Chapter Three
Member of the Family
The county road was darker than the blackest ink.
Only a few people used this side artery that led out of town and onto the main highway.
I drove past rows of ponderosa trees lining the old lane.
Bryce stayed right on my bumper, his headlights seeping through the back window of my truck like dwindling candlelight.
From the cursory exam I’d done at Clo’s, it was clear Indy was in bad shape. Once I explained the situation to my grandmother and Lia, asked them to apologize to Aster for me, I told Bryce to follow me to my clinic.
Ten minutes later we sped past a large sign on the side of the road.
Carved into the wood were the words Harvest Moon Animal Clinic, Dani McGuire, DVM.
I turned at a small lane you’d miss if you didn’t know where you were going.
Fifty yards ahead sat what used to be the county firehouse.
My sisters thought I was losing it when I bought one of the oldest buildings in town, but the A-frame structure built from wood milled from our local trees had been one of my favorites since childhood.
The minute I heard it was on the market, I raced to the realty office to put in a bid.
Luckily, no one had as much as glanced at the building in two years, and it became mine without too much trouble.
The scent of wet animal and disinfectant hit me as I walked through the solid oak door with Flora trotting beside me.
It’d been seven years since I took ownership of the space, and although it was a lot of work to turn it into my clinic, it was worth it.
The warm wood interior and twenty-five-foot pitched roof were breathtaking, but the real reason I loved the place was the square footage, which allowed me to build out three full exam rooms, a single surgery space and a closed-off area to house my X-ray machine.
The firefighters’ sleeping quarters on the upper floor became my private apartment.
Bryce rushed up behind me with Indy limp in his arms. We walked past the semi-circle reception desk, and the small waiting area with a half dozen plastic chairs. I pushed through the door separating the clinic from the public space and headed down a short hall, turning into one of the exam rooms.
Bryce placed Indy on the rectangular steel table. Flora lay on a dog bed in the corner, her worried gaze glued to her new friend.
That stinging electrical zap shot through my body as I ran my hands from Indy’s neck down the length of his body. My senses could tell me this dog was sick, but it could never replace the important steps used to figure out a full diagnosis.
My fingers glided through his fur, not detecting any odd lumps or bumps.
Bryce stood frozen, his gaze tracking my movements.
I gripped Indy’s muzzle, prying open his mouth to discover his gums were close to white.
When I pressed my stethoscope to his chest, his elevated heart rate warned I needed to figure out what was happening quickly.
I ran the symptoms through my head. My first thought was some kind of poisoning, especially with the vomiting and incontinence.
Bryce laid his hands on top of his head. His shoulders quaked as Indy stayed still.
‘Has he had these symptoms before?’ I said.
‘Never. Besides being neutered, he’s only had to go to the vet for his shots.’
Indy stayed still on the table, drool pooling around his mouth.
‘Did you feed him anything out of the ordinary today?’
‘No, but I was searching those woods for him for over thirty minutes until I found you. He could have eaten anything.’
I bit back another lecture about Indy being in the woods without a leash because the terror in Bryce’s eyes was too much.
‘We need to start with fluids. Can you hold him?’
He replied with a weak ‘Yes.’
I moved around the room, pulling out a syringe, electric clippers and an IV bag.
‘Keep your arms around him. I’m going to shave down the hair on his left paw and insert a line for fluids. In his state I don’t think he’ll move, but it’s better to be safe than sorry.’
Bryce circled Indy in his arms while I went to work. Once the fluids were on board, I said, ‘My instincts say this is a reaction to something he’s ingested, but let’s rule out that he does not have any kind of obstruction.’
‘What does that mean?’ he blurted out.
‘I need to do X-rays on his abdomen.’
What little color he had in his cheeks faded.
‘It’s only to be on the safe side.’
He carried Indy into a room farther down the hall while I held on to the IV bag.
After shooing him and Flora out the door, I slid on my lead apron and positioned Indy on the table to get a good view of his stomach.
I took a couple of pictures, finding no problems in his stomach, bladder or intestines.
What the hell was wrong with this dog, and why did I feel consumed with figuring it out for this poor animal and a man I’d only known for a few hours?
Bryce carried Indy back toward the exam room. We weren’t ten feet from the door when the poor dog vomited. Panic creased every line in Bryce’s face.
‘It’s okay,’ I said, trying to reassure him. ‘Set him back on the table inside.’
As I passed Indy’s mess, the pungent scent filled the air and it quickly solved our mystery.
Bryce’s pacing grew more frantic in the exam room. ‘On the trail earlier, you knew Indy was sick. You told me to get him checked out. And Mo at the tavern said you had some kind of magic, but I didn’t listen, and now my dog can’t even move.’
I hated the way he stared at me – an odd combination of wonder mixed with uneasy trepidation. Like he was grateful for my help, but all the rational parts of his brain were telling him none of this should be possible.
‘That’s not what we need to discuss right now.’
‘What’s next? How do we help him? I’ll do anything to make sure he’s all right.’
‘Your dog is going to be fine. I know exactly what’s wrong with him.’
His reddish brows jumped to his hairline. ‘You do?’
‘It’s marijuana poisoning.’
‘Marijuana?’ he yelped.
‘Yes. When dogs ingest it, they can become very sick. Could Indy have gotten into something at your cabin?’
‘No, I don’t do that,’ he said through clenched teeth. ‘Are you sure that’s what this is? It doesn’t make any sense.’
I hitched my thumb back toward the mess in the hallway. He disappeared and a few seconds later the low sound of ‘fuck’ filled the air.
Once he was back through the doorway, he said, ‘I swear he didn’t get sick because of me. This won’t kill him, right?’ He took a wobbly step closer, and white-knuckled the edge of the exam table.
I grabbed his hand. ‘Bryce, do not pass out. I don’t need two patients right now.’
‘Okay, Dr McGuire. I just need a second.’ He took a thick gulp. Focused on our linked fingers. ‘How do you make him better?’
‘The IV will help flush the toxins out of his system. Get him rehydrated. I’m also going to give him anti-nausea meds to help with the vomiting. And you can call me Dani.’
‘What else, Dani? Please, put me to work.’
The desperation in his voice, the fear in his eyes, shook me. I’d usually insist the owner go out to the waiting area, but in this case I knew Indy would do better if Bryce was close.
‘In the cabinet above the sink are extra towels. Grab a few and put them around Indy so we can keep him warm.’
While I got my materials ready, he grabbed the towels and made sure Indy was covered.
‘What can I do next?’
‘Come to the other side of the table and hold Indy still.’
Over the years, I’d dealt with a lot of owners.
Most of them treated their pet like a member of the family.
A small few were not as dedicated, often balking at the cost for their animal’s care.
Then there were owners like Bryce, who clearly made their pet their whole world.
That kind of dedication made me want to do everything in my power to give their animals the best treatment possible.
‘Teenagers love certain secluded spots on the ridge, because they can go there and party. My guess is Indy found something they left behind. By the color and smell of what’s in the hall, I’d guess pot brownies.
Which is like a one-two punch because of course the weed is bad, but so is the chocolate. ’
He murmured another low ‘fuck’ before he said, ‘Sorry about the language, but this really scared me.’
‘Don’t apologize. An animal getting sick can be frightening.’
I went to the small supply closet at the back of the room and returned with a handful of items. Bryce’s gaze narrowed on a long white tube I’d set on the table. ‘That looks like what you use to apply caulk around the bathtub.’
‘It’s activated charcoal. The nozzle helps me get it down his throat. It’ll bind the toxins in the stomach and limit absorption.’
Luckily, Indy was alert enough to swallow.
I kept his head at a level position and placed the tube with a syringe-like end into his mouth.
Bryce’s intense stare never left me. I squeezed out small amounts to ensure Indy could swallow without choking.
After I was finished, I asked Bryce to set Indy on a nest of clean blankets I had waiting on the floor.
Flora moved from her spot in the corner and lay beside him, taking her clinic mascot role seriously.
‘I’ll keep Indy here tonight. Do some blood work and monitor his electrolytes. You can come back in the morning to get him.’
His hands stilled in the dog’s deep brown fur. ‘May I… stay a little while longer? I can’t leave him right now.’
I had strict rules about emergency cases and sending owners home so their animals could rest and recover, but for some reason I could not say no to him. It was an odd and reoccurring feeling that was beginning to make me wonder who this guy was, and why he felt so important to my life.