The Doctor's Calling by Stella Bagwell

Author:Stella Bagwell [Bagwell, Stella]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: C429, Kat, Extratorrents
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2012-01-15T13:00:00+00:00

Chapter Eight

At the calving barn, she and Russ were met by Laramie and Seth, the manager of the calving operation of the Chaparral. A tall man with a lean, ruddy face, she gauged him to be somewhere in his mid to late thirties.

As the four of them quickly made their way toward the area of the barn where the cow was located, it was clear that neither Laramie or Seth was in a jovial mood.

“The heifer was way too young to be bred in the first place,” Seth explained to Russ. “And the hell of it, we’re expecting about thirty more of these early calves this winter.”

“A downed fence allowed a bull into a section full of heifers,” Laramie spoke up. “We still haven’t figured out how that happened. The cowboys that found it swore it looked as though the wire had been cut, but hell, anything could have knocked it down.”

“Yeah,” Seth added, “and the mess it made is going to continue until all of these calves are born safely.”

“At least we discovered the bull was misplaced before he got to the whole herd of heifers,” Laramie said. “That’s something to be thankful for.”

“Well, let’s hope most of them will calve without incident,” Russ said in an effort to inject a note of optimism.

By now they’d reached the end of the barn, where the troubled cow was in a stall filled deep with straw. After Russ made a quick examination, he determined a C-section would have to be performed and instructed a few of the ranch hands who’d gathered around to move her to an enclosed area with a smooth concrete floor.

To Laurel’s surprise, Maccoy was there and had already gathered all the medicine and tools necessary to treat a troubled birth. It was on the tip of her tongue to tell the older man it wasn’t necessary for him to get out on a Sunday morning, especially when it was so cold and snowy. But she kept the comment to herself. Maccoy was a proud man and he wanted to feel as useful and needed as the next person, even if he was past his prime years. She only wished her own father could have been like Maccoy, ready and wanting to help. Instead, Nels had been too weak or uncaring—she’d never decided which—to offer any sort of care to his dying daughter.

Gathering up the tray of tools, she hurried over to where Russ was already kneeling over the bedded Angus cow. He immediately began to give her instructions, and she followed them by quickly filling two syringes with the correct dosage.

“Is the calf still alive?” she asked as she handed the medication to him.

Without delay, he administered the localized drug into the area where he’d be cutting. “It appears to be.”

“You think she’s been in labor for very long?” Something about seeing mother animals struggling to give birth always got to Laurel more than anything else she encountered in her job. She understood it was a part of nature and the cycle of life.

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