Foxy Lady by Cara Malone

Author:Cara Malone [Malone, Cara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lisbon Press
Published: 2020-08-12T22:00:00+00:00

* * *

Dr. Kiran Anand was an aviary specialist who worked in the veterinary medicine department of Granville State University, and WOW called her in periodically when they had large birds like eagles, hawks and owls. She was in the surgical suite with Maxwell when Syd pushed the door open.

“Hey,” Syd said, keeping her voice low so their feathered patient wouldn’t be alarmed. “I’m doing a little impromptu tour…”

She paused for a second, wondering how to refer to Addie and Liam. My neighbors seemed insultingly removed, but friends didn’t quite go far enough. Friends didn’t try to make out in the brief moments of solitude during trick-or-treating, and Syd had lost track of the number of times Liam had fallen asleep on her shoulder and drooled all down her arm during a movie.

She decided to skip the issue altogether and just asked, “Would we be intruding if we stand near the wall and watch quietly?”

“Not at all,” Kiran said, her New Delhi accent still faintly audible even though Syd knew she’d moved from India more than twenty years ago as a child.

Syd opened the stainless steel swinging door a little wider and Liam walked under her arm, then Addie ducked and did the same. Syd pointed them to the wall across from the exam table, where they could watch and the owl would be able to keep a cautious eye on them, too.

Maxwell had his gloved hands on either side of the owl’s torso, holding its sharply taloned feet in place while Kiran prepared to bandage the injured wing. The owl twisted its head around to peer at the three newcomers, its normally wide and attentive eyes looking somewhat glazed.

“She’s been given painkillers and a mild sedative,” Kiran explained to her new audience. “We don’t want her to go into shock from being handled, but we’ve got to get the bone set.”

They watched silently while Kiran got to work. She splinted the bone, then applied a veterinary-grade antiseptic – rather than Syd’s improvised honey for the robin – but other than that, the procedure was exactly the same. Liam was excited when he realized he could follow along, and he kept whispering to Syd and Addie every time he recognized what Dr. Anand was doing.

“That’s the X-wrap!” he said when Kiran was stabilizing the wing.

“Shhh,” Addie said as the owl groggily twisted its head to look their way. Liam clamped his hands over his mouth, and Addie wrapped her arms around his shoulders.

Once the owl was all bandaged up, Maxwell picked it up and carried it out of the surgical suite. Kiran explained that he was taking her to a darkened room where she could be alone and relax while the sedative wore off.

“Can I talk now?” Liam whispered to Addie.

Addie looked to Syd, who nodded. “Go ahead, kid.”

“That was so cool!” Liam said, the words coming out like a burst of air from a balloon. “We rescued a robin a few weeks ago and I bet it’s a lot easier to help an owl because its wings aren’t so small.

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