Page 5 of The Grumpy Vet
"That's right. I remember you saying that in our interview."
"This'll be a nice change."
"The animals are always the easy part," Ryde says. "Humans are the challenge."
Linus lifts a brow, amused. "Ain't that the truth."
"I happen to like people," I say, my eyes flicking between them, and yeah, I can see it. They'd make a cute couple—Linus with his hot, older, edgy, slightly pissed-off vibe and cute, sweet, innocent Ryde. I grit my teeth and pretend my gut didn't just twist sharply. "You can learn a lot just by observing someone."
Ryde looks at me funny. "That's a very ominous-sounding thing to say."
Was it? I force a smile. "Didn't mean it like that. I just like observing people, that's all. Sitting in a café window, watching people as they walk past, making up stories in my head about who they are and what they're doing."
"I'm happy sticking to animals," Linus says, having some more beer. "People do my head in."
"Speaking from experience?" I ask as Ryde's eyes widen like he's just seen a horrific car accident. But I know what I'm doing.
He's told me Linus is a closed book and rarely shares anything about his personal life. But Linus doesn't know that I'm privy to that information, so I can exploit his not knowing that I know under the guise of making friendly get-to-know-you conversation. See? I really am the king of best plans.
Linus's jaw tightens. "Something like that. I'm just…" He blows out a breath, cutting himself off. "Doesn't matter. You guys want another drink?"
"No, we're good, thanks," Ryde replies for us, and I smile. He's always been a quick learner.
"No worries. I might head off then. Still have a few things to do."
"Okay," I say as Ryde and I get up with him. I'm curious about what he has to do at 6 p.m. on a Sunday, but I think asking would be taking things a step too far. The man is my new boss, after all. "It was nice to meet you in person."
"You, too. I'll see you at the clinic tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be a nice, quiet day, and I can run you through a few things."
"Sounds good," I reply.
He claps my back then looks at Ryde for a few long seconds. "Enjoy your day off."
Ryde smiles up at him, and if he were a cartoon, red hearts would be shooting out of his eyes like fireworks right about now. "I will."
Linus stays in place for a moment, smiles his biggest smile so far—which truthfully, is a half smile at most—and then ducks inside.
2
Linus
The young koala lies limp on the table, its fur matted with blood, the deep bite wounds along its side raw and exposed.
"Fuck," Dario exclaims, racing into the room to assist me. His hazel eyes scan the injured animal. "What happened?"
I peel back the koala’s torn skin, revealing the deep puncture wounds underneath.
"Dog bite," I mutter. "A nasty one at that."
So much for a nice, quiet first day for Dario. The grand tour of the clinic would have taken a total of five minutes, but I wanted to spend some time with him and go over things like station call procedures, protocols for treating native wildlife, common emergencies like calving complications, snake bites, and heatstroke in livestock, and perhaps the most important thing of all—methods for dealing with Scuttlebuttians while retaining your sanity.
I also wanted to get a feel for him as a person. His résumé was impressive—despite a later than usual start in the industry, he's worked in some of the best clinics in the country—and he interviewed well, so I'm confident in his technical abilities. But so much of veterinary work really is about interpersonal skills, both with clients and co-workers. We're chronically short-staffed, and I need at least two more vets to make the workload bearable, but at the same time, I don't want to hire someone who's a bad apple and messes with the vibe. We're a small, quirky team and may not be to everyone's liking, so we need a special kind of person who can fit in with us.
There was something in his tone and body language at the pub yesterday, a certain energy he gave off, subtle, but impossible to ignore. When I reflected on it last night after coming back from the hospice, it made me think I need to keepan eye on him. Yes, he's a good vet and Ryde's best friend, but he's got a certain…edge.
But all that will have to wait.
Before I even took my first sip of tea after arriving at the clinic this morning, a young farmer, Jonesie, rushed in with his kelpie, its leg torn open from a barbed wire fence. At the same time, Dario and Muir were called out to help with a heifer struggling to calve. After that, I barely had time to boil some water for my second attempt at my first cuppa of the day when we were hit by an avalanche—a brumby with a deep leg wound, an echidna someone found curled up on the side of the road, a burnt ringtail possum rescued from a smouldering paddock, a cattle dog who got too close to a kicking hoof. It's been one thing after the other all goddamn morning.
