My mind is already at work, running through the possibilities, none of which are great. Some are less severe than the others, but some could mean a serious outbreak among the cows. “Is she alone or with the others?”
“Alone. I’ve been sitting with her since I called you, but I didn’t want to run the risk of infecting the others until we know what’s wrong.”
“Good call.”
Bypassing the main barn, we head for the smaller medical building out back. Instead of having the cows brought to me for their regular checkups, it was more efficient to build an office on the farm. Camilla and I travel out here twice a month to perform the checkups, and in between as needed whenever someone is sick.
Penny is waiting for us in one of the beds, shivering beneath a blanket. Before I can say anything, Camilla drops my hand and rushes forward, gently petting Penny’s dark hair. “Oh, you poor thing. It’s going to be okay, Penny. We’re going to take good care of you.”
My heart lodges in my throat at the sight of her, so close to the sickly cow without any protective gear. As a result, my tone is harsher than I intend when I snap out her name. “Camilla Joy!”
Whipping around, she stares up at me, hurt shining in her bright blue eyes. “What did I do?”
Guilt pricks at my chest, and I force myself to breathe. “You need a mask and gloves, little one.”
“Oh. Right.” Nodding, she rises to her feet and crosses to the sink to wash her hands. I move to stand beside her, running my hand over her golden hair.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you, sunshine. I needed to get your attention, but I shouldn’t have been so short. Forgive me?”
Looking up from the sink, she beams at me. “Of course, Daddy. I’m sorry I didn’t think of masking up first. I should have.”
“Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
With her hands clean, she pulls on a face mask and a pair of gloves. I do the same, watching from the corner of my eye as she gets to work taking Penny’s blood pressure and temperature.
“Pressure is a little high, but not out of the ordinary considering she’s obviously fighting an infection of some kind,” Camilla reports, her words brisk and professional if somewhat muffled by the mask. “Temperature is one-oh-one-point-two.”
She looks over at our patient, and my heart constricts at the worry in her expression. Knowing that Penny’s temperature isn’t in the life-threatening range, I allow myself a moment to just be Camilla’s Daddy and I rest a hand on the back of her neck, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Good job, little one.”
Craning her neck to look up at me, she narrows her eyes in a thoughtful sort of stare. But before I can ask her what she’s thinking, Penny groans, and I’m reminded we have a job to do.
Camilla seems to remember at the same time I do, stepping forward to take Penny’s hand while she strokes the little cow’s head. “Shhh. It’s okay, Penny girl. My Daddy is here and he’s going to take the best care of you.”
Even through her fever, Penny manages some curiosity, looking from me to Camilla and back again. “Your Daddy?Him?”
I try not to take it personally, even when Camilla giggles. “Yeah. I wasn’t expecting that little plot twist, either. But he isn’t so bad when you get to know him a little better.”
Penny snorts as I pull the covers away to reveal a body dotted with tiny red bumps. “I’ll take your word for it.”
While Camilla keeps our cow friend occupied, I run through my mental list of things that could explain the rash. Measles, hand-foot-and-mouth, chicken pox. There are a few different infections that could explain both the rash and the fever, though some seem far less likely than others, since Penny would have been vaccinated against most of them as a child. The medical history I pull up on my tablet confirms she received all the standard inoculations, which only adds to the puzzle.
“Camilla, I’m going to need you to pull a few vials of blood so we can run some tests. If I didn’t know any better, I’d say she has the chicken pox, but she was vaccinated, so we’ll need those blood tests to say for certain.”
Eyes going wide, Penny nibbles at her bottom lip. “What would the test tell you?”
“Hopefully, what kind of virus we’re dealing with. I’ll also be testing for immunity to the chicken pox virus as well as a few other things.”
“Oh.” Red colors her cheeks and my Daddy instincts kick in. Our little cow is hiding something. “Um, what if it comes back negative on the immunity stuff?”
“Why would it come back negative, Penelope?”
“N-no reason.”
I put every bit of steel I can muster into my tone. “Tell me the truth, Penelope. Why would your tests come back negative?”
She shrinks back, and to my shock, Camilla plants herself between us, fisting her hands on her hips while she glares up at me. “She isn’t going to tell you anything if you scare her like that, Donovan.”
