Page 56 of Unaware

Chapter Fourteen

Aria

Logan was gone well before my roommates returned. In fact, I didn’t see him again all week. I focused my pent-up frustration into work and fostering Mama, keeping an eye on her progress in both her training and her pregnancy.

My work was where I always excelled. I loved animals. Animals were my passion, my first true love.

At least they were until Logan came into my life.

But I wouldn’t allow him to take over my life like I’d done over the past month. I had goals and I wanted to achieve those goals whether he was around or not.

Our conversation the other night focused heavily on me and never him. Not once did he offer up even a single tidbit as to what he was up to or why he was at the club with this Jamal bloke. I wasn’t so blinded by my feelings for him that I didn’t notice.

I stroked Muggsy, the elderly ginger-coloured cat on my consultation table and addressed his owner, Mrs. Stockett and her young son. The poor cat had been straining to urinate and yowling whenever he tried to, and it was my job to get to the bottom of it. “I’ve received the lab tests back for Muggsy and it turns out that my suspicions were correct; he does have a urinary tract infection. It’s quite common in cats of his age. But the good news is, we’ve caught it early enough to try to turn this around.”

“Okay, what do we do?” Mrs. Stockett asked.

“I’m going to prescribe him some antibiotics and I’d also like to put him onto a diet that’s specially produced for urinary issues. I’d like to see him back in a week or so to see how he’s doing,” I explained as I ran my fingernails over the fur on Muggsy’s back.

“Okay, that sounds great. Thank you so much, Dr. Jones.”

“You’re welcome.” I coaxed the old feline back into his carrier and led them over to the door.

“Honestly, this animal clinic is lucky to have you,” Mrs. Stockett continued.

With a blush, I waved away her compliment. “Oh, gosh, I feel lucky to be here.”

She looked at her son. “What do you say to the nice doctor, sweetheart?”

“Thank you, doctor,” the boy said.

I smiled at Mrs. Stockett’s son. “No worries. Will you give him that special food for me, mate?”

The boy nodded at me.

“Lovely. I’ll see you later.”

I cleaned the surfaces in the room and spent ten minutes writing up a patient report for Muggsy, and then pressed the intercom. “Send the next patient in, please?”

“Certainly,” came the response from the receptionist.

I hung my stethoscope around my neck and turned toward the door as Logan walked into the room. My mouth dropped open. “Logan.”

“Hi.” He closed the door behind himself.

“What are you doing here?” I halted myself.

Logan pushed his hands into the pockets of his jeans. “I’m here to take you on a date. An all-nighter, I hope.”

“I’m a little busy right now, I have more patients to consult with.” I busied myself by laying a new towel over the non-slip mat on the stainless-steel consult table.

“No, you don’t.”

I narrowed my eyes. “I beg your pardon?”

“I asked your boss if it was possible for you to get the rest of the afternoon off. He said he was okay with it since you only had three more patients to see.”

I folded my arms over my chest. “And what if I'm not okay with it?”

---