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I disconnected the call and continued my drive. Ten minutes later, I parked my car in front of the Old Pine Cove Inn, where a woman with a worried look on her face stood waiting, right next to a guy I recognized from the movies. I squinted my eyes to get a better look. Was that Crocodile Man?

I got out of the car, and the guy hurried toward me. “Doctor Grant? I’m Justin, and this is my wife, Addy. Thanks for coming on such short notice.”

“Of course,” I said. “It’s all part of the job. Why don’t you show me the way?”

I didn’t want to waste any time. Every minute counted when an animal’s life was at stake.

“It’s Beau, our dog,” Justin said, hurrying me inside. “Normally, he hangs out over at the petting zoo and loves to play with Kermit, our alpaca. But this morning, he’s hardly moved from his spot. Addy kept an eye on him while manning the reception desk, but about half an hour ago, he started panting and heaving.”

I kneeled down next to the chocolate Labrador and immediately spotted his bloated abdomen. That, together with the lethargy, panting and heaving, made me suspect the worst. I lifted the dog’s mouth to look at his gums, which unfortunately were pale.

“I’m going to take Beau with me to the clinic. I don’t want you to panic, but I suspect he’s got a twisted stomach, which we call gastric dilatation-volvulus. If I don’t treat him right away, he’ll die.”

Addy gasped. Justin put his arm around her. “Don’t worry, babe, I’ll drive to the clinic with Doctor Grant.” He looked at me. “If that’s okay?”

“Of course. Let’s get your buddy into the car.”

We secured a spot for Beau in the backseat. Justin sat next to the animal and talked soothingly to him while I gunned it back to the clinic. I knew I needed to stabilize Beau as soon as possible and as fast as possible. Every second counted.

As I drove, I called Olive at the clinic. She picked up after one ring. “Pine Paw Prints, this is Olive speaking, how may I help you?” she asked in a chipper voice.

“Olive, it’s Lewis. I need Darren to prepare the operating room right away. Tell him I’ve got a dog with GDV coming in.”

She disconnected the call to get Darren to prep. We were five minutes out, tops, and I hoped the dog would survive.

“Are you okay back there?” I asked Justin.

“Yeah, I’m hanging in there,” he said. “Thanks again for showing up so fast. My wife and I got this dog right after our daughter was born, and we can’t imagine life without him. He’s such a big part of our family.”

I looked at him through the rearview mirror. “I’m going to do everything in my power to save him.”

“Thanks, man,” he said. Then he leaned back in his seat. “I wish we’d met under more relaxing circumstances, by the way. Judging from your accent, you’re not from around here originally?”

“That’s right. I made the move from England a few weeks ago.”

He whistled between his teeth. “That sounds like a challenging endeavor. How are you liking Old Pine Cove so far? You don’t have to answer, but this talking is helping me cope with the anxiety about Beau’s condition.”

“No worries,” I said. “This town is starting to grow on me. I’m not used to the side effects of such a small community, though, like everyone knowing everything. I’m sure it’ll feel normal soon enough.”

He laughed. “Definitely. When I moved back here, I had quite some adjusting to do.”

“You’re an actor, is that right? I feel like I know you from somewhere, and I think it’s from the movies.”

“Yup, I am.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I traveled the entire world for my job, only to discover the love of my life was right here in the Cove.”

The traffic light we’d been waiting at turned to green, and I took the last turn I needed to before finally arriving at Pine Paw Prints, where Darren and Olive were waiting for us in the car park. I rushed Beau inside, Darren following on my heels, and we got to work. First, we placed intravenous catheters and administered fluids as well as antibiotics. Moving the dog from the inn to the clinic had been risky, but I couldn’t work on him without my equipment.

Luckily, he seemed to stabilize so we could do an X-ray. That confirmed my suspicions with one hundred percent certainty.

“It’s GDV, no doubt about it,” said Darren, who had just finished getting blood samples.

I put on scrubs, and Darren followed suit. Despite the fact that we’d only been working together for a short period of time, we were like a well-oiled machine.

I opened up the dog, wanting to decompress his stomach right away to lower the risk of complications. I carefully inserted a large needle into the stomach cavity to get the fluid out. After moving the stomach back to its normal location, I inspected the organ and surrounding tissue for damage. It seemed we were lucky, as the damage was minimal. The spleen could be saved, something that was not always that easy with GDV cases.

After suturing the animal, we transferred him to the recovery room. He would have to stay at the clinic and be monitored constantly for at least twenty-four hours. Dinner with Olive was out of the question entirely now. Part of me felt bad about it, but there was also a feeling of relief. At least now I wouldn’t cross any lines with her.

I threw my scrub mask away and helped Darren clean the OR. I knew I had to get a move on with hiring extra veterinarians. We had our hands full with one operation, not to mention the patients we had to reschedule because of it. What if another emergency occurred? I couldn’t stomach the thought of having an animal die because we didn’t have a big enough facility to treat it. I really needed to look at the applications I’d received for the job I posted earlier. I’d be stuck at the clinic overnight anyway, so I might as well make good use of my downtime.