AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I wonder what crawled up his ass. Did you see how serious he was?” the dark-headed tech whispers.
“Yeah, but he’s hot, so it works for him.”
“Michelle!”
“Ladies.” Susan’s voice carries over the two techs, making them both straighten, realizing I heard what they said. They turn at the same time; the one with blonde hair is smirking at me like she couldn’t care less that I heard her. The other one’s hazel-brown eyes are wide with worry. Her dark hair is pulled up into a messy bun, a few tendrils falling out around her face.
“Who do we have first this morning?” I ask the room, deciding not to address their gossiping. There’s no point in acknowledging it, anyway.
“We’ve got Buster, a nippy chihuahua, here for his yearly vaccines, then Gunner, a pit bull who ate his Mom’s wedding ring and has yet to pass it,” Susan responds.
“Lovely. Let’s get to it, then.”
The techs scurry around me, heads bent together as they pass.
“Great start to the day, Benjamin.” Susan’s tone is dripping with sarcasm.
All I can do is sigh.Again.
I have a feeling I’ll be doing that a lot over the next several weeks.
5
SARA
“There’s still shit on the floor in exam room two,” Ben snaps out.
I grit my teeth to keep from snapping back. It has been a frustrating day, to say the least. Ben has been less than nice since the first patient arrived, constantly expecting us to do all the dirty work while he barely talks to the owners about their concerns.
In all honesty, he’s been a real asshole.
“I’m getting to it now.” I try to keep the bite out of my voice, but after an entire day of getting barked at, it’s hard. Once the floor is cleaned, Susan hands me the next patient’s chart. I step out to the waiting room to see little Danny trying to wrangle his three-month-old puppy from under the chairs.
“Hey, kiddo. Do you need some help?”
“Yeah, he won’t come out. I think he’s scared,” the eleven-year-old tells me, his body almost fully under the chair at this point. I glance at Danny’s mom, Tara, as she grimaces, exasperation lining her face.
“Here, let’s try this.” I squat down next to Danny, pulling a treat from the pocket of my scrubs. Danny wiggles his way out from under the chairs, allowing me to see the beagle pup laying on his belly. I hold the treat out to the puppy, letting him sniff it. Before he can eat it, I slowly move it so he’s following the treat out from under the chairs.
Once he’s out, I pick him up from the floor, letting him eat the treat.
“Wow. We’ll have to try that at home, Mom!” Danny says, his smile wide on his face.
“Sure, honey,” she responds, shaking her head. We head back to an exam room as the puppy squirms in my arms, trying to get down so he can explore. Once we’re in the room, I start my routine for a wellness visit, making sure everything looks okay.
“We are desperate for some training,” Tara says while I work.
“Is this little guy giving you some extra trouble?” I scratch the puppy’s ears when I’m done checking his temperature.
“Like you wouldn’t believe.” Tara grabs Danny around the waist, pulling him onto her lap to keep him out of the way.
“Susan has some pamphlets for a couple of great programs. When we’re all done here, I’ll have her talk to you about them.”
The beagle pup lets out the cutest little howl as I finish up, making us all laugh. “It doesn’t seem like little Bowie likes the idea of training,” I tease. “I’m going to step out and grab Dr. Crawford. I’m not sure if Susan told you, but he’s going to be taking over for Dr. Charles now that he’s officially retiring.” The fact that Dr. Charles preferred us to call him by his first name whereas Ben prefers his last says a lot about how different the two of them are.
“She did. I’m looking forward to meeting Dr. Charles’s son.”
Don’t get too excited.
