Page 76 of High Density

I realize I don’t even know her name, although I’m sure it would be in our notes somewhere. Between Logan and myself, we kept track of every animal we treated.

Her wound looks clean and those stitches can probably come out in the next day or so. I pat her neck and rub her nose before stepping out of the stall again. This time she follows, sticking her head over the door, so I give her some more attention.

I’m still not sure what’s supposed to happen with her. I’d like to think the girl had family who would want to collect her horse eventually, but I don’t really know. I haven’t heard anything from Sheriff Ewing yet, but he probably still has his hands full with the investigation. I may give him a call after this morning’s appointments.

Perhaps if she’s still here after I get that fence fixed, we can try to introduce her to Red and she can keep him company in the field. Who knows? Maybe no one will claim her and she can stay.

I give her a last scratch under her chin and dismiss my fantasies. I don’t really have time for those, I have a clinic to run.

By the timeI report to the owner of Arthur, the large mass was successfully removed and he can pick up his pet donkey at theend of the day, after the animal sleeps off the anesthetic, I’m dead on my feet.

“I’ll be in my office,” I tell Frankie. “Oh, and can you check our pharmaceutical supplies and put in an order? We may be getting low on some stuff. I noticed there are only two vials of ketamine left.”

I ache and it feels good to drop down in my seat, propping my leg up on an open desk drawer. I’m tempted to tilt my chair back and close my eyes for a few winks, but I have too much to do.

It’s amazing how fast things pile up when you’re out of the office, even for only a few days. There’s a stack of mail I need to look at, bills that need paying, an inbox of emails requiring my attention, and a bunch of follow-up and return phone calls I need to make.

The first thing I do is put in a call to the sheriff’s office. Sheriff Ewing is out of the office, so I leave a message for him to get back to me, when Frankie walks in.

“Thought you might need this,” she says, setting a steaming mug of coffee in front of me.

“You are a saint,” I mumble, reaching for it as I inhale the scent.

She snorts. “Hardly, although I was going to offer to pick up something for lunch. Do you want a sandwich or something?”

“I wouldn’t mind a club sandwich. Thanks, Frankie.”

“Sure thing. I’ll head out now.”

As she’s heading out the door, I start working my way through the stack of pink messages she left on my desk. Next, I tackle emails, and I’m still working on those when I hear the front door of the clinic open.

“Logan?” I call out.

“Yep,” is the answer, as Logan pops his head in my door. “I didn’t think you’d be back so soon,” he says, shooting me his boyish grin. “Pretty badass.”

I bark out a laugh and roll my eyes at him.

“Where is Frankie?” he asks.

“Gone to pick up some lunch. Hey, how did it go Saturday?”

He shrugs. “Fine.”

“How was Dr. Feltner to work with?”

He was the other veterinarian Jericho called in to cover for me on Saturday.

“Okay, I guess. A bit of an ass, if you ask me, he barely said a word and wouldn’t let me do anything other than hold the animals. I definitely like working with you better.”

I grin at him.

“Flattery will get you everywhere,” I joke, before turning to a different subject. “I have a question for you; how handy are you with a hammer and nails?”

His answer is in the way he scrunches up his face, looking pained.

“That good, huh?”

“I’m the only one in my class to fail shop in high school,” he shares, lifting his hands and wiggling his fingers. “It’s a miracle I still have all my digits left. Why are you asking?”

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