Puppy Love. Kelly Moran

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СКАЧАТЬ laughed for the first time all day and rubbed its head. “Modest, too. I think I shall call you Cutin. Get it? Combining cute and kitten? Cutin.”

      Mew.

      “You're right. They should take my man card on the spot.”

      Paws kneading, it settled into the crook of his arm and fell asleep.

      “I'll take that as a yes. Can I get you anything else? A beer perhaps?”

      It didn't respond. She. She didn't respond. He should stop calling her it.

      Shaking his head, he pulled a chart closer. His pager went off. He cursed. Just as he reached for it in his scrubs pocket, a pounding rattled the front door.

      He glanced at the kitten. “Today sucked.”

      She mewed sleepily to second the thought. Word! Try having my day.

      Rising, he settled Cutin on a pillow in a box on an office chair and checked the pager as he walked to the front door. The banging intensified. He didn't recognize the number, but the woman standing outside the clinic was Justine something-or-other, who owned a resale shop down the street.

      He unlocked the door and held it open. At least the snow had stopped. “Was it you who paged me?”

      She rushed inside, followed by a woman he didn't know, and a little girl about eight. “Yes, I paged.” Justine pushed dark, windblown hair out of her face.

      He closed and relocked the door against the biting airstream coming down off the mountain.

      The other woman held out her arms. Inside a knit scarf was a puppy.

      Cade looked down at all the blood on the girl's pink coat. Shit. Kicked into action, he motioned for them to follow. “This way.”

      “I'm going to wait out here in the lobby,” Justine said, her face a suspicious shade of green. “All that medical stuff… I'll be good out here.” She sat down hard to emphasize her point.

      Inside an exam room, he donned gloves, turned, and reached for the animal. “What happened?”

      “I'm not sure. Hailey found it in the snow about thirty minutes ago.” Her voice was hurried, but calm, not showing any signs she was unnerved by all the blood.

      Gingerly, he set the puppy on the table and unwrapped the scarf, taking stock of the situation. Yellow lab. Male. Eyes barely open. Lethargic. Underweight. About five or six weeks old. Trembling. Leg severed below the knee. Wound clotting and not actively bleeding.

      Son of a bitch.

      Biting the inside of his cheek, he forced himself to look at the woman. “Come over here and stand by the table while I get supplies please.”

      Dark, cocoa eyes widened at his harsh tone. She turned to the girl. “Can you sit in the chair, sweetie? I'm going to be right over here.”

      The girl didn't answer, instead fidgeting and avoiding eye contact. After a moment, she settled into a corner chair. She was probably in shock, too.

      When the woman sidled up to the exam table, Cade moved away, grabbing a saline IV bag and heating it in the microwave. Pulling out a warming blanket, he plugged it in and slid it under the puppy, then wrapped it around his back. Snatching an otoscope from his pocket, he leaned over to look in the dog's ears.

      “How long was he outside?”

      She shifted on her feet, and the scent of something fruity wafted in the space between them. Berries of some kind. “I don't know. We—”

      “You don't know,” he repeated dully and checked the puppy's mouth. Gums were pale, but the teeth were fine.

      He inserted a thermometer for a rectal temp and eyed the woman. Though he didn't know everyone in Redwood Ridge, she certainly wasn't familiar. She had a pretty, chubby face, and wavy brown hair that trailed to her shoulders under a knit hat. They were close in age, perhaps late twenties if he had to guess. She was biting her red lips to the point of swelling.

      Good. She should feel guilty. Leaving a new pet outside, unattended, was reprehensible. Plus, the puppy showed signs of neglect. By the look of his leg, he had probably been caught in a bear trap. Since they'd come in with Justine, he could only assume she was an idiot tourist renting one of the cabins who didn't know how dangerous the mountain—or what wildlife that came down the mountain—could be.

      “Is he up to date on shots? Any other conditions?”

      “I'm not sure. It's not—”

      “Is there anything you do know?” he barked.

      She closed her mouth and turned her head to check on her daughter, who was now staring at the ceiling.

      Guilt for his tone rose in his gut but, dammit, neglecting a dog was lower than pond scum. He'd seen it so many damn times. People got a pet because it was adorable or they were lonely and had no idea how much responsibility went into having one. Then they'd go abandoned or to a shelter, forgotten.

      He was sick of tourists, too. One of the clinic pets was a result of an idiot tourist who didn't bother to return to pick up their one-year-old Great Dane after he'd broken a leg.

      People really sucked.

      As the youngest of the three O'Grady men, Cade was the affable one. He was generally good with pet owners and could laugh himself out of a bad mood. Today, not so much. He'd had to euthanize old man Kiser's hound dog, the first client he ever had as a vet, lost a two-year-old retriever to a bowel obstruction, and found a box of dead kittens by the back door. Well, all dead but one.

      So today? Today blew. He had no patience left in reserve, especially not for a woman who probably just broke her daughter's heart by putting their pet at risk.

      Removing the thermometer, he noted the temp was low, but not nearly as down as he'd figured. He shoved the buds of his stethoscope in his ears and listened to his heart, lungs and abdomen. Nothing worrisome. BP was good, too. The little guy lifted his head and whimpered when he tried to better examine the leg.

      “I know, little guy. It hurts, huh? I'll getcha something for that in a moment.”

      The wound had clotted, and though it didn't look infected, the puppy would need surgery to amputate the rest of the leg at the hip joint. First, he had to make sure the animal stayed stable to get an IV into him for fluids and antibiotics.

      Straightening, Cade crossed his arms and faced the woman. “He's in decent condition for now, which is shocking. Vitals are a little low, but good. If he's doing this well in a couple hours, we'll do surgery to remove the rest of the leg. He'll need to stay a few nights for monitoring.”

      Cade paused, waiting for her to say something. When she just stared at him with a cross between worry and confusion, he shook his head. “This is going to be expensive, ma'am.”

      Not that he cared. If she walked out and left the dog, he'd still do what he could to save him. He'd eat the cost. Once the puppy was well again, Cade would try to adopt him out or they'd keep him for a clinic pet. Either way, he wasn't euthanizing an animal just because the leg was shot. Not unless there was no СКАЧАТЬ