No Wedding Like Nantucket by Grace Palmer

Author:Grace Palmer [Palmer, Grace]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Grace Palmer

The ride to the veterinarian’s office was rushed and horrible. Brent sat in the back seat with Henrietta on his lap. She’d stopped making noise altogether. Her chest was still rising and falling, so he knew she could still breathe, but he swore he could sense the poison spreading throughout her body. If he could find that snake, he’d chop it into a billion pieces and scatter them in every corner of the planet.

But first, he needed to make sure that his favorite companion would survive.

“Drive faster, Marsh!” he barked.

“I’m going as fast as I can, B. We’re almost there. Is it a left or a right here?”

“Left! Left! Go left!”

Marshall wrenched the wheel around and then they squealed into the parking lot. Brent was out of the car before it came to a full stop, bearing Henrietta in his arms. He kicked the door in lieu of knocking, over and over until someone finally answered.

“Hi, yes, we heard you—” the vet began, but Brent was already pushing his way through.

“Snakebite,” he said through the haze of his panic. “You gotta hurry!”

Fear had a firm handhold on his guts and was squeezing the life out of him. He laid Henrietta down on the cold metal examination table where the vet, Dr. Lena Dawson, directed him. She had snapped into business mode immediately when she saw the look on Brent’s face.

“Her, here. You, there.” She pointed towards a chair through the doorway into the other room.

“No,” he said immediately. “I’m staying with her.”

Dr. Dawson shook her head. “I can’t do my job if you’re in here hovering. Go sit.”

Marshall had come in behind him. “C’mon, B,” he said softly. “Just come sit.”

Brent let Marshall lead him away. The door closed behind him. The two of them sat down in the rigid waiting room chairs. Brent stared between his feet, face white. Marshall patted him on the back once or twice, then they fell silent.

Half an hour passed in the blink of an eye. Brent hadn’t moved. Had hardly breathed, as a matter of fact. How much loss was he going to have to take in his life? Every time he thought he was through the worst of it, he got beaten back down. Henrietta was innocent. She was a good dog, the best dog. She deserved better than this. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her. He prayed that Dr. Dawson knew what she was doing.

Finally, the door swung back open. Dr. Dawson reemerged, stripping off rubber gloves.

Brent looked up, eyes full of equal parts fear and hope. “Please tell me she’s okay,” he said immediately.

Dr. Dawson smiled. “She’s going to be fine,” she said. “I gave her a mild sedative, so she’s sleeping a little bit for right now. Didn’t want her to be distressed with all the chaos going on.”

Brent buried his face in his hands. He wanted to cry. But this was neither the time nor the place. He took a deep breath, stored away his relief for later, and looked up once again.

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