Chapter Two #4
“Jock, you back with us?”
He turned his head and found a face he recognized. “Ace.”
“Yeah, man. I’m right here. You remember Kent?”
The other man in the room wore scrubs, and Jock stared at him a minute before the memories started trickling in.
“Yeah, Kent, the vet Wildman hooked us up with.” He shook his head, resting a cheek on top of the dog’s head. “This is Maynard. My new dog.” He cut his gaze to Ace, and asked, “How long was I out?”
“Not sure. I didn’t realize anything was up until Maynard started reacting and you didn’t move to reassure him. You sure you’re good? Need an orange juice or something?”
“A beer, but I’m going to be the smarter man and accept the juice. I’ve got a couple of tablets I can take that should make all the after things better. They’re outside on the bike.”
“Side bag or handlebar?”
“Up by the handlebars. There’s just the one pill bottle. Thanks, Ace.”
“It’s what brothers do, my man. Keep Maynard calm so Kent can get going again.”
“We’re really close to being done, Jock.
” Kent stepped up to the table and rested a hand on a patch of fur on the dog’s back.
“The more I see, the better I feel about him. Maynard’s going to recover, probably back to near a hundred percent in terms of physical ability and activity, barring arthritis in those old breaks.
His fur will be a different story. I’ll keep him for a few days, just to make sure we get past the danger zone.
He’s not shocky at all, which is surprising for the amount of pain inflicted on him. ”
“He’s a good boy.”
“He is. When he does go home, it won’t be a cakewalk. He’s going to need to wear a shirt or something to keep him from biting at the wounds as they begin to heal.”
“I’ve got pajamas that are too small for the mastiff, bet they’ll fit Maynard. He’s coming home with me, Kent.”
“We know he is, Jock.” Ace walked in, holding out a bottle of water and a couple of tablets. “Take these. Drink the water. I’ve got some juice coming.”
“Who’d you call?” Jock mentally rolled his eyes. “Wrench?”
“No, Jock, he did not call Wrench.”
“Silly, you beautiful woman, come give Maynard some love.”
“Only after you take your meds and drink some of this juice. Take the pills, Jock.” She bent close and brushed a kiss against his mouth. She whispered, “Love you, Jake.”
He drank in the scent of her. After a long day working in the studio, she always carried a slightly metallic scent paired with the musky vanilla of her bodywash.
“Love you, Silly.”
***
Silly
Jock’s muscles were tight, so tight he had to shake out his hands to take the juice from her and then put an arm around her hips.
“So this is Maynard, huh?” She stroked between the dog’s ears. “What a pretty boy. Gah, I love his eyes, Jock. He looks deep and sees everything. Those mismatched colors are perfect for this little guy.”
“He’s really good. Has been really good for everything the vet needs to do.” Jock gave her a little squeeze that had her looking down at him. “This is Kent. Wildman’s friend.”
“Wouldn’t say we’ve always been friends. That’s a story for another day.” Kent nodded at her. “I’m Kent, you’re Silly, and we’re a little more than halfway through what Maynard needs done.”
“Anything I can do to help? I’m a tattoo artist, so I’m used to hyper focusing on small areas.”
“That would be really helpful. I typically identify quarters of the animal I’m working on, and I’ve only just finished the right top quadrant.”
“Let me work on the left top quadrant, and you can move to the lower quadrant on that same side.” She bent over and pressed a kiss to Jock’s head. “I’ll just wash up and get gloves on.”
“Sounds good. I’m flaking off the dried serum so the antibiotic cream can be applied evenly. There may be a few places you have to go deeper. Just let Jock know so he can manage Maynard’s reactions.”
“Okay.” She figured out the foot pedals for the sink and started washing her hands and forearms.
“Doc, will Maynard connect Silly to any pain from this? I’d rather he imprint in more pleasant ways.”
“Meds will keep any associations to a minimum. Shouldn’t be an issue.”
“Good.” Silly stepped back from the sink and found a roll of paper towels to dry with. “Point me to the gloves?”
“Oh, yeah. What’s on the counter are large. You’ll need the gloves in the drawer to your left.”
She silently pulled the nitrile gloves on, ensuring they didn’t hang or tear on her dermal implants, then got a scalpel blade and looked the dog over.
As much abuse as he’d taken already, for him to be lying restfully in Jock’s arms meant that imprinting he’d talked about had already happened.
He’s going to be Maynard’s person. Definitely.
“Watch,” Kent said softly, and she bent closer to see him use the point of the blade to pick at the edges of a burn, then the blade to deftly trim off the fragile, burned skin. “You see?”
“Yeah. And when I have questions, I’ll ask.”
“Jock, you’ve found yourself a keeper. I hope you know that.”
“Oh, I do. I followed her down to Louisiana because I couldn’t be without my Silly.”
She grinned at Jock and bent to press another kiss on his head. “My man.”
The quadrant she was working on had fewer burns than the one Kent had completed. Silly gave each wound the same focused attention, ensuring clean edges. Through it all, Maynard gave no complaint, but Jock was so attuned that when he asked for a break, she saw the dog visibly relax.
“Need anything, big guy?”
Jock shook his head. “No, just needed a breather. We’re good now.”
***
Jock
“Why don’t I ride home with you. Kent won’t care if I leave the bike here overnight. I can move it if needed.”
“Nah, it’s not in the way, you’re good.” Kent finished applying the cream to each of Maynard’s wounds. “He’s going to have to be in a cone overnight. Otherwise we risk him doing damage where he doesn’t need more damage.”
“The reason we’ll put doggy jammies on him.”
“Yup.” Kent yawned. “We’re all done here. Y’all can take off anytime.”
Ace jumped down off the counter where he’d been seated for the past couple of hours. “Exactly what I hoped to hear. Jock, I’ll let you know if Wrench found anything. Tomorrow. Not today. Go home with your lady.”
“Will do.” He lifted the dog off the table and put him on the floor, steadying him for a moment. “You’re gonna be just fine, Maynard.”
Kent turned around with a cone in his hands and Jock held up his hands. “Not me, man. He loves me right now. Going to try and keep that going.”
“Here,” Silly said, sticking her tongue out at Jock. “I’ll help.” She held Maynard in place as Kent tested the fit and then finalized placing the device on the dog. Maynard immediately turned to Jock with sad eyes. “Oh, you big suck,” she laughed. “It won’t kill you to wear it overnight.”
“I gotta go, Doc.” Jock grabbed Silly’s hand. “He’s making me sad.”
“Can’t have that. Come on, Maynard, let’s go to my office, I’ve got a bed in there you can rest in. Jock, I need your phone number if you want any updates.”
“Oh, yeah.” He grabbed a piece of paper and jotted down his number. “That’s me.”
“Thanks, Silly. Without you we’d still be working.”
“Happy to help.”
Outside Silly dangled her keys at Jock, and he grabbed them with a swipe. “Be my driver, Jeeves.”
“At your service, love.” He leaned down and adjusted the seat as far back as he could. “In the tin can made in hell.”
“You love my little car.”
“Not when I’m the one driving it.”
“You’re as big a suck as that dog is, Jock.”
“And you love me for it.”
“I do.” Silly hummed for a second. “Let’s stop on the way home and pick up everything we’re going to need for a second dog. What do you think?”
“I think it’s a great idea. You aren’t too tired?”
“Not a bit of it. The big pet store is on the way. Makes sense.” She leaned over and pressed her cheek against his shoulder. “You and me, we’ll be able to make great headway on a list.” She pulled out her phone and fiddled with it for a moment. “Okay, what all do we need?”
“Bed, maybe two, and if we get some sensitive or allergy-free food, that’d probably do him a lot of good.”
“They carry that wet food option that’s got a lot of organ meat. That’d be even better for him.” She laughed. “Of course, Tank would want his own wet food.”
“Wouldn’t hurt Tank to have some better food for a few weeks. I don’t see that as a barrier.” He glanced at Silly, and she was typing furiously on the phone. “What all do you have down so far, honey?”
“Leash, collar, toys, beds, dog food times two, sensitive shampoo, medicated wipes, and some new pajamas.” She twisted to look at him, and Jock grinned at the shit-eating grin on her face. “Did I miss anything, big guy?”
“Nope. I think you’ve got it covered.”
The trip to the store took nearly two hours, not because they couldn’t find the things on Silly’s list, but because there were so many choices for each item. In the end Jock threw the last half a dozen items into the cart and took off for the checkout lines up front.
“Jock, I wanted to look at the different collars.”
He held up the one he had.
“Oh, that’s nice. Did you get a leash to match?”
Before she was finished speaking, he held up the leash and a set of matching outdoor pajamas.
“That’s great. You are a good shopper, Jock. Why don’t you go with me more often?”
He twisted his neck and looked down at her, then made a show of looking at his wrist where a watch would rest if he wore one.
“Oh, come on. I’m not that bad.”
“Uh, yes you are.”
“Whatever, we’re here now.” She leaned against him, head on his bicep. “I love you.”
“Backatcha.”
After filling up the entire trunk of the car with their purchases, Jock was again driving, aiming the little car towards home.
“So Maynard.” Silly was looking at him. “Think he’ll get on with Tank?”
“I do. I don’t think there’ll be any issues, but I plan on taking things slowly with him.
I think the backyard will be the best, since the house is something Tank could guard, and the last thing we want is a fight.
We’ll probably need to crate them for a couple of weeks with only supervised free time. ”
“Or worse, if they start marking their territory in the house.” She crinkled up her nose. “That would be yucky.”
“That too.” He reached over and rested a hand on her thigh. “I like the idea of us expanding our little family.”
“As long as Maynard understands Tank was here first and gets dibs on any bed he wants.” She laughed, one hand dropping to rest on his, her thumb rubbing circles. “And if Tank doesn’t pull rank, I will.”
“Momma means business, I can tell.”
Her gentle touches on his hand stopped, then started again. He looked over at her to find an unfamiliar, pensive expression on her face. “Hey, Silly. All okay?”
“What? Oh, yeah. All is good in our world.”
“Yes, it is.”