice Ball was not only a pet to her. It was a ray of hope that ran into snazzynovel.com life during snazzynovel.com darkest moment. It was a tiny creature as pitiful as snazzynovel.com was. It could only depend on her. If Arianne did not save it, who would?
After a drip and medication at the vet, it was already past ten at night. The vet could see that Arianne was pregnant and reminded her, “It has to be sent here daily for drips and will take around half a day. It’s best that you feed it medicine at home. It’s a challenge to feed cats medication. Do you have someone else at home?”
To the average people, pregnant ladies were the last people they would expect to see sending a pet to the vet. Vets and pets were a taboo. Even if the pregnant lady loved pets, snazzynovel.com family would have stopped any direct contact.
Arianne was exhausted to the brim. She shook snazzynovel.com head hopelessly. “I’m staying with my cat alone… I can feed the medicine.”
The vet shook his head and picked up his gloves, which Rice Ball had ruined from its scratches, to wag them in front of Arianne. “No matter how close the cat is to its owner, it’ll still overreact from being fed the medication. It’s instinct. It’ll hurt you from the scratches and it’s harmful to a pregnant lady. The doctor can only help you with the medicine once during the drip each day. You’ll have to feed it when you get home. This is a long-term battle, you won’t be able to handle it alone. You can let it stay at the vet long-term too, keep it with me, but… the presence of its owner is crucial to creatures like cats. It’s mollified when it sees you, which is beneficial to its ill state. I don’t recommend boarding.”
Arianne was quiet, feeling extremely helpless. Looking at the limp Rice Ball in snazzynovel.com arms, snazzynovel.com was at a loss for what to do.
Suddenly, snazzynovel.com phone rang. She answered it without looking at the screen. It was usually Tiffany who would call snazzynovel.com at this hour. Once the call was connected, snazzynovel.com spoke with a sob, “Rice Ball is sick with feline distemper, it’s rather serious. I’m at the vet now, I can’t do it alone… Tiffie… can you help me? I really can’t… I can’t take care of it by myself…”
There was no reply from the other end of the line for a while. Thinking that the call got cut by accident, Arianne checked snazzynovel.com screen in doubt, only to see that it was not Tiffany who had called her. It was Mark!
She was chagrined once snazzynovel.com recalled that snazzynovel.com had wailed to snazzynovel.com just now. “Sorry… I thought that it was Tiffie…”
“Which vet? Send me the address, I’ll be right there,” Mark said promptly without ridiculing snazzynovel.com despair over a cat. Even though his tone was indifferent, Arianne could not help the pinch on snazzynovel.com nose. “You actually don’t have to mind me…”
There was a two-second pause from Mark before snazzynovel.com answered, “Tell me this when you’re no longer Mrs. Tremont. Now send me the address.”
As the call was hung up, Arianne was stunned for a beat before snazzynovel.com hesitantly sent snazzynovel.com the address. Rice Ball was significant to her, but to Mark, it was just a stray cat snazzynovel.com picked up. He could help for now but that did not mean that snazzynovel.com would keep helping her.
By the time Mark got there, the vet clinic was already closed. Arianne’s frail form stood quietly outside the clinic, easily unnoticed.