There was a Crooked Dog and, He Wobbled a Crooked Mile

by **Ablation** on April 21st, 2014, 3:52 am

“I’m… sorry.” The pathetically sad tone of Spirits voice broke Lusinas heart. Rushing to her side to place a comforting arm around her Lusina made soft shooshing noises, not unlike the ones she used on scared colts.
"It's not your fault my dear...I obviously didn't teach you well enough and surgery is only for very advanced doctors. It isn't likely he would have survived anyway..." Lusina frowned softly at herself, was she trying to convince herself or Spirit?

“What… do we do now?” Lusina ran her fingers soothingly through the girls hair. "His body gets returned to his owner..." The woman explained gently guiding the girl from the room so the helpers could begin mopping up the copious blood. "Come...we should go and talk to him." She hated to put the girl through anymore but it would be her duty as a veterinarian. It was the reason she had brought her here. As valuable as the experience of surgery was learning to lose a patient was the hardest lesson one had to learn.

As they moved into the common room the grizzled man already sat in the corner, his dog wrapped up in blankets. As Spirit and Lusina moved forward to speak with him he looked up at them sobbing quietly. "W-what happened?" Lusina gulped and looked to Spirit. This was her chance. Her chance to prove if she was still a child or a woman. Lusina had no doubt the girl could handle animals but whether she could handle people....that was the true mettle of a veterinarian in Avanthal, especially when so many of the animals they treated died.

by **Spirit Frostfawn** on April 29th, 2014, 6:03 pm

Spirit felt a little better after Lusina's comforting words, and she gave a weak smile. Still, it was... sad. She hadn't lost a patient, but she'd never really had many true patients. Most hadn't been anywhere near death, so there had never been the possibility. But now... she sighed to herself. She wanted to hug the dog's body, apologize for messing up, but... no.

Lusina tried to pull them forward, answering her question, and leading her out of the room covered in blood to a fresher, cleaner place. They arrived in another place, where the dog already was, and -seemlingly- the owner. He looked just as sad as she felt, even more, and all that made her feel... just worse.

It seemed the job of explanation was given to her, maybe as another test. Spirit didn't want to, she didn't want to talk about something so... sad... but there was apparently no choice. She rubbed her face with her hands, trying to bring up a better expression than the slightly shocked one she already wore. It didn't seem to come, so she gave up and took a few steps forward.

"Um... he... woke up in the middle of the operation, and..." Should she blame herself? Maybe not, at least to this man. "And he noticed the pain, and turned a little violent, and... we had to put him down." She paused, then added almost at a whisper, "I'm sorry."

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by **Ablation** on May 8th, 2014, 8:12 pm

She looked about as distraught as the man Lusina thought with some satisfaction through her own sadness. The man stared at Spirit sorrowfully, "How could he wake up? You didn't medicate him properly?" Though the mans words cut Lusina, who felt the death was her own fault, it was said out of grief not vehemence, a common reaction a veterinarian must learn to deal with.

"...He was in pain when he died? He was such a sweet dog, he'd ne-..." The mans shoulders caved forward overwhelmed and rested his head in his hands. "Will I get his body back?" He queried anxiously, eyes wet with tears.

by **Spirit Frostfawn** on May 12th, 2014, 8:46 pm

The man's reaction was making Spirit feel even worse. Did it make people feel better if she looked like she shared his pain -which she did- or if she looked like she was... over it? That kind of calm accepting thing. Or maybe both? Was that even possible? Maybe... she wasn't so sure. At the moment, however, she'd try and stick to natural things as much as possible. Show how she felt, nothing more, nothing less.

She sighed at the accusation, glancing down at the floor awkwardly. "Yes. I... made a mistake." She paused for a moment, then repeated herself from earlier. "I'm sorry." She hoped the man wouldn't hate her for this. Was it her fault? Maybe. Even after Lusina talking... she wasn't so sure. Maybe it was just a pile of bad luck that ended with a sad event. You couldn't blame anybody for one little thing they did wrong, as it was the culmination of all those mistakes that caused the problem.

She let him talk to himself a little, not interrupting until directly addressed. "I'm pretty sure," she said uncertainly... though she had no idea. But why wouldn't he get the body back? "Yes," she repeated, voice much firmer and certain. "Yes, I don't see why not. He was your dog after all... he deserves to have his owner take care of him." She smiled, feeling a bit better after that one certainty. She may not have been entirely sure, but just speaking like that... the effect was surprising.

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by **Ablation** on May 13th, 2014, 5:46 pm

Lusina raised a hand to clasp Spirits shoulder. It was a lot to demand of one so young but she has spoken honestly and with compassion. Duly impressed, her grief dampened by her pride in Spirit, Lusina gently took a seat next to the man and laid a hand gently on his arm.

"We can meet you at the cemetery with your puppy right away to have him buried. Spirit will pickup a marking stone from the entrance until you have a headstone commissioned. Is that alright?" Though she spoke kindly and with compassion it sounded as long practiced as it actually was and the man did not respond as softly to Lusina as Spirit.

"Yes. I suppose that's fine." He replied gruffly shaking her hand off his arm, "though if you made the mistake, you should really be paying the headstone fee..." He grumbled, pain giving way to anger as she shuffled out the door.

Sighing deeply Lusina turned to Spirit, "It's been a long day...why don't you go home and relax..." Rising heavily, as if her body had turned to stone Lusina turned to move back into the whitevine center where the doctor waited to admonish her some more. "You did good today dear. You make a fine veterinarian." a tiny slip of a tense, and her promotion was established.

"Before you go, I have something to give you." Lusina added abruptly and nodded at the front door for Spirit to follow her. Several chimes later they entered her office in the stables and she placed a small thick book in the young womans' hand. It was shabbily built, and one could see where pages had been added as it was filled.

"It was my mentors. It's a journal, a medical journal. Of all the things she saw during her lifetime..." Lusina whispered. It was difficult for her to give it up but if anyone deserved it, Spirit did.

OOCCongrats Spirit! Although I suppose you have moved onto new business plans now ;p But yay!

c

by **Ablation** on May 20th, 2014, 2:20 am

Spirit :

Please don't be afraid to PM me with any questions ^-^ and please don't forget to remove your grading request from the list to keep My office spick and span.

Closed There was a Crooked Dog and, He Wobbled a Crooked Mile