Focus on this part right here

“Good evening, Mrs. Leona,” Dr. Reid said.

“Good evening, Dr. Reid. Thank you for coming on such short notice,” Mom answered.

“It’s no problem. I try to leave my schedule open when my patients are casting spells,” he said.

“Our daughter is in the living room. I suppose you’d rather she explain things,” she said.

“Of course. Please, lead the way,” he said. A few moments later, I saw the two of them walk into the room. Mom sat next to me, so that I was between both parents, and Dr. Reid moved a chair and sat across from me.

“Hello, Nicole,” he said, gaining my attention. He had never called me Nicole before.

“Hi, Dr. Reid,” I said, looking down.

“First, I want to say that I am not upset with you. Accidents happen to the best of us, especially with spells this sensitive,” he started, “I want you to tell me what happened.”

I looked back up. “I spent some time with my neighbor’s cat, Laura, before coming home today. My clothes were covered in her fur. When I was preparing the components, I noticed that two or three silvery hairs were mixed with Dad’s. They looked like grey hairs, so I disregarded them… but they were actually Laura’s.”

“I see. What color fur did Laura have?” he asked.

I held a lock of hair up with my hand. “The same color as my hair.”

“So you’ve mixed your DNA with this Laura,” he said. I nodded. “What feline features have you developed?”

“My ears, eyes, teeth, and a tail. I haven’t looked under the gown yet, but I don’t think I’ve grown fur anywhere but my ears and tail,” I explained.

“May I see your hand, please?” he asked. I extended my arm out as he began to examine my fingernails. He tapped a couple of them with his own, as well as with a small metal utensil. Finally, he gently attempted to bend one of them back. I braced for pain, but the nail didn’t budge.

“Your nails are harder than they were, but they aren’t claws. Be careful, though; you can hurt someone if they grow long,” he said.

I was glad that I didn’t have claws. I didn’t want to be able to accidentally hurt someone with a misplaced flex of my hands. “Is this… permanent?” I asked.

Dr. Reid took some components out of the bag he came in with and spoke a short incantation. A glow surrounded his hand and enveloped me for a moment. He frowned when it was finished.

“I’m sorry, Nicole. This is your natural form now,” he said.

“You can’t remove the cat DNA?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“You know as well as I do that such operations are successful about 4 times out of every 100. Failure could kill you or make you look more like an animal. You’ve changed so little that I’d suggest you learn to live with your new features,” he explained.

I frowned. “So there’s nothing we can do?”