summer boy ~ tal fishman ✓

~56~

I drive the car up Tal's driveway and stop it. Tal steps out of the car and so do I. We both walk towards each other so we meet at the front of the car. 'I really had a lot of fun, thank you for coming', I say and I wrap my arms around him in a hug. Tal pulls back frm the hug and gives me a kiss. He's so cute.

I wave at him and quickly make my way to my car before I ride off. I try to call my mom on speaker while I'm driving in the direction of my house. Of course, she doesn't pick up. I drive up the driveway and jump out. I nearly run inside to see how Mouse is doing. Well, not nearly. I'm literally running to our house to see how my baby is doing.

'Is he okay?' I ask my mom, who is sitting next to Mouse. 'He's limping and refuses to stand on his back left leg. I think we should take him to the vet.' I nod and crouch down next to my cute little cat. He is laying on his bed we bought for him and he almost never uses. Special occasion, I guess.

I check the vet's website. 'They're closed now, mom. They don't open until tomorrow.' I furrow my brows. Mouse needs some help as soon as possible. 'What about Mrs. Tafels? Wasn't she a vet some long time ago?' my dad offers. My mom nods.  'I'll go over to her place. I hope she's still up.'

My mom returns a few minutes later to tell us we can come to her house so she can take a look at him. I carefully pick up Mouse with his little bed and all. He seems rather confused that his bed is moving. My dad is the last to leave the house so he grabs the keys and closes the door behind us.

My mom rings the bell and we are let in by Mrs. Tafels not much later. She looks at Mouse and carefully picks him up. She then puts him on her kitchen table and Mouse meows a few times. It sounds so sad. 'I'm afraid his hind leg might be broken since he really won't stand on it', she concludes. 'I can't cast it properly, so I'll just wind some bandage on his leg. You'll have to take him to the animals' hospital tomorrow, though. I can't fix it completely.'

She proceeds to wrap his leg with the bandage until you can't see his fur anymore. Mouse isn't happy with it, he tries to take it off a couple times but Mrs. Tafels doesn't let him. After wrapping his leg, she puts Mouse on his feet again. Mouse still doesn't look too pleased. I carefully pet his head. And Mouse is still mad. He shakes his leg to try and get the bandages off. Then he sits down to bite at it. We correct him, he shouldn't bite it off again since we just applied it. 

After a few minutes of struggling and my parents drinking the tea our neighbor gave us, he gives up and lies down on the table. I sit down on a chair close to him and keep stoking his head while he's falling asleep. He's tired of fighting the bandages and the pain, I guess.

I'm tired when we come home. My parents stayed for a long time to talk to Mrs. Tafels for a bit. We all thanked her a million times after saying sorry a few times for coming over so late. She insisted that it was an emergency, so she was okay with it. Mouse is still asleep so I carefully carry him to our house. My dad opens the door for me so I can easily walk through and my mom is carrying his little bed. She wants to place it on the ground so Mouse can sleep there, but I want him in my room tonight.

'Mom, is it okay if Mouse sleeps in my bed tonight?' I whisper, so I don't wake Mouse. 'Yeah, that's okay, honey', she replies. I walk up the stairs with the sleeping Mouse still in my arms. I try my best not to fall down the stairs, which is pretty hard when you're holding a cat with both arms. A sleeping one, may I add. And you're not trying to wake the cat. That just raised the difficulty bar a lot higher. I open my door with my elbow and gently place Mouse on my bed.

I brush my teeth, then comb my hair and get changed in my pajamas. I'm sitting on the edge of the bed staring at Mouse when I realize I still have to take my make-up off. I grumble and softly head to the bathroom again.