“Well, I guess I have company for a few days, huh?” She said, sitting down on the bare floor next to the cat. “Wish I knew your name. It’d be much easier than calling you ‘cat’ all the time.”
“Mrrow,” the kitty replied, climbing onto the raven haired woman’s lap. Veronica allowed the purring feline to remain for a few minutes while she tried to think through what just happened. She had only meant to find out who to contact to let them know that Rose was hurt and ended up getting the young woman evicted. Not that it was much of a loss, considering the conditions she was living in. No matter, she decided. Her cousin Danielle, ran Cartwright Properties, surely there was an affordable apartment available that they could put Rose into. “Something with real walls,” she muttered, looking at a dinner plate sized hole in the opposite wall. “Okay cat, time to move.” The kitty objected vocally but finally acquiesced when the tall human stood up. “Let’s get your momma’s things together and get you out of here and into someplace warmer.”
Moving Rose’s belongings was easy, especially when Veronica decided that the only things that had to leave the decrepit apartment were the library books and the checkbook she found in the kitchen drawer. The worn out clothes, the useless furniture…she decided that for four hundred fifty bucks Cecil could clean them out himself. Tucking the checkbook into her attache, the library books under her arm, and the cat inside her jacket, Veronica left the apartment, not bothering to lock the door.
Rose opened her eyes and looked around, groaning at both the pain and the realization of where she was. A young blonde nurse looked up and smiled. “Good morning, Miss Grayson. My name is Mary.” She pulled a digital thermometer out of her pocket, placed a protective sheath over the tip, and put it in Rose’s mouth. “You’ve been in a very bad accident.” She wrapped the blood pressure cuff around Rose’s upper arm and pressed her stethoscope against the inside of the young woman’s elbow. The thermometer beeped and Mary pulled it back to check the reading.
“Fine.”
“Excuse me…” Rose inhaled sharply as the nurse made a note on her chart. She felt dopey but scared at the same time. “Wha…what happened?”
“You were hit by a car last night. You’re very lucky that your boss was driving by and saw you. She brought you to the hospital.”
“My boss? Kim found me?”
“Oh, I don’t know her name, deary. I wasn’t here last night. I work the day shift.” She carefully cleaned the skin around the neat row of stitches on Rose’s cheek. “You were in surgery for quite a while and you’re in the recovery room right now. We just need to make sure you’re stabilized and then you’ll be taken to your room.”
“My legs?” She tried to sit up but that only served to increase the intense pain she was feeling in her lower extremities.
“Both your legs were broken. The surgeons worked for hours last night putting the bones back in place.”
“It hurts.” Rose lifted her head to see the stark white of full leg casts.
“They’re giving you something for the pain in your IV,” the nurse said. “I’ll let the doctor know you’re awake.”
The instant the nurse left the room, Rose broke down in tears. Her face and ribs hurt but it was nothing compared to the excruciating agony her legs were in. She didn’t even want to think about the hospital bill, which no doubt was increasing with every hour that she spent there. She reached over to pour herself a cup of water from the plastic pitcher on the stand next to the bed but the movement caused so much pain that she was unable to complete her task. Whatever they were giving her for the pain was also making her limbs feel extremely heavy and it didn’t take long for Rose to fall back into an uneasy sleep.
Veronica pulled the Mazda into her driveway and parked it next to the garage. To her great annoyance, removing the key from the ignition did not shut the engine off. Instead the blue car continued to sputter and wheeze before for a minute before finally dying. “Well, Cat. I think it’s safe to say that the next place this piece of shit will go is to the junkyard.”
“Mrrow?” The feline replied as she tried to climb onto the tall woman’s lap.
“No no no. This isn’t petting time.” She tucked the cat under her arm and opened the door.
“Come on, let’s see if Maria can find something in the kitchen for you to eat.”
As she exited the car with the cat in tow, Veronica glanced over at her three car garage. The middle door was unlocked and through the half-moon window she saw her Porsche. She silently thanked her cousin Frank for helping her out. The cat squirmed in her grip. “Oh no you don’t. I’m not running all over the neighborhood looking for you.”
Ronnie opened the sliding glass door and entered into the kitchen. Once inside she set the orange and white kitty on the floor. “Maria? Maria are you here?” The keys to the blue car were tossed on the counter.
“I’m here,” a voice from the living room called.
“We’ve got company,” Veronica responded.
Maria was an older woman working on her thirtieth year with the Cartwright family and was near and dear to Veronica’s heart. Jet black hair had long ago given way to a salt and pepper combination and her middle age spread made her lap perfect for whenever the young children came over. Maria walked into the kitchen. “It’s not good for you to be out all night, Ronnie,” she chastised. “If your mother knew…”
“I wasn’t out whoring around, Maria,” she responded, pleased with the shocked reaction on the older woman’s face. She unzipped her jacket and tossed it over one of the stools next to the cook’s island. “Do we have anything here to feed-”
“Mrrow?”
“-a cat?” She finished.
Maria looked down at Veronica’s feet to see the orange and white feline rubbing against her. “Oh my. You brought home a cat?”
“It’s not a permanent arrangement. He’s only going to be here for a few days while his owner is in the hospital.”
The housekeeper bent down and picked up the now purring feline. “I hate to tell you, Ronnie, but he is a she. What’s her name?”
“I don’t know. Call it Cat for now.”
“Hi sweetie, what a pretty kitty you are,” Maria cooed, holding the happy pet to her ample chest.
“Would you like some tuna?” She carried the cat over to the pantry and pulled out a can. “Hmm, doesn’t that sound nice?”
“I don’t think he, I mean she’s ever had tuna before. I think she’s only had dry food.”
“Oh…well then.” Maria put the can on the counter and set the cat gently on the floor. “It’s not good to take her from dry right to canned. It’ll be too rich for her. I can mix them together.”
“I didn’t bring any. I guess we’ll have to get her some food.”
“Well, I’ve already been shopping this week but if you want I’ll run out now. I can start lunch when I get back.” She wiped her hands on her apron and reached for the ties.
“No, that’s fine. I’ll go out and pick up some food for her. I guess we need a litter box too.”