Charlie worked to catch her breath. But fear, panic, and the run made it hard for her to breathe and talk. “It’s Chilli. Hurt bad.”
Pip took off at a run. Despite her burning lungs, Charlie jogged to keep up. By the time she got there, Pip’s face had paled and tears streamed down her cheeks.
“What do we do? We can’t pull her off it.” Pip dropped to her knees and consoled Chilli. “Oh, sweetheart. We’re going to fix this.” Chilli whined. Her eyes rolled back into her head.
“We still have the handsaw in the back of the truck?” Charlie asked.
Pip nodded and stroked Chilli’s head. “Steady, girl. It’s all right, love. Stay nice and still for me, bub. Nice and still.”
Charlie took a deep breath and ran up the beach, down the trail, and to the truck. Blood pounded in her ears and her heart nearly beat itself out of her chest. The muscles in her legs quivered and threatened to cramp when she finally stood at the back of the truck. “Where is it? Where is it?” She threw rescue gear left and right. And then she spotted the saw pinned up against the side of the bed. She grabbed it and ran as fast as she could, back to Chilli and Pip. “Keep her still, Pip. I’ll try to be as gentle as possible. When I’m close to cutting through, you’ll have to support her.” Pip stared at Chilli vacantly. “Pip! Did you hear me?” Charlie shook Pip’s shoulder. “Pip, snap out of it. You have to help me. We need to work together.” Charlie lifted Pip’s chin and raised her eyes to her own. “We can do this.”
Pip finally nodded and, to Charlie’s relief, stood up and put one arm under Chilli’s neck and the other under her haunches. “Okay. I’ve got her.”
Charlie pushed and pulled the saw through the cement-hard driftwood as fast as she could. Sweat dripped down her brow and into her eyes. She blinked against the sting and focused on one thing—cutting through the branch.
Chilli moaned when the branch finally gave way. Pip picked her up and together they walked as quickly and gently to the truck as they could manage, mindful of moving Chilli’s body and the stick as little as possible.
Charlie helped Pip step into the truck with Chilli in her arms, trying hard to ignore the poor dog’s whine. She couldn’t imagine the pain she must be in. Charlie raced to the back and retrieved three large blankets, which she rolled up and put around Chilli to help Pip keep her immobile. “Hold on tight.” Charlie got in the driver’s seat, started the truck, and sped off towards Yamba. Jodi was the only one they trusted enough to save their beloved Chilli.
“Oh, my word. This is so good,” Jodi said as she put another forkful of gang massaman into her mouth. She closed her eyes, savouring the peanut and cinnamon flavouring in the unbelievably tender chicken. “You done good, babe.”
Cole wiggled her eyebrows as she devoured her green chicken curry. “I did, didn’t I?”
Jodi took a drink from her water bottle and patted her stomach. “If I eat another bite, I’ll explode.”
“I don’t know where you put it all anyway.”
Jodi plunked her booted foot up on the desk. “I have spare room, in here.”
Cole shook her head.
There was a sudden commotion from the reception area. The door slammed open, hitting the wall with a loud crash.
“Jodi! Come quick! We need help!”
Jodi glanced at Cole. “That’s Charlie.” She slid her leg off the desk and hobbled out of her office.
Cole, being quicker, was already out there. She took a very limp Chilli into her arms. Charlie helped Pip to a chair.
Jodi glanced at the seemingly lifeless dog. “Cole, take her back and start an IV drip wide open and put an oxygen mask on her.” Jodi sat down next to Pip. “What happened?”
“We were at the beach, and she must have been chasing the birds. She ran into a piece of driftwood. Jesus, Jodi, it went right through her.” Charlie cleared her throat and swallowed hard.
Pip turned to Jodi and with pleading eyes said, “Jodi, please help her. Don’t let her die.”
Jodi took a deep breath and rose to her feet. “Stay here. I’ll assess her and send Cole out to talk to you if I can.” She took two steps when Charlie touched her arm.
“Jodi. Please. It’s Chilli.”
Jodi nodded and squeezed Charlie’s hand. “I’ll do what I can.” She left her two best friends and hurried to the surgery.
Cole had lain Chilli on the surgery table and placed rolled towels under the ends of the protruding wood to keep them from damaging anything further. An IV of lactated Ringer’s ran through the tubing and into a vein in Chilli’s front forearm.
“I gave her a mil of Valium to settle her a little.” Cole covered Chilli’s muzzle with an oxygen mask.
“Cole, this doesn’t look good.” Jodi scraped a hand through her hair. The Thai food rolled grossly around in her stomach. She reached for the phone. “I’m going to call Angourie.”
Cole was at her side in an instant. She took the phone from Jodi’s hand and hung it up. “Jodi, Chilli doesn’t have that kind of time. You have to do this.”
“Cole, I—”
Cole took Jodi’s face in her hands. “Babe, you can do this. You are so capable and have done surgeries more intricate than this.”
Jodi looked down at her hands, amazed that although they were sweaty, they were steady.
“Sweetheart, come on. This is your watershed. You can do this. I’ll be right by your side. I have every confidence you can find that wonderful connection between your beautiful brain and your hands. And if you need help, if you tell me what to do, I’ll—”
“Okay. I want an X-ray, from this angle here.” Jodi indicated the position with her hand. “Then prep her for surgery.” The words tumbled out of her mouth before she could think twice.
“That’s my girl.”
Jodi pulled out fresh surgical scrubs from the cupboard and changed into them. By the time she’d disinfected her hands, Cole had clipped the surgical area and placed sterile drapes over the dog. The requested X-ray was up on the wall-mounted monitor behind the head of the table. All the surgical equipment Jodi would require was at her elbow in readiness. Cole helped Jodi intubate Chilli, and after opening a packet of sterile gloves for Jodi, she took her position as anaesthetist.
Jodi held her hands shoulder high and alternated between looking at the X-ray and the dog’s wounds. “There’s no external bleeding. It’s all internal.” Jodi closed her eyes briefly and pictured the anatomy of a dog—muscles, arteries, organs, and bones. She took a deep breath, picked up her scalpel, and with the steadiest hands she’d had in months, made the first incision.
When Jodi exposed the wound around Chilli’s shoulder, she was encouraged. The stake had missed her thoracic organs but had pierced her diaphragm. The only reason Chilli was still alive was because the wood had acted as a plug, and Pip and Charlie had done such a good job of keeping it immobile in transit. Jodi made another incision at Chilli’s flank and retracted it to examine her ribs. “She already has massive amounts of bruising here.” She stepped back from the table and closed her eyes again.
“You okay?”
Jodi paused before answering. I can do this. Although she was confident with the surgical plan, she wasn’t at all confident Chilli could survive it. But she had to try.
“I have to go in through her belly to remove the wood and repair the diaphragm. It’s going to be tricky. Give her a little more gas and monitor her carefully. The slightest change, I want you to yell.”
Cole nodded and adjusted the oxygen to nitrous oxide mix. She put the stethoscope to her ears and listened to Chilli’s heart. “Good to go.”
Jodi swallowed hard and went to work. Now, more than ever, she needed to scale and conquer that precipice of doubt. Cole was right. This needed to be her turning point. She gritted her teeth and forged on.
Two hours later, Jodi finally sent Cole out to talk to Pip and Charlie. She was so exhausted that she didn’t think she could face them at the moment. Her ankle throbbed all the way to her
hip. The boot felt tight, and she knew her foot had swelled grossly from standing way too long alongside the surgical table. She slid to the floor and let tears fall. It had been a near impossible surgery. Chilli’s heart had stopped beating briefly when she’d eased the stake out of her thorax. As she’d suspected, blood had pooled in her chest. The dog had had only minutes to live. She’d worked hard to save Chilli’s life. But she had done it. It might have been her hands and her skill that had performed the surgery, but it was Chilli who had saved her life as a vet.
Chilli whimpered as she began the slow process of coming out from under the effects of the anaesthesia. Jodi leaned over to kiss a velvet ear and stroke Chilli’s golden head and whispered, “Thank you, dear girl.”
Chapter Twenty-two
“Okay, which one of you is going to spill it?” Pip eased back into one of two oversized cane lounge chairs on the cabin’s veranda. Cole sat nestled, her back against Jodi, on the other, Jodi’s arm casually draped across the back of the chair.
Jodi took a sip of beer and discreetly yanked on Cole’s shirt with the other hand as a signal to play along with her. “I have no idea what you’re talking about, Pipsqueak.”
“Well, for one, you two have a look about you,” Charlie said. She leaned against the veranda railing, winked at Pip, and cocked an eyebrow at Jodi and Cole.
“A look.”
“Yeah.” Pip tapped her lips with her index finger. “I can’t quite put my finger on it.”
Jodi smirked. “I reckon it’s the same kind of look you and Charlie had when you got together.”
Pip waved a dismissive hand in mid-air. “No. That was lust.”
Charlie choked and she and Cole turned red.
Jodi shook her head.
“It’s like you’re nesting or something.” Pip squinted and studied them.
“Nesting? Well, I can tell you neither of us is up the duff.”
“Bet you’ve been trying though.” Pip smirked and pushed her tongue into her cheek.
Jodi rolled her eyes and put her hand up. “Okay, okay, Cole and I do have some news.”
Pip leaned forward and nodded.
Cole laughed and said, “Oh, cut it out—it’s not like it’s any juicy gossip. Jodi decided that Cate and Mandy would permanently work Saturdays so we could have weekends free.”
“Oh,” Pip and Charlie said simultaneously.
Charlie scratched her head. “Well, we did wonder how you managed to get Jodi out of the clinic so early on a Saturday. I thought maybe you cancelled any appointments.”
Cole smiled smugly. “Oh, that’s not the case at all. As a matter of fact, the clinic is busier than ever. Cate is doing a wonderful job. It seems all the local lesbians purposefully make appointments on Saturday so they can see Cate.”
Laughter danced around the group.
“What else?” Pip demanded.
Jodi remained silent and hid behind her bottle of beer.
“Stretch. You know I’ll drag it out of you one way or another.”
Jodi sighed.
Cole twisted around and smiled. “We might as well tell them. You know how she is.”
Jodi leaned her head to one side, agreeing with Cole’s assessment. “Yeah, you’re right.” She licked her lips and took another sip of beer.
“Waiting.” Pip scooted forward a tad further.
“You’re gonna fall off that chair, ya little terrier.” Jodi wrapped her arms around Cole. “You can tell them, sweet.”
“You’re sure? I don’t want to steal your thunder.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“You know, once I start—”
“Sweetheart, we talked abo—”
“Bloody hell. I’m going to get another beer.” Pip got up and stormed into the cabin.
Charlie giggled. “You know she can’t stand waiting. She’s hell on Christmas Day, let me tell you.”
Pip re-emerged a little while later with four fresh beers and Chilli at her heel.
When Chilli saw Jodi and Cole, her tail wagged so fast it was a blur. She trotted to them, put her front feet up on Jodi’s leg, and took turns giving Jodi and Cole sloppy kisses.
“I was wondering where you were, Chilli girl!”
“She was sound asleep in the truck when I drove up. I didn’t have the heart to wake her.” Pip watched on with a bright smile.
They all laughed when the Lab started acting silly. She chased her tail and ran out of the cabin.
Charlie peered over the railing. “She’s looking for the perfect stick for you to throw.”
“I can’t believe the difference. Her incision is barely noticeable and her coat is growing back so fast.” Jodi wiped slobber off her face with the back of her hand.
“Comes from having the best vet around.” Pip sat back down. “All flattery aside, what’s going on with you two?”
Jodi laughed. “Get right to the point, hey? All right. Cole and I have decided to move in together.”
Pip bit her lip, clearly disappointed. “Is that all? Boring. We figured you’d do that eventually. The question is, which house are you keeping?”
“Neither. We’ve decided to build.”
“Really? Where?” Charlie crouched next to Pip and grabbed the stick Chilli had brought in. She tossed it over the side and Chilli disappeared outside to retrieve it.
“We think you guys might like this. Well, if you don’t, I guess it’d be too late at this point. You know your neighbour, Robert Fischer, had his three hundred acres up for sale?”
“Money-hungry old coot. He wants an arm and a leg and maybe some toes for that place.” Pip cocked her head. “Wait! You did not buy that place.”
Cole smiled brightly. “Yep. We did. He’s owed Jodi a lot of money over the years. So he came down on price to avoid Jodi taking him to court.”
“You’re going to live right next to us?”
“Well, not right next to you. There’s a fair amount of bush between the houses.”
“What the hell are you going to do with all that land?” Pip stretched her legs out in front of her.
“I’m not going to do anything with it. But I figured you might have a use for it. Maybe put up some joey pens or something. And there’s a huge stand of grey gums, tallowwoods, and ironbark for your koalas too.”
“Holy shit. I can’t believe it!” Charlie gave Jodi and Cole a combined hug. “That’s so exciting!”
“And there’s a jetty onto the Clarence River too. So plenty of fishing will be had by all. Oh! Which reminds me. I have some gear of yours in the back of the Rover. Two rods, a tackle bag, a net, and a bucket.”
Pip furrowed her brow. “How’d you get that? Not that it matters, but we figured it all for a loss when we finally remembered we’d left it behind when Chilli hurt herself.”
“Nah. The guy said he was out on a boat, fishing, saw you guys leave in a hurry, and came back and picked it all up. He found your fishing licenses but couldn’t figure out where you lived. There was also a WREN pin attached to the bag. So he figured I’d know who you all were and dropped the stuff off at the surgery. End of story.”
“If you ever see him again, please be sure to thank him for us. That was very lovely of him.”
Charlie put her arm around Pip. “I got some news today too. About my visa status.”
Pip looked at her incredulously. “You did? When?”
“While you were napping with Chilli.”
“Well? Do tell!”
Charlie sat up straighter and Jodi didn’t think she’d ever looked happier.
“Your boss, Terese, knows someone down there, I swear. Anyway, they fast-tracked it through. I’m here for good.”
After the cheers quieted and hugging was done, Pip said, “I can’t believe you were able to keep quiet about that until now. I would’ve figured you’d be jumping out of your skin.”
Charlie shook her head and laughed. “Remember I told you I went for a walk earlier?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, I was so excited, it was more like a march. And when I got out to the end of the driveway, out of your earshot so as not to wake you, I screamed and danced and jumped all around. I’m sure the drivers of the two cars that went by thought I was having a seizure of sorts.”
Pip wrapped her arms around Charlie’s shoulders and drew her in close. “Oh, sweetheart. I am so very, very happy for you. For us. For the future.” Pip cupped Charlie’s face and they shared a long, sweet kiss.
Jodi cleared her throat. On the one hand, it was beautiful watching her best friend and Charlie so damn happy, but on the other hand it seemed such a private moment—both amazing and a tad uncomfortable to witness.
Cole elbowed her in the ribs. “See this? It’s sweet. It’s romantic. You could learn something from this.”
“I can be romantic. I just tend to err more on the side of practicality is all.”
Cole chuckled and shook her head. “And never a truer word has been spoken.”
Jodi looked to Pip. “So now what do we do?”
Pip blew out a breath. “I’m not sure.”
“The playing field’s changed a bit since we—”
“I know.”
Jodi mused, “It seemed like a good idea at the time.”
Pip pursed her lips thoughtfully. “I know.”
“Kind of feels like the thunder’s been stolen or lost a bit now, don’t you think?”
“Yeah.”
Cole sat up straight and stared at Pip and Jodi. “What the heck are you two jabbering on about?”
“Pipsqueak and I went shopping.”
Charlie sat upright in disbelief. “You two? Shopping?”
Pip waggled a hand mid-air. “It has been known to happen.”
“Yeah.” Jodi swigged a mouthful of beer. “Two birds, one stone, so to speak.”
“But now with your news”—Pip pointed at Charlie—“and then Jodi and Cole buying land and planning to build and live together…” Pip waved vaguely.
Jodi drained her beer bottle. “Kind of feels like a moot point now.”
Precipice of Doubt Page 30