Free Connections by Jacqueline Wein

playfully caressed Fibber’s ear. “For an old man, you’re okay.” While he studied the chart, Fibber’s paws slid back and forth on the steel table, trying to get off. “It’s okay; let him down. I’d say he’s in very good health for eleven. But I want you to keep him on the pills. They help his breathing and take the strain off the heart.” He made some notations while Eileen sighed with relief.
    “Oh, if it’s all the same to you,” she said, “could you give me a prescription? I go to this discount—”
    “Sure.”
    There was no point in paying top price for the pills just because he had them right here when she could get a senior-citizen discount from the drugstore. Eileen Hargan felt absolutely justified in sending the receipt to her supplemental insurance company with her others. It would be different if she sent Dr. Pomalee’s bill to Medicare. That would really be cheating. Besides, she was afraid she would lose all her benefits if they ever found out.

Chapter 22
    Laurie Jensen passed the bill to Eileen Hargan. Then she typed something into the computer, put the printout in the folder, and stacked it on Stacy’s desk to be re-filed. She pointed to the sign over the desk to remind Ms. Hargan that it was called Manhattan Veterinary Associates, Inc. Some of the older patients still wrote “Hospital” and then either had to void their checks or correct them. “You know, we take MasterCard and VISA if you want to charge the visit.”
    “No, no. I don’t like running up bills. Is there anything you can’t charge these days?”
    Laurie waited patiently while the woman entered the check on her stub. Actually, this was a nice break in her day; the girl who usually relieved Stacy was out sick, so she was filling in. She didn’t often get to come downstairs and talk to the patients. She remembered Ms. Hargan from the first week she started working here. Laurie had changed in the past ten years; the business had changed. But Ms. Hargan looked exactly the same. Pert and petite, her snow-white hair was crisp and bouncy, except for the scalp shining through on top. Even her dog looked the same, although he had been only a puppy back then.
    “It’s gone up, hasn’t it?” Ms. Hargan asked.
    “No, I think it was sixty-five dollars the last time you were here too.” Laurie leaned over to check the screen to make sure she was right. “And don’t forget we have to add the heartworm pills. Enough for the season.”
    It was hard for some of the elderly patients to pay. Laurie felt guilty for not mentioning that if it was really a hardship, they would accept less. If she did tell Ms. Hargan, though, it might embarrass the old woman. God, she was wearing a dress that had to be thirty years old. Although she was trim and neat and her clothes fit her body perfectly, Laurie thought she probably hadn’t bought anything new in decades.
    It wasn’t a standard procedure, but they did it for some of the long-time patients, and Eileen Hargan had been with them for a long time. Dr. Pomalee hadn’t been in practice very long then. He’s changed too , Laurie thought. He seemed to have shrunk a little from the six-foot-four height that had awed her in the beginning. His hairline had definitely receded. But two wives later, he was still as handsome as ever.
    When Laurie first met him, he had just bought the brownstone, lived above the office, and rented out the top two floors. He was delighted to learn she had just gotten her certification after finishing her two-year veterinary technician course at La Guardia and was waiting for her state license. He hired her on the spot. She assisted him in surgery, gave the medicated baths, answered the phone, administered injections, kept the appointment book, ordered the supplies, fed the boarders, and balanced the books. And in her spare time, she cleaned out the cages. She had come a long way, baby. She and Dr. Pomalee both had.
    He recently had taken in two associates and