He then opened the panting cat’s mouth. Its tongue and gums were pale. It was his first time seeing a cat with such pale gums. The cats in the animal hospital always had pink gums.

“You said it was limping, was it its hind legs? Did it seem to drag its legs as it walked?”
“Yes, how did you know?”
“The paw pads are purple…”
Eun Woo’s words were infused with a slight sigh. After listening to its heartbeat and measuring its temperature, he gently stroked the cat.

“I need to take an xray and do a heart ultrasound to know for sure, but from its current state, it looks like complications due to myocardial disease.”
“Myocardial disease…? Are you saying our Sori has a bad heart?”
In response to the guardian’s trembling question, Dr. Ok nodded.

“Yes. The heart muscle has thickened so it can’t pump properly. The blood is supposed to circulate throughout the body, but it can’t, and that’s how these complications arise.”
“I thought… it was limping… I thought it was panting because its leg hurt. Because it was in pain…”
Dr. Ok carefully and slowly explained to the guardian who seemed on the verge of tears.

“When the heart enlarges and can’t function properly, blood pools and causes clots. In cats, it’s common for clots to block the hind legs, rendering them unable to function.”
Unusually for Eun Woo, his complexion darkened. Worry creased his thinly opened eyes. Even though she had watched Dr. Ok closely every day, Seol Hee had never seen him wear this expression.

It must be very serious. If even blunt Dr. Ok was like this. Seol Hee’s fist tightened at her side. Eun Woo looked at the cat, then at the guardian, and carefully chose his words.

“But, the situation is critical now. The pulmonary artery pressure has increased and pulmonary edema has formed, making it difficult to breathe…”
“…”
“Should I conduct more tests, would that be okay?”
The guardian nodded. There was desperation in their eyes.

It seemed they had raised the cat like their own child. Seeing it suffer so much hurt. Well, Seol Hee hadn’t known Gom Gom for long, but she felt like she couldn’t bear it if Gom Gom was sick.

“Just… please make it not hurt… I don’t mind if it costs a lot. Anything is fine.”
“Please wait in the waiting room for a moment. I’ll update you on the situation.”
As the guardian stood to leave, they looked into Dr. Ok’s eyes and asked,

“Is it in a very dangerous condition?”
Dr. Ok momentarily lost his words.

He seemed to be choosing what to say. From Dr. Ok’s careful expression, Seol Hee guessed it would be difficult.

Usually, unless the condition wasn’t too serious, Dr. Ok would firmly ask for their trust.

“Don’t worry too much. The guardian needs to stay strong.”
This was Dr. Ok’s trademark way of speaking to guardians. Although Eun Woo was notoriously scary, often making Seol Hee tremble, he was known to be a kind veterinarian to his patients.

But now he wore a face of uncertainty. This was the first time Seol Hee had seen him like this. The prognosis might not be good.

“Do you mean, I might need to prepare myself?”
“Yes.”

The guardian bit their lip at Teacher Ok’s cautious reply.

“We will still do our best. Please wait in the waiting room for a while.”
The manager hurriedly came to support the guardian who was shaken by sorrow, and led them out. As soon as they left, Teacher Ok quickly held the cat, checked the cardiac ultrasound, and measured the oxygen saturation. The cat, So Ri, was still panting.

“Please measure So Ri’s body temperature and respiration rate.”
“Yes, Teacher.”
Following Eun Woo’s instructions, Seol Hee measured So Ri’s body temperature as she had learned recently.

35 degrees.

Thinking she might have measured it wrong, she measured it again.

34.9 degrees.

It was at the same level. So far, Seol Hee had never measured a cat’s body temperature below 37 degrees. The average body temperature of a cat is between 37.5 and 39 degrees.

I must have measured it wrong.

Even if she got scolded by Eun Woo for making such a mistake at a busy time, she hoped she was wrong.

“Teacher Ok, I’m sorry. The temperature seems strange.”
At Seol Hee’s words, Teacher Ok, who was giving an injection to So Ri, raised his eyes. But Eun Woo was not surprised.

“Is it low?”
At the words that seemed to have been anticipated, Seol Hee nodded her head.

“I thought it would be low because not only her paralyzed hind legs but also her whole body is cold…… How low is it?”
“35 degrees.”
“That’s bad. What’s the respiration rate?”
“60.”
“Can you put her in the oxygen room with a hot water bag to warm her up, So Ri?”
“Yes, I understand.”
As instructed by Teacher Ok, she quickly ran to put hot water in a water bag and put it in the oxygen room with So Ri. So Ri, who had just opened her eyes a little while ago, was not opening her eyes, whether she was exhausted or sleepy. Teacher Ok sighed.

“Sigh.”

The sound that Seol Hee hated the most in the world was his nagging, but the sigh hurt her heart more.

“Is it that bad?”
At Seol Hee’s question, he nodded.

“Her heart is so hypertrophied that it’s difficult. It’s almost nonfunctional. Metabolic function has also dropped too much. Even if we overcome this crisis……”
It’s hard to last long.

Seol Hee detected the words he couldn’t say in full.

“I should talk to the guardian a little.”
Seol Hee also followed Teacher Ok who was going out to the waiting room.

In the patient waiting room where no one was due to the rain, the guardian was sitting alone. Hunched over as forlorn as a cat in the rain.

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