Serpentina's Story

Good-byes Are Never Easy

While Dr. Tse carried out her thorough examination of the small patient, I casually chatted away to fill her in on what had transpired regarding her 'favourite patient' during these last few weeks, reasoning that if I deluged the doc with enough details about Tiny, then perhaps something would assist her in formulating an accurate diagnosis. Eventually I mentioned Nexivena's strange visit and peculiar activities around that area of my garden where I'd discovered the strange little creature.

As soon as I said Nexivena, the doctor immediately stopped what she was doing, looked up at me and then with obvious curiosity, asked, "By any chance was a Mr. Robert Jones one of those visitors?"

"Yes!" astounded by her startling question and immediately shot back, "Why?"

"What day was that?" rather than provide an explanation.

Surprised by her unusual inquiry about the date but now wondering if we had notes we could compare, I confirmed, "September 26th."

"Would you recognize Mr. Jones if you saw him again?" betraying some agitation.

"Why?"

As she returned her attention to her still sedated but now stirring patient, Dr. Tse recounted to me in interrupted bits that Mr. Jones had indeed visited the clinic on that same date.

"He rushed in and brashly demanded a 'drop-what-you're doing' emergency examination of his ailing dog that was supposedly outside in his van, but he seemed far more interested in questioning my receptionist."

"Questions about what?" I interrupted.

Without addressing my question and perhaps to allay my concerns, she further detailed, "Kay, my receptionist, refused to answer any of his questions. Instead, she instructed him to bring his dog inside for a quick assessment first because we were very busy... of course you know what Kay's like... he rushed out but never came back with his dog."

"What exactly did he want to know?" the mystery was deepening.

"He wanted to know if any pets had been recently brought in with snake bites." she revealed.

To hold my interfering roiling emotions in check I took a slow deep breath to collect my thoughts and then deduced, "Then I take it that you never got to see Jones."

"That's right."

"Believe me. You didn't miss anything." making no effort to hide my increasing dislike of Mr. Jones.

"Two nights later I had a break-in here." Dr. Tse revealed.

"Was anything missing?" alarmed and instantly assumed that some medical record about Tiny had been stolen.

"You needn't worry about that." the doc confirmed with a reassuring smile, clearly having understood my angst.

True to her word Dr. Tse hadn't kept any details whatsoever about this special little patient. I possessed the only file, and I'd brought it along with me.

"Strange though... nothing appears to have been disturbed or taken." seeming to be unsettled by this particular aspect.

"That is strange." I concurred.

"The police believe the intruder may have been after narcotics kept in the clinic but was unable to open the safe where they're secured." she detailed.

"You keep narcotics here?" astonished by her disclosure.

"What do you think some of those anesthetics and sedatives for patient treatments are made with?"

Regardless, Dr. Tse didn't sound convinced when recounting the police theory, so I prodded, "But you don't think they were right."

Instead of answering, she disclosed, "An image was taken when the suspect forced open the front door."