Unlikely Companions by Laurie Hess

Author:Laurie Hess
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780738219585
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Published: 2016-09-21T16:00:00+00:00

3:30 P.M., ANIMAL HOSPITAL

ELLIOT AND I walked through the glass double doors right behind Alan, the FedEx guy.

“Delivery!” he chirped.

“More bird food?” I teased.

This was our running joke. Alan had been delivering to the hospital since nearly the day we opened, and though he was good-humored now, in the beginning “more bird food” was his constant complaint. Back then, he’d arrive with a delivery—carts piled high with hay, dollies stacked with cumbersome equipment, and heavy bags of bird food that he’d haul in haughtily on his shoulders. One afternoon he struggled through the waiting room trying to negotiate an extraordinarily large bag that was punctured and spilling pellet all over the floor.

“Next time, I’m going to just back the truck through the front doors,” he said, cursing under his breath.

“Hey, Alan,” Marnie said cheerfully. “How’s your day?”

“How does it look?” Alan shot back. “It’s all over the floor. And every week the shipment gets heavier.” He stopped to wipe the sweat off his forehead.

“I thought you might be interested in another shipment the hospital just received.”

“What’s that?” Alan said without breaking his concentration on the floor. “Because I’m almost done here.”

“Four rescued degus. We’re looking to find them new homes.”

Alan stopped chasing the last of the stray pellets on the floor and squinted up at Marnie.

With their brown fur and long tails, these small South American rodents look like oversized gerbils; though often as large as rats, they are much more cuddly and approachable. They’re playful, curious, and quick, and they love to climb and dart around.

“Want to take a look?” Marnie smiled. Without his realizing it, Marnie had gleaned something about Alan. She had observed that nearly every time he made a delivery, he’d stop in the lobby to peer over his glasses at our collage of animal photos. In particular, he’d pause at the image of a family of degus.

“They’re pretty cute,” she said, coaxing him. “Especially the little brown one that squeaks. I’ve nicknamed him Alan.”

“Huh? You’re kidding,” Alan said, embarrassed. “You didn’t name an animal after me.”

“I did.”

When Alan saw the four rescues, Marnie watched him transform from a hardened, overworked man into a young boy who’d probably always wanted a light and easy, sweet-natured pet of his own. And when Alan held the smallest of the litter in his burly hands, the rodent happily ran up his arm and perched atop his shoulder. That was the day that Alan the delivery guy took home Alan the degu.

Today Alan was whistling as he unloaded the last box from his cart when Marnie entered the waiting room.

“Finally,” she said, struggling to pull her scrub top over her head.

“Who—me?” Alan asked.

“No—them.” Marnie pointed at Elliot and me.

“What happened to you?” I looked her up and down. “Is that vomit?”

“Things got a little ugly around here,” she said, “but the ferret in exam room three no longer has a Barbie doll head stuck in his throat.”

I suppressed a smile. “And what about our patient in ICU?” My heart sank again when I thought about Mathilda.

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