EVIE WILLIAMS
Unlike with The Sanctuary’s number, he’d never been able to bring himself to delete her contact from his phone. Apparently, she hadn’t gotten rid of his either.
Don’t read too much into it.
He still had the number of a man who’d once tried to sell him solar panels for his car saved in his phone. Evie still having his number wasn’t as consequential as he wanted it to be.
Not that he wanted it to be of any consequence.
“Evie. Hey,” Bryson said.
“Hey,” she replied. “I hope you don’t mind me calling out of the blue like this.”
“Not at all,” Bryson said. “A little surprised, but I don’t mind. Was there something you needed?”
There was a brief pause, then, “I’ve been thinking about our meeting with Doc.”
His pulse quickened.
“What about it?” he prompted when she didn’t continue.
“Knowing The Sanctuary is in trouble and that the mentorship program isn’t even operating doesn’t sit right with me.”
“Yeah, I’ve been thinking a lot about it too,” Bryson said. Not nearly as much as he had been thinking about her, butThe Sanctuary had been on his mind. “That mentorship program was a vital part of my training. I hate the thought of the community losing both the program and The Sanctuary.”
“Yes, well, that’s why I called,” Evie said.
A knock on his office door interrupted them.
“Dr. Mitchell.” It was the surgical tech he’d worked with on that Hot Wheels car extraction. “Captain Jack is prepped for his sialoadenectomy,” she said.
Shit.
“I’ll be there in a minute,” Bryson said. “Hey, Evie, I have to deal with a salivary mucocele in a fourteen-year-old Chihuahua. It shouldn’t take more than an hour.”
“Go,” she said. “Call me when you’re done.”
The surgery took a little longer than Bryson had anticipated because, as he’d feared, the gland was infected. He had been forced to go into the procedure without all of the information he should have had because the owner had declined to do a pre-op CT scan. He got it. The CT scan would have added another thousand dollars to the already expensive surgery, but it only made his job more difficult.
It was yet another reason why operations like The Sanctuary were vital to the community. The world needed more places that offered pro bono veterinary care. If they somehow managed to save the rescue, he would suggest to Doc that he implement a program that helped to defray the cost of surgeries for low-income pet owners.
Suggest it to Doc? Who was on the verge of retiring?
“You cannot run The Sanctuary,” Bryson murmured under his breath as he shucked off his gloves. He was certain that’s why Doc had taken him to the rescue following their lunch last week. Wanting to give him that lapel pin had onlybeen an excuse to get him into the building, but Evie being there had thrown everything off. Bryson was just waiting for Doc to bring up the subject.
He couldnotrun The Sanctuary. He had enough on his plate with this new job, new move, the speaking engagements still on his calendar. Doc would have to find someone else.
He made his way to the waiting room to talk to Captain Jack’s owner. His steps faltered when he caught sight of Evie standing next to the wall covered with photos of past patients.
“Uh, Mrs. Stewart, I just wanted you to know that everything went well with Captain Jack’s surgery,” Bryson said, watching Evie out of the corner of his eye. “We found a slight infection, which will require an extra night of IV antibiotics, but he should make a complete recovery.”
Evie had turned at his voice and was watching him with open curiosity.
“Does he have to stay here to get those antibiotics?” the woman, who looked to be in her seventies, asked.
“Yes. He needs to be monitored.”
She frowned. “How much more will that cost on top of the surgery?”
