“Oh, Harlow, thank god!” Dad shouts in return, not making either of us feel any better. “Prada’s in labor, and something’s wrong. The vet’s still forty minutes out, and we have no idea what to do right now.”
I push my way past the gathered people to peer over the stable door, absently noting that it looks like everyone but Holden is here. Jacinta is inside the stable, sitting at Prada’s head and stroking her face, while Josh is at her hind end with a terrified look on his face. Not stopping to talk to anyone else, I head inside, Declan following close behind.
Moving slowly but surely so as not to startle the distressed mare, I make my way to Josh and squat down. Immediately, I can see the problem. There’s the telltale sign of a red sack which tells me right away that the placenta is separating before it should.Shit.
“I need a pair of scissors or a scalpel and a pair of gloves. I’ll make do with hand sanitizer if you can’t find the latter. And be quick!” I call to the people outside.
“What the fuck? What the fuck are you going to do to my horse?” Each of Jacinta’s words comes out as a gasping sob, and I don’t know if it’s the late night, the craziness of coming home to this situation, or if I’m just a terrible person, but I’m kind of glad to see that she’s not the world’s prettiest crier either.
Thomas quickly returns and slowly makes his way into the stable, hands me a pair of gloves which I immediately pull on, and then passes me the scissors from an open suture kit. Jacinta shouts, lunging at me, but Declan is quicker. Luckily for both me and Prada, he manages to catch her before she can get to me. If she managed to knock me out, I have no idea what would become of Prada and her foal.
“Calm down, you’re frightening Prada,” he scolds, keeping a tight hold on her as I work.
“But what is she doing?” Jacinta stammers.
“Just trust me and focus on calming yourself down. We’ll explain when it’s over.” She narrows her eyes, not happy that there’s something she doesn’t know while I’m preparing to be intimately close to her horse with scissors, but at least she’s not crying anymore.
“How long has she presented like this?” I ask as I carefully slice the placenta open, quickly moving out of the way as the retained fluid comes gushing out. I pass the scalpel to Josh and proceed to insert my hand into Prada to feel for the foal’s front legs. Finding them right inside the pelvic canal, I grab hold of them. Now, Josh can be useful; I motion with my head, wanting him to come closer. I’m going to need some extra strength for this. “Help me.” He comes forward and puts his hands on my arms from behind. Together, we wrestle with the foal before pulling down toward Prada’s hocks, and with a little more effort, the foal slips out with a whole heap more fluid and the ruptured placenta.
“About five minutes,” Josh tells me, and a wave of relief flows through me. Maybe it will be all right. “I don’t know who’s looking out for this horse, but you guys got back here just in time.” I start to vigorously rub the foal’s chest, hoping to feel a heartbeat and see the rise and fall that will tell me we can be optimistic. Thankfully, it’s doing both, and a big sigh escapes my mouth.
“Can someone get me a towel?” I call out to our audience, and I’m quickly handed a towel which I rub all over the foal’s body to keep it stimulated. He’s averylucky boy. If we had been any later, it could be a completely different situation.
“It’s a boy,” I announce happily, and when nobody answers, I look up. Nana, Poppy, Dad, and Declan are all looking on with pride, while the others are slack jawed with disbelief.
“What the fuck was that?” Jacinta demands as Prada struggles to stand up.
Eventually, she succeeds, leaning down to nudge at the baby in my arms once she’s upright. I’m not sure how much time has passed before the little foal starts to struggle, but it does, so I stop rubbing it and stand up, helping it to its feet. It makes its wobbly way over to Prada and intuitively starts nursing.Thank fuck. I think we’ve avoided Dummy Foal Syndrome. We’ll have to keep a close eye on both of them though, and Prada may need a course of antibiotics.
Now that it’s all over, I realize that I’m wet and covered in gunk, up to the shoulders, from reaching into Prada, and it’snota nice feeling. Wish I’d thought to grab the overalls too, but there really wasn't any time. And my family is still waiting for an explanation.
“That was what we call a red bag delivery. Unfortunately, Prada’s placenta separated from her uterine wall before she was able to give birth to that little guy. This cuts off the oxygen supply to the foal, and basically, they suffocate. By cutting it open and delivering as soon as we could, we managed to lessen the impact. Josh said it was only five minutes, so I’m hoping the foal hasn't suffered any severe side effects. The fact that he’s up, breathing on his own, and nursing now are all good signs.”
The peanut gallery still looks gobsmacked, and Jacinta waves her hand impatiently.
“Not that….That.” She points from me to Prada and then waves her hand all around again. Still standing too close to her, Declan leans back, which is a smart move considering his sister’s almost slapped him in the face twice now. “What did I just see?” Her eyes are wide, and her mouth opens and shuts like a goldfish.
She cannot be serious now. I snark back, “Oh, that? Well, I’m a qualified vet, so that was me performing an emergency procedure on your horse. I’m assuming you didn't want to wait until the other vet got here to deliver a dead foal.”
The remaining ignorant siblings burst into sound, talking over each other to the point where I can’t make out what’s being said, and Dad and my grandparents add to the noise as they argue with them. Jacinta, on the other hand, is a different story. Although she’d been nagging at me a moment ago, now she’s just staring at me with tears in her eyes. She shoves at Declan's arms until he lets go. Once she’s free, she slowly walks toward me.Okay, totally have no clue where this is going right now.Paying no mind to the fact that I’m covered in birthing fluid, she wraps her arms around me and immediately starts sobbing again.Oh god, I’m not good with criers.“Thank you. Oh, thank you. Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me, please? I was so wrong about you, and I see that now.”
Without any thought, my arms come around her, and I rub my soiled clothes all over her, making sure she’s as filthy as I am. She snorts with amusement but doesn't pull away. “I think we can probably work something out,” I say quietly, finally stopping my antics and returning the hug. And I can’t say it’s not nice.
“Are you telling me that all this time you’ve been letting us believe you’re a horse trainer, but you’re actually a fully qualified vet?” The annoyance seeping from Jaxon’s question only triggers my own, and I spin around to face him, crossing my arms and holding back my grimace at the disgustingsquishthat accompanies the movement.
“No, Jaxon, that’s what each and every one of you assumed. Not one of you ever thought to take the time to ask about my life, so I think it’s entirely your fault that you didn’t know the truth about me. You just assumed, and you know what they say about assuming things.”
“It makes an ass out of you and me!” Kai chimes in, smiling. He just looks impressed and maybe a little turned on. Glancing down at myself, I shudder at the sight. I’m hoping it’s the brains he’s attracted to and not the gunk because that would be the second time he’s been turned on when I look like shit.
“Theyknew.” I point to Nana and Poppy and Dad.
Jaxon turns an accusing eye on Declan who holds up his hand. “Hey, I just found out yesterday when she helped with my kitten.”
“That wasyou?” Jacinta gasps. “I thought Nana or you had spoken to a vet on the phone.” She looks at Nana accusingly, receiving only a shrug in return.
“Well, Ididspeak to a vet. You just didn't know it was Harlow. What was it that Harlow said about assuming?” Her eyes cast down to the floor, Jacinta nods, appearing sheepish enough that I almost chuckle a little at their expense.
“From now on, how about we actually use words to communicate with one another instead of assumptions; I think we’ll all find things go a lot smoother that way,” Poppy says, his gentle patience breaking the tension.
