“Right.” I try not to sigh, but it’s hard. Frank will need to go home, and since Danielle is out of town for a family reunion, there are no other techs to fill the night shift.
I’m off tonight, with Amy-Jae, one of the junior vets, taking my place. She can’t do it all on her own, though, so I’ll need to fill in for Frank as the extra set of hands.
So, no night off. No Flick. Damn it.
My stomach drops like a rock. I feel like a kid who’s just had their Disney World trip canceled on them. But it is what it is. I started this practice, and I’m the one in charge of it. Which means that I’m the one who has to go the extra mile.
Frank emerges from the bathroom, and I give him a sympathetic smile. “Go home and rest, buddy. Let us know if you need anything.”
Frank mumbles something incoherent that contains the tone of gratitude, and he stumbles out the door.
“What about your date?” Rach asks as I walk past the front desk.
“What about it?” I slip into my office and close the door, annoyed at myself for sounding like a petulant toddler.
It’s not three minutes after I’ve started on backlogged paperwork that there’s a knock on the door. “Jenny Greer is herewith a loon she found in a net,” Rach calls through the closed door.
“Bring them to room one.” Pushing my chair back, I head to the exam room and wash my hands, still trying to put all thoughts of Flick out of my mind. I don’t know when we’ll be able to reschedule, and I’m putting off texting the cancellation because just thinking about it makes me feel sick.
She’s so understanding about my work. Even though she looked disappointed when I had to leave her place for an emergency call, I could tell it didn’t faze her. She seems to really get my job, which is a rarity.
It makes me like her even more. Makes me want to find some ways to show my gratitude, to give back to her anything and everything she might need.
The door opens, and Jenny Greer enters with a loon in her arms. For a wild animal, it’s acting pretty passive. Hopefully, it’s just in shock and not physically harmed.
“Hey, Jenny. Where’d you find this guy?”
“At the edge of the water.” She hands him over to me. “I don’t see any injuries, but after I got the net off him, he didn’t fly or swim away.”
“Let’s take a look at him.” Keeping one hand on the bird’s back, I set it on the exam table and gently inspect its wings. It resists and tries to get away when I move the right one. “Hm. Looks like he does have a wing injury. Which means we’ll need to call the aquatic bird rehab people. This guy won’t be safe to go back out on the water for a while.”
“Poor guy,” she murmurs.
“He’ll pull through. I can’t know for sure, but he might even be able to fly again.” I look up at her. “Thanks for bringing him in.”
She nods, inspecting me curiously. “So, you’re dating Flick Patel.”
“Uh…”
If Pine Island is the epitome of the rumor mill, Jenny is the crank operator that keeps it spinning.
“I…” Don’t know how to finish that sentence.
Luckily, my phone rings in my pocket, saving me from having to answer. “I should get that,” I say. “Thank you for bringing in the loon. I’ll have Rach call the rehabilitators now.”
“No problem.” Her smile, while slight, is knowing. “Hope you and Flick have a nice night tonight.”
She slips out the door, and I take the opportunity to shake my head before putting the loon in a crate with water and asking Rach to place a call to the rehabilitators to have them pick the bird up as soon as possible. Stepping back into my office, I check my phone and find a missed call from my brother.
Calling him back, I put the phone on speaker so I can organize the office while we talk.
“Hey,” Ben answers. “I wasn’t sure I’d be able to catch you.”
“It’s a busy day, for sure.” I collect the papers sitting on my desk and get to work filing them away. “It seems like everyone is just as interested in my dating life as they are in my vet skills.”
His boisterous laughter bursts through the tiny speaker. “You getting hit on again? You know, I heard the women on that island call you Doctor Dreamy.”
“No, they don’t.” I close the filing cabinet with a snap.
