"Wait, Charlotte, do you know where things are in here?" Lucy asked, with a sense of urgency. Charlotte nodded. "I need your help! Fatani is it? Can you go radio them?" He ran off to do just so.
"Right Charlie, you ready?" Lucy asked.
"Yep, what should I do?" Charlotte asked, willing to help.
Lucy told Charlotte what she needed, and Charlotte ran around the surgery. Lucy pulled on some gloves as the younger teenager tied her apron.
"He needs sedating, there's something stuck in his wound. I need to get a closer look" Lucy noted, she ran to the fridge and scanned the shelves. Finding the medication that she needed, she exclaimed: "bingo, Charlie can you find me a needle?"
"Do you know what you're doing?" Charlotte asked. "You're not a vet."
"I've seen it done enough, look if I don't do something this Cheetah will die, there isn't time to wait for them to get back."
"Promise me," Charlotte told her.
"I promise" Lucy responded, turning her attention back to the animal.
After connecting the animal to a monitor, she drew up the medication into the syringe and injected it into the animal. "Keep an eye on that screen Charlotte, if the numbers are different more than 5 either way, tell me"
Fatani ran back into the room. "They said they'll be 20 minutes," he told them "Who are you?" He asked, alarmed that a stranger was treating the animal.
"My name's Lucy, I'm Alice's sister"
"You know what you are doing?" He quizzed.
"Look, we can't wait for them, this animal will die if we do, if you want to help, you need to stop asking questions, I need to concentrate," Lucy said, shooting him a dirty look.
"Okay" Fatani gave in, that look was enough to tell him not to bother arguing "What should I do?" he asked.
"Put some gloves on, pass me the forceps" She instructed.
After putting on some gloves, he looked down at the tray "The what?"
"Those" Charlotte pointed out, then looked back at the screen.
...
Lucy was about to pull out a stone that was lodged in the animals wound when the monitor started beeping.
"Lucy!" Charlotte exclaimed.
"Damn it! Fatani, Charlie find a breathing tube, Fatani find a syringe and some adrenaline" Lucy instructed as she started to give the Cheetah compressions.
"Here" Charlotte passed the tube to Lucy, she broke from the compressions to put the tube into the cheetah's mouth, she breathed into it a few time "Right, Charlie, can you breathe into the tube, like I just did?"
Charlotte took a deep breath and blew into the tube "Like that?"
"That's perfect," Lucy praised returning to do compressions.
Fatani stood next to Lucy. Charlotte was still breathing into the tube, Lucy took the syringe and adrenaline and quickly drew some up and injected the Cheetah, before continuing the compressions. "Will you tell Danny and Alice to hurry up?" she instructed Fatani, before he ran off.
The monitor alarm stopped, Charlotte and Lucy stopped what they were doing, and the monitor started beeping normally.
"Good job Charlie," Lucy said picking up the forceps. She took one of Charlotte's hands and placed it over a wound, "Keep the pressure on that and watch the screen" She told Charlotte as she pulled out a stone and put it into the tray. "There's another one" Lucy noticed.
...
Alice ran into the surgery, her eyes widened as she saw what her daughter and sister were doing. "What the hell!" She exclaimed.
"It was hit by a car." Charlotte told her "Lucy's amazing!"
Alice put some gloves on "Let me see" she told Lucy.
"Just a sec," Lucy told her.
"No, move out of theā¦" Alice began as Lucy pulled out another stone
"Got ya!" Lucy celebrated, she then looked at Alice.
Alice didn't take her eyes of Lucy, "Go get Danny, now!" She told Charlotte.
"She's worked at a vet clinic Mum" Charlotte explained, she was worried that Alice would be mad at Lucy "If Lucy didn't do anything it would be dead"
"It's ok Charlie" Lucy comforted the teen "Do as you Mum says"
Charlotte off to get Danny.
Lucy picked up some gauze and pressed down on the wound to slow the bleeding. Alice didn't know whether to be angry or amazed. She noticed the vials and syringes in the tray.
"So, you worked in a clinic?" Alice asked.
Lucy nodded. "Before Alex was born"
"You know how to do stitches then?" Alice said putting on an apron.
"Yeah"
Alice handed her a suture kit. "Go on then"
"You sure?" Lucy was surprised.
"You look like you've got everything under control, I'll assist"
And with that Lucy began to stitch the wounds closed.
...
Charlotte and Danny ran in as Lucy did the last stitch. He went over to the Cheetah and examined the stitches. "You did these?" He asked Lucy.
"Yep"
"They're good," Danny said, slightly shocked.
"My sister was telling me she worked in a vet clinic before she had Alex" Alice explained, removing her gloves and apron. She smiled at Lucy.
"Yeah, Charlotte told me, her and Fatani are singing your praises" Danny was still shocked. He noticed the syringes and empty vials of medication. "How did you know what to give, it's not like it's common for UK vets to treat Cheetahs?"
Lucy shrugged. "I took an educated guess. I mean, it's just a big tabby cat really isn't it?"
"I said that the first time I operated out here" He recalled fondly.
Lucy smiled.
"Still" Danny was confused "They don't have assistants do operations, or have they changed the rules since I left?"
"No" Lucy confessed. She looked at Alice, then at Danny. "I guess I should explain"
"Explain what?" Alice was now confused.
"I wasn't an assistant, I was a student" She began to explain "I only did my first year though, then I had Alex and had to leave uni"
Alice smiled "Uni, I always said you were smart. What course?"
"Veterinary Science" Lucy continued.
"Oh my gosh, I'm so proud!" Alice ran around the table to hug her sister. "My sister's a vet!"
"Not exactly" Lucy pointed out "I only did one year"
"No one would have guessed with what you've just done. It must run in the family." Danny said with a smile "I can finish off here" he told them.
Alice and Lucy were about the refuse. "No, go on, I insist"
