Making Rounds and Oscar (2010) Read Online Free PDF Page A

sorry," I said.
    She began to cry again and I felt her warm tears through my shirt. We held the embrace until it became uncomfortable. Kathy's eyes were bloodshot and she looked like she hadn't slept in days. Her blouse was wet from her tears and wrinkled from the vigil she passed in the chair beside her mother's bed. I tried to think of something to say that might make her loss easier but came up blank again. Thankfully, Kathy broke the silence.
    "Dr. Dosa, I want to thank you for everything you have done for my mother."
    She wiped her eyes with her sleeves and turned to sit back down in her seat by the bed. She picked up her mother's hand again and cradled it in her own. The movement stirred Oscar, who looked rather tired himself. He blinked and looked at Kathy.
    "Can you believe this cat?" Kathy said.
    "I heard that he was here when your mother died," I replied. Through her tears she smiled slightly.
    "Yeah, he and I are buddies now," she said and reached over to pet Oscar on the head. Oscar accepted the attention and nuzzled Kathy's hand.
    "The hospice nurse and the minister told me he's done this before," she said.
    "For the last year or so, from what I'm told," I replied.
    "Well, he's a really special cat."
    "I suppose...," I said, and realized that a small part of me was starting to believe it.
    I put my hand on Mrs. Sanders's hand and said a private good-bye to my patient. Neither Kathy nor I spoke. On the bed next to us, Oscar sat quietly purring. Finally, after several minutes, I asked the question I'd been contemplating since my conversation with Mary.
    "Kathy, were you okay with Oscar being here at the end?"
    She looked at me for a moment and then said, "Dr. Dosa, I think of Oscar as my angel. He was here for my mother, and here for me, too. With Oscar at my side...well, I felt a little less alone. It's hard to explain, but some animals, well, the sense they give you is that they understand what's going on. More than that, they just accept. I don't know, but Oscar gave me a feeling that this is all natural. And it is, isn't it? If birth is a miracle, isn't death a miracle too? My mother...well, her struggle is finally over. She's finally free."
    Kathy stared at me, waiting for a response, but I gave her no indication of what I was thinking. I guess I really didn't know.
    "My mother never wanted to live the way she did in the end," she added. "She was a proud woman. You didn't know her before, but she had a tremendous sense of pride. She always dressed fashionably and she was quick with a joke."
    She smiled, perhaps remembering one of her mother's jokes, one that she did not share with me.
    Looking at Kathy, I realized that she would be fine. The coming days would be hard on her, but she would move on to the next chapter in her life--one that wouldn't involve daily trips to Steere House.
    I said one last good-bye to Kathy and realized that our association had come to an end.
    "Take care of yourself," I said.
    Kathy nodded as I left and returned to her thoughts, and to Oscar.

CHAPTER FOUR
    "Cats are connoisseurs of comfort."
    JAMES HERRIOT
    WHEN I RETURNED TO STEERE HOUSE A FEW DAYS LATER I found Mary seated at the nurse's desk brushing Oscar. Sprawled out in full glory, he looked like a boxer after a major bout--or, given his mane, one of those big-time wrestlers.
    "The last couple of days Oscar's seemed pretty beat from his vigil," Mary said.
    "Sure...sitting on a bed sleeping is really hard work."
    "You laugh, David, but Oscar's always tired after the fact. It's like he's on the clock when someone is dying and then afterward he's spent."
    I rolled my eyes, something that annoys Mary as much as it does my wife.
    "Domesticated cats were like dogs, you know," she said, as she continued her ministrations. "They had to earn their keep on the farm. Maybe this is like Oscar's job."
    "Well, I need to start doing my job," I said, opening a chart that I had spent the better part of ten minutes looking for. As any nurse or