Sunday

After a solid seven hours of deep sleep in his own bed, a shave, and a shower, Ty felt like a new man. And though he desperately needed a haircut, at least he didn't look like a vagrant any more. He noiselessly entered the Rescue at 3:45am, careful to keep the dinging of the brass door bell to a minimum, locking the door behind him. Though it was Sunday, his day off, he had made a deal with Paul and wanted to keep his end of the bargain.

The rescue reception area was quiet and mostly dark, except for the filtered street light streaming in through blinds. He hung up his leather jacket, then made a beeline for the open treatment area, by way of the clinic's only hall passing the bathroom and exam room on the right and storage and another exam room on the left.

He heard Paul humming, low and gentle, before he saw him in the canine room, swaying with a whimpering full grown Dobermann in his arms. Instead of disturbing him, Ty entered the avian room, lined with empty cages except for the single male eagle, still weak, catatonic, laying on its side on a warming pad. An IV was still attached to the raptor's leg. He let out a disappointed sigh as he studied the treatment log attached to the cage, noting that Paul had been vigilant throughout the night. The other four raptors, three eagles and a red tail hawk, had been relocated to the big bird cage, were perched quietly, scanning the enclosure for sudden movements of an unsuspecting prey per their nature.

Satisfied that nothing needed to be done, Ty moved to the feline room. The cages lining the wall held two domesticated cats, a calico and a orange short-hair, and one feral, a grey medium-hair mother with her six weeks old kittens, not yet weaned. All were curled up, asleep, or at least pretending to be asleep. Except Patches, the calico was poised, motionless, Sphinx like. She watched him intently, her eyes, one blue, one green, followed him as he moved around the room. He was intrigued by her markings, her black nose, her unusual eyes. He opened her cage door, reached in, stroked her chin with the back of his fingers.

"Patches, you are a beauty." He murmured.

"Ahem." Paul cleared his voice startling Ty out of his focus on the feline.

"Paul. Hey." Ty responded calmly, closed the cage door, then turned to his co-worker.

"You're here? Wasn't sure you'd show up on time." Paul said with an acid tongue.

"Yep. Miracles never cease." Ty chuckled. "Paul. I appreciate you coming in early yesterday."

Paul nodded once, but didn't reply.

"Okay then. Let's get through shift rounds, so you can take off. I know you are beat."

As with every shift change, the vet ending their shift rounded with the vet starting their shift to provide updates on each patient. As such, Paul walked Ty through each room, feline, canine, reptile, and avian, updating him on the status of each patient and its treatment plan. The last animal discussed was the frail eagle still suffering from the secondhand effects of poison.

"He's not doing much better." Paul admitted, lamented. "I wanted better news by now."

"Yeah. Me too." Ty sighed heavily, then added. "But, we're in it for the long haul. Right? He'll recover."

Paul nodded in agreement.

"Hey. Thanks, again, for coming in early." Ty said genuinely.

Ty held out his hand to Paul, who hesitated briefly, then clasped Ty's hand in a warm, but somewhat awkward handshake.

"Because of you, the press conference and release went off without a hitch. The Rescue even scored a 10k donation." Ty continued.

"Yeah. I watched it in Mirna's office." Paul admitted. "You said my name on TV."

Ty nodded. "Glad you heard that."

Arms crossed over his chest, a pinched expression on his face, he groused. "Well, thanks to you, I won't get any sleep today. Everyone will be calling me."

The corners of Paul's mouth creeped up ever so slightly.

"Sorry Paul. It won't happen again." Ty replied with a grin. "In the future, I will refrain from giving you credit where credit is due."

Paul tried to hide his smile, regain his sullen gruffness, but failed miserably. He gave up, smiled faintly, than muttered. "Thanks. I better go."

"Yeah. See you at 6." Ty offered.

"You working a full day? Isn't Sunday is your day off."

Ty shrugged. "I have nothing going on so..."

"I get that." Paul turned, headed down the hall to the front door. The jingled of the bell, a double click of the dead bolts locking the door, signaled that he had exited the Rescue.

Ty was alone. Paul had already completed all the tasks scheduled through 6am, so he had little to do for the next couple of hours. He ambled back into the feline room. The feral kittens were now awake, playing, climbing all over each other, somersaulting, using their mom as a jungle gym. He watched them, amused at their antics. One kitten, gray, medium length fur like her siblings and mother, but with a white chest and paws, caught his eye. As he lifted the kitten from the cage, he studied her, then drew her to his chest, rubbing her velvety ears. A sudden flash of another kitten, a stowaway nestled inside her winter coat, Jack grousing about another mouth to feed, appeared before his eyes.

He shook his head, frowned, sighed. It never ceased to amaze him that after all this time, the littlest things brought up snippets of Amy, of Jack, resurrected memories in his head at the strangest time. He let himself reminisce for a few moments, then vanquished them from his mind as best he could.

As he held the kitten, he looked over the treatment log again. The mother was scheduled to be neutered later in the day, despite the fact that she was still nursing. The kitten in his hands began to fret, then wail. In the cage, playtime was over. Five gray kittens had piled up, perpendicular to their mother, each kneading her stomach, each hungrily suckling a teat.

"Breakfast is served, huh A.K.?" He said aloud returning her to her family.

While the tiny cats nursed, Ty reviewed the literature on the right flank spay method for neutering. He had only done one while in vet school, but knew for lactating felines, especially ferals, this approach was more beneficial than the traditional midline method to both the mother cat and her kittens, given the shorter wound healing time, lower impact to nursing. If he did the surgery right after they ate, she could nurse again in 12 hours or so.

By the time Mirna walked into the main treatment at 6, Ty was in the surgical suite #1, sanitizing the operating table and instruments after completing the procedure.

"Morning Ty."

He turned toward her voice, "Hey Mirna."

"Surgery this morning?"

"Yeah. The Wendy's down the road dropped off a family of ferals, a mom and six kittens last night. A worker found them under their garbage bin."

"So another neuter then?"

"Yep. A right flank." He said with a half-shrug and a grin that conveyed a hint of pride.

She nodded approvingly. "Oh? Well. Very good. How did it go?"

"Fine. Just fine..." Ty smiled. Then he asked. "Know anyone who wants a kitten? They are about 5 or 6 weeks."

"Celina already has three. So no." Mirna smiled, then teased. "How about you? Cats are good company, self reliant mostly. You can eat tuna together."

Though he had already seriously considered it, he balked at her suggestion. "Ah. No."

She laughed. "Terrific press conference last night, Ty. You did great."

He shrugged a bit. "Thanks. It wasn't too shabby."

"The 10k donation wasn't too shabby either."

"Yeah that was great. How was dinner?"

"Surprisingly better than I expected. Blake and Doug hit it off as did Chip and Kerry. Joe and I just enjoyed the dinner and show. The whole thing was rather entertaining."

"No kidding." He sounded surprised. "Where'd you go?"

"Frankie's. And, the best part was that Blake and Doug fought over who would pay the bill. Doug won."

"Ha!" Then he considered it. "You know Italian sounds pretty tasty right about now."

"Don't think they are open for breakfast. Maybe lunch." She deadpanned. "So. You headed out?"

"Nah. Thought I'd just work until Paul comes in."

"Ty? Today is Sunday."

"I know. But the conference is coming up and..."

"Ridiculous. You're beginning to look a little too pasty. Some fresh air or exercise would do you good."

"Thanks. Glad to know that I look pasty." He smirked.

"Look. I am here all day. I got things covered. Go. Enjoy."

Before he could respond, the Rescue's phone rang. Mirna picked up the call on the second ring.

"Vancouver Animal Rescue. Dr. Mirna Hickerson speaking." She listened.

"Hello Vera." She motioned to Ty.

"Oh. Okay...Black bear cub, male, injured...approximately 10-15 pounds...Ah, Okay. Guess it couldn't be avoided...Yes, we can take him. Bring him around back...Okay. See you in an hour or so. Thanks Vera. Bye."

"What's the situation?"

"That was Officer Vera Hubiak. Black bear sow and cub were struck by a vehicle as they were crossing Highway 1 in Caulfeild. Mother was euthanized on the spot due to the severity of her injuries. Cub has some injuries, suspect that they are non-life threatening. That's all I know."

"I'm staying."

"Figured. We need to get a large animal and exam rooms ready."

"On it."

After preparing the rooms, he texted Chip.

"Injured black bear cub in coming. Wanna see?"

"You know it. On my way." Chip texted back almost immediately.

At half past 7, a truck bearing the British Columbia Conservation Officer Service emblem, backed up, parked at the open door in rear of the Rescue. A short, buxom woman with curly, dyed hair, in her fifties, hopped out of the driver side. She was dressed head to toe in the navy BCCOS uniform, complete with flack jacket, belt accessorized with two guns, bear spray, and flashlight, and sensible black shoes.

"Hey Mirna." She smiled as she approached Mirna, hand extended.

Grasping her hand in a friendly shake, Mirna smiled back. "Hey Vera. How are you?"

"Right as rain."

"Good. You remember Ty Borden. He's taking the lead on this one."

"I do. Nice to see you again, Ty."

"Likewise." He shook the officer's hand as well.

Appearing out of nowhere, Chip was suddenly standing next to Ty, a bit of out breath, grinning.

"Vera, this is my vet assistant Chip Boyer." Ty introduced the high schooler. "Chip, this is Officer Vera Hubiak with BCCOS."

"Hey Officer." Chip was overly excited, did a quick deep nod, almost a bow to her. "So. Where's the cub?"

"In the hold. Wanna see!" Vera tipped her hatted head back toward the truck. As they all peered in, the tiny bear, no bigger than a cat, was huddled, eyes wide, terrified in the back corner. The officer put on leather gloves, opened the hold door, crawled halfway in, pulled the bear out by the scruff of his neck. The cub let out a loud, high-pitched scream.

"Here he is. Isn't he a beaut? Guess he's no more than 4 months." She held up the frightened cub, caked in dirt, gravel and blood. "Poor fellow. He's a bit beaten up. Back right paw and leg are the worst of it."

"Poor fellow." Mirna repeated.

"Hopefully, his wounds are just superficial. We'll get images to be sure." Ty studied his leg closely, before Vera put the cub in his arms. The cub let out another shrill scream.

"At least he has a good set of lungs." Mirna chuckled.

"Let's do a quick physical exam first, then get images." Ty said, anxious to get started, leading the way the the exam room, carrying the cub to his chest.

Mirna asked Vera. "So. Only one cub then?"

"As far as we know. If we find others in the area, we'll bring them here. Okay?"

"Of course. It would be good if he had company of his own kind."

Vera and Mirna stood back as they watched Ty gently placed the cub on the metal table to exam him.

"Chip, I'm gonna need your assistance. We need to limit his interaction with humans so it's just going to be you and me today. Okay?"

Chip nodded vigorously.

"Good. Put on gloves and try to keep him still."

Chip nodded again, did as he was told.

"Okay little fellow. I am going to look you over. This won't hurt a bit." Ty explained softly to the cub as though he could understand. Skillfully, he ran his hands over the bears's head, body and legs, looking for additional wounds, areas of sensitivity.

"Aside from your right leg and paw, I see lots of road rash, lacerations, contusions, bruising but nothing unfixable." Ty remarked. "So far."

"Good." Mirna murmured.

"Oh. And ticks. He has a good crop of ticks." He grimaced.

"Of course he does. It's that time of year." Vera remarked.

"Let's listen to you with my trusty stethoscope." He showed the bear the shiny bell and diaphragm, then placed it, first on the cub's chest, stomach, then back.

"Heart beat is regular and strong. Maybe a tad fast. Respiration is normal, lungs are clear, no congestion or no gurgling. Stomach sounds normal."

As he palpitated the bear's stomach, looking for knots, masses, the bear's eyes were on Ty. "Aside from slight swelling and contusions, I don't feel any unusual lumps or bumps."

As Ty talked, Mirna recorded findings in the treatment log. Then, the cub's stomach rumbled loudly with hunger, making Chip chuckle quietly.

"Ah. A bit hungry, huh, little one?" Ty smiled, pointed to Chip. "See this guy here. This is Chip. He's going to feed you as soon as we are done here."

"Really? Awesome!" Chip was elated.

He opened the cub's mouth, looked at his teeth and gums. "Teeth seem to be intact. Gums are pink as they should be. So good sign that there isn't any internal bleeding."

"Let's check out your ears." He inserted an otoscope into each of the cub's ears, already adorned with a blue plastic BCCOS tag. "Your ears look clear, no unusual discharge, no visible damage."

Ty checked his eyes and nose, found nothing out of the ordinary.

"Let's get him weighed and measured. He seems a bit underweight. Don't want to over sedate." He placed the cub on the scale, watched the digital numbers stabilize. "11.6 pounds. We definitely need to get some weight on you."

After drawing several vials of blood, he administered an array of preventative immunizations, rabies, tetanus, distemper.

"Okay, little mister. Time for some anesthesia. You are going to feel a little prick, then you'll feel sleepy." As he injected the sedative, the cub whimpered once, became drowsy, closed his eyes. Ty carried the limp bear to the radiation room for various X-rays and scans.

Outside the radiation room in the large open treatment room, Vera let out a long sigh. "You know, Mirna, I am just so glad we can do this in the open."

"Me too. Hard to believe that it wasn't all that long ago, that BCCOS had a policy to euthanize every orphaned cub, healthy or not."

Chip's eye's grew wide in dismay. "Really? That's horrible."

"It was. But, Mirna and I ducked around the policy. I can't count how many covert rescues and rehabs we did over the years." Vera smiled.

"Covert? Sounds cool."

"Not so cool. Vera risked her job every time we did one." Mirna set the record straight.

"Oh. So what changed?"

"Well. A year or so ago, one of our officers, Bryce Casavant, refused to follow his superior's order to put down two healthy cubs. Instead, he took the cubs to a rehab outfit, like yours." She explained. "When he was suspended for insubordination, it became big news. A huge public outcry followed."

"And, Vera walked off the job." Mirna patted Vera's shoulder, smiled at her friend. "She had a huge impact."

Vera shrugged. "Not just me. Lots of us officers did. After all. Conservation is our middle name. Right?"

"Then what happened?"

"BCCOS had no choice. They bowed to the pressure, reinstated Officer Casavant, changed their policies. So now we can rescue and rehab bears and other wildlife. All in the open." She paused, added with seriousness.

Mirna added. "Chip, Vera and I have worked together for years. We have saved several bears, coyotes, wolves, and even a cougar, you name it."

"It's been a good partnership."

"Wanna look at the images?" Ty interrupted.

"Yep." The four studied each image displayed on computer screen.

"Everything looks like it's in the right place. No internal bleeding, no masses, healthy organs." Mirna smiled.

"Yeah. And no break in that leg or elsewhere either. Lucky. But. We'll check again in a few days to see if a hairline fracture emerges."

"Excellent news." Vera exclaimed.

"Yeah. So we'll debride and flush his wounds. That's going to take some time. A stitch or two here and there should do it. I'd like to keep everything open to the air as much as possible. His leg though will be bandaged."

"Good call." Mirna nodded.

"Well, I best be going." Vera said.

"Thanks again Vera for bringing him in. Let me walk you out." Mirna said.

When Mirna returned, Ty and Chip, both suited up complete gloves and goggles, were already debriding the cub's wounds of dirt, gravel, dried blood and shredded tissue.

"Ty and Chip, you are on cub duty today. Ty, what's top for me? Eagle duty?"

"Yeah. The male eagle still needs close attention including a force feeding. The other four raptors are in the large cage need fed too. Cats, dogs, snakes." Ty answered.

"I can handle that." Mirna replied.

With wounds cleaned, dressed, labs and specimens resulted, and Chip busy feeding the young bear with a bottle full of bear milk, Ty straightened and sanitized the exam and radiology rooms.

He removed the stethoscope from around his neck, pausing to feel the cold bell in his hand. He thought back to that day when she gave it to him, his first day of school. She put it to her chest, over her heart. Even now, he could hear her heartbeat, see her beautiful blue eyes, her pretty face, feel the warmth of her smile from that moment. He sighed heavily, then placed the stethoscope back in its wooden box.

He passed by the avian room on his way to the feline room to check on the feral gray cat. She was caged by herself, resting, lying on her left side, her wound healing nicely. Regardless, he opened the door to get a closer look.

"Ty?" Mirna called to him.

"Mirna? Need something?" He answered out of habit.

Mirna peeked into the feline room. "Hey. There you are...Yes. Great news. The male eagle is showing marked improvement. He just stood on his own." Mirna grinned. "I think he's out of the woods."

"Good to hear." He responded without looking up from his work.

Surprised that the eagle's recovery didn't elicit a stronger response from him, she asked. "Everything okay?"

"Yeah." He answered in a monotone voice.

"Hmmm." She studied him for clues, but decided that he was just tired. "Why don't you take the rest of the day off? I mean it is Sunday, after all. Your day off."

"Nah. I'm good." He glanced at her briefly, then looked back towards the cat.

"Ty. The cub is in a good spot. You need to recharge your battery." She paused and added. "Believe me, you'll need a full one."

He closed the door to the cage, looked at her. "Why? What's up?"

"Well, BCCOS wants to do a joint press conference on the cub."

"Seriously? When?" He groaned.

"Tomorrow night. 6pm."

He rolled his eyes. "Can I skip it? Please." He begged already knowing her answer.

"Not on your life." She said seriously.

Chip walked in. "Um. Sorry to interrupt."

"It's fine Chip. Ty and I just wrapped up. What's up?" Mirna asked.

"Well. Um. Little Mister is fed and he's asleep in his cage."

"Little Mister?" Mirna asked.

"Yeah. The bear cub. Ty named him." Chip said.

"I didn't name him." Ty retorted.

"Yes you did. During the exam." Chip was insistent.

"No I didn't." Ty echoed Chip's tone.

"Nevertheless." Mirna cut in, stopping the back and forth squabble. "How did it go, Chip?"

"The feeding? Great. He was really hungry."

"I bet."

Chip laughed. "He made this funny noise, like a truck that needed an engine tune-up."

Mirna laughed. "That means that Little Mister, as Ty named him," she winked at Ty. "was content. It's a sound a cub gives his mother when he feels safe."

Ty added seriously. "Yeah. Chip. Little Mister thinks you are his Big Momma!"

Mirna tried to hold back, even put her hand to her mouth, but couldn't stop from laughing. Chip shook his head, but then laughed too. Ty just smiled.

"So. Chip. Was there anything else?"

"Um. I texted Kerry about the cub. She wants to help. Um. Could she helped me feed the cub?"

"No. We need to really limit human interactions." Ty jumped in.

"Ty's right. We want Little Mister to have the chance at surviving in the wild." Then Mirna caught Ty's eye, asked. "So. Ty. When do you plan to switch to a mush bowl instead of a bottle?"

"Hmm. Tomorrow or Tuesday at the latest."

"I see..." Mirna did not finish her thought.

Ty nodded, understood "You know Chip. Mirna's right. We only have a few more bottle feedings so.." he paused. "I changed my mind. Yes. Kerry can help you with the feeding Little Mister this afternoon."

"Really?" Chip lit up.

"Yes. Really." Then he added. "You worked incredibly hard today. Thank you."

"Thanks. It's been fun. I'm going text Kerry." Chip hurried off.

Ty looked at Mirna. "Thanks."

"Ty. You are introducing teenagers to the wonderful world of wildlife veterinary medicine. Things like feeding a bear cub will hook them for life."

"Yeah. You are right." He looked at her, his eyes widened. "Wait Kerry isn't a teenager."

"Well. Her dad says she's nineteen. She just graduated from high school. She going to start at VCC this summer." Mirna informed him.

"Wow. Just wow." He shook his head, then pretended to wipe sweat of his brow.

"I thought she was older too." She confessed.

Then she smiled, confided. "I think Chip has a thing for her."

"Well, that's pretty evident."

"And. Kerry may have a thing for Chip." Mirna suggested.

"Really?"

"They were in rapt conversation throughout dinner. And, a cub feeding will certainly tip the scales in his favor."

"No kidding!"

She chuckled. "Ah. Young love."

At 5:30pm, when Paul showed up at the Rescue to start his shift, he saw Ty in the open treatment room.

"Figured you'd be gone by now."

"An orphan cube came in not long after you left."

"No kidding. What's the story?"

Ty explained as they started rounds, starting in the Large Animal Room. In the middle of the room, Kerry and Chip were sitting on the floor. The cub was lounging in Kerry's arms sucking on the bottle, humming loudly. Chip was sitting next to her grinning at them both.

"You're letting them do that? They'll imprint on it!" Paul was clearly disgusted.

"The cub only has two or three more bottle feedings. And you are doing those. Tomorrow we start in a mush bowl. He'll be fine."

"What did Mirna say?"

"Her idea."

Paul huffed.

"Kerry, Chip. As soon as he's done, you need to put him in his cage and leave the room. No matter how much he cries, do not come back in. Okay?"

The two nodded.

"Great. The cub is going to cry all night. Just great." Paul muttered.

Ty ignored him. Instead, he referred to the treatment log as he described in detail, the cub, results of the exam, and treatment plan going forward.

The two vets walked through each remaining room, discussed each patient, ending in the avian room where Mirna was updating the log.

"Hey Mirna."

"Hey Paul. Good to see you."

"The male eagle seems to be responding to treatment." Paul remarked.

"Yeah. He's perked up quite a bit." Mirna added happily.

"Mirna was on duty today with him. Think she performed her magic on him."

She laughed. "Whatever it takes."

By 6:30pm, Ty walked into Roscoe's, saddled onto a stool at the bar.

"Hey Ty. Haven't seen you in a while." Rick said as he poured a beer from the tap, then put it on the bar in front of him.

"Hey Rick." He took a swig of his beer. "Good cold beer. Thanks."

"The usual?"

"Yeah."

"Saw you on the news last night. The release was pretty cool."

"It was. Especially given how sick they were when they came in."

"I almost didn't recognize you."

"Yeah, well." Ty shrugged. "Hey remember that woman that I met here last Sunday? Kerry?"

"The young one with the dark hair? Yeah. Why?"

"Yeah. She decided to volunteer." He leaned in, as if to tell him a secret. "Guess how old she is."

"Hmm. 19." Rick answered.

"Good guess." Ty sighed, took a big gulp of his beer. His phone vibrated in his pocket. He nodded to Rick, then walked outside to answer.

"Hey Michael." Ty answered.

"Hey Ty. Hope I'm not disturbing you."

"No. Never. How are you?"

"I am good. Real quick. I'm just calling with my flight info for next Wednesday."

"Good. I'll pick you up at the airport. Celina has invited us for dinner that night. Think Mirna is coming too."

"Excellent. It will be fun to see everyone."

"Yeah, it will."

"Hey. Saw you on the news. The eagle release was spectacular. Congratulations!"

"Really? The eagle release made it to Alberta?" Ty was surprised, but immediately wondered if Amy saw the news too. Or Jack. He watched the news almost every night.

"Yeah. Slow news day, I guess." Michael joked.

"No kidding." Ty inquired hopefully. "So. What's new with you? See Old Blue lately?" He avoided saying her name out loud.

"No. Just finished finals. So been pretty much heads down all week." Michael responded.

"Right." Ty tried to hide his disappointment.

"Well Ty. I better let you go. I promised Gwenie a ride tonight."

"Right. Thanks for calling."

Back at the bar, Ty nursed his beer, lost in thought. It had been exactly one week since Amy sent word. "She wanted me to tell you hello." But then nothing. He wondered if it was a sign.

"In coming." Rick cautioned.

"Hey Rick. Can I get my order to go." Ty asked.

Dear Readers. Hope you enjoy this chapter. It was fun researching black bears and the BCCOS. Tell me what you think, drop me a line.

More importantly. Please take care, be safe, wear a mask, get vaccinated if you can.

SBR