Geno Lucaino's Arc

Chapter 1 of 4

Geno opened the clinic door at dawn, same as every morning, and found the yard empty except for the sparrows. He carried his grandmother's pocket watch in his left vest pocket, where it had lived for three years now, pressed against his ribs like a promise he hadn't earned yet. But an hour later, a woman appeared at the gate with blood on her shirt and a cat limp in her arms. Her hands shook so hard the animal nearly slipped. Geno held the gate open and watched her cross the garden path between the pepper trees and snapdragons without saying a word. She looked at him once, eyes red, and he knew she'd been awake all night. He cleared the metal examination table with one hand and guided the cat down with the other. The woman stepped back but didn't let go of the fabric she'd wrapped around its hind leg. Geno worked the cloth free, finger by finger, until she finally opened her hands. The cat's breathing came shallow and quick. Geno pressed his thumb against the watch through his vest, then pulled his hand away and reached for his instruments instead. The woman stood against the wall and watched him set the bone and stitch the torn skin. She didn't ask questions. When he finished, she nodded once and touched the cat's ear. Geno told her to come back in three days. She left a coin on the table and walked out through the garden gate, and Geno stood alone in his clinic with the cat sleeping under a clean blanket and the watch still warm against his chest.