The operation was set for noona routine, daycase procedure. An hour under the mask, a few straightforward stitches and shed be home that very afternoon. By all rights he should have been at her side, but she brushed it off. Dont worry, love, she said, I know youre swamped. The new Manchester branch is opening next week. She planted a quick kiss on his cheek, slipped a handful of sachets of dry cat food for the strays that lived under the flat into her bag, and slipped out.
He tightened his tie, gave himself one last scrutinising look in the mirror, grabbed the project dossier from the desk and drove off to the office. As chief executive of Whitaker & Co., a firm hed steered to market leadership in just a few years, his focus had to be absolute. He gave everything he hadevery spare minute, every ounce of energyto the business, convincing himself it was for her, for the cats, for the future. He didnt dislike cats; it was simply her hobby, which to him seemed pointless, a frivolous distraction he tolerated as one does a partners quirks.
When she tried to bring home the scruffy, fleacovered kittens from the cellar, he refused outright. Theres no point, hed mutter. Theyre a burden, not a benefit. He suggested a pedigree oriental cat as a compromisesomething with status. The basement cats, in his eyes, offered nothing. He was tired of explaining, and she was weary of trying.
—
Simple, scheduled, nothing special I should have been there with her! he replayed in his head a thousand times over the week. He imagined himself racing to the ward, tearing off his coat, clutching the white coat of the doctor, heart pounding as the surgeons eyes flicked to him. He pictured himself tearing the project plan to shreds, dropping to his knees beside her bed, forehead pressed to her hand, begging her to come back, to open her eyes, to say one word.
She stayed silent. Neither of them knew that a routine operation, an hour of anaesthetic, could spiral into a coma.
Were doing everything we can, the surgeon said, trying to keep calm.
Youre doing nothing! he snapped, helpless, paying for a private room with a thick stack of £ notes.
Theres a chance, we just have to wait, the nurse soothed.
Wheres that chance? he shouted down the corridor when, a week later, she still lay unresponsive.
He sought out the best specialists, filled the room with flowers, flooded his days with music and endless conversation. He stopped showing up at board meetings, just to be by her side whenever he could. He begged, promised, even threatened. In moments of frantic despair he kissed her, recalling the ridiculous fairytale of the sleeping beauty, and with each passing day the desperation grew, turning into a feral rage that smashed everything in its path. Chairs overturned, a vase shattered, his bag flung aside in a frenzy, its colourful catfood packets spilling across the floor. The cats never got fed. Those same useless felines, which had always earned his thinlyveiled disdain, now lay scattered among the chaos.
Damned fool! Lord, what a fool! he muttered, wishing he could turn back time, erase the mess with a wave of his hand. He would crawl on his knees, fetch every last cat, bring them home, love themanything, just to make it right.
The surge of adrenaline that had been driving him collapsed all at once. Exhausted, he knelt and, trembling, gathered the stray packets of food, preparing himself for the moment he would once again stand at the basement door.
—
This is called feline therapy, the doctor said, halfserious, watching as he hauled the sixth carrier into the ward. There are no recorded cases like ours, but
So well be pioneers, he croaked, releasing the cats from their cages.
Theyre hers. Shes the one Id give the world for. Just to tell her just to say his voice broke.
Ill inform the staff, the nurse replied.
Thank you. I should have done this sooner you understand?
Never lose hope. We all learn from our mistakes, remember that.
I wont forget I wont ever forget again.
—
The operation at noon. Simple, scheduled, an hour under anaesthetic, discharge the same day. She never pressed him to be there again. Yet now, watching him loosen his tie, toss the loosened knot aside, and, cursing under his breath, slip the sixth harness onto a reluctant, sprinting cat, a smile broke across his face. Her basement catsthose fleariddled strays that had been the weight of the year shed collapsed fromwere now being coaxed back to life.
Seven pairs of eyes drilled into him. Six relieved sighs fluttered just above a whisper, and one triumphant, joyous shriek that he would never forget.
Perhaps thats why, as she prepared to face the same ordeal once more, he felt no fear. He saw his exhausted husband, the fibres of his shirt still dusted with stray cat hair, looking at her with a reproachful grin, and his smile widened even further. He laughed openly at the passerbys bewildered looks. A man in an expensive suit, surrounded by six impeccably groomed, mixedbreed cats, each tugging a thin leash in a different direction, shouting Mew? down the streetan absurd sight for the fainthearted.
Operation. Simple. Scheduled. One hour under the mask, a few stitches, discharge the same day. And if you keep chewing everything in sight, next time youll be stuck at home! a gruff voice muttered from the hospital courtyard, the man surrounded by cats, a slightly chewed but still beautiful bouquet of roses resting on his knee.
He glanced at his watch, adjusted the six colourful leashes, made sure none of the harnesses were loose, then stared out at the ward windows where his wife was beginning to stir after the surgery. Soon theyd be allowed in. Hed finally be able to complain about the six tailwagging loafers who refused to listen to him without her. Hed tell her how much he loved her, how hed love her forever, even if she ever vanished for days in the cat sanctuary his company had funded months ago.
He knew her as a bit of a dreamer, but remembering that first day she opened her eyes, he realised there was nothing more important than her. Hed keep chasing those fleeting, reckless whims of hers, because as long as shes near, nothing else matters.
Always, while its still not too late.
