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Chapter 12

Tase

The pug in pet boarding won’t stop screaming.

It howls like I’ve chopped off its leg, and several of the other dogs with us for the weekend join the din.

The sounds rattle around my skull, and if I didn’t have a headache when I came in, I sure as shit have a migraine now.

I drop my head against the cool wall and draw overheated air into my lungs while the pug lets out another ear-piercing yowl.

I have to get back into the room and finish the emergency surgery. By myself. What choice do I have? The dog is on the table, sedated.

I shouldn’t have left her alone in the first place.

Straightening, I feel every inch of my thirty-two years of life and more as I head back into the room. Fuck, am I only thirty-two? Didn’t I just turn seventy-five or something?

I’d found maggots in infected stitches of a dog who came in for a checkup when she stopped eating. I had spayed her only a week prior but the owners didn’t give two shits about keeping the surgical area clean. The dog’s insides were ready to burst through the stitches.

“Doc, someone is here to talk to you!” Belle’s voicesounds from the front, and half a heartbeat later the pug is at it again.

“I’m busy!”

“You’re gonna want to speak to her,” Belle insists.

I groan. “Please, god, don’t let it be an emergency.”

Short-staffed is an understatement and I know the waiting room is full. The half day is quickly turning into a ten-hour shift.

I’ll be lucky to get out of here before the sun sets.

I push into Surgery One and the door swings behind me.

“Hey, Tase?”

I glance up sharply at the familiar voice. Somewhat familiar, I sluggishly correct.

“Are you back here?” the woman asks.

I’m rooted to the spot beside the exam table, halfway ignoring the voice, until Gillian pops her head around the corner. She eyes me up and down before her attention snags on the bloodstain on the breast of my jacket and the dog on the table.

“I was just wondering if?—”

“Gillian? What are you doing here? I’m in the middle of surgery.”

Her grin seems genuine. “Looks like you’re short-staffed. Do you need help, Tase?”

The innocent offer constricts my gut and I sneer at her. “It’s Doctor Walton.”Why am I correcting her?“And what the hell do you think?”

And what the hell is up with my sudden attitude?

I can’t waste any more time than I already have. I’d wanted a breather. That’s all. I head further into the exam room, keenly aware of her presence behind me.

Once inside, the foul scent of decay permeates my nostrils and I draw my mask back into place.

“Don’t,” I warn before Gillian steps in as well.

The door swings fully shut and blocks her out.