The Cat Who Spent Nine Lives Saving Me Chapter 05
I signed the treatment authorization without listening to the rest of the voicemail.
Sunny had belonged to Mrs. Eleanor Price.
When people in the area began illegally trapping stray animals, she drove her old pickup out before dawn every day, brought cats and dogs home, had them spayed or neutered and treated, and then contacted rescue organizations.
Three years ago, she suffered a sudden heart attack. Her neighbors only broke in after hearing Sunny bark all night, but by the time the ambulance arrived, it was too late.
Animal Control removed the animals from the house, but Sunny escaped from the transport vehicle. He guarded the old warehouse and, like Eleanor, carried kittens away from blizzards and steel traps.
When a teenage boy once chased Domino with scissors, Sunny had been the one to charge out and save him.
The vet said Sunny was severely dehydrated and had acute gastroenteritis. He needed to stay in the hospital for three days. During that time, I found one of Eleanor’s former neighbors and confirmed everything.
On the way back, Domino curled up in my arms.
[Can Sunny live with us? Cat will hunt more.]
“As long as I’m here, you won’t have to hunt.”
The vacant storefront downstairs suddenly came to mind. The landlord was advertising it at a low rent, so I used the money I had just earned for the deposit and obtained a license for pet care and boarding.
The money was supposed to be my rent. According to my mother, it was supposed to pay for Nolan’s wedding.
But for once, I spent it on a future that belonged to me.
“We’ll open a pet-care shop. The strays who want to come can stay warm there. Sunny can live with us, too, and we’ll still be close to the warehouse.”
Domino smacked a paw against my face.
[Mom is the best!]
It was the first time he had called me Mom.