I’ll take you on a real hunt. You’ve got great aim.”
Liz carefully examined the wound while the boy was distracted by his father’s praise. A few shallow scratches flanked a wound that looked like a small cat bite. It wasn’t so deep that it needed surgical cleaning or stitches, but deep enough to be still open. “Okay, Billy, the wound doesn’t look so bad. If your parents agree, I’ll give you a shot to numb it, then clean it, and you’ll be as good as new. You’ll need to take antibiotics for a week, just as a precaution.”
Both parents nodded as Liz made eye contact with them.
Slipping off her gloves, Liz went over to the counter and opened Billy’s file on the computer. “Anything in his medical history? Prior illnesses? Allergies?”
“No, nothing, he’s always been healthy.” Pride filled the mother’s voice. “We never had to take him to see a doctor before.”
Ding! A warning light the size of a lighthouse went on in Liz’s mind. “When was his last tetanus shot?”
“Tetanus?” The shrill tone confirmed Liz’s fears. “We didn’t poison him with any vaccines.”
Oh, fun. Liz wanted to groan, but her professionalism won out. “Okay.” She finished her notes, then checked if everything she needed was on the table. It was. Tony had been meticulous as always.
“So, Billy, how did this happen?” Liz hoped that the boy would concentrate on his story instead of the work she needed to do.
“I hunted a tiger. I chased it through the jungle and caught it in the net.” He started to gesture with both arms.
Liz caught the injured one and secured it on the table. “I’ll just ice the wound a bit with this spray, then I’ll numb it with a shot. A tiger, hm?”
“Yeah.” Billy nodded. “I wanted to tie it up to carry it back to the base, but the stupid cat didn’t want to play with me and scratched and bit me.”
“Wait.” Liz almost slipped with the needle but caught herself just in time. “Did you catch a real cat with a net? Not on the internet?”
“Yeah. Stupid cat.” With his free arm, he hit something behind his mother’s back. Plastic rattled.
A loud hiss answered him, and he drew back.
“Billy, no.” His mother shook her head, but his father just chuckled.
“Did you bring the cat here?” Liz looked up. This couldn’t be happening. Why hadn’t Tony warned her? Had he forgotten about the Great Cat Incident of 2015?
“We thought you could have a look at her if she’s sick. Maybe she has rabies or tetanus or whatever.” Weepy Mom stepped to the side and revealed a small pet carrier.
And there she was. A cat cowered at the far side of the door. In the shadows, she looked young and frightened.
“I’m not a vet, but rabies is not that common. You don’t get tetanus from sick animals, but from traces in the dirt. Is she an outdoor cat? Has she been bitten recently?”
“No, not as far as we know. We only got her from the mall the day before Christmas, and they said she’s never been outside. And that she was great with kids. All lies.” Angry Dad frowned at the cat. “And we’ll bring her right back to that shop when we’re finished here. Or to the shelter if they won’t take her. Nothing but trouble.”
“We thought she’d motivate Billy to take a break from his computer, but we didn’t want him to get hurt.” She pressed her tissue to her eyes. “Please, take a look at her and make sure that she doesn’t have anything poisonous.”
“Let me finish here, and I’ll take a look.” Liz didn’t correct the use of the word poisonous. She needed to stay on the good side of the family if she wanted to convince them to let Billy get the tetanus shot he really needed.
Carefully, Liz rinsed the wound. When she was sure it was clean, she closed it with a couple of steri-strips and wrapped a clean bandage around the arm.
“Okay, let me have a look at her. What’s her name?”
“Tiger.” Weepy Mom pushed the pet carrier in Liz direction as if it was a container of toxic waste.
Of course. Tiger. “Hey, cutie.” Liz stretched out her hand in the direction of the door. When Tiger didn’t flinch or hiss, she opened it.
Tiger was aptly named, only the coloring was wrong. Dark gray stripes adorned her light gray coat, and amber eyes stared at the woman who had opened her prison. She took