Chapter Twenty Four

Pressing a handful of blanket against the worst wound, Jon didn’t know what to do.

“Jesus.” He muttered again, then raised his voice to a slightly panicked yell. “Billie!”

There was no response, and Jon laid a hand on Deke’s head, the dog looking at him helplessly.

“Billie!” Jon yelled at the top of his lungs this time. “Billie, I need you out here, darlin’!”

This time he heard a muffled voice, then the thud of feet hitting the floor before her door opened.

“Jon?” Billie called as she came along the hallway. “What’s……oh, God! Deke!”

Even the state he was in, Deke tilted his head to Billie, thumping his tail just once in greeting.

“I think he’s been in a fight.” Jon said, slightly stating the obvious, still holding pressure on the worst part.

“No dogs around here would take him on.” Billie said, lifting the edge of the blanket to peer underneath. “Fucking coyote. Must’ve been.”

“I don’t know what to do.” Jon looked at her helplessly. “I’m just keeping pressure on this to try to stop the bleeding.”

Billie looked at him - kneeling naked on the floor, blood on his hands and daubing his bare thighs.

“Keep the pressure on.” She asked, getting to her feet. “I’m going to throw some clothes on and take him down to the vet.”

“It’s the middle of the night, Billie.” He protested. “They won’t be open.”

“They will when I get there.” Billie said firmly. “Mike’s a friend of mine - he lives at the animal hospital. He’ll open up for me.”

Billie ran down the hallway, yanking on jeans and a sweatshirt then going back to where Jon still knelt with Deke. He had one hand on the dog’s head, stroking gently, whispering to him, but he looked up when Billie appeared.

“Hold the blanket on him.” Jon said. “I’ll get dressed.”

“You don’t need to come.”

“Yes, I do. You can’t drive and keep pressure on him.” He looked at her sadly. “Anyway, I want to come.”

So they switched positions, Billie kneeling by her dog as Jon pulled on jeans, boots and shirt, then between them they got Deke wrapped in the bloodied blanket and Jon carried him carefully from the house.

The Harley was tucked into the garage beside the pickup, so it took a little bit of shimmying on Jon’s part to get into the front seat with Deke in his arms, but he managed, and Billie ran around the hood to the driver’s side.

“C’mon baby.” She muttered, turning the key that was already in the ignition, breathing a sigh of relief when the starter fired at the first touch.

Every bump in the gravel road drew a whimper from Deke, and Jon saw Billie wince in sympathy with his pain. He gentled the dog as best he could, stroking the dirty head as he kept as much pressure on the wounds as he could. Even so, he wasn’t sure it was enough - the dog’s eyes were dimming with the pain and blood loss, and Jon wasn’t convinced he’d make it to the vet’s office.

Luckily, it wasn’t far, and once she hit the main road and the smooth asphalt, Billie put her foot to the boards, the pickup surprisingly fast, given it’s battered exterior. Minutes after turning onto the blacktop, she turned into a parking lot and stopped at the door of a one-storey building.

“Can you wait here with him?” She asked Jon, already opening her door. “I need to go wake Mike.”

“Hurry.” Jon said softly. “He’s bad, Billie.”

“I know.” She bit off the sob and slid from the pickup, running over to the house.

Jon watched her thumping a fist on the door, then after a few minutes a sleep-tousled man in a dressing gown appeared. Billie gave a fast explanation, and the guy nodded once, pointing to the darkened building next door and handing something to Billie. As he vanished back into the house, Billie ran to the pickup and opened the passenger door.

“Mike said to just bring him in - he’ll be over in a second.” She raised the key in her hand. “Can you bring him? I’ll open up.”

“Sure, Billie.” Jon slipped from the seat, trying not to jar Deke too badly, then he followed Billie into the animal hospital.

She led him to an operating room, then as she flicked on lights there was a voice behind them.

“You said a coyote got him?”

Jon turned, still holding Deke, and the guy gave him a swift glance as Billie answered.

“I think so. Not many dogs around who’d take Deke on, so I think it was a coyote. He’s lost a lot of blood, and…..”

Tears were welling in her eyes. Mike knew what Jon didn’t, that Deke had been the one other survivor of the car wreck that took Billie’s parents, barely more than a puppy and somehow completely uninjured.

“Put him on the table.” The guy said, and Jon carefully laid down his burden. “I’m Mike, by the way.” He said, looking at Jon again.

“God. Sorry.” Billie blurted. “Mike - this is Jon - he’s been staying with me for a few days. Jon - Mike - Michael - Hatfield.”

“Good to meet you.” Jon said softly.

“Likewise.” Mike nodded, then turned his attention back to Deke. “How we doin’, buddy?”

Quickly, efficiently, he shot Deke up with anesthetic, and with both Jon and Billie assisting he cleaned the deep wounds, keeping one eye always on Deke’s breathing and pulse. The wound that Jon had tried to hard to keep from bleeding restarted, but Mike quickly repaired the torn vein that was bleeding so badly, and then he looked at Billie reassuringly.

“He’ll be fine, Billie.” He told her. “He’s a bit of a mess, but I think your….friend……here may have saved his life by slowing the bleeding.”

“He’ll be okay?” Billie said softly. “You promise?”

“C’mon Billie.” It was Jon who spoke, laying his bloody hand over hers, squeezing lightly. “He’s a tough guy…..he’ll be fine.”

“He’ll be good as new.” Mike promised. “Just with a few interesting scars to show for it - and maybe a new respect for coyotes.”

“I doubt that.” Billie muttered, stroking Deke’s head.

Mike swiftly stitched the torn skin together, leaving Deke looking like a strange patchwork toy, with shaved patches and rows of stitches, then he injected painkillers and antibiotics before easing the oxygen mask away.

“He just needs to sleep it off now.” He said. “You’ll need to leave him here overnight, Billie. Come get him in the morning.”

“I can’t stay with him?”

“Billie………..you know there’s no place for you to stay here. Go home. Trust me - he’ll be fine - when you come back, he’ll be on his feet, wagging his tail at you. You can’t do anything for him.”

“Okay.” She whispered, stroking his head again.

She followed Mike to the back room where he laid Deke gently into a cage, then she let him take her away from the dog. Jon had waited in the treatment room, and Mike gave him a look from behind Billie.

“Maybe you should let Jon drive back.” Mike suggested, and Billie looked from one guy to the other and shrugged.

“Okay. What time can I come get Deke?”

“Leave it until lunchtime, Billie. I have surgery in the morning.” He looked at the clock. “Besides, it’s almost three in the morning - Carrie will be here in four hours to see to them all.”

Billie and Jon left, climbing into the pickup and Jon following Billie’s directions back to the ranch. When they got there, she looked at the drying blood on the floor, then made the mistake of looking at Jon, and at the compassion on his face her tears started to fall.

“Aw, Billie.” He reached to pull her into his arms, holding her tightly. “He’ll be okay, darlin’.”