Today I started work experience at the Brindleton Bay vet clinic. Doctor Charlotte taught me how to work the check in program from when patients come in.
"We mostly get a lot flea sprays and neutering here but occasionally we do have serious surgical patients brought in and I do have to warn you some of them don't make it and it may be hard for you to witness that, if at any time you feel you can't handle a situation please speak up Zoey, I am a very understanding person and I will not judge you or mark you down if you feel that you need to step out for any reason" Dr Charlotte explains to me.
Dr Charlotte is in her mid 30's, perky all the time and absolutely lovely to be around
On my first day we had 3 dogs with fleas, another with swamp mouth and a cat with woozy kittyities, all of which were out within an hour. It was slow day and Dr Charlotte let me go home after lunch because she had no more patients for the day.
On Tuesday we had more flea ridden dogs, 4 neuterings, an advanced Lavanose, a sizzlepaw and critical hotfoot, it was a much more intense day, Dr Charlotte was joined by another vet name Dr Mikia, not as perky as Dr Charlotte but still very nice. The two women have funny banter through out the day like they're old friends and they make my day fun.
And then Wednesday came and my whole world came crashing down. It started out like the days before it, with Dr Charlotte explaining to me what patients she had coming in that day.
"I have a dog coming in this afternoon Zoey that has to be put down, If you feel that you need to leave early you can" She tells me
"I can stay" I promise her
"OK hun but if you change your mind at any time just let either myself or Dr Mikia know, we won't be angry" She says
Wednesday morning is slow, 4 neuterings , 2 sprays and a cat with fleas, we stopped for lunch at noon and I walked home, when I returned to the clinic there was a red haired woman, early 20's, in the waiting area.
"I'm sorry, I'll check you in" I apologise to her.
"I've already checked in thank you, they took my dog into the room, I'm just in no hurry to go in there, the sooner I go into that room the sooner I have to say goodbye to my dog and I'm trying to pretend that's not happening" She explains
"I'm so sorry, Dr Charlotte told me you were coming in this afternoon. Can I get you anything? Would you like some water?" I ask her, her eyes are filled with such sadness and I'd give anything to take this pain away from her
"Thank you, that would be nice." She says, smiling at me sweetly, "Aunt you a little young to be a vet though?" she questions me
"I'm here on work experience, I plan to study Veterinary at Uni next year" I explain, "I'm Zoey by the way" I say, handing her a cup of water from the cooler.
"Nice to meet you Zoey, I'm Steph" She introduces herself, "My dog, Nortica has bone cancer and is in so much pain, I've been trying to avoid this but it's cruel if I let it go on any longer" She explains and my brain makes the connection of who she is, shit, this is the woman he left me for, she sweet and loves her dog...and that's when I see him, he exits the small examination room to come out into the waiting area, he walks right past me and up to her and throws his arms around her. It's like witnessing a car crashes, I want to look away but my eyes won't let me.
"Dr Charlotte says she's not going to start until you're ready" He tells her and I can see the tears rolling down her cheeks
"Just a little bit longer please" She pleads with him and he nods, he turns to walk back into the room and stops when he sees me.
"Fuck, I forgot that you were going to be here" He says to me, complete shock crossing his face like he'd been caught in the act.
"How do you know the work experience girl Angus?" Steph asks him and before he can answer I interject
"He was my personal trainer for a bit" It's not a lie, its just not the full story, he stands there staring at me, his eyes angry like I betrayed him by not admitting he was once mine.
"For a moment there I thought you were going to tell me he was your boyfriend" Steph says with a sigh of relief and I feel like a knife has stabbed me in the heart, he never told her my name or anything about me yet I knew so much about her, I was his secret that he kept from her, "Remember when we did work experience Angus" Steph asks him, ignoring the awkward tension between us.
"I didn't do work work experience Steph, I got kicked out before the exams" He reminds her and she laughs.
"Oh yeah, now I remember, you smoke a joint and got high on the football field during lunch and Mr Landgaarb kicked you out. Ruined my whole year because you couldn't even go to the formal" She recalls and he looks at me with shame in his eyes, this was the deep, dark secret he didn't want me to ever know?
"Steph, we should go in, we are keeping everyone waiting" He says as he heads back toward the examination room, Steph walks up to me and gives me a hug.
"It was nice meeting you Zoey, good luck at uni" She says before joining him.
Angus and Steph exit the examination room 45 minutes later, he has his arm around her shoulder and she's clearly very distraught, they reach the waiting area and she falls to the floor, tears streaming down her face and she's struggling to catch her breath, I walk out from behind the desk and sit with her on the floor, wrapping my arms around her.
"I'm so sorry about Nortica" I whisper to her and she looks at me and gives a little smile
"Thank you Zoey" she says. We sit like this for about 5 minutes, she has her head on my shoulder and I start stroking her hair to comfort her, I feel so much empathy for her loss and it makes me tear up too. Angus crouches down in front of us, I look him in the eye and I can see that he too has been crying, I want to comfort him, I want to wrap my arms around him but I know that's not my place anymore, it's hers and I don't want to overstep.
"Do you want me to take you home now Steph?" He asks her and she nods her head, he stands up and hold out two hands, one for each of us, it's the first time I've touched him in 3 months and it's like I feel a bolt of electric go through me when I place my hand in his, I can't look at him, it's all too much.
"Thank You Zoey" He whispers to me before he takes her hand and they walk out the door together. Dr Charlotte comes up behind me and wraps her arms around my shoulders
"You're going to make a great vet Zoey, you're very companionate and kind. I'm going to let you go home early today, it's been a hard day on you" She tells me.
I walked home, tears streaming down my face, I felt such sadness for Steph and Angus but I still felt angry and betrayed by him. When I walked into may house I could hear Tess down in the basement.
"You're home early" I greet her
"So are you. Angus wasn't there this afternoon, something to do with a dog emergency of something and Annabelle let me leave early" She explains, "Why are you home early? Have you been crying?" She asks me, giving me a hug.
"Angus was at the vets, with Steph, they had to put their dog down" I tell her
"Wow so did he make you cry? I'll punch him if he made you cry again, Ive only got 2 more days of work experience left then I can punch him for you" She says
"No, he didn't make me cry, although it was really awkward seeing him. I like Steph, she's really nice, for so long I've wanted to hate her for taking him from me but she's too nice to hate and she had him first" I explain
"I don't really know if they're together Zoey, I never see him kiss her or touch her" Tess tries to reassure me
"He held her hand in front of me today and he probably doesn't kiss her or touch her in front of you because he knows you will go off at him, he most likely hides it from you, he's good at hiding girlfriends, she knew about me when we were together but he never told her my name or any details about me and he hid the secret phone calls from me. He likes to hide things" I say with sadness in my voice.
"Have you heard from Charlie?" Tess asks, changing the subject
"No and I doubt I will either"
"He will text, I guarantee it" She says in her upbeat tone but after today I really don't care.
"We mostly get a lot flea sprays and neutering here but occasionally we do have serious surgical patients brought in and I do have to warn you some of them don't make it and it may be hard for you to witness that, if at any time you feel you can't handle a situation please speak up Zoey, I am a very understanding person and I will not judge you or mark you down if you feel that you need to step out for any reason" Dr Charlotte explains to me.
Dr Charlotte is in her mid 30's, perky all the time and absolutely lovely to be around
On my first day we had 3 dogs with fleas, another with swamp mouth and a cat with woozy kittyities, all of which were out within an hour. It was slow day and Dr Charlotte let me go home after lunch because she had no more patients for the day.
On Tuesday we had more flea ridden dogs, 4 neuterings, an advanced Lavanose, a sizzlepaw and critical hotfoot, it was a much more intense day, Dr Charlotte was joined by another vet name Dr Mikia, not as perky as Dr Charlotte but still very nice. The two women have funny banter through out the day like they're old friends and they make my day fun.
And then Wednesday came and my whole world came crashing down. It started out like the days before it, with Dr Charlotte explaining to me what patients she had coming in that day.
"I have a dog coming in this afternoon Zoey that has to be put down, If you feel that you need to leave early you can" She tells me
"I can stay" I promise her
"OK hun but if you change your mind at any time just let either myself or Dr Mikia know, we won't be angry" She says
Wednesday morning is slow, 4 neuterings , 2 sprays and a cat with fleas, we stopped for lunch at noon and I walked home, when I returned to the clinic there was a red haired woman, early 20's, in the waiting area.
"I'm sorry, I'll check you in" I apologise to her.
"I've already checked in thank you, they took my dog into the room, I'm just in no hurry to go in there, the sooner I go into that room the sooner I have to say goodbye to my dog and I'm trying to pretend that's not happening" She explains
"I'm so sorry, Dr Charlotte told me you were coming in this afternoon. Can I get you anything? Would you like some water?" I ask her, her eyes are filled with such sadness and I'd give anything to take this pain away from her
"Thank you, that would be nice." She says, smiling at me sweetly, "Aunt you a little young to be a vet though?" she questions me
"I'm here on work experience, I plan to study Veterinary at Uni next year" I explain, "I'm Zoey by the way" I say, handing her a cup of water from the cooler.
"Nice to meet you Zoey, I'm Steph" She introduces herself, "My dog, Nortica has bone cancer and is in so much pain, I've been trying to avoid this but it's cruel if I let it go on any longer" She explains and my brain makes the connection of who she is, shit, this is the woman he left me for, she sweet and loves her dog...and that's when I see him, he exits the small examination room to come out into the waiting area, he walks right past me and up to her and throws his arms around her. It's like witnessing a car crashes, I want to look away but my eyes won't let me.
"Dr Charlotte says she's not going to start until you're ready" He tells her and I can see the tears rolling down her cheeks
"Just a little bit longer please" She pleads with him and he nods, he turns to walk back into the room and stops when he sees me.
"Fuck, I forgot that you were going to be here" He says to me, complete shock crossing his face like he'd been caught in the act.
"How do you know the work experience girl Angus?" Steph asks him and before he can answer I interject
"He was my personal trainer for a bit" It's not a lie, its just not the full story, he stands there staring at me, his eyes angry like I betrayed him by not admitting he was once mine.
"For a moment there I thought you were going to tell me he was your boyfriend" Steph says with a sigh of relief and I feel like a knife has stabbed me in the heart, he never told her my name or anything about me yet I knew so much about her, I was his secret that he kept from her, "Remember when we did work experience Angus" Steph asks him, ignoring the awkward tension between us.
"I didn't do work work experience Steph, I got kicked out before the exams" He reminds her and she laughs.
"Oh yeah, now I remember, you smoke a joint and got high on the football field during lunch and Mr Landgaarb kicked you out. Ruined my whole year because you couldn't even go to the formal" She recalls and he looks at me with shame in his eyes, this was the deep, dark secret he didn't want me to ever know?
"Steph, we should go in, we are keeping everyone waiting" He says as he heads back toward the examination room, Steph walks up to me and gives me a hug.
"It was nice meeting you Zoey, good luck at uni" She says before joining him.
Angus and Steph exit the examination room 45 minutes later, he has his arm around her shoulder and she's clearly very distraught, they reach the waiting area and she falls to the floor, tears streaming down her face and she's struggling to catch her breath, I walk out from behind the desk and sit with her on the floor, wrapping my arms around her.
"I'm so sorry about Nortica" I whisper to her and she looks at me and gives a little smile
"Thank you Zoey" she says. We sit like this for about 5 minutes, she has her head on my shoulder and I start stroking her hair to comfort her, I feel so much empathy for her loss and it makes me tear up too. Angus crouches down in front of us, I look him in the eye and I can see that he too has been crying, I want to comfort him, I want to wrap my arms around him but I know that's not my place anymore, it's hers and I don't want to overstep.
"Do you want me to take you home now Steph?" He asks her and she nods her head, he stands up and hold out two hands, one for each of us, it's the first time I've touched him in 3 months and it's like I feel a bolt of electric go through me when I place my hand in his, I can't look at him, it's all too much.
"Thank You Zoey" He whispers to me before he takes her hand and they walk out the door together. Dr Charlotte comes up behind me and wraps her arms around my shoulders
"You're going to make a great vet Zoey, you're very companionate and kind. I'm going to let you go home early today, it's been a hard day on you" She tells me.
I walked home, tears streaming down my face, I felt such sadness for Steph and Angus but I still felt angry and betrayed by him. When I walked into may house I could hear Tess down in the basement.
"You're home early" I greet her
"So are you. Angus wasn't there this afternoon, something to do with a dog emergency of something and Annabelle let me leave early" She explains, "Why are you home early? Have you been crying?" She asks me, giving me a hug.
"Angus was at the vets, with Steph, they had to put their dog down" I tell her
"Wow so did he make you cry? I'll punch him if he made you cry again, Ive only got 2 more days of work experience left then I can punch him for you" She says
"No, he didn't make me cry, although it was really awkward seeing him. I like Steph, she's really nice, for so long I've wanted to hate her for taking him from me but she's too nice to hate and she had him first" I explain
"I don't really know if they're together Zoey, I never see him kiss her or touch her" Tess tries to reassure me
"He held her hand in front of me today and he probably doesn't kiss her or touch her in front of you because he knows you will go off at him, he most likely hides it from you, he's good at hiding girlfriends, she knew about me when we were together but he never told her my name or any details about me and he hid the secret phone calls from me. He likes to hide things" I say with sadness in my voice.
"Have you heard from Charlie?" Tess asks, changing the subject
"No and I doubt I will either"
"He will text, I guarantee it" She says in her upbeat tone but after today I really don't care.
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