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The way she said it sounded a little funny to him, or maybe he was just stressed and needed a relief, because she made him laugh.
She sent a quick text, then aimed the flashlight of her phone back at the kitty, who was crying again.
“It sounds terrible,” he said, wishing for the millionth time that there was something he could do to fix it.
“I know. I think once we get the kitten out though, she’ll be fine.”
“I hope so.”
She nodded, then gave him the phone. “Do you mind holding this?”
“Not at all.” He felt he would rather have something to do, although he was happy that it wasn’t anything that was a life-or-death thing.
“All right. The next time I can see her pushing, I’m going to try to tug gently. Not hard. I don’t want to pull too hard.”
She was mumbling to herself, and he found himself nodding in agreement. She didn’t want to pull too hard and...pull the head off? He didn’t even want to go there. But he appreciated her being careful.
“All right. She’s pushing.” Eleanor seemed to need to talk in order to psych herself into helping or something. He wasn’t sure what, but after she said that, she shifted the kitten’s head first one way and then the other as though she were trying to find a good position for it to slide out.
The cat howled and stood up.
“Do you want me to hold her down?” he asked, hoping she declined his offer.
“Let’s try a couple more times. She’ll settle back down. I think the kitten slid just a little bit. I could be wrong, but I thought I felt it.”
“All right.” He tried not to sound as relieved as he felt.
He could only imagine how Eleanor must feel. But she seemed rather cool and collected. Which he had to admit was impressive. If he had to touch the kitten, he thought he might be panicking. Especially when the cat howled and jumped up.
“At least she didn’t run away,” Eleanor murmured as the cat settled back down, making noises in the back of her throat.
“And she’s sniffing the other one. Looks like she’ll take it if she can.” He’d heard that animals sometimes rejected their babies. He didn’t know if that was applicable to cats or not, but he supposed it could be. He wouldn’t want to have anything to do with something that was causing him so much pain.
As the cat settled down, her sides heaved again. Eleanor put one hand on her head, stroking gently, and used her other hand to carefully pull the kitten, tugging it one way and then another, as though trying to slip it out by angling it a little bit. It was wise, rather than just trying to pull it straight out, and he thought it worked, even though the cat’s howls made it sound like she was torturing her.
The cat jumped up and walked around again, her tail swishing in jerky motions, the kitten hanging half out.
“I think we’ll have it with another push,” Eleanor said, and she sounded worried and anxious.
“It’s definitely out a little more than what it was.”
“It’s so big.”
They were both quiet while the cat, still making noises, settled back down, although she was obviously in distress and anxious.
Eleanor put her hand back on the cat’s head, stroking gently, which seemed to calm her a bit.
Not that Franklin was any great judge of cats and their emotions.
The cat’s sides lifted up, and Eleanor didn’t say anything this time, stroking the cat with one hand and doing her gentle angling tugs with the other.
The cat howled and stood, and the kitten slipped out.
It didn’t move.
Franklin’s heart was in his throat as he watched carefully, hoping that it just needed a moment to lie there and recover, and it would gasp for breath and start to meow. Or make the little mewing sounds the other kitten was making.
It felt like forever. Eleanor’s finger touched it, stroking gently, massaging its side. It shuddered, then its mouth opened and closed and its side went up and down.
