Chapter 21
TWENTY-ONE
REX
The first test of Perry’s patience came during our date the following weekend.
Nigel’s wedding was looming on the horizon, which had originally been the expiration date for whatever this was, but there was no way I was going to give Perry up based on some sort of arbitrary timeline we’d set at the beginning of this whole farce.
We were still playing pretend, though. Acting like boyfriends, doing all the things boyfriends did.
We were totally committed to the bit, and we could have just made things official between us, but Perry seemed reluctant to.
His shoot with Quinn was right around the corner and I understood why he was hesitant to believe me when I said it was fine with me.
That I knew it was his job and that not-so-secretly, I found the idea of him with someone else for work, and then coming home to me for real pleasure, arousing.
For me, the real test was the way he’d reacted during dinner when my phone buzzed in my pocket. I tried to trade off emergency services with one of the other vets in town so we weren’t always the one who got the call, but it was my weekend to be the emergency vet, a task I took seriously.
“I need to take this.” I told Perry, not bothering to leave the table before I answered. Perry nodded and looked on with concern.
“Hello, this is Rex Patterson.”
The frantic caller had a very sick cat. Apparently they’d seen them eat a hair tie and they couldn’t get it back out. And they had been hoping it would pass—spoiler alert—it didn’t. And now their cat wasn’t eating or drinking.
“Bring them to the clinic. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes, maybe less.” As soon as I spoke, I saw Perry flag down the waiter and ask for the check. He softly explained that there was an emergency, and could he please box up our barely touched dinner as quickly as he possibly could.
My next call was Blue. I’d need someone to assist me, because it was highly likely we’d have to operate. By the time I’d wrapped up my call with Blue, Perry was paying the check and our food was mysteriously whisked away only to return as we were standing to leave, packed up in to-go containers.
Most of the time, I’d have been apologizing for having to bail and explaining to a date that yes, someone’s family pet rated higher than them on the priority list when the life of said pet hung in the balance.
Perry arranged for our meal to be boxed up. He’d paid the bill. All without being asked. All because he knew this was important to me.
“I’ll drop you off at home first, and then I’ll swing back around to the clinic.” I nearly suggested that he take an Uber home so I could get to the clinic faster, but I bit my tongue. I didn’t want to shove him in an Uber or just leave him standing on the sidewalk.
“I’ll go with you to the clinic.” Perry said, buckling his seatbelt. “It’s faster than going all the way back to my place. Do you still have those kittens and the momma cat?”
“We do.”
“Then I’ll be just fine. I’ll have a little baby Gumball to hang out with.”
We arrived at the clinic at the same time as Blue, who’d been dropped off by one of his boyfriends. When Blue saw Perry, his face lit up and he trotted over to give Perry a hug. Perry held the bag of leftovers off to the side so Blue could embrace him and he hugged him back with his other arm.
“You were at dinner.” Blue said, eyeing the bag.
“There wasn’t time for me to get home, so I’m going to be a nuisance and play with the kittens while you two work.”
I unlocked the clinic and Perry and Blue followed me inside. I was already in emergency mode, as was Blue, who didn’t need to be told to get a room prepped for surgery.
It was all a blur after that. The family showed up with their obviously distressed animal and Blue and I took over immediately. Whisking their pet into the back to take a quick x-ray to get a lay of the land.
When I came out to tell them that, yes, their cat would definitely need surgery to remove the obstruction in their stomach, Perry was out in the waiting room, armed with kittens.
“These little guys are here with their mom,” he said as he gently passed one of the kittens to the distraught owner. “And I think they could use a little cuddle. Poor mom probably needs a break, too.”
With a kitten cradled to her chest, she did look a little calmer. And it would be good for the kittens to have more human interaction before they went off to the shelter soon.
All their attention shifted to me when I stepped forward.
“It seems that Munch has been busy and has been living up to his name. There seems to be quite a large mass in his stomach. Blue is prepping him for surgery. He’ll need to stay here after the surgery tonight, just so we can monitor him as he comes out of anesthesia.
He should be able to go home in the morning if everything goes well. ”
“Thank you so much.” Andi, the owner, said with a broken voice.
“You can wait here if you want, or I can call you with an update when the surgery is over.”
“We’ll wait.” Andi said before sitting down next to the woman she’d come in with.
My gaze found Perry and I smiled at him, in spite of the seriousness of the situation. He had the little black cat again, cradled in his hands.
“I’ve got it from here, Doc. You go save the patient.” Perry blew me a kiss and made the kitten wave with his tiny paw.
As far as emergency surgeries went, this was fairly routine. Munch had munched on probably every hair elastic that existed in that home. His stomach had been completely blocked by them, which was definitely the cause of all his distress.
The hair ties were removed and he was carefully stitched back together. We brought him out of the anesthesia and I scrubbed up before going out into the waiting room.
When they saw me, they stood up, disturbing the sleeping kittens they were still holding. Perry was still here, too. Still cuddling the little black Gumball look-alike.
“Munch is awake and all the hair ties have been successfully evicted. Blue is taking him back to the kennels so he can recover more before we can send him home, but you’re welcome to come in and see him.”
Andi handed the kitten back to Perry, who managed to cradle two sleeping kittens. He collected the third from the other owner and whispered to them that he’d take them back to their mom in a few minutes in case they were hungry.
Munch’s owners cried when they saw him all groggy and now the proud owner of a couple bald spots. He had a bald spot on his leg for the IV and another, much larger one, on his stomach where the surgical site was. But he was alive and would make a full recovery, barring any disastrous complication.
They were on their way out, being escorted by Blue, when Perry finally slipped into the room with the kittens. He put them back with their mom, who did look a little better now that she’d had a break from them. Or maybe that was just my imagination.
“I can’t believe you stayed.”
Perry shrugged like it was nothing. “They needed a distraction and I was all too happy to hang out with the kittens again. So secretly, it was pretty selfish of me.”
It didn’t seem selfish at all. It seemed like the kind of thing I’d wished any one of my exes would have wanted to do.
“Munch is settled in and stable.” Blue said. “Did you need me to stick around and monitor him for a while?”
“No, you go on home.” I told Blue. “I’ll stick around for a while to keep an eye on him.”
Blue nodded and whipped his phone out and shot off a text. Probably to one of his boyfriends.
“And what about you?” I tucked my hands in my pockets because Perry was a walking temptation.
“Me? Oh, I’m staying.” He was so matter of fact about it that I didn’t think arguing would get me anywhere.
“Go check on your patient, then come to the staff room.” Perry shooed me away and after saying a quick goodbye to Blue, who had watched the entire exchange with quiet amusement, I did as I’d been told.
Munch was still groggy as hell, but his vitals were steady and he seemed to be coming out of the anesthesia quite nicely. I took a few minutes to check on my other patients, not that there were many. I tried to leave as few animals here as possible.
When I finally made it to the staff room, Perry had our food unpacked and on the table. The minute I stepped into the room, he hit play on his phone and the room filled with music.
“I figured we could finish up our dinner here while we wait on Munch.”
Perry had managed to find some plastic cutlery and some napkins and he’d set the table with them. A plastic fork, a plastic knife, a napkin, and then a takeout container. On the table were two cans of soda that he must have gotten from the fridge.
“There were names on some of the stuff in the fridge, but I texted Blue and he said the soda was okay to have, that it was there for whoever wanted it.” Perry continued somewhat awkwardly and it dawned on me that I hadn’t said a single word and had just stood there, staring.
Perry hadn’t balked at our dinner being cut short.
He’d expedited the check and gotten us out of the restaurant in record time.
With our dinner. Which was a good thing because I was fucking starving.
He’d looked after the family and made their wait a little less stressful. And then he’d done all this.
And I’d done nothing to deserve this man.
And I still stood there, gaping, not even speaking.
Not even to say thank you. But those words seemed woefully inadequate.
I crossed the room in three strides and slammed my mouth down on Perry’s, grabbing the sides of his face.
I held him there, kissed him as hard and deep as I could manage and I kept going until my lungs screamed at me from lack of oxygen.
“You’re amazing.” I told him. “And don’t you ever forget it.”
Perry’s cheeks were bright red. “It’s not a big deal.”
“It is to me.” I kissed him again, a softer version of the kiss I’d just planted on him. The events of the night settled something in me and I knew that I needed to find a way to make Perry mine permanently.