Brokenheart

Our much loved Ernie rabbit is very sick. We spent last night nursing him, and weren't sure he'd still be with us by morning. He just about is, though he'd barely moved overnight. Mrs Bert knows something isn't right, she moved the food I tried to offer him away from him and pushed more hay round him, then sat between him and I. Once she'd stepped back, I picked Ernie up and took him inside as Katie said "I wish he could sit with me". She cuddled him for over an hour and he just snuggled right into her. I thought he'd gone a couple of times, but he wiggled slightly. I have told her he's very sick and probably is quite likely to die. But she said "on Sunday, can he be inside with us too?" She took it badly when I had to explain to her that I wasn't sure he'd be with us on Sunday anymore. She laid him on a cushion beside her, a blanket over his body, as she ate her breakfast. He didn't move. I decided it was probably distressing Mrs Bert to not have him, so I took him back outside. He snuggled back down in the nest of hay and she pushed more around him. As Katie was off getting dressed, I looked out and he was outside the hutch, sniffing at the food. I mistakenly thought he was eating but he was very soon back to laid in the hutch, looking as sick as previously. I wish Katie hadn't run back in and seen it, she's struggling with the uncertainty. 

 There were more tears on the bike on the way to school. "I'm very concerned he might die when I'm at school. And you're at work, so you won't know". One of the last things she said before I dropped her off was "Mummy, it would be much better if Ernie wasn't sick and didn't die".

He seemed to perk up in the afternoon. He definitely ate. He snuggled Mrs Bert, he came in and out the hutch a few times. It seemed to quickly wear him out, but it looked a little more promising by her bedtime. He was looking tired by mine and was snuggled up with Mrs Bert.