Left Behind by Laurie Halse Anderson Page B

face—Dr. Mac asks Brenna, Maggie, and me to meet her in the recovery room.
    This time, both the Jack Russell and the puppy are napping. Dr. Mac sets up three folding chairs. Brenna and I each sit down in one. Maggie climbsup on a high stool instead and swivels back and forth. Dr. Mac eyes her but doesn’t ask her to stop.
    â€œGirls, this was not the way I intended for you to meet Melissa,” Dr. Mac says with a big sigh. “She was supposed to start next week, and I was going to formally introduce her to all of the Vet Volunteers together before then. Fortunately, she stopped by today, or we would have been in real trouble with those huskies.”
    â€œWe could have handled them fine without her,” Maggie says. “We’ve had lots of emergencies before. We’ve always done okay.”
    â€œIt’s true,” Dr. Mac says. “In the past, we’ve managed. But I’m sure you’ve all seen how busy we are getting, too busy for Dr. Gabe and me to handle with just our wonderful volunteers.”
    Maggie makes a huffing sound as she continues to swivel. Dr. Mac ignores it. But it’s awkward. Again, I wish I wasn’t here right now. I wish Dr. Mac and Maggie could work this out without us around. Or at least without me around. Brenna doesn’t look as uncomfortable as I feel.
    â€œAs some of you may have heard, Dr. Foster is retiring,” Dr. Mac says.
    Brenna shoots Maggie a look at the word retire. She told us he had to sell his practice. I guess, in a sense, he is retiring.
    â€œIn fact, Melissa is coming to us from Dr. Foster’s office. She’ll continue to work for Dr. Foster for the next few months—just a couple days a week—until he closes his practice. Then she’ll come to work for us full-time. Until then, she’ll be here three days a week.”
    Dr. Mac continues, “We will very likely be taking on many of his patient families. I wouldn’t be surprised if we need to hire an additional vet and another vet tech besides Melissa.”
    Maggie stops swiveling.
    Dr. Mac looks at Brenna, then Maggie, and finally at me before she says, “All of you are busier now than you used to be. You are involved in clubs at school and in sports, and that’s just going to increase as you move toward high school. None of you has the time to give that you used to. And that is just fine. More than fine, actually. You’re doing exactly what you should be doing at your age—checking out all sorts of possibilities.”
    Brenna shifts in her chair. I can tell she knows that Dr. Mac is absolutely right about this. I can’t tell what Maggie is thinking. She still seems angry in the way she holds her shoulders and the way she swivels that chair. And me? What do I think? I know we’re busier than ever at the clinic. Brenna is probably the busiest person I know. She has somany interests: the wildlife rehab center, photography, sports, the environment. All of Brenna’s interests seem to involve teams or clubs. Maggie has basketball—and maybe now cross-country—besides the clinic. David has a lot going on at school, and he also has his horses and all their competitions. Josh and Jules are a year younger than the rest of us, but they’re just as busy helping out at their parents’ hardware store when they’re not at school or here at the clinic. But I don’t feel like I’m that busy. I have my family, school, and this clinic. Everyone else seems to be doing new things, adding activities, and leaving the clinic—or maybe leaving me—behind a little.
    Dr. Mac goes on, “I want to assure you that I would love to keep all of our Vet Volunteers. We need you now more than ever, and we hope you’ll all continue to spend time here. But we’ll understand if, at some point, you don’t have time for us. That will be okay, too.”
    Maggie lets out an exasperated breath, almost as if