The clatterwing watched me with its head cocked and one pale blue eye tracking my hands.
“Hey,” I said softly, donning rubber gloves. “I’m going to take a look at your wing, alright? I’ll be gentle.” I glanced Brovish’s way, finding him watching me, not the bird. “He’s alert, which is a good thing.”
“Yes.”
“And his breathing looks even.”
“I don’t think he hurt anything but his wing.”
“Have you examined him yourself?”
“I brought him in and looked him over, but he wouldn’t let me touch his wing. I put him in the crate and called the emergency line after that.”
“Do you have a towel I can wrap him in?” I asked, peering around.
While I released the latch on the side of the crate, he crossed the room to the far-right cabinet and swung it open, pulling a white towel off the shelf and bringing it to me.
I slid the spread towel inside and carefully wrapped the creature into a bird burrito, easing him out of the crate, placing him on the exam table.
Slipping one hand beneath the towel, I checked him over, taking care to avoid his talons.
“He’s not too warm,” I said. I was operating under emergency stabilization protocols, which allowed a vet to provide life-saving care to an unknown species until a specialist could be found.
My hands moved through the familiar motions but nothing about this felt normal. The bird’s body heat registered much warmer than I’d expect from a raptor. The bone structure felt close to a hawk but not quite. I’d spent years learning to read animal bodies, and this one had been written in a language I only half-understood.
I loved it.
I didn’t find any injury other than the wing.
“No crepitus,” I said as I subtly probed. “Also good.”
“Crep…”
“The best way to describe it is a crackling feeling under the skin. It’s common with a fracture. There’s also some edema—swelling—that’s concerning.” I looked up to find Brovish watching me intently. “Do you have an X-ray machine here?”
“We have all the best equipment.”
“Perfect.” I placed the bird back inside the crate and lightly sedated him, a common way to reduce stress and preventmovement. I’d noted the exact dosage in my log and calculated the appropriate drug dose for species I’d never treated based on the animal’s weight and metabolic rate.
After the medication had started taking effect, Brovish carried the crate down the hallway to the X-ray room with me following.
I positioned the sluggish bird with sandbags and medical tape and stepped behind the lead shield and took the films.
Finished, I placed the bird back in the crate and went to the computer to view the images. I scanned both views, zooming in, taking time to study each tiny bone before leaning away from the screen.
“Right here.” I pointed. “See that? He’s got a hairline fracture. That means…pretty much a crack in the bone. Nondisplaced.”
Brovish stood near enough I caught his woodsy scent and the heat radiating off his skin. I’d read orcs were hotter-blooded than humans.
If I shifted my weight even slightly to the left, we’d be touching.
“I’ve never stabilized a wing on a clatterwing before,” I said. “But the bone structure is close enough to raptors I’ve worked with. I can do this.”
His lips twitched up into the start of a smile. “I know you can.” His smile faded fast. “What does this mean for his recovery?”
I studied the film again. “The biggest risk will be keeping him from using it. We’ll need to immobilize it to give it a chance to heal. He’ll need to stay in a small, quiet enclosure where he can hop around but be restricted from flying.”
“Will he ever be able to fly free again?”
