Page 70 of The Don
“Yep. We have more animals that are either being trained, or are being treated.”
“Trained?” Eliza asks. Her brows furrow and she reaches for my hand.
“Yes, of course. We couldn’t have lions that have lived a life in the wild just put into a pen and expect them to know how to behave. You can imagine at any one time we might have thousands of people come through the gates, and most of those people have young children. The animals would go into a state of shock if they’ve never been exposed to the overwhelming screams and cries of kids.”
Eliza is invested in the tutorial and nods. “That makes sense.”
“Wherever we have space, we have animals. Even the offices have enclosures. Mostly reptiles.”
“Wow.” Eliza looks to me with a wide smile.
“We have a team of vets who all are trained for different types of animals. We actually rescued two turtles who were in complete distress. But the thing about turtles is they don’t show their stress until they feel safe, then they allow their trauma to come through. Usually in the form of shell rot.”
“Shell rot? What’s that?” I couldn’t give a shit about any of this, but I’m not here for me. I’m here for my woman. If she has a thousand questions, then she can ask them.
“The shell of a turtle is obviously its home, and it begins to crack and rot.”
“Does it take long for them to recover?”
“It’s a lengthy process to help them clear it. So, it can. We also have a snake that was surrendered to us in extremely bad shape.”
“How so?” Eliza asks.
“He had a hole in his head.”
“A hole? How?”
“It’s actually quite a sad story. The parents had bought their terminal son a snake because he wanted one as a pet, and when he died, they neglected the snake. They didn’t feed him for a year, and the snake was dying slowly and painfully. They called us and asked if we wanted him. So, we took him and have been nursing him back to health.”
“I don’t like snakes,” Eliza says. “But, that’s horrible. Although the parents must’ve been heartbroken with losing their son.”
“Doctor John went to collect the snake and he said the parents were still grieving and so ashamed for having neglected the snake. Rest assured, the snake has put on weight and with proper treatment, the hole in his head is getting better. But, he’s not ready to go out for people to see him yet.”
Fucking snakes.
With each lesson on animals as we walk through the different worlds within the zoo, Eliza is completely at ease and comfortable. She’s talking and asking so many questions about the animals. It appears that Eliza is in her element, and I love seeing her like this.
“And so the first part of the evening is done, I’ll hand you over to Cherise and her team,” Lucy says as she steps back. “I’ll be back once you’re done to continue with the rest of the zoo experience.”
“What’s happening?” Eliza whispers.
“Mr. and Mrs. Sacco, this way please.” Cherise guides us toward an opening where a table is set up, complete with candles burning. We are among the enclosures of animals.
I lead Eliza over to the table and pull her seat out. “Is this for real?” she asks as she looks around with a beaming smile.
I sit opposite her and take her hands in mine. “Are you enjoying your birthday?”
“Are you even real?” My woman looks around, her face completely lit up. “This is the most surreal thing to ever happen.” Her eyes redden as she stares at me. “I don’t deserve this, Ruben.”
“You certainly do, and much more.”
“The first course for tonight is homemade beef tortellini with a red wine reduction,” Cherise announces as a server places a plate down for Eliza, then one in front of me.
“Thank you,” Eliza says and blinks rapidly. Cherise leaves and Eliza lifts her chin. “I can’t believe you did this for me.”
“Well I did,” I say.
“Are you sure this is okay?” Eliza leans over and whispers. “We’re the only ones at the zoo, and that has to have cost a fortune.”