Page 55 of Vetted for Vengeance
Our usual filming for Follow the Vet was scripted, organized and rehearsed. That's my kind of logic.
This is raw and wild. Improvised.
This is where Noah thrives. This is the environment he thrives in.
And thriving he is.
The simple kennel hand is gone, and a confident man in green scrubs stands in his place. He's holding a clipboard and pen, using the writing implement more as a pointer than for notes.
“We need Figgy somewhere quiet. She's nervous during labor,” Noah calls out generally, hoping to receive ideas.
“Why not put her in the night nurse's room?” Tree calls back. The poor woman is supposed to do this, but she's too soft on the other nurses. Noah isn't soft, because he only cares about the animals and just sees the nurses as extra arms he always needed but never had.
Noah gives a nod of approval, and Figgy, who I'm guessing is Figarolle and in early labor, is led off to the quiet room used by whichever nurse is here on the nightshift.
I have to wonder how many owners would pay for a whelping service? I already have around the clock staff who adore puppies, and someone with eight years experience.
I'm already calculating a whelping package price when Martha returns.
“Same guy, same story.” She mutters.
“Same outcome. No name, no access.” I reply firmly. It's our practice policy, not special treatment for the guy pushing our ratings through the roof.
“Dr Calder, everything is ready for you.” Noah walks over to me, flipping a page in his folder. “You have five bitch spays for the council, a dental repair, one cat awaiting an X-ray and an exploratory laparotomy which Tree says means removing a mass from a kidney.”
“Dr Calder?” I raised an eyebrow. It was Rhys from the moment we met, probably for years before then, but after sex I became Dr Calder?
“Can't say nipples on TV,” he replies beautifully. “I've ordered the operations according to…”
“Let me see.” I extend my hand for his clipboard, expecting to see his beloved dogs first. But the order is impressive. He's put the X-ray first, so we have time to react to what we find on the results. Then he's put Poppy's operation next. Dental and then the spays.
“I usually do the easiest operations first. Start clean, end dirty.”
“No one is waiting for the results of the spays. But Poppy's owner is pacing the floor. I put the dental between her operation and the spays so there's time to clean down the operating theatre, because Tree says you can do dentals in the prep room. That gives Poppy a longer recovery time before she goes home.”
“Tree,” I call to my senior nurse.
She trots over promptly.
“You normally do this part, but without dragging me into it.”
“I do, but the cameras were pointing at him and his ideas were good.”
“I want to know how you feel about it. He's taking over your job, and honestly, doing it better.”
“Yes. He is,” Tree admits. “But managing the other nurses is only part of my job role.”
I nod. Tree also runs clinics where she offers consultations for weight loss, dental, and so many other tasks. “You’re wasted organizing rotas, Tree. How would you feel about running clinics full-time?”
“Yes. Unless you want me to think for five seconds before answering?”
“Five seconds is good.”
She smiles at me, counting obviously on her fingers. “Yes.”
“I'd like you to shadow Noah for a week while you come up with ideas. We can start adding nurse consultations to the website.
“I have a few ideas I'd like to develop.”
