Page 11 of Chains
“None taken,” she said, trying to keep her voice casual as she turned away from his stare. “If you don’t have any questions, I have other patients I need to check on. One of the techs—Christina—will be in shortly. Thor’s vitals look strong, but he’ll be a little woozy until the anesthetic completely wears off.” Autumn’s lips turned up.
“You got a damn pretty smile, Doc.” His voice had lowered, giving his words an intimacy that made her insides tingle.
She let out a small, nervous laugh. “Thank you. Let Christina know if you have questions.” Autumn rushed across the room, stumbling over her feet as she grabbed for the doorknob. Behind her, Chains chuckled, a deep vibration that echoed in her ear.
She leaned against the wall in the hallway, trying to steady her breathing while chastising herself on acting so ridiculously. Yes, Chains was a ruggedly handsome man, but she’d seen other good-looking men before. The image of Travis Krichmar came to mind. The thirty-two-year-old single dad made her female staff swoon every time he brought his golden retriever, Casey, into the clinic. Autumn thought he was an attractive, physically fit man who could easily be a model.But I’ve never acted like this around him… or any guy for that matter.She grimaced.Especially a client.She shook her head slightly.It must be the upcoming wedding. I’m just nervous. Yeah, that’s it. I know it.
“Are you all right?” Mark Jenkins asked.
Autumn nodded. “Yes. I was just feeling a little warm, that’s all. I’ll have to check the thermostat. How did you fare with the cat in Room Four?”
“Fine. The little guy had a thorn in one of his paws. It’s all good now.”
“Thanks for handling that for me.”
Mark smiled. “No problem.”
Autumn pushed away from the wall, then slowly walked back to her office.
An hour later she was sitting behind her desk, reviewing the lab results for a Jack Russell terrier when Christina poked her head inside the door.
“Thor’s resting real well. I just changed his IV bag. Did you need me to stay the night to monitor him?”
“No, I’ll stay for a while. Rodney has the nightshift, so he’ll be at the clinic tonight. Lauren will be here as well.”
Christina wrinkled her nose. “I hope you don’t take this the wrong way, but Lauren’s just plain weird. I don’t really trust her.”
Concern washed over Autumn. “Why do you say that? Have you seen her mistreat the animals?”
Christina shook her head. “No, not at all. I actually think she relates way better to them than to people. I just meant that she always wears black and never talks or tries to mingle with any of us. I’m always suspicious of people who aren’t social. I don’t know… she’s just strange.”
“She is a bit of a loner, but so was I when I was growing up. She’s only twenty and probably still trying to figure out her place in life.” Autumn laughed. “At thirty-one,I’mstill trying to figure out certain things about me. What’s important here is that she’s great with the animals.”
“I know. I wish she were more like Rodney. He’s super friendly. He definitely makes us laugh.”
“He’s pretty social.”To the point of being annoying.Autumn glanced back at the computer screen. “Did Chains leave?”
“Who?” Christina said.
She looked up. “Thor’s owner—did he leave?”
“Is that his name? He never answered me when I’d asked him earlier. Yeah, he left with another guy about twenty minutes ago.”
A thread of disappointment wove through her, which irritated the hell out of her.
“He’s pretty cute.” Christina giggled. “I like bad boys, but I’d be too afraid to go out with one.”
Autumn nodded then turned back to the computer screen. “Can you please bring me the X-rays for Daisy—the Siamese?”
“Uh… sure,” Christina said before walking away.
Autumn stared at the monitor for a long while, then pinched the bridge of her nose and returned to her work.
By the time she had seen her last patient and turned the lock on the front door, smoky purple clouds had absorbed the last of the sun’s rays. She strolled down the hallway to the back room and walked inside to check on Thor, and Oscar—a pit bull who was also recuperating in the clinic after minor surgery.
“How’re they doing?” she asked Rodney.
The vet tech stood up from a chair that he’d placed between the two beds. “Good. Mrs. Shively’s been calling every half hour to check up on Oscar. I told her she could come in and spend the night if she wanted to.”
