Ridixin (Part 2)
#10 of Old stuff/To fix/etc.
As I jump into the van , my assistant and start racing down the highway to get to a wolf that was hit by a car traveling at extremely high speeds, but that seems to still be alive. We race down the highway at ninety miles per hour, and then, after five minutes, we're there. I jump out of the van, show the police my ID, ordained by a velvet badge showing my position as chief veterinarian at Gladania Animal Hospital, and see a peculiar sight. A bright blue wolf with white markings, but with most of its coat stained dark red with blood. Following procedure, we move it onto a stretcher, and into the heavily modified van. Inside the van, I hook the animal up to a heart rate monitor, and its heart seems to be beating pretty normally, taking into account the factor that it almost just got run over. I run a quick visual diagnosis, and it seems to be in a comatose state, with numerous broken bones. "Step on it," I shout to my assistant, who decided now would be a good idea to hook up his iPod.
When we arrive at the high-tech hospital, I steer the wolf to an empty room. My medical assistant, Shawn, runs towards me, and starts getting the x-ray ready. As it boots up, I look over the lupine's blood-stained body once more. Sighing, I ponder how my gag reflex, along with the feeling of disgust, virtually disappeared after I took this job. My assistant brings me back to reality as I'm informed the x-ray is ready. After we count, it seems that seventy-eight bones are broken, and another thirty-two are fractured. But that's better than expected, as it should've been dead upon impact. I check its heartbeat, and am shocked to see that it's medically normal. Such a drastic increase in only thirty minutes. "You might want to check this out, Shawn." He walk over, and see nothing obvious in the new x-ray. "What's wrong?" "Check out the heart rate readings." I say, motioning him to the small CRT screen at the corner of the machine. After inspecting them, he says, "Such is the miracle of nature." I look back at the wolf, confused. Pretty tough cookie. "Let's get it washed up."
We put the wolf in a harness, and lower it into the soapy water of the bathtub. We each grab a sponge, and start rubbing the wolf clean. "Favorite part of the job, because it doesn't involve surgery." says Shawn. "I don't know," I reply, not really listening. I look at the wolf again, and realize it looks kind of cute, having almost a cartoonish quality to it. Trying to add some humor to the situation, I say, "Hun, those colors can't be natural." to the wolf, who's unaware of this little retort. Shawn just looks over at me, then back to his work. "Could be a stray, abandoned by its owners." "Yeah, could be." I say, focusing back on my work. It could have been a trick of the light, but I thought I saw its legs twitch for a second. After we finish washing and drying the wolf, we put it in a large cage with a bed, done with medical tests for the day. We hook up an IV to it, and close the door.