“Oh great,” Melissa says, turning. “We were hoping you’d be back soon. Dr. Mac wants me to present this information to everyone.”
Of course this isn’t everyone. David and Zoe aren’t here. Neither are Jules and Josh. But I guess Dr. Mac didn’t want to wait. Brenna looks interested. Maggie looks bored. Dr. Mac joins us on the couches. Melissa finishes her writing and stands beside the easel.
“I know that you all have a good idea of what a vet tech is,” Melissa begins. “But Dr. MacKenzie and I thought it would be a good idea to run through it for you to make sure there’s no confusion. So here goes.” It sounds a little like Melissa is about to give a speech. I wonder if she’s nervous. I smile encouragingly at her just in case.
She points to the first line, “I partner with a licensed veterinarian to assist in the medical care of an animal. Primarily, I perform medical tests to help diagnose ill and injured animals. I am a technologist. I have a four-year degree. There is such a thing as a technician who typically has a two-year degree. I often think of myself as a nurse to animals as I provide first aid, and I assist a veterinarian during procedures.” Melissa takes a big breath, and then she looks at each of us Vet Volunteers, one by one. “I understand from both Dr. Mac and Dr. Gabe that you Vet Volunteers are well trained and are able to help with much of that, also.”
Maggie sits a little straighter, and at the same time she seems a little more relaxed. Brenna looks over at me and smiles before turning back to Melissa. Dr. Mac just nods, and I know she is silently telling Melissa to continue.
Melissa does just that, pointing to each line as she goes. “I am qualified to perform immunizations, blood draws, and X-rays.” Those are things that we volunteers are not allowed to do.
She continues: “A tech often does dental cleanings and lab work for the vet, as well. I prep animals for surgery. But I do not operate myself.”
That was short and sweet, as my father would say. But I’m glad to have a better sense of what techs do.
Dr. Mac says, “Thank you, Melissa, for that presentation.”
“Oh, one more thing,” Melissa says. “I love doing pet owner workshops.”
“Workshops?” Dr. Gabe asks.
“Yes, educational workshops on pet care. I’ve done them on spaying and neutering pets. Puppy and kitten care. The importance of preventing heartworm. Summer and winter pet concerns . . .” She pauses and looks like she’s trying to remember more. Then she says, “I’m sure the Vet Volunteers will have a lot of great ideas for educational workshops we could host.”
And then everyone is excited and talking, even Maggie, who says, “We’ve done things like that before. We’ve done community information at the Wildlife Rehab open house, too.”
“And we did some teaching over at Wrenches and Roses, remember?” Brenna says to Maggie. “And stream clean-up day.”
Melissa looks more relaxed now that her talk is over. I bet she’s happy to see how excited Maggie and Brenna are about the idea of working with her on those workshops. I’d like to work with her myself, on the kitten one, especially.
Eventually, we break for a late lunch of pizza. As we’re all sitting around munching, Dr. Gabe updates Dr. Mac and Melissa on the Van Hoven horse farm visits.
“I’d love to go with you sometime on one of your stable calls,” Melissa says. “That is, if you and your Vet Volunteers have room.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Dr. Gabe says.
I know Maggie hears all this, but right now she doesn’t seem too worried about anything.
“Who wants the last slice?” Brenna asks, looking around. “Sunita? You haven’t had much. Want it?”
I look around to see if anyone else wants it. They all seem involved in conversations and not interested in it, so I shrug my shoulders and nod yes.
Brenna looks at me funny before she slides the nearly empty box my way. What’s up? I wonder.
“No, I think Sunita has helped her come up with a new plan.” I hear Dr. Gabe mention my name. I look at him. He continues, “Sunita, what did you and Connie Van Hoven come up with for Sylvester?”
“Well, she isn’t going to try and buy him a friend or two,” I say.
“Oh, now, that’s a shame,” Dr. Mac says. “Sheep really do need other sheep.”
“Mrs. Van Hoven realizes she would just be kicking the can down the road if she did that,” I say. Dr. Mac’s eyebrow goes up, and she smiles a funny little smile at me.
“Tell me more,” she says.
So I tell them about how Mrs. Van Hoven doesn’t plan on becoming a sheep farmer anytime soon. How she doesn’t know how to shear. And how she doesn’t know much about the health issues of sheep.
And then I say, “She’ll find someone who does and give Sylvester away to a good home.”
“So that’s her next obstacle, then,” Dr. Gabe says. “Finding a farm with sheep who will take Sylvester.”
Then Melissa says, “What about a farm sanctuary?”
“What’s that?” asks Maggie.
“It’s a farm where unwanted farm animals can live out their days. Imagine a very big animal shelter. They usually have some very nice sheep there.”
“I’ve heard of these. But I’m not exactly sure where there is one,” Dr. Mac says.
“There’s one in the Finger Lakes region of New York State, right near where I grew up,” Melissa says. “In fact, I used to volunteer over there. It was kind of like what you three do here as Vet Volunteers. My time volunteering at the farm sanctuary is what made me want to become a vet tech.”
This is fantastic! I look over at Maggie and Brenna, and they are just as excited as I am. I think Maggie sees Melissa with fresh eyes. After all, Melissa was one of us not too long ago—someone who loved working with animals and volunteered to help care for them.
Chapter Fourteen
Junie, the owner of the huskies, knocks at the clinic door just as we’re finishing. She and Jerry, their daughters, and her mother have all come up with a solution about what to do with the fighting dogs. Junie’s mother will take Ariel, and Junie, Jerry, and their daughters will keep Elsa. The girls go to their grandmother’s house every day after school, so every day they’ll be able to play with both dogs. Junie signs some paperwork for Dr. Mac and takes Elsa home. Ariel will stay with us another day. I breathe a sigh of relief knowing that the little girls will still have the dogs they named and love. Most important, everyone will be safer with this solution.
A while later, Maggie, Brenna, and I decide to take down the tent. Dr. Mac and Dr. Gabe can handle things without us. Melissa has even gone home for the day. I’m pretty sure that the next time she comes to work at Dr. Mac’s Place, she’ll get a warm reception from the Vet Volunteers. Well, at least from those of us who have already had a chance to meet her.
We pile our sleeping bags and other stuff beside the tent. Brenna and I pull the tent poles down, and Maggie pulls the tent taut so we can fold it up.
“You haven’t told Maggie about your new addition yet, have you?” Brenna says, pulling out the stakes with the claw of a hammer.
“What new addition?” Maggie asks.
“A kitten! My parents are finally allowing me to get another cat,” I say.
“That’s great. Wait, how long has this been a thing?” Maggie asks.
“Just since Thursday. We’ve been talking about it for a year. But then one of my father’s partners told him that his son’s cat had kittens. We went and looked at them, and they are the cutest things. My parents finally agreed.”
“Congratulations!” Maggie says. “Hey, how come Brenna knew and I didn’t?”
“Well, I planned on telling you the first night of this weekend. I had planned on us making a list of kitten names and maybe even watching a cat documentary that I brought. But then things got a little hectic at the clinic. Plus, you were kind of mad about Mrs. V
an Hoven that night, and I wanted to tell you when you could be happy for me.
“Then the next night we camped outside, which would have made it hard to look at my kitten-litter pictures and make the list.”
“You should have said something,” Maggie says. “We could have done all that.”
“But you guys wanted to camp out,” I say.
Brenna says, “We didn’t have to. We could have at least talked about it.”
“I guess so,” I say. I start folding the tent with Maggie while Brenna puts the poles in the nylon bag.
I’m tempted to stop there and just let it drop, but I don’t. “I was going to tell you last night,” I say. “But with everything going on, I didn’t want to mention it.”
“Well, I’m sorry if I made it hard for you to tell me,” Maggie says. “But you know, I would have been less cranky thinking of your new kitten.”
Brenna laughs. “That might have helped. But maybe not.” Then Brenna turns to me and says, “Sunita, as long as we’re being honest about things, I’d like to point something out to you.”
“What’s that?” I ask. I help Maggie stuff the tent into the larger nylon bag.
“When you want the last slice of pizza, or maybe a peach, you should just say so,” Brenna says.
I laugh.
“Really, Sunita.” Brenna stops dropping the stakes into the bag and looks at me. “I’m serious.”
“A piece of pizza doesn’t matter. If someone else wanted it, I wouldn’t have starved,” I say. Really, Brenna is making a big deal out of something so trivial.
“This time it’s pizza, next time it’s saying what you really want to do,” Maggie says.
What? I don’t say anything for a minute. I try to think about what they’re saying. Maybe they’re right. I didn’t help with the horse, Tinker, when I wanted to. But Maggie knew I was nervous around horses. So I really didn’t mind that she jumped in, did I? And all that business with my telling them about my new kitten—I was just being silly. Then I think about other times when I hold back a little. But isn’t that kind of me? To let others go first. Choose first?
“I’m just being nice,” I say.
“You don’t have to be nice, Sunita. You are nice,” Brenna says. “But if you never say what you really want, how can we know?”
I think about Sylvester, how he needed me to speak up for him. And how it didn’t upset Mrs. Van Hoven when I did.
“Brenna’s right,” Maggie adds. “We can’t read your mind. We don’t know what you really want. It’s like you’re deciding for us instead of letting us all decide on things together.”
“I guess you’re right. I’m not being fair. To you guys, or to myself,” I say. “I never thought of it that way. It’s just hard for me to speak up sometimes.”
“I get that,” Maggie says. “Sometimes it’s hard for me to shut up. But we’re all cool now, right?” Maggie asks.
“We’re cool,” I say.
“Uber-cool,” says Brenna. “Especially compared to the last couple days.”
We laugh and carry the tent to Dr. Mac’s garage and shove it up onto the shelf.
I look at these two good friends of mine, and I realize that I can tell them anything. “You know, I’ve been thinking—” I start.
“Sounds dangerous,” Maggie interrupts, laughing.
“No, I’m serious,” I say. “You know I want to be a vet. But the big animals scare me. Maybe you can help me learn how to get more used to them?”
“Of course,” Maggie says. “Though you know it’s totally natural to be scared. Big animals can be dangerous, especially when they’re hurt or ill. Even my grandmother gets nervous sometimes. The main thing is to focus on what you can do to help.”
Brenna nods in agreement, and I smile. Getting my fear out in the open—and hearing that it’s all part of the job—makes me feel so much better.
“One more thing,” I add. “About cross-country, I’m going to need to think about it,” I tell them. “I’m not going to try out for the team just to be nice, or just because you think I should. I’m only going to do it if I decide I want to.”
Now it’s Maggie’s turn to smile. “That’s the spirit,” she says.
“Hey, you know what we should do right now?” Brenna says. “Make that list of kitten names.”
“Too late,” I say. “I have already figured out what I’m going to call my kitten.”
“Tell us,” Brenna says.
“I’m naming her after the sweetest cat I ever knew,” I say. “I’m naming her Lucy.”
It’s the perfect name—we all agree—as we walk back inside the place where we all belong: Dr. Mac’s Place.
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Laurie Halse Anderson, Left Behind
(Series: Vet Volunteers # 17)
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