“Because, outside you said I could borrow her clothes. Men don’t usually loan out other women’s clothing, unless they’re in some sort ofrelationship.”
Diggs grin didn’t drop, in fact it grew even bigger. “Melissa and I work together. We are in no other relationship than that, but I know her well enough to know she wouldn’t mind loaning you some of her clothes in thissituation.”
Audra glanced down at herself, the dried blood caking her shirt and shorts, and then back at Melissa, tall, almost with the air of a supermodel. Her clothes wouldn’t fit Audra in a millionyears.
“I will gladly loan you some clothing, if you would kindly tell me why you are both covered in blood and standing in my lab using my equipment.” Melissa crossed her arms once more and started tapping her foot on the tilefloor.
“The injured dog,” Diggs said, pointing to thetable.
Trigger.
No longer listening to the conversation, Audra rushed around the corner. Trigger lay on the bench, with shallow pants full of pain. She dropped to her knees beside him and gently skimmed her fingers over his firm head. “It’s okay, boy, I’ve got you now. I’m going to make it allbetter.”
How could she have completely forgotten about Trigger? She just walked around the wall—and into Diggs darkgaze.
“Diggs, let’s move him to the main lab so I can do a more thorough examination. The CT shows some fractured ribs, but I want to check for any internalswelling.”
Audra glanced over her shoulder to see Diggs and Melissa walking toward her. From this angle, he practically towered over her, full of raw masculinepower.
He squatted beside her, putting them on eye level. “Audra, I need to move him again. I’ll do my best not to hurt him,” he saidquietly.
And just like that, her anger vanished. How could a man so big be so gentle? “Thankyou.”
Diggs eased his arms beneath Trigger’s shoulders and hindquarters, moving slow. Trigger whined and Audra’s heart contracted as Diggs eased him up in the air close to his chest. “Follow us down the hall, it’s notfar.”
Melissa led the way and Audra followed on Diggs’s heels. Down another winding set of hallways of blurred white walls and thick glass and stainless-steeltables.
Then they turned and entered a much larger lab. This one was almost like an emergency room with big green examination tables, the kind with white paper covering their surface. There had to be at least 10 of them around the walls lining the edges of the room, each with their own equipment and monitors set upalongside.
In the center was one large padded table upon which Diggs was laying downTrigger.
Melissa immediately stepped in and he moved out of the way. Audra found herself nearly running to the other side of the table, wanting to reach out and hold Trigger to soothe him but too scared to touch him and cause him any morepain.
She could tell from the way Melissa was checking the dog, she knew what she was doing. She pressed in certain parts of his body. A few times Trigger whimpered and Audra had to curl her fingernails into her palms to keep from reaching forhim.
“I’m checking for internal swelling of his organs. As soon as I finish my examination and determine the extent of his injuries, I’ll give him something for the pain,” Melissa explained as she continued her examination. She ran her hands down his one good front leg and then his back two. She checked his sides, back, stomach, and then she went for hishead.
