Chapter 6 #3
Merci stepped forward and crouched. “Hey. Come here.” The pup’s ears, too big for her small head, swiveled toward Merci’s voice.
She tapped the ground, and the pup limped to her and licked her hand. She reached for the pink collar and twisted it around. “No tags.” She scooped the pup into her arms. “Do you have a family, little one?”
“Someone probably dumped her here,” I said, shaking my head. Babies. Children. Puppies. How people could abandon something innocent and helpless was beyond me.
“Here, hold her,” Merci said, pressing the pup into my arms. “I need to look at her leg.”
I took the pup. “You’re a human doctor, not a vet.”
She ignored me as she gently examined her paw and leg.
“I think it’s infected.” She prodded at the bones, and the puppy growled, wriggling in my arms to get away.
“I’m sorry, baby. I know it hurts.” Her eyes met mine.
“We need this taken care of.” She pulled the pup from my arms and kissed her on the top of her head. “Find the closest vet.”
An hour later, we stood in a waiting room, the scent of antiseptic and wet fur wafting through the air. “Dog’s name?” the receptionist asked.
“We don’t know,” Merci explained. “We just found her in the woods.”
The receptionist stared at Merci over her glasses. “You found the dog?” The condescending skepticism in her voice made me clench my fists. “In the woods? So, she’s not your dog?”
“We think she’s a stray. Her leg is infected. Potentially broken. We need to get her seen as soon as possible,” Merci insisted.
“Listen, ma’am, we have young people bring their pets in all the time, claiming it’s not their dog because they don’t want to pay.”
“No. Listen, I’m a doctor, and I looked at her leg, but I don’t know how to help her species. We couldn’t just leave her out there.” Emotion edged into her voice.
“How will you be paying?” The receptionist popped her gum. “We accept credit cards or you can apply for CareCredit.”
“She’s not—” Merci started.
“I’ll pay,” I interrupted, fishing my wallet out of my pocket and handing my credit card to the receptionist. “Now, can we stop fucking around and get this dog looked at?”
The receptionist huffed and typed my information into the screen, then handed it back to me. “Room three. You can wait there. It might be a while, since you didn’t have an appointment.”
I followed Merci into the room. She hummed softly to the puppy, murmuring assurances to her. After forty-five fucking minutes, an elderly man in a white coat entered the room.
“Who do we have here?”
“She doesn’t have a name,” Merci explained. “We just found her. Her leg’s infected, I think. It might be broken.”
The vet handed me a tongue depressor coated in peanut butter. “Let her lick this while I take a look.”
The puppy winced as the vet prodded at her paw, leg, and hip. He pressed harder, and the pup whimpered, nipping at his hand with her tiny teeth.
“Yep. Definitely infected. I’ll need to take her back for an X-ray to see if it’s broken.”
The vet scooped up the pup and closed the door behind him. I tossed the peanut butter and drool–coated tongue depressor in the trash.
“I’ll pay you back,” Merci promised.
I shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.”
“I feel so bad for her. You can tell it really hurts.”
I smiled softly at Merci’s big heart, and it stirred a memory. “Remember when you brought home that abandoned baby raccoon when you were sixteen?”
Merci giggled. “Merrick was so pissed. He said animals didn’t belong in his house. I’m shocked he let Brisket move in.”
“Brisket and Kenna were a package deal. He would’ve allowed a pony in his house if it meant getting her to move in.”
“True. Honestly, it’s only a matter of time before she talks him into buying her a Highland cow or something. Maybe I’ll throw the idea out there just to fuck with him.”
I laughed. “I want to be there to see his face.”
“Deal. I’ll do it at the next dinner. Maybe I can even get Kenna to play along and show him pictures of the baby cow she wants.”
I shook my head. “He’ll buy it for her if she really wants it.”
She sighed wistfully. “I wonder if I’ll ever find that.”
“A whipped man who will buy you a cow?” I asked.
She smacked the back of my head. “Actual love. You know, where the asshole doesn’t cheat on me. What’d I do to deserve that?”
“Nothing,” I insisted. “You’re smart. You’re funny. And you’re fucking stunning. There’s nothing you did to deserve the way Luca treated you.”
“Aww, you think I’m stunning?”
I scoffed. “That’s the only part you heard?”
The vet returned before she could retort with two large X-rays. He pinned them to the backlit display. “Two breaks and an infection that’s eaten away at the bone. She needs surgery. Probably amputation. It’ll cost about $1,000—maybe more.”
I glanced at Merci, who looked seconds away from bursting into tears. “That’s fine.”
“I’ll pay you back,” Merci promised.
“So you’re keeping her?” the vet asked.
Merci shook her head. “I don’t even have my own place. Or the time for a puppy.”
The vet grimaced. “If you’re planning to drop her at the shelter, you might as well euthanize her right now. They’re overcrowded. She’ll be put on a kill list almost immediately.”
The expression on Merci’s face nearly shattered me. “I’ll keep her.”
Merci’s tear-filled eyes flew to mine. “Really?”
“Yeah,” I gruffed. “We can split custody.”
She broke into a wide smile.
Mentally, I calculated the hit to my bank account. “Let’s do the surgery.”
The vet nodded. “She’ll need to stay overnight. Check in with reception on the way out. I’ll call you with an update afterward.”