“I’ll check now.”
From assessing the injury, Archer knew the leg was damaged beyond his ability to repair it. If the owners wanted to save the leg, they would need to see a specialist. He watched the dog settle as the pain meds kicked in and left the room. He needed to speak to the owners.
He found them in a treatment room. “His leg is broken, and he’ll need specialist and surgery to fix it. I can make him comfortable and pass you over to an orthopedic surgeon. Do you have insurance?”
The woman shook her head, tears spilling down her cheeks, but it was the man who spoke. “We don’t. How expensive...”
“Thousands of dollars. I can amputate the leg, but if you want to keep it.”
“How long will it take? How many operations to fix?”
“That depends on how much damage there is. I’m having X-rays taken now, and that will give me more information, but from what I’ve seen, the leg—”
“Amputate. He’s in pain, and the longer we stand here, the worse it is for him.” The woman sniffed loudly. “I don’t want him suffering, and we don’t know how many operations he will have to go through to fix it.”
Archer looked at the man who nodded. “Amputate.”
Archer left them, the woman weeping and the man comforting her, and went back to the dog. He did his checks, and when the x-rays came back, he nodded. The leg was beyond help. Maybe a specialist... He shook his head.
“Prepare for him for surgery.”
Archer worked hard, amputating the leg and stitching up the various open wounds. By the time he’d finished, he knew the dog would make it. He’d adapt quickly to the loss of his leg, but overall, the animal was lucky. The injuries he’d sustained were bad enough, but it could have easily been much worse.
Changing into clean scrubs, he walked into reception and called the owners into one of the exams rooms and explained what he’d done. The woman cried and thanked him repeatedly, shaking his hand and calling him a miracle worker. Something he tried hard to ignore.
He’d done his job, and they were lucky this time. Archer had lost count of the number of animals who’d died after a vehicle accident, and it was always hard watching the family break down when he informed him.
He’d developed a thick skin over the years, but he still knew how much it hurt, how devastating the loss was.
He walked back to recovery to check on the dog, happy to see him moving, if sluggishly. The team was watching him, and he left them to it, knowing that they were good at their jobs. He checked his schedule and got back to his appointments, thankful the other two vets who worked with him had picked up the slack.
At the end of the day, Archer groaned as he stood and tried to stretch out his sore muscles. He checked who was on call that night and groaned again when he saw his name. After the day he’d had, he could have done with a night off.
“You on tonight?” Lane ran his finger down the calendar and grinned. “I’m out with the wife tonight. The in-laws have the kids so we have some adult time to look forward to.”
Archer grinned at Lane. “You guys need it too. Three kids in three years?”
“The twins weren’t planned, but no matter how hectic life is, I wouldn’t change a single second of it.”
Archer nodded. “One day I hope that will be me.”
“Hey, there are plenty of kids out there who have been dumped by their parents and need a loving home. I read about a married gay couple that adopted an entire family so they kids wouldn’t be split up. That’s the type of parents kids want.”
“Thanks, Lane. It’s something I’ve considered more recently.”
“They’re not animals though. They will find a way to torture you.” Lane leaned closer. “Finding interesting and unique ways to get back at them is fun.” He waggled his eyebrows and grinned.
He slapped Archer on the back and walked away, waving over his shoulder and whistling. Archer smiled. Maybe one day he and Cain could start a family. No, that was a stupid thought. He didn’t even know if they would last the week.
Their relationship was new and on shaky ground, and he wasn’t sure if they were doing the right thing even though he was the one who’d pushed for it. He was the one who’d chased Cain to get what he wanted.
The night he’d spent with Cain was still fresh in his mind, and he wanted more nights like that. Many more, but their family was one area he couldn’t ignore.
Walking back into his office, he grabbed the pager and stuck it in his coat pocket. Picking up the files he wanted to read through and the research papers, he walked out and locked up behind him.
In the apartment above the practice, Archer dumped his things on the table and opened his fridge. Seeing nothing, he slammed the door shut, left the apartment, and walked outside. The rest of the team was talking in the parking lot, and he waved at them as he got into his car.
He checked his cell and winced when he saw a message from Cain. We need to talk.
That didn’t sound good, and Archer hesitated before responding. Okay. I’m just leaving to go grocery shopping, and I’m on call tonight.
I’ll come to yours.
See you in an hour. I’ll bring food.
That meant Archer could put off the dreaded grocery shop until tomorrow. Grinning, he grabbed his jacket and got out of his car, practically jogging back to his apartment. He had time to shower and change into clean clothes and tidy up as the apartment was a shit hole, and no way was Cain seeing it for the first time looking like a garbage site.
He changed the sheets on his bed and then showered, and by the time he’d finished reading the first paper on new treatments, he heard the doorbell ring.
Jogging down the stairs, he opened the door and grinned at Cain. “You saved me from grocery shopping hell.”
“I aim to please.” He passed the paper bag to Archer. “Chinese?”
“Yes, please.”
Archer followed Cain up the stairs, his eyes firmly glued to his amazing ass and almost ran into him when Cain stopped at the door to the apartment. “It’s larger than I expected. Proper Tardis.”
“Proper Tardis?”
Cain glanced over his shoulder and grinned. “You never watched Doctor Who?”
“Er, that would be a no.”
Cain’s eyes widened. “Oh, are you in for a good night. I love Doctor Who and Sherlock. Benedict Cumberbatch. There’s just something about the man that I can’t quite put my finger on. He’s not conventionally attractive, but even I’ve noticed there’s something about him.”
“You’ll have to show me a photo of him.”
“I will.”
Archer grabbed some glasses as Cain unpacked the takeout and, within minutes, they were sitting at the table eating. Archer moaned when he tasted the food, and it was only at that moment that he realized how hungry he was. He’d missed lunch with the emergency and had been so busy catching up that he hadn’t had time to grab some food.
“Archer, I want this to work.”
Archer stopped chewing the food in his mouth and swallowed. “I thought you were going to say something else.”
Cain nodded. “I know, and we do need to talk. We need rules or something. If we break up, this can’t affect the family since we’ll run in to each other. Weddings—" Cain arched a brow “—births, funerals. We can’t have any bad feelings affecting others.”