The Parking Space (4 page)

I blinked several times as I gaped at her.

In all her different wedding ideas that she had dreamed up over the last eight months, simple and just a few people hadn’t been a part of any one of them. Instead, they all included five course meals, a twenty-piece orchestra, a reception hall draped with chiffon, and thousands and thousands of roses and candles in every available inch.

Pretty much, she wanted the event of the season, if not the event of the decade.

“And so with that in mind . . .” She pulled a piece of paper from her purse. It looked like the she’d torn a page from a magazine. “This is my dress. I already have it and I love it. I found it at a sale and only paid about five hundred dollars for it.”

My jaw hit the floor.

Since the moment her ring slipped on her finger, Lisa had made me well aware of her budget for the wedding—an amount that any woman would envy.

“Okay, okay.” I held up my hands and shook my head. “What is going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“Oh don’t you dare act like that. I know about all the different weddings you were planning and none of them included a simple ceremony with just a few guests while you walked down the aisle in a five hundred dollar wedding dress that looks like something you wear on the beach.”

A broad grin spread across her face. “Well, since you asked. One night while perusing around online for honeymoon destinations, I came across an advertisement about destination weddings. Of course, you know I was instantly intrigued, so I decided to look into the idea a little further.”

“And?”

“Ben and I have been talking and are really considering the idea.”

“So where would this destination wedding be?”

“Our favorite one is at a resort in Bora Bora.” Her eyes lit up. “We’ve been pricing out vacations with different wedding packages and adding what it will cost to help our parents, his brother, Jeff, his fling of the month, and you to attend as our witnesses.”

“Wow. Okay.”

“I know you’re trying to save for a house and it’s beyond rude to ask you to pay for such an expensive trip, so we had planned to cover some of your costs.”

“I don’t think it’s rude.”

“Jeff did. He demanded we pay for everything for him and Tracy or he’s not going.” She rolled her eyes. “I swear I have no idea how he turned out so different from Ben. Jean and Bob raised those two the same way, and yet, it’s like they are as different as night and day.”

Having met Ben’s younger brother once at a family picnic, I could only imagine that conversation. Another perpetual bachelor, Jeff’s life mirrored that of my womanizer neighbor Logan Hunter.

“I am trying to save for the house, but spending money to attend your wedding doesn’t bother me at all. Of course, I’ll come if that’s what you decide.”

“We’re still trying to work out the details. My parents are on board, as well as his. We just need to figure out some things before we make any of the plans final.”

I slightly nodded my head up and down with one eye brown raised. While exotic and full of romance, I still didn’t know what to make of the idea. “So . . . Bora Bora, huh?”

“Yep” She beamed. “Bora Bora.”

“CHARLIE?” I STOOD in my small foyer and shut the door a second time, hoping the sound would beckon him. He didn’t come.

That’s odd. He’s always greeted me at the door.

“Charlie?”

The silence hit me. No loud meow bellowed. No fat ball of orange fur weaved through my legs, rubbing against them as he purred and flicked his striped raccoon-like tail. No one demanded for his dinner, even though he really didn’t need it.

Had he gotten outside? Had I left a window open?

I dropped my purse and my keys hit the floor with a loud clunk.

“Charlie?” I shouted a third time as I ran to the patio door and brushed the blinds away, grabbing the handle.

Locked. Drat. Where is he?

I trotted into the bedroom and checked all of his usual sleeping places—behind my bed pillows, under the bed, and wedged in my shoe rack—each place, all vacant.

I dashed to the laundry room where his food bowl sat on top of the washing machine, gasping as the door collided with the wall. Charlie lay on the floor, his breathing rapid and he had pools of drool and vomit around him.

“Charlie?” I scooped him up in my arms. A faint meow sounded from him. Weak and pained, his eyes half glazed over and his lips were pale.

“Hang on, Charlie. Hang on.”

I ran to my purse, dropping to my knees as I fumbled through the bag for my phone and dialed the familiar number.

“Hello, you’ve reached Dr. Stephens’s voicemail. Please leave a message and we will return your call as soon as we can. Please note that the week of the fifth through the tenth Dr. Stephens will be on vacation. If this is an emergency, please contact the Bayside Veterinary Hospital at four-one-five, two-seven-six, ninety-three hundred. Thank you and we are sorry for any inconvenience.”

“Are you kidding me?” I hung up the phone and dialed another familiar number. “Lisa? It’s Charlie. I just got home. He’s not moving. Something is wrong with him.”

“Call Dr. Stephens.”

“I did. He’s on vacation.”

“Call Bayside.”

“They’re across town.”

“And they’re your only option.”

“Fine. Bye.”

As I stared at the keypad, pointlessness slapped me in the face. Why call? I should just take him there. They were an emergency hospital. It didn’t matter the time—day or night—they were open.

I wrapped my coat around his fat body, grabbed my keys, and flew down to my car without even locking my door behind me.

Forty harrowing minutes later, I shoved the office building door open with more force than I had planned. The steel square box crashed into the wall behind it and the glass rattled in the frame.

“I need help,” I pleaded. “I need help.”

Tears blinded me. The silhouette of the receptionist moved through my vision, and yet, I couldn’t see her.

“What’s wrong, ma’am?”

“I don’t know. I came home and he wasn’t moving and barely breathing. I don’t know what happened.”

“Nurse,” she called out. “Emergency.”

Within seconds, a light-blue dressed figure rushed toward me and scooped Charlie from my arms.

The room spun around me. How I had driven through the crowded city streets, I had no idea. Each light, each turn, nothing more than a blur. Had I run any red lights? Had I broken the speed limit? I didn’t know and I didn’t care.

“Page Doctor Stark,” the nurse said to the receptionist. She turned her attention on me, her distorted face inches from mine. “Ma’am, what’s the cat’s name? Ma’am?”

“Charlie. His name is Charlie.”

She tugged on the sleeve of my blouse. “Follow me, please. How old is Charlie?”

As I rushed down the hallway after her, the receptionist’s voice blared over the speakers. “Paging Dr. Stark. Emergency in room one. I repeat emergency in room one. Dr. Stark.”

“Ma’am, how old is Charlie?”

Years blended from the day I’d brought him home to this one. A Christmas present from my dad, one of the last times I saw him. What had it been, five years? Maybe six?

“He’s five years old.” My eyes danced around the tiny room as we entered.

Posters of different breeds of cats lined one wall, while other posters showed the different internal organs or bones in their bodies lined the other.

Dogs barked in the background as though they sensed the chaos in the hospital. Each sound vibrated through my chest and I closed my eyes in the hope of drowning them out.

I can’t deal with dogs barking right now. I just can’t.

My rump slammed into one of the chairs and I buried my face in my hands, far too distraught to look up when someone else entered the room.

“What do we have tonight, Betty?” a deep voice boomed over the noise.

I glanced up, meeting the gaze of a set of familiar eyes.

The vet from Lisa’s picture. Super. This is just what I need right now.

He was even better looking than the picture led me to believe.

“Five year old tabby, male, came in unresponsive,” the nurse said as her hands worked around Charlie, pulling out tools from the cabinet drawers.

“And do we know why?” Dr. Stark glanced from her to me.

I shook my head.

“Owner said she doesn’t know what happened.”

Dr. Stark grabbed Charlie’s head and, with a small flashlight, checked the dilation in his eyes. He peeled back his lips, exposing his teeth, and then opened his mouth.

I stared at my helpless kitty. My friend. My companion. The only being that had been with me through all the ups and downs of my life. Was I watching him for the last time? Was he going to die?

“Ma’am,” the nurse yelled into my face.

“Ye . . . yes?”

“Your name.”

“Oh, um, Helen. Helen Wright. Is he going to be okay? Please, tell me is he going to be okay? He has to be okay.”

“We’re still trying to figure out what’s going on.” Doctor Stark yanked his stethoscope from around his neck and wedged it up near Charlie’s armpit. “Do you know what he happened to get into?”

“No. I have no idea. He was like this when I got home from work.”

“Do you have mice in your house?”

“Um, no . . . but I did a few months ago. I got rid of them, though.”

“With traps or poison?”

“Poison. But that was months ago. I put it away up the cabinet.”

“Could it have fallen out of the cabinet? Like when you were pulling something out?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“Do you have anything else in the house like antifreeze or prescription pills or poisonous plants?”

“No. All my cleaners are under the sink in the kitchen. He eats in the laundry room, which is where I found him.”

“Chocolate? Raisins?”

“I have a bag of candy, but it’s not in his reach and he’s never gone for it before.” I slapped my hand across my forehead. “I never should have kept that poison. I only did it in case they came back. I’m so stupid.”

“How did you find him?”

“He was lying on the floor, breathing rapidly. He appeared weak and confused . . . and he had thrown up a few times and had been drooling.”

The nurse raised a syringe in the air and flicked it with her finger twice. She pushed the bottom up, until the clear liquid spilled out of the tip of the needle.

“What’s that?”

She ignored my question as she rubbed Charlie’s neck and plunged the spike into his skin.

I buried my face in my hands once again and turned away. The sight of needles always weakened my knees and left the room spinning. But then again, anything related to the medical field, both for people or animals, made me queasy.

“Mrs. Wright, we’re going to take him in the back to continue treating him. I’ll be back to update you soon.”

Before I could agree or argue, the nurse scooped Charlie in her arms and she followed Dr. Stark out of the room, leaving me standing alone.

Tears streamed down my cheeks. How could I have been so stupid? How could I have let this happen? I should have thrown away that poison and just bought more if the mice returned.

I sat back down in the chair and leaned my head against the wall. The bright ceiling lights blinded me while one of the fluorescent bulbs blinked a few times.

Minutes ticked by, one by one, and by the tenth I rose to my feet and began to pace. Utter helplessness consumed me. Voices muffled through the walls and shadows crossed the light coming from the space below the door that separated the tiny examine room to the back of the hospital.

I reached for my purse and rummaged through it for my phone for several minutes before I realized I had left it on the floor at the apartment.

Figures.

I tossed my purse back onto the chair and faced one of the wall posters, reading the tiny paragraphs about the functions of a few internal organs.

The door behind me opened. “Mrs. Wright?”

I spun around to face the doctor and my shoe slid on the tiled floor, nearly knocking me off balance. Doctor Stark reached out, his hands wrapped around my arms.

“Sor . . . sorry. My foot slipped.” My voice quivered.

Lisa seriously needs a new camera in her phone because it did not do this man justice at all.

My whole body warmed with his touch. Nearly a foot taller than me, the top of my head hit just below his shoulders. His tallness weakened my knees. I loved men who towered over me. Their size always felt like a protective blanket wrapped around me.

“Are you okay, Mrs. Wright?” He held on to me for a moment, his greenish hazel eyes locked on mine and for a brief second he tightened his grip on me. Just as suddenly as he grabbed me, he shook his head and cleared his throat, finally releasing me. His broad shoulders shifted away from me underneath his white lab coat that hid the dog scrubs he wore in the picture.

“It’s Miss,” I said. My voice was barely a whisper

“Oh . . . um, my apologies for my mistake.”

“It’s fine.” My eyes traced his build.

What had Lisa told him about me? And what had he said in return? Wait . . . why am I thinking about him right now? I’m here for one reason and it’s not my stupid love life.

“So how is Charlie? Is he going to be okay?”

“We have an IV in him right now. I think the vomiting most likely rid his stomach of whatever he ingested. From the look of him, I believe he’ll make a full recovery.”

“Oh thank goodness. Thank you so much.” I clutched my throat and exhaled a deep breath. Although the stress hadn’t vanished, the weight on my chest lightened.

“I’d like to keep him overnight for observation, though, just to be sure.”

“Yes, of course, whatever he needs.”

Dr. Stark slid his pen from the front pocket of his jacket and flipped open a file folder that had all of Charlie’s information spattered on a few pages.

“I’d like to ask you a few questions about Charlie.”

“Okay.”

“When was the last time he’s had any vet care?”

“Oh, um, well his last check-up was about nine or ten months ago. I take him to see Dr. Stephens once a year.”

“So he’s gained this weight in the last nine or ten months?”

“No. He’s pretty much been this size for a few years. He loves food. Like LOVES it.”

“Yeah, I can tell.” His brow furrowed and his lips twitched. “Has Dr. Stephens ever warned you about his weight?”

“He might have mentioned it, but he never gave me the impression that it’s anything I should really worry about.” My stomach clenched with the question sitting on the tip of my tongue. “Is something wrong with Charlie?”

“His blood work is okay now, but he is on the borderline for diabetes and heart disease which can be quite fatal in cats.”

“How close to the border? Does he need medication?”

“I don’t think he needs medication just yet; however, I think his weight is the biggest part of his problem. If he could lose at least five pounds or so, I think his stats would greatly improve.”

“Okay, well, whatever I need to do, I’ll do it. Honestly, if I’d known the seriousness of it, I would have done something.”

He opened his mouth to speak, but the door to the exam room opened a crack, silencing him.

“Helen?” Lisa’s head popped in through the frame. Her eyes danced between the two of us and a broad grin spread across her face as she slipped inside the room. “Oh, why hello Dr. Stark.”

“Miss Carter?”

“I see that you two have met . . . finally.”

While she gushed, I slapped my hand across my forehead, and Dr. Stark blinked several times, confused.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand.” He folded his arms across his chest.

“Helen is the friend that I mentioned to you at Cassie’s appointment this morning.”

His head slightly jerked back and his eyes widened as he glanced back and forth from her to me. “Oh. I didn’t realize.”