Page 73 of The Magic of Provence

‘I’m going to call Martine,’ Christophe said. ‘And get her advice on the best treatment.’ He crouched in front of Fi and waited for her to lift her gaze to his. ‘We may still have caught this early enough.’

He had a long conversation with Martine on his phone. A video call so that she could see the foal. It wasn’t until the call was ended that he translated any of it for Fi.

‘This is the age that foals are most likely to get pneumonia,’ he told her. ‘The immunity that comes from colostrum is fading and their own immune systems are not strong enough yet. It’s also the time of year that it’s most likely, because of the summer heat. It could be either viral or bacterial, but it’s more likely that it’s bacterial because the organism lives in the soil and it’s very dusty out in the olive grove. We will take a blood sample to test but we will start her on antibiotics straight away. A combination of antibiotics.’

Julien was nodding. ‘A combination of antibiotics is often a lot more effective.’

‘There are other things we can do. Martine is getting things ready. We can give her intravenous fluids and treatment with oxygen if it’s needed. She’s on duty in her clinic, so I’ll have to go and get everything, including the drugs.’

He headed for the door, but Julien stopped him.

‘I’ll go,’ he said. ‘You stay here with Fi. I think she needs you.’

* * *

Staying with Fiona was exactly what Christophe wanted to do.

What heneededto do.

He could feel her distress and, above all, he wanted to take that away. He knew what she wanted and, if it was in his power to give her that, he would do whatever it took to achieve it.

He had to save Bouton.

Fi cradled the foal’s head in her lap as Christophe clipped the hair from a patch on the neck and disinfected the skin. He took a deep breath to steady his hand as he slipped a needle into the vein and then slid a cannula into position. He screwed the plug into place and filled a syringe with saline.

‘What’s that?’

‘Just salty water. To help keep the line open. I’ve got enough antibiotics to give her the first doses now and one needs to be injected into the vein. The others we’ll give her by mouth. She needs fluids too, but she’s too weak to drink, so we’ll put that into her veins as well. Her blood pressure is dropping because the level of oxygen in her blood is too low.’

Oh… the fear in Fiona’s eyes squeezed his heart so hard that it hurt but he held her gaze.

‘We’re going to fight for her,tesoro, I promise.’

Tears spilled from her eyes as she nodded.

‘Help me put this bandage over her head. We don’t want theIVline to get accidentally pulled out.’

Being able to do something to help was what Fi needed. She helped ease the stretchy, tubular bandage over Bouton’s ears onto her neck to cover the cannula plug and loop of tubing and they found a way to secure the bag ofIVfluids from a hook on the wall to keep it high enough for the fluid to maintain a steady drip. Christophe got a blanket from the cot in the upstairs bedroom to cover Bouton and some pillows and blankets for the couch so they could take turns to get some rest, perhaps.

When Julien returned, he helped set up the oxygen tank Martine had provided. Christophe attached tubing from the cylinder to the cup-shaped mask designed for foals. Fi had another job now, to hold the mask in place, and she looked as though her own life depended on this supply of oxygen, the way she was curled over Bouton, watching the mask mist up with every rapid breath. She barely looked up when Ellie arrived to put food from the barbecue on the table for them.

‘Is there anything I can do to help?’ she asked.

Christophe smiled his thanks but shook his head. ‘We’ve done everything we can for now. We can only watch. And wait.’

Ellie lowered her voice to no more than a whisper. ‘Is Fi okay?’

‘I’ll look after her,’ Christophe murmured. ‘I’m not going anywhere. Can you keep Heidi with you tonight?’

‘Of course.’

Julien went back home with Ellie but told Christophe to call him if he needed any help during the night. He could be back in a matter of minutes.

* * *

The secondIVdose of antibiotics was administered in the early hours of the next morning but, if anything, Bouton’s condition was worse. Her heart rate and breathing were too rapid and her blood pressure still too low. They could almost smell just how ill she was.

Christophe moved the couch and used pillows to provide some support behind Fi when she refused to move to somewhere more comfortable for a rest. He knew why. If this little donkey that she loved with all her heart was going to die, she wanted to be holding her. Giving her the comfort of knowing that she was loved as she slipped away.

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