The Vet, the Pup and the Paramedic
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Tina Beckett
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CHAPTER ONE
CABE MCBRIDE ONLY shifted his attention for a minute. Just enough time to peer into some of the scrub brush that lined this particular path on the mountain. The narrow, winding way had been treacherous, even though they were still well below the line of snow that clung almost year-round in this part of the Sierra Nevada range. He and Soldier always worked as a team on these rescue missions, his bloodhound’s nose an invaluable tool in finding missing persons. And this time was no different. Soldier had alerted him to a scent near this area, which was where Sandra said her husband had last been spotted. And possibly suicidal after losing his job last week.
He turned to see if Soldier was scouring another area, but his dog was nowhere to be seen.
He gave the quick double whistle he used to call his companion back to him. But there was no response. No deep howl to indicate he’d found the missing man. No nothing. There were two other volunteer members of the Sierra Nevada Search and Rescue team also out here, on different ridges. The three college friends were part of the same paramedic squad. There were also two officers out there searching.
He tapped his earbud and spoke into the headset. “Any sign?”
Bradley Sentenna was the first to respond. “Nothing here. Doug, you have anything?”
“Nada.” Doug Trapper, who looked like a Grizzly Adams type with his thick beard and longish hair, was a man of few words, but had a huge heart.
“Soldier alerted to something, but I’m having trouble finding him, which isn’t like him. Stand by.”
“Gotcha.”
He switched off his mic and this time called to his dog. “Soldier! Come!”
A faint sound came from the scrub about ten yards to his left. Alarm bells rang in his head. Never had his dog ever failed to respond to him. After rescuing him from a local shelter several years ago, Cabe found his pup had had a natural aptitude for finding things. Including people. So much so that he’d sailed through a rigorous training course with ease. And so began their partnership with the search and rescue team here.
He moved sideways and although the sun was still high in the sky, the shadows cast by the low-lying bushes made it hard to see. Suddenly he spied a shadow crouched in the midst of them. And a pair of shoes. They were as still as...
Hell! He tapped his mic. “Found something. Head this way.”
His friends both acknowledged without asking any questions. He pulled in a deep breath and then parted the first set of branches, hoping he was wrong.
“Stay right where you are. I have a gun.” The growled words hit him in the midsection. Had he hurt Soldier?
He forced himself to respond calmly, even as his heart pounded in his chest. “Are you injured?”
“No. Not yet. Just don’t come any closer. Please.”
Not yet?
There was an edge of desperation to the words that made Cabe take another step. He needed to notify law enforcement about the gun, but to do so right now, in front of the man, might bring consequences neither of them wanted. Especially if his wife was right. The psych training he’d had in both the military and as part of his SAR training was telling him she was. So he decided to stall as he assessed the situation. “I’m looking for my dog. Have you seen him?”
There was a pause before the voice came back. “I—I think he went over.”
“Over?” Just then he realized what the man meant. There was a steep drop-off just past where the man had hidden himself. Had he heard them coming before he could jump to his death?
The thought of Soldier lying at the bottom of that crevasse broken and bleeding filled his throat with bile.
Stick to the matter at hand, Cabe.
“I think he fell.” The man stood. Dressed in a suit and tie, there was no sign of the gun he’d claimed to have. That was a relief. But dirt and sweat were streaked across his face, and his hair looked like a million fingers had tunneled through it. Trying to get up the courage to end it all?
It would be at least twenty or thirty minutes before Doug and Brad made it here. And the officers were also somewhere out there. Probably down at the bottom of the mountain. His medic bag was just to the left of him. Could he make a grab for the man if he turned and tried to leap off the cliff?
Doubtful.
He needed more time. Maybe he could get the guy’s mind fixed on something besides his own troubles. Gain some kind of rapport with him.
“Where?”
“Over there. He was coming toward me, and then all of a sudden he seemed to scrabble for his footing and disappeared.” The man’s eyes met his. “I—I didn’t push him. I swear. I would never hurt an animal.”
No. Just himself.
Damn, if Soldier really had fallen, he needed to act. But first he needed to make sure of the man’s intentions. “Where’s the gun.”
The other man shook his head, eyes shifting away. “I don’t have one. I just wanted to be left alone.”
Cabe decided to take him at his word. “I don’t know why you came up here, but right now, I need help with my dog. Can you see clear to give me a hand?”
“I guess so.”
This was obviously not how the man had expected his day to go. Or to end. And maybe that was a good thing.
“I have some rope and climbing gear behind me. If he’s down there, I’ll need you to feed the rope through a pulley. Can you do that?”
The man nodded.
Cabe looked at him a little closer. “I take it you’re Randolf Meridian?”
Another nod. A little sharper this time. “How do you know who I am?”
“Your wife is really worried about you. She called search and rescue.”
“I wish she hadn’t. She’d be better off if...”
“Why do you think that?”
He gave a half shrug. “She’s smart and successful and her daddy once told me she could do a hell of a lot better than a stockbroker. I’m beginning to think he was right.”
Cabe bit off a swear word. “He’s not. Your wife loves you.”
Hell. He paused, trying to decide whether to impart the next bit of information or not. But the guy needed to know it was not just his wife who would suffer if he did what Cabe thought he was planning to do. “There’s more. She was going to tell you today. She’s expecting a little one. She baked a cake and everything.”
Randolf’s eyes closed, and he pressed his fingers to his temples for several long seconds. “God! A—a baby? There’s no way I can be a father.”
“Yes, you can. That little one deserves to know who you are.”
The man shook his head. “Like I said, they’d both be better off without me.”
Had he really just said that? A sliver of anger went through him. He had heard those words over and over throughout his childhood. A litany that repeated endlessly. Until one day it really had ended. Forever. “Do you really believe that? Do you really want your child to know that his or her father threw his life away...that they didn’t mean enough for him to at least try?”
Realizing his voice had risen slightly, he sucked down a breath. “I think both your wife and baby deserve more than that.” He gave him a pointed look. “Don’t you?”
Soldier was still down there somewhere. But unless Cabe sorted this out right now, it was doubtful he would get much help out of the man. He might even take off once Cabe had climbed down the steep slope. But if he could turn him into an ally, maybe he could turn this around. And right now he sensed if he tried to radio law enforcement, his chance to do that would probably be nil.
“I guess so. I don’t know. I can’t think.” His palm scrubbed at the back of his neck.
“I know it’s all confusing right now. But don’t make a decision that you can’t take back. That you’ll never be able to take back, without at least talking to your wife. I wouldn’t be out here on this mountain, if she didn’t care. Really care. Will you at least think about calling her?”
Randolf gave a defeated nod. “Yes.”
Cabe studied him for a moment, before deciding the man was telling the truth. A trickle of relief chased the perspiration down his back. Now to seal the deal.
“Good. There’s time to sort all of that out later. But right now, I need your help with my dog. He came up here to help me help you. Can’t you do the same for him?”
Randolf’s chest heaved, and he nodded. “Yes. I’m pretty sure I know where he landed. I heard a thud to our right.”
“That helps. Stay close, okay?” Cabe’s gut clenched. How big of a thud?
He peered over the edge but couldn’t really see much. “You’re sure he went down here.”
“Yes. What do you need me to do?”
Grabbing the basic equipment he’d brought, he attached one of his pulleys to a nearby tree, attached the rope through it and then fastened the other end to the D-ring on his climbing vest. “I’m going to climb down and take a look. Just keep tension on the rope and feed it through the pulley. Can you do that?” He wouldn’t be able to use his manual ascender for the trip back up, because he’d have his hands full with Soldier.
“Yes.”
“I’m counting on you.” He kept one eye on Randolf and the other on his gear.
“I know.”
Cabe blew out a breath and then backed up to the edge of the slope, sending a couple of loose rocks skittering down the embankment. A soft whine sounded from below. At least Soldier was alive. For now, anyway.
I’m coming, boy.
He looked at Randolf. “I have a couple of friends who are on their way to help, so just follow my instructions until they get here, okay?”
“Cops?”
“No. But there are a couple of officers at the base of the mountain awaiting word. They’re concerned for your safety. Nothing more.”
“She really called out the cavalry, didn’t she?”
“That should tell you something.”
“It does.” He looked Cabe in the eye. “She’s really having a baby?” Those words seemed firmer, as if he’d come to some kind of decision. Cabe only hoped it was the right one.
“She really is. Feed the rope for me, okay?”
Randolf gave a nod.
With the immediate threat pushed to the side for the moment, Cabe took a deep breath and hoped beyond hope, Soldier wasn’t mortally wounded. He slowly put one foot behind the other as he let the rope take some of his weight. Everything held. At least so far. And Randolf was doing just as he instructed, giving him support as he inched his way down the slope.
It seemed to take forever, although it was probably only a period of five minutes before he could see the lower part of the mountain. Then his feet hit a flat area. Rocks went over the side, making an ominous skittering sound as they bounced off whatever was beyond it. Hell. This was little more than a ledge followed by another sharp drop. He doubted there was enough rope to get him all the way down it. If Soldier wasn’t here... If he’d struggled...
“Soldier! Where are you boy?”
Another whimper came from just past a patch of scrub. He called up to Randolf. “I’m going to move to your right. Just keep feeding the rope as I move.”
“Got it!”
His voice was still firm. Solid. That was a good sign.
Crab-walking sideways, he moved in the direction of the sound. “I’m coming, boy.”
Another whimper. At least he was alive. He’d adopted Soldier almost five years ago, just as he was leaving army life behind. As a tribute to all the men he had treated on the field as a medic, he named the dog after them. Brave and loyal, his pup reminded him of the men he had served during his ten years of service.
“Almost there, Soldier.” He stepped over another low bush and saw a patch of red fur. Another large step and his dog came into view. The second Soldier saw him, his thick tail thumped on the ground, making Cabe’s heart cramp. “I’m here, boy.” He crouched beside the dog and immediately saw the problem. He’d fallen on a sharp branch that had impaled the fleshy part of the dog’s thigh. He tried to move toward Cabe then fell back with a sharp cry.
“Stay!” He forced his voice to give a sharp warning, not because he was angry, but he didn’t want the dog to do more damage to his leg. So he called up. “I found him. Can you give me just a little slack?”
The rope went loose. For a second his heart leaped into his throat, then from above him, Doug’s voice came. “I’m here, Cabe! Let us know what you want.”
Thank God.
“Soldier’s impaled himself on a pretty big stick. I need to cut it close to the wound and...” He couldn’t bring himself to say the rest. Hell. He was as cool as a cucumber with almost every emergency situation he found himself in, but the thought of causing his dog any more pain...
“Got it,” Doug called. “Let us know when you’re ready.”
“Will do. Randolf, I’ll need you to give Doug a hand, okay?” He was thankful at least one of his friends had arrived. Both for his and Soldier’s sake, but also for Randolf, who had a lot of things on his mind right now.
“I will.”
He looked at the area around Soldier. There was some blood, but not enough to indicate that his boy had severed a major vessel. But canine anatomy was not the same as human. He had no choice but to try to free him. The leg that was trapped was the hind one closest to the ground. Taking a pair of sharp cutting pliers from one of the pockets in his vest, he patted Soldier’s head. “Easy, boy. We’re going to get you out, but it’s going to hurt like hell.”
Soldier’s tail patted the ground as if he understood.
He eased the cutters as close to the dog’s wound as he dared. “Stay.”
Soldier had been trained to freeze like a statue at that command. But the dog had never sustained an injury like this one either. And he had nothing to cover his eyes or face with. Hell, if he bit him, so be it. But there was no way he was leaving him for one second longer than necessary. The powerful nippers easily cut through the branch, but not without bringing a sharp cry of pain from his dog. Now he somehow had to ease Soldier off the remaining part of the branch. He didn’t dare try to reach under him to cut the bottom part.
“This is going to hurt, boy. I’m sorry.” He made his hands as flat as possible and slid them under the dog’s thigh on either side of the branch. “One, two, three!” Whether he was counting for Soldier’s sake or his own, he had no idea, but he lifted the dog’s leg up and off the spike of wood, bringing a gut-wrenching howl from his friend.
But he couldn’t stop now. He pivoted the dog’s body so that he could set the leg back down on top of his own, to avoid contaminating it any more than necessary. Warmth that could only be from blood seeped through his pants, but although he held his breath and waited, the flow didn’t pulse in thick streams that would signify an arterial bleed. He exhaled in relief as he did a quick check of the rest of the dog’s body, palpating ribs and limbs as best as he could. Nothing broken that he could tell.
He called up to the top. “I have him free. But you guys are going to have to drag us both up, since I don’t have a free hand. Can you do it?”
“We’re all here now, so between the three of us we have you. Tell us when.”
Okay, so Brad was there as well. The only way he figured he could do this was to cradle Soldier on his lap and wrap his own body around the hundred-and-fifteen-pound dog. His rope was geared for two good-sized adults, so it should hold.
Soldier thumped his tail again, lifting his head to look at Cabe. The threat of moisture made his vision blur for a second before he blinked it away. “Good boy. You’re doing great. Another big ouchie coming.”
Sliding his left arm under the dog’s shoulder, he dragged him the rest of the way onto his lap. This time there was no cry, not even a whimper. Pulling him closer, Cabe drew his knees up and curled his torso over the dog to lock him in place, using his arms to hold him there. Hopefully it would cushion his ride at least a little. He yelled up, “Okay, start pulling.”
Since he’d moved sideways to get to Soldier, the first pull of the rope dragged him diagonally across the ground. With each upward heave, his back glanced off rocks and branches tore at his protective clothes. But he didn’t ease his grip. It was the least painful way to move his dog, and Cabe would rather take the brunt of whatever they were going over.
Damn! His right shoulder hit something with enough force to make him see stars, but somehow he managed to hold on to Soldier. After ten minutes of effort, hands reached down and hauled them over the side of the embankment.
Brad took one look at him and winced. “Man, you look like hell.”
That got a smile out of him. Cabe could have guessed that. His cheek stung from one of the branches that had grabbed at his skin. “That doesn’t matter right now.”
His eyes searched out Randolf and found him standing beside his two friends, the rope still in his hands.
“How is he?” The man’s voice was a bit shaky as he looked back at him.
“He’s alive, but I need to get him to a vet. Thanks for helping.”
Cabe hadn’t moved. In reality, Doug was right. He was beat up. Every muscle in his body ached, and he wasn’t sure he could straighten up. At least not easily. He glanced down at Soldier to see liquid brown eyes meet his with a lot more calmness than his own tripping heart.
Brad nodded. “Randolf’s going to help us get Soldier down the mountain.”
His friend’s voice told him, he’d assessed the situation without Cabe needing to fill him in in front of the man. That was good. And Doug was standing off to the side, his cell phone to his ear. Probably talking to the officers. Or maybe calling Randolf’s wife.
Pulling out a square foil pack that Cabe recognized as a reflective survival blanket, Brad shook it out and laid it on the ground just as Doug rejoined them. “I think this will hold under Soldier’s weight. We’ll put him on it and carry him down the hill like a gurney.”
“Yes, that should work.”
Uncurling his stiff body, he watched as his two friends and Randolf carefully took Soldier from him and laid him on the blanket. The dog whimpered once and then lay still.
Now came the test when Doug came over and held his hand up. “Can you stand?”
“Yep.” He allowed his friend to help him to his feet, his muscles screaming with each movement. It was a small price to pay.
He glanced at Randolf. “Hey, buddy, there are some officers you’ll need to talk to. Doug or Brad will help you find them. You have to promise me you’ll be honest about your struggles, and that you’ll go and talk to your wife.”
“Will they arrest me?”
“Like I said, they’re more interested in your well-being. They can help you find someone to talk to. Do it. Not for me. Not for Soldier. Do it for your wife and your new baby. And most of all, for yourself.”
“I will. I promise.”
Cabe pulled a card out of his pocket. “This is my number. I want you to call me in a couple of days and let me know how it’s going. If you don’t, I’m going to pay you a visit.”
Randolf held up his hands. “I know it was stupid. The shock of losing my job, just as we were in the process of buying a house came up and overwhelmed me.”
He understood. All too well. When his father had been at his worst, he’d been overcome by emotions that never should have seen the light of day. At least Randolf didn’t seem to have lost himself in a bottle. Which meant he could still think, could still take control of his life. And it sounded like he’d have help doing that, from how scared his wife had sounded. He hoped they would both seek help to get past this.
“I get it. Just don’t do anything like that again.”
Randolf nodded. “I’d like to help you get him down the hill, if that’s okay. And then I’ll talk to the officers. As soon as I call my wife.”
“I think that is the best idea I’ve heard all day.”
Jessie leaped up from her little garden, brushing the dirt from her hands as soon as she set down the phone. Her first emergency case as the new vet in the area. And it had to be on a Saturday when her only employee was out of town on a fishing trip. She reached in her pocket for the key to the medical cabinet in her office and squeezed it tight. A habit from her last several weeks in San Francisco. She forced her fingers to uncurl.
Well, she wasn’t in San Francisco any longer, and from what old Doc Humphrey had told her last week as he was retiring, the Santa Medina Veterinary Clinic sometimes saw pets who were injured while exploring the wild surrounds of the area. Only this time it wasn’t a tourist’s pet, it was a search and rescue dog who’d evidently fallen down a steep embankment and been injured during a rescue.
Fortunately Doc Humphrey had bequeathed her the small cottage that was on the clinic’s property, where he’d lived. He was moving to Idaho where his daughter was, wanting to make the most of his time after getting a diagnosis for the slight palsy he’d developed. Parkinson’s. It was still in its early stages, but her heart hurt at the pain in his eyes when he realized he’d have to give up his practice here. He’d been in a hurry to find a replacement, and she’d been in a hurry to relocate out of the city.
Not bothering to change her clothes, knowing they were on their way in now, she washed her hands and grabbed her lab coat off its hook by the door and walked over to the clinic to get things laid out in case she needed to do emergency surgery on the dog. God, she hoped the rescue guy wasn’t going to go all squeamish on her if she needed an extra set of hands. Her ex certainly had the time or two she’d encountered an injured animal during her travels. Then she rolled her eyes. Of course he wouldn’t. He was search and rescue. Not a baseball player who was worried more about his pitching arm than anything else. Including the damage he could have done to her reputation if he’d succeeded in using her key.
Fifteen minutes later, she heard a car drive up, horn giving two sharp beeps as it parked in her small gravel lot.
She met them at the door, her breath catching at the man who carried what looked to be a very large bloodhound. The man’s black hair was sticking up in every direction, and he had blood caked on the right side of his face, and there was still more flowing from a deep gash on his cheek.
Needed stitches. Her brain was already processing what she saw. “What happened?”
“He fell quite a distance. Landed on a thick branch which went all the way through his right hind leg.” The man was out of breath, probably injured himself. Had he fallen as well?
There was another man behind him. “Let me take him, Cabe, dammit. You can barely walk.”
“I’m fine. I’ve got him.” His tone brooked no argument.
Running to open the door for the pair, she motioned them into an exam room. “Set him here.”
Gingerly setting the injured dog on the table, the man waited as Jessie unwound her stethoscope from her neck, murmuring little words of reassurance to the hound. She’d long learned that the words themselves didn’t matter, it was the tone that either soothed or caused fear. When the dog lifted his head to look at her, she held out her hand, fingers curled in so he could sniff it. “That’s a good boy. Let’s see where you hurt.”
His head flopped back onto the table, long ears akimbo, as if exhausted. He probably was. As was his owner if that’s who he was. “Whose dog is he?”
“Mine. His name is Soldier.”
She blinked. Okay, that was an unusual name. But then his owner seemed a little unusual himself. She looked at him. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Just see to him. Please.”
The last word had been added in a tone that sounded slightly strangled, belying his gruff manner. He was worried. As any owner would be.
He turned to his companion. “Thanks, Doug. I can take it from here. Go home to your family.”
“I’ll help you get him home. He weighs a ton.”
“I don’t think so.” She looked up after listening to the dog’s heart. “I’d rather he spent the night here.” For some reason the words sounded funny to her ears, so she added, “Soldier, I mean. I don’t want him moving around, and it’s already six o’clock. Unless you need your friend to stay to help me with my exam. It’s just me tonight, I’m afraid. And you look...”
“He looks like hell. I’ve told him that several times already, but you’ll find Cabe is as bullheaded as they come.” Doug’s face softened. “And that dog means everything to him.”
She watched as Cabe fixed him with a look that would melt lead. “I’m fine. Go home, Doug.”
Doug held up his hands. “I’m going, I’m going. But call me and let me know how he’s doing.”
“I will.”
With that, Doug waved goodbye to her and headed out the door.
Then those steely blue eyes fixed themselves on her face. “Now tell me. What do I need to do?”
Fifteen minutes later, they were in the small surgical area in the back of the clinic. Soldier had gotten a dose of a short-acting anesthesia so she could irrigate his leg and then X-ray him to check for fractures.
Cabe surprised her, by handling everything like a pro, not balking at anything she asked him to do, including helping cut sutures as she tied them off. “You’re a paramedic?”
“That’s right. Before that, I was a medic in the army. I went to one of the local shelters soon after I got out...and well, the rest is history.” He smiled, glancing at his dog.
“Ahh...” The dog’s name suddenly made more sense. So did Cabe’s skill in the operating room. “That’s why you’re not put off by the messier parts of medicine.”
“I’ve seen my share of trauma. But this is the first time with Soldier.”
“From what I can see, he’s going to be fine. One cracked rib that should heal without a problem with some downtime. And no major vessels lacerated, which is a small miracle considering where that branch went through. We normally recommend leaving the object in just in case—”
“The branch was still attached to the bush, and he was lying on top of it. No way for me to get underneath him to cut it. And we had to drag him up the hill.”
She swallowed. Cabe’s own injuries suddenly made more sense. “You held him, and they dragged you up.”
He gave a short jerk of his head. “They pulled us both up.”
Their eyes caught and held for a few seconds, before Jessie hauled hers away and fastened them back on the dog. Where they should be. She bandaged both sides of the wound, affixing the tape to the area she’d clipped before surgery. “Let’s put him in a kennel and let him wake up. I’ve given him an injection for pain, so that should help him be more comfortable.”
She hurried to put a fleece blanket in the largest kennel they had before realizing there was no way he was going to fit in there without it hurting him to move in and out of the door. “On second thought, let’s just put him in the exam room we were in before this. He should be more comfortable in there.”
Before she had to ask, Cabe scooped the dog into his arms as if he weighed nothing. It sent a shiver through her, and she wasn’t sure why. The paramedic looked like he was impervious to anything. Even emotions.
Except for that tiny quaver when he’d murmured to the dog before the anesthesia had taken effect.
They got him into the room, and Cabe set him on the fluffy blanket that she’d wound into a circle on the ground. Then she set water down for him. “I don’t want to give him food until I’m sure we’re not going to need to put him back under.”
He frowned again. “How long will that be?”
“Just an hour or two.”
“I’ll wait with him, if it’s all the same to you. You don’t need to stay. I can lock up for you, if you’d like.”
She tensed, before forcing herself to relax. “I was already planning on waiting with him. But first, I’m going to need you to hop up onto that exam table so I can get a better look at your cheek. Let me just lower the mechanism a bit first, though.”
“The cheek’s fine. But if you have something for this headache, I’d accept it.”
“I have Advil. And that’s it.” Was she going to tense up every time someone asked for a simple painkiller? Maybe. “And your cheek is not fine, and it wasn’t a request. If you want to stay here with him...” She left the sentence hanging. He’d get the meaning.
He glanced at the table as she pushed a foot pedal to bring it down a little. “Is that thing going to hold me?”
“Yes.” Even saying the word made her smile, though. The man had to be six-three or six-four, if he was an inch. But he wasn’t tall and scrawny looking. Instead, he was filled out in all the right places. The fact that she was just now noticing that made her kind of proud. At least she hadn’t ogled him the second he’d walked through the door.
Well, she wasn’t going to ruin that record by staring at him now. Gathering some supplies while he got onto the table, wincing as he did, she tilted her head. “Are you sure you don’t need to visit the ER and get a few X-rays of your own?”
“I’m sure. Just got a few bumps and bruises.” He glanced at his dog, who was still sleeping off his adventures, thanks to the pain meds. “Are you sure Soldier needs to stay here? We haven’t been separated since...well in a long time.”
“I’m sorry, but I’d feel better if he were here where I can keep an eye on him.”
He frowned. “Are you going to spend the night at the clinic?”
“That’s the plan. I have a little sleeping area set up in back.” She soaked a piece of gauze with antiseptic. “This is going to sting a little.”
She gently cleaned the area on his cheek. She was right. It was fairly deep. “This looks like it needs stitches.”
“Okay.”
The gauze went still. “So you’ll go have it seen?”
“Can’t you do it?”
“I’m a vet. Not a human doctor.”
His mouth twisted. “Okay... Doc. If I trusted you with Soldier, I sure as hell trust you to knot a few sutures on me. But if you won’t, and you have a couple of butterflies or some superglue I can use, I’ll just close it myself.”
Was he kidding her? Then again, he’d been a medic in the army, he’d probably had to make do with what he had more than once.
“I’ll close it with a butterfly bandage. But you’re probably going to have a scar if you don’t get it done right.”
He actually cracked a smile. “It won’t be my first one.”
The man was ridiculous. Not only because of what he’d said, but because now she was wondering where those other scars might be hidden.
She switched to a fresh gauze and cleaned up some more superficial cuts on his temple. “Let me check your head.”
Her fingers tunneled deep into his dark hair and sifted through the crisp strands as she felt for other injuries or telltale signs of a head injury. No bumps that she could find. He pulled back with a weird sound. “I think I’m fine. If you could just patch up the spot on my cheek, I’ll be good to go.” He seemed to think for a minute. “Are you sure I can’t sleep in your spare room at the clinic so that you can go home to be with...whoever needs you.”
Not a chance in hell.
“That would be my bird, Dumble. And I live right next door, so I’ll run home to feed him. I’ll be gone all of five minutes.”
She’d lost her dog, Chloe, to cancer, before leaving San Francisco. It was part of what had prompted her to move to Santa Medina. She’d had Chloe ever since she was a junior in high school and losing her had been harder than breaking it off with her long-term boyfriend, Jason. Of course finding him with the keys to her drug cabinet and suddenly realizing why Chloe’s pain meds had run out much sooner than she’d expected had left her reeling. Jason had been stealing them. At first he denied it. Then claimed he hadn’t wanted to go to the doctor for a shoulder injury, he’d told her. None of which she now believed. Nor had she believed his story of finding her keys beside her car and picking them up to return to her. If he’d actually made it to the vet clinic where she worked and stolen drugs... She would have been finished. Anger washed over her all over again.
No. She wasn’t trusting anyone the way she’d trusted him, ever again. That included letting someone sleep in her clinic.
“Dumble, huh? No cats or dogs?”
His words jerked her back to the present. “Not anymore.”
He frowned and looked at her for a long moment before murmuring, “I’m sorry.”
An unexpected wave of emotion overcame her, and a half shrug was all she could get out for several minutes. She hadn’t even been able to grieve Chloe’s loss properly because of the drama with Jason soon afterward.
She covered by cleaning up the discarded gauze and putting away the disinfectant. Then she pulled out a small, covered tote that held various Band-Aids and found a couple of butterflies. She also retrieved a couple of ibuprofen.
Affixing one side of the dressing and then pulling the edge of the skin to meet with the skin on the other side of the cut, she finished up and stood back to look. “Make sure you have it checked if there’s any sign of infection. And you should probably get a tetanus shot if you haven’t had one in a while.”
She went to the small fridge around the corner and got a bottle of water, then handed it to him along with the ibuprofen.
He twisted the cap and put the bottle to his mouth, downed the pills with a powerful movement of his throat. “Thanks.” He slid off the table. “Is that it?”
“Yep, I think we’re all done. Go home. Please. He’ll probably sleep most of the night, and you look about done in. I’ll call you if there’s any change.”
“Are you sure?”
“Absolutely.” A frisson of relief went through her that he was about to be out of her clinic. Something about him made her uneasy. Not in a creepy way, but in a way that said she wasn’t sure of her own reactions. And it was strange. Jason had been stunningly attractive with a runner’s body and a great sense of humor. And not a scar in sight. But Cabe...there was something darker about this man. More closed off. As if he had a million secrets tucked away behind those blue eyes of his.
He was a combat medic. Who wouldn’t have a darker side after that kind of career? Or secrets.
Then again, so had Jason. And none of them had been the good kind.
He patted his vest pockets before shaking his head. “My wallet’s in the car...let me get it.”
“We can settle up tomorrow when you come get him.”
“Are you sure?” As he turned toward her, his hand knocked the leash she’d used onto the floor.
“I’m sure.”
He bent over to pick up the neon-green length of nylon, and Jessie’s eyes widened, a shocked squeak coming out before she could stop it.
Because a section of jeans that should have been covering his ass was now a useless flap of fabric that hung to one side, and there, in all its glory, was half of the man’s butt, bared for her viewing pleasure. And the knotted muscles there...
Oh, God! Stop looking, stop looking, stop...
She swallowed hard and stared at the wall over his head, waiting for him to turn around.
