Time and Love Exchange

Hopeful

Upon their return to the clinic, one of the veterinary assistants whom Lynney got to meet for the first time quickly quickly attended to Specky. Lynney and her mom were watching attentively on the side while the vital signs of the precious bunny were being taken. It felt like they were in a real hospital for human patients and Lynney was in a way a little overwhelmed by the experience. Still, her latent worries could not fully settled as she observed how Specky appeared to be more tired and lethargic than the past two days...Or has she not been having much experience in keeping bunnies that she overlooked possible signs and symptoms of an underlying illness? As the assistant went on to syringe-feed Specky, there was a light knock on the door which broke the silence in the room...

It was Dr Lane who was finally done with all his other work before a short midday break and came in checking on Specky. After a short conversation with his staff who reported on Specky's status, he turned to Lynney requesting quietly for her to head out of the room with him.

Being led into another adjacent smaller room, he pulled out a chair for her and casually inquired, "Have you taken your lunch?"

Lynney was somewhat unexpecting such a question from him and simply shook her head. He gave a light smile and added, "Sorry, this won't take long but it's just that there seems to be very limited information on Specky's record so I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing out on anything important on her..."

Lynney's ears just naturally perked up as she wondered if she had heard him correctly. A single word of apology was the last thing in the world she could be expecting from a once cold person like him. Dr Lane's expression seemed to waver with a hint of awkwardness when Lynney appeared surprised with widened eyes. When both sat down together, there was much wonder and doubt plaguing Lynney for the way Specky first came to her was already bizarre enough...

"So, actually there is much that Cyndi did not fill in...Did you get Specky from an animal shelter?" He asked in a straightforward manner.

Lynney was overly bothered by such an interrogative question and shook her head again. She then cleared her throat and replied uneasily, "Sorry, I know this sounds unusual and dramatic, but it's actually..."

After Lynney filled him in about oddly discovering Specky in her apartment balcony, she did not dare look him in the eye to behold his response...

"No, really you don't have to apologise...It's understandable that you wanted to save Specky in the first place...There's perfectly nothing wrong with that instinct," his unexpected reassurance gave much instant relief to the self-conscious Lynney.

He then went on to ask if she notice anything unique about Specky that could point out clues to how she got to be in the balcony in the first place. At once, Lynney sharply recalled the little tag that Specky wore around one of its paws, which could have triggered her accident with the fallen flower pot.

When Lynney generously showed him the coded tag that she has been safely keeping inside her wallet, Dr Lane fell thoughtful as he studied it with concern...Lynney wished she had not been strongly hesitant on asking him what could be wrong while he was looking deeply at the code of letters and numbers for once he switched his attention away from the tag in his hands to glance up at her, he had decided to change the topic. She regretted for not bringing up her suspicion of the date of April 1st from the code...

He then plainly briefed her on Specky's status, "Now, Specky's vital signs appear to be stable in the meantime and it's going to be very soon when we would have her bloodwork results. I estimated that she could well be a little over one year old, which you might be curious to know. There is nothing to worry about her sprained limb as the X-rays are fine, without any sign of infection nor inflammation. It's just that what could be bothering me is there could be a potential cause of intoxication..." He paused a little upon revealing, noticing how Lynney's face turned subtly pale upon hearing the last word he just spoke.

Lynney was so stunned that she found herself impossible to utter anything when there were so many questions flooding her mind. At this, Dr Lane quickly assured that the case did not mean fatality, only that it might require some period of time before the yet unknown toxicant was fully metabolized and excreted out of Specky's system.

Dr Lane has to attempt his very best to assure Lynney, who still looked quite shocked from his tentative diagnosis, but it seemed that he was not capable and successful at it. In the end, all he could say was that the blood test and urinalysis results would ensure that they could provide the treatment with a highly positive outcome for Specky...How Lynney wished she could be more convinced...