Chapter Text
Tobin’s managed to keep herself closed off from her coworkers, not wanting to face the questions she’s sure to receive. There’s not really much time to converse about her personal life; she’s the only doctor there. There are three techs and a few assistants working for her, all women. They seem to get along well; she hears them occasionally make plans for happy hour or a beer after their shift ends. They’ve invited her several times, and she’s gone once or twice, not wanting to alienate herself from her staff. She doesn’t really feel like she fits in though. Tobin’s almost 30 now. Since she owns the small veterinary practice, she knows there’s no chance of anyone firing her, but it’s still not really a conversation she wants to have. With anyone. “Good morning ladies, we’ve got a busy day ahead of us, and oh by the way, I’m gay. Now how’s the parvo pup doing?” No thanks.
She’s a sucker for the underdog so to speak, the ones that are struggling against their environments to break free: the sickly ones, the abandoned ones, the ones the world seems to cast aside. She’s sure there’s some deeper meaning in that, something about her upbringing or her self esteem or some psych crap along those lines. She really should’ve paid more attention in that gen ed class she had to take in undergrad, but that was ten years ago. She shrugs and shakes her head like that will clear the idea from her head. Intent on getting these charts entered before she goes home, she quickly focuses her attention on the laptop in her office.
Long after her employees have headed home for the evening, Tobin grabs her backpack she carries to the office, tosses in her half-eaten lunch (a man had rushed into the lobby with a small child and a dog that had been hit by a car, not leaving time or an appetite for her to finish her lunch), a few charts she still had to complete, and her stethoscope, and locks the door. Once outside, she pulls the hood of her jacket tight around her cheeks. The weather was usually warmer this time of the year, but the sun had set long ago and the wind was picking up.
Starting her car, Tobin cups her hands around her mouth and blows, trying to generate some heat, along with feeling in her fingertips. She slowly backed out of her parking space, and began the short drive home.
She had no pets at home since she spent most of her time at the office, plus with different infections and viruses she came in contact with much too often, she opted for safety over company. There was no need to expose her pets to what she had dealt with at work. Today had been particularly sad. Ever since the new pet store opened up in town, she had seen three new cases of parvovirus in puppies purchased from the store. It saddened her to hear them whimper and cry in pain and fear when they had to be left in isolation since the virus was so contagious. She had to wear gloves and booties over her shoes every time she entered the room, checking the IV pump and untwisting cords and wires, changing puppy pads and water dishes. Not that the puppies had felt up to drinking any of the water, but it was there just in case. One of the past three puppies had died from the illness and the puppy from today wasn’t looking well when she left. His fever had gotten higher, he was more lethargic, and the smell was unbearable. Parvo puppies have a certain odor, and as soon as she had opened the door to the exam room, she knew what she was dealing with.
It’s difficult to devote so much time to the office and the animals she helps, but she’s wanted to be a vet since she was a little girl. It’d be much easier to have someone to share the hard times with, and the happy times too, but Tobin tries not to dwell on that thought. It’s not like she has the time, or energy, to go out on dates or anything. It’ll happen when it happens, she thinks.
She dated a woman in her final year of vet school, but both were so overwhelmed with responsibility and studying for state boards that the relationship fizzled after a few months. Neither had the time to focus on dating, and they had only ended up together out of convenience. Late night study groups and mock interviews gave Tobin more time with Elizabeth, but it was never meant to be.
Tobin had kept in touch with a few members of her class, but they were spread through different time zones now, working where they could find availability in their chosen specialities. She had moved to this small city outside Hoboken, New Jersey to start her practice and be a couple of hours drive from her family. She was able to visit when she wanted to, but they couldn’t walk to, or swing by, her small house.
Tobin had been single for so long, she tried to avoid time alone with her thoughts. She stays busy as long as she can everyday so she doesn’t have time to pay attention to her stream of consciousness. Those moments she’s in bed, the few before she shuts out the world and falls asleep, she imagines her life being a little different, a little fuller: being able to come home to her wife, making dinner together, going for a walk through the old brick streets of downtown. Sometimes it feels like the world is going to cave in on her, like she’s suffocating. She feels almost desperate; she was sick of going to bed alone, of waking up alone. She’s longed for the touch of another person for months and it’s finally going to eat her alive. She can feel herself dying little by little. She’s able to calm herself down enough to fall into a restless sleep.
The next morning, Tobin pulls into the office parking lot, noting there’s already a small sedan parked in the patient lot. That’s never a good sign, she thinks. She grabs her backpack and hurries in the door, noticing the tech who was scheduled to work this morning was already there.
“Hi Amanda, what’s going on?” Tobin asks. The tech glances up from the cabinet she was plundering through, when Tobin hears a deep woof.
“Uh, well, I got here about 20 minutes ago and this woman and her dog were pacing in front of the doors. The dog looked okay but I wasn’t sure and I didn’t want them waiting out there, so I checked on her, and…” Amanda can’t finish the story for laughing and the barking coming from the exam room.
“Oh. Um, okay. Is the dog okay? You said he wasn’t bleeding, but is he actually alright?” Tobin asks, trying to get Amanda to focus.
“Kind of. This woman just moved to the area and lives in an apartment with her Great Dane. She had tried to take him for a walk but he decided to just lie down in the grass and roll on his back instead,” Amanda explained. “One of the neighbor kids had been riding his bicycle and accidentally rolled over Martin’s tail. Martin yelped and turned into a big baby, but he seems okay and there’s no sensitivity when I palpated his tail.”
“Wow, that’s quite the welcome to the neighborhood, I guess!” Tobin chuckled, thinking of this dog, at least 150 pounds, yelping and prancing around because of a tail injury.
“Well, that’s not all,” Amanda continued. “Apparently with the commotion Martin caused, a little Chihuahua came out of nowhere and bit his leg!” Amanda was almost doubled over in a fit of laughter at this point.
“Okay, well let me get in there and see how Martin is doing. It sounds like he should be fine, but go ahead and turn on the x-ray machine in case the owner wants to have scans done. Also, check on the parvo pup in isolation, please,” Tobin instructed.
Tobin grabbed a pen and a blank sheet of paper from the printer on her way into the room. There was no chart already made for this patient since Amanda had explained that the woman had just recently moved to the area.
As she peered inside the small viewing window, she saw Martin was clear of the door. The woman was cute, but looked frazzled. She was tall and lanky, but muscular. Her hair was pulled tight into a bun, she was wearing black tights and a sweater. No flirting or fumbling like an idiot, Tobin thought to herself. She slowly opened the door as to not frighten the dog or the woman.
The woman raised her head quickly while tightening her grip on Martin’s leash. He let out a little whimper and stood, moving closer to the woman sitting on the bench.
“Hi Martin!” Tobin squeaked as she greeted the dog who was practically eye level with her. “And I’m sorry, Amanda didn’t give me your name, miss.”
“I’m Morgan, Morgan Brian,” the woman supplied.
“I’m Tobin Heath, I’m the vet here,” Tobin got out. She quickly flushed when she saw the big smile form on Morgan’s face.
“Martin is a big baby so I don’t know if I’m overreacting or what, but it’s been a traumatic morning for both of us.”
Tobin chuckled, “Well it seems that way. Amanda said Martin had his tail run over by a bicycle and then was bitten by a Chihuahua?”
“Ugh, yes. We just moved into that complex a few weeks ago. I spoke with the Chihuahua’s owner, and found out the dog has her rabies vaccine. The lady was nice, just said Gladys gets angry with big dogs, and she slipped through the rungs on the patio. I was more focused on getting Martin back inside so I could check his tail and leg and get him to stop crying like a big baby,” Morgan laughed. She flushed, knowing she had just rambled on, completely taken aback by the attractive doctor.
“Gladys? That little bully’s name is Gladys?” Tobin bent her head down and laughed to herself. “People come up with the craziest names for dogs.”
I guess ‘Martin’ isn’t much better, is it?” Morgan asked with a smile. He had moved his way next to Morgan, managing to sit on the bench with all four paws still touching the ground. Tobin knelt on the floor, getting closer to his level and making him feel calm.
“Hey Martin, you okay, bud?” Tobin held out her hand. Martin strained his head forward to sniff, and began wagging his tail. It would thump the wall then Morgan’s back.
“Okay, okay Marty, calm down,” Morgan squeaked. “His tail is lethal! I’ve gotten welts on my thighs from him getting too excited and wagging his tail so hard!”
“I’m sure! I don’t have many Great Danes that come here, but they really are great dogs,” Tobin said as she glanced at Morgan’s legs. No, do NOT think about her thighs, she thought. Focus on the dog!
Tobin stood up so she could coax the dog off the bench. “Come’re Martin. Let me check out your tail, big guy.” Martin stood up, tail whipping from side to side, managing to swipe the side of Morgan’s head on one pass.
“Oooof, Martin! Good grief, you big lug. Be careful with that thing!” Morgan stated. Tobin quickly moved in front of Morgan and got down on her knees.
“Ouch, are you okay? It looked like his tail got you right across the face!” Tobin said.
Morgan opened her eyes, despite the pain and embarrassment. She didn’t expect Dr. Heath to be so concerned with her. “Oh, um, yeah, I’m fine. He does this a lot so I’m fairly used to it. It’s one of the side effects of having a dog that weighs more than I do.”
“That’s definitely true. There used to be a Great Dane that came in here a couple years ago, and the owner said he had actually knocked picture frames off the wall with his tail,” Tobin explained, not knowing why in the world she was rambling. Morgan is hurt, the dog is hurt. Do your job, Tobin. "Are you okay?"
“I believe it. It’s really like having a small elephant in your house, or apartment in my case,” Morgan stammered. "And yes, I'm fine. Just a little..." She motioned her hand through the air, in a way that made no sense to Tobin. She nodded like she understood, and wrote down some information and Martin was at ease enough to let her evaluate the small bite on his leg, check his heart and lungs. She got a few big, slobbery kisses in the process.
While Dr. Heath was busy with Martin, Morgan took the time to check out the doctor. She was wearing slim-fitting khakis and a tucked in white button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and Vans. Her hair was pulled back in a sloppy ponytail and she was wearing a touch of mascara. Morgan admired her deep tan and highlighted hair, despite the autumn season. She made sure to take note of her long, lean body and deft hands as well. Martin groaned a couple of times as Dr. Heath rubbed down his flanks, checking for abnormalities.
Dr. Heath was outright giggling at Martin groans and sighs of her rubdown, and it shook Morgan out of her trance.
“Well, he seems fine. The bite he sustained just left a superficial reddening on his leg, more than likely because little Gladys couldn’t get her tiny mouth around his big leg. His tail looks okay too; it’ll probably be a little sore, but I don’t think it’ll slow him down. We can take a couple x-rays of it if you’d like, but there’s not much to be done for a broken tail unless it’s severe. Since he’s wagging it and acting fine, I think the whimpering and crying he did when it happened was more out of surprise than pain,” Tobin explained.
Morgan sighed and visibly relaxed at the news. “Thank you, Dr. Heath. I was worried about him, but he seems okay now.”
“Well, if there’s any problems or if he seems to be in pain or his leg looks worse, just call the office and I’ll fit you in. I can send you home with anti-inflammatories for him if you’d like to have on hand. We have samples and they’re beef flavored, so I’m sure you won’t have any issues getting him to take them.” Tobin was really just trying to find a reason to continue the conversation and spend more time with the pretty woman.
“Samples would be great, thank you, doctor,” Morgan said.
“Great, I’ll go get those for you, and if you don’t mind filling out this information card about yourself, I’ll get Amanda to set up a patient file for you, or Martin, I guess,” Tobin fumbled, not wanting Morgan to think she was just trying to get her address and phone number like a stalker.
“Sure! I’m glad I googled ‘vet offices near me’ and came here. Martin is due for his annual check up soon,” Morgan got out, a little too excited for a reason to come back and see the vet.
“Where did you move from, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“I was in Norton, Massachusetts for school, but graduated and accepted a new job in New York City, so I moved here for the cheaper rent, even though it’s not that cheap,” Morgan explained.
“Ah, well that’s good. What do you do?”
“I’m a ballet dancer. I’ve been dancing in some form since I was little, but ballet was always my favorite. I went to the Boston Ballet School, and I had a short apprenticeship with New York City Ballet last year and was accepted into their corps de ballet, so I made the move,” Morgan explained.
“Wow, I don’t really know what any of that means, but it sounds very impressive!” Tobin said with a big smile. That explains the clothes and the bun.
“Thank you. I was lucky to get accepted into the program and be able to dance in New York City.” Morgan beamed, her smile as white as Tobin’s and almost as big.
“Well let me go get the medicine and I’ll be right back,” Tobin said as she opened the exam room door. Tobin closed her eyes and took a quick breath as she found the samples for Martin and a bag with some information about the clinic. She put in a business card with the address and phone number of the clinic, and decided to write her cell number on the back.
She came back in the room as Morgan was finishing up the new client paperwork.
“Well, here’s the samples. Hopefully Martin doesn’t need them, but if he does, you won’t have to drive back here before he can get some relief. I also included the clinic phone number and my cell.” Tobin takes a deep breath. “I live in your area and if anything happens with Martin outside of business hours, just call me and I can stop over. Um, also, if you need a tour guide, I’ve gotten to know the town pretty well, so…” Tobin fumbled and looked down at Martin, thankful for an alternate focal point.
Morgan perked up, surprised the doctor had been so forward. She assumed Dr. Heath didn’t supply her personal phone number to all her clients. She reached out to take the bag from the doctor. “Oh, thank you. My phone number is on the form. If you are bored or need anything, you can feel free to call me. I don’t really do much once I get out of work.”
Tobin looked back up at Morgan with a smile. Holy crap holy crap holy crap, she thought. “Uh, yeah, I’ll give you a call. Maybe we could get dinner one night this week? I usually finish up here by 7, so would after that be okay? We can meet somewhere or I can pick you up.”
How about this Friday? I’ll be here to pick you up at 7:30?” Morgan asked, confidence displayed on her face.
“That would be great! I’ll bring a change of clothes so I don’t smell like dog or anything. Some days get a little messy. Well. You didn’t really need to know that, did you?” Morgan smiled at the nervousness of the doctor.
“It’s okay. Wear whatever you’d like. Call me later and we can figure out where to go, okay?”
“Sounds great. Hey, let me walk you and Martin out to your car, so you can get on your way home,” Tobin said, grabbing Martin’s leash and opening the door for Morgan.
“Thank you,” Morgan said, shyness tinging her voice. Quite the charmer, she thought.
“I really just want to see how Martin fits into your car!” Tobin exclaimed.
“It’s a VW Jetta; it’s not that small!” Morgan happily shot back.
“It still looks like a clown car with him climbing out of it, I’m sure!” Tobin laughed.
Once Martin was settled inside with his head poking out of the rear window, a somewhat awkward silence settled over the women.
“Well, thank you, Dr. Heath, for seeing us so quickly this morning.”
“Please, call me Tobin. We’re going out Friday night; we should be on a first name basis, Morgan.”
“True. Well, I’ll give you a call later and I’ll see you Friday. Thanks for everything, Tobin.” She touches Tobin’s forearm.
Tobin’s cheeks tinge pink and she smiles. “Drive safe, and I’ll see you Friday.”
Oh man, she thinks. A ballet dancer.