Page 5 of A Much Younger Man
Chapter Two
I normally didsurgeries between seven and nine in the morning. That Friday, I had my hands full. When I finally stepped out of the surgical suite at ten, my receptionist, Lena, flagged me down. I motioned her toward the recovery room where I discarded my soiled protective gear and stepped behind the curtain to change my scrubs.
“How’s Maisy?” She peered into the cage of the dog whose malignancy I’d just removed.
“The surgery was a success. She’ll be accessorizing with an e-collar for a few days.” It was her second tumor removal, though, and sooner or later Maisy’s owners would have a difficult decision to make. “What’s next?”
“You were already booked through lunch, and Mylo swallowed a sock again. April’s got him. She induced vomiting.”
“Mylo, Mylo, Mylo. Goddamn, that dog is persistent. You could open a store with all the socks he swallows.”
“The poor kids are crying, and Jill’s a nervous wreck. They’re in the waiting room.”
“I’ll talk to them. So far, he spits them back up like a champ.” I stepped out feeling fresher and went to the sink to wash up.
“Anything else?” I rinsed off and dried my hands.
“I finished the summer newsletter for you to look over.”
“Okay.”
“Also, there’s someone here who says you told him to come in so you could look at his dog forfree.”
My pulse rate kicked up. “Chocolate Lab named Calliope?”
“So you did tell him to come? He showed me her records. She’s up to date on vaccines. I don’t see why—”
“I want to make sure she’s parasite free.”
“Must you really tell total strangers you’ll examine their dogs at no cost? Some of them could be looking for easy access to drugs, or—”
“Let me worry about that, Lena. It doesn’t hurt to help people.”
Shehmph’d at me, muttering about how easy it was to take advantage of soft touches and fools.
“I’m both. I freely admit it.”
She pushed her heavy glasses up the bridge of her nose. “You need an actual business manager, Lindy. You’d give the place away if I let you.”
“It’s my place. And I only give away my time.” Which wasn’t exactly true, but she understood.
“There’s a finite amount of that commodity, you know.” She handed me a stack of files. “And you volunteer enough of it without inviting people to come here for free examinations.”
“I examine the pets, not the people.” She flipped me off behind her back as she walked away. I stretched my stiff neck and raised my arms over my head. My vertebrae popped all the way down like corn. Hmm. It felt like a Queen day. I hummed a few notes of “Bohemian Rhapsody.”
“We got it, but yuck.” Vet tech April came into the room holding an emesis tray with a rancid sock in it. She slipped it into a zippered plastic bag, then removed her gloves and washed her hands.
“Mylo’s a champ.”
“He is. He’s fine.”
“That was quick. I was going to go out and talk to Jill.”
“You have time.” She wrinkled her nose. “He’s spacey, and I need to get him cleaned up before I can take him out there.”
“Thanks.” I went to the human fridge and pulled out a bottled water. “Want one?”
“God yes.” She took it from me. “Thank you.”
