still, and they were plunged into semi-darkness. He wished there was more he could do for Rudy than dim the lights, but he had no idea how to make this easier on him.
Faith spoke to the reindeer. “I’m going to remove them at the same time. Please don’t freak out.”
Rudy continued to hold still as an ice sculpture.
“Caleb, if you could come over here so I’m not the first person he sees. I think he’s used to my voice by now, but I don’t want him startling and jerking around.” Faith ran her hand down Rudy’s neck as she gave instructions. She was in control to the hundredth degree, and her calm was a huge factor in keeping Caleb from climbing out of his skin.
“Sure.” He came to stand beside her and placed his hand on Rudy’s neck, moving down to scratch the spot just over his shoulder that he liked so much. Rudy sniffed the air, recognizing his scent and pushing his nose into Caleb’s chest. “Okay, okay. I’m happy to be here, buddy. Are you ready to try out your eyes?”
Rudy huffed, sounding a lot like “get on with it.”
Faith smiled over his nose at Caleb. Their eyes locked, and for a brief moment, it was just the two of them. She looked away first, ready to do what needed to be done. Caleb watched her instead of looking at Rudy’s eyes. He’d be able to tell if the surgery was a success from Faith’s expression.
Her hands moved slowly, her eyebrows drawn together in concentration. She cupped both sides of Rudy’s face and leaned over, inspecting. A moment later, she had an eye-examining tool of some sort in her hand and was peering into Rudy’s left eye. When she pulled back, she grinned from cheek to cheek.
Caleb let out the breath that had burned in his chest, begging for relief. Only he couldn’t let it go until he was sure things were going to be alright.
“He looks great.” Faith moved to check the other eye.
Caleb held up his hand. “How many fingers am I holding up, Rudy?”
Faith giggled. “Stop. He can’t magically count now that he can see.”
Caleb ignored her sarcasm. Reindeer games taught more than speed, agility, and teamwork. When Rudy was nothing but a calf, they’d taught him how to count. If he could remember … that would be a big step in getting him to the North Pole.
Rudy tapped his hoof three times.
Faith’s eyebrows shot up. “Holy smokes—that’s an impressive trick.”
Caleb laughed and threw his arms around Rudy. “You amazing animal, you! I feel like I can fly.”
Rudy perked up, and his back end lifted a couple inches off the ground.
Caleb felt the shift and gently kicked at his back hooves. “Not now, you dolt,” he whispered. “I promise we’ll get you in the workout arena soon, though.” Rudy’s feet settled back down.
Faith finished checking him and returned her equipment to the proper places. She was careful about doing things like that. He could imagine her socks were lined up in her drawers and her clothes hung at regular intervals in the closet. While he wasn’t a neat freak by any means, he liked things orderly, and Faith’s organization skills were one more check mark in the we’d-get-along-forever column.
If only she wasn’t leaving after Christmas.
He sighed before pulling himself back to the happy moment of Rudy’s recovery. “Are you ready to go home?”
Rudy lowered his head and shook it. Then, seeming to think better of that, he pawed at the ground.
It took some time to get the tractor started up so Caleb could lift the metal kennel from the clinic to the back of Doc’s truck. The big rolling door in the side of the recovery room had been installed for just such emergencies, and Caleb was grateful to Doc for thinking ahead. He was also grateful that Pax had thought to be dropped off and driven Caleb’s truck home last night.
Faith went inside the house to grab his duffel bag, and he took the opportunity to load Rudy. Fastening a harness around the reindeer’s chest, he spoke low. “Okay, it’s just a little hop. Not really flying—you aren’t cleared for that kind of activity yet. Understand?”
Rudy pranced as if the ground was too cold to stand still. But that wasn’t the reason he was light-footed. His jolly self was ready to take flight. The harness would do little to slow him down, especially with just Caleb holding onto the lead rope. One good tug