Read Courting Alley Cat for Free Online

followed him downstairs to the clinic. “When is Dr. York coming back?”
                  “Not for awhile. He’s at the festival.” Justin set Charlie on the steel table and began the examination.
                  “I guess you’ve spent a lot of time working with Dr. York. Is he going to be alright? Shouldn’t we call him?”
                  “You could say that. I hope so. And no.” He turned and took a syringe from one of the many containers lined up on the cabinet behind the examining table. “He’s blocked. I’m going to have to perform an emergency procedure.”
                  “But, Dr. York –“
                  ”Alley,” he said, taking her hands and looking into her eyes. “I’m a veterinarian. I’m Dr. York.”
                  “What? But Granny said...”
                  “I think Granny meant me. My dad is retired. He only shows up down here to help out now and then.”
                  “Oh. Your dad...” She took a moment to study him as he poked and prodded Charlie’s abdomen area and tried to wrap her mind around this hot-looking guy having the status of a veterinarian. It made sense. The older woman showing up with her dog. The man who brought his dog. Granny’s comment that she would like Dr. York and should drop in just to say hi. She would have to come back to that one and think more about it later.
                  “I’ve got to try to flush out the blockage.”
                  Charlie began to struggle.
                  “Shouldn’t you sedate him?” Alley asked.
                  “I may have to, but it’s better not to.”
                  As he inserted a needle to start an IV, Charlie growled and cried out.
                  “Why? You’re hurting him.”
                  “Let’s wait and see how he does. If he’s dehydrated and has toxic build-up, it would put him at risk.”
                  “This is really bad, isn’t it?”
                  Justin glanced at her. “Maybe you should sit down,” he said.
                  Automatically, she backed into a chair and sat down. Justin began to catharize Charlie. She tapped her fingers. She tapped her feet. She stayed in the chair for almost a minute.
                  “You know,” Justin said. “You don’t have to stay. I’ll take care of him.”
                  “I can’t go and I can’t just sit here. What can I do to help?”
                  “You can rub his ears,” Justin said.
                  Alley rubbed Charlie’s ears crooning soothingly to him.
     
                  Justin relegated her to the background as he worked on the cat. He had trained himself well to tune out everything else but the task at hand. Charlie needed his undivided attention right now. Charlie also needed the calming presence of Alley. She was the next best thing to having Granny there for him.
                  It was nearly an hour later when Justin stepped back and washed his hands. “I’ve done everything I can do,” he said. He’d had to perform a procedure that he had done only a handful of times before. It was the last resort for the little guy.
                  “What do we do now?” Alley asked, stroking Charlie’s fur.
                  “We wait.”
                  “For how long?”
                  “It’s all up to Charlie now.”
                  Alley folded her arms on the table and rested her head.
                  “You don’t have to stay,” Justin said.
                  “So you keep saying.”
                  “He just has to rest.”
                  “I’m staying.” Her voice was muffled, but