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.Oh dear, I’m not very good at coping with things like this.’‘I’m on my way,’ said Will.‘You sit tight.I’ll be as quick as I can.’Will grabbed his keys from the hook by the door and went out to the car.Frank and Eric lived in Chiswick, which was about fifteen minutes away without traffic, in a pretty mews house with lilac-painted woodwork.When Will pulled up outside he saw Frank, hovering anxiously on the doorstep, pale-faced and jittery.‘I think he’s going to be fine,’ Frank said, as Will got out of the car.‘I hope I haven’t got you here under false pretences.’Will’s heart went out to him and he rubbed his shoulder.‘Don’t be silly.Harmony’s out tonight.I wasn’t busy.Let’s have a look at him, eh?’‘Yes, yes, thank you.I’d appreciate that,’ he said, with a slight hesitation.‘The vet has an out-of-hours surgery.I should probably have called a taxi and gone straight there rather than bother you.’ Frank smiled weakly at him.‘It’s no bother at all.Now where’s the patient?’Will followed Frank as he walked slowly into the kitchen.‘Eric normally deals with this sort of thing.He’s absolutely super in traumatic situations.He knows just what to do and has this amazing sense of calm about him.I get in all of a dither.I hope my boy is going to be all right.He seems terribly quiet.’Frank led Will to where Pinwheel lay wrapped in a soft blue towel on a cushion on the kitchen table.The cat’s eyes were open but he wasn’t moving, his tongue lolled from the side of his mouth and Will could hear how laboured his breathing was.‘I found him on the side of the main road,’ whispered Frank.‘I was calling and calling for him, but he didn’t come in.He usually comes at my first call; he’s terribly greedy, you see.’ Frank had one hand against his mouth and he nibbled on his thumbnail as he spoke.‘He couldn’t get to me, because, well, he’s hurt his leg.’Will lifted the edge of the towel to look at the cat and winced.One of its hind legs was badly broken, blood and dirt matted its fur and the jagged bone pushed through the wound.But it wasn’t the leg Will was worried about.Pinwheel’s back looked broken too, with an unnatural curve to it.He laid the towel back on the cat and gently ran his fingers over his head.Pinwheel blinked slowly.‘Poor thing,’ Will said under his breath.‘Let’s get you to a vet, shall we?’Will carefully picked Pinwheel up.The cat mewed and his small body tensed.‘It’s okay, sweetheart.We’re taking you to the vet.You’ll feel better in a bit.’ Then Will looked at Frank.‘You’ll be all right to hold him while I drive?’Frank nodded.Frank directed Will to the vet’s surgery, but other than that they didn’t talk.Will glanced over every now and then to see Frank cradling Pinwheel like a baby, his eyes shining with a film of tears.He parked at the back of the surgery in the small, scruffy car park filled with rubbish and overflowing wheelie bins, and aggressive signs threatening clamping for unauthorised cars.A young girl answered the door when they rang.‘Is this Pinwheel?’ she asked.Will nodded.‘He looks like he’s been hit by a car.’‘Take a seat,’ she said, gesturing to some wooden chairs in the window.‘Stephanie will be with you in a minute.’They sat and waited in the reception area.It was quiet and still and smelt of animals and surgical spirit.The shelves were crammed with sacks of pet food, plastic animal toys, leads, collars, muzzles, and the noticeboard was covered with photographs of past patients who’d made fabulous recoveries and information posters on fleas.Will looked at Pinwheel; his eyes were closed now but he was still breathing, though with more irregularity and an ominous rattle that came every now and then from his chest.‘Would you like to bring Pinwheel though?’ said the vet as she came into the waiting room.Will stood but Frank didn’t move.‘Come on, Frank,’ Will said gently.As soon as the vet looked at Pinwheel, Will knew she wasn’t going to give them good news.There was a look of genuine regret on her face, but either because she had to or because she thought it would be best for Frank, she went through the motions of checking the cat over, listening to his chest, taking his temperature, feeling his stomach.She put a pair of silicone gloves on and then, very gently, investigated the wound.Then she stroked the cat and removed her gloves.‘I’m afraid it isn’t good.It sounds to me as if his lung is punctured and obviously his leg is badly damaged, his pelvis is broken in several places, and I’m afraid his back is also broken, though I can’t say for sure how badly without x-raying it.There appears to be no reflex in his legs, which indicates damage to the spinal cord.I’m certain there’s nothing I can do for him.I’d prefer not to put him through any more discomfort by having an x-ray taken.’ Here she paused, looking from Will to Frank.‘It’s very much your decision.I will x-ray if you’d like me to, but perhaps you should consider—’Her sentence was interrupted by a moan from Frank.Will jumped at the noise, loud and strangled, and looked at Frank, whose face was twisted into a pained grimace.Will put his arm around him and stroked him.‘There must be something we can do?’The pain in Frank’s voice cut through Will, who glanced at the vet.‘Is there?’ he asked her.‘The damage is extreme,’ she said, shaking her head.‘I could amputate the leg and set his pelvis, but he’s almost certainly paralysed in his back end.He wouldn’t have the strength to move himself around, he wouldn’t be able to go to the toilet or walk.His quality of life would be greatly compromised.’ She paused and shook her head.‘Then, of course, there’s his lung.’ She exchanged a look with Will that suggested there was no hope.‘I hate putting animals to sleep and really, we do this as the very last option in all cases, but with Pinwheel … ’ She left the sentence hanging.Will nodded and then turned to Frank.‘He’s had an amazing life with you and Eric.The very best an animal could wish for.It’s the kindest thing.It really is.’As Will spoke, Frank leant down and pushed his face into the cat’s fur.A few moments later he lifted his head and looked at the vet and nodded.‘It will take me a few minutes to get things ready.’ She put a hand on Frank’s shoulder.‘Do you want to be here with him while I do it?’ she asked gently.Frank couldn’t speak but nodded again.‘We’ll both stay,’ said Will, reaching for Frank’s hand [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]