by L. P. Dover
Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t care about a scheduling change, but we all knew that emergencies were usually the harder cases. I didn’t like them taking away one of my patients without my consent, especially when I knew for a fact that Jeremiah didn’t have anyone scheduled until later in the morning. I walked over to the computer and looked at the schedule.
“Why can’t you handle the emergency?” I asked, turning my attention to Jeremiah. “The last time I looked at the schedule, you didn’t have anyone.”
He blew out a heavy sigh. “That was until your patients started requesting to be seen by someone else.”
“What are you talking about?”
Wilford turned the corner, his gaze sad. “Harriett Miller called me this morning and asked for another doctor to see her dog. Apparently she’s friends with Mrs. Jenkins. I’m sorry, Hayden. I had no choice but to change it.”
I was stunned into silence. All of their eyes were on me, but I didn’t know what to do or what to say. I marched past them to my office and shut the door. Living in a small town was going to bite me in the ass. Mrs. Jenkins was going to make sure of that by telling everyone I’d killed Lady.
I had about ten minutes of silence before the telephone buzzed and Amanda’s voice blasted out of the speaker. “Dr. Hunter, your emergency just walked through the door. I’ll get the paperwork and put them in one of your exam rooms.”
“Thanks, Amanda. I’ll be right there.” I waited a few more minutes to give her time and then opened my office door; she was standing right outside, about to knock. “Everything okay?”
She shook her head. “I think the dog has parvo. The owner’s name is Terry Bradshaw, and she doesn’t think the dog had any of the vaccinations for it. She took the dog in after her friend passed away from cancer. She doesn’t have the dog’s records.”
Blowing out a sigh, I took the chart from her; since I didn’t have records, I had to start from the beginning. The symptoms were all there, but I was praying it wasn’t so, because parvo was a deadly disease among dogs. I knocked on the door and walked in.
Mrs. Bradshaw was a middle-aged woman with dark brown hair and lines on her face from too much sun. The way she looked at the pitiful yellow Lab on the floor made my chest hurt. “Hi, Mrs. Bradshaw, how are you?”
She nodded once. “Okay, I guess. I was hoping you could figure out what’s wrong with Goldilocks.”
“That’s what I’m here for,” I said, reaching down to scratch behind the dog’s ears. “When did the symptoms start?”
“Late yesterday afternoon. I noticed Goldilocks hadn’t eaten a single thing, and she’s had massive diarrhea with traces of blood in it. I know that’s not normal.”
“I’m glad you brought her in. We’ll need to run some tests on her, but do you know if she’s been around other dogs?”
“Only at the park, I guess. At home, there aren’t any other dogs around. Do you know what it could be?”
“It’s too soon to say, but I have my suspicions. There’s a disease called parvo that can infect dogs quite easily. It’s not something to play around with. I want to test Goldilocks for it, since she’s showing all the symptoms for it.”
Mrs. Bradshaw clasped a hand over her mouth. “This is bad. Dogs can die from parvo.”
“They can, but I’ll do everything humanly possible to make sure Goldilocks pulls through. After we run the tests, she’ll probably need to stay here for a couple of days until she’s stable enough to go home. Right now we’ll keep her in a separate kennel away from the others. I’ll call you as soon as we find out what’s going on.”
She nodded and got to her feet. Poor Goldilocks stayed on the floor, her eyes growing heavy. “Thanks, Dr. Hunter. Will you know something today?”
“Yes. I’ll run the tests myself.”
Amanda walked into the room and helped Goldilocks to her feet. “Take her to kennel C, please,” I told her. “We need to keep her isolated until we find out for sure what’s wrong.” Amanda nodded and took the dog away. I escorted Mrs. Bradshaw to the front and assured her that I’d do everything I could. I just prayed it wasn’t parvo. I hated seeing what that disease did to dogs.
For the rest of the day, I went from my patients to running the tests. The signs were all there, but I kept trying my best to prove otherwise. When the final results were in, I had my answer: It was definitely parvo. Parvo was a deadly disease that dogs contracted through smelling an infected dog’s feces or coming in direct contact with them. The symptoms were mainly fever, loss of appetite, lethargy, vomiting, weight loss, and diarrhea. If Goldilocks had been a puppy, she probably wouldn’t have lived through the first night. Most dogs died of dehydration or secondary bacterial infections from the weakened immune system. I pressed the intercom on the phone, hoping to catch one of the girls at the front desk.
“Amanda? Jessica?” I called out.
“I’m here,” Jessica answered.
“Could you find Amanda and Charity and come back to my office, please.”
“Sure thing. We’ll be right there.” It took about five minutes before they all marched nervously into my office.
I couldn’t help but smile. I probably would’ve thought I was in trouble if the situation had been turned. “You can relax.” I laughed, pointing to the seats on the other side of my desk. “Have a seat.”
Once they were seated, I passed them Goldilocks’s chart. “Girls, it’s been confirmed. Goldilocks has parvo. I’m going to call Mrs. Bradshaw to let her know. As you’re both aware, it is imperative that Goldilocks stays away from the other dogs while she’s here. She’s to remain in the isolation wing until we send her home. I’ll be administering her medicines, but when it comes to cleaning her space, make sure to prevent cross-contamination. Do you understand?”
“Yes, Dr. Hunter,” Amanda and Charity answered simultaneously.
I looked over at Jessica, waiting for her answer. “I understand,” she replied.
“Thank you, ladies. You’re free to go.” They left my office and I picked up the phone. It was time to tell Mrs. Bradshaw the not-so-good news.
Chapter 23
Hayden
“Are you sure you don’t mind going with me?” Derek asked.
He came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, but I pushed him off and laughed. “Not at all. Now let me finish getting dressed so we can leave. I don’t want you to be late.”
I’d worked most of the day but asked Wilford if I could take the rest of the afternoon off to go to Evan and Summer’s wedding rehearsal with Derek. We had only twenty minutes left before we had to be at Stowe Manor for the rehearsal. The last thing I wanted was for Derek to be late because of me, and I sure as hell didn’t want to go dressed in my scrubs. Instead, I picked out a light blue summer dress and heels.
Derek lay on my bed and watched me heatedly. “I just realized we haven’t really hung out at your house. Your bed needs to be played in more. Maybe we should do that tonight.”
“Hey, I can’t help it we always end up at your house. Patch likes it better there. He has more room to run around. Plus, you have a pool. I love our nightly swims.”
He chuckled. “So do I.”
For the past week, I’d enjoyed spending every night at his house. My house was small and perfect for just me, but there was nothing fancy about it. Luckily, Derek didn’t seem to mind that I wasn’t rich. Slipping on my dress, I turned around so he could zip me up.
Before lifting the zipper, he traced a finger down my back, making me shiver. “With as much time as you spend at my house, you should probably just move in with me,” he murmured. He said it so seriously that I froze.
I turned around and faced him. “You’re kidding, right?”
He shook his head. “Actually, I’m not. I know in my heart that you’re the one for me. Why wait? I don’t see anything changing between us.”
As much as I wanted to scream from the rooftops and say yes, I knew I couldn’t—at least not yet.
Derek was the impulsive type, but I was more of the safe one; I had to think things through. “Don’t you think it’s too soon?” I asked. “Don’t get me wrong, the thought has me wanting to jump up and down screaming, but I want to be smart about this.”
He pressed a finger to my lips. “Take your time, love. It’s not like the decision has to be made today. Just as long as I see you every day, I’ll be fine.”
I kissed his finger and then his lips. “I can live with that, but right now we have to go.” I grabbed my purse, and we headed down the stairs and out the front door. Before we could get into his truck, my phone rang. I was tempted not to answer it, but when I looked at it, I saw it was Wilford. “I should probably take this. Can you give me a second?” I asked, lifting my gaze to Derek’s. He nodded and I walked away from his truck so I could answer it. “Hey, Wilford.”
“I need you to come by the office,” he said matter-of-factly.
“Now?”
“I know you requested the time off, but this needs to be said in person and not over the phone.”
I didn’t like the way he sounded; in fact, it scared the hell out of me. “All right, I’m on my way.” I hung up the phone.
“Babe, what’s wrong?” Derek asked.
Sighing, I pocketed my phone and pulled my car keys out of my purse. “Wilford needs me at the office. It doesn’t look like I’ll be able to go to the rehearsal with you.”
“Is everything okay?”
I shrugged. “Don’t know, but I didn’t like the way he sounded. Something’s wrong.”
He walked over to me, his gaze concerned. “Do you want me to go with you? I’m sure Evan will understand if I don’t make it to the rehearsal.”
“No,” I scolded, pushing him gently toward his truck. “Whatever it is, I’ll be fine. We can see each other after the rehearsal.”
He leaned down and kissed me. “I’ll see you soon, then. If you need me, just call.”
As soon as he left, I got in my car and hurried to the clinic. When I walked in, Wilford was waiting for me at the front desk, his expression glum. “Good, you’re here,” he announced. “Let’s go back to my office.”
Heart pounding, I followed him to his office, and he shut the door behind us. “What’s going on?” I asked.
Sighing, he sat down at his desk and rubbed his tired eyes. “Have a seat, Hayden.”
The tension in the air was so thick it could be cut with a knife. I felt sick to my stomach, imagining what kind of disaster would’ve put that forlorn expression on his face. I did as he said and sat down, palms sweating profusely as I waited for him to speak.
“After you left a few hours ago, I walked through the kennel to check on the animals. It was then that I noticed something odd.”
“Okay,” I said. “What was it?”
“A couple of the dogs had started showing no interest in eating and were also lethargic. I started getting concerned, considering you just had a dog sick with parvo in isolation.”
I nodded. “Goldilocks. She’s back home and doing better. I called Mrs. Bradshaw and checked on her this morning.” Then I realized what he was getting at. “Wait a second, are you saying there was cross-contamination?”
His jaw clenched. “That’s exactly what I’m saying. The virus only spread to your patients. I had them switched to the isolation kennel today after you left. Jeremiah has been treating them, but I don’t know if they’re going to make it.”
I slapped a hand over my mouth. “How can this be? I never would’ve put my other patients at risk. There has to be another explanation. I always made sure my hands and everything else were cleaned before I left Goldilocks.”
Wilford shrugged and blew out a breath. “I don’t know how your patients were contaminated or if it was even your fault. One of the girls could’ve mistakenly transferred the virus. Either way, they’re your patients and it doesn’t look good on you. I’ve had several people request to be taken off your schedule.” My eyes burned and my heart felt like it was going to rip apart. I thought the knife couldn’t get wedged any deeper, but Wilford wasn’t done. “I don’t know what’s going on with you, but over the past few weeks you’ve been preoccupied. Maybe all this time in the spotlight with your new boyfriend is clouding your judgment. I’m starting to wonder if you even take this job seriously anymore.”
My head snapped up and I could feel the anger welling inside me. “I take my job very seriously, as a matter of fact. And my relationship with Derek has nothing to do with my responsibilities here. Just because I don’t work till all hours of the night anymore doesn’t mean that I’m slacking. No one else puts in half the amount of work I do. It hurts that you would even suggest that I’ve been careless. I love animals, and I want to take care of my patients. Their getting sick was not my doing.”
“Either way, this has to be done. Those animals were your responsibility, and now I have to go to their owners and tell them what happened. As of now, I think it’s best if you take some time off until everything cools down.”
“What if it doesn’t?” I asked. All I wanted to do was scream out my anger. This job was my life, and he was taking it away from me over something I hadn’t done.
He closed his eyes and lowered his head. “Then the leave of absence will be permanent. I can’t let the reputation I’ve established here be tarnished, Hayden. For now, I won’t be handing the practice over to anyone. I’m sorry.”
Getting to my feet, I wiped away the tears. “Fine, I’ll go, but I didn’t do anything wrong, Wilford. This job means everything to me.”
He nodded. “I know. That’s what makes this so difficult.”
Knowing there was nothing I could do, I walked out of his office and went straight to mine. I didn’t want everyone to see what a mess I was. I had a feeling it was going to be the last time I ever set foot in my office. Luckily, the only personal things were framed pictures of me and my parents and me and Michael. How was I going to call them and tell them what happened?
A soft knock sounded on the door and it opened. I didn’t even want to look at who it was. “Hayden?” Jeremiah walked up behind me and put his hands on my shoulders to turn me around. When he looked at me, his jaw clenched and he frowned. “He actually went through with it, didn’t he?”
“You mean fired me?” I snapped. He nodded, but I shook my head. “Not exactly, but he might as well have.”
“It’s so stupid. I told him there was no way in hell you’d ever put any of the animals at risk. It had to be Jessica or Amanda.”
“It doesn’t matter. I was responsible for those animals, and now they’re sick.” Tears streamed down my cheeks.
He squeezed my shoulders. “Well, it matters to me. I’ll find a way to bring you back. You belong here. One way or another, we’ll figure out what happened. You can’t take the blame for this.”
“Thanks, Jeremiah, but I don’t think there’s anything you can do. Thank you for taking care of my patients. I’m sorry the extra work was added to your plate.”
“I’m not worried about it, Hayden. Just take this time off, and I’m sure you’ll be back here before you know it.”
I grabbed my pictures and started for the door. I wasn’t going to go out without a fight. If Wilford wanted to fire me, it was going to be over something for which I took full blame. One way or another, I was going to prove my innocence, I just didn’t know how.
Chapter 24
Derek
Hayden had scared the fuck out of me last night. I’d tried calling her from the wedding rehearsal, and when she never answered, I got worried. When I showed up at her house, she was sitting on her front porch swing, crying. I thought someone had died. She didn’t want to talk about what had happened, but I gave her no choice. I wasn’t expecting what came out of her mouth.
I didn’t know what to say to her, but I knew she was a damn fine veterinarian. I saw it that day she rescued Bear from the side of the road. After a night of my holding her and telling her it would be okay, s
he woke up a new person. I had no clue what was going on in her mind, but I could tell the wheels were turning. She sat in the passenger seat of my truck, gazing out the window with a far-off look on her face. Even though she was preoccupied, she was still beautiful as hell, dressed in a light pink sundress with her chocolate-colored hair in waves down her back.
“Care to tell me what you’re thinking about?” I asked her.
Smiling, she grabbed my hand and squeezed. “I’m thinking about how sexy you look in that tux.”
“As much as I want to believe that, I know you’re lying. What’s really going on?”
She averted her gaze to the window. “I just can’t get over it, Derek. I didn’t do anything wrong. Finding another job will be almost impossible unless I can prove it wasn’t me who cross-contaminated. And that’s going to be hard to do now.”
“Have you talked to any of the nurses?”
Shaking her head, she met my gaze. “I’ll do that on Monday. Today is special for your friends, and I don’t want to sour your mood with my drama. So for the rest of the day, I’ll keep a smile on my face.” Her eyes twinkled. “But you really do look sexy in that tux. I wasn’t lying about that.”
I kissed her hand. “You’re looking pretty hot yourself. Do me a favor, though, make sure Chris keeps his filthy hands off of you during the wedding.”
She burst out laughing. “I’ll try, but you know how he is. He’ll do it just to mess with you.” Since I was going to be standing at the front with Evan as one of his best men, I had to make sure Hayden had someone to sit with so she wouldn’t be alone. Chris was first in line for that position.
When we arrived at Stowe Manor, the guys were all out front, drinking beers and laughing. “Are you going to drink with them?” Hayden asked.
I’d gone so long without it, I didn’t even crave it anymore. “Nah, I’m good.”
“Are you afraid you won’t be able to control yourself with it?”