Page 17 of Twink Heart

?I heard a voice respond, but I couldn’t make out what he said. A moment later the lights popped on in the front lobby and a man wearing a pair of dusty blue scrubs pushed the front door open.

?“James? What’s going on?” He glanced down at the bandaged foot that was red with blood and sighed. “What did you do now?”

?“You say that like this happens all the time!” James retorted. “I’ve only ever come to you once for help and that was because I found a puppy!”

?Doc lifted an eyebrow. “You didn’t have just one puppy, you had seven puppies. And you were here two months ago when you had that weird rash.”

?I felt my cheeks burn in embarrassment. The last thing I wanted to do was hear about James’ mysterious rashes.

?Of course, he noticed and immediately tried to save himself. “It was just poison ivy!”

?“Yeah, but it was on your ass,” Doc replied with a grin. “And other places. Can imagine how you got it…”

?“Alright, alright! Will you just help me please?”

?That was the first time I’d ever heard James get flustered. Usually he was all smiles and happy sunshine. But this veterinarian kept him on his toes.

?“Yeah, come on in. Let’s make sure you’re not gonna get gangrene and die.”

?Doc waved us in and I followed with James still in my arms. He led us toward one of the patient rooms and had me place James on the stainless steel bench in the center that was usually reserved for pets. James put his foot up on the table and Doc started pulling the bandages away.

?“Is… is this sanitary?” I asked, staring at the bench that probably had twelve different dogs on it today alone.

?“Everything in the rooms is sanitized between patients,” Doc replied, not looking up from his work. “It’s probably cleaner here than it is in most hospitals. We’re not understaffed and working twenty-four hours a day like most nurses, so things actually get done properly here.”

?“Oh. Okay.” I paused for a moment. “Is he gonna be okay?”

?Doc glanced up at me, smirked, then looked at James. “He’s gonna be fine. Don’t you worry.” He tossed the bloody bandages into a trash can under the bench. “What did you step on?”

?“Glass I think. The cut’s pretty clean.”

?“Barefoot again?”

?James sighed. “Yes…”

?“I told you to stop doing that, you silly boy.”

?“So did I,” I added.

?“Finally,” Doc laughed. “A man that speaks sense. Much better than that last idiot you were dating. Hold on to this one.”

?I opened my mouth to correct him, but my heart practically dropped out of my butt at his assumption and I found it very difficult to produce sound.

?“You cleaned it with iodine?”

?“Yeah,” James nodded, clearly unperturbed by his boss’ comments. “I think it needs stitches.”

?“It does,” Doc replied. “But I only have anesthetic spray. I don’t have any shots for people.”

?“That’s fine, Doc.”

?“You sure? That’s gonna hurt like hell.”

?“Can’t hurt more than it already does.”

?Doc sighed. “We’ll see.”

?“You’re going to sew him up?” I asked, my embarrassment suddenly forgotten.

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