Treading Water Read Online Free Page A

special permission from the school?”
    Sunita leads the way to the recovery room. “I think you would.”
    â€œBut I bet the students would love him,” I suggest. How could they not?
    I can hear the ducklings as soon as we enter. We head to the back corner and the glow of the heat lamps. In the first box, the ducklings drink and peep and move around a lot more than they did yesterday, their webbed feet kicking up the pine shavings in the bottom of the box.
    â€œDr. Mac and I switched out the towel for the shavings,” Sunita says. It’s like she read my mind. “Dr. Mac said she went through seven towels last night and early this morning.”
    â€œThat’s because ducks poop every fifteen minutes,” I tell her. “They’re pretty messy animals. I researched with my mom last night. They’ve cared for ducks before, but it’s been a while. I brought my findings to share with everyone today.” I wave the paper I have folded up in my hand. Sunita nods. We look in the second box.
    The lone duckling doesn’t look any better. In fact, I think it looks worse. I don’t see any shavings beneath it, just a towel like we used yesterday afternoon.
    â€œWhy didn’t you switch this one to shavings?” I ask Sunita.
    â€œBecause he’s stayed pretty dry. Hardly any pee or poo. Dr. Mac is worried about that,” Sunita tells me. “She says it means he’s not eating or drinking enough.”
    Sunita checks the chart hanging from the table ledge. We can see that the three ducklings are eating and drinking pretty well. We can also see that the lone duckling received a syringe of water from Dr. Mac a half hour ago. If they poop every fifteen minutes, there ought to be some evidence of it on that towel. Sunita and I look at each other. She doesn’t look hopeful. And I don’t feel it.
    Someone is knocking on the clinic’s glass door. I hope it’s our friends and not an emergency pet problem. Sunita and I go back out front. David is horsing around with Josh. We let them in and Josh’s twin sister, Jules, follows behind. She nods her head in the direction of the boys and rolls her eyes. David and Josh together can be a lot of fun. But they can also be a pain. Sometimes David, especially, has a hard time knowing when to get serious about things.
    Jules pats my shoulder as she walks by, “Just wait till you see what they’ve come up with this morning.”
    Sunita raises an eyebrow. She relocks the door. Dr. Gabe, if and when he gets here, has his own key. And the rest of our group will arrive from the back, through the long hall that leads to Maggie, Zoe, and Dr. Mac’s home. We gather in the waiting room and wait. I take a candid picture of Josh and David fist bumping. When I try to do the same of Sunita and Jules, Sunita ducks and Jules puts on a cheesy smile. That won’t be a good shot.
    The dogs arrive first. Maggie’s old hound, Sherlock, paddles in, followed by Zoe’s peppier, sweet mutt, Sneakers.
    I hear Zoe before I see her.
    â€œHow will you ever know if you like parsley breakfast shakes if you never try them?” Zoe asks.
    â€œI’m not drinking anything green,” Maggie says to Zoe before sitting down on a couch and waving to me. Zoe sits beside Maggie and shakes her head. I take a quick photo of them.
    â€œI put pears in there, too, you know. And you like pears,” Zoe insists.
    â€œYeah and I like Pop-Tarts better.” Maggie’s tone seems to signal the end of the discussion.
    â€œGood morning, everyone,” Dr. Mac greets us. Even though she is Maggie and Zoe’s grandmother, she sure doesn’t seem like a grandma. Dr. Mac doesn’t look or act old like a lot of grandmothers do. I’ve seen her lift heavy animals. I’ve seen her climb fences. And she can run fast when she has to. Dr. Mac is pretty cool. I hope I’m like that when I’m her