Writetober 2019

October 24-Dizzy

Caitlyn sank to the floor against a bank of cages and bowed her head between her knees. She just needed a few minutes. The world was fuzzy around the edges, and her heart was pounding too fast in her ears. The floor swayed as she stared at it. Breathe in. Breathe out.

She'd overdone it. There was a rash of emergencies all morning, carrying over into the afternoon, and Caitlyn hadn't stopped to eat anything in the—she glanced at her watch—eight hours she'd been at work. With shaky fingers, she raised her paper cup of water to take a drink. She'd tried to at least stay on top of her hydration, but she hadn't drunk nearly as much as she should have today.

A paw batted at her hair. She looked behind her to see the pair of yellow tabbies her work was boarding. She was leaning against their kennel. "Meaaahh," The smaller cat said upon having her attention. Then she rubbed her face and side along the bars.

"Hey there," Caitlyn said softly. She scratched the kitty's shoulder through the bars. "Sorry, you can't have my energy bar. I kinda need it, and chocolate's not good for you anyway," She whispered, taking a small bite of said energy bar.

Two more hours. She had to last two more hours. Then she could go back home and collapse into bed. She'd beg Everett or John to take the dogs on their walk. Her energy for the day was shot.

The next ten minutes were spent much the same, psyching herself up to get back to work. The dizziness abated, and the fogginess lifted from her brain. Until she stood up. Damn it! She sat back down and returned her head to its post between her knees.

It was looking more and more like she'd have to pull the "I'm still recovering" card and bail. But she had to at least get to where she could make it to the bus stop. Trying to remain optimistic, she reminded herself she'd had no migraine today. Even so, maybe she shouldn't tell Dr. Turner about today...