Bryson rattled off the address of the animal hospital, which she typed into her phone. They secured the puppies in two small crates that Ridley carried out, one in each hand.
“You have no idea how weird that was,” Evie said. “It feels like I’m in the Upside Down.”
Cameron came in about twenty minutes later, his hair mussed and sweatshirt stained and wrinkled. He looked as if he’d rolled out of bed and threw on the first thing he picked up from the hamper.
He didn’t greet anyone, just set a black insulated cooler on the steel table where Bryson was inserting an IV into a Chihuahua mix.
“I brought all the monoclonal antibodies we had at the clinic, but it’s only eight doses,” Cameron said.
“Every bit helps,” Evie said. She gestured to her right. “Start with those over there.”
They worked for two hours, administering antibodies and fluids and examining the other dogs in the rescue to make sure they were not showing any symptoms of the virus. Either by a miracle, or just damn fine veterinary skill, they managed to save each and every dog. Bryson called the hospital to get an update on the puppies Ridley had brought in. Relief weakened his muscles at the news that the puppies would make it.
All of the dogs that had been infected would have to undergo weeks of treatment; whether they would have a roof over their heads throughout that treatment remained to be seen.
Cameron left The Sanctuary as stone-faced as he’d arrived, barely speaking to anyone on his way out. Bryson, Evie, and Odessa retreated to the break room.
Evie stood with her back against the wall. She’d put her hair in a ponytail using a thick rubber band.
“Well, if we didn’t already know The Sanctuary was truly done for, this was our biggest sign yet.” She pressed the heels ofher hands to her eyes and let out a sigh. “All the money we raised at Barkingham Palace will need to be used for treatment.”
Bryson had come to the same conclusion.
“This never should have happened,” Odessa said, shaking her head. “All because of a power outage.”
While the doctors were busting their asses trying to save the dogs, Odessa had been trying to figure out how they got sick in the first place. All the dogs had been vaccinated for parvo. After some digging, she discovered the vaccines they were given had been stored in a refrigerator that was not hooked up to the generator. During one of the city’s frequent power outages, the medicine, which must be kept below a certain temperature, had sat for hours with no power. The dogs had all been vaccinated with a vaccine that had gone bad.
“Look at it this way,” Odessa said. “At least you all got to save the dogs one last time.”
Bryson knew she was right. They had been able to pull off a miracle. But that didn’t make this any easier, not when he knew how much Evie’s ultimate goal of saving the rescue meant to her.
Sometimes the wins they had to settle for were a far cry from the wins they originally set out for. It looked as if that would be the case with The Sanctuary.
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Evie’s entire body ached as she climbed out of Bryson’s Jeep and followed him to his building’s elevator. But the ache in her neck and back didn’t hold a candle to the one in her chest. Every dose of the monoclonal antibodies she’d administered this morning had felt like a shot to her own heart, because she knew with every dose, significant, expensive follow-up care would be needed. Care the rescue could not provide without more funds.
They entered the condo and Evie burst into a jumbled mess of laughter and tears, the sight of Bella and Waffles sending her overwrought emotions past the breaking point.
“Hey, hey,” Bryson said, pulling her into a hug. “It’s okay, Ev.”
“Don’t mind me,” Evie said, swiping at her nose with her sleeve—his sleeve. “I’ve been on the verge of losing it for at least an hour. Something about seeing those two together sentme over the edge.” She pointed to the dogs. “I mean, just look at them.”
Bryson’s dog lay on Waffles’s back as if he were a pillow put there expressly for her.
Bryson huffed a laugh. “We’re lucky they get along so well.”
“We are.” Evie cocked her head to the side. “But they don’t seem like they’re boyfriend and girlfriend the way Ashanti and Thad’s dogs are. They get along more like siblings.”
“Bella is absolutely the frustrated older sister that tolerates the younger brother following her around.”
Evie held the sweatshirt out in front of her. “Do you have another one of these I can borrow? We can’t go near the dogs in these contaminated clothes.”
“I’ll grab a trash bag from the kitchen,” Bryson said. “Leave the clothes on the floor in my bedroom, and I’ll have another pair of joggers and sweatshirt for you when you get out of the shower.”
Evie took a quick shower. She was too exhausted to go through her normal washday routine, but she wasn’t willing to go near Waffles or Bella without washing her hair. She lathered twice and rinsed, then when in front of the mirror, towel dried it as best she could. She scooped her hair into a messy bun and secured it with the rubber band she’d grabbed at The Sanctuary. She wrapped the towel around her chest and exited the bathroom.
Bryson stood at the foot of the bed, his chest bare.
