You're a little late...

New Plan

By Thursday night, we had Angel walking. We wanted to make sure she could get around with her cast and that her stitches didn't come open. She was doing fine, just a little limp. Ready to go home as soon as Alex picks her up today.

There's no telling what time he'll be by to pick her up. He could have work till who knows when. My plan is to stay busy and avoid any future embarrassment. If I can just stay out of sight, he'll come and go with Angel and I won't even know.

But of course, it blows up in my face. The only pets coming in so far are the ones scheduled to be here. I guess I'll find some busy work. I sanitize our instruments and restock the supplies in each of the examination rooms. I even power wash the kennels. I'm starting to sweep the recovery room when Dr. Jennings walks in.

"Nikki, since we are having a pretty calm day today, I'm headed out for lunch with my husband. Dr. Palmer will still be here if anything comes up. I'll be back in about an hour." She says taking off her lab coat and draping it over her arm.

"Oh. It's lunch time already? No problem. You're only a phone call away if anything happens. I doubt it will, but just in case." I continue sweeping. I bet I could mop too, before anyone needs me.

"Thanks. I'll see you later. And thanks for the clean up today." She turns on her heel and walks out.

Twenty minutes later, I'm putting up the mop bucket when Tasha finds me at the supply closet. "Hey, girl. Would you mind covering for me while I grab some lunch? I'll be back in like thirty minutes tops. Promise."

"Oh, yeah. Sure, go ahead. You've done it for me a few times and I'm just trying to stay busy anyway."

"Thanks!" Tasha squeals and wraps me in a hug.

Tasha is a good Vet assistant, but she can be a bit disorganized. Her desk shall be my next task. I plug my headphones into my phone and listen to some Florence + the Machine. Since we try to schedule patients away from lunch, we only have to worry about walk ins for the next hour and a half.

I take a seat and flip through her stacks of paper and alphabetize them. I slide them into their designated folders in the cabinets. I straighten up her pads and pins. I'm putting more paper into the fax and printer when someone taps me on the shoulder. I almost jump out of my skin.

I take out my headphones and turn around, "T, I swear to...oh." It's him. "Um, hi."

"Hey." He gives me that wonderful supermodel smile.

"Here for Angel?" I blush and turn to the computer.

"Yup. Nothing else bad happened, right?" He gives me a questioning look.

"Nope. Um, let me get the release papers all set up." I click around the computer and grab the copy from the printer.

Stay busy. Don't look up. He'll be gone in like ten minutes. Then you won't have to be all awkward and embarrassing for a good long while.

Once everything is signed and filed away, I stand up and head for the double doors. "Alrighty. Let's go get your girl."

We walk in silence as he trails behind me. When we turn the corner, he keeps stride with me. "So, do you like your job?" He asks.

"Yes. Very much." Short and simple. Please just leave it.

"What made you want to be a vet?"

"I'm not technically a vet. I'm just a vet technician." I reply softly.

"What's the difference?" He's eyeing me and I don't appreciate it. Knowing my luck I'll trip or something to look more stupid then he probably already thinks I am.

"Less school." I say dryly.

"What stopped you from being a full vet?"

I look up at him and he does look curious. I half expected him to look at me like I was a underachiever. "Because I don't want the pressure of the surgeries. Knowing that it could all count on me. I prefer being the vet version of a nurse. I get to help as much as I can without having to make the hard choices."

He's been silent for a bit when we reach the recovery kennel. It's starting to make me mad, actually. "You know, just because I don't have MD in my name or make a lot of money doesn't mean I'm not achieving in my life. I..."

He lifts his hands up in surrender, "Hey, mamacita! Chill out! I was just fixing to say that I can tell how much this job means to you. I see how much this is a part of you."

"Oh..sorry." I look away from him and tuck a few rebel hairs behind my ear. Embarrassing myself again. Great.

"It's okay. That little outburst just goes to show that I'm right about you." He says softly.

I know he wants me to make eye contact, but I don't. I also don't ask what the heck he meant by that. "Well, here we are. Recovery."

We make our way over to Angel's cage and let her out. She stretches and rubs her head on Alex's leg. He squats down next her, wraps her in his arms, and buries his face in her fur. I hear him saying something to her in Spanish, but I don't recognize any of it from the two Spanish classes I took years ago in high school.

He picks her up like a baby. His muscles strain from her weight and starts to walk to the door. "You know she can walk, right?"

Smiling at me when I hold the door open he says, "I know, but I figure she'll get enough of that at home. She deserves some special treatment."

I follow him out to the parking lot. It's mostly empty, but I still couldn't tell which vehicle was his. "Will you grab my keys out of my front pocket?" He asks out of breathe.

I blush like crazy and I move closer to him. He smells like freshly fallen rain and citrus. I ignore any feelings that manifest and complete the task quickly. I hit the unlock button and it turns out the black Dodge pick up is his. Once he has Angel all settled in, I hand him his keys. When his fingers graze my knuckles, I feel a bolt of electricity run through my arm.

He smiles at me. I look away and back up. "Sorry."

"You say that a lot, huh?"

"Um, I mean, I guess so." I swear I can hear my heartbeat thumping in my ears.

He laughs, "Okay, well I better get going. I have to drop her off before heading back to work. Is there a number I can call in case of emergencies? For Ángel, I mean."

"Oh, yeah. Here ya go." I hand him the pet hospital's card. "Call anytime and we will get back to you."

He smiles gratefully at me and puts the card in his wallet. "Take care." Is all I say before I turn to walk away.

"Hey, Britni," he calls out, "thank you for everything."

I freeze and my stomach flips. Britni. Why did I have to tell him my first name? I finally head back to the hospital when I hear him get in his truck.