Christmas with the Single Dad

by Louisa Heaton

  Knowing that they would both be out all day—him at work, she at school—he’d not thought a dog or a cat was appropriate, but he’d given in and allowed her a rabbit. It had the added bonus of living outdoors and its presence had stopped Anna from ‘rescuing’ injured insects and bringing them in to be ‘nursed’.

  ‘It looks just like her.’ He squinted as he saw a small daub of bright orange. ‘Is that a carrot?’

  ‘No, Daddy. Silly! That’s a worm.’

  ‘Oh, right.’ He gently placed his daughter back on the ground, being careful not to grimace or wrench himself further. ‘So how did it go? Was it good? Did you make friends?’

  She nodded. ‘Lots and lots.’

  She proceeded to list them as they walked back to the car. There seemed an awful lot, and to his ears it sounded as if she’d just memorised the register, but he nodded and smiled at her as she told him about Hattie with the bright pink glasses, and George who had held her hand as they’d walked to assembly.

  They were soon home. Nathan still had half their life packed away in boxes after the move, but he knew they’d get there eventually. All the important stuff was unpacked. And Anna’s room had everything. He’d done that first. Everything else could wait for when he had the time. He just had to decide where he wanted it all to go.

  The house was brand-new, so had none of that old-world character the rest of the cottages in the village had. He had tiles on his roof, not thatch. A modern fake fireplace rather than an old rustic one with real flames. Flat, smooth walls rather than whitewashed ones with crooked oak beams.

  Still, the place would get its character eventually.

  ‘I’m going to see if Lottie missed me.’ Anna ran through the house towards the back door, so she could go into the garden.

  ‘Not yet, young lady,’ he called after her. ‘Go upstairs and get out of your uniform first.’

  ‘Daddy, please!’

  ‘It was raining this morning, Anna. I’m not having you getting your uniform covered in mud and straw. Please go and get changed.’

  She pouted, but only briefly, and then she ran back past him, clambering up the stairs as he took their bags through to the kitchen, pinned her painting to the fridge with a magnet that was shaped like a banana. He’d picked up some vegetables from a farm shop, so he popped those in the fridge, then switched on the kettle for a drink.

  Upstairs, he heard a small thunk as Anna kicked off her shoes and soon enough she was trotting back down the stairs, wearing a weird combination of purple corduroy skirt, green tee shirt and a rather loud orange and yellow cardigan.

  ‘Nice... I’m liking your style.’ He was keen to encourage her to wear what she wanted and to pick her own clothes. He’d learned that it was important—it helped Anna to develop her independence and allowed her to express herself. And he needed Anna to be a strong character. He wanted to encourage her at all times to feel happy about herself and her own decisions. To feel valued and beautiful. Because she was beautiful. With her mother’s good looks but thankfully none of her character.

  ‘Will you do me a juice, Daddy?’

  ‘Sure thing, poppet.’ He watched her twist the back door key and trot out into the garden. It wasn’t huge out there, and as theirs was one of the original show houses it was just plain grass, with one side border of bushes. Nothing too impressive. Nothing that needed that much work. Something he figured he’d get to later. Maybe in the New Year.

  But it had the rabbit hutch. The main reason for Anna to go and play outside. He was hoping to get her a trampoline, or a bike, or something. Maybe for Christmas.

  He was just diluting orange juice with some water when he heard his daughter let out a blood-curdling scream.

  ‘Daddy!’

  ‘Anna?’ His body froze, his heart stopped beating just for a millisecond, and then he was dropping the glass into the sink and bolting for the back door. What on earth had happened? Why had she screamed? Was she hurt?

  Oh, please don’t let her be hurt!

  ‘Daddy!’

  She ran into his arms, crying, and he held her, puzzled. What was it? Had she fallen over? What?

  ‘Let me look at you.’ He held her out at arm’s length to check her over, but she looked fine. No scuffed knees, no grazes, no cuts. Just a face flooded with tears. What the...?

  ‘Lottie’s bleeding!’ She pointed at the hutch before burying her face in his shirt.

  He looked over the top of her head and could now see that the hutch had a broken latch and poor Lottie the rabbit sat hunched within, breathing heavily and audibly, with blood all over her and in the straw around her, as if she’d been involved in some sort of weird rabbit horror movie.

  ‘Oh...’ He stood up and led Anna away and back into the kitchen, sitting her down on one of the chairs by the table. ‘Stay here.’

  ‘She’s bleeding, Daddy.’

  ‘I know, honey. We’ll need to take her to the vet.’

  He didn’t know if the poor thing might have to be put to sleep. There was a lot of blood, and Lottie looked like she might be in shock. He dashed for the cupboard under the stairs, where they’d put Lottie’s carrier and got it out. Then he grabbed some latex gloves from under the sink and headed for the garden.

  ‘I’ll get Lottie. Can you get your shoes on for me? And your coat?’

  ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘The vet. The animal doctor. She’ll need to check her over.’

  ‘What if she dies, Daddy?’ Anna sobbed, almost hiccupping her words.

  He hadn’t imagined this. He’d agreed to have Lottie knowing that rabbits lived for around ten years, hoping that they wouldn’t have to face this day until Anna was in her teens. But not this early. Not now. He wasn’t sure how she’d handle a pet’s death at this age.

  ‘Let’s cross that bridge when we come to it. Get your shoes on. We need to get her there quickly.’

  Nathan headed into the garden, slipped on the gloves and picked up the poor, shocked rabbit and placed her in the box. Normally she fought going in the carrier. But there was no fight today. His heart sank at the thought of having to tell his daughter her rabbit might die. Had Anna not been through enough?

  He pulled off the bloodied gloves and quickly discarded them in the bin.

  He could only hope that the veterinary surgery was still open.

  CHAPTER TWO

  IT HAD BEEN a long, tiring day. After her doctor’s appointment Sydney had come back to the surgery and seen her first ten patients, and then she’d got round to her surgeries—a dental clean, two spays on cats, a dog to be neutered. Lunch had been quick, and then there had been more appointments: kitten visits, puppy checks, suture removals, an elderly dog that had had to be euthanised. Then she’d returned phone calls, given owners blood test results and now she was finishing off her paperwork. Filling in records. There were three animals being kept in overnight, but Lucy, her veterinary nurse, was giving them their final check before they left for the evening.

  ‘I’ll be ready to put my feet up tonight. Have you seen my ankles?’ said Lucy.

  Sydney smiled sympathetically. Lucy did seem to be suffering lately.

  Almost all the lights were off, except for in her office and at the surgery entrance, and Sydney was just debating whether to have a cup of tea here or go home and have it there when she heard a loud banging on the surgery’s front door.

  A last-minute emergency?

  She hurried through, switching on the lights as she went, and stopped when she saw who was on the other side of the door.

  Dr Jones.

  Oh.

  Her pause was barely noticeable. At least she hoped so. Then she was rushing to the door, her cheeks flaming at having to let in the dishy doc. Though, judging by the look of worry on his face, he wasn’t here to cont
inue his conversation about warm milk.

  She opened the door and Dr Jones came in, carrying a pet carrier. Behind him, a little uncertainly, followed a little girl with chestnut-brown hair in two ponytails held by pink bobbles, her face tearstained, pale and stunned. Seeing the little girl, so like Olivia—no, so like her father—startled her and her stomach twisted painfully. As if she’d been punched in the gut.

  She dragged her gaze away from the little girl and looked over at the doctor. ‘Dr Jones? Can I help?’

  Am I stammering? I feel like I’m stammering.

  ‘My daughter’s rabbit. I think it’s been attacked.’

  He lifted up the carrier, so she could see through the barred door, but it was impossible to gauge the extent of the animal’s injuries.

  Sydney glanced quickly at the little girl. She looked around Olivia’s age. Maybe a bit older. She wasn’t sure. But she was young, and she didn’t need to see Sydney examining the rabbit if it was in a bad way. There were a lot of foxes out here in Silverdale Village. It was a very rural area, surrounded by farms and woodlands. Occasionally they even saw deer. The likelihood that there were animal predators around was very high.

  All business now, she took the carrier from the doctor. ‘Maybe your daughter should sit in the waiting room whilst I take a look?’

  The little girl slipped her tiny hand into her father’s. ‘Don’t leave me, Daddy.’

  Dr Jones looked torn, but then he nodded. ‘I’ll sit with you.’ He looked up at Sydney. ‘Is that okay? If I sit out here with Anna?’

  Anna. A lovely name.

  ‘Of course. I’ll just take a quick look.’

  She hurried the rabbit through to the surgery, closing the door behind her and leaning back against it for a moment whilst she gathered herself.

  That’s Anna. Anna! Not Olivia.

  The table where she usually examined pets had already been cleaned down, so she laid the carrier upon it and opened it up.

  Inside was a very scared, very shocked black rabbit. From what she could see at this stage it had injuries to the top of its head, its left eye looked damaged, and there were other fine puncture marks across its back and legs. Sydney held it gently whilst she checked it over. The ears looked okay, as did its throat, and it seemed to be breathing fine, if a little loudly. She listened to its chest through her stethoscope and tried to get a better look at the eye, but she couldn’t tell if it was ruptured or not.

  Poor thing.

  She suspected it might die of shock. She felt for its pulse. It was slow and faint, but that was typical for an animal like this in such a situation. Its gums were pale, too and its ears cool.

  There wasn’t much she could do at this point. Technically, she couldn’t see any fatal injuries. The shock itself might be the killer here. All she could do at the moment was give the rabbit a painkilling injection and some antibiotics. But she’d need to check with Dr Jones first, in case they requested euthanasia.

  Sydney put the rabbit back into the carrier and secured it, then headed to the waiting room, her own heart thumping rapidly at the thought of returning to speak to him.

  ‘Dr Jones?’

  He looked up when she called his name and then patted his daughter’s hand and told her to stay in her seat before he came over to her and whispered in a low voice, ‘How is she?’

  Sydney also kept her voice low, not wanting to upset Anna. ‘She’s in a great deal of shock. Can you tell me what happened?’

  He shrugged. ‘We’re not sure. I’d been at work all day and then went to pick Anna up from school. She found Lottie like that when we got back.’

  She nodded. ‘She has sustained a great deal of damage to her left eye, but it’s hard to see at the moment whether the eyeball itself has been ruptured. If it has, we might have to remove it, but at this stage I think we need to see if she’ll survive the night.’

  Dr Jones let out a heavy sigh and glanced at his daughter. ‘Do you think Lottie might die?’

  ‘It’s fifty-fifty. I can give her a painkiller and some antibiotics if you wish. The bite marks are quite small and thin, possibly caused by a cat or a fox. Their mouths are filled with bacteria, so the chance of infection is high. There aren’t any fatal injuries, but shock can kill an animal like this. It’s up to you what measures you’d like me to take.’

  She left the implication hanging. Did he want to see if the rabbit survived? Or did he want her to put the rabbit to sleep?

  Dr Jones thought for a moment. ‘Lottie is Anna’s world. She loves animals. If there aren’t any fatal injuries I think I owe it to her to see if Lottie makes it through the night. She won’t be in any pain?’

  ‘There’ll be some discomfort, but the painkillers should help her an awful lot. I’ll give her the injections, but if you can take her home, keep her somewhere warm and safe where she won’t be disturbed. Do you have an indoor cage?’

  He shook his head. ‘I don’t.’

  ‘A bathroom, then. It’s the safest place—somewhere there aren’t any cables or wires to chew.’

  ‘Will she want to eat?’

  ‘You must get her to try. When a rabbit goes into shock it sometimes stops eating, and it will just lead to further complications if her digestive system shuts down. Offer her all her favourites and try to get her to drink, too. I’ll need to see her first thing in the morning. Can you bring her in then?’

  ‘Before surgery, yes. About eight?’

  She nodded. ‘I’ll be here.’

  Sydney slipped back inside her room and administered the injections. She really hoped on their behalf that Lottie would survive, but the poor thing had been through a terrible ordeal.

  Back in the waiting room, she handed the carrier to Dr Jones and then, hesitantly, after thinking twice about doing so, she knelt in front of Anna. She tried not to notice the way the little girl’s eyes looked into hers with so much hope. The way tears had welled in her eyes.

  ‘Stay nice and quiet for her. No loud noises. Lottie needs to rest. Can you help her do that?’

  Anna nodded. ‘Yes.’

  ‘Good.’ She stood up again, frighteningly taken in by the little girl’s big blue eyes. So similar to Olivia’s it was unsettling. How was it possible that this little girl should remind her so strongly of her own?

  Backing away, she held open the door for them, eager for them to go. So she could breathe again.

  ‘What do I owe you?’ Dr Jones glanced over at the till.

  ‘We’ll sort it in the morning. Don’t worry. And good luck.’

  She watched them go and backed away from the door. They were a nice family, little Anna and her father. Was there a wife at home, waiting for news? It hadn’t sounded like it. He’d been at work, he’d picked his daughter up from school. No mention of anyone else.

  It doesn’t matter. You’re not interested in him anyway. Dr Jones is off limits!

  So why was she thinking about him? Just because he was handsome? No. She wasn’t that shallow. It must be because of the way she’d walked out on him that morning after her consultation. She’d been rude and had not apologised for it, either. She’d been defensive. Abrupt. Even though he had suggested the most ridiculous thing. And now she’d helped with their rabbit; that was all. They’d all had a shock and she knew how that felt. She wanted it to be easier for them.

  Poor rabbit.

  She hoped it was still alive in the morning.

  * * *

  Nathan had a sleepless night. It wasn’t just because of the rabbit. Though he was worrying about getting up in the morning and finding her dead on the floor of the bathroom. If that happened then he wanted to deal with everything before Anna saw any of it. She shouldn’t have to see that.

  But, no. It was his own body that had kept him from sleeping.

  Yesterday
he’d tried to give advice on getting a good night’s sleep to Sydney and he felt a bit hypocritical. Yes, there were tried and tested methods—relaxation, a milky drink, a warm bath, checking you had a comfortable bed—but they didn’t work for him, either.

  The spasticity he suffered from his multiple sclerosis kept him awake at night.

  It wasn’t as bad as it was for some people, and he knew he was lucky that no one just looking at him could guess his condition. He liked it that way. Fought to keep it so. But that didn’t stop the damned stiffness that never seemed to go away. Sometimes he would lie there, trying to relax, and he would feel his muscles tightening so hard it almost felt like a vice. Then he would have to rub at his arm or his leg and hope that it would go away. It never did. And he knew it wouldn’t. But that didn’t stop him from trying.

  So he’d spent the night alternately staring at the ceiling and getting up to check that the rabbit was still breathing.

  At five a.m. he crawled out of bed, ready for a cup of tea, and checked on Lottie once more.

  She’s still alive. Thank goodness!

  He gave her some dandelion leaves from the back garden and happily watched as she chewed them down, Her appetite was still good. Then he tried to pipette some water into her mouth—which she didn’t like—so he decided to leave her a small bowl to drink from instead.

  Anna was thrilled when she woke to find Lottie moving about in the bathroom. The rabbit’s left eye still looked pretty mangled, though, and Anna was keen for the time to pass so she could go to the vet with her dad before school.

  ‘You won’t be at the vet, Anna. I’m dropping you at breakfast club, as normal.’

  ‘But, Daddy, I want to go! Please?’

  ‘No, Anna. I’m sorry.’

  It was important that she kept to her routine. He hated changing things in Anna’s life. And, though the incident with Lottie was out of the ordinary, it didn’t mean that Anna’s life had to be disturbed. It had changed enough already. Her mother had walked out on them both, not to mention that he had his diagnosis to deal with. Life for Anna would change dramatically at some point, if his condition worsened. Best to keep things as normal as he could, for however long he could. He would not have her upset unnecessarily.