Montana Desire

“What?”

I pulled a pair of gloves out from my medical bag and put them on, pushing up my sleeves while I had the phone between my cheek and shoulder. “You understand that literally no woman wants to be compared to a cow that’s giving birth, right?”

He laughed.

“I have to go. Things are starting to happen here.”

“Okay. Ditch me for a cow. I get it.” Was it my imagination, or did he actually sound annoyed?

“I’ll see you soon. Bye.” I ended the call before he could keep me talking. Nature wasn’t waiting for Joel to get the last word in.

The water bag spilled out of Mel, and things were about to get juicy—literally. Quickly, I called Jerry. “She’s ready to start delivering if you’d like to be my backup?”

“Sure thing. Be right there.”

Most people couldn’t imagine loving something like this. It was messy, raw, and more than a little gross. But I never got tired of it. It was the coolest thing in the world to me to help bring something new and living into the world. If I’d followed my family’s path into traditional medicine, I still probably wouldn’t have been a surgeon, but an obstetrician.

It wasn’t an easy birth. Mel labored, and I supported as best I could. But an hour later, she heaved one last push, and the calf came spilling out into the world. “There you go,” I said. “Good girl.”

You could feel the relief in the air. She was exhausted, but her night wasn’t over yet. The placenta wouldn’t be delivered for another few hours, but that was easier, and Jerry could be the one monitoring.

I stayed another half an hour to make sure the calf was up and walking before I left. All the vital signs were good for mom and baby, and now I couldn’t stop the smile on my face. Turns out this was exactly what I needed today. “You’ll monitor her for the placenta?” I asked Jerry.

“Yeah, I got that. If anything looks strange, I’ll give you a call.”

I checked the time. I needed to get going if I was going to get to the store and make dinner before Joel got to my house. “Thanks, Jerry. If everything’s fine, I’ll come by in a couple of days to see how they’re doing.”

He waved me off with a smile, and I headed to my truck.

I loved this job. And when I’d finally taken the plunge into this field, I’d promised myself that I would never go back to human medicine. I hated it there. And it wasn’t something I ever wanted to consider again.

But I had to now. Not because I wanted to, but because there was a hefty part of me that was a realist, even if I was also an optimist and a romantic. I needed help if I was going to keep the clinic afloat. I had one part-time vet tech, who was a total sweetheart. But as much as I liked Jenna, it wasn’t enough.

I didn’t have funds to hire anyone else without that trust fund. And if I couldn’t do it alone, I would have to go back, no matter how much I loved my practice and Garnet Bend. At the very least, I still had a few weeks to think about it.

Starting the truck, I sighed. This was a choice I didn’t want to make. And there was nothing I hated more than feeling trapped.