The brochure had good directions, thankfully, and he got there just before five. He hoped it wasn't closed already. The main gate was open and there were several buildings that appeared deserted for the day or the season. There was a Jeep in the lot in front of one of the rear buildings. He figured it was probably that of a grounds-keeper, but he hoped they'd be able to help him get a-hold of the vet.
He got out of his truck and walked up to the door. It was locked, but it was a glass door with an entry-way and another glass door on the inside, and he could see a young woman in the entry-way locking the inner door. -Shit! He had barely made it!- She had on a white lab coat that reminded him of Jean's, so he figured he maybe he got REAL lucky, and this was the vet. She didn't know he was there, so it wasn't difficult to take a real good look at heryou know, just check her out a little. She had a very nice figure, at least, from what he could tell, and her hair was beautiful. It reminded him a little of Storm's but only because of the color. It was mostly brown with white and blonde shades all mixed in together. It was thick and mildly curly. She turned and let out a little squeal when she saw him standing so close, just outside the next door.
He mouthed 'Sorry' and she exhaled deeply, smiled and reached to unlock the outer door.
"You scared the me to death!" she said. "We don't get many people out here in the off-season. I wasn't expecting anyone. What can I do for you?" She eyed him warily. He could tell she didn't like the idea of being out here with him all alone. He wasn't exactly your normal, every-day, run-of-the-mill guy, either.
She was more beautiful from the front than she was from the back, and Logan was a little taken a-back . He thought she was probably in her late twenties, maybe thirty. She had a full, perfect red mouth and the most interesting and beautiful eyes he had ever seen. They had long dark lashes, like his, but they were slightly tilted at the corners and very light in color, not quite blue or yellow, but a strange mix of the two. He decided they were mostly yellow warm and inviting, if not a little nervous. Between her hair and those eyes, there was something wild about her something extremely sexy.
She cleared her throat, seeing that he was "somewhere else" and asked again "Is there something I can do for you?" Her face reddened deeply with the unexpected attention she was getting. She was embarrassed and a little annoyed.
Logan shook the cobwebs out of his head quickly and stammered. "I have something I hope you can help me with." He opened his inner jacket slowly, and she leaned in to see what it was.
When she saw what it was, her eyes flew up to meet Logan'shad he thought those eyes were warm? -Shit!- He could feel the blast of ice clear to the back of his head! She fired right up on him, too, without even a chance for an explanation. " What the Hell are you doing with that?" she demanded fiercely.
This was the perfect ending to his shitty day, and he wasn't in the mood to let her get away with biting his head off. She was very close, and he lowered his head, curled his lip, and gave her one of his most menacing stares. A little growl came from deep within his throat, and he frowned furiously. It was a look that would make most women turn tail and run, but fire met ice, not 8 inches away, and she didn't back down for a secondnot even a blink. Their eyes locked in a contest of wills that lasted much longer than Logan expected it toDamn! She was tough! It would have cracked him up, had she not pissed him off so bad with her accusing tone.
Logan spoke through clenched teeth. " I found it this mornin'. I took it away from some kids who were what term do "you people" use? "abusin'" it?" " I drove ALL DAMN DAY to bring it here, to you."
The change that came over her was immediate. She practically had a melt-down. " Oh, my God, I am so sorry, I hope you will accept my apology!" She stammered. " I just assumedsince you had it, you I had no right toI am really sorry." She was so sincere that he couldn't help but believe that she meant it. He nodded his head, reluctantly, still frowning.
She reached her hands out and took a step forward to take the wolf, and Logan realized, for the first time, how protective he felt toward it. He instinctively took a step back, and his eyes flashed nervously. She looked up at him questioningly. This is interesting. He's driven all day, and now he's not going to let me see it ?- It took him a few seconds to make a decision, and she got a chance to get a good look at him. There was something about him she had sensed it, felt it, the minute she'd stepped out the door. It wasn't just the look of him, either although, the "look" was certainly enough on its' own!! He was gorgeous! He was very different from any man she had ever seen. Layered comfortable clothes, cowboy boots, nice tight jeans, VERY NICE body. .. and his eyes dark, flashypassionate. He practically OOZED sexuality! She swallowed hard. She realized she was blushing again, so she turned to unlock the inner door. She figured he must have decided to let her see the wolf, because she heard him follow her in. No she FELT him follow her in. Hmmm. -
She turned, slightly as she went through the doorway, " Do you have a name?"
" Logan" He waited awhile, then added "You?"
" I'm Dr. Ariana Jacobs, but you can call me Ari."
She walked ahead of him, shaking, but smiling to herself. She made her way to a room near the back that had several cages in it, with animals in them, and a big metal examining table. The smell of rubbing alcohol and medical supplies was in the air, and Logan sniffed nervously. This kind of environment still made him uncomfortable. She put her things down on a counter and turned to face him. " I'd like to apologize, again, Logan. there are a lot of people out there who don't respect nature, and animalsespecially wolves the way I do, and I tend to get a little defensive ..okay a LOT defensive."
He smiled slightly. "It's not a problem. I understand."
"Thank you. May I have a look at him?" she asked, reaching out again.
Logan opened his jacket and reached in to get the pup. " I think he's real sick." Her eyes were immediately worried as he took it out and handed it to her. She got a blanket out of a drawer and laid it and the pup on the table. She lifted up its' lips to look at its' gums and sniffed its' breath and wrinkled her nose. She listened to its' lungs and heart with a stethoscope, and then started preparing bottles of IV fluids, medications and syringes. She was all business, and he could tell she was very good at what she did.
" How often has he been vomiting?"
He looked up questioningly, "How did"
"I can smell it."
He nodded. "About once an hour. .. and he's havin' diarrhea too.. 'it looks like blood, and smells real bad, too." He started removing his jacket, and realizing just how bad it DID smell. He made a face. "Now I smell like shit, too."
She smiled, raised an eyebrow, and nodded in agreement. "It was really good of you to want to help him out. Most people wouldn't have done as much as you've done." Logan tipped his head to acknowledge her compliment. "I'm going to need your help for a minute. You're not squeamish, are you?"
Logan's lips curled up in a cynical smile and his eyes lit up. "Not 'gonna be a problem, Doc."
"Good. I need to get an IV line going and his blood pressure is pretty low I'll show you how to hold off a vein for me." Ari came around to his side of the table and held up the pup's front leg. "Feel his elbow back here?" Logan took it in his hand and nodded. She was very close, and UNLIKE him, SHE smelled very good. He bent his head a little closer to her neck and breathed in her scent. Mmmm - She put her hand over his and put a little pressure on the back of the pup's elbow, causing the pup's leg to straighten. "See how you can push back here and the leg will stick out straight for me?" He shook his head again, looking her in the eyes. He raised an eyebrow. She swallowed and licked her lips, realizing for the first time, how close they were and that her hand was on his. " Now, if you slide the skin on the leg to the side a little, like this and then push the elbow in, like this, and hold it still it'll make my job a lot easier. Got that?" She looked up at him, nervously, and he smiled and winked. "Yes Ma'am."
Suddenly, the room seemed very hot, and she stuck out her bottom lip and blew a curl away from her eyes as she walked back around to her side of the table. She shrugged it off, took out some clippers and shaved a small bare spot on the front of the pups' leg. She prepared some white tape, cutting it and putting two pieces together with one long, sticky edge left hanging.
Logan watched, fascinated. She reminded him of Jean, so sure of herself, and so beautiful. " I'm going to put in an IV Cath, so we won't have to stick him more than once. Like I said, his blood pressure is really low, and I don't want to have to do a cut-down if I can help it , so we're 'gonna have one shot at this, okay?" She looked up at him and he exhaled and nodded. He used his thumb to pull the skin over slightly and then put pressure on the back of the elbow, causing the leg to protrude nicely for her. " Like this?" He thought of a myriad of one-liners, but now was not the time for a distraction, so he focused on the pup. She grasped the pup's foot in her hand and gave it a few squeezes. " Exactly. You learn fast."
" What you're doing, Logan, is allowing the blood to build up, as much as it can in his condition, so the vein is easier to find but like I thought, this isn't going to be easy." She frowned, gave the leg a few more squeezes, then tapped the bare spot lightly. She picked up the catheter, licked her lips, exhaled and slowly slid the needle under the skin. The pup cried out and flinched "Shit!" Logan held the leg just tight enough to keep it still. She glanced up quickly "Got it Thanks!""Now, you can take the pressure off the vein, but keep holding the leg still 'til I say, Okay?" She slid the needle out of the catheter and reached down and got the tape that she had prepared. She carefully slid it under the catheter and then over and wrapped it around the pup's leg several times, until it was all firmly in place. "Whew!, We got it. Thanks, you did great! .. This will work for all of his IV's and injections for as many days as we may need to give them." She looked up at him. "I couldn't have done that alone."
Logan smiled, relieved. "I didn't know what the Hell a "cut-down" was, but I was sure I didn't want you to have to do it to him!"
Ari smiled for a second, but then her face became very serious. "Logan, I could do some blood-work if you want me to, but I'm certain of the diagnosis. He has canine parvovirus. It's a highly contagious canine disease that affects mostly domestic dogs. It's advanced enough to be obvious." She started connecting the IV lines to the bottle of fluid and hung the bottle on a hook on the wall. He could feel her sadness and frustration coming across to him. "I'm not going to lie to you he probably isn't going to make it. He's too young, and his mother's antibodies should have been protecting him, but there's no way of knowing how long they've been separated. Most of the dogs that get this have a good chance, if you get to them soon enough, but I think this little guy is just too far gone. You did the right thing in bringing him here, it's his best chance. I'll treat him, as best I can, Okay?"
Logan was looking down at the wolf, frowning. She could feel his pain and anger from across the table. He didn't look up, but he nodded.
" He will be considered a patient of the preserve hospital a wild animal rescue it won't cost you anything but if you like.. you could stay, to see how he does."
He nodded. "I would, if that's okay with you. I don't want to leave him without knowin' if he makes it or not I know that sounds stupid." He looked up, and their eyes met.
"I'd feel exactly the same way." She smiled. Her eyes held a mix of compassion, understanding and great respect, and it was comforting to him. They looked into each other's eyes until she became uncomfortable and looked away. " It might be a while before we know ."She was breathing fast, and her heart was pounding loudly. Logan didn't miss her eyes darting down to his left hand, looking for a sign that he "belonged" to someone. Of course, he knew she was looking for a ring, because he'd already checked her for one. She looked up, her face reddening deeply when she saw that he had noticed her looking " is there anyone you need to call?you know, to let them know where you are how late you'll be?"
"No but thanks for thinkin' of 'em." He said, teasingly. He smiled, and raised an eyebrow, eyes dancing at her embarrassment.
She looked away quickly, to avoid any further blushing. She licked her lips, nervously. Logan noticed that she was doing that a lot and he was enjoying it. You know, if someone has to have a nervous habit, that's not a bad one to have. - He decided to go on making her nervous just to get more chances to watch her lick those beautiful lips. Later, he thought, he might even lick em' for her.
All references to characters belonging to the X-Men Universe are (c) and TM the Marvel Comics Group, 20th Century Fox and all related entities. All rights reserved. Any reproduction, duplication or distribution of these materials in any form is expressly prohibited. No money is being made from this archive. All images are also (c) and TM the Marvel Comics Group, 20th Century Fox and all related entities; they are not mine. This website, its operators and any content used on this site relating to the X-Men are not authorized by Marvel, Fox, etc. I am not, nor do I claim to be affiliated with any of these entities in any way.