Chapter Text
Anne Lister was running late but it was no fault of her own. She had just finished a lengthy meeting with her editor. It was the sort of meeting that ruffled Anne’s collar – she hated having to dissect her own words. She was an extremely avid writer though, which proved time and again to be problematic when dealing with editors. Her latest editor, Eliza Priestly, was a good decade and a half or so older than Anne, who was thirty-three years old. It wasn’t Anne’s choice that they started working together, but rather a demand from her previous editor who was irritated by Anne’s stubbornness and inability to take criticism.
The meeting with Eliza crept well past 6pm, when she was expected to be heading south for a posh dinner party at a friend’s estate in a neighborhood just outside city limits.
Anne checked her watch and with a huff, stood from her chair. “Eliza, I’m already late for this thing I was going to. Can we continue this tomorrow or some other time? Please?”
Eliza shrugged her shoulders. “Up to you Anne. I’m not going to rush the process – however long it takes to publish is mostly on you at this point. Go if you need to go,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand.
***
Anne hurried down to the parking garage and shuffled herself into her slate grey Jaguar, revving the engine twice before reversing out and squealing her tires in the process. She mostly knew the route to Tib’s house by now but by the time she was beyond city limits and the roads narrowed, she pulled her phone and attempted to set up the GPS for navigation. She didn’t mind the idea of potentially getting lost on any other occasion, but she had promised Tib AGES ago that she’d attend this party tonight and Anne didn’t want to disappoint her.
Driving rather precariously with only one hand on the wheel, she sped through narrow lanes while inputting buttons for Tib’s address. After finally getting her route synced, she thought she’d better let Tib know that she’d be late and not wait for food on her account. Just as she was pressing the “Call” button on her steering wheel, some light mass of wet and dirty fur darted in front of her from around a blind alley corner.
She slammed her feet down onto the brakes, sending her anti-lock brakes into stuttering. It was hard to tell from the car’s braking if she hit anything. It all happened so fast and it took her a second to process what had happened. Then as if struck by lightning, she went into recovery mode. She put her hazard lights on and turned the engine off. She walked to the front of her car, where she was hoping not to see the worst. Next to the driver side tire was a dog, some sort of retriever mix from Anne’s estimation. The dog was panting heavily, and Anne could immediately see that the dog’s back left leg was bloodied and scraped. Based on how the dog was holding it, Anne surmised it was more than likely broken badly.
She kneeled close to the dog and gently rubbed its head. “There, there, buddy. I am going to get you help right this second, don’t worry. I’ve got you,” she whispered near its head as she pulled out her phone and immediately searched for the nearest 24-hour veterinary service. As it turns out, there was one only a few miles from where she was. She marked the location for GPS purposes and then put the phone back into the holster on her dash. She rid herself of her suit jacket and tossed it onto the passenger seat as a cover. She retrieved a blanket she kept in the boot for emergencies and went about securing the dog as best as she could for transport.
Unsurprisingly, the dog was not keen on being moved and was probably in an extreme amount of pain but accepted its fate as Anne loaded it onto her jacket in the passenger seat. She did her best to secure it with a seatbelt and set about steadying herself for what was about to be an excruciatingly long drive to the veterinary practice.
***
After eight painfully long minutes of delicate driving and slow turns, Anne saw the lights of the hospital and pulled into the emergency lane. She patted the dog gently on the head and whispered, “I’m going to get you help now, okay? Don’t worry. Everything will be fine.”
She dashed into the reception area and flagged down the first person in scrubs. “You, hey, can you help me please? I just hit this dog with my car and I think it’s in a lot of pain. I think its leg is broken.”
A young woman in scrubs turned around as Anne started speaking. She immediately strode over to Anne and said “show me”, while donning a fresh pair of gloves.
Anne led her to the car. The young woman took a look at the dog, delicately poking its leg to sense the severity of the injury. “Can you go back inside and flag down a man named James? Tell the receptionist that Dr Walker needs him with the go-bag out front right now. You got that?”
Anne did as instructed and ran inside, repeating as best she could what the doctor had just said. When she returned to the car, Anne was undeniably in a state of shock. The severity of what transpired hit her like a freight train and she broke down into hot tears. Dr Walker refocused her attention on the human patient. “Hey, are you alright?”
“I didn’t mean to – it just came running out of nowhere and I couldn’t stop in time,” Anne panted.
Dr Walker grabbed Anne’s hands with her clean gloved hand. “I know. It’s not your fault. You’re making a difference just being here with him right now. Most people would just hit and run, as awful as it is. Don’t worry about him. James and I will take excellent care of this guy.”
Anne offered a half-smile in response. “Thank you Dr Walker, was it?”
“Yeah, Ann Walker, RCVS, at your service,” Ann said with a smile.
“I’m Anne Lister, with no letters behind my name. At least no official ones,” Anne said as the tears subsided.
Then, a burly young man who Anne assumed could only be James, was right beside Dr Walker as she tended to the dog. James wheeled out a small gurney, with a bag loaded full of supplies on top.
“James, thank you. We need to get this guy stabilized enough for an X-ray so we can see what we’re working with. I need to stabilize the pelvis while you lift him onto the gurney, right? On my count, 1-2-3!” They worked in unison as James lifted the dog up, Dr Walker kept the dog steady and stable.
Anne shuffled her feet from a few steps away. Her nerves started to calm as she watched Dr Walker and James help the dog. James led the gurney inside as gently as he could. Medicine always fascinated Anne but she found the restraints of medical school too much to handle and opted not to pursue it officially.
“Is there anything I can do to help?” Anne asked.
Dr Walker looked back at her. “You’ve done everything you can and now it’s time for us to do everything we can, yeah? We’re going to get him scanned and X-rayed and doped up on the best drugs a dog could need. I love dogs. I mean, I love all animals really, but I do have a fondness for dogs. I think it’s the unwavering loyalty.”
Anne smiled. “They are wonderful, aren’t they?”
“So, Anne Lister, will you be sticking around or did you need to go? I can keep you updated on his condition if you’d like. I just assumed that since you went to the trouble of bringing him here you’d be invested in his outcome,” Ann said before realizing that perhaps Anne wanted nothing to do with this situation any more. She’d seen it before with other hit-and-run patients. Person brings dog in, person sees how expensive it is to fix dog, person abandons dog at the hospital. She hoped Anne Lister wasn’t that kind of person.
“I was actually on my way to a thing – a dinner party, but then I hit the dog. And I daresay I’m more than invested in his outcome. Spare no expense for his recovery please. I will pay for any and all treatments necessary,” Anne blurted emphatically. “I didn’t see a collar on first glance but he could be chipped, right?”
Dr Walker rid herself of the gloves and shoved them into a pocket. She reached out her hand, offering it to Anne. “Let’s go find out, shall we?”
***
Anne sat with a fresh cup of tea in Dr Walker’s office as she pored over the x-rays of the dog’s abdomen and legs. Anne noticed Dr Walker’s slender fingers tracing what she assumed was a severe fracture of the dog’s leg. After some moments, Anne stood next to Dr Walker.
“How bad is it?” Anne asked in a hushed voice.
“He’s bloody lucky. Another centimeter in either direction at this main fracture point here,” her finger tapped at what looked like an epicenter of brokenness, “and it could have far more threatening consequences. As it stands, I think this boy will be right as rain after surgery to fix his leg and then some quality physical therapy.”
Anne smiled widely. “And what about a chip? Did you already do that scan too?”
Dr Walker nodded. “Yes, we scanned him but didn’t find anything. I’ll wait to take a better look at his teeth and gauge his overall age and nutritional status, in other words is he someone’s dog or just a stray, until I get him on the table. But I promise, I will take very good care of him.” She patted Anne’s shoulder.
“Thank you Dr Walker,” Anne started and paused for a second. “Could I watch the surgery?”
“Sorry?”
“I’ve always had a love of medicine and I can appreciate a skilled surgeon performing a delicate surgery like I can appreciate a piece of art or a delicious meal or an opera. In other words, I’ve got a curiosity and I know it’s uncommon but I would really consider it a huge nightcap to an otherwise shit day,” Anne blurts excitedly, animating her hands as she spoke.
“Well, as long as you promise not to vomit in my operating room, I think it can be arranged. Since you’re so invested in him and you have an unusual love of medicine,” Dr Walker laughed. “We’ll need to get prepped and sterilized for surgery but I need to plan it out first. I’ll need probably enough time for you to go home and come back first thing tomorrow morning if you’re serious.”
“What about you? Don’t you need sleep also?” Anne asked, genuinely concerned for her clarity for the sake of the dog.
“We’re 24-hour for a reason,” Dr Walker teased, “we have different shifts. Dr Norrington comes in at 5am to assist with surgeries that I’ve got scheduled. Then assuming any and all surgeries are successful, they let me leave at 11am to go home and come back fresh at 7pm. But we’re partnered with other practices who don’t offer 24-hour service and their doctors will work cycles here. It’s a complicated schedule but I’ve gotten used to it.”
“Sounds intriguing,” Anne admits. “And thrilling to a degree.”
Dr Walker nods. “So, just in case anything should happen tonight – which it won’t – I think I should get a contact number for you.” She offered Anne a small sticky pad and a pen, which Anne used to scribble down her phone number.
“Please do call if something changes with him. Like you said,” Anne winked, “I’m invested now.”
“Alright then, go home and get some sleep. Even if you think you’re not squeamish, you very well might get that way tomorrow during surgery. It happens to a lot of newbies. Just plan your breakfast accordingly,” Dr Walker laughs innocently.