Page 4 of Shifters Awakening

Callie tugged on Logan’s hand. “It’s okay, Uncle Lo. He’s always getting out.”

He crouched down again. “Thanks, Callie. I’m going to wait outside while you two finish up in here.” When he stood up, he tugged a credit card from his pocket and handed it to Sheila, who shook her head, so he shoved the card at me. “I’m paying.”

Sheila was a single mom, doing single-mom hard shit, and I took the card before I turned back to Callie and Sheila, deliberately turning my back toward Logan. The door chimed as he stepped out.

“Sully-Boy is fine,” I said. “He's going to make a full recovery, but he'll have to stay in a cone for a couple of days before we can take it off him. If he seems to ignore his leg, you can take it off him sooner.”

“The cone of shame. He’s going to hate that,” Callie exclaimed with a smile so wide I thought it might split her face. The news seemed to delight her.

I leaned down so we were eye level. “And you'll have to try to keep him inside so he doesn't ruin his stitches. If you bring him back in one week, I can remove the external stitches. The internal stitches will dissolve on their own.” I stood and turned toward Sheila. “When you stop at the front desk, Riley will give you a light dose of daily antibiotics to ward off any infection and one week worth of pain meds. You can crush those and put it in some kind of food he likes.”

“Tuna!” Callie interjected.

“When we send him home tomorrow, he’ll have his dose already, so you won’t have to give him…” I thought a moment. “…tuna until Sunday. If he seems like he’s still in pain, you can always pick up more pain meds when you come to get the stitches out. He’ll be ready at noon.”

The girl jumped up and threw her arms around my middle. “I thought he wasn't going to make it. He doesn’t listen to me. I tried to tell him to stay inside, but he won't.”

“No, it’s hard to adopt a barn kitty and turn him into a house cat, but you're doing a good job of it, and I know Sully-Boy loves you more than anything.”

Sheila beamed at me as though I'd said the best thing in the world for her daughter at that moment, so big the tiny star tattoos around eyes crinkled.

I didn't know what to say. It was the best part of thejob. At least today hadn't become the worst part of my job as Willow Creek’s veterinarian.

Another rush of moisture flooded my eyes. “You can go back now. I think Riley has him in recovery.”

The girl looked at her mother. “Can we go?”

Sheila smiled and nodded. “Sure, sweetie, we can go back. Tell Ms. Emma thank you.”

Callie grinned up at me. “Thank you, Ms. Emma.” She paused. “And I like your hair, but Mama won’t let me get a rainbow in my hair until I’m old enough to pay for it myself.” She scrunched her nose. “Or my dad says yes.”

The laughter bubbled up and spilled over, though I tried to bite it back. “That makes perfect sense. Besides, I bet Sully-Boy likes your hair just the way it is.”

Willow Creek hadn’t known what to think of my hair when I first had come back to open my own veterinary practice. Even my own mother had her reservations, but it had helped build a social media following, and each new hit from “Rainbow Vet” brought a new patient in my front door, and now it was my brand. My local hairdresser loved it when I came in to get the colors redone, and I’d even gotten a rainbow tattoo on my hip to match.

“Riley will help you settle your bill when you’re ready,” I added, waving Logan’s credit card. “I’ll give her this, and it’ll include everything you’ll take with you when you pick him up tomorrow.”

Sheila gathered her purse as the girl ran ahead of her through the other swinging door and squealed a moment later. Callie must have made it to the recovery cage. The cat was going to have a heck of an anesthesiahangover, and I imagined his feline face wincing as the high-pitched sound hit his sensitive ears.

Before Sheila slipped out of the waiting room, she laid a tattooed hand on my arm. The intricate, colorful designs ran up the length of her arm. They reminded me of the Northern Lights. On her shoulder, there was a tattoo of a wolf beneath the lights and a full moon.

“Come down to Vixen’s tonight,” she said. “I’ll buy you a drink.”

Sheila owned the best bar in downtown Willow Creek, and I hadn’t crossed the threshold in at least six months.

“You don’t have to do that.”

It wasn’t the first time I’d been asked to stop by. Every time I saved Sully-Boy, Sheila extended the same invitation.

She chuckled. “No, but I want to. Callie will be at her dad’s tonight, so I’ll be at the bar, and I bet you could use a break after a long week. Besides, I’ve got a new drink on the menu.”

“Oh?”

“It’s called Animal Doctor, but the regulars call it ‘the Emma.’”

My eyebrows pinched.My name?“What? Why’s it called that?”

“You’ll see.”

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