‘Can I come?’ asked Ella, looking fearful.
‘You’ll only be in the way,’ said Marina before he could say a word. ‘Leave it to the professionals to do their job.’
‘You can come if you want,’ Devon said firmly, ‘but we need to get her over there now.’ He and Marina manoeuvred the dog up and out towards the door while Ella hovered as if she couldn’t bear to separate herself from the dog.
‘Can I do anything?’ she asked.
‘Can you—’ Devon started.
‘—bring the chocolate box?’ finished Marina, sending him a fond smile. ‘We need to know the cocoa content and the exact ingredients.’
Although Ella’s face was so pale and worried, he couldn’t afford to take his focus from the dog.
As they arrived at the surgery, he pulled Tess gently from the car and carried her in his arms, feeling the early warning signs as her stomach rolled and heaved.
‘Watch out,’ he warned just in time as a stream of projectile vomit spattered the stone stairs, the walls, his trousers and shoes. Of course, not a drop touched the dairyman’s coat he wore for just such eventualities. Marina, he noticed, had kept well out of the way.
‘Eeuw,’ she wrinkled her nose. ‘I don’t miss this emergency stuff.’
‘Oh God, is she all right?’ Ella called as she came racing over. She stared, horrified, at the greenish tinge down his trousers and he gave her a glimmer of a smile.
‘That’s a good sign,’ he said. ‘And unfortunately just the start. We need to—’
‘—get as much of the chocolate out of her system as possible.’ Marina’s voice sounded almost triumphant.
He hurried inside and shouldered his way through the doors through to the main room.
Marina was busy pulling out equipment as if she knew her way around the surgery.
He slid the dog onto the table. Tess let out a lethargic moan, which had Ella wincing.
Marina steered Ella towards the door; he thought it was probably a good idea that Ella didn’t see Tess in any more distress, although he was irritated by the way Marina had assumed charge in his surgery.
‘Ella, you might be better outside in the waiting room,’ said Marina. ‘This isn’t a pleasant or pretty procedure, but Devon and I have lots of experience. We need to make Tess vomit again, just to make sure we’ve got as much of the chocolate out of her system. Then we’ll give her some charcoal to help absorb the theobromine, which is basically the poison in chocolate which dogs are unable to absorb.’
Bets had the syringe ready. Devon lifted Tess’s jowls, to open her mouth. She didn’t even resist.
‘Come on,’ said Marina, slipping her arm under Ella’s elbow and virtually frogmarching her out of the room. He wondered at her motives – was she dodging the messy part or trying to prove to him she was the perfect support?
Ella paced up and down in the waiting room until Marina appeared.
‘All being well, she should be OK.’ Marina peeled off a pair of surgical gloves. ‘We did what we needed to do. She’s stabilised. Her heart rate has been lowered. And Devon and I are very happy with her. She could have died you know . . . but we’ve saved her. Although the next few hours will be crucial. She could still have a fatal heart attack.’
‘God, I can’t believe . . . I never normally have chocolate in the house.’
‘It’s easily done. One small lapse. Don’t worry, Devon and I have seen it many times before.’ Marina patted her on the shoulder, looking absolutely immaculate. Her white coat didn’t even have dog hair on it. How was that possible?
‘Careless pet owners. It happens a lot.’
Ella felt sick. It hadn’t even occurred to her that Tess would get into the chocolates. She hadn’t thought. Marina was right, she was careless. Poor Tess.
‘Oh God, I’m so sorry. Is she going to be all right?’ Had she asked that already? She couldn’t think straight.
‘I’ll be honest, it’s touch and go at this point but don’t worry, Devon’s one of the best.’ She gave Ella a cheerful if somewhat patronising smile. ‘He’s a brilliant vet. That’s why I’m here. You might have seen me on television, celebrity vet to the stars. I’ve got a new slot starting which Devon’s going to star in.Inside Out. He’ll be doing pioneering laparoscopic surgery on screen, that’s keyhole surgery. It’s going to make great TV and he does look good on camera,’ she sighed, looking lovelorn. ‘He’s got it all and doesn’t even realise it. Bit of a heartthrob, isn’t he?’
Ella stared at the satisfied smile on Marina’s face.
‘We make a great team. He’s so excited about the technique. We’ve invested in all the equipment, no mean feat, it costs thousands but it’s worth it to get Devon on board.’ Marina clasped her hands together. ‘We’ve scheduled the first couple of operations already.’
