away, all the years apart.” She hoped to show the man another view. “Gil’s told me he wants to put things right between you two. Says he’s tired of fighting.”
John snorted. “Could have fooled me.”
Mattie’s gaze didn’t waver. “You’re a cantankerous old cuss.”
His eyes widened at her frankness.
“What is the problem with you and Gil, anyway?” She got up from her desk and knelt beside him. “Aren’t you proud of his accomplishments? He’s retiring from fifteen years in professional football. I don’t care for the game, but even I recognize that’s a big deal. Why don’t you cut him a little slack?”
John wiped his nose with the edge of his hand. Mattie lifted the puppy onto his lap, and the man stared at the beagle without looking up. “Gil walked out on this family long ago. Walked out and didn’t look back.”
“But that’s just it. He was a boy . . . looking for answers, and now he’s a grown man . . . still looking for answers. Don’t you want to help him?”
“He don’t want no help from me.”
THE NEXT AFTERNOON, GIL LOOKED UP FROM HIS WORK ON THE roof and saw Mattie lead Dusty out of the barn. From this vantage point, the horse appeared to be in worse shape than Gil realized, the indentations between the ribs deeper and even more pronounced. How much weight had the old boy lost anyway? At least a hundred pounds, maybe more.
Braced against a bitter north wind, Gil bent to pick up a nail and as he stood, he watched Dusty suddenly drop to the ground. The horse then thrashed onto his back with his feet in the air.
“Uh-oh, that can’t be good,” Gil uttered, his cold fingers already unfastening his tool belt. In haste, he clambered down the aluminum ladder and rushed across the barnyard, making it to the doc’s side within seconds. His heartbeat raced as he helped Mattie regain control of the horse.
Dusty sat back on his haunches like a dog. “Colic?” Gil asked, but already knew the answer.
Mattie frowned. “It looks like it. The question is why?” Her warm breath fogged in the frigid air as gray clouds gathered in the sky.
For the next hour, Gil watched as the doc gave Dusty a thorough examination. When finished, Mattie returned to Gil’s side and deposited the plastic glove in the trash. “There doesn’t seem to be any inflammation of the intestine, which is good. We can pass a nasogastric tube to his stomach to relieve any gas or fluid building there. After that, we’ll see how he does.”
Gil followed the doc to her office where she retrieved a few more supplies. As a boy, he’d witnessed horses with colic, and it was always of great concern to the owners. He knew it wasn’t a disease, but rather an indication of stomach pain. “What were you looking for during your exam?”
“Dusty’s been under a lot of stress this past month. He’s not eating normally, and he’s lost a lot of weight. Plus, he’s been on several anti-inflammatory medications — a big indicator that this could be ulcer-related. I’m guessing that’s what has triggered the colic, but I need to rule out a few more causes.”
“You mean like a stomach ulcer in a human?”
“Yeah, horses get them, too.”
When they returned to Dusty’s side, they found him kicking at his stomach, obviously still bothered. The doc administered a pain reliever to ease Dusty’s anxiety. Gil then helped pass a tube through the horse’s nostrils, and they flushed out his stomach. When finished, Dusty seemed more content. The doc wasn’t satisfied, however, and stuck him in the stomach with another needle.
Gil stayed behind while she went to her office to test the fluid. “Hey boy, sorry to make you go through all this.” He smoothed his hand down Dusty’s neck and shoulder, careful of the wounds that were still healing from his accident. “You need to get well, so you and I can go out for a ride. We could go down to the creek, just like when we were young. Would you like that boy?”
Dusty shifted his weight to the opposite side and breathed a heavy sigh through his nostrils, as though agreeing the suggestion sounded like a good idea. Gil sat on a nearby bale of hay and stared at the animal, wondering if his old friend understood. Maybe Gil’s presence would have an effect on Dusty’s healing after all, as the doc said?