My Weekend
shaking, i pulled over to the side to share the information with the police officer on the scene. he rudely told me 'lady, thanks for your help. but if you could please just get your car out of here, that would be great.' so i moved my car. i got lost on the way to the airport because i was still thinking about what i had just seen.
the rental car return was not clearly marked. no signs at all. i drove around trying not to scream but after 45 minutes i pulled into a nice shell station and made a call for directions. by this time i had missed my flight. i called travel services and they told me that they would try to book me a hotel.
please, no. not another night in miami. i'm sure there are many great things about miami but i was more interested in finally being home. so i returned the car and went to the airport to pray for standby.
i waited five hours and then hopped on a flight for minneapolis. it wasn't so bad... just really long. when you are away for so long the last hours leading up to being home are long ones.
the plane landed and the boy was there to pick me up. we ran back to my house. opus greeted me with 'you better check on your cat, he's fucked.' fearing the worst, i ran upstairs and checked on chaplin.
he never lets anyone touch him besides me but there were plenty of people circled around him. he was laying by my pillow with his eyes shut for the most part. he purred when i pet him but i knew that something was wrong. when i touched his stomach he cried out.
the boy, r and i went to the veterinary hospital at the u of m. we spent a long time there and learned that the chap had a urinary tract infection. this had led to his inability to urinate and chemicals had built up in his system as a result.
they sedated him and helped him eliminate. but his blood pressure and temperature were low. i tossed and turned and waited for a phone call.
it came at 10:30. the vet said that the prognosis was not good. that he was doing worse. the three of us piled into the car again and went to visit.
seeing the chap lying in a cage with other sick animals all around was a horrible feeling. they had a heating pad for him to lie on. his right front leg was shaved and they had a monitor for his heart set up. they had a tube running into his left front leg supplying him with glucose.
the vet said that there was a chance that he would pull through. if he did he would have a long hard struggle back to health that would involve medication - lots of it...
the situation was painted as pretty dire. we sat in the waiting room and talked it over. the boy, r and i. we cried. then i made the decision and signed the paperwork.
the chap was put into my arms and i pet him until he stopped meowing, until he moved into unconsciousness.
now there is a house to face without him. memories of him everywhere, toys and fur on everything.
i feel that i did the right thing. i pray that you never have to make this decision. i'm going to question what i did. i'm going to doubt it. i'm going to miss him.
