PT. Or, if you want, bring him in here as an outpatient. It’s up to you.”
“Let’s see how it goes,” Evie said.
“You’ve had a long day,” Christine noted, a familiar empathy in her voice. “You know that our vet techs are on duty all night. He’s got the monitor and an IV, but they’ll check on him every half hour, if not more often.”
Just then, Valerie, the vet tech Evie had been working with for the past few hours, came in.
“You honestly can go home, Dr. Hewitt,” Valerie said.
“I must look awful, since everyone keeps telling me that,” Evie said on a laugh, making the other two women deny it. But she looked at Judah again as he stirred and let out a shuddering sigh. “I feel so close to this guy now, it’s hard to take off.”
“Happens when you’ve done an operation like that,” Christine said.
“The whole hospital is buzzing about how you handled that surgery,” Valerie added. “They filmed it, you know.”
“I know.”
“They’re going to use it in some classes.”
Evie reached a finger through the metal crate and stroked Judah’s powerful paw. “I’m honored.”
“They’re lucky to have you at NC State,” the vet tech said.
“Thank you, Valerie.”
“The big schools always get the best people,” she continued, a sad note in her voice. “I didn’t get in there, so…”
“Vestal Valley has a terrific vet program,” Evie said.
“It’s decent, yeah.” The young woman lifted her shoulder, her gaze drifting from Evie to Judah and back. “But surgeries like you did today? Hard to get here. And I want to be a neurologist, too. Of course, I’m just a vet student now, so maybe I’ll get into NC State for my specialty degree.”
“I hope you do,” Evie said, putting a hand on the other woman’s shoulder. “But if you don’t, I’m sure you’ll get into a great school and make a fantastic neurologist.”
She nodded her appreciation. “I hope so. Now, honestly…”
“Yeah.” Christine gave Evie’s shoulder a nudge. “Go get dinner, Dr. Hewitt.”
Dinner. It was that late? Poor Granddaddy. “Yes, ladies. You have my number and can text me. Valerie? Progress reports throughout the night?”
“Yep. And you can knock on the back door anytime if you need a Judah fix before we officially open tomorrow. In fact, you should go out that way.”
“Thanks.” With one more stroke of Judah’s paw, Evie headed out, grabbing her bag from a locker and feeling very…comfortable. This was like a second home to her—the late nights after a big surgery, the dimmed lights and soft snores of sleeping animals in recovery, the incomparable rush of a successful surgery.
She pushed the back door open and blinked into the early evening light, trying to remember where she parked her car about twelve hours ago.
“Right here, Dr. Dolittle.”
She turned at the voice in the shadows, her heart unexpectedly fluttering at the sight of Declan leaning against her car, arms crossed.
“Hey.” And a whole new wave of comfort washed over her, dragging her back twenty years to that summer when she’d work late at Dr. K’s office and Declan would be waiting for her to have dinner or watch a movie or hang out in the square and talk about life at the fire station and vet office.
Right then, all Evie wanted to do in the whole world was go back to those halcyon days, before the fire…and ice…that wrecked that friendship. To pretend twenty years hadn’t happened and they were still kids, young and free and crazy about each other.
“How’s my girl?” he asked as she walked slowly toward the car.
His girl? Well, she might not be young and free, but she sure was still crazy about him. “Hungry, tired, and high on…” You. “A great surgery.”
“The front desk already called to give me the night report on Judah. He’s resting comfortably. It’s the surgeon I’m worried about. She wouldn’t leave the patient.”
She loved the fact that he didn’t move, but kept his gaze pinned on her, that Mahoney smile tugging at his lips.
“I left him,” she said. “But it wasn’t easy.” Just like it wouldn’t be easy to leave Declan tonight.
Finally, as she stood in front of him, he shifted from one foot to the other and reached out to place his hands on her shoulders. “What do you want to do now?”
Kiss you. Hold you. Fly back in time. “Get my grandfather something to eat.”
“Didn’t you check your Granddaddy cam?”
“I haven’t had a chance.”
“Well, he had his ‘linner’ at four, got his dentures out, his meds in,