Rescue (Emily and Mason)

by Seiters, Nadene

  “Excellent. You’re here early today; Gail won’t be in until two if she does come in. She sent me an email to let me know that the retriever had puppies.” Of course he would notice if I was here early. He now has the clipboard down at his side and he’s staring over at me, waiting for an excuse for an explanation.

  “She let me know this morning that she won’t be in this afternoon again. I came in early to check on Butterscotch and help out with some of the cleaning before my shift.” A boss can’t complain about that, right? Taylor Warren opens his mouth to do just that, but I tell him that I have to check on something in the dog kennels and turn on my heel to get away from him.

  “Meet me when your shift begins at two and we’ll discuss what you’ll be doing for the remainder of the day!” Taylor calls back to me, but he doesn’t follow me into the dog kennel. I close the door and try to get my frazzled nerves under control. He knows who I was talking to in the cat kennel room because when he passed he looked through the glass on the door just to be sure.

  Jesse comes around the corner with a puppy in her arms and smiles at me before she opens up the door. Just as she’s about to leave she turns around to watch me open up the Chihuahua pen and step inside. Her eyes narrow as she slowly walks back.

  “Have you seen Emily today?” She asks as if she’s trying to make conversation.

  “I did, she’s in the cat kennel room.” I try to drown out the sound of the little dogs yapping by focusing on Jesse’s face. She seems irritated about something, like I didn’t respond properly to her.

  “I meant, did you see the way her hair was pulled back? She looks kind of rough today.” I did notice that, but I’m not about to tell her my theory on why Emily looks rough today. I upset her careful balance yesterday, and I’m not about to upset it even more by stirring up trouble with Jesse. The puppy tries to get out of her arms, but she keeps a tight grip on it.

  “That little guy’s getting a little rambunctious; you want me to take him for you?” Jesse’s about to decline the offer when she sees Emily step through the door. A smile starts to bloom on her face until she sees Jesse in front of me, the puppy in her arms. The way she’s standing so close to me makes it look like we’re discussing something more intimate than me taking a dog for her.

  “Thank you so much Mason for helping me out!” Jesse shoves the dog into my arms and plasters a saucy grin on her lips as she saunters past Emily, holding the door open for me. Emily’s smile has long gone faltered and disappeared. As I’m passing her, she turns her face away from me and makes her way to Baby’s kennel. She’s probably hoping to get her ready for the onslaught of adopters that will be coming in today.

  “What the hell was that about?” I ask Jesse as we walk down the hallway, the puppy wriggling in my arms. I let him up to lie on my shoulder and pat him on the back.

  “You know she’s off limits, right? Emily doesn’t date anyone, and from what I’ve seen of her since she started about six months ago she’s not exactly dating material.” I’m shocked by her obvious display of jealousy and stop in my tracks, the puppy still over my shoulder.

  “First and foremost, it’s not your decision whether or not Emily is off limits, and who said I’m interested? Second, where are you taking this dog?” Jesse reaches over to take the puppy from me with an angry huff, her cheeks turning rosy as she realizes that she’s given away how she really feels about Emily to me.

  “I’m taking him to get his shots, and then he’s going home with the family that adopted him about a week ago this afternoon.” I let her have the wriggling ball of fur and watch her turn on her heel to leave, and then she gets a strange look on her face. “Oh, and if you ever want to stop wasting your time on the teenage wonder girl in there, give me a call instead.” She quirks a sultry grin at me, and I quirk both my eyebrows at her.

  “Uh, right,” I manage to mumble before I turn on my heel to come face to face with Dr. Warren. Great, now he’s going to think I’m sleeping with all the women here. He has a slight frown on his face, but he doesn’t say a word about what he just witnessed in the hall between me and Jesse. Instead, what he says next shocks me.

  “Emily is seventeen, Mason, she’s off limits.” He walks past me with his sneakers hitting the floor angrily, and I wonder what just happened here. I was pretty sure that by school Emily meant college, but I guess I was wrong. She’s in high school, but if she’s in high school how can she volunteer here so early? That’ll be one of my first questions at our lunch meeting today.

  In the meantime, I’m going to master the art of dominating a Chihuahua without losing my manhood.

  Chapter Six

  Emily

  When noon rolls around and I’ve finished cleaning up Bandit and his buddy the gerbil, I wash up my hands and redo my hair so that it’s not so messy. Then I make my way to the lunchroom, hoping against all odds that Mason’s changed his mind since our earlier conversation. Maybe he’ll go out with Jesse and forget all about me. She’s much taller and filled out in areas I’m not.

  But when I turn the corner to the lunch area and find Mason sitting there alone, with a bag of Cheetos in front of him, my hopes are dashed against the rocks. He smiles at me when he sees me, standing like an idiot at the end of the hallway. I walk the rest of the way down and pull out some cash from my pocket, getting myself a bag of Doritos and a bottle of orange soda.

  “So you do eat lunch,” he muses, making a point of looking at the clock. It’s about ten minutes past noon. It wasn’t by design that I was late, mostly just because I was too busy cleaning up Bandit’s mess when he toppled his water dish after I put it in a second time.

  “On occasion I eat, I guess.” I try for a smile; he said he wanted to be friends. Friends smile at each other, right? I’ve forgotten what it was like to interact with people on more than professional level. All this time I think Jesse’s been trying to be my friend, but I had been too stubborn to allow it.

  “On occasion, I’d believe it. I think you should be eating more than a bag of Doritos for lunch. Do you eat a celery stick for dinner?” I narrow my eyes at his teasing and pop a chip into my mouth. With his prodding, I’m beginning to forget about the fact that he asked me on a date yesterday.

  “I eat plenty for dinner, even pizza sometimes. Besides, I had a large breakfast this morning,” I lie to him smoothly; at least, I think it’s smoothly. He gives me a knowing look and takes a sip of water.

  “I’ll believe it when I see it.” Neither one of us says anymore as we munch on our separate bags of chips. I’m wondering if Baby will be able to handle the people who are going to come in this afternoon or not when Gail comes in through the door that leads to the outdoors. She looks relieved when she finds Mason sitting at the table, and pushes her hair out of her face.

  “I’ve left the mother and her pups at home for now in an extra-large dog crate. But one of them has stopped eating, so I’m going to have to run some tests. But finish your lunch first; I’ll be in the exam room when you’re finished.” Mason rolls up his bag of Cheetos and looks at me apologetically before he answers Gail.

  “I’ll be there in a minute, let me just wash my hands.” Gail nods before she heads back out the door to retrieve the puppy. Mason turns his attention on me and sits back down in his chair, one leg outstretched towards mine. “So you’ll be here tomorrow?” He asks, a cocky grin on his face. I can’t help it; I grin back at him and nod. He takes off after that, throwing the empty chip bag away and washing his hands.

  I watch him leave and sit back in my chair, wondering if I should even be friends with him. Gail comes back in through the lunchroom door with a small puppy wrapped in a towel cradled to her chest. It’s so much tinier than I would have imagined!

  “Wow, is it the runt?” I ask her as I stand to get a look at it. Gail looks down at it, worried, and nods. “Do you think maybe I could help?”

  “Sure, you can help me hold it still while I get a blood sample.” She leads me down the hall to the exam
room with the still puppy in her arms. I’m no expert, but I think it ought to be making some type of movement by now. There’s a bag hanging off Gail’s arm, and she slides it off as she sets the puppy down on the exam table. I immediately scoop it up to keep it from falling off, but I see now that there’s no reason to be afraid of that. The poor thing is barely breathing.

  “It feels cool to the touch,” I tell Gail, and she nods.

  “Here, put it down your shirt and hold it close to your chest, that will warm it up slowly. It’s dehydrated, and I’m going to need to put fluids under the skin.” Mason chooses the moment I’m putting the puppy down my shirt to come into the room, holding a can of puppy formula and a syringe. Gail preps the needle full of fluids and as soon as she turns around I pull the puppy back out.

  Mason takes it from me gingerly and holds is so that Gail and put fluids underneath the skin, then he hands the puppy back to me, and I shove it back down my shirt, letting it rest underneath my undershirt against my skin. I watch the two of them clean up the medical supplies and then Gail finally turns back around.

  “I can’t find anything wrong with it; I’m going to need to take a blood sample to send off to the lab. Maybe that will tell me something.” I almost don’t want to give the poor thing back to her, wondering how she’s going to take blood from such a tiny puppy. But she manages to do it without making the puppy wake, which worries me. As soon as she’s finished she puts it back in my arms and I return it to its place.

  “You’re our good luck charm, Emily, I hope it works this time.” I feel a flush creeping onto my cheeks and turn away from them, stroking my shirt where the puppy is resting.

  “I’m going to get some of the kennel cleaned up, it’s alright if I take it along with me?” I ask her, hoping that she doesn’t tell me I have to give it back just yet. It’s so tiny it can fit in the palm of my hand.

  “Sure, you can take it home if you want. I’ve got seven others to deal with and a grumpy mom.” I can’t help but smile as I head out of the exam room with the little fur ball in my shirt. People are probably going to look at me funny today, but I don’t really care. It’s nice to feel needed, to be helping.

  Mason follows me down the hall to the dog kennel room and leans against the doorframe, watching me scrub out a pen with a puppy in my shirt. His name is called on the intercom system, and he’s paged down to the medical room again. I’m sure there’s another animal in here that needs a professional’s help. There’re too many in here that need a professional’s help.

  “We’re going to make sure that you’re not here long enough to get used to one of these pens,” I tell the fuzz ball in my shirt, flipping it over so that both sides warm up evenly. After an hour it begins to move on its own, the little toe nails digging into my skin.

  When I get to Baby’s cage I feel my nerves tingle and I look at her sitting in the back, lonely eyes peering at me. I’m not sure if she’ll take to a puppy, but I feel confident enough to open up the pen door and step inside. Maybe seeing something so small and fragile will bring her out of her shell. This could go disastrous, but as long as I radiate trust I know she will not lash out.

  I close the pen door, my hand reaches into my shirt, and I pull the fuzz ball out. Baby’s ears go flat on her head as she senses my excitement, her eyes flashing in the dim light. I make hushing noises to the pup as it begins to make tiny noises, attempting to climb back into my shirt. Baby takes a few gentle steps forward, and I wait at the other side of the pen, holding the pup on my lap as I crouch down.

  “You have to be nice; it’s had a rough start here just like you. If you can’t be nice, then I’ll have to put on your charts that you’re not good with other dogs.” Baby’s ears perk at my voice, and then they tilt down at the pup as she hears it whine. Her face is curious as she gets closer, and my heart beat slows to a rhythmic beat. I have to remain calm, or this will all go wrong.

  Mason

  I wash the blood off my hands and try not to think about what just happened. It’s going to happen here more often than not, people bringing in stray animals that have been hit my cars and thinking that we can save them. But the way that dog had looked at me before we had to put it under still makes my skin crawl and my throat clog. I clear it and try to man up, not wanting to show how much this affects me in front of Taylor Warren.

  The veterinarian washes his hands beside me, and I see a flash of the same anguish I’m feeling on his face. I have a little bit more respect for the man now that I know an animal’s death affects him the same way. He’s not a bad guy, just interested in the same girl I am. I wonder for a second just how old he is. He looks as if he’s in his late twenties, but looks can be deceiving. Maybe I can get into his personal files to snoop around.

  “Gail went home to take care of Daisy and her pups; you want me to clean some cages?” Maybe we got off on the wrong foot. I shouldn’t let a crush get in the way of a good relationship with my boss.

  “As long as you find something worthwhile to do you can stay on for today. Make sure that all the cages are cleaned, the animals are fed, and try to clean up any messes so that the adoptees don’t feel as if they’re in a zoo.” I’m relieved that his petty attitude is gone considering a life just was lost in front of us. I assume it never really gets easier to have to euthanize an animal.

  There’s only one face I want to see right now. I hope I find her where I think I will. As soon as I’m done washing my hands I towel them off and almost bolt out of the room. My stomach’s reeling at the look on that dog’s face; hopefully a living dog with a girl next to it will cheer me up. My footsteps are sure as I head down the hall for the dog kennel.

  As soon as I get into the room I freeze. Even my heart seems to realize that it’s too loud and quiets down to a steady pulse, my breathing caught in my throat. Baby is right on Emily’s heels as she walks down the rows of cages with the puppy in her hands, wriggling. She’s holding a tiny bottle to it, supporting it with one hand.

  When I finally inhale a breath quietly Baby’s ears flick back, and she turns her head, her tail hanging loosely. Emily seems to be in tune with the dog and turns at the same time, her eyes wide when she looks back. As soon as she sees it’s me she relaxes. I feel a twinge of pride at that and give her a slow smile.

  Baby’s growl knocks me right out of my daydreaming of Emily and kicks my heart rate up a notch.

  “Baby, pen.” Emily doesn’t even have to point. Baby calmly walks into her pen and turns around at the front, eyeing me with her hackles raised.

  “I’m sorry, I kind of ruined her training,” I tell Emily, taking a hesitant step into the room further. She pulls the bottle away from the puppy and hands it over to me, shoving the fuzz ball down her shirt. I can’t help it. I get a glimpse of a hot pink bra strap and feel my gut tightening.

  “No, it was bound to happen at some point. I’m glad it was you though; anyone else and she might have bitten them. She’s used to your presence.” A rush of pride has my chest swelling, and I go over to the sink to rinse out the bottle for her.

  An easy silence fills the room as Emily sits down inside the enclosure opening with Baby, patting her gently and rubbing her ears. I don’t get too close to the pen, not wanting to put Emily or the puppy in her shirt in danger by upsetting the German shepherd.

  “How long do you think before she’s ready for a home?” Emily shrugs one shoulder nonchalantly and stands up, pulling the puppy out of her shirt again. She holds it out to me in question, and I take it, wrapping it up in the bottom of my t-shirt so that it stays warm.

  “It depends. All dogs are different. We had a mastiff in here that would knock over anything in its sight and bite, no questions asked. It took me six weeks to get him to stop lunging at the cage bars before I could even put a foot inside the cage. Baby’s not that bad, really. Any professional trainer probably could do what I am quicker than I am.” It sounds as if she doesn’t really understand the magnitude of what she’s doing.

 
; “You’re saving her life; it’s not a small feat.” Emily blushes at my obvious praise. To give her space, I pull the puppy out of my shirt and hand it back to her. It’s restless with me anyway. “I’m going to go work on the Collie over there, she’s up next.”

  Just seeing Emily and Baby working together makes me forget about my earlier pain of having to put down the stray. I won’t mention it to Emily; I don’t want to ruin her day. She’ll hear about it soon enough, and then I’ll have to find a way to make her forget about it. I think it’ll take much more than just seeing my face.

  I move on to the cage with the Collie in it and grab a hanging leash by the pen door off a hook. This one’s one of the friendliest dogs here, and I have a feeling he’ll be adopted much quicker than the rest. I make him sit before I put on the harness, stroking the silky fur. These dogs are lucky to have someone who volunteers each day to brush the knots out. Although at this rate, I suppose I would have enough time to do it myself lately.

  Me and Jag walk around the indoor room a few times before we make our way outdoors. There’s a girl, Penny, who volunteers every day after school with the larger animals. She’s atop one of the horses, riding around a small ring with her brunette hair flying out behind her. She’s probably fifteen or sixteen but looks more like twelve. I wave to her as she passes by, Jag bouncing at my side.

  The rest of the afternoon I don’t have the opportunity to speak with Emily much more. Once I take Jag in, the rush of people begins and I’m asked to stay late just to get the final injections done and put in microchips. I help people get their dogs, cats, a gerbil, and a ferret to their new owner’s vehicles. Bandit looks super happy to be going somewhere, and I don’t blame him. He needs more attention than he was getting, even though Emily spent over an hour with him each day.

  The collie I was walking almost immediately finds a new home as I’m putting him into his pen, a little girl and her father. The gerbil goes home with a big, burly man who claims the little ball of energy is for his seven year old son. I’m glad he took the time to look at a shelter first rather than a pet store, where he could have easily chosen from numerous different, younger gerbils.