Chapter 5 – Jiji's brush with death

A PAIR of paws kicked Kiki in the nose and shoved her away.
    ”Enough, already,” the puppy groaned.   ”I can do it myself.”
    Surprised, Kiki lost her grip and dropped it on its head.
    ”Oh, no,” she cried.  She’d saved it and now she’d killed it.  Snatching the puppy off the ground, she placed her ear to its chest.  Still breathing, but not very well, and not much thanks to Kiki.  This time the puppy didn’t say anything.  It lay still in her hands with its eyes closed.
Kiki ran for the park exit.  She knew what to do.  There was a veterinarian’s office three blocks away and not a single heartbeat to lose.
    ”Help us,” she yelled at the animal doctor wearing blue striped pajamas.
    Angry at being yanked from his warm bed above the office, he scowled at the little girl.  ”What’s the problem?”
    ”It fell.  It’s dying.  Save it,” she ordered, holding out the puppy.
    The vet started to object, saw the determination on the child’s face, and took the animal into his examination room.  ”Wait here,” he said and closed the door.
    Kiki waited exactly thirty-four minutes but it seemed like forever.  She jumped up as the vet returned carrying a small bundle.  He handed her the puppy wrapped in a hand towel.
    ”Is it OK?” she asked, uncovering the dog’s face.  ”It doesn’t look very OK.”
    ”I’ve done everything I can,” he said.  ”It had a heart attack.  I gave it a shot to keep it alive.”
    The puppy opened its eyes weakly, looked at Kiki and closed them again.
    ”You didn’t answer my question.  Is it going to be all right?”
    ”I took X-rays.  It’s the strangest thing I’ve ever seen.  The heart looks completely round.”  He shook his head, still upset at being dragged from sleep so early in the morning.  ”Anyway, to answer your question.  No, it’s not going to be OK.  It’s going to die.”
    The vet shrugged as the door slammed behind the girl.  He slowly climbed the staircase to his bedroom.
    A deliveryman, and later closer to home, a paperboy stopped to watch the girl hurrying down the sidewalk.  Both wondered what she so carefully carried and why she looked so sad.
    Kiki wrapped the puppy in a silk coverlet and set it in the center of the carpet in her bedroom.  Near its nose she placed a saucer of water, slightly farther away a dish of cold, boiled rice.  The puppy didn’t move and neither did Kiki.
    Her father found her hours later lying next to the puppy gently stroking its head.
    ”What have you got there?”  He knelt on the carpet to get a better look at a tiny face poking from the light green coverlet.
    His daughter kept her eyes on the animal.  ”She won’t wake up and the vet, he was so mean, he said she’s going to die and I don’t know what to do...” Kiki seemed to burst with concern, all her worries tumbling out.
    ”Looks like you’re doing the right thing,” her father said, touching her lightly on the shoulder.  He really hadn’t understood her explanation but now wasn’t the time for questions.  ”I’m sure the puppy will be fine,” he said, heading for the kitchen to make Kiki’s breakfast.
    Kiki watched the puppy for the rest of the morning and all afternoon.  Her father brought her food and took her place when she went to the bathroom.  She petted the dog and constantly offered encouragement.  At 2 a.m., her father went to bed and suggested she try to do the same.
    ”Please don’t die,” Kiki whispered.  ”You’re tough, you can do it.  I’m sorry I dropped you.  Come on, you’ve slept enough.  It’s time to wake up...” She drifted into sleep, nose-to-nose with the puppy.