Chapter 9 #2
“For hell’s sake, Whiskey, put your foot down,” she said.
Had she realized she used my old nickname? I smiled beneath my mask.
She said, “That man acts like the sun rises every morning just to hear him crow. He was meaner than a snake dipped in hot sauce back in high school, and I guarantee he hasn’t improved with age. If you push back, he’ll fold.”
She jabbed a finger toward the door. “He was so mad you didn’t show up that he drove twenty minutes out of his way just so he could yell at you in person. That’s not anger. That’s dedication. He wants the treatments only you can provide.”
Bonnie giggled.
Erika paused what she was doing to look up. “Why not tell him you’re thinking of moving the practice away from all farm animal medicine? No more house calls. You could say it’s not bringing in enough money. He’s not paying you on time, for example.”
I didn’t want to give up the farm calls. I liked the animals and the people. They needed us. “It does bring in good money. I’m also good at it.”
“He doesn’t know that. It’ll scare him. Maybe he’ll buck up, pay, and give you the respect you deserve.”
She did a sponge count and evaluated the chest. “No bleeding. I got this. I’ll close him up. You can scrub out. Thanks for helping.”
I discarded my gloves in the trash and took the phone from my tech. “Bonnie, can you prep the recovery cage, please? I’ll monitor anesthesia for now.”
While suturing closed, Erika said, “I’m not staying in town. I have to finish my residency so I can sit the board exam in the fall.”
In my ear, Sarah warned me not to fight with her. “Let her finish.”
Erika continued, “My father owed you money. Not me. He forged my name as the loan guarantor.”
I almost said “wow” as I watched her tie a Chinese finger trap suture around the chest tube, something I vaguely remembered learning in school and remembered the name of, but I’d never had the need to do one.
Without thinking I said, “I’m pretty sure Tilghman said you signed it.
Even if you took it to court, who’s going to believe you over the lawyer? ”
“What the hell are you doing?” Sarah barked in my ear. “Damn it.”
“We’re done,” I whispered defensively into the phone.
“If you have something sweet or chocolate, I highly recommend you shove it in her mouth in the next five minutes,” Sarah warned. “You’re about to see hangry stressed-out Dr. Chomping.” She hung up.
“This town is a cesspool of disappointment,” Erika said, ripping off her gloves with a crack before yanking off the surgical gown and hurling it into the laundry bin. “I’m done.”
“Oh, come on,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady. “It’s not that bad. You just pulled an arrow out of a dog’s chest to save his life. That’s not disappointing—that’s heroic. That’s the kind of thing people write articles about. That’s pretty damned exciting.”
“Petey could still die in recovery or two days from now from infection.” She stretched her back which brought her gorgeous breasts into relief. “I can’t stay here. This place doesn’t even have a Starbucks.”
“Stine Run Coffeehouse downtown is pretty good,” I said casually. “You should try it.”
Her shoulders went rigid. She turned around slowly—too slowly. My stomach dropped; I’d clearly stepped on something explosive without realizing it.
“Oh?” she asked, her tone sharp and dangerous. “Is that where your girlfriend works? Or is she just one of the many girls you’re seeing now?”
Heat flooded my face, but I didn’t know if it was because of Milly or because Erika incorrectly thought I was cycling through women like coupons about to expire.
“Uh-huh,” she said, her voice tightening. “Their drinks must be incredible. When Milly stopped by my house this morning, she brought me one. I didn’t drink it out of fear she poisoned it to remove what she thought was her competition in your bed.”
“She stopped by your house?” I wondered what the hell Milly was up to.
“Of all people, I can’t believe you’d go out with her. She pretended to be the welcome committee but ended up warning me away from you like every other insane woman in this town.”
“What exactly did she say to—”
She wasn’t listening as she walked out of the room.
I swallowed the rest of my question and helped move Petey to the recovery area.
* * *
ERIKA
As the adrenaline from surgery wore off, I craved carbs, chocolate, and a nap. Maybe chocolate was carbs? A chocolate chip cookie sounded incredible.
I clenched my hands to hide their shaking.
This was my post-procedure blood sugar crash.
I rattled off instructions to Josh. “The chest tube needs to be evacuated every two hours. The skin area of the tube must be cleansed and rebandaged every twelve hours. Do your techs know how to use a stopcock when draining the tube? This can’t be left open, or it’ll draw air into the chest and cause pneumothorax.
You know what…” I grabbed a sharpie off the counter and labeled the stopcock so everyone would know which turn opened the tube to allow air out and what closed it.
“Are you going to have them take him to the emergency clinic?”
He didn’t say anything right away as if expecting me to keep talking. Finally, he said, “Nah. They suck. I’ll do it.”
“I can’t stay here and work in this practice with you, Josh.
I have a condo with a mortgage—and a whole life up north.
I’m already under contract with the emergency clinic in Philly.
” I rubbed my forehead, suddenly exhausted.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do with Vinny.
I’ll figure it out. I have to. My only way out of the financial mess my dad left me in might be taking out a second mortgage just to pay you off. ”
“What do you mean, what you’ll do with Vinny?”
I swallowed. “I’m his guardian,” I said. The words tasted strange and heavy in my mouth. “Apparently, there’s no one else.” I tried to smile, but it collapsed halfway there.
“Your plan is to rip him out of school and away from his friends? Away from his baseball team? Away from everything he knows? We’re going to have a great season. We’re even traveling to Raleigh and Greensboro for tournaments. He’s just a kid. He needs stability.”
Guilt tightened in my chest. “I know,” I said quietly. “And I hate that I’m the one who might take that from him.” I snapped, lashing out, but instantly wanted to take it back after it left my mouth, “Do you want to adopt him just to keep him on the team?”
“Do you need me to?” he asked softly.
I expected a flat no—something sharp I could latch onto and turn into anger. Instead, his voice held something earnest. Something steady. It caught me completely off guard. I didn’t have the bandwidth to sort through the shift that rippled through him. Or the one that cracked open inside me.
I hated him. I was sure I did.
But suddenly, I wasn’t quite as certain why.
“He’s my brother,” I managed, my throat tightening. “I’m not putting him up for adoption. I’ve got to go. I have to stop by the funeral home again and then get Vinny from school.”
I grabbed my bag with shaking hands and bolted for the front door before the confusion and the grief swallowed me whole.
Before leaving, Marty called out, “Can you take a shift watching Petey tonight from eight to one?”
I gave her my best no-way glare. “I don’t work here.”
“Seems like you do.” Her voice lowered to a whisper.
“Dr. Hurst worked all night the last two nights. He did two farm calls last night. He hasn’t slept more than four hours in three days.
If we can give him four to six hours to rest, I think he can think straight enough to handle tomorrow’s appointments. ”
Don’t be a pushover. Don’t do it. “Fine. Eight-ish to midnight, but I’ll have to bring Vinny. I can’t stay later because he’s got school tomorrow. Are you keeping track of these hours? As I said yesterday, you’re paying me a relief vet fee since I have no contract.”
The front door alarm chimed, and in breezed Milly like she owned the place.
Two visits in one day. Lucky me.
She’d transformed from this morning, now wearing what appeared to be an aggressively engineered push-up bra.
Her hair was curled into soft waves, the kind that required either a professional stylist or a frantic lunchtime beauty session at home.
Her tight, low-cut white shirt paired with painted-on skinny jeans? Yeah. This was an outfit with a target.
Standing next to her, I felt like something that lived under a bridge—unkempt, exhausted, and completely outclassed. It hit harder than I wanted to admit.
Milly called out in her thick Southern drawl, “Lordy, what have you been up to, Erika? You look…” Her eyes slid down and back up my body, filled with judgement. “Rumpled.” Milly’s tone dripped with insult that stung like lemon juice on a paper cut.
Her smile was sweet enough to rot teeth.
“I just finished surgery,” I said, pushing hair back from my face with a hand that still faintly smelled like the pre-surgical scrub. “It’s surprising to see you twice in one day. Josh never mentioned you might stop by.”
The faint pinch of her lips was a tiny victory. She hadn’t liked that. Not one bit.
“I’m dropping off a late lunch for him,” she said, lifting a takeout bag like a trophy. Then she raised her voice. “Honey? Are you back there? I brought you some burgers!”
Marty said, “He’s busy with a client, Milly. I’ll hold onto those for him and get it to him when he’s out of appointments.”
“Your father sure was a legend around here. He’ll be missed.” Then, with a tilt of her head and a practiced pout, she added in a voice thick with fake empathy, “I bet you’re ready to sprint back north the second the memorial service wraps up.”
“Remains to be seen,” I said, steady and flat, refusing to give her the satisfaction.
She gave a soft chuckle that felt like claws on glass. “You’re adorable. Truly. But thank goodness Josh came to his senses when he let you go in high school.”
“Are you worried I’ll take one look at his luscious ass and decide I want him back?” I asked, flashing her a too-bright smile.
Milly leaned in, whispering like she was delivering a state secret. “That ass will never be yours.”
I grinned slowly. “It’s barely yours right now, from what I hear.”
Milly huffed, plopped the food bag in front of Marty, and stormed out.
I caught Marty’s gaze from behind the counter—steady, knowing, the calm eye in the middle of this tornado of small-town insanity.
I crossed the room and leaned in. “The women in this town are nuts. I’ve been warned away from Dr. Hurst three times in the last twenty-four hours.
I don’t know what sort of player he’s turned into, but if he can’t keep his pants zipped, karma’s going to sink its teeth right into that ass of his. I’ll be back around eight-ish.”
Marty’s hand brushed mine, warm and conspiratorial. She whispered back, “Thank you. And, honey, they’re all aflutter because you terrify them. And rightly so.”